We wanted a short cruise out of LA to meet our schedule and this cruise was the only one that fit our timeline. We had cruised Carnival several times before but had become disenchanted with drunken young people and unsupervised tweens. We decided to give it a go and, indeed, there were very few problems with young people and tweens. Those that were unruly were quickly taken in hand by hovering parents. The ship is a bit older with good size inside cabins (much better than other lines we have sailed). Food at night was very good with a broad selection, but the buffet at lunch was quite limited, although there were burgers, pizza, deli sandwiches and Mexican food at each lunch. We upgraded to filet mignon at dinner one night (paying $20 each) and it was well worth it.

Our only complaint - and it is significant - is that there was no babysitting for under-2s that allowed parents to go to dinner and see a show. Night owl sitting started at 10 pm and ended at 1 am. In addition, there are extremely limited times (almost non-existent) when a parent can accompany an under-2 to play with available toys at the center. No toys are available anywhere else and, for those of us who were already packing pretty heavy with diapers, formula, etc., there was not much room left for toys.

So, Carnival is the family fun ship but not unless you are over 2. For my family with additional grandchildren each year, this means Carnival is off our list of cruise lines for family vacations for at least the next 10 years or so. Given that the fix is quite simple (compare to RC and NCL, even Cunard), it's surprising that Carnival has chosen - seemingly intentionally - to ignore families with under-2s. Read more