This was my 5th cruise and our 4th family cruise. The family includes 15 year old, 5 year old, 3 year old, 15 month old, me, hubby and my sister and brother in law.
This is our 2nd Carnival cruise and we have cruised with Norweigan and Royal Caribbean. We are Floridians, so we have left from Port Canaveral twice, Tampa once and Miami. This was a very smooth process to get on the boat. We had 2 suites and one balcony, and the suites were able to check into their room right away. Definitely felt VIP.
The food on the ship was my favorite by far. I was actually sick for most of the trip, so I didn't eat very much, but the pizza was delicious! It reminded me of Carrabbas. My sister and mom RAVED about the Mongolian grill and we ate Guy's burgers twice. Delicious! The breakfast buffet was always well stocked and since there were 2 full buffets, we always went to the 2nd one which had a shorter line. There was always seating too, which was sometimes an issue on other cruises. I didn't get to enjoy the omelet bar, but the whole family loved that too. So many little special touches. My dad liked that all the food was in one general vicinity too, not spread out throughout the ship. Even if we all wanted something different, we could be together (although coordinating was rough - lines - more on that).
The room was immaculate! On most cruises, I have felt the rooms were musty and damp, but this room was gorgeous! I didn't need to break out the Glad Plug In that always travels with me. Of course, this was a suite, but still, it was way better than I had even expected. We were able to open the wall between the balconies to join me and my sister's rooms, which gave the kids lots of space to run around and connect all day. The room was super clean (Thanks HERY!). The bathtub was large with jets (girls LOVED that) and even had double sinks. Plenty of storage to unpack and put away suitcases.
Easy in and out. Lots of people on the ground to direct the traffic. We were all excited and distracted looking at the boats, but the staff on the ground patiently showed us where to go every step of the way. The luggage taker even noticed my sister's passports hanging out of a bag that we were going to check, saved the day!