We arrived a day early (my husband being a pilot - we know about airlines & would never try to arrive the day of a cruise). We went to the Holiday Inn on the Stay & Cruise deal. The Holiday Inn was old & not extremely attractive. Even though the website said there was a free breakfast, they told us when we asked that there would be an additional charge if we wanted it. We knew we'd be on the ship early so just got something at Jack in the Box to hold us over. We left the car parked there & signed up to take the 10:30 shuttle to the ship. This went without incidence, but it was further than we'd thought over there.

I was a Platinum member, so this was our first experience with VIP check-in, which was really nice. No wait at all to check-in, then just staying in a special room with other platinums waiting to board. They had pretty good lemonade available. I would recommend a TV screen with either pictures of places Carnival cruises or ships or something, even regular television as it was a little boring just waiting for an hour or so.

They came & got us & told us it was time to get on the ship. What an awesome difference VIP is. We went right in, were the first to go through security & get on the ship. No wait whatsover. We went straight to the Lido deck to get lunch & it was great. Read more