We flew down to Jacksonville for the 5 day bahamas cruise, hoping for a nice, warmer weather break in January. The ship was returning from dry dock. We started receiving messages from Carnival the night before that the ship's return would be delayed, and the embarkation time would be later. Since we flew down the same day, we did not have a hotel, so we proceeded to the airport. Carnival made arrangements to carry large tour busses of guests to a local mall, with a rotating hourly pickup. So we caught a movie at the mall.

We chose the earliest return back to the airport, and we were lucky to be given tickets to be on the first shuttle from the airport to the cruise port (which was now projected to be around 7 pm instead of early afternoon. The transportation arrangements went smoothly, and we were taken to the cruise port on schedule, where we waited in the port building with hundreds of others. We were among the first to board the ship, at around 8:30 pm. At that time, the buffet was open so we had dinner. Other people waited until nearly midnight, especially those who had driven private cars to the port. After the ship was finally loaded and underway, they announced that they would prorate the fare and give everyone back one night of the original cost. They also made up the time, even though we left 12 hours later than expected.

Our cabin was E90, on the Empress deck. It was the nicest cabin we have had on any of our cruises, with a balcony. The central location in the middle of the ship minimized any feeling of movement. Our cabin stewart was efficient. The first at-sea day we had rain, so we went to the fitness room. This is quite nice, with good equipment and windows that look out over the bow of the ship. Read more