Hi everyone! I have never used cruise critic, but my parents and husband frequent the site. This is my 4th cruise, third with Carnival, and I thought it was a good time to share my thoughts and get more involved.

My husband and I are from Massachusetts. We took a bus from Boston with 7 other friends. I've never been to New York, so this was a chance for me to see the city. Bus dropped us off at Port Authority, where it was about a 20 min walk to the pier. When we got the to the cruise terminal, it was chaotic. We had no idea who to give our bags to, one person told us to go left, the guy there told us to go right...finally someone took our bags and I said a little prayer they would make it on the ship! Finally made it inside to check in. Wasn't impressed with the set up, Boston and Miami are cleaner and easier to navigate. All 9 of us had the faster to the fun, so we were brought to the head of the line. It was about noon and we were told not to get there until 1:30, but they let us right on the ship, which was wonderful!! As we head to our cabins to put our carry-ons away, we get to the 6th floor and find it flooded! Our friends rooms were inaccessible! Thankfully, my husband and I had booked the 7th floor due to the 6th being over the theater and we didn't want the noise. None of the crew would give them a straight answer about what was going on or what to do. They basically ignored all questions. So everyone stored their things in our room.

So the next thing on our list was to get a few drinks. We headed to the bar and asked to sign up for the Cheers program. They tell us we can't until we are out to sea due to New York laws. We were disappointed, but very thirsty and eager to start our vacation, so we paid for each drink. Later, we find out, each drink we buy is credited to the Cheers program! We were confused as to why the bartenders did not tell us this to begin with. In fact, we got several different answers when we asked when we could get the Cheers program. Weird. We got food and chatted then it was time for the safety drill. It took forever, with Malcolm the cruise director reminding people that this was mandatory. It sounded like people were just not going. Read more