Groan. Back to reality after experiencing our very first cruise. The ship was the Carnival Triumph sailing out of Miami 6/23 for a 7 night Western Caribbean Cruise. LOVED IT! What about the cruise was outstanding? The service, the genuine friendliness of every single crew member whether just passing in the hallways to actually our own servers/attendants, etc. Excellent food. "Adopted" our waiters, Lama and Paul - so sweet. Our cabin was roomy and we had upgraded to a balcony, so it seemed even more so. Recommend balconies highly! The only downside was the embarkation and debarkation - and even those were not TOO bad, considering the "horror stories" I had read about. Because my mom passed away 3 weeks ago, we had sort of put plans on hold, so had not gotten to book shore excursions through the ship in time. We did take recommendations from reviews I had read here and booked the (Grand Cayman) Sting Ray swim with Moby Dick Tours - highly recommend it. Spend much more time actually with the rays than other boats/tours around us who seemed to be just there for "photo-ops" or who were screaming and jumping around so much the rays weren't staying with them. I also saw what I considered animal cruelty by the leaders of some of those groups. We had a miscommunication somehow in Ocho Rios with Phil Lafayette tours, so we took a taxi - and it was a pleasant, informative tour as well. We did book through the ship for the (Cozumel stop) Mayan Ruins tour. The ruins and surroundings are beautiful- (gorgeous beach-Wear your bathing suit!) and the guide informative, BUT it was 110 degrees/humid. (Take water) Had to take a boat a bus and a tractor/tram to get to the area. The shows were outstanding! Tons of activities. Lots of families - but kids were well behaved. Definitely would go again!