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Mr_Pete
Snarky
| Joined: | Thu Jun 22nd, 2006 |
| Location: | New York USA |
| Posts: | 1000 |
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 11:36 am | 1st Post |
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A little preamble. When girlfiend and I started discussing honeymoons, I wanted to go on a cruise, she wanted to go to Hawaii.
The day the holiday brochures came in, we went down to the city and ended up on the Intrepid, probably after going on the Circle Line.
Well, while we were up on deck, the QE2 comes past us. It was the closest I was to an active cruise ship in 20 years. We then walked up to the ship, expecting to get close, or actually walk on her. Didn't realize all the security changes.
That night, I was looking at the brochures, and was convince Hawaii would be the way to go. The girlfriend retorts that seeing the way my eyes and face lit up watching that ship pull in, she couldn't deny me my original wish.
So, starting my research, a co-worker says she has just come back from a Carnival cruise, and loved it, so she brought in the brochure. It looked great, go I booked a weeks cruise to the eastern Caribbean, with a three day post cruise stay in Key West.
When my tickets arrived, I made sure I read my Welcome Aboard packet over and over. It would be 9 years until I would find Cruise Critic. What I hadn't done was do any research on any of the ports. Amazing what a lack of knowledge would do.
The day finally arrived (got that wedding out of the way), and we flew to Miami, and as we were aproaching the ship, we couldn't believe how white and shiney it was. No grand atriums yet, so we never had that kink neck back WOW you find yourselves doing now.
I remember vividly walking around the Lido and the Verandah deck, just looking at all the people. I was in heaven when we found the food!
And everything just clicked. We had the best week, the best foods, met the greatest people (everyone seemd to just gel, and we all got to know one another). The cruise director was good, as he just seemed to bring everything together, and was omnipresent.
I also remember never intending on getting off the ship. I figured, why bother. Our first stop was Nassau, and we did, for about 15 minutes, getting an orange soda from Burger King, and a straw hat (of course).
By the time we got to San Juan, I was ready to get off. And I remember that first experience with sea legs I knew nothing about. We had a great time exploring the fort.
We had our share of drinks, parties, dancing, and never went to bed before 4 (except the first night:monkeys:).
Met a great couple from California, who by Wednesday, we had completely bonded with. We ended up cruising with then another 6 times, and met up with them in Vegas as a surprise to DW last year (we had a falling out on our Hawaii cruise....same ship!)
Most memorable was that depression, after the cruise. We went to Key West, and in comparison, it was so B O R I N G. I couldn't believe after being on such a high, I had dropped to such a low.
So that Sunday, we booked our second cruise!
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Next up:
BOSTON
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Catnip
Charter Member
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 04:55 pm | 2nd Post |
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Yeah, I know all about the "post cruise blues"..........:out of it:
So, you kept in touch with those friends for a pretty good while afterwards? That's always nice.
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32 previous cruises..
Next up: Last Atlantic crossing on QE 2 10-08/Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3/09
**Triangles Are For Losers!**
Don't touch that triangle!
Adopt a pet from your local shelter & save a life!
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hstrybuf
Founders
| Joined: | Sat Jun 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Kansas |
| Posts: | 19960 |
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Posted: Sun Jun 25th, 2006 08:02 pm | 3rd Post |
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| There truly is nothing like that first time!
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Deb - Research, research, research!
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
Liberty 10/07; Miracle 10/06; Navigator OTS 10/04; Legend 04/04; Grand Princess 09/03; Dawn Princess 01/03; Enchantment OTS 10/02; Destiny 01/02; Sensation 10/99
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