Sorry for the delay, but decided I should put this in the reviews section of the site. Had originally done it as a simple posting on 2/8/05. As a frame of reference, we have cruised five times previously, on Cunard, RCCL, HAL and Celebrity. First time on Carnival. My wife, sister and I, all in our 50s, took our mother, age 83, on her third cruise on 1/23/05 on the Victory.
We were hesitant to cruise on Carnival, in light of their former reputation as the high school cruise line. Plus, our younger son was married on the Fantasy some years ago, and we recalled the neon garishness of that ship. But we had been hearing for some time how Carnival has really turned itself around and was working really hard to rid itself of the spring break reputation. The final push was provided by my boss having taken two Carnival cruises in the last few years and giving good reports on them.
Embarkation was about 90 minutes of standing in line. It did not appear that the Fun Pass meant anything; I think everyone had them, so everyone stood in line. The only folks who actually skipped the mess were those who had checked in the evening before through their Miami hotel.