This was the first cruise we have ever taken! I wanted a memorable vacation for my wife and I, to celebrate our Silver Wedding anniversary. We went with some anxiety, not knowing what to expect, and having read the mixed comments about the ship on this site.
Knowing that the ship had 3,000 passengers to board, and the comments from previous travellers, we decided to take the advice of Carnival and arrive by 11.30am. We stayed the previous night at the Miami Airport Embassy Suites, and it was full, so we decided to take a cab at 9.30 to avoid a mad rush for the taxis. We arrived at the port at around 10am, and got in line straight away, having left our cases with the porters. We had pre-registered, so everything went smoothly. We then went through, and waited for the others to disembark. It's obvious that you have to wait for the previous cruise to get off, before they let you on, so the wait was to be expected. We were on the ship, and in our stateroom at 11.50, and eating lunch at 12.00 - can't be bad. I can't understand why people leave it till 2pm to start the embarkation process, and expect no lines. Our luggage arrived at our room around 3:00. Our category 8A room on the Veranda deck was beautiful and huge. It had a large window and wonderful balcony.
I was a little hesitant at first because of some of the negative reviews from people who perceived Carnival people as rowdy drunks, however we were pleasantly surprised.