February 1-3, 2018
Nassau, Bahamas
This was the shortest cruise we ever went on, only 3 days....but I'm not complaining, better than 0 days.
This was the largest ship we ever went on.
I didn't exactly pay attention to that fact when I was booking the trip, and was afraid the crowd would be horrendous...worse than our '07 Triumph cruise. People wall to wa - er, starboard to stern and here to there. However, I didn't really notice how awful the crowd was at the time.
Until.....
This is the second cruise we've taken off-school-break, and hoo-boy what a difference. From now on I will always try to cruise when the kids aren't out of school.
The majority of the kids that were there were really young, five and under, and we barely saw them.
I had thought the ship was sold out for some reason, but if it was, I don't know where all the people hung out. There were plenty of deck chairs available all the time.
This was my little 5 year old niece's first cruise. She cried as we were dis-embarking. I wanted to, too!
So, the first day isn't a whole lot more fun than the last day, but at least you know once you get through the "work" of going on a cruise, you have the rest of the trip to look forward to.
It's what you make of it. You can either have a good attitude and 'enjoy' it as part of the whole experience, or have a bad attitude and make yourself miserable. And possibly everyone around you, but not me, because I'm gonna walk away from your miserable self.
We sailed out of Cape Canaveral, which my sister lives about an hour-and-a-half away from, so we spent the night at their house and drove to port the day of sailing.
They chose to park at the port because they didn't want my little niece to either have to ride in the shuttle van without a car seat (which may not even be legal/allowed) or they would have to heft her car seat along on the ship with them, which would have been a pain.
We didn't have little kids with us, so it made sense for us to park at a nearby lot and be shuttled to port for much less cost.
We chose 1:00pm check-in time so we had plenty of time. And, it was one of the latest, if not the last, check in time, so we "sailed" right on through the check in process (lol).
Pretty much the first thing we do once we're aboard ship is to go get lunch.
For others, they might grab a drink first, or walk around looking at everything, or hit the pool, or....whatever.
Our routine is to get lunch and sit and eat and study the ship map.
Or, Kev studies the ship map. He's kinda fallen into the Guide role of the group. If you need to know where some where is - the theater doors, the dining room, kids camp, etc. - he knows. He says, "Follow me!"
After eating, depending on the time, we walk around learning where some of the places we'll be spending time at is, looking at the ship and decor, taking selfies, etc.
Probably also a good time to go check out your cabin, leave any carry-on items, meet your Cabin Steward if he/she is around (they're really busy about this time).
One place Kev always visits is the Coffee Bar. Not for coffee, but they put out a little puzzle sheet everyday (most days) with puzzles like Sudoku, Find A Word, etc. that he enjoys doing.
Walking around and checking things out may come before or after Muster, but whichever, Muster at 3:30 is Mandatory.
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| I've started a collection of "I am so over muster" face photos, LOL |
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| Don't take muster-survival lessons from my BIL, you're not supposed to pass the time by being on your phone. They will holler at you. |
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| Not well pleased with her first muster, either. |
Following muster the Sail-Away Party starts up top.
Lots of people, and loud music. (It is a party ship, afterall.) There are quieter, less-crowded places to hang out on some of the lower decks.
(I don't know what happened, I apparently didn't take many pics during the Sail-away part.)
Despite our enjoyment of cruising the "party" ships at Carnival, we aren't really party people, and the party, and sailing away, was interesting for maybe half an hour.
We left the party and moseyed some more around the ship checking out the arcade and shopping area and what not, and back to our cabin(s) to just rest and/or get ready for dinner.
We enjoy eating in the formal dining room, mostly for the experience.
Others enjoy the buffet better, eating on deck, or even in their cabins, and that's okay, too.
We always pick the early seating, 6:00pm.
I used to dress us up for dinner every night, and even more fancier on Elegant night, just for the experience, but not so much anymore.
I usually wear dark jeans and a nice(r) blouse on regular nights, but the guys just wear whatever - well, not whatever - I mean, cargo shorts and a t-shirt ok, but basketball shorts or swim trunks or pjs, no.
Then on Elegant night I just wear church clothes, a skirt or dress. The guys wear jeans and a nice button up shirt.
That's just our preference, now. Some people, and we used to, dress really nice or fancy for Elegant night. I used to dress the boys in suits and tie, and we'd have our family portrait taken on the ship.
The first night there was a Welcome Aboard show at 10:00pm.
Can't tell you how it was, we were all in our beds asleep by 10pm, lol.
To be continued.....Day 2....
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