We've been on lots of cruises including 12 on Carnival but have not embarked out of Port Canaveral before.....it was the worst. Don't do what we did.....we arrived just before the doors opened at noon and it was a mad-house. Very discouraging to be standing in a winding (and barely moving) line outside in the heat and watch the platinum and diamond and suite travelers' line empty with 4 Carnival personnel standing around talking while they waited for a traveler to come through their line every now and then. Perhaps Carnival should think of adding the next group of their frequent travelers to this line. It would speed up the process for us peons waiting in the long, long line. If you take this cruise, embark later in the day and this probably won't be that much of a problem.

When we finally boarded, my husband and I arrived at our balcony cabin while the rest of our family went to their inside cabins on the same deck (thanks to good planning on the part of my sister and a relief to my husband's wallet....he paid for everybody). If you're travelling on this ship, the balcony cabin seemed lots smaller than the interiors, so don't waste your money. Our beds were set up as twins....no room to get into the bed jammed up against the window and about 3" between the beds. We asked that the beds be made into a king......still no room....bed was jammed up against the window. There is no nightstand in this cabin! Small sofa is next to the bed and merely was a "catch all".

Save lots of money and get an interior cabin....plenty of room between the beds for a nightstand and you don't have to walk sideways at the foot of the bed to get to the balcony....there's at least 4 feet of walking space in the interior cabin at the foot of the bed. On the plus side, our cabin attendant was great and we never lacked for ice. Read more