My family just came back from a wonderful cruise on the Carnival Triumph. My husband and I age 55 and my children who are 16, 18, 21, 24 and their friends who are 17 and 20 all enjoyed the ship. This was our sixth cruise, but we had never been to the Virgin Islands and I am so glad we went. We drove by car from Gulfport, Mississippi. If you use the Florida Turnpike take about $20.00 in cash with you. We were amazed how many times we had to pay a toll.

Hotel: We stayed in the Hampton Inn in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The rooms were clean and secure and the price was reasonable ($98.91). The children enjoyed the swimming pool and complimentary breakfast. The hotel was about 20 minutes from the pier. Finding the pier was not easy with all the construction in the area.

Embarkation: We arrived at the pier at 11:30 and dropped off our luggage and parked in the parking garage. IMPORTANT: Have $105.00 in cash to enter the parking garage ($15.00 a day). They will not take credit cards and it is paid in advance. The embarkation process took two hours before us could get on the ship. It was the worst embarking process I have ever experienced with Carnival and I have been on five other ships. I found out later that the computers were down and the port authorities had held them up. Maybe this was true, but the process did not seem organized at all. On the bright side, our luggage was delivered very fast to our room. Read more