Remember your very 1st Cruise?Just for laughs..

[citcatt1]

I begged my husband to go on a cruise, I told him we could get an inside cabin and it would be really inexpensive, and if he didn't like it so be it not much lost...Well I think it was the second day we were really tired from the sea air and the excursions and all so we took a nap. I woke up and looked at my watch, suprised to see it was MORNING!! I took a shower and got dressed, shook my hubby and told him I'd go up and get coffee. I got up on deck and noticed it wasn't light yet...hmmmm so I glanced down at my watch...you see it was a watch with little lines no numbers...well it seems my watch was upside down and when I thought it was 6:55 A.M. it was really 11:05 AT NIGHT!! Ever since we've had an oceanview or balcony and my huband LOVES to cruise!:D

[arb18]

Our first cruise on the Caribbean Princess was also the ships first sailing. I didn't know about this site, only the "other cruise site" which has far less members and information. Well, we booked Princess Air, because we didn't know better, and the first flight was early but the connection was delayed due to problems, well we were freaking a bit, but not any more than the wedding party, who did not have insurance and did not purchase air from their RCCL ship...

 

So we get on board and are rushed, we arrived at 4:50, well every one was already on board enjoying their time, drinks in hand, and I had been up since 3 am on a plane!!! NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO THAT...

 

Well that first night we were late leaving, due to another large party on a late flight getting on board at 5:30, It was very cool seeing all the people and the news helicopters flying around to wish us goodbye.. I thought they did that for all the ships, now I know just for the first sailing!!!

 

We booked a guar, again never again, and we were in the forward of the ship and they had to make up time and we were going fast, as I put my clothes away we were rocking and rolling. I kept hitting the walls in the cabin as I unpacked, I said these exact words, "If this is how cruising is, let me off." Well it got better and I am still cruising.

 

Someone else wrote about going under the Key Bridge on the Grandeur, it is amazing how you think you are going to hit it and watching everyone's face as you "just make it"

[Boozebabe]

Our first was for our 25th Anniversary on the Majesty of the Seas. It was more than I had expected. Up until that cruise our vacationing had consisted of a camper at the state park with 2 young sons. There wasnt a thing we didnt like (except the escargot) the whole week. We were traveling with our best friends who were also celebrating 25 yrs together. We felt as though we had been treated like royalty for a week. When we got home I can remember thinking 'did I really do all that for a whole week?' It was kind of surreal. Like I had lived someone elses life for a week. It was wonderful and is the most memorable of the 9 cruises we've been on so far. Cruise #10 is coming up in April to celebrate our 40th Anniversary.

[Deeliteful]

What a lovely thread - really enjoying reading all these memories.:)

 

I had often thought of cruising and when I finally took the plunge :eek: I opted for a 10 day cruise on P&O's Oriana. (10 days was a short cruise to me and I wasn't sure whether I would like it!)

 

I remember standing in line to board and got chatting to a couple who had been on loads of cruises - he told me it's addictive - I smiled.

 

I was in total awe of the ship when I boarded it was so beautiful.

 

The first night at dinner (I had asked for a table of 8) our table was right next to a huge picture window and we dined whilst the sun was setting - I still feel emotional now:o

It was awesome.

 

I won $1200 on board and whilst sharing a bottle or two of champagne with my table mates in celebration and watching another sunset at dinner - I thought - life doesn't get much better than this.

 

I then wrote my poem (with tongue planted firmly in cheek!!)

 

Aboard the Oriana, sipping champagne at the prow, I close my eyes and wonder.......................what the poor are doing now:D

[Ripley's Lady]

Think back on your 1st cruise. How did you think the boarding process, drill etc.. was going to be?

 

Our 1st cruise was in May 1975 out of Sydney Australia.

 

We had been away from home two years while circumnavigating the globe, always traveling east until we got home.

 

After spendng a year north of Alice Springs in the outback of Australia, we traveled by the old Afghan train to Adelaide, across to Canberra and Melborne, ending up at the pier in Sydney.

 

We arrived very early not wanting to "Miss the Boat" with a 200 lb wooden box, one suitcase, a baby, and a straw Balinese basket of diapers and supplies for a three month old infant. (Our son was our Australian Souvenir.)

 

An hour after the taxi left us, we were told we were at the WRONG pier!

What a scramble to find our ship the SS Fairsky sailing to Auckland and the South Pacific.

