We decided to take the kids on a pre-Christmas cruise to Nassau. Port Canaveral is within driving distance, so we sailed on 12/20/07. Ship and stateroom were on par with other cruise ships we have sailed - Fascination and Celebration - older but well maintained. Embarkation was smooth as usual. Port Canaveral is very nice and the whole process was fairly well-organized. This sailing was very crowded with younger children, which really created a lot of chaos (my sons are teenagers). There were lots of 20-somethings on this ship, which really contributed to the party atmosphere that goes along with Carnival. There were also several women's college basketball teams in training (they dominated the jogging track, which was really inconvenient! since we use it in the mornings). From a service standpoint, the overall service was not as good and the staff was not nearly as friendly. The food - the variety and choices were there, but the food was just not quite what I had seen on previous cruises. We did the Blackbeards Deluxe Shore Excursion, which was a day at the beach (boat ride to private island), snorkeling with stingrays, and included lunch. That was well worth the $$ spent and my kids absolutely enjoyed the day (this might be scary for smaller kids). Getting off the ship was a little chaotic - we usually use self-assist, but Port Canaveral (or this ship, not sure?) apparently disembarks by zone (we had not experienced this before) and that delayed things. Also, there were some non-US citizen immigration problems and this delayed things for the rest of the passengers. Overall, it was an okay cruise - it was nice to get away. But we sailed the Fascination with the kids June 07 and we really had a much better experience overall. I think as the kids (and my husband and I) are getting older, we might try Royal Caribbean next time.