Embarkation Day

Teresa went to run on the beach and Pat went to the gym.  I went with the kids while they ate and I got coffee.  It is very overcast and threatening rain this morning.  We can see the ship from our hotel room so the kids are excited.  There are four ships here today...The Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Valor, Disney Fantasy and NCL Spirit.  I am trying to get the kids dressed and repacking when Teresa calls my cell and says she has "lost her car" and she needs me to find Bryan to come get her so they can go look for it.  This is our first of what would be many of the week's laughable (albeit later) events.  They were back in a short period of time and they located where she left the car quickly.

Now it is raining rather hard and we are trying to wait it out so that we can load up the luggage and head to the port.  We finally get it all done and head to the port but although we can see the ship, we can't seem to get there from where we are.  While trying to find the correct road we find the Ghostbuster hearse parked in front of a warehouse building in the port.  Teresa makes a U Turn and we go back to see it.  The thing is unlocked too and we all had fun checking it out and taking photos.



Who ya gonna call?

 

Our first group photo on the ship

 


We are on the ship!
 

 




Serious energy Jaime!

Rain, rain go away...
 

Alchemy Bar and our Martini Tasting

He never spilled a drop!

They were all yummy except the Manhatten....ugh
 

Our first towel animal
 

We manage to get on the right road and dropped the luggage and then head inside.  The kids and I are in one cabin and are in a different area for boarding because I am a Platinum cruiser with Carnival.  This affords us the opportunity to board the ship first.  This port is very efficient anyway and there was not a huge delay for the others in boarding after us and soon we were all together checking things out.  The kids were off and running and the adults settled into the Red Frog Bar on Lido and all of us had our first Guy's Burger....and they are delicious!  Soon it was time for sail away and the party began with Jaime, the CD leading the dancing.  I know Jaime since she was on the 31 day cruise I did on the Carnival Splendor around South America in 2009.  She has enough enthusiasm for the entire ship.  It started to rain as we were heading out of the port and got very windy as well. 

We all went to our cabins shortly thereafter and started unpacking luggage and getting things settled before it was time for dinner.  We are all assigned to the same dining table on second seating so that makes the kids very happy.  Great food the first night and everyone enjoyed it and the warm chocolate melting cake was awesome!  We all went in different directions after dinner with Teresa, Pat, Paige and I finding a band playing called Deja Vu.  They were great and lots of fun so we tended to migrate to where they were playing the balance of the cruise.

The day ended with everyone excited that we are finally beginning this adventure.  We are doing some serious moving with the wind and it made for great sleeping.  Cruise Day 1 is in the books.