Background: We are a family of 4 (myself, husband, son- 14yrs old and daughter- 12yrs old). This was the kids' first cruise but our second on Carnival. We flew down the day before out of Boson to Ft. Lauderdale on JetBlue. This was the first time we have flown on JetBlue. We were very impressed and would highly recommend JetBlue. Once in FLL, we had pre-booked a private car to take us to Miami for $72 one-way. We used Lauderdale Limo Services. They do offer shared rides for $18 per person, however we were getting into FLL at 9pm ad wanted to get to our hotel as quickly as possible.

Miami: We stayed at the Marriott Biscayne Bay. Very nice hotel. The next morning we took a taxi from the hotel to the port of Miami, which was $10.

Embarkation: We got to the port at 11:00am. When we arrived at the port we just handed our bags to the porter. Carnival's new terminal is great with easy check in points and seating throughout. Zone cards with numbers were handed out for boarding. We were in zone 5 but it moved pretty quickly. The weddings, groups and VIP's boarded first and then we were on our way. We were on the ship by 1:00pm The Ship: The Freedom is absolutely beautiful! We took a chance to see if our room was ready but the doors were still locked. We headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. This being the first time our kids have ever been on a ship, they were amazed by everything. Read more