We flew non-stop across "our" beautiful country two days before we set sail to have breathing room in case of bad weather, delays, etc. Nothing was going to hamper this once in a life time adventure. We flew South West and saved a fortune on luggage fees. Packing for almost two months for several different climates was a challenge, and layering your clothes was the key. I find that I did over pack and could do with a lot less.

Embarkation was unorganized and a nightmare for many. We were lucky being Platinum as we got to sit in air conditioned semi comfort for a good hour until we were told to move outdoors and sit on the retainer walls for another hour until finally getting on the ship about 1pm. Lines of people still standing in the hot sun were visible for many more hours still waiting to board. One of the rumors was about 400 people had no idea that a visa was needed for this cruise and Carnival needed a game plan for these folks. They could not enter Brazil without one, and had to make plans to disembark in Buenos Aries after leg two.

We finally were able to go to our cabin after a so so lunch with seating at a premium. We had an ocean view cabin, it was hot, and no air was coming out of the vent even though the control was pegged to cool. We told the room steward and went to customer service. They told us to wait until we sailed, the room would get cooler. Well, people were wearing sweaters in the public areas, so this did not make a lot of sense. We went off to explore the ship and when we returned to our cabin we had most of our luggage and wanted to unpack. Surprising, everything fit!!, even our unpacked luggage fit under the bed! The room was still hot, our clothes stuck to our bodies with all the unpacking. We opened a bottle of our soda, and filled our fridge with our stuff. The line out the window was still there and it was almost time for the drill. An announcement was made that it would be delayed, and we also would be late in sailing. Time for a nap, but too hot to sleep. Read more