I chose this cruise because it was the close enough for us to drive to Charleston from Ohio avoiding additional costs of airfare. I normally do not cruise in the summer- but I took my aunt on her first cruise and she is a teacher. I cruised with my mother, her two sisters and my uncle. We had two oceanview cabins. I am in my late 40's and they are all in their late 60's early 70's.

Embarakation: we arrived at the port at 10:30am and was told that we had to wait until 11:00am... but they let us drop off our luggage. We pulled into the grocery store parking lot near the port and waited... when returning at 11:00am we noticed they had already let A BUNCH of cars in. still, we got to park inside which was nice- and the shuttle to the port was efficient. Once inside we had Faster to the Fun and we bypassed what looke dto be a line of about 200-300 people waiting to check in. Once we checked in- we waited about 5 minutes and were the first to board the ship.

Cabin: Oceanview- M156... after boarding the ship we headed to our room (FTTF) and found it ready and clean. I am not a big fan of the orange decor- but hey- whatever. The room was fairly warm and air was trickling out of the vent- no thermostat in the room. Also- no refrigerator- which was a bummer since we brought a twelve pack of pop and wine on board. Our room steward Melchor was wonderful- he filled up the soft sided cooler we brought everyday with ice for us- and we brought insulated cups- so not having the fridge wasn't that bad. The beds were soooo comfortable and our room was always clean. I found the bathroom to be a bit small- smaller than some other Carnival ships I have been on- but it was fine. Read more