This will probably be pretty long but if you're looking for the nitty gritty, just stay tuned and you'll get it.

Background: This was my husband and my third cruise, second with Carnival. We're both 28. This was our children's very first cruise: DD 10 and DS 7. We booked this cruise because it left out of Tampa, was reasonably priced for a summer cruise, and we thought that a length of 4 nights would be the perfect way to introduce our children to cruising. We booked inside gty and were upgraded to an oceanview on Empress deck.

Pre-cruise: We stayed one night at the La Quinta Busch Gardens. The hotel is directly behind the theme park and a 15 minute ride from the port. I booked directly with the hotel and received a Sam's club member discount. Price: $58 , with taxes $64. There were other hotel guests in front of me getting rooms even cheaper with AAA. Technically you can walk to the park from the hotel, but the entrance is on the opposite side so the walk in a mile and a half. The hotel is really in a great location. There is a mall one block up and about a million restaurants/fast food places in a 5 block radius. The rooms were fairly clean (I used to be a maid so I have pretty high standards) and the pool area is really nice with a waterfall and landscaping. The highlight of staying at a La Quinta is the continental breakfast, complete with make your own waffles. Read more