Carnival is fun... but you are gonna find yourself stuck for 7 days with alot of kids.. families tend to cruise carnival these days... IMO. JM and I just went on Royal Carribean and I would have to say it was the best time ever.. and not as many kids as I thought there would be... Don't get me wrong, I like kids but when I'm on vacation unless they are my own I prefer not to hear someone else's kids the whole trip, lol

But it all depends on luck.. we talked to some people that their time was the worst and it was only 2 days into the cruise, but we didnt have a single complaint the whole time.. ish will happen, not go your way, or whatever no matter what boat you are on or what liner but Royal Carribean and Princess tend to be the more upscale compared to Carnival and some others.

As far as ports to go to... Costa Maya and Cozumel have alot of hurricaine damage right now but that didnt seem to really effect much of the expierience, it was actaully an expierience that was something I have never seen before. But I went on one that went to St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Granada and some other islands I cant think of but that was a nice scenic vacation. Anything in the carribean will be nice if you are looking for that weather. There will always be snorkling and other water activities that will be pretty much the same wherever you go...