 

Once there, we began the long wait to board. My DH left me with the baby while he went to check that our wooden box had been loaded - only to find it still sitting all by itself dockside.

 

He was told "only hand luggage" could go on the ship.

SO he heaved it up and - with the help of an Australian rugby player,- carried it straight up three flights of stairs onto the ship on his own, personally delivering it to our cabin.

 

When he arrived back to me waiting in the sun to check in through customs with the baby, he was hot and sweaty. I said - "Where have you been and how did you get your white trousers so dirty?" Wrong question!!

 

We were the last family to board "Fairsky" that day!!

Paper streamers were thrown from the ship to friends on shore. A brass band played as the party began and the ship slowly plled away form the pier in Sydney.

 

What excitement as we left Australia on that sunny fall day heading (always east) toward New Zealand - then on to Figi, Tonga Hawaii then to Vancouver!

 

I will never forget the lazy sunny days on board, the fine dining, the captain's reception. Yes even then we had our photo taken as we shook hands with Fairsky's Captain. I remember it was a huge price for a 5X7: all of $2.

 

One highlight for me was watching dolphins play and jump alongside Fairsky as we traveled the seas. Another was the morning and afternoon teas served by staff in white coats on deck. (Tea is an important ritual to me!)

 

On our last morning during breakfast an announcement came over the loudspeaker "ANY luggage you would like carried off the ship for you can be put in the hallway now." My husband fairly ran back to the cabin and heaved our wooden box out into the hallway - hiding in the room as the Indonesian stewards grunted while trying to budge it. Shortly after, he heard a the squeak squeak of a cart as they hauled it off.

 

He returned to breakfast with a satisfied look on his face to have someone else remove our "hand luggage" from the ship.

 

So ended our first cruise as we strolled off Fairsky with our baby.

[ute_fan]

OUr first cruise was for our 25th anniversary on the old NCL Sea. Our friends had been trying to get us to go for years -- DH wanted to, I didn't. I finally caved in, and amid much complaining, he got me on the airplane to Houston. The next morning, we boarded our bus for the Houston pier (we were with a group of about 40 people). I took one look at the ship and was hooked! That was in January, 2004 and we completed our 5th cruise almost a year ago.

 

I don't remember much about the embarkation process -- other than it went extremely quickly. We got in line, had our photos taken, and boarded the ship. The funniest thing that happened was that somehow my DH's picture didn't ended up getting attached to his room card. When they swiped his card to let us off in Cozumel, my caucasion husband's photo came up as an African-American man :confused: . The security officer laughed and calmly retook his picture, but I remember thinking how glad I was they noticed before we were trying to get back ON the ship!

[momofmeg]

Carnival Tropicale-the very oldest and worst ship on the Carnival fleet-but as the only thing we had to compare it to was a ferry ride on Seaescape-we thought it was great! and we were definitely hooked-15 cruises in 10 years! Of course we do much better ships now!

[sammamishcruiser]

I have loved reading through this WHOLE post - great stories!!

The first time I saw a cruise ship was September 2003, meeting my in-laws coming back from Alaska on the Island princess, I believe. WOW!! To back track a bit - My DH and I had just lost our business and did not even know where the next house payment was going to come from, and my only thought on seeing that ship was "someday I'm going to do that" of course I said nothing to my DH at that time, but thought that looked fantastic!

Fast forward to September of 2006 and its finally my turn!!! We are driving into Seattle to board the Sun Princess for Alaska!!!! Even though its an older and smaller ship, it looks beautiful to me. We had a wonderful time, great tablemates, we just walked around the towns and had a blast! We went back to Alaska this past September on Celebrity Millennium and loved that ship even more and got even more hooked!! We did a 14 day trip and also were able to do six excursions

 

In September 2009, we will be on Celebrity Infinity 16 days to the Panama Canal!

CAN'T WAIT, We are addicted!

 

Melody:D

[cruizlover]

My first cruise was on the Big Red Boat in 1988. I won the cruise on the radio which included airfare, hotel, & 3 night cruise to Bahamas. It was fantastic, especially since it was free. My husband & I went as soon as our second child was a few months old and we felt comfortable leaving him. I was nursing him so I had to take this portable pump that was loaned to me by the hospital with me on the airplane & cruise. It was somewhat embarrassing. Of course now there are better devices for pumping breast milk. Anyway, after that first cruise we were hooked. I'm not good at keeping count, but we've been on what seems like many cruises since then. We've taken our children when they were teens & young adults on a couple and hope to take them again before they get married. Many wonderful memories were made and looking forward to our next cruise on Celebrity Century coming up Feb. 5.

