We were a family of 5 - two adults, 2 kids (6 & 7), and a grandparent. We booked this specific cruise primarily because we loved Half Moon Cay so much the first time, and we had been on 3 previous Carnival cruises. We understand that Carnival is somewhat of the “value” brand, but we had no issues with any of our prior trips. This one felt a bit different, though. I left this cruise feeling disappointed. I'll go over the major points that stuck with me, both the good and the bad.
The cabin was ridiculously small. This was my 9th cruise, so I know a stateroom. This was noticeably tiny. Our cabin stewards were fine. We didn't have any special needs, so there wasn't much interaction with them.
My kids hated Camp Carnival. I have no idea why. They had loved it on their first cruise, but this time they complained about it the entire time. It's also closed at awkward times periodically throughout the day. We are early diners, but CC was closed every day from 5-6 pm. This is the exact time we are trying to get ready for dinner, and having the kids in that tiny stateroom made it quite difficult. They did have a nice Waterpark area, and my older son enjoyed the slides, but the area was packed, absolutely nowhere for us to sit to watch them, and zero bar service. (more on this later) The weather wasn't great, so that hampered the outdoor activities, and there were very few coordinated activities for kids outside of the Camp.
I have been dying to try SNUBA forever and this did NOT disappoint. I loved every minute of it. The boat crew and instructors were helpful and fun. I would do this again in an instant.
We just hung at the beach. We LOVE HMC, but we find that if you're camped out near the waterslides - that the kids love - the walk to the food is way too far. I'd suggest they add an additional location for lunch, and a few more bar servers also. Still, a beautiful beach with soft sand and gorgeous water.