This trip was our third cruise, but we hadn't been on one in 10 years! Our first cruise (3 days) was an award trip on Norwegian Cruise Lines to the Bahamas. Our next cruise was on Disney with our son (then 6) -- Land & Sea - 3 days at sea. After that, our son started swimming competitively making our free time limited. Also, he was only interested in beaches, but not cruisin'.

Pre-trip: We decided to book our excursions in advance and through Carnival. I did research and knew that it would be cheaper going on our own, but we had a difficult year and wanted the security, ease and guarantee we would receive going through Carnival. Additionally, with the trip being over the holidays (Dec 24-31st) I knew the ship was near capacity and there would be several ships in each port. I purchased some drink coupons for my husband as gift and they were delivered to our room the first night. A friend pre-ordered us a gift cake -- which was delivered on Dec 24 at dinner - very thoughtful and yummy, but they never gave us the card. We didn't find out it was from them until we arrived home. We couldn't figure out why my husband got a whole cake for his birthday when everyone else only had a slice. I made reservations for the steakhouse two nights (both sea days -- Dec 25th and Dec 30th_ - Very worth it although dinner in the restaurant was great too -- so maybe just go one "special" night. If you do not receive an email confirmation, redo it. It means it didn't go through.

We flew to Orlando, booked transfers through Carnival and everything ran smoothly. We flew in the night before and went back to the airport to meet the transfer buses around 10am. Didn't really "time" the trip/embarking process, but we never waited in a line for very long. You make several stops for photos and etc. -- but it all went very fast. Just complete/print all the paperwork before you leave home. At your last stop - you are given a "card" that is your room key, has your charging #, dining times/table and etc. So - if you have preferences for dinner -- express them prior to your trip. For example there were 3 of us and we had our own table. Other cruises we were seated with others. It was fun getting know your group, although sitting alone this time -- was nice too. Read more