My husband and I booked this cruise for our 10th wedding anniversary. We brought our two youngest kids with us (ages 8 & 5). We chose Carnival because it was budget friendly, geared toward families and had numerous amenities for children. What we LOVED about our cruise was:

1. SERVICE: our Steward Kelvin; he was literally THE BEST! I'm not sure when he slept because he was in the hallway working when we left in the morning and when we came back late at night. He was SO friendly, always smiling and our kids were so thrilled and excited to see what towel animal he was going to leave them each day. We left Kelvin sticky notes on our big mirror asking questions or leaving directions for things we needed. He always had them delivered and in place while we were out of the room. Our room was straightened up or re-stocked twice a day. Thank you Kelvin! We didn't have a whole lot of interaction with many other crew members except a few other stewards and we were already treated to smiles and kind words. Room service was fast, even though there are not a lot of options on the menu.

2. ENTERTAINMENT & ACTIVITIES: There was always seating. We never had to look hard for a couple unoccupied lounge chairs in the area we wanted to sit in. It was so relaxing to sit out in the sun and sea breeze while the kids went up and down the twister slide and sat in the "hot" tubs. (the hot tubs are really not hot at all, they are like a heated pool temperature). We went over spring break and there were A LOT of small children on the ship and a good few tweens and teens as well. The children took over the hot tubs and pools like piranhas to a bone. Most parents and adults sat back in loungers and didn't mind. This was a perfect example of why they have adult only areas and pools on the ship I guess. We didn't mind. Also, was not aware that the pools and water slide are filled with ocean saltwater, so that was an experience as well. Not bad, just surprising to taste that. It was obviously filtered somehow. Our kids met a lot of great friends. We attended an amazing Rock-N-Roll Concert that we absolutely LOVED! Our CD was Brandon and we thought he did a good job. He certainly had a lot of places to be and obligations that kept him moving quickly. Our kids also part took in the BUILD-A-BEAR operation. I did a lot of research ahead of time, trying to budget for everything and even that fell short for this. No prices were posted anywhere, and the emcee for the event didn't start announcing prices until well into the event for people still in line. We were one of the first families in line so while we were at a table helping our kids stuff their animals, many parents came up to ask prices on the items we had purchased. It ended up costing $80 for 2 animals, a dress, shirt and pair of shoes for the little buggers. I thought the whole event was more than a little unorganized and thrown together. Read more