We decided last minute on taking this cruise out of NY because of the price and the location. We live in Southern NJ and have two kids ages 2 & 5. It was only a 2 hour drive to the port, easy to find and easy to park. Dropped our bags off at the curb and walked right in, we were on the ship in less than 30 minutes. Totally worth paying $30/day to park at the pier.

Our OV cabin was great! We checked it out right away. They had it set up as a king with a single and a bunk above the single. It was perfect for my family, the kids loved the bunk! The beds, linens and pillows were great...we all slept like rocks, even my 2 yr. old! She did not want to get out of bed! Glad we went with an OV as we had originally booked an inside..changed my mind last minute and it was worth it! Saw our steward once or twice..he was fine. Our cabin was always clean and had plenty of towels and towel animals and chocolates on the pillow at night. Basic samples of toothpaste and soaps in the bathroom, some razors and liquid body wash and shampoo in the shower stall.

Off to Camp Carnival. What a great place for small kids especially. We checked it out the first day and the kids didn't want to leave! We would drop them off around 9am and pick them up before 12 for lunch. We were given a bulky cell phone to carry in case the kids needed to be picked up, but that never happened. They always had some kind of craft project with them or had their faces painted or had stories about meeting Funship Freddie when we picked them up. They loved it! With the exception of the first nite in the MDR, they had dinner with Camp Carnival every nite, their choice. We dropped them off near the Fish n' Chips area on the 2nd floor of the Red Sail buffet. They had the food they liked and then back to camp. We picked them up every nite at 10..exhausted, but very happy! They cried when we had to go home. Read more