We cruised to Alaska Last year on Carnival. Its the low end on the scale of cruise ships but that puts it in the price range for people our age. We are in our 20's and have found several couples our age on each of the 4 cruises we have been on (All Carnival). Carnival is a very friendly cruise line...in fact on this cruise we went on several excursions with the cruise director and her assistant (25 mile bike into a fish hatchery, 6-7 mile hike into a secluded set of waterfalls, and some great kayaking). They took pictures with their digital camera and burned CDs for us at no charge.

But if you are looking for everyone to be dressed in formals for dinner you just won't find that atmosphere on their ships. This is a plus for us...I wear suits to the sit-down dinners but in no way are offended by how others are dressed (Whatever they feel comfortable in is ok with me)

I do agree about the seating. We have always done with small tables (4-6 people) and have met some wonderful people (Carnival has always done a great job seating us with people in their 20's-30's). Its nice to sit with the same people each night and get to know them.

I think it all depends on what kind of experience you are looking for.

annerj