Background information This was the first cruise that my husband and I had ever taken. We traveled with our 21-month-old son and two friends who are experienced cruisers familiar with Carnival who booked their own cabin. Our ages range from 38 to 42.

Hotel Info We made our own travel arrangements and flew into JFK airport from our hometown, and took a taxi to our Manhattan hotel, Le Parker Meridien. We'd booked the hotel on a travel bidding website and we were thrilled with our room, which only cost us $134 a night, plus tax. The hotel rooms were going for $450 a night at the time of our stay, according to the hotel bartender. The room was spacious, by New York standards, and it was comfortable and tastefully decorated in a contemporary style. We spent two nights in New York before heading to the port for our cruise, which left on Monday afternoon, September 7, 2009.

Embarkation We spent the morning touring New York, and arrived at the port at about 12:30 p.m. The embarkation process was fairly simple. We gave our bags to the porters at the dock and then we stood in a couple of long lines that moved quickly. Within about 10 minutes, we were through security and waiting in line for the Carnival check-in process. That line took much longer. We were in line approximately 30-40 minutes. When it was finally our turn, the Carnival rep was friendly and efficient. We boarded the ship about 1:30 p.m. Read more