This was a 1st time cruising so I hope this review is helpful to everyone.

Embarkation: We flew to San Juan on Sunday, the same day as the ship was to leave. Our flight left at 6 a.m. but we didn't mind getting up early to get to the airport. When we arrived at the San Juan airport, it was packed! They don't have good signs to the baggage claim area so we got lost. But we asked people who worked there and they showed us the right way and we were fine. We got our baggage and found the Carnival bus team with their sign and we got in line. About 1/2 hr later we followed the Carnival team out to the bus and we boarded. (We had purchased the bus vouchers.)

So we got to the pier and outside of the pier doors it was packed with people. But we got our stuff and walked into the building and up the escalators. The line for the Fun Pass was extremely long! Needless to say, everyone had done the Fun Pass because they had designated 2 lanes for Fun Pass folks and both lines were long but moving. Eventually it was our turn and the lady who helped us out was very nice. We got our Sign-N-Sail cards and we were ready. There were some people in line who were rude and obnoxious and I will say they were not natives of Puerto Rico (as I've seen in other reviews). But anyway, we completed our stuff and walked to the ship. Read more