We flew from Houston a few days before our cruise, and found Dollar Car Rental at the Miami airport to be perfect for us. After visiting family in Naples, we dropped the car off and were shuttled (no extra charge) to the Miami pier. They also pick up at the pier after the cruise if you need to rent again. We shuttled to the pier by 11am, and were aboard by 11:40 - the longest time was spent giving our luggage to the porters outside. Everything was organized and well done, and the rooms were ready by 1:30. In the meantime we had lunch at the buffet, and especially enjoyed the sandwiches at the Deli and the pizza. We toured the beautiful ship, which was familiar to us as we had cruised on the Conquest out of Galveston. Both of these ships are among our favorites, and we found the Liberty to be immaculate and its crew very friendly and accommodating. This time we tried an aft balcony, and really enjoyed it. No fumes, no rocking, and no privacy if this is important to you. We had 2 lounge chairs brought to the balcony, and it was a wonderful place to watch the sun set and catch an unplanned nap. It also wasn't as windy as the side balconies. The location for us was perfect, as we spent most of our time at the aft (adult) pool and hot tub, or right above on the 10th floor starboard on lounges in the shade. Our Silver dining room and the Lido buffet were also very close. We used the staircases quite frequently. We chose this cruise because of the ports, and because the prices really drop in September. We found the weather to be near perfect (a few, very short lived showers and lots of sunshine), and loved each of the ports (see suggestions for ports below). Their private island was paradise, although you have to tender and get off as early as possible. Those that waited had over an hour wait. We snorkeled with Carnival and wouldn't do that again because the water on the other side of the island was very rough, and most of us got very seasick. As mentioned, we love the 24 hour pizzeria at the aft pool. You can also get wonderful calzone and Caesar salad there, and the grill with hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, fries, nachos, etc was nearby. We rarely actually ate at the buffet - instead chose the deli, stir-fry grill, burrito bar, grill and pizzeria and they never disappointed. 24 hr ice cream and frozen yogurt were also favorites. Food and service in the Silver Dining room was good. We did request to have our table changed immediately after embarking and finding ourselves seated in the back near the serving area, and were accomodated for the second night. We had lots of melting cake for dessert,and found the St Louis ribs to be surprisingly good - as well as the lobster and shrimp, crab cakes, and escargot. We ate in Harry's one night, and although it was excellent (my porterhouse steak was the largest steak I have ever seen and was cooked to perfection) we probably won't need to do it again. The dinner took over 2 hours, and we missed both the show and Welcome Back party. The entertainment wasn't as good as I remember, but it wasn't bad. There was a wonderful couple performing in the lobby bar - Take Two - that we tried to catch as often as we could. Butch was an energetic and entertaining cruise director, but his announcements were almost unbearably long and loud if you happened to be walking in the hallway. Carnival now offers an Easy Luggage option for disembarking, $20/pp. We tried it and found it to be wonderful. They print your boarding passes and luggage tags for your trip home (we were on Continental), you put your luggage outside the room as usual the night before, and then never see it again until you arrive home and claim it. At the Miami airport, all you need to do is check in at the gate. This process left us without luggage, so we were able to get a taxi and go shopping in Miami after disembarking. The ship seemed much less crowded than our summer trips, and of course there weren't any children racing around. None of the ports were crowded as we were the only ship docked - a definite plus for September cruising. A wonderful time was had by all, and we can't wait to start planning our next cruise with Carnival! PS We booked Early Booking with price guarantee through Carnival's Maria Sanclemente (1 800 819 3902 ext.85645), and found her to be the most helpful agent we have dealt with yet. There weren't any answers she couldn't find for us!