Embarkation: This was our first cruise out of Jacksonville, and also our first cruise using the VIP embarkation. The VIP embarkation was very very smooth. The people that were able to use the VIP embarkation seemed not to move at all. In the past it seems that the lines moved constantly (Orlando, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale). Once on the ship we went straight to our room and it was already ready. We dropped our carry-on bag and made our way to the buffet, which was very crowded. We have discovered in previous Carnival cruises that the pizza is pretty good so we went straight to that line. Other than snacks this was the only time we ate at the buffet (we figure why not use the wait staff since we are paying for them either way). The only down side to our embarkation was that we did not get our checked bags until around 7pm, we have never waited that late to get our bags before.

Days at Sea: This cruise was meant to be relaxing so we were not looking for things to keep us busy on our days at sea, just a nice place to relax and take a nap. Unfortunately it rained most of the day, though this was the only day it really rained on the entire cruise (if you had to pick one, the day at sea is that one). We spent most of the day laying around the room watching the onboard movies, we also wandered to the serenity deck since part of it is covered. This was a very good lazy day. If I were looking for things to do this day at sea I would have been disappointed, there were not many listed in the Carnival Caper, and the few that were, were rained out. In fact, there were two days at sea and neither really had many scheduled activities. On the up side, there were plenty of deck chairs, this is the first cruise I have been on where there was no problem finding a deck chair any time of the day.

Private Island: I have been to the NCL private island and was very disappointed, but Carnival's private island is actually pretty nice. There is a lot of beach, and if you go to the beach in the morning (the earlier the better) it's all yours. We only saw maybe 50 people on the beach, the rest of the ship must have been on excursions. We were the second couple on the beach and we made our way down to a very secluded spot to do some snorkeling. This is the only time I have ever been snorkeling and seen no fish, I mean an hour in the water and not a single fish in sight! The water was a beautiful blue and nice and warm though. After playing in the surf for an hour or two my wife and I set up a folding awning over two beach chairs and enjoyed a nap from our secluded section of beach with a wonderful view. (Apparently you are supposed to rent the awnings but there was one all the way down where we were with the two chairs we found, so we got it for free... it was just what we needed). After our nap we strolled the island's walking trails and grabbed lunch (the island BBQ). Lunch was surprisingly good on the island. We debated getting back on the boat for lunch, but were glad we got the island BBQ. After lunch we wandered the island some more and then we got back on the boat around 3pm. Read more