INTRO. My wife and I read dozens of Cruise Critic Reviews before choosing our cruise line for our first cruise. Then, frankly, we chose Carnival because we decided we'd rather cruise home than fly home after spending two weeks in Egypt—and the timing was perfect. It was a real learning experience, and certainly more fun and relaxing than flying. As recent retirees, we were not looking for a hot time—just a nice relaxing cruise, with some entertainment, good food, a nice quiet spot for a good martini, and the opportunity to meet some new folks.

EMBARKATION. We spent a few days in Rome (this was our 3rd visit) with my sister before catching the cruise line scheduled bus from Rome to the port. This was clearly an expensive choice, but we wanted to make our first boarding as simple as possible. Everything worked out fine. We followed simple instructions to board the bus and the ship. The whole process from our Rome hotel to boarding Carnival Freedom was as easy as pie. Our luggage arrived piecemeal in our room just a few hours after we did.

OUR CABIN. We had a balcony stateroom aft of midships on the 7th deck, and it was excellent. Once we discovered we could store our luggage under the bed, we had more than enough room. The dEcor was simple and pleasant. The bathroom was appropriately small, but very satisfactory; the shower was excellent. The room had a couch and chair, mirrors, a TV, and a small table. While there was not a lot of room on the balcony, there were two chairs and incredible views. It was worth the extra price to us to have the balcony. Read more