Caribbean Cruise, Day 1: Embarkation

Pulling up in our cab, we were greeted with the enormity of our ship: the Caribbean Princess. I had heard cruise ships likened to felled skyscrapers, floating on one side… and it’s a pretty apt comparison. The closer we got, the more we felt swallowed up.

View of our room. Though it’s a bit tight, it’s kind of what I expected. Most folks don’t spend a ton of time in their rooms, so there’s not a ton of space to stretch out – the whole bit is fairly utilitarian.

Funny story – our room number was in the 300’s, and we thought this meant we were on the 3rd deck. Turns out, anything below 4 is considered crew quarters, and there’s a distinct change to the whole look and feel: no carpeting, every surface is a solid white.

We eventually found our way, but it took a good deal of stumbling around.

Opposite the bed is a small desk area. Here’s Liz, literally reading over the guest manual, getting familiarized with things.

A view of Florida, on our way out to sea.

Bob and Julie, looking out onto the waters as we officially depart on our cruise.

Julie and Liz, enjoying their first drinks.

A view of the dining room table. Though there was a lot of free food all over the ship (multiple stations/places that would provide free burgers, ice cream, buffet, pastries)… everyone convened to one of the main dining areas each evening for a meal. At our table, Liz and I sat with Katie, Dan, Julie and Bob each night.

The dress for most evenings was business casual, but we had two evenings that were considered a bit more “formal.”

Wandering a bit around the ship, Liz and I found a youth center area, that had all sorts of great stuff – video games and such. The bummer was that you had to be under 18 to hang out here.

The girl at the desk was nice enough to let us roam around a bit.

Foosball and Air Hockey tables.

And a custom PS3/Xbox area, along with multiple games to choose from. I guess it makes sense to restrict access based on age. Much of the cruise was geared towards an older audience, so it makes sense to give the younger folks a space to call their own. I was a little bit jealous… but then quickly remembered I could drink alcohol, and felt better.