We are a family of 4 (us in our mid-late 30s, 18 year old son and 12 year old daughter) who had never cruised before. I spent four years on this site off and on before I finally was able to book a cruise, so I had definitely done my research. I chose this particular cruise because of the itinerary, the ship, and the price. I felt that while we may not be AS happy on an older Carnival ship, the newest (at the time of booking) and biggest would be great. I also really liked the idea of the cove balcony.

As a first time cruiser, I was worried about a few things. Maybe you are too, so I will address those first.

1) Motion sickness. I am SO PRONE to any kind of motion sickness. I even get car sick when I am the one driving sometimes! Medications tend to make me feel even worse, so I was just winging it and hoping it wouldn't be a big problem. Risky, I know. There are some reviews out there regarding motion felt on the Dream, which made me even a little more worried. Did I feel the ship move? Yes, definitely. On a few sea days, you could feel quite a bit. But for whatever reason, I didn't feel the least bit sick from it. I don't know if it was mind over matter, or if it was just that the movement wasn't dips and rocking, per se, but I was very thankful. I actually enjoyed the movement in the end. My husband, on the other hand, who could spin and roll and dip for an hour and be fine, felt "off" the first night. When we were eating dinner and could see the water moving outside the dining room windows, it didn't sit well with him, but he did get better. Read more