Carnival Liberty, Oct. 22-Nov. 3 2006, 12-day, out of Rome

This was our 12th cruise, the 6th on Carnival (the other 5 were on the Sensation, Victory and Jubilee, Ecstasy and Conquest). The other 6 cruises were on Royal Caribbean (Monarch, Rhapsody and Splendour), Celebrity (Galaxy and Mercury) and Norwegian Sea. We still prefer RCL to the other cruise lines, but continue to cruise Carnival because of good prices and, in this case, the great itinerary.

Our last Med cruise was on the RCL Splendour out of Barcelona, with a similar itinerary in 7 days. That cruise also took place in late May, 2005, making it a hotter and more crowded time to cruise. We really enjoyed the weather and less crowds on this cruise. However, Carnival still continues to pack their ships full of passengers (compared to less crowding on other cruise lines) and this is one of the biggest complaints I have with Carnival. But, we were able to get a nice balcony cabin for about $500 less per person than on other cruiselines, so, that's why we chose Carnival this time. Another difference for us, we took this cruise without our 22 and 20-year-old daughters - they were off in college - and instead traveled with two adult ladies that we know. Read more