I had cruised with Carnival about 20 years ago and more recently with Royal Caribbean (Bahamas) and in many ways, this cruise was far superior. I was traveling with my teenage niece (birthday trip) and we had an outside cabin on the Main deck as I know she gets a bit claustrophobic. The cabin was much larger than the one I had on Royal Caribbean and much more comfortable. We had arrived in NYC from New England the day before to take in a show and do some shopping. We checked out of the Waldorf Astoria at noon and made our way by taxi to the pier. There were a lot of large groups, family reunions with many small children traveling. This was definitely "family cruise" day. Didn't really bother us and we met some very nice people. Embarkation was a lot of waiting and long lines but that's just what it is unless you want to arrive at the last minute.

I know from past experience to carry on luggage whenever possible and even though we got some strange looks from people in line as we lugged our things on (just your basic drag-along bag and briefcases), we knew we'd be sure to have all of our things with us. Checked baggage is not guaranteed to show up in your cabin until perhaps 8 p.m. that evening. Plus, it tends to go astray (the dockside porters do not work for Carnival so the cruise line holds no responsibility if they lose your bags -- so says the fine print in your cruise packet which I'm sure very few people actually read). We left on a Thursday and by Friday night, we got a notice that people were still missing luggage. So, word to the wise: It's only a 4 day cruise. You CAN fit it all into a carry on bag. No need to pack like you're going to Europe for a month! They also have convenient and inexpensive self-launderettes so if you really run out of clean clothes, you can throw a few things in the wash. Bring a few bucks in quarters if you think you'll need this. It's just like being back in college.

We had requested the main sitting for dinner but were assigned the late sitting. This actually worked out better for us. We could go to the shows before dinner, have something to eat and then hit the hay if we were so inclined (as we sleep-deprived workaholics often were!). We arrived at the Paris dining room for our first night's dinner and were assigned to a table with about 10 people. The maitre d' came up and asked us just as we sat down if we wouldn't mind being moved so a large single-family party could sit together (I gather the whole dining room assignment business was a bit disorganized at check-in). We said "fine" and we were given a very nice table just for the two of us, which was perfect. Our waiter was very personable even though we couldn't really understand him. My niece is a vegetarian and while there were vegetarian entrees, this cruise is definitely geared toward the meat eater. But the appetizers were very nice and I had the roasted lamb shank, which was excellent. We never did see the waiters dancing on tables or singing or whatever they did. Maybe that was for the early seatings. Read more