I have cruised on RCL and Princess numerous times. This time it was a family cruise and since my youngest sister has 2 young children we selected Carnival for the kids program. It was Thanksgiving week and as expected the cruise was full and there were many children on board. That was no problem at all. Having been a volunteer in youth organizations for many years, children never pose a problem for me. The problem with this, the worst cruise ever, was with Carnival Cruise Lines and the Liberty ship. First of all the ship's common areas felt cramped and closed in. The decor was garish. The dining room looked hideous in tacky red and gold. My balcony cabin was very nice. And after the first day I was so happy I had that balcony. On prior cruises I enjoyed the common areas very much and spend very little time in my cabin. On the Liberty my cabin was where I spent most of my time. There was one overwhelming theme on this cruise - lack of attention to detail. The staff seemed like they wished they were anywhere but on that ship. And I could relate because by day three I wanted to get off! I am not a demanding or needy cruiser. At one point I made a simple request of my cabin steward. I told him that I didn't really need him to make up the room until later but I needed some ice. He told me to go and get it from the cart in the hallway. The cruisers seemed totally "herded" in all areas. The food lines were horrific - 20 minute wait in the buffet was typical and if you wanted to get something from the burrito bar or deli you had better be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes waiting. The layout of things on the ship was inefficient. Instead of having several small stations with food items they had long cafeteria style stations so if you just wanted to grab a box of cereal and a banana, for instance, you had to wait in a long line behind people who were loading their plates up as if it were their last meal. And who could blame them? It was obvious they didn't want to wait in that line again so they loaded up everything on their tray that they could. The shows were mediocre at best. They kept referring to "fun" activities - I couldn't find any. At night the lounges and the disco were empty. The piano bar entertainer was so lame. This was a full ship and the entertainment was so bad that people just went back to their cabins. I thought maybe this was a ship for people who just come on a cruise to eat and sleep. The cabins were nice and the food was good. So that is all I can say that is good about this cruise. I knew that Carnival was not the class of cruise that Princess is but I had no idea how bad it could be. I couldn't wait to get to the ports of call just to get off that ship! I am not a cruise snob but I am never cruising with Carnival again. It was the K Mart of cruising.