Just got back from family cruise on Carnival Paradise, departing from Tampa, went to Cozumel. Total cruise time 4 days. Here are some tips:

Embarking: arrive at the Tampa port anytime between 1-3pm, it ok to go even earlier, like 12pm if you want. We arrived at 1pm and it was somewhat crowded. I recommend go later, about 2-2:30pm (you will be spending a lot of time on the ship on the cruise, so no need to rush to get there early). For parking you can self-park across the street in the garage or drive right into the terminal and do valet (someone else paid it so I don’t know how much this cost, sorry). Contrary other reviews, I found the port employees at the front of the terminal, in the security area, and luggage area to be perfectly pleasant, sometimes they did have to yell to get attention in directing people in the right area but that’s what you have to do when there are crowds. Getting through the security line is fast and efficient, it’s similar to going through airport security, take all the metal stuff out of your pockets. It’s ok to bring sealed bottled water(s), but don’t bring any visible bottles that have already been opened (or just put it in your bag so they don’t see it), I saw people carry cases of water bottles. Once you’re through the security line, there’s another line for cruise check-in, this line splits into the credit card (to pay for everything on the ship) vs cash line, seems like everyone takes the credit card line, took us 20 minutes to get through this. I highly recommend go into the cash line, it’s much faster, then later if you decide to use credit card, just go to guest services to change it.

Once on the ship you can go grab lunch on the 10th deck (also called the Lido deck), skip the long line at the “On the Grill” and go over to the “Mongolian Grill” or walk into the sliding glass doors to the “Paris Restaurant” which is basically an indoor, air-conditioned food court/buffet. Read more