We have avoided cruises out of the dislike of crowded places, the assumption that the food couldn’t possibly be decent & fear of motion sickness...But when you have three kids of different ages spanning into the teens, a Carnival cruise is the perfect vacation! Our two older kids were able to safely be independent most of the trip with their teen & preteen clubs, and we were able to catch a few breaks in the serenity area while our youngest went to camp ocean a few times. We figured out the patterns of the crowds with food and the pool and were able to dine and enjoy the pool during the quieter times. The burgers, tacos, Lido buffet and dining room were all excellent! Not at all like mass produced cafeteria food. Things I would do differently: 1. put the big kids in an adjoining room because a single interior state room with 5 people was way too tight 2. Find a port excursion that takes off immediately after the ship docks because ours started at 12 and we had to cut it short. 3. Bring our own lanyards because they are expensive but handy as well as our own sparkling water because the included fountain water & ice tea taste pretty bad. We had an onboard credit of $70 through a promotion and didn’t come close to consuming $50 each in alcohol per day nor are we soda drinkers so the cheers program would not have made sense. Our final bill for a family of five with daily but conservative drinkers was $230. Not bad at all! Lastly the carnival staff on the ecstasy ship was exceptional! They made it very special and incredibly fun. We are all excited to do it again!