BACKGROUND INFO-MY NAME IS DOUG AND I'M A CRUISEAHOLIC! This is our fifth cruise, and the third cruise, all with Carnival in the last year. This is our first seven day cruise on Carnival. Once again Carnival gave me an excellent airline "interline" rate, that I couldn't resist the offer. I traveled with my wife and six year old daughter.

TRAVEL TO PORT-Flew from PHX-MCO, the day before. We rented a car at airport and dropped it off near the pier the next day, where they shuttle you for free to the pier.

HOTEL-We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the beach at Cocoa Beach. Nothing fancy, but nice location. I'm not a fan of hotels that require to enter room from outside of building, but it did have a nice water play area for our daughter to play in the next morning. On our return from cruise we stayed at La Quinta Inn in Cocoa Beach. What a dump, when they e mailed me about my stay a week later, I told them I was disappointed, and they ended up refunding my money. That was a surprise! Read more