We arrived in San Juan and had a prepaid shuttle to take us to the trip. We were a little disappointed in the way that they handled the shuttle. We seemed to get lost in the crowd for about 5 minutes after getting our luggage before a representative from Carnival got ahold of us and directed us where to go. The shuttle driver was great giving us some simplified history of San Juan on the way there. Boarding the ship seemed frustrating at first being our first cruise, but in hindsight, they had it fairly organized and we were on board within an hour and a half or so. Once on board the ship we headed straight for our stateroom to clean up and get a view of the balcony. We were on deck 8 just behind the peninsula that juts out from the ship where it is sailed from. We came to realize that a balcony is the ONLY way to go. Beautiful view. The staterooms were quite spacious and the amenities were more then we could expect from a cruise line. We had our luggage fairly quickly which made us happy, and the staff were spectacular. We went to the Pacific Dining from for dinner and the food was amazing. The warm chocolate melting cake was to die for. Our waiter that night was a combination of professional and quite humorous. The safety drill was both informative and quite painless. Kudos to Carnival for teaching what needs to be taught and doing it in a timely fashion.

St. Thomas- Our first port of call was met with mixed reaction and the sight of the port. Not what we expected but once past that we took the skyride up and saw the most amazing view that we have ever seen. High up was a great view of our cruise, along with two other ships, and some interesting shopping. Drinks were expensive, but the view was utterly breathtaking. Following that we went on the Snail and Snorkel to Shipwreck Cove. Our initial guide was Matty. This crew was the most fun and ambitious group of gentleman that we have ever met. They were very energetic and made the entire excursion a great joy. The snorkeling was so-so. I was amazed at just being in such clear water and seeing the shipwreck was pretty spectacular, but there was a lack of marine life all together. The ride back with rum punch was a great joy. The crew members chatted with the people and overall made the excursion what it was. Aside from the lack of fish, the whole excursion was a great time

Dominica- This island was more of a disappointment then anything. Although the family regarded it as beautiful (and it was), the locals their did not seem very friendly as I would have liked (aside from the cab driver who was wonderful). We took the river tubing excursion which was quite a disappointment. We were under the impression that this would be a relaxing experience of just floating down the river under the guise of the locals. The initial ride to the drop point was about a 1/2 hour and they don't have and traffic laws there, combined with narrow roads made for a terrifying ride. Once their we took all boarded our inner tubes for the river, but were quick to discover that this was a white water tubing adventure which on average would have been great but my wife was pregnant and the family and I were concerned for her well being as well as the baby. A side note that there was no disclaimers with regards to this as far as pregnancies and age goes. What made this more scary was many people tipped over in their tubes going over rocks and a few times the locals, who didn't speak any english, looked panicked at times. We made the complaint to Carnival about the lack of disclaimers and they apologized but I have seen no changes to the excursion list. Read more