My husband and I, along with 3 of our friends recently returned from our 7 day Carnival Dream cruise to the Western Caribbean. This was our fourth cruise overall, 3 on Carnival and most recently we sailed on Princess last fall. The Dream was the largest boat we had sailed on and we initially had our reservations about sailing on such a large boat with so many people. Needless to say, we were overall pleasantly surprised by the "small" feel of the boat.

The Dream left out of Port Canaveral on Saturday. Our group flew down on Saturday Morning, the day of the cruise, something we rarely do but it worked out well. We flew from DCA to FLL, arriving in FLL around 10. Carnival staff was already waiting for us in the luggage claim area, directing us to check in for the bus transfer we bought to Port Canaveral. We waited maybe 20 minutes before we were all on a bus and off to Port Canaveral, approx a 30-40 minute bus ride.

One advantage if Port Canaveral is Carnival has their own building dedicated solely to them. The bus dropped us off at the front doors and we walked right inside and into security while they handled our luggage outside. Once we arrived at the terminal we never had to worry about toting our luggage around again. Embarkation is definitely one of Carnival's strong points...painless and super easy. Once through security they out you in line for check in where you are issued your Sail and Sign card and given a boarding number. They used this number to board the ship in groups, calling numbers, getting people's pictures taken and getting you on the ship. Again, painless....we didn't have to wait more than 15 minutes. By the time all this was said and done, it was about noon and we were already on the ships starting our vacation. Granted our rooms weren't ready yet but the rest of the boat was and we took full advantage! Read more