We booked this cruise because we saw the "documentary" on the Destiny's renovation into the Sunshine last year while on the Carnival Valor. We were intrigued by the Sports Deck (and we never even ended up going back there once) and the Serenity Deck (loved, loved, loved it!).

Embarkation - We flew down to Miami from Ohio because two of our cabin mates live in South Florida. We arrived Friday evening and then drove to the port Saturday morning. From Weston, FL, it took us about three hours. There was a bit of traffic when we arrived at the port around Noon. We unloaded our bags at bag drop-off and then parked the car. We had to wait for two friends who were arriving on a shuttle from Orlando. Once everyone was at the port, we proceeded through the line around 12:45 p.m. We were on the ship no later than 1:15p.m. We carried on an entire carry-on size suitcase of mixers and 24 bottles of water. Security didn't say a peep about our luggage or the water. Easy peasy. We were told the rooms would be ready at 1:30 p.m. We went straight to our cabin to drop off half the mixers and then went to the other room to drop off the rest. Both cabins had pre-ordered liquor through Bon Voyage and bottles were waiting for us when we opened the cabin doors. We opted to indulge in a couple adult beverages before heading to lunch on Lido.

Lido - I did notice a sewer smell on the starboard side heading into the Lido Marketplace as you passed Guy's Burgers and the drink station. It wasn't so powerful I felt nauseated, but I did smell it rather consistently through the cruise. So I either walked through the port side or I walked very fast. LOL. The space to walk in that area is narrower than on other ships. The sewer smell was occasionally present on Deck 5 as you walked past the Shake Shack/Java Blue Café. Speaking of the Shake Shack – I had the Vanilla Caramel Bourbon one…delish! Read more