[AnyTime Cruiser]

Think back on your 1st cruise. How did you think the boarding process, drill etc.. was going to be? Our 1st cruise was in 2000 on the Century (we will go on our 7th cruise next week)... Neya

 

 

My first cruise was back in the 80's and things were so different then. There were four of us girls traveling together in one cabin. We spent almost all week trying to figure out how the cabin steward knew which bed to put the correct pj's on. Found out at the end of the cruise that the room steward was able to tell where they went by the perfume each set of pj's and bed sheets had:eek: EWWW!!

 

They would put a small piece of paper in the door jam. If it was "gone" it meant you were out of your room so they could clean.

 

Oceanview room meant a porthole.

 

embarkation/debarkation took FOREVER!

 

It was still great!!!!:D

[cavmom]

With the exception of Noro Virus and an upgrade from hell, it was great.

First of all, we received an unwanted upgrade from midship, deck 5 to a cabin next to the kids area. The room had upper bunks which caused us to have to be contortionists to get in and out of bed. The noise was horrible and no one could find our luggage(which was at our original cabin. We went to guest services and told them that our pieces had HUGE yellow ribbons on them, but they brought out at least 20 suitcases sans ribbons. We lucked out and a passenger had seen our bags and overheard the conversation....voila....we had clothes to wear.

 

As for the cabin(deck 8, so far aft that we were almost not on the ship) we felt like we were on a roller coaster. Guest services "had no cabins available." and we should be happy with an upgrade. Fortunately, one of the CC members, who was such a frequent flyer on the Merc that he knew everyone in a place of authority, walked into the hotel manager's office(Skipped the folks at the desk, just walked into the man's office) and in 5 minutes, we were back on deck 5,midship, across from our booked cabin and in an ocean view. This was on our third day, so I went back to the cabin, packed our suitcase, grabbed one and started walking back to midship.People saw me with my luggage and I said that I had had enough with the lousy room and was leaving the ship...somewhere between San Diego and Hawaii.;)

On the way home, we were hit with Noro Virus, and I am allergic to the pink sanitizer they were using. Coughed my brains out for 5 days. Ate in the cabin so that people would not look at me as if I were a carrier of some disease. Cabins are fine for snacks, but not a full dinner. Dinner in bed is not elegant.

 

We had to go back to Hawaii with sick people, many others on board were VERY NASTY to crew trying to make the best of things. it took 2 days for everyone to use the three ship phones to change reservations and allert family. We were given an hour of internet free for communication home, buy we could not print airline info as there was no paper in the printers.

 

I felt so bad for the crew that I took my husbands stash of Hersheys Kisses and passed them out to the crew. After the first day of kisses, crew was looking for their chocolate treats!

 

And the desserts, our favorite thing....were horrible. The cakes were waterlogged. We didn't even eat our special anniversary cake. (We put it in a bag and ditched in a trash bin so that we would not hurt our waiter's feelings)

 

THE BEST PART of our cruise was meeting Fred and Ray. Fred is like my alter ego, but 30 years younger. Each encounter on ship made us feel closer and closer. Ray is more like my husband. We laughed. We cried.We promised to cruise again. It's too bad that we live so far from each other NY/CO. :)WE'RE CRUISING AGAIN WITH RAY AND FRED ONE YEAR LATER. October 30 on the Jewel Our cabin is right below theirs...we can bang on the ceiling and wake them up:D

 

so.......no matter how bad things may seem, there is always something good ahead.

Good sailing, everyone.

Marianne and Dirk

[Javajoni]

The Carnival Miracle out of Baltimore. Cruise to Nowhere for Halloween.

 

The entire cruise was awesome and got me hooked! Sailing under the Bay Bridge was incredible. The only problem I had was a situation involving the costumes. I had sewed a Samari Warrior costume for my BF which took a good deal of time since I was going by instructions from the internet rather than a store bought pattern. I also bought him a wig and a sword (plastic) which he smuggled in his luggage. I was a Geisha. Our friends were to be an Arab and a Harem Girl. The Arab, Samari and I were dressed, waiting on our friend to put on her harem costume. Then the Arab comes in to say he and his wife decided they weren't going to party in their costume afterall. Then my BF tells me that if they aren't going to be in costume, he won't either. I got so pissed! After all the work of sewing our costumes and the money we paid for it all, I now have to take off all the white face paint and put my regular makeup and miss the costume party. I was just about to blow a gasket! The harem friend had ordered a costume on the internet but had left it in the bag and had not tried it on, so on the ship she finds out it is too big. Luckily, I had lots of safety pins with me and we made it all work. The costume parade through the ship was so much fun and the two big goofballs kept sword fighting all night until their swords started falling apart. I think we got about 3 hours of sleep!

