We sailed on the Freedom out of Ft Lauderdale bound for Key West, the Caymans and Jamaica. This was our sixth cruise and fifth on Carnival. We live about four hours from Ft Lauderdale so we were able to drive. The port can get quite congested so we tried to time our arrival to a slow time. The port authority has a checkpoint which slows down the lines a little and there are always several ships in port so things can be hectic. But we arrived after the disembark was done (about 11:30) and it took about an hour to get on board.

Security flagged our cans of coke and our small electric fan but a supervisor let it go through. Next time we will take plastic bottles as Carnival doesn't care about soft drinks.

We had a balcony cabin midship and for us it is a perfect location. Close to the action on the fifth deck and can get there without the elevator. We had calm seas and sunny weather the whole trip which offered a perfect combination for a good time. Read more