We had originally been scheduled to go to Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay and Grand Cayman. Due to engine issues with the ship on the cruise prior to ours we were emailed and advised the itinerary would have to be altered to going to Nassau and Freeport with several sea days and returning to Miami. We were given the option to cancel with a full refund or continue on with the alternate itinerary and get 50% of what we paid toward our cruise back 3 weeks after the cruise, 50% of what we paid toward a future cruise and $100 on board credit per person. We already had the time off from work, had been to Nassau before but figured at least it was sun and a cruise and not work so we went.

We flew into the Miami airport and highly recommend using the carnival desk at the airport (they close at 2pm on cruise day) to get booked in and skip the lines at the port. We paid $27 for a taxi to the port and were on our way. We were able to get on board within 20 minutes of getting to port which was great. Our sign and sail cards were in an envelope in the mailbox at our cabin when we arrived. The cabin was ready and I think our luggage arrived within a few hours. We dropped our carry on items in the room and went out to explore. The itinerary changed several times throughout the cruise..first one night in Nassau and two sea days.. then we ended up staying overnight in Nassau.. same thing in Freeport.. originally one day then overnight. We did the same beach excursion we had before in Nassau and it was good. We took a boat from the port about 30 minutes to the private beach, had great lounge chairs, lunch and a drink. We stayed on the ship the second day and enjoyed (LOVED) the serenity deck.. so peaceful with soothing music and a nice breeze, comfy loungers and attentive staff.

Freeport we did the carnival excursion for the Private Sailboat and it was nice. I would have enjoyed it more if there had been a comfortable place to sit while on the sailboat but anyone that knows about sailboats (I didn't) would have realized that ahead of time. We took a bus to the dock and they met us with mimosas to setting in for a sail out away from the beach. We docked and were able to snorkel and they prepared a nice lunch with pasta, salad, seafood salad, chips, salsa and bread. It was an open bar and they were very attentive to asking if we needed anything and we found the drinks to be strong. We relaxed a bit and headed back to the dock. The following day were were supposed to go on the Private all inclusive Bohemian House excursion but when we got to the dock the agent said we should have received something in our mailbox that said it moved to 10am. We did not and another couple did not either. Again, Carnival made amends, refunded the excursion and put us on another all inclusive beach excursion at no charge. This beach had Adirondack chairs... not loungers which I did not care for but open bar and a buffet and beach.. so we made the best of it. There were also some hammocks. Read more