This was our fourth cruse, the second with Carnival. My husband and I went without our kids this time and we had a blast. We live in Kansas City, MO so we flew in the day before and stayed at the Howard Johnson Plaza. We were extremely disappointed with this hotel, as they forgot to pick us up from the airport and we eventually took a cab to the hotel. The reason we chose this hotel was because of the free shuttle to/from the airport, as well as to/from the port of Tampa. After a rough start, we made sure the shuttle dropped us off in plenty of time the next day at the port around 11:15. Embarkation went smoothly. Compared to our other cruises, this seemed the quickest. We had to wait for about 30-45 minutes before we could board the ship, but there was plenty of seating at the terminal. When our number was called, we promptly boarded. We were not allowed to go to our rooms until 1:30, so we went to the Lido deck for lunch. This was really our only complaint. Everyone else was doing the same thing, so there really was no where to sit. Eventually, we found a table and ate lunch. When we arrived at our stateroom, we were pleasantly pleased. We had a free upgrade to an extended balcony, so we had lots of room for the two of us. The muster drill went quickly and painlessly. We then set sail at 4:00.
The next day was a fun day at sea and we laid by the pool, visited the casino, played bingo and had a great time.
Tuesday, Grand Cayman. I have been to this port before, but my husband had not. All of our shore excursions were through ShoreTrips.com. We had excellent service and we really enjoyed the smaller parties. We had booked the Stingray City/Turtle Farm/Hell tour. We loved it. I kissed the stingrays for seven years of good luck and my husband, who isn't an animal person, got in the water with them and fed them. We then went to the Turtle Farm, where we were able to hold the smaller turtles. Then we were off to Hell. Hell is impressive, but small. We only stayed for a short time, but I was glad that we saw it. We picked up t-shirts and other merchandise. Our excursion included lunch, so my husband and I were taken to a place off of Seven Mile Beach for Chicken, Rice and Beans. It was so delicious. We were then returned for some shopping.