First a little about us. My husband and I cruised on the Carnival Glory the last week of August. It is my 4th cruise (his 3rd) and the last 3 have all been with Carnival so we are fans of Carnival in general. I was not a big fan of the Glory however.

We spent some time in Tampa visiting friends and spent Friday night before the cruise at the Hampton. Like many of the reviews had suggested, for a slightly higher room rate you can park your car in their lot for the cruise and TravelLynx shuttles you to and from the Port. The hotel is fine and the drivers are very friendly. We got to the Port right at noon.

EMBARK I have never sailed out of Port Canaveral before so I don't know if it is this ship or this port but this was the FASTEST I have ever gotten on a ship. I came through the security and rode the escalator. By the time we got to the top there were more than 10 agents ready faster than we could walk up to them. We gave them our FunPass and were on board. We went up to the Lido Deck and knew already that the cabins wouldn't be ready so we enjoyed lunch and our favorite drink, the Fun Ship. Read more