What can you do to get away when you have no vacation left. We racked our brains to find a short vacation to just get away and relax when a special on Carnival 3/4 day cruises appeared before our eyes (email notification). We have taken six cruises before this and never thought about taking Carnival but price and timing convinced us that it was worth a try. Next decision was which port/ship/itinerary. Quickly picked the Fascination since it had the easiest flight arrangements and overnighted in Nassau.

Booked the cruise 9 days in advance with tickets as pier pickup. Flew to Miami the afternoon before. Checked in at the Hyatt then walked to Bayside Mall. Great location for dinner, ambiance and free entertainment. Took the last boat tour to view the famous homes and returned to more live music. By midnight we were done and grabbed the people mover back to the hotel. This area of Miami is heavily patrolled and seemed quite safe including security guards in the train stations.

Friday morning, dressed and walked to Don Pans for a light breakfast then walked around downtown until time to take a cab to the pier. Made it to the pier and picked up tickets at 11:30. Paperwork was quickly processed and proceeded into the Carnival terminal where we waited for an hour before boarding the ship. Read more