My DW and I decided that a cruise would make a great Christmas for our boys, 14 and 9. We chose the Carnival Paradise because my wife and I really enjoyed our first Carnival Cruise and the dates and itinerary of this cruise worked best with school schedules.

We drove to Tampa from Chattanooga the day before, and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near Raymond James Stadium, it was about 15 minutes from the port area, but full of restaurants and stores. We ran through Target for some water and Coke, as well as a few last minute purchases, had dinner, and DW and I went to bed. We wanted to make sure we could get to the port early and get our cruise started.

Unfortunately, Tampa had other plans. When we woke up, we could not see to the other wing of the hotel. I happened to pull up my Facebook, and John Heald had already let his followers know that the Paradise had not been able to enter the channel, due to the low visibility and they did not know when she would dock. About an hour later, I got a text alert from Carnival asking us not to come to the port until further notice. Although I think Carnival did their best to keep us informed, John proved to be much more reliable, and i have no idea what I would have done with out a smart phone. Read more