(Jan. 6 - Jan. 10 cruise) Our experience on Carnival Destiny was very good. There were areas of improvement though. (long review)

Let's start with the Port of Miami. Since we live in Florida, driving over and using their parking was just fine, though it wasn't covered parking in front of the Carnival port. It was $20 per overnight stay so it was $80 total. The check-in process through port security was easy because we arrived early enough to avoid the lines so if you can, go 1 1/2 to 2 hours before boarding starts. The carnival check-in involves two steps: kiosk check-in and then getting your Sail & Sign card from the rep. Then they board you by zones. Again, the earlier you get there, the higher your boarding number. Boarding started on time but was a bit crazy because everyone was so anxious to get on board and were crowding the escalator areas.

Once your zone is called you go up the escalator and they take your first of many photos on the cruise. We elected to buy that one because we actually looked good! We were told there was lunch waiting for us on the Lido deck in the buffet restaurant. It was quite delicious. And for the rest of the cruise, the food was quite delicious and was better than we expected. Read more