Some quick background information, there were four of us traveling, two children (kid and teen) and two moms. We shared an Ocean Suite, and it was as fabulous as I remember it being last time. The four of us have cruised before, and this was not our first time on Carnival.

Getting to the Port of Manhattan was an easy endeavour. Coming from the Philadelphia region, we drove to Trenton, and then took NJ Transit straight to Penn Station. The cab ride from Penn Station to the port was $7 and change. They dropped us off right in front of the ship, a porter was over to us immediately, and he was quite helpful in getting luggage tags onto our bags that needed them.

Embarkation was incredibly quick and easy, there was hardly a wait in the VIP Check-in area, and the water and lemonade offerings were convenient and well used. Getting our sign and sail cards was fairly painless, with the exception of a printing error. We were aboard in under 20 minutes and heading up to the Lido for lunch. Read more