My DH and I flew out of Nashville via Southwest direct to Tampa the morning our ship left port. We were nervous that one little delay could cause us to miss the boat, but nothing major occurred and we made it with plenty of time to spare. (We did purchase the insurance.) We also purchased the Carnival transfer, which was pretty easy to find at the airport and went pretty well overall. The only issue was having to wait a half hour for the bus to come and pick us up. I noticed that we could have taken a transfer van from the airport right away, but it was $20 pp and the transfer through Carnival was $18 pp and the dealt with our luggage. Probably will do it again.

Embarkation was super easy, there were a lot of people in the terminal, but they got us through very quickly. After about 15 minutes waiting in lines and getting our sail and sign cards, we were on the ship.

We upgraded from a Verandah Deck inside cabin to an extended balcony cabin on the 4th deck three days before we left. We were on the back of the ship. It was awesome! The only problem, which really wasn't a problem, was that we had an adjoining door to the suite next to us. We could hear some noise the first night, and the folks in the suite insisted on keeping their door open with a door stopper each night, which made their noise carry a bit. We are just fine getting an interior room and saving the $, so I wasn't sure the upgrade was worth it. One of the best parts was while I got ready, my DH would sit on the balcony and be content until I was ready to go. Worked out great. Another couple we met on the boat had a balcony room on the 8th deck, they said it was loud and their balcony was always too hot to sit on. Ours was alot cooler off the back of the ship. Housekeeping services were awesome. They were attentive and courteous and made us feel at home. Read more