I booked a cruise on Carnival Paradise to celebrate my upcoming birthday (45). Some friends joined me, which was a couple and another single friend, and we had a pretty great time. We weren't travelling with kids so I'm not sure what the children's activities were like and there were a lot more on board than what I thought would be at this time of year. The room was bigger and cleaner than I expected with it being my first cruise and on an older ship. Our room steward, Adi, was very sweet and helpful.

I LOVED the elegant Captain's dinner on Tuesday night. Delicious food, plenty of activities to choose from. The only issues were the elevators and there were not enough hot tubs and the pool was much smaller than expected. There were a couple of elevators that did not work, which made the disembarkation difficult.

The stingray/snorkeling excursion I booked on Grand Cayman with Captain Bryan was by far the best. I learned a lot so the next time I book, I would love to try a singles cruise. I would definitely recommend a Carnival cruise!