I am usually a very "glass half full" type of person, but having been on a number of cruises on several different cruise lines, I already had lowered expectations for this trip, my fourth Carnival Cruise (I prefer RCCL first, NCL second). However, the price was impossible to beat for a balcony cabin, and after having spent almost one year and a ton of money planning a wedding, the deep discount was impossible to ignore!

EMBARKATION:

Being Tampa residents made the embarkation process a breeze. We live 10 minutes from the port. We dropped our luggage off with a porter at the terminal - buh bye, luggage! - and drove to the designated cruise parking garage, where we paid $120 (they make you pay up front, cash or credit card). We walked down the street, approx. 1 block, to the terminal and got in line, which moved pretty smoothly. We were beaming about it being our honeymoon to the check-in agent, who was less than impressed. They clearly get a lot of honeymooners (smile)! We were onboard within 30 minutes of parking the car. As soon as we walked on the ship, we were met by employees of the Golden Fleece. They were offering a free bottle of wine if you booked dinner in the restaurant that night, which we jumped on. In hindsight, having the best dinner on the first night of the cruise left us a little disappointed for the rest of the week. I kept salivating for their incredible filet mignon! Read more