So, my wife and I took a cruise for our first anniversary. I have cruised before, but have never performed the arrangements, and she had never cruised before. We had a great time on the Carnival Legend, helped in part by what I learned on these forums. I wanted to give back by sharing my own experience. We arrived in Tampa, FL on Saturday evening and stayed with friends; we left their house for the drive to the terminal on Sunday morning. Parking turned out to be the worst element of the trip-- there are signs that say "parking", and there are signs that say "cruise parking". Be sure to pay attention. We initially parked in a lot right next to the ship that turned out to be a non-overnight lot, and weren't able to get our money back. We figured to chock it up to a lesson and give it another shot. We followed the signs to "cruise parking", but the place they pointed to did not have any sort of sign indicating that it was for cruise parking. It had an hourly rate with a daily max, which made us unsure of whether or not it was the correct place. We asked some other people who had parked there if they new, and they stated that they did not think it was cruise parking. At that point, we were a bit frustrated and opted for the valet parking. Sure enough, we watched our valet driver pull our vehicle to that very lot. Next time, we'll do more research about parking, and be prepared for what deck to use.

Embarkation was, after that, very straightforward. I was impressed with how efficiently everything moved, and there were no problems with our boarding pass/etc. We boarded the ship (my wife, who had never cruised before, was blown away by the initial walk into the ship's lobby), and had lunch on board. We spoke to the Maitre D and asked to be switched from Early Dining to "Your Time Dining", which was granted by the second day. It was a great decision-- we enjoyed the privacy of our town table, and the flexibility with timing turned out to be very beneficial. The food, at both the Lido deck buffet and Truffles finer-dining, was great. We were very impressed.

There's an "adults only" deck called Serenity with a pool, hot tub, bar, hammocks, and several types of lounging chairs/tables. If you don't have children (or need a break), it's a great place to get away from the noise. Laying on the hammocks in the nighttime is majestic, and I would highly recommend it. Read more