This was my first Carnival cruise. We wanted a fun cruise for a short 4 nights to celebrate my 50th birthday. My sister and husband came and this was their first cruise. After reading several reviews and spending allot of time on this site I felt very informed about this ship. We flew in the day before and stayed at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral. We rented a car as our transportation. We mentioned cruise critic and received a discount. Embarking was quick and easy. We got to the port around 11:30 and we were on in about 20 minutes. We had a suite, but did not use the VIP check in as my sister had a OV room and we wanted to check in together. I usually sail on Royal Caribbean and have always been told Carnival has better food. I didn't experience that. The food was good but not exceptional. We ate in the diningroom every night. The quality of the steak was low. It was a cheap sirloin. The prime rib was really good. The shrimp was very good. I did love the chocolate melt cake. Even though the ship is very purple, it did not bother me at all. It was very clean and it is a nice ship for its age. Our room was nice. Everyone was right about the balcony not being private and the size of the balcony was extremely small. You were lucky to get two people on the balcony. Our room was nice. For a suite the bathroom was very small. We did have some sewer smell in the bathroom, but we knew to bring an air freshener. The service was very good. Our room stewart was lacking on communication skills, but he did a great job. Our waitress was wonderful. They really made my actual birthday very special. We barely missed a hurricane. The weather was a little cool. At freeport we rented a chair at the Westin and shopped. The water was too cold in swim, but it was nice to be on the beach. Our second day we went to the Atlantis. We rented a room at the comfort suites for 4 adults for $60.00 each. We had a great day there. The weather was good, but too cold to get in the ocean. We did play in the "not so lazy" lazy river. The aquarium was not as good as it had been when we were there 5 years ago. Our sea day was good weather and lots of fun things to do on the ship. We enjoyed the comic on the regular night. He wasn't so funny just crude on the adult night. Disembarking was easy and fast. All in All we had a great cruise and I would definitely return to this ship again.