My DH and I recently became guardians of a 17 year old... We decided a quick 4 day cruise (his first) would be a great way for the 3 of us to spend some time together.

I am in the travel industry and have cruised quite a bit (over 30 cruises) and both DH and I are Platinum with Carnival.

The Elation is a great value for family cruising. The staff is very attentive, the food good and the entertainment lively and varied. That being said, Spring Break cruising should be done with the knowledge that the ship will be booked to capacity (our trip was only 4 short of Coast Guard maximums)and that the percentage of young people will be very high. All in all, however, Carnival did a good job managing the large numbers of young people. I noticed security checking ID's before entry to the disco after 10 and the attendants appeared to be enforcing the adults only policy in Serenity. Read more