This was our 7th Carnival cruise; 9th overall. We flew from Iowa via Atlanta to Miami 2 days before the ship set sail. Our flights were delayed so instead of getting to Miami at 1 p.m. we arrived after 8 p.m. We stayed the 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. If you want to be close to the port, this is where to stay. The hotel is nice. We had room 703 which was a large room with 2 beds, couch and 2 chairs and the view was of the Bayside Market. We could see the ships from our window. The Bayside Market has a variety of shops, restaurants and bars.

On February 1st, we checked out and got a taxi to the port arriving a little after 11 a.m. We were told rooms would be ready by 12:30p.m. We were given zone 10 as our boarding number and did not get to board until around 1 p.m. (this was probably the longest wait time we have had in all 9 cruises.)

Our cabin was a balcony cabin on the Lido deck. For most of the cruises we have had an extended or larger balcony and found the standard size of this balcony okay, but missed the extra space as we do spend a lot of time on the balcony. The cabin itself was pretty standard for Carnival with lots of storage and fairly comfortable bed. Our cabin attendant was good - he responded quickly to any request and our room was always clean with fresh towels, etc. One thing I did notice was that I could hear people in the cabin next to ours which I don't remember from the past. They weren't too loud but I could hear them talking and often hear their TV - they most have gone out at nights because after 9 p.m. it was quiet. Read more