We cruised out of Jacksonville on Oct. 26 Halloween cruise. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.  Very nice room (non smoking hotel) It was great being so close to the port. We were on the ship in no time at all. The ship, crew, food and weather was perfect. We were on the upper deck ocean view room. We went to Key West and Nassau. We took a pedcab ride. "Robert" our driver gave us an outstanding tour of Key West. We took another tour in Nassau including Atlantis. Amazing!! We went to the Queen's staircase, saw the sights and did alot of shopping. Our tour in Nassau was not with Carnval so for $50.00 we got a 2 hour plus tour, It was well worth it!! One good thing about the cruise port in Jacksonville was being so close to St. Augustine and touring the oldest city. Carnival is such a good cruise line. For a first time cruiser-read up on where you are going. check carnival connections for updates and other cruisers comments. Happy sailing to all,

since you recently cruised how much per day did they end up charging you for an oil surcharge??????  I read up to 9 bucks per day per person.....was it that or less????  Never cruised before so I am just trying to figure out how much I will be spending I don't like surprises.

Welcome back and glad you had a great time.      I love that ship as we have cruised on it twice from the Port of Miami.  She's a great ship and a beauty too along with a wonderful crew and staff,  We were always close to the Port when it sailed from Miami and stayed in a great hotel (smoking rooms) so we were close to the Port and many sights in Miami too!!  We too did all the research before we left but.....that all went out the window so to speak...LOL  We had a last minute Itineray change and found out when we arrived at the Port due to a hurricane.  We went to Nassau instead.  We had a great time there even tho we had no idea what we were going to do...LOL  Carnival is a great Cruise Line and doubt if we would even consider another one!!!