This was our first cruise on Carnival, with our other cruises being on Norwegian. We had heard all kinds of stories about Carnival being the "party cruise line," and had serious doubts about enjoying this cruise, but for the incredible price of $199 for 5 nights (although we upgraded to $269 for a picture window view), we decided to try them. We were VERY pleasantly surprised. Also, since school was back in session, there were very few children on this cruise, whereas two weeks earlier, we heard there had been 700 kids on one cruise. We love kids! But not 700 hundred and not all together! LOL
We drove from Granbury to Galveston a day early, just to be safe with Houston traffic being the way it is. Later, we talked with several people who just BARELY made it to the ship on time, because of the awful traffic in Houston. We stayed at the Candlewood Suites (just okay), very close to the Johnson Space Center and spent the afternoon touring the Center. Very entertaining and educational - would recommend to anyone!
Embarkation was smooth and quick. We got to the pier about 11 AM and were on the ship before noon, enjoying lunch at the buffet.