This was our first cruise (week of 3/26/06 and we actually went on a cruise by default as our hotel in Cancun was destroyed. I have always wanted to try a cruise and I am glad we did it as we had a great time. Being a traveling Salesperson my whole life, it was great not to have to drive for a whole week. Do not think I have done that since 15 years old. Everything is taken care of for you on the ship. The overall service on the Cruise was excellent. The food is comparable to what you would get at a good buffet in Las Vegas. Nothing great but decent food.
Getting to Galveston. We flew into Houston Hobby for two reasons. It is much closer to Galveston then George Bush Airport and I had free tickets on Southwest. We rented a car from Enterprise. I highly recommend this as the total cost round trip was about $80. They have a great deal on one way rentals so you do not have to pay parking. It would of cost us over $200 to do the transfers with Carnival plus we would of had to wait for everyone to get on a bus. Enterprise is located at Houston Hobby and right at the cruise terminal.
Embarkation-This was relatively painless and took maybe 30 minutes. Please note you can get on the ship earlier then 1:30pm. We were on at 12pm but could not get into our room until 1:30pm. You can eat and sit in public areas.