This was our 8th cruise (5th on Carnival), and we were celebrating DH's retirement after 35 years as a teacher. We decided to combine a short cruise out of Miami with a few days in Key West, so this 4 day cruise on the Victory fit the bill perfectly.(We booked at a reasonable ES rate, and when the price dropped we got $140 in OBC) Our primary aim for this cruise was relaxation, and that's exactly what Carnival delivered.

Getting there: We drove to port. After visiting friends in the Pensacola area, we drove the Florida Turnpike to Jupiter (an 8-9 hour drive), where were stayed in a very comfortable and reasonably priced Comfort Inn. On the morning of embarkation we drove the remaining 90 minutes to Miami. (I know many people prefer to stay very near the port the night before, but this works for us - staying a bit further in a nicer and more affordable area and doing a short drive the morning of embarkation). We had read many negative reviews about the off-site parking in Miami, and decided to bite the bullet and pay the $20 daily fee to park at the port (especially since we had saved on our hotel). Getting to the port was easy with good signage and we enjoyed the safety and convenience of parking on site.

Embarkation: We arrived at about 10:45 (earlier than I expected) Since this was a short cruise, we each had only a small rollaboard and a shoulder bag, so we carried on our luggage (I highly recommend this option, especially for a short cruise). This was definitely the easiest and smoothest checkin I have ever experienced. No lines. (We did not have FTTF) By 11:15 we were checked in and seated in the waiting area, as they said they would not start boarding until noon. Shortly after 11:30. they said the ship was ready and we could go ahead and board. We headed straight for the pool bar for our first drink (DOD for DH, Mojito for me). Great start to a relaxing cruise! By 1:00 our room was ready and we dropped unpacked and explored the ship a little. Muster drill went very smoothly and didn't take very long ( gone are the days of wearing life jackets and lining up) Read more