About us: This is our 12th Carnival cruise, but first time sailing out of Baltimore. I'm 50, DH is 49, and we sail with two of our three sons, ages 14 and 10. Oldest son is away at school, studying to become a ship's engineering officer. He might get to sail with us again in two years if he has some free time during that summer - that is, if he wants to spend his vacation from the Merchant Marine Academy sailing on a ship!

We booked this cruise to sail out of Baltimore. We've done six cruises out of New York and figured we needed to sail down the Chesapeake for a change. The drive time from our home is about 6 hours, so it's easy for us to drive in the day before. The other motivating factor in this cruise was Half Moon Cay, which we fell in love with last year on our cruise on Miracle.

Pre-cruise: Lots of driving Read more