We've been on 4 previous cruises (Carnival Liberty x 2, Carnival Legend and Caribbean Princess). We booked this cruise on an exceptional deal that included an upgrade from an inside cabin to an Inside Promenade. Pre-Cruise: We flew into Orlando 5 days pre-cruise. We picked up our pre-arranged one-way rental car and began our slow tour south through the state. 5 days later we returned the car in downtown Miami and took a cab from the rental office to the port. Smooth as silk.

Embarkation: Typically, for me, we were late getting to the port, it was almost 4pm by the time we arrived. I was very surprised to see a HUGE line of people still waiting to be processed. We were told that Homeland Security had shown up unexpectedly and conducted a person by person face-check of everyone disembarking as well as everyone boarding for our cruise. For the first time in my life I was really glad to be habitually late. We didn't take any of the pre-cruise pics etc and it was still 6 pm before we were processed and on-board. We heard stories of others who were in line for up to 5 hours. Yikes! Obviously, the ship was a few hours late departing. This was my worst embarkation ever.

Cabin 8563: The promised Promenade Interior via free upgrade? We loved this room! From reading others reviews it seems that people either love or hate these rooms, put us down as fans. We really enjoyed the extra seating space and the window over the promenade seemed to transform the room from a cubical to a warm and welcoming space. I found the dEcor of the cabin much more appealing than that of the other ships I've been on. I don't think the website photos do justice to the cabins. The mattress was very comfy and the linens good enough. The bathroom storage space was very different from Carnival but equally functional. The closet space was a bit more cramped but, again, sufficient. Our mini-fridge didn't work but was replaced within a few hours and the replacement worked well as long as the cabinet door covering it was left open. I find this to be the case with most mini-fridges whether on ships or in hotel rooms. The flat screen tv was great and we could enjoy it easily from the bed. We found the sound-proofing in the rooms to be adequate. The AC could have been stronger (I like the room to be frigid when I'm sleeping) but it was cool enough that with the aid of a portable fan I slept well. Lighting near the desk was good for applying my makeup and I had no serious issues with the in-drawer hairdryer. Our Cabin steward was Selwin from Grenada (I think?). He was great, very friendly and always kept our room tip-top. We never lacked for towels or ice. Read more