I have found the reviews posted by other to be very useful and amusing. This is the first review I've posted.
This was our first cruise on Carnival - me (45), husband (54), son (11), grandson (8). For my family this was our 5th cruise, 2 prior on Disney, 1 on NCL, 1 on RCCL.
Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and staff and experience we had on Carnival. I choose this cruise based on price and itinerary. The Western Caribbean is our favorite and the next closest cruise price wise was nearly $1000 more for the week. I was afraid I had picked what we would refer to as our vacation on a Walmart Ship but boy was I wrong!