This was my 2nd cruise, first on Carnival. There were 5 in our group - my son and my friend and I were in a junior suite on the Veranda deck and my daughter and her friend (24 & 23) were on the Empress deck. Having sailed last year out of Galveston on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody, I opted for Carnival for this trip based on its reputation for appealing to young adult cruisers. It proved to be a good choice for us; we all found activities to enjoy, and it was a great trip!

We stayed in Galveston at the Holiday Inn Saturday night. They offer a free shuttle to and from the ship, which saves the hassle and cost of parking. I wish I'd planned on more time in Galveston, as it's a pretty city and we were right on the beach. Getting on the ship was fairly quick and easy. Everyone was friendly, the only delay came when they took three of us to a different check-in area, because we were in a suite. We then found that, because my daughter was going to be on my credit card, we had to check in together. I was immediately glad that I'd invested in walkie-talkies, as we were quickly able to be in contact and find each other (tip: get the dual channel walkie-talkies, or you'll be hearing lots of others talking on them). Unfortunately, getting off the boat the next Sunday wouldn't prove as easy or fun. - Although we were one of the first groups off the boat, and it was just past 11:00, a lot of people were arriving to get on the ship. There were traffic jams and the police weren't doing much to manage the traffic.... It would help if Carnival would control the access and not allow check-in that early, and if passengers would respect the stated check-in times, because in 7 days they'll be the ones trying to get off and out.

Getting back to the fun stuff: The rooms were roomy and clean. The suite we had was perfect for the 3 of us. - The sofa made into a bed, but even with it made up there was plenty of room to get around. We had a refrigerator, which came in handy, and a VCR, which we never used. We took an over-the-door shoe bag for the bathroom door, which really helped keep us organized, and I also took a hanging shoe bag for the closet, which helped because we had a lot of shoes. We enjoyed having a balcony, although I was disappointed that it had a door instead of sliding glass. The balcony was great when we were in or leaving port, but I'm not sure if it would be worth the money if there'd just been 2 of us. Our room steward was "Super", which he was, very quiet but efficient! Sometimes we gave him very little time between one of us going from and one returning to the room, but he always managed to get it done! My daughter was very satisfied with her room, especially the roominess of the bathroom. Their steward "Antonio" deserves an award for managing to maintain their room in between their wardrobe changes! We took 7 or 8 water bottles and 10 or 11 Cokes on with us, and would definitely take more of both next time, as we went through it all. Read more