So my DH and I we're celebrating our birthdays and my sister came along with us for the cruise and help me celebrate a milestone birthday. As I said before, for the past ten years we've been cruising with Carnival; although I have also travelled on Radisson (now Regent) to Tahiti, and Holland American (Caribbean), and previous cruises on RC (Alaska, Caribbean) with other family members during that time.

We always book a suite, so we followed suit on this cruise. Carnival has priority boarding for suite passengers, and so did RC. RC's boarding process was great. We arrived at the terminal at approximately 11:30 a.m. We identified ourselves as suite passengers to an RC official and she brought us to a cordoned off area with about 8 other people and after what seemed like only 10-15 minutes we were permitted to enter, pass thru the magnetometers, and head to a line for check in. Once inside, the whole process took less than 10 minutes. I would rate it as excellent. Staff were efficient, friendly and enthusiastic. I was also happy that my sister, who was travelling alone and not in a suite, was able to board with us because she is a platinum member.

We boarded the ship and went to the Windjammer cafe to enjoy some lunch, then we took off to explore the ship and make appointments at the spa. I should note here that we did buy the soda package upon boarding ($42)and I would recommend doing this if someone in your party drinks alot of soda. My sister signed up for a pedicure that afternoon (which she was able to complete before we sailed)and I signed up for a hairdresser appointment for captain's night. Read more