My husband and I traveled on the Sensation 11/19/2006 - 11/23/06. We are in our mid-40s and this was our 13th cruise, having previously cruised on Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Costa and Princess.
For the first time, we took Carnival's shuttle. We stayed in the Holiday Inn Orlando Airport the night before and took their free shuttle back to the airport in the morning. Carnival's shuttle was easy, with little wait. We left the airport at 11:25 a.m. and were at Port Canaveral by 12:10 p.m. Even though your voucher says the tip is included and there are signs all over the Port saying Porters are salaried, there was a Porter standing at the bus door with his hand out as we got off the bus.
Check-in moved steadily, and we were on the ship having lunch by 1:00 p.m.