There were a total of 4 of us on this trip. Wife, me, 10 year old Son, and my Mother. My Mother and Son had a separate room next door. Wife stayed in the room most days sick (she's only about 8 weeks pregnant) This was our 2nd cruise for the wife and I. Both have been with Carnival. I am 33 and my wife is 34.

Flight: Flew non-stop from Indianapolis to Miami. Check-in was very easy and quick even though it was a busy day (Thanksgiving week) We arrived in Miami a little after 10:00am and were greeted at the baggage terminal by Carnival. We only waited about 30 minutes before the bus was filled and we headed off to the cruise terminal. I will say this...Miami airport is VERY complicated to navigate and extremely disorganized.

Check-In: Carnival did a great job in this area. We arrived around 11:00am and we were in line for only about 10-15 minutes. Lines moved quickly and very organized. The only ID they asked for was our drivers license. We proceeded on to the ship and had lunch on the Lido deck. We must have been one of the first few people on board because we saw only a handful of people at the time. It was a good time to eat, explore the ship, and take pictures. After the mandatory life boat drill, we set sail at 4pm sharp (life boat drill took about 45 minutes)It was nice to see all the people on deck as we left Miami. It was a sunny day and Miami was just beautiful! Read more