Carnival can be one of the best deals around!

With outside staterooms, even balconies, available for less than a thousand dollars per person per week (if you shop around), Carnival may well offer the most bang for the mid-price cruiser's buck.

Carnival is the largest, most popular cruise line in the world. Known for a Vegas-like festive-yet-casual atmosphere, it offers a variety of dining, entertainment and activities to suit any taste. Its 23 "Fun Ships", which constitute the newest, most modern fleet at sea, sail for 2 to 17 days throughout the world on a choice of itineraries that no other line can match.

Standard cabins now include robes, and the "Carnival Comfort Bed" sleep system features deluxe new plush mattresses, soft duvets, high quality linens and upgraded pillows. (Suite passengers have a "suite pillow menu" from which to select a specific pillow of their liking.)

Taking Kids?
The exemplary "Camp Carnival" is available on all ships year-round for Toddlers (2-5) Juniors (6-8) Intermediate (9-12) and Teens (13-15), with supervised activities for each in facilities open from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Group babysitting is available in the playroom between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. and, 8 a.m. to noon on port days for a fee. There is no in-cabin babysitting. Cribs are available upon request, but bring your own stroller.

The recreational fitness program "ExerSeas" aims to get the next generation of couch potatoes up and burning off some calories. "A-B-Seas" is a reading and writing program that a lot of little ones seem to relish, while H2Ocean features a wide variety of enjoyable-looking hands-on science projects.

The line's popular EduCruise program has also been expanded to include even more interactive projects focusing on the cultures, landmarks, history and geography of the destinations to which Carnival sails.

 The youth spa program, recently introduced on Carnival Miracle, allows kids ages 12-14 and their parents to indulge in luxurious body and beauty treatments together on port days in the ship's health and fitness center at a discount.

Offered to mother/daughter and father/son combinations, packages include hair and nail treatments, health evaluations, and foot and scalp massages.

Fantasy, Spirit and Conquest-class ships all have dedicated teen areas, including a club/coffee bar and a high-tech game room.