This was our third cruise, all on Carnival. We traveled with our 14 year old son and another couple and their teenage daughter. It was their first cruise. I would have rated the first two cruises very highly, but felt that this one was average at best.
We drove to Houston the day before and stayed at the Baymont Inn, which none of us liked. The next morning we drove the short distance to Galveston. We parked at Ezcruise parking, which was convenient, cheap, secure and two blocks from the terminal.
Embarkation was easy enough. We arrived right at noon, there was a long line to get through security but it went quickly. A gentleman that must be Carnival's oldest employee received our documents, which I had completed prior to arrival, and while he squinted at them and repeatedly tried to scan this and that it seemed that other agents were able to get throngs of passengers through, but it wasn't a big deal.