This was my first cruise as an adult. As a child we did a couple of cruises on Carnival, but that was 20 years ago. Having no recent experience with cruising, I wasn't sure what to expect. Somehow, I expected better from the cruise line. The ship itself was nice and our room was lovely. There were nice touches, such as fresh flowers and champagne awaiting us on arrival. The room had an espresso machine, which we took full advantage of. There was plenty of storage in the master bed and bath, but not so much in the secondary bedroom. Each room featured a flat panel TV with a limited selection of news and sports programming and movies, which is fine because we weren't there for the TV. Our butler was gracious and available, as was housekeeping. We'd made arrangements to receive a cake for my son's seventh birthday and it was delivered as expected. The room was also decked out with streamers and balloons and this little unexpected perk was appreciated.

Kids Club: this is a "parent free" zone so I couldn't gauge how this went except for reports from my son. He seemed to have a good time and enjoyed the staff that worked here. I'm not certain he enjoyed all of the activities they undertook, but he never complained.

Video Arcade: my son and I spent a lot of time (and money) in here. There was a Guitar Hero, a sport shooting game, a couple of other shooters, about eight racing games of various types, old Galaga/Ms Pac Man combo, and an air hockey table. All in all, the games were in good condition and we never had any problems. Read more