Day 2 - Boarding the Imagination

We're on the ship! We had an uneventful drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami - about 45 minutes total. Returned the rental car and took the free shuttle to the Port of Miami to board. Boarding was also fairly painless and we were on the ship shortly after noon. We had lunch at the buffet and, while waiting for our cabin to be ready, wandered around a little to explore. This is a much smaller ship than we are used to. It has a passenger capacity of about 2,000 as opposed to about 3,200 on the Spirit class ships that we typically sail. It's nicely laid out, however, and is in good shape for one of the older members of the fleet.

Here are a few photos of the water slide (which we're going to slide on right after the muster drill takes place this afternoon) and pool area.

The main pool area. There is also an "adults only" area that has 2 hot tubs and lounge chairs. We'll likely be hanging out there as there seems to be a lot of kids on this particular sailing.

The Carnival Water Works. Looks like fun - can't wait to try it out later today!

We were able to get in to our cabin about 1:20 pm, and our luggage arrived about 30 minutes later. We unpacked everything and stowed the empty suitcases. We are in a porthole cabin, which is technically an inside cabin with two small porthole windows. We have never sailed without a balcony before, so weren't sure we were going to like this cabin. However, at $159/person for 4 days, we thought we'd give it a whirl. It's a perfectly lovely cabin, and it's brighter than I thought it would be. The room has lots of storage and we both agree it was well worth the money! Here are some photos...

The view from the doorway looking in to the room. You can just make out the portholes, which can be covered up with large metal doors if, like Andrew, you want to take a nap mid-day.

A better picture of the bed and portholes.

Looking back at the doorway (standing next to where the portholes are). The door on the right is the bathroom, on the left are 3 large closets.



The cute little bathroom. Toilet is on the left, just out of the shot.

Dinner tonight will be one of the more casual evenings, because it can take hours for them to get all the luggage on board and distributed to the cabins. We took a peek at the menu - will likely be lasagna for Andrew and BBQ ribs for me.

Tomorrow we'll dock in Key West about 7 am, and spend the day there just wandering around one of our favorite travel destinations. I can't wait for my soft-shell crab sammich and fresh limeade!