Carnival Cruises is incorporated in the US and is one of the biggest and most affordable cruise companies in the world. We took their Carnival Conquest ship which was built by the Italian manufacturer Fincantieri for "only" 500 million US dollars. The ship has been in use since 2002 and goes to different islands in the Caribbean under the Panama flag (I wonder why though). The departure port for Carnival Conquest is Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I really liked the way Carnival Cruises handled the check-in process. It was very efficient given the number of passengers - 3000. Once again, the North American efficiency exceeded my expectations. In fact, the check-in started a couple of days before the embarkation (the proper term for cruise ship departure), so if you did your 'homework', your check-in could go as smoothly as possible. Everyone had on option to print their tickets, customs forms and bag tags ahead of time. It allows you to drop your bags at the parking lot as you get off a cab or a bus, so they can be taken right at the door of your stateroom. Once you've dropped your bags, you proceed to the registration desk where they give you stateroom keys (plastic cards, one per passenger) which are also used as your identification and your charge card to make all onboard purchases (in bars, stores, casinos, etc.). Actually, the key is very convenient as it's linked to your credit card, so you don't have to carry cash. 

The ship has 13 decks (floors), and ten of them have staterooms for passengers. 

For the duration of the cruise, our ship never deviated from the schedule for more than 10-15 minutes. It's 5 o'clock in the afternoon and Miami is already disappearing beyond the horizon. 

On the deck 10, there are two areas with pools, hot tubs and loungers. The first and the biggest one (pictured below) is open to everyone, while the second one is for adults only. The water in the pools is salty, likely from the ocean. The water in hot tubs is fresh and chlorinated. There is a water slide working during the day, but it never gets busy because it's so easy to get stuck there if you're not in a fully horizontal position. This deck is the most crowded place on the ship where you can hang out and listen to music, watch or participate in different entertainments. 

This deck pictured below is for 18+ only. Honestly, I didn't see much difference though except, maybe, this one was a bit more quiet. People here and there had drinks right in the pools and on sunbeds. By the way, alcoholic drinks are not included and are quite pricey (around $10 per drink). As a result, we almost didn't see any drunk people. For those not imagining their vacation without alcoholic drinks, there is an all-inclusive option for $50 a day. I'm wondering if it's possible to buy such a package for one person, but use it for two or more?..

The navigation system is right above the captain's bridge. For $95 you can take a 3-hour tour to see how the ship operates inside out. Interesting? Yes. But too expensive. 

It's too busy here during the day. Maybe I just don't like to sunbathe? 

Let's get inside, under A/C.

French impressionism is the official style of the ship. At least, according to Wikipedia. Design and decoration were done in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Can you see those bags all over the hallway? There is an option for passengers to leave them outside their staterooms with proper labels, so they can be collected and delivered ashore by the crew. No one looks after them yet no bag got stolen either. North America does not stop surprising me in a good way with its honesty system.

Each passenger gets assigned a seat at a table (like the one in the picture) for dinner every night. This is considered to be a fine dining restaurant where you'll get the best food from a fixed (à la carte) menu and will be served at the highest standard. You can also have breakfast in one of those restaurants if you're not in a hurry as it usually takes more time to get food than in a buffet restaurant. I would not recommend this option if there is an early arrival in one of the ports of call and you want to maximize your time ashore.  

Twice per trip, there is an elegant dinner. You'll know when from a booklet which is distributed in each stateroom by stewards every day. Elegant dinner implies that men wear shirts and pants or even suits with ties while women wear formal or cocktail dresses. Of course, no one is going to tell you to leave a restaurant if you show up in slippers and shorts, but it's considered disrespectful. The first time we did not pay attention to a booklet, so we didn't know about the dress code. When we realized that it was an elegant dinner, I had to iron my shirt and pants super fast. On those days, the crew usually holds a mini-concert for guests. Songs do not have much effect on me, but waitresses dancing on tables do. A minute ago she brought you a plate with an entree, and right now she's dancing on a table next to you. It was so much fun!

One important aspect is tips. Cruise ships have gone a long way in figuring out how to best manage them to reduce hassle for passengers. It turned out that tips are fixed-priced ($12 a day for each passenger) and are paid at the end of the trip. $12 is distributed in the following way: $6 - for waiters, $4 - for stewards (maids)  and $2 - for the rest of the passenger-facing crew members such as entertainers, children camp workers, etc. I just loved this system as you don't have to carry cash and tip every time someone serves you. Yet they do their job and still get their well-deserved tips from you. Of yes, the crew was amazing and deserved every penny paid!  

And food... Usually, I prefer not to show pictures of it. But I just could not resist this time. The food was amazing, especially dinners at the restaurant! Lobster tails - my favourite one. 

Meatballs from alligators. Not the most delicious dish I've ever tried, but definitely the most exotic one. One night there were flog legs. It tasted like chicken. 

Your usual lunch would be in one of those buffet restaurants. You could also have breakfast or dinner here in case you don't want to eat in a restaurant. 

Hungry between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner? Not a problem. You can have sandwiches any time during the day. What I did not understand though is when people would eat sandwiches instead of really great food from the buffet restaurants. 

The stateroom is quite small, yet very clean and comfortable. As we had never cruised before, I decided to take the cheapest stateroom option - without windows, as we had nothing to compare it with. Honestly, we didn't regret it at all as we didn't spend much time in our stateroom. And the best views are from upper decks anyway.  

Mandatory security training is held on the first day of the embarkation. Each crew member (1,150) no matter what their primary role is on the ship, has a secondary role in case of an emergency. Our stateroom keys indicated a zone we should arrive at during an evacuation. Each zone has a dedicated lifeboat which is supposed to fit all guests from that zone. I really liked the training as I was convinced after it that I was safe on this big ship and if anything happened there was a chance I could survive. 

Daily auctions and master classes were held for those interested in art.

The cruise ship had a camp for children 2-17 with a variety of activities to keep them busy from 10 am to 10 pm.  

Have you tried a dive-in movie? It's when you can watch a movie sitting in a hot tub or a pool. Very cool experience. 

The ocean is indeed blue.

The master class that teaches you to make towel animals.