We decided four weeks before the cruise to actually do it. We had never cruised before so we felt that a five day cruise from our home port would test whether cruising was for us without the investment in flights or a longer commitment. In summary we could not have enjoyed it more.

The day before departure Carnival sent out an e-mail inviting those guests who could to arrive between 9:30 and 10:30 for early boarding. I do not know if this is something they often do or if it had to do with the fact that there were three ships in the port and their wanting to reduce the chaos of too many people at the same time. Since we live in Brooklyn, we were happy to arrive early. We took the Q train to 57th Street/7th Ave. (by Carnegie Hall) and then walked over to the piers from there. We packed light for the cruise with carry-on only. We needed no porter and we went right into the terminal at 9:55. After registration we sat in a waiting area for a few minutes and then we were called to board around 11:00. At 11:15 we put our backpacks in the cabin and explored the ship a little. At 11:45 we ate lunch on the Lido deck at the "Taste of Nations" featuring Italian.

We had booked an Oceanview Guarantee and we were given a convenient room with a large picture window just off the main stairway and bank of 10 elevators. Getting to everything was efficient and easy. The room had more than enough room to stow everything and was quite spacious. It was clean and in good shape. There are two 110v plugs (3-prong) along the desk area. There is another one behind the tv. There is also one 220v plug at the desk. The room steward performed his work discretely, efficiently, and professionally. We met him once on the first day. He left the famous towel animals on our bed each evening during dinner. (They offered a towel folding demo on the last full day and let each participant try it out.) Read more