Our cruise dates were December 16-23. We got to Galveston about 2:30 and did not know that the ship was delayed in getting into port and so we would be delayed getting out of port. We waited in line for 2-3 hours just to board the ship! This was our first Carnival Cruise. I had been advised by friends and family not to expect much from Carnival. We had been on other cruise lines and absolutely love cruising! I had heard that Carnival was a party boat and that people stayed drunk most of the time. That was a concern for us since we brought our children. Perhaps it was the amount of children on the ship that made everyone behave themselves.

It is hard to not compare ships when you have sailed with other lines. We thought that the food was good. We did not starve at all. The portions were very good. My family especially loved the chocolate melting cake. We did eat at the speciality restaurant one night called "The Point". It was well worth it and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Our inside cabin was small but clean and comfortable. The cabin number was 6377. It had plenty of storage and closet space. It was located however underneath the casino. So there was no going to bed early because the guy playing in the casino might as well have played in our room! I was just shocked at how loud it was in our room! When we complained to the purser-they assured us that they asked the gentleman to turn down the music. At least he quit by midnight. We also had a problem with smoke in our room. Our attendant tried her best to get it clean-but the smoke was seeping in from somewhere. It was bad. The doors to our cabin seemed very thin-We could hear complete conversations of people outside our room. We could hear the announcements without having to leave our bed. On other cruise lines-we would have to open the door to hear the announcements

I enjoyed most of the entertainment. However to have a Vegas-style show was pretty disgusting. I don't know what I was thinking-but our whole family sat on the second row of the theater and the show was about Paris. There was no story line only the most Pair-ASS you have ever seen! There was just so many kids on the ship-I thought that it was very inappropriate! The comedian was not very funny at all. The juggler was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed him. Mark,The Cruise director was very good-we thought he was a hoot! His suits were colorful with shoes to match. Read more