The Wallace family's (48,37,16,11 years of age) review on the 7 night cruise from New York to the Bahamas.

On the day of Embarkation, there was another cruise ship departing from the New York port (The Carnival Glory ). If you can, I would find out if there are any other cruises departing at the same time as your cruise as we arrived at the port at 12pm and the queue was right back to the entrance of the port. It took nearly an hour to get on the boat. Once you have gone through security, the staff will check you in with your key cards which will have your name and photo identity, which they will take of you before you get on, this card is important as it'll be your credit card for the week. It will allow you on and off the boat at ports and will also be the card that you pay for alcoholic beverages and other drinks such as coffee, pictures, excursions and other items. Once you are on the boat, they don't allow you access your rooms until 2pm.

The first day is at sea. If you want sun beds which are around the pool, I suggest you get up early (around 7-8am) to reserve these seats with your provided towels as there are around 70 deck chairs around the pool side. These would be good seats if you have kids that want to participate in the Nick Pool Side events. Deck 13 and a small area of the deck above at the Forward end of the ship have also got deck chairs and we found this the better place to go as we were not fussed on poolside seats. It's also a quieter area to sit but you still have to get up early to reserve seats. There are two pools on the ship both 4"7 and deeper. There are also 5 hot tubs/jacuzzis, 1 in the kid's area, two on the left side and two on the right. One hot tub and one pool states 'adults only' but my sister and I still went in them. There is also a water slide that opens at 9am. Also, the pool water is unharmed with chemicals so it tastes like sea water but both the pools and hot tubs are very clean. Read more