Husband and I drove to Tampa the day before the cruise. The day of the cruise we parked our car at the Parking Doctors for $8 a day and were shuttled to the terminal immediately. We entered the terminal around 10:30. Carnival had numerous check-in lines open and it went reasonably fast. We were on board by 11:15 and headed to the Lido deck for a nice lunch.

After lunch we walked all over the ship taking pictures before it became too crowded. At 1 PM we were able to go to our rooms and put our toiletires away. I cross pack (half of our clothes in each bag) just in case something would happen to one suitcase. One suitcase arrived before the muster drill. The second suitcase did not appear after dinner so we headed down to guest services. They took a report and said they would look for it and that it is probably on another floor. We were in room 5244. We started on the 8th floor and walked every hallway down to the 5th floor. Nothing. Just as we were feeling desperate, we see our room stewardess (Belle) walking with the suitcase. She found it on the 5th floor at the other end of the ship. Ahhh, happy again.

The ship is older but very clean. No rock climbing or special attractions but a lovely ship to relax and enjoy. The Serenity deck is for 21 yrs old and over. Very nice area with lots of deck chairs with thick cushions, sun and shade, no music, no kids. It was a great place to sun and read. There were deck chairs every where. The chairs around the pool were always taken but so what. There were chairs everywhere and unless you were super picky, there was not a problem. Read more