Background: Cruise for myself and DS (12). This was my 8th and his 4th. This cruise was picked because it was close by and since I booked it over a year in advance, was relatively inexpensive (used Early saver). We didn't intend on doing excursions or anything special. I was looking forward to relaxing and taking it easy and doing whatever I wanted to do, or nothing at all...Hotel: We drove the 3 hour drive to Charleston on Sunday mid-day and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Mt. Pleasant. Booked the cruise n stay package and I would highly recommend this place. Shuttle picked us up a little before 11 and were on the ship before noon. Embarkation: Since I booked a suite (V-14), we had VIP embarking, which was fine, although getting there as early as we did, there was not much of a line in the regular embarking. Check-in was smooth and absolutely no problems getting on board.Stateroom: Room was nice with balcony, but definitely not what I would consider a suite. I did enjoy the balcony alot through the cruise. I did not bring a hairdryer, so had to ask my room steward Gilbert for one. He told me good thing I asked early because he only had 2! Our steward was GREAT and never had any issues with the room. I did bring some clothes pins and was glad I did; several of them worked well to keep the curtain closed tightly as my DS and I usually slept in most mornings. I also enjoyed the "refrigerator"; I had packed some flavored creamers and they came in handy each morning with my coffees.Circle C: DS was excited about being able to come and go as he pleased. First day when we got the fun times, he went through and highlighted what he wanted to do. I also brought post-it notes and we got into the habit of leaving each other notes of where we'd be and when. DS had a meet n greet the first night with Circle C and there were very few times that I saw him for the rest of the cruise. He had a blast and met a lot of new friends. They really do have a good program for the 12-14 yr olds. Food: We had Anytime dining, so did the dining room the first night. Although we only went 3 of the 5 nights, there was never a wait. We also enjoyed the sushi spot a few nights as well. I thought the food was good for the most part. I did do the galley tour on the last day and that was just a walk through of the galley, but still neat to see. I did room service for breakfast once and for lunch once. DS enjoyed the Pizzaria as well as the icecream station. I also enjoyed the Bistro for chai tea lattes a few days. I think the cost was about $2.60. Sea Days: The first day at sea I was a little bummed that I wasn't able to find ONE SINGLE lounge chair. I walked all over that ship and they were all taken. (My friends later told me they couldn't find a chair either). I was able to use my balcony to my benefit and went up and laid out to get some sun! Nassau & Freeport: We've both been to these spots before so didn't have any plans. In Freeport, we walked off the ship to do some minor souvenir shopping. In Nassau, we did the same. Stopped by the rum cake shop to get the 6-pack of assorted rum cakes for $29.99. Not a bad deal and that took care of 6 of the people I had to buy for. Then to Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some t-shirts. Misc: There were a ton of kids on the ship; I heard from someone that they had 1,000 onboard, and specifically 300ish in my DS age range (12-14).. WOW!! I did not experience any rude or obnoxious kids; they were all well behaved. It was some of the adults that weren't! I did feel the movement on this ship more so than on past ships. This is one of the smallest that I've been on. Our room was located on Verandah deck (11), so I'm sure that didn't help things either. I did take dramamine throughout the cruise and overall, I was fine.We saw the show on the 2nd night and that was it. I decided before I got on the ship that if I went to all the shows - great! If I went to none of the shows - great too! This vacation was all about relaxing and more importantly - NOT WORKING!! Overall, DS and I had a great vacation. I'm sure we will cruise Carnival again, but maybe one of the newer ships next time.