We scheduled our cruise almost a year in advance for our kids (all boys ages 18, 15 & 13) Spring Break. We drove from Virginia to Tampa and booked a room at the Holiday Inn Rocky Point for their stay and park package. It was a good deal and we are Priority Club members so we thought it was a convenient to nab a few extra reward points from Holiday Inn. We checked in pretty late since we were driving down and got a 1:00 reservation the next day for the shuttle to the port terminal. I'm a bit of a control freak and like to be early every where and thought that it was going to be awful getting to the terminal so late but it turned out to be amazing! We got out, tipped the porter for our bags and headed inside. It took us about 15 minutes to get through the line and get our coveted sign and sail cards. Pretty fast! We headed on to the ship and while I was signing the kids up for the soda card, my dh was at guest services requesting our balcony door be opened between the kid's balcony and ours. We then went directly to our room which was ready and dropped off our carry on bags. We had taken a twelve pack of Pepsi, a 12 pack of sprite and a decoy 12 pack of Dr. Pepper. My husband had carefully unpacked the soda and repacked it with beer. We planned this year and had pre-purchased whiskey and Malibu to add to our sodas to keep our bar tab to a minimum. The Bon Voyage department had the alcohol in our room upon arrival packaged with a nice little bow. We also brought on a 12 pack of water. That was a pretty heavy bag and DH was happy to be rid of hauling it around. We then went up to the Lido deck and got our slices of pizza and first drink of the day. Soon we were underway and happy to set sail. We had early dining...we had the same early dining last year and it worked better for us last year. Our kids last year really enjoyed the Club O2 and Circle C clubs in the evening on the Carnival Sensation. They had lots of different activities and we rarely saw our kids. We were disappointed that although there were a lot of kids on board for Spring Break sailing the clubs had very few activities...mostly just karaoke and dance parties. Not really my kids cup of tea. There was plenty of drinking going on in the age group that was able to be in Club O2 and it got a little obnoxious. I don't blame Carnival as I mostly saw the parents buying the booze for their teenagers. Pretty sad but nothing that Carnival could do about it. I mostly felt sorry for the camp directors having to try to corral the kids. Anyway, early dining this year was a bust...we had Michael & Martin as waiters. Not a good experience at all...we were usually one of their first tables seated and we were always the last to leave. The timing is just off. We didn't even go to the main dining room on the last 2 days of our trip because it truly got to be a painful experience. A lengthy dinner and would usually make us miss the first pg comedy show and then we couldn't see the later shows because we were at the later pg show. Also missed all the sunsets....Food quality seemed to be a little off on this cruise as well. It wasn't bad but not anything that you would be raving about...the best food we had all week was the Chicken Fajita Wrap from room service. First Day was a Sea Day...we slept in (the beds and pillows on the Carnival ships are amazing. I haven't slept that good in years!) DH loves to gamble so he did some of that all week. He was a smidge irritated that Carnival now has a "Drinks On Us" promotion in the casino. The only caveat is that you have to earn 1500 points. The only way to earn the points is on the slot machines. My DH prefers that table games and I think we can all agree that more money is lost on the table games and they should probably find a way to "reward" their big players. A great little tip here though is that the sports bar just off the casino offers pitchers of beer. If you visit when a certain not to be named bartender to be protect the innocent is on duty he will give you 5 glasses of beer instead of the pitcher. So you can get a glass of beer and he will write on your receipt how many glasses he still owes you. It's $14 for those 5 drinks. Cheaper than the bucket of beer and you don't have to carry it around with you. We visited the Serenity deck this day too. What an amazing piece of paradise this is...the last sea day I was so jealous of the people that had nabbed one of the coveted hammocks to lounge and read all day. It just doesn't get much better. First port stop was Grand Cayman...loved it! What's not to love? Beautiful place and perfect weather. We had arranged to take the Pirate Encounter. What a fun shore excursion. Not great for sensitive little kids as the pirates will gather them on deck and make them scrub the deck and dump water on them. But for our teenagers it was awesome! I loved watching them swab the deck like real scallywags! After a short little tour of the bay they anchor up and let you jump from the pirate ship into the brilliant blue water of the Caribbean Sea. What an experience! (Safety note: Don't do a cannon ball from the top deck...it's further down than you think. One poor man on our trip did and it was the only time he jumped. I think he hit the water a bit hard in a certain region...ouch!) Anyway, great fun! We hit the Hard Rock for a yummy lunch before visiting a few shops. Not great shopping in Grand Cayman for you bargain hunters. We left empty handed except for some great pictures and a handful of fun memories. Next up...Cozumel, Mexico. We didn't plan any excursions on this trip. We spent the day bargaining with the locals. My eighteen year old learned the valuable lesson of negotiating while picking up some souvenirs from the region. My 15 year old got a t-shirt. My 13 year walked around all day with a big sombrero and happy grin on his face. And I found some great deals on pearl necklaces that DH did some negotiating and managed to get me 2 necklaces instead of one (guess who else had a silly grin on her face?) And DH visited the duty free shops for Crown Royal (2 liters for $35) and some cigars. What a fun day! Third port stop: Belize...again no shore excursion booked here...we just did some shopping around the port area in the safety zone. Interesting to see a few glimpses outside the safety zone and you learn real quick why they tell you to stay inside this area. When we booked this cruise, this was the destination I was most looking forward to...it sounded so exotic. In hind sight, I wish we could have skipped this day and had an extra day in Isla Roatan.Last port stop, Isla Roatan...or as I like to call it my future home! What a neat place! We had booked the Zip lining and Tabyana Beach Break. This was the entire family's favorite day. The zip lining was an absolute hoot! Only complaint...it went by too fast! Afterwards they take you by bus to the Tabyana Beach Resort. Fabulous place. The sand couldn't be whiter and the water a beautiful turquoise clear blue. I had a delightful nap on the beach here. The water was still a bit chilly but plenty of people were out in it snorkeling and swimming. Even by the shore you could see schools of fish and we even had two bigger fish come in for a snack from the little fish. Great times here and if you don't leave completely relaxed then you probably should have stayed home. You take a nice little bus drive through town. As with any third world country you see heartbreak and simplicity to life that makes you smile all in the same journey. They have recently built the pier area here and it is beautiful but again not a great place for shopping. In short, spend your money in Cozumel...book your excursions in the other ports and enjoy! This is a great cruise! We wouldn't hesitate to book this same cruise again.