What happened on the day that you took your passport picture!

I am still euphoric! I have cruised before and that experience is what fuels my passion for travel. I was so excited about our cruise that I did not mind the 13-hour road trip that my family had before us. We finally get everything into the van one hour after the predetermined departure time and then we have to remove everything because Lady Sai has misplaced her cell phone. The phone is on vibrate and is somewhere beneath the back seat. We do not find it until we can locate a flashlight that has batteries in it because it is evening. Now, why is there such panic for this phone? Well, Sai is a teenager and my teens have been have been told that they cannot text or make calls once the ship leaves the port at 4 pm the next day. What will they do for three nights with no cell service? We find the phone, repack the car and we’re off to our next stop, Birmingham Alabama. Two and a half hours later, we have additional passengers, my niece and cousin. And we’re off again. We make it to Atlanta, where my husband and I tease our son. We tell him that he should call his girlfriend and tell her to wave at us as we pass near her house. He didn’t think that we were so funny!
We noticed that there were fewer 18-wheelers on the road. I am told that the high cost of fuel has affected how distributors are shipping their goods. At daylight, I take over the drive and get us to Port Canaveral, where our ship, Carnival’s Sensation is docked. Porters assist us with our checked luggage and we then proceed to Customs and Immigration. The boarding process was a lot less chaotic than I remember it to be in Miami and would have been even more convenient, if I had known that I could take advantage of my VIP check-in status. We continue the boarding process with another check of credentials and the establishment of on board accounts. You really know that you are getting closer to entering the ship when you take those first two pictures, one that you never see, but security does and the one everyone will see later in the photo gallery. My niece, Tia said on our last evening that she could finally have a meal without having to pose. I will tell you more later!