I thought it might be neat to write up a summary of our vacation and share it with you all. I will take several posts since there is so much to write.
As you know we stayed in a hotel in Miami the night before we set sail. We got up the morning of the cruise and had breakfast at the hotel and then grabbed our stuff, turned in our keys and headed out. We decided not to go straight to parking since it was early, so we drove around instead and did some sightseeing. You could definitely tell where the line was from poverty to upper middle class or higher. We crossed an intersection and it was gorgeous buildings, lots of people walking around and where we had just came from was not so great of a neighborhood with homeless people sleeping on benches or laying on the sidewalk or in doorways. We drove down by the port and saw our ship waiting, as well as several others. We found out that the rest of the family had already been dropped off at the terminal and the guys had taken their vehicle to the parking location. We headed on over and caught up with my FIL and BIL and rode over on the same shuttle to the terminal.
We unloaded our bags and had to hand them over to a porter across the street and then we headed into the terminal. We had to dump our water bottles before entering. We got in line and went through customs where they checked our passports (or birth certificates if that's what someone had) and then on through security, just like an airport. We had no issues and went straight up to the second floor to get into another line to be issued our Sail and Sign cards, which is your room key and charge card while on the ship since they don't take cash. It also had our assigned dining room on it. Then we sat down and waited for them to call our boarding zone number. We were zone 6. The in-laws checked in way after we did and were zone 4, not sure how that worked but they boarded before we did. While we were in line the staff danced to a song and that was fun.
It took less than an hour from the time we arrived at the terminal to the time we were setting foot on the ship. The rooms aren't ready when you first board, they say usually by 1:30. We had lunch first thing (MIL bought me an umbrella drink) and then explored the ship. We did go down to our rooms and check them out but we didn't get our luggage until later in the evening. I got to be out on the deck when we first undocked and started moving but then I had to go inside to the Camp Carnival orientation for the kids. We ended up setting sail about an hour after we were supposed to. We had dinner and hung out and went to bed. We didn't stay up too late that first night.
As you know we stayed in a hotel in Miami the night before we set sail. We got up the morning of the cruise and had breakfast at the hotel and then grabbed our stuff, turned in our keys and headed out. We decided not to go straight to parking since it was early, so we drove around instead and did some sightseeing. You could definitely tell where the line was from poverty to upper middle class or higher. We crossed an intersection and it was gorgeous buildings, lots of people walking around and where we had just came from was not so great of a neighborhood with homeless people sleeping on benches or laying on the sidewalk or in doorways. We drove down by the port and saw our ship waiting, as well as several others. We found out that the rest of the family had already been dropped off at the terminal and the guys had taken their vehicle to the parking location. We headed on over and caught up with my FIL and BIL and rode over on the same shuttle to the terminal.
We unloaded our bags and had to hand them over to a porter across the street and then we headed into the terminal. We had to dump our water bottles before entering. We got in line and went through customs where they checked our passports (or birth certificates if that's what someone had) and then on through security, just like an airport. We had no issues and went straight up to the second floor to get into another line to be issued our Sail and Sign cards, which is your room key and charge card while on the ship since they don't take cash. It also had our assigned dining room on it. Then we sat down and waited for them to call our boarding zone number. We were zone 6. The in-laws checked in way after we did and were zone 4, not sure how that worked but they boarded before we did. While we were in line the staff danced to a song and that was fun.
It took less than an hour from the time we arrived at the terminal to the time we were setting foot on the ship. The rooms aren't ready when you first board, they say usually by 1:30. We had lunch first thing (MIL bought me an umbrella drink) and then explored the ship. We did go down to our rooms and check them out but we didn't get our luggage until later in the evening. I got to be out on the deck when we first undocked and started moving but then I had to go inside to the Camp Carnival orientation for the kids. We ended up setting sail about an hour after we were supposed to. We had dinner and hung out and went to bed. We didn't stay up too late that first night.