My husband and I are in our late thirties and traveling with my husband's mom and dad -- who are 60 and 65. We sailed on the Western Caribbean itinerary 02-05-05. We booked through Carnival direct and made our own airline reservations nonstop from Minneapolis. Went to Miami a day early and stayed at the Sheraton Biscayne Bay. Nice hotel -- decent price. The one dark spot on this trip however was that our camcorder never made it up to our room from the "security room." Very disappointing, but not much we could do about it. Hotel "never received it." We walked to a liquor store and got some things to put in our checked luggage and bring to our cabin. (My mother-in-law brought wine coolers, but she put them in her carry on and was busted immediately! Haha!! That was funny!) We spent the evening at Bayside Market -- very enjoyable way to spend the evening before the cruise.

Took a taxi to the port Saturday AM about 10:45 a.m. Went through the line without a wait and was seated in an air-conditioned lounge by 11:10. By noon we were on the ship and on the lido deck. Had booked a guarantee balcony and were upgraded to cat 9 a.m.. Awesome room -- bigger than a regular cabin -- and a great wrap around deck on the back corner of the ship. The deck must have been at least 25 ft long. We had a bite to eat and some Carnival specials and then by 1 p.m. our room was ready. Dropped off our luggage, changed into swimsuits and back to the Lido deck for more Carnival specials! Met up with our Cruise Critic friends and enjoyed the afternoon. Waited til the last minute to get to the muster drill -- too many Carnival specials -- but it helped make the drill tolerable!!! (-: Had a little sailing away party on our extended balcony. Ate at the South Beach buffet -- AWESOME shrimp the first night. We were hoping to have them again, but they never had those when we were there the rest of the week.

Spent the first fun day at sea lounging on the deck. Great weather!! Sunny and warm! Read more