I'm an extremely nervous and anxious person that wanted to go on vacation but didn't have anyone to go with. I decided that I wanted to venture out on my own and travel, but in a safe way. I'd flown before and stayed in hotels but I'd heard that cruising was a better way to go and was fairly safe for single people, so I tried it.
I decided to go to my local travel agent and talk about my options. I told her that I wanted to go on a cruise and she helped me to understand the value of cruising, the benefits, pro/cons and overall fun. I was nervous but I just wanted to try it and I'm completely hooked after just one time.
I left for my cruise on Sunday, May 13th. I live in Louisville, KY. I was scheduled to fly from Louisville, Ky to Orlando, FL. My flight left at 6:50 am and I got in Orlando at 8:32am...I wasn't due until 9:02am. Anyway, once I got to the airport I was confused. Orlando has a HUGE airport and I ALWAYS get lost. I had to take the shuttle across the length of the airport just to get to the baggage claim. Once I got my bags I walked all over that stupid airport trying to find the Mears Company (the company where I was to buy my round trip transfers for the tour bus from the airport to the cruise terminal). I walked around for what must had been 45 minutes! I ended up having to call Carnival from a house phone at the airport. They directed me to go to the 1st floor of the airport and I'd find the counter. I got down there only to be at the wrong Mears counter. Once I was at the correct counter, I bought my roundtrip transfer bus tickets, sat down all of 10 minutes and then proceeded to board the tour bus in Orlando that was going to take us to the cruise terminal in Port Canaveral, FL. Once on the bus, the driver briefed us along the way to the cruise terminal. The ride was 45 minutes. We were dropped off at the terminal 5 and then the real fun started. Embarkation was pretty smooth. We all lined up to go through the security at the terminal. It's much like security at the airport. Going through the metal detector and our bags went through another device the be inspected. We had to show our cruise tickets/documents and driver's license. Once we were done, we headed up the escalator to the cruise ticket counter. Again, cruise documents were checked, we again presented our driver's license and then we were issued our room keys and our Sail and Sign cards. After that, we were told to wait in the large waiting area so we could board the ship. Once it was finally time to board the ship, my picture was taken and then I proceeded onto the ship. It was huge. In fact, it was almost overwhelming. I didn't know what to expect so I just kinda walked around aimlessly with a couple that I met from Atlanta, Georgia. We then found our way to the Lido deck to eat lunch. I wasn't too impressed with lunch. It was a buffet with hotdogs, burgers, fries, potato salad, etc. It was hot that day in Port Canaveral. We had to wait until our rooms were ready at 1:30pm so we wasted time talking, eating and trying to learn our way around the ship. Finally 1:30pm came and I was able to go to my room and I was very happy with it(R65). It was an oceanview room with a porthole window. Everything was just right. Soon after I got to my room, I met Rohan my room steward. He was very nice and provided everything I needed. At. 2:45pm, I went to my first onboard activity to meet the Cruise Director, Matt. He welcomed us on the ship and explained all the usual cruise activities, etc. Right at 4:00pm, we started the lifeboat drill, which was hectic. People were going to the wrong muster stations and it was just very chaotic. The ship started to pull out of port right at the same time and for a few minutes I began to feel very dizzy and disconnected. Luckily, I'd taken some motion sickness pills at the airport that morning before I flew. At 5:00pm, I went to my second onboard activity, Shop Talk with Shawn. He again welcomed us and explained how the shopping program worked on shore. After shop talk, I went to my room to lay down. I was exhausted. I had time to look through paperwork, brochures, unpack (my bags arrived just before dinner) and flip through the channels on t.v. At 8:30pm, it was time for dinner. I was the first person to arrive at my table and for awhile, I was the only one there. Soon, 2 ladies by the names of Joanne and Louise showed up. Louise was drunk as a skunk and Joanne complained about her food. That would set up the pattern for the remainder of the cruise. All of our food was good. Not over the top, not underrated, but just okay. On the 2nd night of the cruise Joanne, Louise and I went to the piano bar, Karaoke Bar and the Dance club. We met a few folks from New York and ended up staying there til almost 3am. The next night we did the same and I'd had a bit much to drink, so when I left, I went up the the Lido deck to get a slice of pizza from the all night Pizzeria and slipped and fell. How embarrassing! Shore excursions were okay. I didn't have anything to compare them to. Freeport was pretty boring. Lots of industrial buildings that were bright and pastel colors. Went to the straw market and had one of the shop ladies haggle with me over the price of a tote bag. Then went on Nassau. It rained really hard that day! I went to Fort Charlotte and did a sightseeing tour around the island. Also went to Paradise Island to see the Atlantis hotel and did some shopping at the various stores on the island. We were docked in Nassau for 24 hours but I was back on the ship well before dinner. The entertainment was fine. The shows were great and the gift shop was average.