I have sailed on most of the major cruise lines, but never on Carnival. We decided to take a family cruise and since we had people of all ages, including some young children we decided to give Carnival a try. It was inexpensive and I had heard good things about their kids program and it sailed from Port Canaveral which was only an hour and 20 minutes from home.We booked 4 rooms, three inside an a balcony. Shortly before sailing I received a call offering to up grade all of us to Grand Suites side by side for a very reasonable charge. We jumped on it and it proved some of the best money I have spent on a cruise.

Embarkation was smooth, but the VIP boarding that goes along with a suite was nothing more than one overworked women in a very small office with 4 chairs. I am not sure it was any faster than standing in line, but we could keep the kids corralled. We did get to go right on board and our suite were ready. Very nice rooms, 400+ sq feet and a nice large balcony. The way I want to cruise from now on. One nice thing is there will be no more family cruises since they all want suites from now on.

We went up to the buffet lunch and it was standard cruise fare. No better no worse. There were lots of hot dishes and hamburgs and hot dogs. The only bad thing was the pizza. not as good as Princess. Plenty of seating and good organization. Read more