As a fan of cruising and a frequent researcher / reader of cruise critic boards, I thought it only right that my wife and I provide detailed feedback from our cruise for others to consider / benefit. To level set, let me introduce ourselves. Both my wife and I are in our late 30's and we live in Atlanta Georgia. I am a manager in the technology field and a bit of a work-a-holic. My wife is a home maker and has the harder job of raising our two young children. This was our fourth cruise, but first with Carnival. (Other cruises: Princess to Alaska, Celebrity to Southern Caribbean and Holland America to Western Carri bean.) We took this cruise to celebrate a friends 40th birthday traveling with us and to keep our relationship "fresh".... thus we did not bring the kids.

In order for folks to see the information most relevant to them, we are going to organize this review like a report card. A= Excellent, B=Good, C=Average, D=Bad, F=Unacceptable. Plus or minus = on the verge of the next grade. We will also provide detail around the grades. Hopefully, this will prove useful to your research.

Hilton - "B" Long Beach - I travel quite a bit and use Hilton almost exclusively. As always this Hilton was quite nice and the room was well appointed and comfortable. That said, this is not my favorite Hilton property. I am Diamond status with Hilton and was surprised that the property did not have executive floors or an executive lounge. Nothing big, but little perks you like to have for your significant other when traveling. The other thing was the view.... Now I don't sit there looking out the window, but the room I had faced the local Oil Refinery. Not exactly the romantic scenery I was looking for on my first day in California. On a positive note... the breakfast buffet in this hotel was quite good and the waitress we had that morning was outstanding. She was truly a breath of fresh air and really started our day out well!! Read more