I've cruised many times before, but it had been many years since the last one, so I figured this was an excellent one to try. I was a Carnival fan, it had a great price on this cruise out of a port I could drive to, and I love the Mexican Riviera. Oh, and it left on my birthday - match made in heaven.

Embarkation went smooth. Parking was easy, although there were employees helping direct people to their cars while we were heading to get on, so I think some were confused and sent us the wrong direction once, thinking we were leaving the cruise.....but I ignored that and found out where to go on my own. Once in the main building though, it was a breeze, and fast too. I was traveling FTTF, so I got to sit in the rear section, right outside of the diamond guest lounge. Getting onboard was also easy, and we were on the ship in no time.

Here's the big turning point. So with FTTF, you're supposed to have access to your room as soon as you board. Your room key/sign&sail card should be ready. Ours was not. Everyone around us had keys in their door....we did not. So, I decided to not let it bother me much because maybe they just didn't get to it yet but almost were. Went to have food. An hour and a half later, came back to check, and there is still no key. So there went perk #1 from FTTF. I had to go wait in the guest services line next, and that is never a pleasure on that first day. Oh, and no separate line for FTTF guests either (perk #2 gone), so I stood in line as like #13 or so. Well, I told them the room didn't have a key when I got on (they said it should have been....but saying that doesn't make it so it was, not sure why they told me that it was supposed to be since I kinda knew it was), then asked if we waited longer. I said I already waited an hour and a half, checked, and there was no key. So she said she would just print them there and ignore the keys that show up later because they are now inactive. Btw, those keys never actually showed up. Read more