Booked First Cruise Today!!!! 170 Days to go!!!

[Carmenjames865]

Back in April 2009 I seen a cruise ship in person for the first time while in Fort Lauderdale celebrating our Anniversary, and I have been obsessed with wanting to take a cruise since then. :D

I booked our first cruise today for 09/19/2010 on the Freedom for the 6 night Western. I am SO EXCITED. There will be a total of 8 of us going.

Cabin 1: Myself, DH, and DS, and DD (twins age 6)

Cabin 2: My parents

Cabin 3: My best friend and her DH

We all booked Oceanview cabins (really wish we could have done balconies, but just not in the budget right now) and all 3 rooms are right together.

My only concern is that this is Hurricane season and we knew that when we booked (yes we got insurance) so we will just hope for the best, and go with the flow. :eek:

Allegiant Air works out great for us. The flight down will fly in the night before the cruise and the flight home leaves at 4:10 PM the day we get off the ship.

Luckily I work for Marriott International and get GREAT room rates. :D

[KCCruisin']

Congratulations, you are going to have a blast, please take plenty of pictures and a review would be awesome! :D

[btorlv]

Yuo wiil love the ship. Been on her x2 once to europe and east crib. The ov has that extra little sitting area so you have more room then an is. The food is great good choice for your first cruise.

[anniversarycruisin']

Oh, lucky you! We just got from a cruise the first of March, and already whining for another cruise. It is so addicting, once you start, you find it hard to consider any other kind of vacation. You will have an awesome time!

[elcuchio24]

Have a good time! Don't worry about huricanes, we have sailed during that time of year allot and never had any problems except the occational port change. Have fun!:)

[Theresa522]

Congratulations on your first cruise!! You will have a wonderful time. :D

[Vanessa L]

Back in April 2009 I seen a cruise ship in person for the first time while in Fort Lauderdale celebrating our Anniversary, and I have been obsessed with wanting to take a cruise since then. :D

I booked our first cruise today for 09/19/2010 on the Freedom for the 6 night Western. I am SO EXCITED. There will be a total of 8 of us going.

Cabin 1: Myself, DH, and DS, and DD (twins age 6)

Cabin 2: My parents

Cabin 3: My best friend and her DH

We all booked Oceanview cabins (really wish we could have done balconies, but just not in the budget right now) and all 3 rooms are right together.

My only concern is that this is Hurricane season and we knew that when we booked (yes we got insurance) so we will just hope for the best, and go with the flow. :eek:

Allegiant Air works out great for us. The flight down will fly in the night before the cruise and the flight home leaves at 4:10 PM the day we get off the ship.

Luckily I work for Marriott International and get GREAT room rates. :D

 

Be prepared to come back and say, "Hi, I'm Carmen and I'm a cruise addict!" Congrats on that first cruise!! You will have a ball!! Don't worry about hurricane season, if there is a storm the ship will cruise around it, though that may mean you go to completely different ports or miss ports altogether. Not a big deal, you'll be ON A CRUISE!!!!

[Grandma58]

Congratulations on your first cruise. It won't be your last. I took my family & my sisters family on my first cruise when my oldest nephew graduated from college. They had been on a few cruises in the past, but I knew it wasn't in the budget with senior graduation. Luckily I was able to payback her & her hubby for all the financial and physical family help with my children fo the 7 - 10 years before that when I returned to college for my nursing degree. The loaned me money interest free. My second cruisewas with my sister because I fell in love on the first cruise. My fourth cruise was all family again for my youngest nephews seni graduation trip. Luckily last year my sister and I went on the Dream's first cruise out of Port Canaveral. We had balcony's for th nephew's cruises and the kids loved going back and forht between rooms rather than going into the hallwy, but we have never spent a lot of time in the rooms. Ther is awys s much to do on the ship (boat) even if you just roam around to see everything. Buy an over the door hangar with lots of pockets to keep your counters less cluttered with children in the room. Works great for small cameras, makeup, jewelry etc. Downy Wrinkle releaser for freshening up clothes when you board that may wrinkle when flying down. I also recommend not packing your bathroom supplies, but buy them in Florida and just leave them on the ship. Buy those new detergent/fabric softner sheets and put some in a baggie in case you need to do laundry and take along a roll of quarters in case you need to do laundry. I always take a bathroom freshner or spray to freshen the bathroom as you are in smaller quarters. Check out the many threads for additional ideas. Best wishes & takes lots of pictures on a digital camera. You don't always have to print them all, but you will have many memories for years to come. During hurricane season I would recommend cruise ship activites for ports in case you are rerouted.:D:D

[riclop]

Now you are HOOKED! enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

[valancy1]

Just another addict wishing you congratulations! We cruised for the 1st time a year and a half ago and now have 3 cruises under our belts--the 4th one is actually the day before yours out of Port Canaveral... cannot wait just like when we were taking our first cruise.

 

Read Cruise Critic between now and then--go to the ports of call boards, check out the roll call boards and find others who are cruising with you at the same time and read everything (even into the larger page numbers)... you will learn a LOT.

 

And if you still want more, ask questions! You and your friends/family are going to have the time of your lives :)

[bcs819]

congrats and welcome!

[camdam44]

Welcome to cruising! Once you get hooked you can't stop! I think we are averaging every 2 years, hopefully soon it will be every year! woo woo!

This will be the first year that I will have no kids to worry about, .. just me and my boyfriend and another couple.. I loved having my family with me the other times but now I can really just relax and worry about how many of the Carnival concoctions I can consume! :cool: heh heh..

 

Have a wonderful time! I know you will!

 

Debbie & Craig

New York!

[sailingawaysoon]

Congrats to you. I know you and your family will be so excited. You know the 170 days will come before you know it, so hang in there and be sure to let us know about your adventure.

[NotWthOutablcony]

Thought I'd chime in, first and foremost, congrats! You'll adore cruising and will make many memories with your family.

Second, I wouldn't worry too much about hurricane season, we took a back to back in October once, 14 days total Eastern and Western and let me tell you, if and when we do the Caribbean again, it will be during hurricane season! We had the greatest weather ever! REALLY hot during the day and really warm at night, the ship would become engulfed in thick fog, a storm around us, lightening striking everywhere, hundreds of bats flying in and out of the ships lights, catching the isects attracted to them, it rained twice, both downpours lasting about 2-3 minutes and both were late at night. I mentioned we were ina storm every night, however it was an eerie type, with no wind, and for the most part no rain, and the water was like glass, we'd sit on the balcony for hours each night, sipping coffee and watching mother nature at her best. My mother and I were out one night, watching the bats, fog and lightening, again, no wind, no rain and warm out, suddenly a medium sized parcel package, wrapped in brown paper and tied with hemp rope drifted passed our ship in the small wake created by the port side, it eerily floated by, my mother and I looked at eachother, both with our mouths wide open, asking at the same time "did you see that?!" It was so neat, made you feel like you were living a scene right out of Pirates!

[tsb702]

Congrats!

[spideyfam]

See you on board. I am on the same cruise. I was hooked after my first one. Join us on the roll call.