First Time ever on a Cruise and my family and I chose the right one. We even counted down the days to our departure on a dry erase board. My mother (45) and Father (55) and Myself (19) at the time had never been off land before. And this was an experience we all would love.

We left Albany International on Southwest @ 7ish and arriving in Orlando @ 10ish. NO-STOP flights are the way to go. We had already been @ Orlando (MCO) before, b/c we went to Disney the year before, but it's easy to find your way around. We walked from one end of the airport to the other, just to find the Carnival Representatives. Be aware you we will be waiting a while to get a bus. They have several busses that go back and forth from the airport to the port. Finally we got a bus to drive us to port and ride was about 20-30 I cant remember I fell asleep for a while. But I do remember there was construction and it took awhile. Once you see water the boat is in distance range. From a far distance the boat looked really small but once we approached it closer its huge.

EMBARKMENT: We did wait a long time on the bus before we could unload and go to the building to register everything before going on the boat. I swear you go through so many security areas your just sick to death of metal detectors. Some of the lines were long but people are there to guide you around. Some person directed us in the wrong direction and we ended up costing us some time. We waited in line just to get our SAIL & SIGN cards which allows you to get into your stateroom, and to charge anything on the boat to. (We learned the hard way). Once you hit the boat the photographers start taking your photo be aware they only cost $15 a piece. Once you got to our stateroom on the Rivera Deck which I saw is just above the water was OK but I wish we had gotten a different room. We were in room 1277 which was just a couple of feet from an elevator, we also didnt like how you could hear the dining noise at all the hours of the night. Read more