We sailed on the Liberty Feb 18 to Feb 26. Overall, this was a great cruising experience for myself, my wife, and our three boys, ages 10, 14, and 15.
We flew in a day early, and spent the day before the cruise at Universal in Orlando. This was for 2 reasons. First of all, it was MUCH cheaper to fly into Orlando, as opposed to Ft. Lauderdale. Also, it was our 14 year old's birthday, and we had a blast at Universal, as we had never been. We then rented a van from Alamo, and drove to the Embassy Suites for our "cruise eve". A bit on the pricey side, but we love this hotel. Gorgeous accommodations, and the breakfast is wonderful (and complimentary).
Got to the ship by 11:30, and were in our rooms by 12:20-very quick and efficient in my opinion. 11:30 is a good time to get there, as when our shuttle pulled in, they had just opened the doors, letting a fairly lengthy line of people in. Any earlier, and we would have been waiting outside. The only snag, if you want to call it that, is that Carnival would not re-key our group to have the three boys in their inside cabin,with the two of us across the hall in our balcony. We have cruised with the boys before, and this was never a problem. We solved the problem by having one additional key made for each room, and then we all had access to the cabins we were sleeping in. Apparently, Carnival has cracked down on the issue of an adult staying in the rooms with kids. Nobody ever checked to determine whether we were following the rules, and the room steward knew that we were together across the hall, and therefore, it was no problem, other than two of us needing both a sign and sail card, and the extra room key.