We flew into FLL on Friday night, rented a midsize car for $40 with specific drop off location near port of Miami with a free shuttle (location P2F). The next morning about 9am, we did all our shopping at a nearby Target and Sports Authority, great outdoor mall about 2 miles away. We had breakfast at Ricky's Bakery which was absolutely wonderful. They also have pastries and coffee to go. We dropped of our car at a Budget/Avis location near the port about 11:00am and took the free shuttle to the port.
At about 11;45, we were on the Lido deck enjoying the tacos and burritos. We were in our cabins by 12:30pm without purchasing the "faster to the fun".
FOOD/DRINKS: We tried all eating areas. The breakfast burritos were ok, the tacos were great. I was disappointed that there were no dessert souffles all week. The good part is that we brought case of water champagne, red and white wine. We could have brought more, they never checked how many. Quality of food declined, less staff, this was my 13th cruise and it had been about 5 years from the last Carnival Cruise. We also had an issue as another passenger described with the Cheers program and thought it was less, the same reason we chose this cruise over Norwegian Epic for the same week. One thing we noticed that bothered us was that each day we got back on the ship after visiting a port, the only thing open was the burger place. The burgers were good, but very, very greasy. The taco and burrito place seemed to closed each afternoon upon returning from the ports. The best bartenders are Putu and Francisco at the EA Sports Bar.
The location of cabin 7272 is very loud, but you can close the automatic doors to seal from the elevator and lounge music (every night) from Deck 3. Room service was great. Balcony rooms have the door issue that wont seal, we ended up sealing the doors with tape and it worked, but what a hassle. Internet and cell service was available in St. Thomas and Puerto Rico. We had ocean suite room so we spent most of the time in there to get away from the chaos every where else. Staff was very kind.