[momofmeg]

Carnival Tropicale-the very oldest and worst ship on the Carnival fleet-but as the only thing we had to compare it to was a ferry ride on Seaescape-we thought it was great! and we were definitely hooked-15 cruises in 10 years! Of course we do much better ships now!

 

I have been on much better ships and much nicer itineraries, but that first cruise still has a soft spot in my heart.

[MedicKen]

Oh wow, what a memory jog.

 

The first was in 1987 on the Costa Riveria. I won the cruise in a sales contest and ALL arangements were done by the company. Cosequently we knew NOTHING about what was to happen other than it was a 7 night out of Ft. Lauderdale going to St. Thomas, St. Croix and Bahamas. We showed up at Greater Pittsburgh Airport at 05early and were given out docs. We had a decent flight to FLL but found out the ship had lost an engine and would be late arriving. We spent the day at the Marriot around the pool. BORING! They finally took us to the dock and hearded us into a large terminal buliding that was in the midst of a power failure. I used my mini-mag light as a candle and it gave traveling light for half the room. We were able to get on about 10pm and hit the buffet that was hit by the late diembarking passengers. Slim pickiings but welcomed. The Riveria was a great little (now) ship with one meal seating, no buffet, a 14 foot cube that was filled with seawater as a pool, and all the "old" cruise activities. We had horse racing, skeet off the aft, high tea every day. The Cruise Director had a staff of 1 and that's all he needed. 3 bars, a great pizza place and a Bertone chained in the lobby. We had a great inside cabin, probably the lowest, most aft, on he ship right next to water tanks that sloshed us to sleep every night. No Sea Pass, metal room key and cash. The lock jammed one morining and we had to call for the steward to "spring" us so we could go for breakfast. Not that we were traumatized, quite the opposite for me, we didn't hit the high seas again until 2001, and I've tried, boy have I tried ask DW, to hit the high seas as often as possible since.

 

Thanks for reading, I've had fun reading everyone's memories too.

[BaseballMomof4]

Our first cruise was on the Triumph and I remember getting on the plane in Western New York during a snowstorm in February and being very glad we were flying to Miami a day early. We missed our connecting flight in Chicago and were delayed several hours and then FINALLY made it to Miami about 9 at night. My brother who lives in Florida met us at the airport and although our reunion dinner was ruined, drove us to our hotel (a major disappointment) and we wound up grabbing some subs and heading off to bed. In the morning we all went out for breakfast (Me, my DH, 3 DS's and my brother) and then headed for the port with mapquest directions that literally brought us to a brick wall!! LOL!

 

But once we boarded the ship we were in awe of her. The boys, then ages 14, 11 and 8 knew the ship like the back of their hands by day 2, DH and I had to follow them around.

 

Coming from the frozen North it was all just too amazing to us!! We went to Cozumel and swam at the beach, parasailed, and kayaked. To Grand Cayman and went to Hell, the Turtle Farm, and swimming with the stingrays. T Ocho Rios and climbed the falls and swam with the dolphins. It was magical.

 

I was so depressed to be heading back to our home town that when we got there I started applying for jobs in Florida and put my home on the market. Five months later we were in a rented Uhaul and our conversion van towing a boat headed South and we have lived here ever since.

 

My DH is alway critical when I say I am booking a cruise, but once we get on it he is in seventh heaven. The boys would cruise once a month if they could and so would I!!!

[sandian]

Great thread, first cruise was on Thomsons Topaz round the Southern Carribean. A once only treat for our thirtieth anniversary and DH 50th.

 

We flew out to the Dominican Republic and were bussed straight to the cruise terminal and were soon on board. Everything was done for us we did not see luggage until it arrived outside our cabin.

 

Best bit was when we realised we had been upgraded from an outside to a suite, not that we new what an upgrade was. DH was all for letting them know we had been put in the wrong cabin. I managed to persuade him this was not advisable.

