This was our 4th cruise with Carnival and second leaving out of San Juan. We flew in the day before and stayed at the Embassy Suites by the airport. which was your basic Embassy Suites. Crowded and it seemed older. We left the bags at the front desk and explored San Juan a little before embarkation.

We arrived for Embarkation at about 3:45 and there was no line at all in the terminal- which was a relief as our prior embarkation we waited in line for about 2 hours. Upon boarding we went to the pool. My 9 year old nephew was excited about the waterslide but it wasnt going to be open until the at sea day. The pools are all salt water.

Our bags were delivered within about 2 hours. We met our steward, Lilie within 10 minutes of being in our room. I was taken back a little when she told me that there were to be no curling irons on board and that she would confiscate it if I were to use one. In 8 cruises I have never heard that- and I was thankful that I did not need one. But she warmed up after the first day (thankfully!) Muster drill is at 9:30 and it is performed in English and Spanish so be prepared for a 45 minute event. something new that we had not had before was when they released from muster they let one side of the ship go first then the other- so our side waited for another 5-10 minutes under the lifeboats. some people looked like they werent handling the humidity very well after standing still for an hour. Read more