We chose this ship because it was within driving distance of STL. It was a 10 hour drive to the port, which was doable. I wasn't sure what to expect, because my husband and I had done a Royal Carribean cruise alone three years ago. Another reason why we chose Carnival is because it was definitely less expensive. I was prepared for a major downgrade, but to my pleasant surprise, I did not find that to be true. The ship is a little older, but I constantly saw staff cleaning and sanitizing the ship. At one point I went down to my room in the middle of the day and our steward Ketut was on his hands and knees dusting all of the vents in the hallway. I sat in the food area and read a book for a few hours in the evening, and I lost track of how many staff members I saw cleaning tables, ledges, counters, cooking equipment, etc. I think the ship itself was difficult to navigate and the signage was not clear. Even after 5 days on the ship, we'd still get lost going to the certain areas. It is very choppy, and I prefer the promenade set-up of the Royal Caribbean.

Our ocean view room on deck 1 was clean and had plenty of room for our 4 family members (me and my husband and our two boys, ages 12 and 14). I also thought I would hate being on deck 1, but I think I actually prefer it. The ship was loud with entertainment late in to the night, and we did not hear a sound down in our room. We were also located very closely to the exit, so when we ported, getting on and off the ship was a piece of cake.

As far as actives for my teenagers went, Circle C was a hit. They boys loved Timmy, the staff in charge of the club. The boys enjoyed the scavenger hunts, the games, the parties, and the other kids in the club. In fact, on our drive home, our 12 year was in a group text with all of the other kids he met and befriended at Circle C. The water slide was a bit elementary, and the pool sizes were small. I think my 12 year old went down the slide once, and I don't think either boy swam in the pools at all. One night I did sit outside the youth clubs as I waited for my boys to get down with their late night activity (1 am), and I was a bit put off by the language and attitudes of some of the unsupervised older teenagers 15-17. At one point one of the older teenagers was screaming the "F" word at passing adults. I do wish those older teenagers were a bit more supervised. Read more