 

The cruise was out of this world food outstanding even the entertainment, even seeing the bigger ships in port did not spoil the experience.

 

So here we are nearly 10 years later sailing on Explorer of the seas for our fortieth but already talking about a Mediteranean cruise for the following year, yes I guess we are now hooked

[svetty]

woow, first cruise memories...I think it was 1993, out of Odessa, Russia, the name of the ship was Odessa Song and it went to med, stopping in Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Malta and Santorini i think. It was my first trip outside of Russia, after we were allowed to leave RUssia, with the government changing, it was such a shock to me, since i was about 12 years old at the time. COuldnt believe my eyes when i saw the amount of cheese people could buy without a problem at a store lol, back then in moscow shelves were EMPTY! at every store, there was no food to buy

the ship was small, we were supposed to go on a bigger Russian fleet ship called Leonid Sobolev, but there was a fire there and we were on a smaller sip, the Black see turned out to be pretty rough for the small ship and half of the ship was having a baaad case of seasickness. Me on the other hand...I HAD SOOO MUCH FUN, the chairs were not screwed to the floor, so they kept on falling, the drawers kept opening up and everything was flying around the cabin, i loved running back and forth on the ship and being pushed side to side:))) silly i know

my mom on the other hand was stuck in the cabin with a BAAAD case of sea sickness:((

We were on the ship when there was a big rebellion in moscow of 1993, we watched in ports on little tvs how the tanks were in the centre of Moscow...scary because we knew we had to go back and that my brother was still there, but now it seems so far away and everything changed, i am in Canada and travelling on biggest ships like QM2 and Liberty and Mariner...havent seen such high seas yet anywhere or felt like on that little Odessa Song:)))

[roadmap]

For my first cruise, I took my mom and I on a short (3 day) Pacific Coastal on the new Radiance of the Seas, departing from my hometown, Seattle. This was both of our first times, and really had no idea what to expect. Pulling up to the Port (we were way early) my Mom pointed out that "big glass building". Holding back a laugh, I told her that the "glass building" was our ship! We were astonished by the actual size and shine of it all! Turns out, we loved the whole experience, and I will be on my fourth cruise this holiday season on the Golden Princess to Hawaii (this will be her 5th, I think)

[casandbliz]

Wow!! Reading all the posts certainly brought back memories of our first cruise- here are some:

 

It was in 1988, and I was 6 months pregnant. We cruised on Azure of the Seas, on a 4 day cruise to Catalina and Ensenada. We had an inside cabin (probably the lowest deck too). We now can't be in a cabin without a balcony!! :p I remember my parents drove us down to the port, and were actually able to board the ship to visit with us before the ship sailed! (Maybe that's because my father used to work for the customs department!!).

Had never been to Ensenada- people said "you HAVE to get a fish taco!!" A what?, I thought!!! That sounds HORRIBLE!!! Oh boy, was I wrong- couldn't believe how great they were! Always had heard of Hussong's, so I wanted to just pop my head in to check it out. Couldn't believe that it was such a dive!!

Don't think we ever had room service, but do remember the menu didn't have much to choose from. It's been fun over the years to see them change.

I also remember thinking the reason we took a short cruise was to see if we would like cruises-can't believe we ever thought we might NOT!!!

Now 21 years later, that child I was pregnant with on my first cruise, will be taking his first cruise next year with us to celebrate his college graduation. I hope it will be his first of many more to come.

[lgerrish]

October 1998 I thought I was in cruise heaven...cruising on the Norwegian Leeward to Key West and Cozumel (couldn't dock in Cancun). This reconditioned ship was nothing compared to the Carnival Freedom, our last sailing.

 

But, our first cruise was with our closest friends and we have cruised with each ever since. Some traditions just can't be broken!

[SavannahLime]

I have 3 very different first cruise experiences:

1: I was a tour guide in Italy and my tour of Canadian Octengenarians included a 3 day Mediteraanean tour on the Angelina Laurea. It was tiny by todays standards but fun. Most of my tour stayed in the cabins seasick and I partied with the crew.

2: Coming home from college I took the QE2. It was horrible. I was in a cabin below deck (Student hestel rates) with 3 3-tier bunks in a cabin the size of a walk-in closet. There wre 9 of us from all over the world (that was fun; 6 guys and 3 girls) We weren't allowed on upped decks, they were for 1st. class. We ate in a mess hall style dining room. It was like a floating dorm. We decided we weren't stewage, we were sewage. We had gang showers, I decided I would never cruise agian unless it was a yaht.

