Arrival: We arrived a day early in Miami via Ft. Lauderdale Airport from Detroit. Larrys Limo Service picked us up right on time, excellent service and drove us to the Holiday Inn at the Port. The Holiday Inn was perfect for us to spend some time at Bayside. The hotel is average, nothing 4 or 5 star but serves the purpose for a one night stay. My advice here is to get out of your room before 10:00 am when you depart and get your luggage to the lobby area. We made our way to the elevators at 10:15 am and by 11:00 am we made it to the lobby area. Elevators were packed with people all trying to do the same thing. Taxis and shuttles were available outside the hotel for a quick trip to the pier.

Embarkation: This was a very good, well organized procedure by Carnival. They moved people thru this area and the staff was very friendly and helpful. The line for photos was quite long but that is to be expected.

The Ship: This was our first Carnival cruise having been on the Premier Big Red Boat once, Royal Caribbean three times and Princess once. I would recommend Carnival to anyone. We had a very good experience after being worried from other people saying how this was nothing but a party boat. Well, we enjoy having a good time and on this ship you can do as much as you want or as little as you want. We were treated first class by everyone on the ship. Read more