We arrived in Fort lauderdale airport and found the carnival reps at the luggage terminal holding up signs offerings transfers to the Miami pier.The cost is 30.00 per person each way.They will allow you to charge it to your sail and ship account.We inquired about a taxi,they told us that we were looking at appox.70.00 to take us to the cruise ship.If you are with a group or can split a cab this would be cheaper.The embarktation process went very quickly,we waited about 15 min.The rooms are not ready until 130pm or so.They did have the buffet open so we had lunch and then were able to get into our cabin.We had been on carnival before and were glad to see they had gone away from the loud orange and purple colors all over the ship.Our room was an ocean view,we were also impressed with the amount of storage space,the size of the port window and the overall size of the room.Here are some of the things that we did to save money on this cruise.We bought our own insulated mugs,they have free lemonade and ice tea.They offer a soda card for 50.00,why pay more when the lemonade and tea are free.They will also give you ice tea at dinner but you have to ask for it.I know they do not allow it however we bought liquor on board by putting it in our luggage.We bought water bottles and put liquor in the empty bottles.Many people we talked to do this to be able to cut down on the liquor bill.I spent 3-4 weeks on line researching the ports through this web site and travel advisor forum web site to learn as much as possible.We did not book any trips thru the cruise line.We used local people at every stop.

We ate most of our dinners in the sit down restaurant.If you look on your room tv you can see the menu,a couple of nights we did not go and went to the buffet instead.We found the food to be good almost any where we went,however the selection on the buffet was reduced from previous cruises.They have a 24hr pizza place,it is at the back of the ship on deck 9 by the pool.They have daily drink specials,however make sure you order the 5 dollar one or they will give you the souvenir cub each time you order and its 7.95.If you want to keep track of what you are spending you can do so thru your tv in your room,hit the menu button and follow the prompts.I discovered a problem with the internet charges by doing this.They charged me 4 times instead of once.We went to most of the shows and they were ok except for the 80s show,do not miss this one,it was one of the better shows i have seen in the 15 or so cruises we have been on.The comedy shows were just ok but beware of the adult comedy,do not sit anywhere near the front!Do not bring kids or teenagers with you it is very crude.The game shows they did all week were fun.The bingo is a rip off,you will spend a ton of money for one game.The other thing is the pull tabs,i did not see the friends we were with win any thing more than 5.00 and i know he spent a least 100.00.The liquor they sell on board goes up on the last day buy it early or buy it at the ports,the cruise line will hold it for you until the last day.