Written more as a journal....please forgive the length...it was my first cruise!

Day One Sunday, Feb. 4th Embarkation in Port Canaveral

Off we went from the house for our 4 hour drive to Port Canaveral. The drive was fine except for a few showers down near the docks. We parked in a parking spot we purchased months ago and waited for the cruise shuttle. We had booked so far in advance anticipating Super Bowl Sunday clogs, but as it turns out, we would have been fine. The 5 suitcases were loaded into the van and off we went. I got my first look at a real live cruise ship in the dock (it was actually a Costa ship, not Holland America). Those ships are huge! We tipped the baggage handler well (didn't do any good, my curlers still got broken!) and proceeded into the check in area where they wanted our embarkation questionnaires and passports, ID, etc. And then it was up the gangplank and into the ship. We arrived on board around 12:30pm, so we could not go to our rooms yet. We sat in the Lido Pool Mid ship area and were swindled into buying a soda card and a cocktail card. Swindled with the soda card because there was no way Eric would drink 20 sodas, and the cocktail card because the guy didn't explain to us until afterward that you could only use it for certain drinks which did not include wine! And that one was not cheap. Oh well. We were not coerced. At about 1300, the cabins were ready, but we sat and finished our drinks and went to the cabin at 1330. The cabin was surprisingly large for a simple ocean view cabin. Our cabin steward was Rozy, a nice Indonesian young man (as was the rest of the staff) who spoke no English but who smiled a lot!! We tried unpacking for about 15 minutes but gave up to go and check out the ship. The decor was muted reds and greens with nice art and gold. Not glitzy, definitely classy. Didn't have a Las Vegas feel. Everything was tastefully decorated, even if it was a little "modern" for my personal tastes. We went to the Library, Dining Areas etc. Read more