Arriving at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

A man who works at Comfort Inn Airport dropped us off at Port Everglades within 20 minutes. We arrived at about 11:15 a.m. prior to boarding at 4 p.m. They offer free transportation to the cruise terminals and airport. Before arriving at Port Everglades, I attached each cruise luggage tag to our bags, so someone would pick our bags up at the pier and deliver them to our stateroom in the ship. When my husband and I arrived at the pier, we were in a big surprise and opened our jaw when we saw our cruise. In fact, we have never been on a cruise in our life. The pier was hectic, a bit confusing and filled with a thousand passengers who arrived. Staying in a van, I saw one girl getting off our van and she looked impatient. Perhaps she wanted to get out and smell the air. James and I walked through the crowd and found a sign that directed us to go into the security checkpoint and to get ready to show our passport and ID. There were long lines of people. Finally, James and I showed our passport and ID. Then, we proceed to the security area for any hazards. We went up the escalator and got astonished by another long lines of people on the upper level. We checked in and got our room key cards. This card is very important because it includes our passport, charging privileges and more. We could use a key card as a passport to show it to the security guards upon getting off the ship in Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama Canal. In case, bring a passport if a card is being lost. As we approached the security guards who asked for our ID cards to swipe them, our ID cards displayed on the screen: Special needs. Obviously, Carnival Freedom noted down that we are deaf, so they are aware of our needs. Finally, it took us about 30 minutes to complete the boarding process.