After 10 yrs working as a vacation and cruise specialist (travel agent) I finally took my first cruise in November. I've always wanted to go on a cruise but w/in 10 yrs we had 3 children and several other obstacles that prevented us from going before we did. FINALLY we planned our cruise for 11/3, 4 nt cruise on the Imagination to Key West and Cozumel. DH and I have been to Key West several times and love it. Altho we've been to Cancun, we've not been to Cozumel and were looking forward to it. BUT 2 weeks before we were scheduled to leave, Hurricane Wilma hit and damaged Key West as well as Cozumel. We were told Key West was ok but Cozumel was questionable. The Monday before we left, we were finally told that we would be going to Play del Carmen instead. It was somewhat of a disappointment but at least we were going to Key West and on a cruise for the first time.

Here's a day by day description of our cruise, the good and not so good. We were fortunate to catch a great airfare on Southwest to Ft Lauderdale so Thursday morning we caught an 8:30 flight to Tampa and then on to Ft Lauderdale. We purchased the transfer service down to Miami and met the Carnival Rep in the baggage claim area. After waiting several minutes for the rest of the group to get their luggage we boarded a bus, stopped at several other areas in the airport and finally headed south to Miami.

Getting through the cruise terminal was fairly painless and before we knew it we were picking up our room key and having a picture taken. We boarded the ship and were greeted by the Carnival crew. We decided to head down to our cabin so we could slip on a pair of shorts and then up for a bite of lunch in the Horizon Bar & Grill. We spent the next 2 or 3 hrs roaming the ship, checking out all the clubs, the casino and other common areas. Read more