I traveled with my husband, mother, aunt and cousins for this cruise. Because we were part of a special tour with Inspiration Cruises, we did all our booking through them, so I don't have any information about about booking procedures and/or customer service with Carnival prior to our departure.

HOTEL INFO/TRAVEL TO PORT We stayed at the South Seas Hotel on South Beach the night before departure from Miami. Touted as a boutique hotel, I was concerned it might be a little TOO boutique for me, but I was so pleasantly surprised. It was clean, smelled great and the beds were so comfy. It's right on the beach and only two blocks from Lincoln Road Mall where you can find all sorts of shopping and dining. The cab ride for six of us to the port was only $25.

EMBARKATION We arrived at the port at 12:10 because our info told us you can start boarding around 12:30. We stood line a while before finally getting upstairs to the check-in, but it wasn't that bad. Disappointing, though, was the big deal they make over your FUNPASS...and we didn't even need it. We appeared to have stood in the same lines as people who didn't have FUNPASSes, so we were a little confused why we went to all the work to move to the "expedited" line. Once at the counter, it only took a matter of a few minutes to get us checked in and we were on our way. Different, though, than other ships I've been on, you must get in another line before entering the ship. You actually get on the ship, get in line and then show them your passport and Sail and Sign card. Different than other ships we've cruised on, it seemed like we were always in line for something. Read more