Left PHL at about 9:50 AM on Feb. 5 after a very wet 1” snowfall. I was so afraid the flight would be delayed or canceled, but the airport was functioning normally. We had a very smooth flight to Tampa and was greeted by a bright, sunny 60 degree day. The taxi fare was a flat $25 from the airport to downtown Tampa. We were able to check in early, at about 1:30 and went to our room. For some reason, the room’s door was ajar and a few housekeeping people were inside. They were very, very apologetic when they said they’d have to find us a different room. It wasn’t a big deal to stand there a bit but they wanted to do something really nice for us to make up for whatever snafu occured. They upgraded our room to a water view and gave us a bottle of wine! All that for the inconvenience of having to wait another ten minutes? The downtown Marriott scored five stars for going out of the way with excellent customer service!

At about 10:30 AM Saturday, we took a taxi to the pier which was a mere $4 ride. Our luggage was quickly taken by a porter and inside the terminal we went. Check-in was quick and painless and took only about 10 minutes. However, the passengers weren’t cleared to board for some reason. I guess some of the previous cruisers were not yet off. It was announced that there would be a short wait till we could start. By about 11:20, the boarding began. Everyone was given a boarding number, much like the airlines use. Our number was 5, but the numbers were called quickly and there really wasn’t a long line or any chaos. Naturally, we went to the Windjammer to eat and had a nice lunch. By about 1 PM, we went to our cabin and it was ready. The luggage arrived at about 3 PM, shortly before muster drill, one of the fastest delivery times ever! Then, we went to the MDR to locate our table. The table numbers weren’t yet out but were shown the general area where it was. When we went to dinner, we met our four tablemates. Great people from MA, and IA.

Sadly, it was raining out when the ship pulled out of Tampa, so the Sail Away Party was held in the Centrum. No one’s spirit was dampened, however, since we were, after all, on a cruise!! Read more