Shari,
Try not to overpack. If any of you are big water or soda drinkers, consider bringing your own on. You can buy a soda card, but only if you feel like you'll get your moneys worth. For you and the hubby, you can bring a bottle of wine each. If you forget the wine bottle opener, your room steward will have one. You can also bring your bottle of wine with you to dinner, but open it in your cabin first so that you're not charged the corking fee. Bev Mo currently has a buy one bottle of wine, get the second for a nickel promo. Try to keep track of your sale & sign purchases daily. It's your room key that doubles as your ship charge card. Purchases can add up quickly, esp. for drinks. Since you have teenagers, don't let them use their cell phones onboard. The ship cell rates are beyond outrageous. Consider buying walkie-talkies to communicate. Also, consider buying lanyards to carry your sail & sign card so that you don't have to carry it in your pocket/purse/wallet. I would walk around with my s & s card in my lanyard with my lip balm and cash for gambling. Also, try to participate in as many funship activities as you can---such as trivia, scavenger hunts, etc.---it's a great way to meet other fun people. It makes for a much more fun trip. If you have an inside cabin, remember that you won't have any outside light so waking up in the morning will be odd. Consider bringing a travel alarm clock. Also, you may want to bring post-its to be able to leave notes for each other and your room steward. I also bring benefiber which I put in my water so that I feel full and not want to eat everything. There is so much food available. At any of your meals in the dining room, you can order as much as you want. If you order something that you don't like, then you can send it back and order something else. Since most of the food is mass produced---if something tastes a bit off, don't eat it. There could've been some contamination somewhere. Each of our group of 4 had unhappy tummies at one point or another on our 7-day cruise a couple of weeks ago. Also, bring some Pepcid or Immodium for those instances. Pack 2 swimsuits so that you can wear one while the other dries. Most people on these cruises are casual. I spent most of my time wearing my swimsuit under my clothes. Feel free to wear your Carnival robe to the hot tub. Take as many pics as you can. Carnival has many photographers all over the ship. You are not obligated to buy them all. Bring dollar bills with you to tip room service for your morning coffee. A fanny pack is also a great thing to have for days at port. Don't forget to bring the hats, sunscreen, and aloe vera. Have your travel documents ready at embarkation and try to show up by 11am if you can. On the last day, do self-debarkation so that you can get off the ship first. This is the option of carrying off your own luggage, and not checking it the night before. You can also carry your own luggage onboard the first day if you want. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know. Bon Voyage!