Departed out of Ft. Lauderdale which I LOVE. So much easier than Miami. We live in the area so we just drove down that morning. This was our 9th Carnival cruise (gold). With two kids (13 and 6) we go for the ocean suite and it makes priority embarkation/debarkation worth it. We bypassed all the long lines and we were on the ship in about 15 minutes. Our room was already ready by 12:30.

The cabin itself was good (7277). To keep the lights on, you do need to keep a card in the slot upon entrance. I had no idea, until reading another post, that we could literally use ANY card to do this, including business cards! Ah well. Now you know! The room balcony is my favorite place on the ship. I read out there for hours. Keep in mind that on this floor (well, 6 and above), your balcony won't be directly above water. You will be looking at the edge of deck 5. Some rooms had a view of the hot tub on deck 5. I would have not enjoyed that at all, but our room just had lounge chairs and it was always quiet and didn't obstruct my view when sitting and looking out to sea.

Bring a ship approved adapter so you can have more outlets. I also bring a travel fan and digital alarm clock. Read more