My husband and I were married on July 9, and we cruised out of New York City on July 12th.

Embarkation: A breeze for us. We live in Delaware, so it was about a 3-hour drive to NYC. Once we were at the terminal, we were directed to the VIP Lounge (this is my husband's 14th Carnival cruise and you're considered a Platinum member after 10). It was very comfortable and the people were very friendly. It took about ten minutes from when we arrived at the terminal to when we headed up the gangway.

Dining: Very good. The dining room service was phenomenal. The drinks are fairly pricey, but they were always of good quality. My husband and I are both vegetarians which makes things a little tougher, but we still ate very well. It seems that all the Carnival ships have the same dinner menu, and since we can only order the vegetarian option, it would be nice to see some variety, but the meals are always cooked to perfection. We usually ate lunch on Lido and it was good, standard buffet fare; one of the days we ate lunch in the main dining room and it was excellent. We usually ordered room service for breakfast like the lazy bums we are. :) Read more