Just to start with some background...this is my 11th cruise with Carnival and I have also sailed with RCCL, Disney and HAL.

We had FTTF so embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. After my next 7 day cruise, I will be platinum so I will never have to buy again. It is getting too expensive and now I have to buy for 2 cabins. My sons will still be minors so when I become platinum, it will include their cabin. They are only 10 days behind me so they will be platinum soon too. It was worth it as we tendered off the ship in Cabo way before any numbers were called. Getting on the ship is faster. Also, you don`t have to wait in the line at guest services. Debarkation is so comfortable as well as you usually meet in the theater or dining room and enjoy coffee and pastries and then get escorted of the ship. You get luggage tag number 2.

I booked 2 cabins for my spouse and myself and one for my teenage sons. This was the first cruise in which they would have their own cabin and now we can never go back to one cabin. We were in an aft balcony 8461 and the boys in interior cabin 8455. We love the aft balconies. Cabin 8461 is large enough for 2 lounge chairs. What is so wonderful about the aft balconies is that you don`t experience the wind you get with a regular balcony. As the ship sails, regardless of the weather, you can sit an enjoy the balcony. It is so peaceful at the back of the ship. We were one below the lido and there was some deck chair scraping sounds but it was very minimal and we never heard it inside the cabin. Also, being at the back of the ship, you don`t hear alot of hallway noise as the only people really coming down to that end are the people that have cabins there. The inside cabin was as expected. We had some issues with our cabin (the door was difficult to open from inside and the drain in the shower was very slow to drain and made a bit of a mess). We notified our Steward and he IMMEDIATELY had someone come for both issues and they were resolved right away. We went to the guest services and they got us all additional keys for each other`s stateroom so the boys could enter ours and we could enter theirs. Read more