We are a couple without children ages 34 and 53. I have cruised twice before with Carnival (Inspiration in 2003 and Valor in 2005). My husband cruised once with Carnival in the 1990s. We have not cruised on any other cruise line.
Embarkation in Miami:
Since we are Florida residents, we drove to the Port of Miami. We arrived at about 1:45 PM and parked in the parking garage ($20/per day). It was a safe, secure garage and we felt comfortable leaving our car there. We dropped off our luggage with the porters before parking and made sure to tip $1 per bag. The lines were pretty light by that time and we probably waited about 30-40 minutes to get on the ship. I will say that the ship was already rocking by the time we got on, so if you want to get there at the beginning of the party, try to be at the port around 10:30 AM. Even though Carnival called us 4 days before our sail date and instructed us to arrive later (between 1:30 and 3:00 PM), I know many folks got on the ship way before that. We had zero problems with embarkation and all of our luggage was delivered to our stateroom by about 5:00 PM, so we were off to a good start!
Since we booked at the last minute, we were assigned an interior room on the Verandah deck (Deck 8). Our room was 8394 and it was technically mid-ship but towards the aft elevators. We really liked this because we could walk up one flight of stairs to the Lido deck and get to the Versailles pool (adult only area), pizza, and Emile's (buffet) very easily. We would take this room again in a heartbeat! Felix, our room steward was great. I found the room to be small but thoughtfully laid out and comfortable. Plus, we didn't spend much time in the room, so we weren't too concerned with a view. I also found the hairdryer to be conveniently located near the vanity, and we used our room safe often to store our valuables and passports.