New Years Cruise on the Horizon with 4 generations- a review

[Haljo1935]

@runnerinn thanks for sharing your wonderful multi generation cruise and virtually "adopting" us all through this review.

We love Turks - the beautiful beaches are so calming and the natives are cute.

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, runnerinn said:

Debarkation and travel home:

... It was a long day at the Miami airport and I'm wondering if we should consider Fort Lauderdale next time...have others had better experiences there? 

...

Any thoughts on whether our family would like the Venezia, Celebration, Mardi Gras, or even the Magic?  I looked into other cruise lines as well, but it's hard to beat the prices, activities, and free food available with Carnival.  I appreciate any feedback and hope my review helps others in planning future cruises!

We have flown back from both Miami & FLL - we honestly let price determine unless we know we'll be picking up a lot of stuff during the cruise, then we do FLL so we can use Luggage Direct.

We haven't had memorable issues or delays at FLL, but pre-security there are a LOT of "housing challenged" people, if that's a concern for your family. Not had any real incidents, but they are there and things do happen - I don't recall this at Miami airport.

We have TSA Pre-check which greatly helps reduce security wait times. And we are at a different terminal as we fly AA, so your experience in the SWA area may be different. 

[pcvtmom]

We 100 percent prefer flying into FLL, as opposed to MIA. Hotels are cheaper,  flights from our preferred airports tend to be cheaper, and it makes up for the shuttle coast of getting from Ft. Lauderdale area to Miami. I sure wish Carnival would go back to using Ft. Lauderdale as a home port. I know some of their other brands leave from there.

[vanislandcruisers]

Really enjoyed this!!!...Thanks for taking us along.

[tradewinds traveler]

Thank you!

[runnerinn]

22 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

We have flown back from both Miami & FLL - we honestly let price determine unless we know we'll be picking up a lot of stuff during the cruise, then we do FLL so we can use Luggage Direct.

We haven't had memorable issues or delays at FLL, but pre-security there are a LOT of "housing challenged" people, if that's a concern for your family. Not had any real incidents, but they are there and things do happen - I don't recall this at Miami airport.

We have TSA Pre-check which greatly helps reduce security wait times. And we are at a different terminal as we fly AA, so your experience in the SWA area may be different. 

Thanks!  I've looked into TSA pre-check, but we only fly 1-2 times a year and with 5 of us it didn't seem worth the cost.  We flew AA from Miami in 2021 and I don't recall the terminal being so awful.  I guess that is what you get when choosing a budget airline!  We may take our chances with the "housing challenged" people at FLL next time 🤣

11 hours ago, pcvtmom said:

We 100 percent prefer flying into FLL, as opposed to MIA. Hotels are cheaper,  flights from our preferred airports tend to be cheaper, and it makes up for the shuttle coast of getting from Ft. Lauderdale area to Miami. I sure wish Carnival would go back to using Ft. Lauderdale as a home port. I know some of their other brands leave from there.

Thanks!  I'm definitely looking into FLL next time.  It seems like most of the cruises that appeal to us are out of Miami.  I'm sure it doesn't help that we are flying at the busiest travel times!