We drove from canada to miami to start with which I won't describe let's just say it was nice to be heading south.. we are first time cruisers one and all.So we were excited and scared all at the same time.When we got to Miami we had booked rooms at the La Quinta inn by the airport..Which turned out to be not too bad and we could leave our cars there for free and they have a shuttle to the port for free also.we paid about $90 each room more or less...and the rooms were tidy if not spectacular...and the restaurant in front of the hotel is closed up so it seems alittle weird when you drive in but the staff was very helpful with shopping directions and other questions so it was all in all a not too bad place...continental breakfast also. Then we had booked ourselves on the 10;45 shuttle to the port which worked great. we had no idea what we were doing when we got there but we were helped every step of the way by staff..I wanted a wheelchair for my mum so we asked and one magically appeared with a nice staff member who took us all into the ship and helped us go thru the process of embarkation. we were able to go to our room and leave our luggage there and then ran around checking out the ship.. we had some lunch in the redsail dinning room..and then toured around some more until it was time to setsail then we watched sail away and were very happy with ourselves if you know what i mean.. We had early dining in the platinum room we had an excellent waiter who told us to call him Mary(not merry)couldn't really pronounce his real name he was from Bali and he was very nice and a pretty good dancer..excellent waiter too. we could dress how we wanted the first night because of the luggage thing so that was handy.we started off with amazing food on the first night and we had amazing food every night from then on...carnival food lives up to the hype i can tell you...because of my job I have pretty high expectations of food taste and presentation and they didn't miss on either count.. check out the fish and chips,which has these amazing shrimp zucchini fritter things which are really hard to describe except YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM and there are other little exotic things to try there also..so don't miss that and the pizza 24/7 woohoo the teens loved that at midnight after Karaoke..I loved it anytime.. the deli had good sandwiches also..sushi excellent if you wind that way too.. you just don't have time to eat all the good food really! we did the welcome show that night and it was pretty good nothing too exceptional. The next day was at sea so it was up and out on deck with everyone else that day..very sunny and warm...a little tricky to find seats together but we finally did..my 10 year old niece went crazy on the slide never getting off until she had to..she found other little friends who were just as up for it as her and they went every chance they got. we had breakfast and lunch in the redsail which was pretty good..one of our couples went to the dining room for breakfast to have eggs benedict every morning they could so that's another option I never took advantage of.My mum and dad went to the dining room for lunch a few times and enjoyed it to I just never bothered..but i would next time.. supper was awesome again then it was off to the pg comedy show the comedians were really good every night we did this and we did it three nights out of 4.. we also saw a ventriloquist one night and he was very funny... we went to Karaoke pretty often since we don't gamble or go to the r rated shows. this was fun we met alot of really funny and entertaining people there and it was very relaxing...made alot of new friends... first stop cozumel...we had booked a shore tour on a catamatan..with manta tours..they picked us up at the port and took us out to snorkel...even my mum was ablet o come although i was a little worried about this...her wheelchair came to but she can walk also so it's just for getting around..but they put out a little ramp for her which worked great..we all had a wonderful time on the catamaran since some of us don't swim..it was still enjoyable for them..the snorkeling in cozumel where we went was alright but Roatan is far better in terms of fish and LIVE coral and abundance of coral..but it was still a great way to spend the day..did some shopping after then back on board for more great food..and comedy and Karaoke... next stop Belize we did a mayan ruin tour which include a nice authentic lunch and a really pretty restaurant named mayan wells I think..we went with experiencebelizetours...it was raining in belize so i am glad this was not a beach day..the ruins were still interesting...our guide rented umbrellas for us which worked out good..she called ahead for them.. it is a little bit of a drive there so we only had a little time back at port since this is a tendering port we had to get on earlier.. back for more food and good show and Karaoke... they were doing try outs for the legend show in the karaoke bar so some of us were trying out for this..5 out of 10 in the show were our friends...were just a little extraverted...the legends show is a talent show on sat of the cruise which stars the singing talents of your fellow passengers in their best costumes as different singers such as elton john garth brooks etc... because we knew everyone in the show it really made it more fun for us...go ricky martin... next stop Roatan...we did a beach day here at bananarama resort they picked us up and drove us over there very nice drive...I cannot stress enought o plan a snorkel beach thing in Roatan it is by far the best snorkeling and or diving you we find...we went to the beach and one of the locals took us out to the reef....the only thing wrong with this day was the stop in roatan is way toooooooooooo short and i don't know why...but it was our best day really.. not much time to shop but we bought a few things at the beach..kids selling necklaces etc..and there are some nice shops there.. back for yummy food on board...and guess what else? comedy and Karaoke..how did you guess? next stop grand cayman...not such nice weather and we hadn't planned anything so we headed off to 7 mile beach...swam some there but it started to rain and wasn't so nice but we spent a few hours there then went shopping...so it was all good..the tender here is very short so it was no problem..and it is a later port gets in around 10am so we ate breakfast in a more leisurely manner that morning which was a bit of a break.. this night is a formal night so the food is even more awesome and the waiters i forgot to add put on a nice little dancing show most nights so it's a lot of fun to watch. next day is at sea and it's a bit wavy so there are a few people feeling not so great my dad spent a few hours sleeping and taking gravol or whatever but it calmed down in the afternoon. we were back to normal for the supper and legends show which was a real blast.. put our bags out before we went to the show and they were gone when we got back..then since we were so far down in the ship we didn't really need to get ready to leave til ten so we lounged around eating breakfast and watching the port not too stressful at all...our bags were waiting for us so it was pretty good except the line for customs of course but what's new with that.. Just a note about our room we were on the first floor right by the elevators which worked great for us they were quiet rooms and everything show and food wise is on the 3rd or 4th floor so it was pretty easy..and the rooms were very nice ocean view close to the water which i found really very peaceful to look at everyday..if you are higher up you don't see it unless you look out..so there is something to be said for cheapos like us.. hope you enjopy the glory like we did