Who'da thunk it?

Never in a million years would I have believed our very first cruise to be as momentous and memorable an occasion as it turned out to be. I expected to have a great time, anyone and everyone we talked to about 'cruisin told us it is a complete blast.
We got to Cocoa Beach the night before so there would be no jitters about making the ship in time. The Comfort Suites we stayed in was a bit pricier than we were used to, but when we got there, we understood why. It was a block from the beach, looked fairly newly renovated. Smelled a bit musty, but not badly enough to trigger sinus issues or keep us awake. Can't imagine how hard it is to keep places like that from smelling musty. Had a bed, no signs of unwanted critters, away from the street noise, and that suited us just fine.
It also had free parking for the duration of the cruise, and a shuttle to the ship before and back to the motel after. Who knows how much that may have saved us? Will have to check into it.
In the shuttle on the way to the ship, we got a close up look at the Disney cruise ship. It's a monster. Was glad we weren't on it, tho. We have gotten old and crotchety enough that we time our vacays around avoiding things like spring breaks and school's out times. We found out we had chosen well, when all was said and done.
Carnival cruises has the boarding procedures down to a science, the only agony we felt was our excitement and time seeming to crawl at that point. We boarded about 3 hours before departure time and about an hour before room ready time. We went to the Lido deck first to find a good spot to watch our departure, and found a couple of deck chairs at the fantail (aft to the purists) and promptly laid claim. Of course, it was only moments before the "drink of the day" was waved under our noses (at $7.50 a pop)in a souvenir glass that would provide a 75 cent discount if we used it for refills. Hey, 75 cents is 75 cents, especially when it is times.....uh....nevermind. With that, it felt a lot like our cruise was officially underway. We were in the same general pier area as the Disney ship and the Freedom of the Seas. We departed first, saw 4 dolphins and a huge turtle on the way out, a windsurfer and several rich people in their seatoys wishing us Bon Voyage. Waving wildly and grinning hugely, we were off.
We had to leave the deck chairs we had dibbs'd to participate in the safety demonstration. When that bit of wisdom was imparted, we scurried back to our chairs to lay in the sun, sip our drinks and wonder at the very idea that we would ever be doing something like this! It wasn't very long before the land disappeared and we were surrounded by water. I had done 6 years in the Navy, but thankfully, got out a mere 6 months before they started putting women back on the ships. No, I don't feel guilty for not being a seagoing sailor. The majority of guys you ask would have told you they enjoyed aspects of their deployments, but wouldn't ask for it, if offered. I am a water baby, love the water, and don't have to be in it to feel nurtured by it. I can't imagine living anywhere away from a beach, even tho we rarely go to the beach. The tranquility I feel when watching and hearing the water moving is sanity saving for me.
The Rooster has always enjoyed fishing and such, but with a healthy, bordering on unhealthy respect for the water. He has since mellowed and grown to be as much a water baby as I. We were concerned about his propensity for seasickness, but I felt the ships movement more often than he did, and it was mostly when we were on the upper decks. Otherwise, it was just a self contained floating casino, mini shopping mall, food court, row of bars, and hotel. Service was beyond excellent. Food was great, drinks were great, company was all there to have a great time, and the stateroom was comfortable. Bigger than I expected, but I wonder if that is because I have had the experince of living for 9 months in a 24 foot RV with the Rooster, a dog and 3 cats!?
There, the toilet was so close to the back bed that you could sit on the pot, lean over and put your head on the bed and go back to sleep ( not saying this is a BAD thing, mind you!). At least there was a separate bathroom in the stateroom.
Freeport, our first port of call, was depressing for us. We had chosen to take a bus tour through residential areas and then to a shopping area. The tour guide commented the entire way that the empty houses (Maybe 50% or more) were empty due to hurricane damage and the fact that the residents likely had no insurance to fix them. Been there, done that, didn't need the reminder. More than half of the fast food places and many other types of businesses were also closed due to "the economy". I guess it was good for us to see this, but it's not exactly what we had spend our vacay money to see. Nassau was awesome, I now want to go and stay at their Sandals Resort. We took a jeep tour there, the Rooster successfully drove on the "wrong" side of the road without killing or injuring anybody! We shopped downtown for awhile before walking back to the ship, went to "Senor Frog's" for drink and eats. Much fun.
Spent the remainder of the time onboard, enjoying the deck and the open water, relaxing more efficiently than ever before.
We weren't ready to disembark when it came time, but we had purposely taken the shorter trip in case it wasn't as wonderful as we'd been told. Next time, it will be at least a week, and there WILL be a next time.
Our vacation wasn't over, yet, but the rest is for another post.
If you haven't cruised, and have wondered about it, you get our vote as a YEA, do it!!
The only caveat I would include is to watch your money really closely. You don't pay as you go on these things, you give them a credit card to charge to, then your boarding/room card becomes your charge card. Even easier than usual to go overboard. BUT, don't put it on a debit card. Just tally every night, and you should be okay.
While we were cruising to Freeport, the news declared Osama Bin Ladin dead. WOW. We were interviewed by Freeport news, asking how we felt about it. I would really have liked to see how badly they chopped up what we said to fit their positions. And what WAS their position? No local news for us to watch. While I never want to celebrate anyone's death, if I had a gun in my hand and was confronted with him and the surety it really was him, I could have pulled the trigger. I tell myself I don't want to judge, that is God's job, but in some cases, that is raving BS.
For me.....a gooey large ice cream sundae with a cherry on the top. Glad I was somewhere that would distract me with fun stuff so that I wouldn't get sucked in to the endless media coverage.
God knows what he's doing!!