This was our third cruise, our second on Carnival. The only other line we have been on is Holland America. We are a family of 4 (with 2 children ages 9 and 11.)

We flew into Miami the day before and stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites Miami-Airport South-Blue Lagoon. I chose this hotel because of the great reviews I had read. We were very disappointed with this hotel and cannot recommend it. The location, while ok if you just need a sleep and go, is in an area you simply can't just walk around if you have time to enjoy the tropical south Florida air after coming from cold southern Ontario. The breakfast the next morning (while admittedly 'free') was the worst I've seen at a Hampton Inn. Not enough food for the number of people and very slow service.

Embarkation at Miami seemed a little slow but not excessively so. Our last two cruises were out of Ft Lauderdale and embarkation there seemed somewhat more efficient. Admittedly The Liberty is a bigger ship than we've been on before so perhaps more people slowed down the process. Nevertheless, no real complaints as we went with the flow and walked onto the ship in about an hour. Read more