We had a reunion scheduled in Seattle, so we decided to follow that up by taking our two young grandsons on a cruise to Alaska. We chose the Carnival cruise because it was nearest to the reunion. Although I had cruised one time before on Carnival, I hoped my poor experience would not be repeated. Wrong!
I requested early dining, and instead received the latest time - poor choice for two young boys. I called Carnival and was reassured that I would be able to request an earlier time once we were on board. We were the second family to contact the Maitre d' once on board, but could not get an earlier seating. As a result, our grandsons missed the Dr. Seuss shows advertised for this ship. The waitstaff, who always addressed us by name, were very good at dealing with tired, cranky little boys, but that was not what we had looked forward to.
The stateroom was always well made and ready for us. Our room steward greeted us and the boys by name, and seemed to delight in talking to the boys. When one boy had a nighttime accident, the steward cleaned up the bed very well and reassured our grandson that there was no problem with accidents.
The cabin was adequate, although my husband really needed a chair to sit in because he suffers from a knee problem. We were able to keep iPads fully charged even though there was only one electrical outlet plug we could use.