This would be my 2nd time cruising. My first time was also with Carnival, and a few friends of mine and I went to the Mexican Riviera Cruise out of Long Beach, CA. I live in Los Angeles so we decided to change things up and choose a different location. We were a group of 15 that decided to take this cruise. We chose it due to the ports of call, scheduling with some of those taking summer classes and overall easy to get to location for all the families involved.

We flew into Tampa, FL on Saturday and stayed at the Hampton Inn Rocky Pointe. They have this cruise special which includes room, transportation to and from the airport and transportation to and from the Port. Also, their shuttle runs to anywhere within a 5 mile radius for dinner or what not. The hotel was very accommodating and for $149 it was a steal, considering how many times we took the shuttle. Also, breakfast was included. Embarkation was a breeze. When the shuttle dropped us off, all 15 of our bags were already off to the ship. It was soooo easy. We got our number and it was called in 20 mins. I believe we were #12. Our stateroom was a balcony, and since we were a big group all of our rooms were in a row. So we had the purser's desk open up our balcony's and we had one long balcony to party on every night! That was key. The group was all my dad's buddies from Chicago and LA...and all of us kids which range from 16-26 grew up together! Once on the ship we headed up to the lido deck and had lunch. I must say, the salad bar always had fresh and crispy veggies. I loved it. I've been on a Carnival ship and knew what I was in for. The Pizza was excellent. The highlight was the sandwich bar. I loved the Panini's. Dinner was awesome! Our servers were the best ever! Marketa and Sutana.....rocked. They were very very accommodating to our every need. Every night we had Indian food ....and we could still order from the menu. They just knew some of the parents couldn't live without Indian food for dinner and automatically had it. It was great. And our parents loved it. We appreciated it. One night us kids loved the Chicken tenders that were on the menu as an appetizer. We raved about it to Marketa and Sutana. Two days later...it was there for us in this huge tray.....as our appetizer. We didn't even ask for it. THey just did it. We were sooo happy. The only thing I do not recommend is having breakfast in the dining room.....its boring food. and portions are small. I would go to the omelette guy on the lido deck and just go all out up there. My favorite dessert which I loved on my last cruise and was waiting for this time was the BREAD Pudding. Soooooooo delicious. The seafood dishes were always cooked great. The chicken is sometimes dry so be careful. Stick to the steaks (according to those that ate the steaks) and seafood. And hey if there is something that you want to eat...ask! They are so great about accommodating your needs.

Ports of Call: Grand Cayman: We signed up for the Kayak Safari through Carnival. Fabulous. It even included snorkeling....the water was so baby blue it was amazing. I recommend a excursion on this island because the area near the port is all commercial and there is not much to do besides walk around and eat at like Senor Frogs or Fred's. Can't remember. The one thing that the description for the Kayak Safari didn't mention was that it was a lot of Kayaking and the description made it seem like it was not that far. But in actuality it was. My dad had to kayak back with my brother because he couldn't handle it. I felt bad. But he just hung out with the locals and had some beers. No biggie. We are a easy going group. Read more