My husband and I are 30 and went on this cruise for our honeymoon. We chose this cruise only for the itinerary (I LOVE the Western itinerary!) . I have not cruised with Carnival in the past, I have sailed with Royal Caribbean, Norwegian (Never go with them!!!), Celebrity and Sunquest before it went under.

We are from Canada and drove to the Buffalo airport and flew from there as it was cheaper. We booked a hotel room in Rocky Point (Tampa) at the Hampton Inn. We really enjoyed it. We called them from the airport and they sent a shuttle. It takes you anywhere within a 4 mile radius of the hotel which we used many times (to go out for dinner, shop, get beer...) and all for free! They also dropped us off at the pier. We enjoyed it so much we booked for the on the way home as well. The rooms were nice and clean, staff was friendly and the shuttle drivers were great!($99 on the way there, $69 on the way home)

Embarkation was ok, on par with most others. The ship was clean and I thought decor was ok (I read on this site that it wasn't very nice). The cruise director Jen was ok...her voice didn't annoy me like some had said on this site. I have seen better though. There were lots of activities, just not many that interested me (there have been on other ships). To save money my husband (who loves his beer) brought on about 30 beers in his suitcase...no problem. It was our first time having a balcony. We loved it and used it a lot. We will have to get one for now on! We sat out there rather than on deck (not into laying on deck and gettting sun burnt!) and listened to music (we brought a ipod stereo...make sure you bring an extension cord!) Our cabin steward was not that great. He never seemed to be around, introduced himself once on the first day and then he never again saw us to ask if we needed anything or how things were...I just expected more. He did keep the room clean and make the towel animals! Our dining room service was great! Atara and Dediana were our servers. They entertained us every night. There dining room shows were a lot more fun then any other ship I've been on. Did not use the children's clubs, but there weren't too many kids annoying us, so they must have done a good job. Entertainment...the comedians and jugglers were good, the Carnival dancers and singers were ok but the shows themselves were BORING! I have never left shows until this time! They just need to make them more fun and interesting (more catchy songs or something). Disembarkation wasn't that great. We had to get up to be in the Follies lounge by 6:15am for immigration and then had to wait around until almost 10:00 to get off the ship. If you are going to make us get up that early for immigration at least let us off the ship in decent time...too much waiting around. The line up to get off was way too long too. They shouldn't have called so many numbers at once. Read more