Bahamas Cruise - Carnival Sensation - Day 1

After a long day on Saturday, we all woke up around 7:30/8 am and started getting ready.  My initial plan was to leave house by 10 am and reach the rental company by 12 pm and be on the boat by 1 pm....but of course, when you plan something that precise, it never works out :P...haha!  Well, we were running little bit late and got out of the apartment by 10:45 am, loaded everyone's bags, and were on the road by 11 am.  This was the beginning of a 2 hour drive from Tampa to Cape Canaveral (to Enterprise's drop off location).  We had a good weather and no traffic on the road.  Also a good dose of Antakshari (Indian game of singing songs) in the car made it fun and time passed by quickly.  We got to the Cape Canaveral within 2 hours and at the location of Enterprise rental company in time.  We met up with one of their agents in the parking lots and I just had to take the receipt inside to get it processed and that was it!! I handed the keys to the agent and they had another shuttle pull in the parking lot when we were unloading our bags, ready to take us to Port Canaveral to our cruise!!  It was maybe 5-10 minute drive to the cruise ship and we started heading inside for the check-in.

One of my friends was on H1 visa and she did not get a Bahamas visa, so she was bit worried that Carnival might deny her boarding.  She was extremely nervous, but it all worked out as she wasn't really asked for visa at the check-in.  The agent checked all of our passports, boarding passes, and took our picture.  She quickly processed our sail-and-sign cards, and we were off to an exciting journey!!  My friend with H1 visa was relieved big time after she was good to go with check-in!! I was really surprised with the speed of check-in since it might have just taken 10-15 minutes and good thing was that there wasn't that big of a crowd at that time.

We started heading for the cruise entrance and then off to our stateroom.  We had an interior room (in the back of the ship) with 4 people.  It was different from last time but still not bad.  It was small and cozy :).  Here is a snap if you want to know what it looks like.

Interior room for 4 people

Once we got to our room, we freshened up, arranged our bags, and then headed out to the deck and to explore the cruise!!  We went up to the deck first to see the view, the pools, the restaurants and food stations that were going to be opened throughout the ship.  Food is important part of the cruise, so we wanted to make sure where exactly to go when we found ourselves starving :P....haha.    My brother and I also checked out the casino where we were planning to spend some quality time during the next 4 days ;).  I had recently learned how to play Black Jack, so I was curious to try my luck with that game!!  After a good hour or so, we just decided to chill out on the top deck.  While on the deck, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets ever!!  I will just give you a glimpse of it since you have to be there to witness the true beauty but it's enough to give you an idea.

After the sunset, it was already time for our dinner.  We had late dining option at 8:15 pm, which I felt was kind of late for us but we didn't have an option since the earlier dining time was already full for 6 pm.  We got to the dining room and met our server, Marko, who was from Serbia.  Marko seemed very nice and warm person from the first impression.  We got our menus and we were happy to see that Indian Vegetarian Meal was one of the options on everyday menu :).  We did have special dietary needs for 2 of my friends who needed Jain meals (food which is vegetarian, and doesn't include root vegetables like potatoes, garlic, onions, etc.).  We let Marko know of the requirement and he consulted with the dining room host.  The host got the details from us and the Chef prepared fresh Jain meals for both of my friends!! This was amazing that they honored the meal option and prepared it on the spot for them.  The server took note of the meals and said that for the next 3 days, they wouldn't have to worry about the dining option as it'll be prepared properly according to Jain standards.  I was happy, my friends were happy, everyone was happy :)  My brother and I got the Indian vegetarian meal which was equally delicious.  Here is an example of what we had:

Corn chips and Guacamole

Rajma, Aloo & Capsicum vegetables with Rice & Papad

Apart from the delicious dinner, there was entertainment provided by the dining room staff as well.  To welcome all the guests, the dining room waiters/servers had prepared a small dance number.  They all danced to the song "Low" from the movie Step Up.  It was fun and entertaining!!  After the dinner, the day was not over yet.  There was a 10 pm welcome show from the cruise director Jimmy (he called himself "Weeeeee Jimmy").  It started with dancing and singing from their musical crew and after that Jimmy introduced himself with a fun game that involved the audience participation.  It was hillarious!! Also, there was a planned proposal on stage which ended with a "yes" from the girl being proposed :).  There was also a comedy show after that, but it wasn't that funny, so we called it a night around midnight and went to bed.  For the first day, I felt the boat moving quite a bit but once we went to bed, we didn't remember anything and were looking forward to a nice day in Freeport, Bahamas.

With that, I conclude our 1st day on the cruise!! Hope you all enjoyed reading.  I will be back with the most adventurous day details in the next post for Freeport, Bahamas!!

Enjoy!! Have a great day :)