We've cruised about 15 times total, with several lines (HAL, X, Carnival, RCI) and chose this wedding anniversary cruise for the 9 day duration (=more than 7), as well as the husband's favorite stop in St. Kitts.

Embarkation - due to USCG inspection, we waited 1.5 hrs /outside/ the terminal in the heat. Carnival did provide us w/bottled water to prevent dehydration. This is unlike Carnival which is usually very swift in moving everybody on/off the ship.

Finally on board, the safety drill was announced multiple times, but didn't happen until after 430pm.. it took nearly an hour to complete (why?) and people we starting to feel ill standing at attention in the heat by the lifeboats. Some announcements during the drill were completely unnecessary, such as which groups go to which #boats in the event of emergency, as if anybody would remember someone rattling off numbers.. we wore earplugs from prior experiences, which helped a great deal. Read more