Our First Cruise Ever - 29 Jan 2010

[wobblyfeet]

This is our first cruise ever. We have never been on a cruise before. Watch for reviews and details of our trip.

 

 

http://www.ucruiser.com/ticker/carnival/tickers/xkk756pcqhogqwa2.png

[wobblyfeet]

Day of the trip – On Our Way to the Airport 26 January 2010

 

The day has finally arrived. The day we actually go to the airport and board the plane, bound for our cruise to the

Southern Caribbean.

 

We had been thinking about going on a cruise at the end of 2009. We were wondering then whether we should try

a cruise holiday and where we should go, if we decided on such a holiday. In January 2010, we actually decided to go.

We made arrangements to book a cruise holiday, and get all the paper work in order. Then, came the months of

planning the trip and saving for it. We even had to get our passports, since we didn’t have one. We did not need one

for many years, even though we did travel to the United States many times in the past. With the terrorism concerns

and the extra security over the recent years, it is now necessary to present a passport when entering the United States.

 

It was a different world of travel when we last travelled by air, some 14 years ago. Now, passports are necessary.

Also, passengers can not carry certain items in their luggage. Scanners and body scanners are now used increasingly,

and passengers are now required to remove their shoes at security.

 

Anyway, the bags are packed and we are ready to drive to the airport. Our dog has a special place to go while we

are away. He will be well taken care of and have lots of fun with the other dogs. I wondered whether he would have

to home again when we came back. Even though we were ready, we still checked our carry-on luggage time and

again, just in case we might have forgotten something. We even packed our worries and concerns in the back of our

minds. For one thing, as I said earlier, we haven’t travelled by plane in many years; secondly, we have never been on

a cruise ship before and we were not sure what to expect. CruiseCritic helped, to a certain degree, answer some

questions and raise others; it also helped alleviate some worries. Yet, some questions and concerns still persisted.

They would be answered once we were on board.

 

We planned to leave early in the afternoon for the airport, around 2:00pm. We wanted to avoid the usual afternoon

rush traffic through Toronto and leave enough time in case there is bad weather along the way. Our flight was not until

8:30 that evening. So we would have lots of time to check in and pass through security. We heard and read so much

about security delays in the news media.

 

We packed the car. With the luggage in the truck of the car, we wondered if we packed too much. It always looks

that way when the bags are all together. There were 3 of us going on the cruise: my wife, our youngest son and I. So, I

guess it was not too much actually.

 

Before we climbed into the car, we took a look at the cold miserable we were leaving behind. I took some pictures

of the dreary conditions. Soon enough we would be in warmer weather, with no snow on the ground, and we could

walk around in shorts and sit by the pool. Even so, the weather we experienced was nothing compared to other regions

of Ontario, such as London, or even the eastern coast of the United States, which was experiencing one of the worst

winter storms in years or even decades.

 

Our eldest son drove us to the airport. It took no time to get to the airport as there was very little traffic on the

highway. That was due quite likely to the Christmas holidays. We decided to stop along the way and have a light

supper at Subway, since it would be quite some before we would board the plane and even longer before we would

arrive in Fort Lauderdale and at the hotel. After our submarine sandwich supper, we continued the short distance that

remained to the airport. The drive to the airport took about an hour, including the stop for a light supper. We had lots of

time.

 

We checked in at the WestJet counter and received our seat assignments aboard a non-stop WestJet flight to Fort

Lauderdale. We were early and not many people were waiting at the counter, so baggage check and boarding passes

were quick. At security, we had to empty our pockets and some of the carry on bags. We also had to remove our shoes.

At the time, there was a concern with thermos bottles; therefore, they had to be removed from carry-on bags and

checked manually. After our wand scan we were able to put everything back in the carry-on bags, and then move

toward our gate. The security process was done in about 30 minutes and it was not as bad as we had heard over the

news.

 

We walked toward the gate where we waited to board the plane. It was long wait, about 3 ½ hours. I walked around

the area and visited the newstand a few times where I perused the magazines and looked at the various book titles. I

read the newspaper and then walked to a small sandwich shop where they sold rather small and expensive sandwiches;

ones that would barely fill the stomach, yet cost upwards of $8. I chose a drink instead and returned to the gate. Our

son was busy texting his friends and my wife was watching a DVD on the laptop computer.

 

We discovered later that the crew was late in arriving and they had to clear security and customs before they were

allowed to board our plane. Therefore, we were delayed by about ½ hour. No boarding took place until after 8:30 that

evening, however, once boarding started, the passengers were boarding quite quickly.

 

It was not much later when the doors to the plane closed and the plan was moving down the runway. Once we had

climbed to a good altitude of 35,000 feet, we started to cruise at a good speed. The little screens in front of us indicated

that the plane was travelling quite fast. Over the length of the flight of 2 ½ hours, the pilots managed to make up for

lost time; we actually arrived in Fort Lauderdale about 10 minutes later than scheduled. That was quite impressive.

 

While the flight was very pleasant, the wait time for baggage pick up and finding a taxi was not. It was around 20

minutes to midnight when the plane arrived in Fort Lauderdale; yet, we were off the plane, picked up our luggage and

waited for transportation to the hotel by about 10 minutes past midnight. By then, the shuttle to the hotel had already

stopped operating for the night and we had to find a taxi to take us there. The taxi seemed to take us in a long and

round about route to the hotel that was a very short distance from the airport. At one time, I thought the taxi driver had

misunderstood us and that he was going to drive us to Miami. It certainly looked that by his driving and the route he

took. It was well past 12:30am when we reached the hotel. We told the hotel manager much earlier that we would be

arriving quite late, so there was no problem with the hotel.

 

When we finally came to the hotel, we were relieved and we quickly checked in. Soon after, we climbed into bed

for the night.

[SMSACE6]

Great start to your review! Where did your trip originate from and which hotel in Fort Lauderdale did you stay? Looking forward to more.:)

[wobblyfeet]

This thread has terminated. Check thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=27977277#post27977277

 

for the continuation of the story.