My DH & I traveled to Fort Lauderdale 2 days pre-cruise. We had booked a pre-cruise package trough Carnival last year before they stopped providing the hotel packages. Our package included transportation from the airport to the hotel, the hotel to the Port of Miami, and post-cruise back to the airport. We stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th Street. It was a good location, although we spent most of our time at the hotel. The hotel has a great pool area, with lots of trees and a waterfall. There is also a hot tub and steam room, which we both nice and clean. Our room was very nice and we would definitely stay there again.

We we picked up at the hotel by Cabana Coaches on embarkation day. We arrived at the port of Miami around 1pm, and we were on the ship by 1:45pm. We went to our room and it was ready for us. Then we went to the Lido deck to Emile's for lunch. We went straight to the Fish & Chips upstairs, there was no line so I guess not everyone knew it was there yet. It was a great lunch. After lunch it was almost time for the safety drill. That went by smooth and we were done by 3:30. By 4pm we were heading out to sea!

Room Review: Although our balcony room was above the casino, it was quiet. It was actually above the cashiers desk. We never had any problems with noise. The room was nice and our room steward knew our names by the end of day 1. We felt very little motion in our room since it was mid-ship. Read more