My family and I went on this cruise with an open mind. We were traveling with another couple and it was their first cruise. I have cruised 7 times with Carnival and twice with 2 other lines. I have always enjoyed Carnival more than other lines until this last experience.

We live in West Palm Beach about an hour away from the Miami Cruise Port. We parked our car in a lot (Port of Miami Parking) http://www.portofmiamicruiseparking.com/ for $6 per day and $7 for a round trip shuttle to and from the port. We arrived at the port around 11am and went through security with our carry on water with no problems. We had purchased Faster to The Fun for an additional $50 (for the entire family) and we were immediately escorted to the front of the line! NICE!! We would’ve boarded faster had it not been for the slow as molasses counter clerk we had. She took forever to give us out sail and sign cards. She had no register so I had to wait in another line to deposit cash to my sail and sign account. But finally we were on our way, stopping for our welcome aboard pic and off to our room (faster to the fun also pays for having our room ready when we board!) We dropped off our water and off to the Lido deck for lunch.

Dinner was very nice. We had 3 fabulous waiters, Luis from Columbia and Ferdinand, and Sasa (pronounced Sasha) from Croatia. They were attentive to our needs, always calling us by our first names. Dinner every night was nice but the food wasn’t that great. The service was very slow, but we enjoyed having a nice sit down dinner every night with the same wait staff and enjoyed the shows they performed for us. It was getting a bit annoying having a photographer interrupt our meal EVERY SINGLE NIGHT to take pictures at the table. One night they scared the living daylights out of me when someone put a knife to my throat! It was a “pirate” for a picture! Good grief! Read more