Embarkation was a breeze! It seems to be getting easier and easier each year. We registered with the Fun Pass and I don't know if that made any difference, but we almost just walked onto the ship. We were able to board at 11:30 but staterooms were not available until 1:00 which wasn't that bad, but we were still hauling around our carry-ons and wanted to drop them off in the room. Once we did that it was easier to explore the ship.
This was my fifth and my family's fourth cruise with Carnival. While this is not our favorite cruiseline, we still have a good time - after all, how can you not have a good time on a cruise (barring recent problems at sea of course!). We really enjoyed the ports of call for this trip.
We travelled with 2 other families and varying ages of children (there were 4 13-year old boys and 4 girls - 21, 19, 16, and 14). With these ages, the children didn't care to go into Camp Carnival but there was still plenty of activities for them to do (basketball, miniature golf, hanging out & getting ice cream and pizza with other kids they met on the ship, etc.).