We are a married couple who decided to take our 18th cruise out of Charleston on the Carnival Fantasy.

We drove from Atlanta to Charleston and spent the night at the airport Hampton Inn. The hotel was very nice and a short 15 minute drive to the port the next morning.

The port of Charleston is a little different from most ports because it is an old, small one level cruise terminal near the historic downtown area. The terminal is so small that the same area is used for luggage claim and registration, so they have to totally finish with debarkation then redo the terminal for embarkation. Parking is in old warehouses, but is secure and protected from the weather. When you arrive you drive through a serpentine path with different stations for document checks, parking payment and luggage drop off before being directed to the warehouse for parking. While it sounds difficult, it was very efficient. We took my stunningly beautiful young wife’s car, which has handicap tags, so parking was free. Normally parking is $85 for a 5 day cruise. We arrived about 11:40 AM and they started checking documents just a few minutes before noon. After parking it was a quick shuttle ride to the terminal. Registration was quick and we were on the ship by 12:30. We are platinum, so our cabin was ready for us. We dropped off our luggage and went to lunch. Read more