by Ashe Hope

Created on: March 14, 2009

I love to travel. Air, rail and road, I have experienced them all. Living in Florida, one would think that such a person would have experienced travel by water too. For a long time, it didn't happen, and when it did, my one thought was, "Why did I not do this sooner!" Needless to say, my first cruise was a blast.

It happened about a decade ago. We are a family of four, husband, wife, and two teenage girls. We had finished with the Disney, Universal, etc stuff, and were looking for something different. We had to keep in mind that while it was four adults, who wanted to spend time together, we each had different interests. That is when a friend suggested a cruise. "What," I said, "Be stuck on a ship for days!" "There is so much to see on a ship", she said, "Besides, they do dock at ports, you know". "What if I get sea sick", I asked, perhaps the most asked question by people who have never cruised. "Be prepared", she said, "And they do have medical aid on the ship." "Well, they are very expensive", I insisted. "Not if you shop around", she said, "Besides, if you do the math, you will find that between boarding, lodging, and being entertained, you get a lot of bang for your buck". "Well", I faltered, using my last card, "I am vegetarian, what if I don't get the food I can eat?" "That does it," said my good friend, a well-seasoned cruiser, "You are going to find out how good cruises can be. I will personally drop you off at Cape Canaveral." And that is how my first cruise came about.

We booked our cruise through a travel agency. The agent was a really nice lady. Since we had no clue, she helped us decide on a cruise. First of all she asked us if we wanted a dress up formal atmosphere, or a fun time with a little formal time. We opted for the second one. Carnival Cruise line is your best bet, she said and proceeded to look for one. She took down our basic information, like names, address, and phone numbers. The next set of questions had me puzzled. Besides age, and gender she had us fill a questionnaire of our income, level of education, occupation, hobbies and interests. Surely, this is none of her business, I thought, but since I was new to it, I obliged. She handed us our tickets, lots of information on what to bring, and wished us a good time. We were ready for our first cruise to the Bahamas.

My friend, true to her word, dropped us off at Cape Canaveral. It was a beautiful day in August. The sight of so many ships at close quarters was over whelming. It was a

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