This was our fourth cruise with Carnival. My mom and dad went with us, it was their third cruise. We picked Tampa because they live close by and my husband and I drove to their house from Jacksonville and spent the night and went to the cruise terminal from there. We had a relative drop us off and pick us up so we did not use the parking or valet services.
We arrived at the port around 11:30 and got in the nice long line that ran around the front of the building. Once inside, we proceeded to check in and get our room key/sail&sign card. This was not a fast process (10-15 min wait) and once we were checked in we were given a paper with a number written on the top and told to sit down and wait until they called our group to board. This took an additional 15 minutes. My parents were in the next group after ours boarded.
My mom and I went to the purser's desk as my husband and I put cash on our ship account and while were there, I found out that you have to have your card activated when you get on the ship. I told my mom so she could have hers activated even though she had given their credit card info at the check-in point. We went to the Lido Deck for lunch of hamburgers and hotdogs, which were actually pretty good and got a drink from the bar.