We were looking for a family vacation to celebrate our parents 60th anniversary. There was a group of seven ages 18 to 81. The itinerary looked good and we were able to get excellent airfares to Barcelona. We booked this trip 10 months ago and booked airfares at the same time. We were able to get fares for $994 roundtrip Minnesota to Barcelona. I would recommend flying into Barcelona a few days before the cruise. The city is amazing and you can get adjusted with the time change. Your best bet for exchange is getting money from the ATM. The banks would only exchange $300 and the rate was steep. The cruise ship does not have a money exchange but you can get euros from an identified ATM. Make sure to look for the one with a sign. They charge you $6 for the ATM.This was our 7th cruise and I have to say this was the best Carnival ship so far. We chose to embark at noon which was the earliest you can get on. The process flowed smoothly and took only 45 minutes from start to finish.

On board there is a lovely atrium bar next to guest services and the excursion desk. A talented violinist played each night with his electric violin. We would sit there waiting for the dining to open at the early seating. So let's talk food on the ship. With the busy itinerary you will not be on board a lot. I would recommend the late seating for dinner so you can enjoy the full days off the ship. The formal dining is quite good and our wait staff were excellent. Good variety of steaks throughout the week and seafood entrees. Seafood was okay but not spectacular. The desserts were consistently high quality and good. There is also a burger place and burrito bar by the pool. Both were quite good. The burrito bar closes at 2:30 each day so we hardly got there. You can also order pizza 24 hours in the back of the boat. It was a popular place. We only ate at the buffet twice. People would all crowd in the first queue not realizing you could go back and there was more. There were also places to purchase other food but we didn't do that.

The ship has lots of spaces to relax depending on what you like. We also enjoyed working out each day and walking the track. You will find with the itinerary there is not a lot of time on the ship. Read more