This was the third Carnival Cruise for our family of five. We travelled with a two other families.
Getting to the Port/Checking in.
We flew into Orlando airport the day before. We stayed at the Staybridge Suites. We booked a private car through their recommendations for $250 there and back. We even got a stop at the Super Walmart for pop, water and misc. items on our way there. We left the Staybridge Suites at 9:30 and found ourselves eating lunch at the buffet by 11:15am. Checking in was a breeze and there weren't any lineups at that time in the morning. We were hoping the water slides would be open as we bought our bathing suits on board with us but we had to wait until after 1pm for them to open. So we bought our "bubbles" package, swam in the pool and explored until then.