3: 30 years later I convinced my DH to cruise! I made it a big deal since he has never travelled much. We flew to Santo Domingo and set sail on the Legend of the Seas. It was amazing. I thoght the ship was enormous, food incredible and people amazing. I was exhausted after we got home and I had post cruise depression for months afterwards. We have vowed now to cruise at least once a year! I will alway remember The Legend an my first REAL cruise. It was really "Legendary"

[BroncosFan2010]

My first cruise was my honeymoon. I was so exhausted from planning and doing the wedding that I wanted to sleep most of the week. I had no idea you could order extra food in the MDR. I would have LOVED to have tried multiple things---something I do now!!

 

I did now know about Cruise Critic, so I was pretty clueless, even though DH had been on a few cruises.

 

I was floored by the size of the ship when I first saw it. It was on the Adventure of the Seas, and at the time, it was the largest ship in the RCCL fleet.

 

I was pretty clueless to all the amenities and extras of which I am now aware.

 

I wish I had been able to fly down a day early and stay in a hotel. I would have been more relaxed and enjoyed the first part of the cruise before.

 

DH and I were invited on a private tour of the Bridge, and I had no idea what the Bridge was! When we received our invitations, I was so confused because we were at sea that day, and I could not understand how we would tour a bridge while at sea! LOL DH still likes to bug me about that one!

 

I am much wiser now, and I do TONS of research and spend endless hours on this site before cruising!

[Ripley's Lady]

I have 3 very different first cruise experiences:

 

1: I was a tour guide in Italy and my tour of Canadian Octengenarians included a 3 day Mediteraanean tour on the Angelina Laurea. It was tiny by todays standards but fun. Most of my tour stayed in the cabins seasick and I partied with the crew.

 

2: Coming home from college I took the QE2. It was horrible. I was in a cabin below deck (Student hestel rates) with 3 3-tier bunks in a cabin the size of a walk-in closet. There wre 9 of us from all over the world (that was fun; 6 guys and 3 girls) We weren't allowed on upped decks, they were for 1st. class. We ate in a mess hall style dining room. It was like a floating dorm. We decided we weren't stewage, we were sewage. We had gang showers, I decided I would never cruise agian unless it was a yaht.

 

3: 30 years later I convinced my DH to cruise! I made it a big deal since he has never travelled much. We flew to Santo Domingo and set sail on the Legend of the Seas. It was amazing. I thoght the ship was enormous, food incredible and people amazing. I was exhausted after we got home and I had post cruise depression for months afterwards. We have vowed now to cruise at least once a year! I will alway remember The Legend an my first REAL cruise. It was really "Legendary"

 

Way to go Wings! Royal Caribbean is an awesome line. Kept cruising the best and we'll cruise with you sometime!

[cctn]

Our first cruise was on the Sovereign of the Seas, Oct 1988 - we were so excited - never mind that we were on the 2nd deck - OV... it was heaven to us! We didn't know anything about balconies (after that, we became balcony snobs!) ... also, I remember people could actually smoke in the dining room during meals - I don't have anything against people who smoke - I can't help but 'see' a gentlemen who sat at the table next to us - puff on a cig, eat, puff, drink, puff, etc. etc. Also, those were the days when you had your ONE table for breakfast/lunch/dinner - and Midnight Buffets - and the yellow Ship Shape t-shirts! Corkey

[Senoj84]

The first times a charm, :). I was on Carnival Liberty for the 1st cruise. I'm trying to remember everything. It was my first time flying to-so the whole check in experience was new & long. I kept thinking on the cruise that we were just going to go thru the line. Then, my grandmother tells me we have to be checked in, go through the metal detector & all that other stuff again? :eek: I said "Why when we were just checked on the plane?" My grandmother said "yeah." She said everyone "didnt fly on a plane to get here." I had to go through the process again. It went thru quickly. Then, I thought I was done again?! Wrong, :eek: We had to wait in another line to get our S&S. I had been on Cruise Critic so I knew all of this, I don't know why I was suprised. I didn't even wanna go the pursers to get my money straight because the line was so long, I went the next day. I just hate that part of cruising (the lines & checking in) won't be looking forward to it on my next cruise but it's a small price to pay for the luxury, price & fun of crusing & I still LOVE to cruise!!!!