My family (myself, hubby, 15 year old, 17 year old) took this cruise with friends and their families. We ended up totaling 14 people. This was our second cruise but our first with Carnival. Our friends have been on Carnival 4 times and loved it. We chose this cruise because of their recommendation, the itinerary, and the fact that it fit with the kids' spring vacation.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before our cruise. Used a transportation service to take us to the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami. It was a great place to stay for the night. We watched the Saturday departures before going to Bayside Marketplace for dinner.

We arranged transportation from hotel to port with the concierge. He picked us up at 10:00 and we breezed through the check-in process. We had a low number (can't remember now what it was) and it was fun watching other people arriving and meeting folks while we waited to be called. We were onboard by 11:30. Read more