This was our 1st cruise and we decided to do it as a family. My wife and I were in a bad car wreck in October and it has kept her from SCUBA diving so we decided to do a cruise, which gave us an opportunity to see the islands and snorkel a bit. I had read every review posted on here trying to get a sense of what to expect and it left me quite nervouse. We have been to all-inclusive resorts in the past and I was nervous that there wouldn't be much to do and the food wouldn't be very good. I would say I was skeptical and yet optomistic at the start of the trip.

Embarkation was easy. We live in the Tampa area and so we drove to the port. There were 6 of us on the trip, my wife and I, the kids (3 & 5) and my in-laws who decided to go with us. I highly recommend you park at a satellite lot like Premier parking. It cost $29 for the week after an online discount. It's a secured lot with a pretty quick shuttle. It's not much to look at but Carnival wanted $150 to park in their garage for the week. I'd rather do anything with $120 than pay for parking that I don't need. Getting into the Carnival building was a breeze and we were through all the checkpoints and in our zone within 30mins. We went early and arrived at the port around 10:30. I highly recommend this. We were on the boat by 11:30 and eating lunch and swimming by 12:30. No issues at all getting a table or anything but it gets crowded so arrive early!

The room: We loved the balcony and felt it was safe for the kids to be out there when we were outside with them. The railings are high and there is no risk of them falling out. Just don't let them climb on the chairs or table. The room was clean and with the elevated bunk, we all had ample sleeping space. Storage can be an issue but be creative and bring hangers. We never felt crowded in the room. The bathroom was neat and organized but the TV was terrible. My issue is that I brought a multi-outlet strip only for it to trip the circuit and never work. That meant we had to switch between charging the phone, camera and laptop constantly. It worked though. Complaints with the room were primarily the matress was terrible and killed my back and there was a lot of noise from above all night long. We were right under the Lido deck and the noise never ended. If you are a light sleeper like me you will have a lot of trouble. Move 1 floor down and it probably went away. Read more