My wife and I are loyal Carnival customers, this being our fourth cruise in the last 2 years. We flew into West Palm Beach the day before our cruise and rented a car for the drive to Miami. This was relatively simple, except for some poor directions printed from the Internet. We saved a few dollars but would probably opt for a more direct route next time around.

I booked the La Quinta Airport East on Le Jeune Road for the night and after finding it, was pleasantly surprised at the accommodations. Reviews had been mixed, but for the purpose this hotel fit the bill nicely. For our $79.00 rate we were rewarded with a clean room, continental breakfast, free airport shuttle (rental car return) and free port shuttle in the morning. The port shuttle was the most organized we had experienced. I requested an early time upon booking and our names were taken and checked for the 11:00 am shuttle to the port.

Embarkation at the port was typical. Stood in line for less than 10 minutes before getting on the ship. The ship itself was decorated in typical Carnival fashion - something that would never make or break my experience. We made a tour of the boat and found it easy to navigate as we had sailed the Liberty previously. Read more