In short we had a really fantastic cruise and are always going to love Carnival. To make this a bit easier to digest I'll use the category system.

Pre Cruise- We arrived in Tampa a day early and stayed at the Sheraton Riverwalk in Downtown Tampa. We got it on Priceline at a good price and it was a descent enough hotel for one night. It was old but the staff was very nice and we had no problems. They have a complimentary shuttle that will take you anywhere within three miles and we used that to get to the pier. We also ate dinner at Channelside which has some great restaurant selections. We decided on Margarita Mamas and enjoyed ourselves. Warning- we had reserved Blue One Transportation to take us from the airport to the hotel because it was recommended by the Sheraton and on the Cruise Critic Boards. I booked my reservation early and confirmed it two days before we left. When arriving I called the number and was told where to go and that it would be 15 min. After 35 min we called again, and no one would answer the phone. After an hour we booked the super shuttle which had a booth right at the airport, more expensive but they came in 15 minutes and we made it to our hotel. We had also booked Blue One to pick us up from the port and bring us back from the airport but we decided to not bother and took a taxi instead. Be warned if anyone recommends them and you are in a hurry.

Embarkation- Having gone out of Miami and New York, I found Tampa to be a bit confusing. At first we were unsure of where to go and only learned after being warned by a guard for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We got there by 10:30am had a bit of breakfast in the coffee shop and sat around and waiting till they let us in. Everyone inside was incredibly friendly (The woman who checked us in was just fantastic!) and we were in the first group that boarded the ship, we were in Lido eating by 11:30am. Our luggage was waiting for us when we returned to our cabin at 3pm and we had no problems with anything. Read more