Is a family vacation really a vacation? Aboard the Carnival Pride it actually is! My husband and I have been on several Carnival cruises prior to this vacation and I don't recall ever having any issues. To me, vacation is what you make it and I feel that if I am blessed enough to not be at work - life is good!

On this vacation was my husband and I along with our two sons, ages 10 & 12, and husband's brother and his wife. Cruising was a brand new adventure to everyone but hubby and I. As travelers from northern Minnesota we chose to fly to Tampa the day before the cruise. We flew Spirit airlines from Minneapolis direct to Tampa. Obviously Spirit is pretty bare bones but the flights were good and we had no complaints. When we arrived in Tampa I called our hotel, Quality Inn Airport, for the shuttle. We did have to wait, but hey, we were on vacation! The hotel was quite dated and honestly not somewhere I would choose to stay for an extended period of time but for the one night the price was right. When we arrived we were able to purchase a shuttle to the port for the next day. I think it was $12 per person. We were able to get on a 10:00 shuttle, all the later ones were booked. The driver was great, on time and friendly.

We arrived at the port around 10:30, clearly earlier than they ask you to arrive. We decided to go in and relax while we waited. Everyone we encountered was very friendly and great with the kids, they did not make us feel bad for being there early. Embarkation seemed very smooth and painless. Of course as with anywhere you will get the people that can't seem to remember to wait until their section is called. (These are probably the same people that you will encounter throughout the cruise doing the same thing:)) The poor man trying to make announcements to get people to follow the plan had to keep repeating himself, but he was entertaining! Read more