This was our second cruise with Carnival. I have to admit that we booked this with some trepidation...Our last cruise on Carnival (Fascination), while nice, was a little "no frills". But, this was what worked with our schedules, and the port (Tampa) was convenient. I must say, we made a good choice.

The biggest thing that made our cruise a good one was the fact that we splurged for a bigger room. (On our last cruise, we had gotten an inside stateroom way at the bottom, and boy was it tiny!) This time, we got one on the Verada deck, and it was great! Tons of room, our own little balcony, and a great view. I think the bathroom may have been a tiny bit bigger, too (although bathrooms on cruise ships are always notoriously small). Oh, and when you book one of the veranda or higher rooms, you get treated as a VIP, with a special VIP check-in and everything. Totally worth it, in my opinion.

The food was very good, at least for the sit-down meals in the dining room. The buffet and lido deck food was decent, but not amazing. I was a little disappointed in the quality of some of the alcoholic beverages, but I will admit that I am a little picky about my martinis. I never did get one served in a proper martini glass. On the plus side, they had some fun drink specials each day that were served in souvenir containers, like a pina colada in a carved wooden monkey head (now, those were pretty good! I had at least three!) Read more