I picked this cruise mostly because of the departure port - I wanted to cruise with friends from southern California and it just plain made sense to leave from Long Beach. Two of us were first time cruisers and one had been on a previous cruise with RCI for an academic conference (and hence had not done many/any of the 'typical' cruise things.) I flew in to LAX arriving at shortly before 8AM and we drove to the port for parking- they began boarding us around 10:30 AM. I have a disability that limits my ability to stand for a long time; Carnival was very accomodating in general for this but I wish I'd known to ask about muster- I had requested to find out if there was seating in any boarding area where we might be in extended lines; Carnival pre-boarded us instead (which was fine!). The muster drill was very slow, but this was NOT carnival's fault- mostly it was due to people having to be rounded up and brought late to the drill- I wish I'd known to ask about seating during that- there was apparently a separete drill for mobility/disabled people indoors and that would have been useful to know and request, as I think I would have heard more of the drill if I was not focusing on not falling over after standing in the sun for half an hour....

Our cabin was a balcony guarantee and we ended up with an extended balcony, 8225. It was roomy and lots of space for storage. Even with three adults, it rarely felt crowded. The sofa bed was a bit short (I'm 5'6 and fit on it fine, but a taller adult would not have). The cabin was quiet overall. We did occasionally hear noises during the night when the Lido seating area was being cleaned but they were never long lasting or particularly intrusive. (The noises from other cabins closing their balcony doors was frankly louder. Our steward was John and he did a good job at keeping us well supplied with towels. We did have a bit of trouble with the climate control in the cabin- the dial cover on the temperature control kept falling off, and we weren't really sure where it was indicating as a result. The first night was a bit cold, but housekeeping sent up blankets very quickly on request and after that we got it dialed into a comfortable level that maintained nicely.

We didn't participate in too many ship activities. The Serenity area was nice- not particularly serene, but nice, with a great view of the ship's wake. Finding loungers was very tough, and we didn't tend to hang out up there for this reason. There were several fun trivia contests during the week, but mostly we were on board to relax, so we did! The cruise director, Corey, was a blast every time we ran into him. Read more