We sailed on Dec. 6, 2008. I went with my family, it was my older sister and her DH and my younger sister and her GF, and myself and my fiancee. 3 out of our party have been on cruises before, 3 of us this was our first time. I am in the first time cruisers. I did feel some motion sickness, but I took pills for that, some nights the seas were a little rough. But I was not going to let sea sickness get the best of me. First we all arrived in Florida on the 4th, we stayed at the Radisson on the Port. This is a nice place to stay, it is very clean and check in was very easy. The staff was friendly. We all liked the hotel and would stay there again. We went through Embarkation on the 6th and Carnival made it very easy, did not take long at all. We all got on the ship, and went to the Red Sail where the buffet was to eat. As we did that, my older sister went and checked to see about our dining time and to see if we could have a table by ourselves, which they accommodated us with. After we ate, we went to look for our cabins, we were all on the 8th floor, the veranda deck. We all found our rooms and when we got there out luggage was already in the room waiting for us. First thing I did was run out to the balcony to see the view. Then they announced that it was time for the mustard drill. That took about 20 minutes, it wasn't that bad, but I know I would rather be doing something else. But it is something that has to be done. I couldn't believe how much there was to do on board ship. The shows they had were all great shows, I really enjoyed the Welcome Aboard show. That is were we met our Cruise Director, His name was Butch. I have never seen anyone love their position as much as he does, and believe me when I tell you it shows. If you ever had him on a cruise you will be lucky, he has so much energy and makes things fun. We arrived in the Bahamas, I did not know what my Bf and I were going to do, but as you enter the port there are tons of taxis that will take you all over the island, We did not do that, we went outside the dock and their was a man that had a limo out there and told us he would show us all we could see in the Bahamas and tell us about the history of it. So that is what we ended up doing. It was great, He took us all over, showed us where the stars lived, pointed out the stars islands and took us to the beaches and shopping. He showed us everything, it was so relaxing and fun Then there was a fun day at sea, more to do. I spend a lot of time on the lido deck, love that deck lol. I drank like a fish everything was so good. Next we were in St. Thomas, we all went on a tour (sonny listings) that wasn't through the cruise ship. It was nice, they took you all over St, Thomas and we went to the top of the mountain to have the world famous banana daiquiri, I myself did not like this, could be that I am not crazy over bananas, my younger sister loved them. Then they took you to the beach where I had the most delicious drink its called a bushwhacker, omg all I can say is YUMMY you have to try one of these bad boys, they are great. I started drinking them on the ship too, but they are better in St. Thomas.

Next day we were in St. Maarten, My younger sister and her gf and my bf and I took the party choo choo bus. I wanted to do this since we started planning the trip, only thing is I could never find any reviews on it, but i figured ok what the heck I am going to do it anyways. Well it was a lot of fun and I am so glad I did it. When they say it is a party bus they are not kidding. We got on the bus at 8:30 a.m. and the first thing they do is hand you a fruit punch loaded with rum, I know it is early in the morning, but we were on vacation lol. So we partied with the rest of them lol. It takes you on both sides of the island, that was one thing I liked, cause you got to see the Dutch side and the French side. after you get on the bus and they hand you a drink, your very first stop, you get a welcome drink lol. everytime you left the bus to see something or take a photo you can back on and you could see that the bar in the back of the bus was lined up with drinks just waiting for you, you never had a empty hand on this excursion. We all went shopping and then went to orient beach, it was beautiful. A lot of pan handlers there though. But if you can get past that, the beach itself is a site to see. When you get back on the bus, you head back to the ship, they give you the option to stop in Phillipsburg to shop, where you can walk back to the ship or take a taxi, or you can just head back to the ship. that is what we did. But it was a great time and a heck of a lot of fun. We ate dinner every night (except one night) at the Platinum Dining Room, Our Head waiter name was Putu and our waiters name was Santa, they were both great, they joked and kidded around with us and got us involved in the nightly dining room show. it was fun and you looked forward to dinner. My room stewards name was Supoj, he told me to call him "P" he was wonderful. Whatever I needed he was right there with it for me. I loved the towel animals at one time he had 5 of them in my room, cause he knew how much I liked them and he got a kick out of me making such a fuss over them. I was glad I had him for a steward. Wouldn't trade him for the world. Then it was fun at sea again. GO see the shows and get involved in the parties and the things on board ship it makes it a lot of fun, don't be afraid to do things you wouldn't normally do. Then it was time for our vacation to end. That was a sad day, none of us wanted to come home, we wanted to be back on ship and in the islands. All I have to say was this was a great trip and being a first time cruiser, I can't wait to set sail again.