We chose the Carnival Sunshine because it was a reasonably priced ship sailing on the days we wanted. We left New Year's Eve out of Port Canaveral and had the best New Year's Eve ever!!! We took our 3 kids and went went two other families and their kids. The ship was beautiful. We were always told not to take Carnival and do Royal Caribbean. We took a RC cruise last December with our kids and we would recommend the Sunshine Carnival! The food was excellent! Especially the cheeseburgers. Our room was always clean and tidy. We had great servers in the dining room each night. The bartenders were somewhat slow but there were 3400 guest on this ship. The only downfall was the pools. They were so small and it was hard to find a chair but if you kept walking around there was always someone getting up and they were happy to give you there chair. The ports were fun. Our kids had a blast and met new friends. Departing was a little slow. You just have to have patience. We would highly recommend this ship if you are bringing your kids.