May 23 - Day 1 - Port and leaving Carnival - The land of the Lines

First, I need to mention that this my third cruise. The first was on a Carnival ship 18 years ago on my honeymoon (just my wife, Jane, and I). The second was Feb of 2003 on the Disney Magic (entire family, me, Jane, Mary (now 13) and Will (now 12)). This was on the Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa. Our reservation was for an Outside View guarantee cabin. The first Carnival was okay but did not leave us thrilled so that was why there was not a repeat for 18 years. The Disney cruise was incredible and left us all definitely wanting more, thus this cruise. I tell you this so you will know that my comments are colored by my Disney cruise and the excellence there.

PORT and EMBARKATION - This was not good at all. The port seemed to handle the traffic okay in terms of getting cars in and letting them unload while porters were right there to take your bags to customs. The porter handled our guaranteed cabin status well and got our cabin number . Jane then went to park the van. She tells me the parking garage, across the street from the port, was a nightmare to navigate with plenty of dead ends. Payment for parking was paid at the time of driving in. It was $10 per day. We were not allowed out of the loading area and into the building until all those listed on our ticket (all 4 of us) were present. Understandable security. There was a mob of people. Read more