Background: We are cruise newbies! A family of 4 (brought 12 and 14 yo dtrs on our 20th anniversary) Booked via carnival, and researched extensively on cruise critic for independent excursions. We spent 3 days prior to cruise in PalmBay, Fl with inlaws. We flew into Tampa, drove to east coast, and back to west coast on departure day. We had to drop off our rental car at the tampa airport and took a taxi for $25-flat rate to cruise terminal. Our anticipation raced as we could see the stack of the ship from the highway above. Embarkation: Embarkation was easy, lines moved quickly and we were group 11 but called in about 15 minutes of arrival. The first steps on the ship left us in awe! I had read so many reviews about the ship I was leery about what it would look like. Well let me tell you, it is magnificent in person.The colors, the gorgeous woods, even the erns I had read so much about fit in beautifully. The foyer with the glass elevators and high ceiling is impressive! The art work throughout the ship amazing. Cabin: Our cabin was starboard side front. The cabin is close to the front elevators and stairs. We rarely had to wait for elevators, even at peak hours, and the stairs were right there with easy access to anywhere. We found the ship easy to navigate. Our girls had the ship memorized in about 1/2 a day, for us, we just looked at the maps on each floor. The balcony was fabulous and I don't think I'll ever be able to cruise without one. We were on the balcony morning and night. Nothing better than starting the day with a cup of coffee and anticipating the first view of your next port of call. we would end each night with a cocktail and reminisce about our great adventures each night. Best thing- no bugs!!!! Food: The food on the lido deck was very good. Plenty of choices, and we're a tough group to please. Breakfast was standard fare, my husband got eggs to order each morning and by wed. the cook knew what he wanted when he saw him. the lines move quite quickly. Lunch had many choices, the best was the deli with made to orders hot sandwiches and the hamburger station at the pool. Again, lines looked ominous, but moved quickly enough, even on sea days. The food in the Truffles dining room was very good as well. Our family was impressed by the wide selection of foods available. I had read that the meats were sub par, but IMO the beef dishes were very good! The beef was cooked to order each time. I like rare and hubby likes well done and each was cooked according to our request. our girls were daring and tried the duck, escargot and many other food they wouldn't have normally been willing to try. Our wait staff, Martin and Iwayan were amazing! They were right there by our table at all times. nothing was an inconvenience. Hubby ordered two lobsters AND the primerib-NO PROBLEM! our glasses were always full and we moved along quite quickly. Our table was # 159, a table for 4 in the back near the windows. Our servers even sang us happy anniversary! along with the other tables in the back,which was quite memorable. Ports: We booked all of our tours privately and saved a bundle. I would be leery about just choosing a tour on the dock, but after a great deal of research on cruise critic, I felt confident about our choices for our excursions. Grand Cayman- we arrived early in the morning, watched from our balcony as we cruised into port. Easy tender in. We booked with Mobey Dick tours. We were early so walked around port for about 45 min prior to departing. short bus ride from port to the boat dock which is about 10 min from port.Mobey Dick staff were professional and pleasant. We brought our own equipment so all we had to do was jump in. Mobey Dick offers a short snorkel at a reef just a few hundred yards from the sandbar where we then went to feed the stingrays. My oldest dtr was scared, but you can be as involved or on the sidelines as you want. The sandbar gets crowed, but each boat has plenty of space and there are plenty of hungry stingrays to go around. They are like puppies all round, big and playful, fumbling around for food. yes, we kissed them for the 7 years good luck, and hope that includes another cruise someday. After stingrays, we shopped for short time and back on ship for a late lunch, pool time and a nap. Cozumel- Swam with the dolphins at Chakanub Park. We did the swim adventure. we snorkeled for a while with plenty of fish and photo ops. Then on to our time with our dolphin. This was a great time and went by much too quickly. We got to kiss, hug, belly ride and get a ride on a boggie board with our dolphin. Yes, we bought the video, and it was worth every penny. Booking independently thru Chakanub we received free taxi transportation to the park and back to port. We shopped for souvenirs and back to the ship. Belize- We booked cave tubing thru major Tom. One of the deciding factors of going with this company was their dedication to safety and boy were we happy. The river runs more quickly this time of year and after a week of rain the river was higher and faster than nomral.Some people from other excursions were just floating into the walls. Our group was lined up and attached arms to feet in two lines of 10. The port in Belize is a bit intimidating, we were glad to be with an organized tour. the countyside is beautiful, but extremely poor and humbling.The walk thru the rainforest was not too bad and the water refreshing. Our tour guide was Mike and he was informative and entertaining as well as working his butt off. He even took the time to help out stranded tubers from another group. Safety first! We stopped for a quick belizian meal that was extremely good and hubby tried the Belken beer which he enjoyed on the hot afternoon ride back. unfortunately we only had 1/2 hr to shop, but that was plenty if you are staying in the fenced area. Roatan: By far our favorite port of call. Roatan is completely uncommercialized. They are in the process or building their port, but I hope it keeps it's island charm. We took a taxi for $40 from the pier to BananaRama beach. It took us a few tries, but as we walked down the line of taxi's the price got cheaper and cheaper. The beach is free and we walked about 100 yards and were about ten feet from Tabyana beach! (they paid alot more!!) The water is impeccable. clear, warm, fabulous snorkeling (it got a little churned up however once the tour buses arrived from carnival,but still beautiful) We sat on our towels( who cared, we were in the water the whole time anyways) bought coconut bracelets and necklaces from locals on the beach and hubby bought a hand made hammock for $20. It's unfortunate that Roatan is the shortest port, because it is definitely not to be missed. I feel sorry for those who chose to stay on the ship at this port as it is truly the gem of the ports of call. Don't be strayed away,get to the beach and enjoy!! The ride is impressive as well, our taxi driver showed us the canopy zipline tours on our way back, but I'm too afraid of heights, maybe next time. We shopped in the small market for a short time. the best shopping is outside the gates! don't be intimidated by the tour operators. we forgot our id's on ship, but luckily the guard was compassionate and let us thru with just our sign and sail.

Shows: We saw the first show and the legends show. They were entertaining but the follies is in the bow and that is where I felt the movement of the ship the most so we didn't spend as much time there as we could have. we played bingo twice, and lost. too expensive to play in my opinion. We went to the casino each night and made our $20-$30 donation each night. luckily I won $100 the last night on a nickle machine, so it was a wash. We were too tired to make the lido deck party and barely made it to the midnight buffet. we have pictures, but too tired to eat. maybe next time. Our daughter completely loved Circle C. They are 12 and 14 and were in the same age group. Circle C offers them the opportunity to be with peers independently, but supervision is there. They participated in scavenger hunts, gender wars, guitar hero and sing along tournaments as well as nightly dancing. They met lots of kids their age and are still in contact with them, hoping for a reunion. We hardly saw them each night. There were lots of tears on debarkation.(some were mine as well) Debarkation: Effortless. we thought about doing self debarkation, but we weren't in any rush, so ate a leisurely breakfast and when our number was called easily exited the ship. Our luggage was easily accessible and we paid $14 to store our luggage at the port while we walked tampa. Our flight home to Ma was @ 5pm. would choose an earlier flight home next time, but it was fun to watch the new passengers embark. bitter sweet, but an adventure all the same! We are definitely hooked on cruising! we wonder will the next cruise have the same fairy tale quality of our first.