Location and Travel |

ACCELERATE! Live 2011 will be held on the Carnival Freedom departing from Fort Lauderdale, FL
November 11-17th, 2012

About Registration

Sheri Rosenthal from Journeys of the Spirit® is our special “go-to gal” who will be taking care of all the registration details for us. You can book your trip online from a special dedicated page on her company’s website. She can help with your flights to Ft. Lauderdale, she can create a monthly payment plan for you, help you with your pre and post-cruise hotel rooms – heck, she can even make you a cup of espresso! (Well, only if you’re in St Pete, FL) =:)

Getting there!

Our lovely cruise departs from Port Everglades, Ft Lauderdale. You can start boarding the boat at noon – so if you live on the east coast and feel like you can arrive early in the day and transfer to the boat without stressing yourself out that’s fine. HOWEVER! If your flight is late or if there’s stormy weather you risk not making it to the boat on time especially if your flight cancels. So we recommend that you arrive the day before just to be safe. We will have a block of rooms available for our group at a special rate just for this purpose. FYI: Port Everglades is 2 miles from the Fort Lauderdale International Airport; travel time is approximately 5 minutes.

Your cabin

You will have the opportunity to choose the kind of room you would like to reserve on Sheri’s website. We are offering three room categories: an Interior room, an Oceanview room, and a Balcony room. When you go to register you will see the pricing, pictures and information regarding each choice.

Dining

The Carnival Freedom have plenty of places to eat in – you won’t be bored! They have the The Chic and The Posh Dining Rooms, the Freedom Restaurant (Lido Dining), the Sun King Steakhouse, a 24-Hr Room Service & Pizzeria, the Viennese Café Coffee Bar and the Meiji Sushi Bar. If this is your first time cruising, it is important to note that some of the restaurants have upcharges like for example at the Steakhouse there is a $30.00 fee per person to dine there. The fee includes an appetizer, entrée, dessert and the wait staffs’ gratuity; additional gratuities are optional and may be extended in cash or to the guest’s Sail & Sign Account, at the guest’s discretion. The fee does not include any beverage that is normally ordered through the bar service such as wine, liquor, soda and bottled water. The $30 fee also applies to children.

Passports

Carnival highly recommends all guests travel with a passport (valid for at least six months beyond completion of travel). Although a passport is not required for U.S. citizens taking cruises that begin & end in the same U.S. port, traveling with a passport enhances your disembarkation experience, as delays may be expected upon your return to the U.S. if you do not have one. Additionally, passports make it easier for you to fly from the U.S. to a foreign port should you miss your scheduled port of embarkation, or need to fly back to the U.S. for emergency reasons.

Shore-to-Ship Communication

Friends and family may call guests on board via Sea Mobile Shore-to-Ship telephone service. The rate is $9.50 per minute from the United States; additional long distance charges may apply from outside the United States. Cell phone service is available on all ships in the Carnival fleet. While your ship is at sea, the cellular system is activated and you can make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, as well as view emails and browse the Internet with over 300 carriers worldwide. International roaming rates apply and are set and billed by your home carrier. Charges will appear on your regular cell phone bill. Please contact your carrier before your cruise to check rates for each service and ensure your plan allows you to roam.

Going home

Rather than check in at the airport for the return flights, eligible guests may choose to participate in “Luggage Express” for a nominal fee of $20 per person. Guests will receive both their airline boarding passes and their luggage tags while they are enjoying their vacation at sea. Better yet, they will only need to place their checked luggage outside of their stateroom and will not touch it again until they claim it at their final destination.

Guests are encouraged to limit their checked luggage to two suitcases per person, with each suitcase not to weigh more than 50 pounds and not exceed 16″H x 24″W (no length restrictions). Applicable on most major domestic airlines – guest will need to check on board for participating airlines as airlines are subject to change. Applicable to: U.S. Citizens and Canadian Citizens with proper travel documentation; if flying to Canada, a valid passport is required.

You are going to arrive back at port at TBA. I would not advise you to book a flight that departs before noon or you might not make it! You have the option to book a hotel room for the night if you feel that you are not going to make it home until really late. Sheri can help you with that too.