Background-This is my family's fourth cruise. We have done two Disney cruises ( 4 days ) and one Royal Caribbean ( 5 days ). This was our first seven day cruise and first with Carnival. We had a group of ten. Myself, DW, DS 11, DD 9. My mother-in-law and father-in-law. My wife's sister, her DH, DS 7, DD 12. We chose this ship and line mostly for the itinerary.

Pre-embarkation- Flew down to Miami day before ( highly recommend ). American Airlines out of Charlotte. No problems. A little late taking off but no big deal. We had three suites booked at Embassy Suites next to airport. Shuttle came to pick us up. I think the rooms were about $225/nite. Not bad considering the manger's reception from 5-7pm with all the beer, wine, and liquor you could want and the breakfast next morning are included along with transport to the port. Nice pool at hotel for the kids. Ordered out pizza and sat around pool. Good relaxing start to vacation.

Embarkation- Took hotel shuttle to port at about 10:30 am. Passed off our luggage (all 3 tons of it) to a porter and went to check in. Because we had splurged and all got level 11 suites, we got to go through VIP check-in, bypassing the line. Once upstairs, we got to relax in a nice VIP lounge while we waited to board. All those in the VIP lounge were then allowed to board first at about noon. We were eager to get to Excursion/Tour desk to get a cabana on Half Moon Cay, so getting on early was a big plus. The terminal was very open and clean. I was quite impressed, having gone thru Disney which is very nice, and Tampa which is also nice. After boarding and getting our cabana, we set off to explore the ship. Read more