The plane ride (with Spirit Air) each way was uneventful with no turbulence. Day 1: EMBARKATION was easy, though crowded the wait didn't seem overly long. For once, we were onboard so early that the rooms weren't ready yet. We had to roll our carry-on luggage around with us. We had lunch at the deli, getting a favourite-slow roasted turkey in a wrap. Another day we tried the hot turkey on a country roll - good, but both a little saltier than I remembered. Once we had access to our room, after 1:30PM, we checked out our balcony and were able to see them loading the luggage. My sister spotted our luggage on top of one container. That was cool. We were able to see them load it on the ship. Once it was loaded, we went up on deck briefly. We weren't gone 15 minutes, and when we returned our luggage was already at our cabin door. We unpacked, joined in the sail away party on the lido deck, played a famous faces trivia game, and participated in a country line dancing lesson in the huge theatre up on the stage.

Day 2: HALF MOON CAY, BAHAMAS. This was such a beautiful beach. By the time we went down to go ashore, we didn't need a tender ticket, but the tender was full. We had to stand, which was better because there was air flowing there. Once on the beach we walked for a few minutes, and pulled up a free lounge chair. Though we couldn't hear the music, it was a great spot. We swam and I practised my snorkelling. I got sunburned legs - was smart to wear a water shirt swimming, so no burn there. My sister pointed out a stingray - got a pic. We missed the barbecue lunch. It was about 2PM, and one of the girls of the family next to us came back and said they were putting the food away. When it was time to leave, we took the path back, instead of the beach and took some nice pictures. We had to wait a few minutes in the heat for the tender back. There were stalls set up with souvenirs to purchase, but we didn't look at them. At night, we went out to watch the movie, 'Yes, Man', on the big screen, under the stars. We sat in blue rubber - like rockers. There is nothing like watching a movie under the stars.

Day 3: AT SEA - Because of yesterday's sun, we decided to stay out of it today and found a quiet spot to sit on deck 3. This was the first formal night - formal photos were costing just over 20$ for 1 - 8x10 size. Luckily, I had a 15$ gift certificate to use. I had written Carnival a letter after the past cruise, telling of the enjoyment and they said, the next trip, to contact them and they would have a welcome aboard gift - well it was presented to me in the dining room. We bought a photo to give to our mother. Read more