Day 1, 7/13/08, Embarkation Day: There were 5 of us in 2 cabins on this cruise. We purchased airport transfers from Carnival. We did this because we wanted to be sure there would be no problem getting 5 people & their luggage to the correct terminal on time. Carnival's people were set up next to baggage claim, so no problem there. Our flight was on time, arriving about 11 a.m. I figured we would jump on the bus & be on board fairly early. Wrong! They had a line for Triumph pax & Valor pax. As we were waiting for our 3rd piece of luggage, the bus left for the Valor. Naturally, our suitcase came down the carousel within seconds of the bus leaving for the terminal. The next bus came, but only took Triumph pax, so we continued to wait. They finally called for us & we followed the CCL rep out the door, expecting to see our bus waiting for us. But no, we only went to stand in line outside. At long last the bus came for us, loading up both Triumph & Valor pax. It was a Greyhound bus, so all the luggage was put underneath & we rode in air-conditioned comfort. First stop was the Triumph. Everyone had to stay on the bus until all the luggage was unloaded. Then, the Triumph pax were able to get off & collect their luggage. So, this was repeated at the Valor terminal. Once at the terminal, you had to get a new luggage tag for each piece of luggage & leave it there among the bajillions of other suitcases. From there, we lined up to go inside the terminal. The line was long, but it moved pretty fast. That is, until we got up to the check-in desk & the computers went down. And, they went down right as we were having our cabins re-arranged. So, there was more waiting, as we chose to wait until they came back up so our keys would be correct. I know, we could have done that on board, but once on board, I really wasn't interested in waiting in yet another line. What's odd to me is that the check-in people say you can't book a minor in a room with siblings if no one is 25 years of age, yet they always change everything when you arrive. Would it not make more sense just to allow people to book that way in the first place? We're not talking about small kids, ours are 15, 20 & 23 and were booked in the room next door. Anyway, we ended up getting on board the ship around 3 p.m. So, we missed meeting our Cruise Critic buddies. We made our way up to Lido to get some food & were finally able to relax. Yeah!!!!

We had 6pm seating for dinner in the Washington dining room. When we arrived, we noticed that 3 of us were at one table & 2 of us were at another table. We were part of a group booking, so all that booking was seated in close proximity to each other. The maitre d read off names of our tablemates, whom we didn't know, then told our waiter to go ahead & seat us all at one table & he would take care of the rest. Nino was our waiter, his assistant was Imade & our cocktail waitress was Zofia. They were all wonderful. We ate in the dining room every night. Zofia had our sodas ready quickly. My son had the chocolate melting cake every night. It became a joke when Nino passed out the dessert menus, as there really was no point in giving one to my son - his mind was made up. The food was very good, service was good. Some things were better than others, but I never had to send anything back. On one occasion, my son didn't like what he got. He never said anything, but Nino noticed he hadn't eaten much & immediately offered to bring him a steak.

Our rooms were 9235 & 9239 on Lido deck. Both were interior, so nothing exciting to report about that. I did notice that our sink & shower in 9239 were very slow to drain. In fact, the shower got water on the floor of the bathroom. We had plenty of towels & rolled them up around the shower. It helped somewhat. I kept meaning to say something to our steward, Pedro, but always forgot. I know Carnival brags about its comfort bedding & yes, the linens are nice. However, the beds are very hard. I sleep on a sleep number bed at home, so it was a bit of an adjustment. Just so you know, though, I had no trouble sleeping at all. The hairdryer in the room was fine for us. My girls brought their own, as it would not have been adequate for their long hair. The amenity basket had a couple of razors, pepcid complete, fiber chews & toothpaste. You'll still want to bring your own toothpaste, as it's really not enough for 2 people for an entire week. There was plenty of closet space. Read more