OK.. first I'll go over the stuff everyone seems to ask about then I'll give my days.

parking
We pulled into the terminal and unloaded. We parked in the parking structure across from the ships ($60 from Mon-Fri). We boarded at 1pm. The lines weren't bad at all. We carried two bottles of wine on board per couple to drink at dinner. We also carried a pint of rum in our luggage to make pre-dinner cocktails.

The cabin
We got on board and dumped our carry-on in the cabin. We were located forward on the Empress deck which is three flights up from the Lido deck. The cabin was decent size with big windows. There were plenty of hangers and space to hang clothes. They put a little basket of necessities in the bathroom. There were lamps over the bed and little end tables. The bed was VERY comfortable. I liked the fact that the room temp was controlled by a little dial above the bed. I kept it turned down to almost off most of the time and it was cozy in there. The cabin steward was very nice. He saw me and immediately broke out in some Spanish. Poor man.. He caught the only Latina who can't speak the language. LMAO The towel critters where great. I still haven't eaten my pillow chocolates yet. ;) The cabin was always clean and nice.

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The ship
The last ship I was on was HUGE (Carnival Destiny). I still thought this ship was big but as the trip went on I found it shrank a bit but in a good way. I loved that you could still get lost from the people you travel with but you know everyone isn't too far away. I ran into new people I met and laughed with and my group that I traveled with all the time. By the end of the trip, I felt like I had made many new friends. I thought it was interesting that the stage was right in the middle of the Lido Deck so there was a definite split between the pool and the dance/sunning/party area. I liked that there were many tables with chairs under shade all day. I'm not into baking in the sun. lol No matter where I went, the crew greeted me with a smile and how is your day. I like that.

The slide was open so I definitely went on that when we sailed from Key West. The "sunning deck" is gone. Its now open to the public so no chance to get rid of those pesky tan lines ladies. hahaha

The dining
We ate dinner in the Imagination Dining Room. I thought it was lovely in there. The table staff was very attentive and they made dinner fun teasing us. I must admit we started it so I think they picked it up and we all had a good time. Marty and her mom were able to change dinner times and sit with us which filled up the table with our own party and that worked out great. Everything I had was so good. I know some people didn't care for their dishes so I told them well order something else and that wasn't a problem at all. For lunches, we ate in the Coconut Grove (buffet dining). I LOVED the breads they baked. The different types of dishes every day I found tasted wonderful. I especially enjoyed the baked jerk chicken. YUM! In the mornings, I would have some tea and eat some toast on the Lido deck and do a lot of people watching. Eating a very light breakfast was my way of watching the waist line. We only ate lunch on the Lido deck one day and I really enjoyed the hot dog. I didn't try the pizza, sushi or the deli so I can't give you any idea what that was like. My friend said the pizza was wonderful so you get it second hand. The desserts looked fantastic.

drinks
I did purchase drinks on the ship as well as bring our own. There were three couples in my party. We brought 2 bottles of wine on board per couple. We took two bottle of wine to dinner each night and that wasn't any problem at all. We were changed NO corkage fee. *two thumbs up* We bought the buckets of beer. MGD was on "sale" 4 bottles for 13.75. I thought it was a great deal. When I bought wine, it was $8 a glass (Merlot).

Fellow passengers
It was a whole mix of people on board. Young, old, big families and some singles traveling alone. We met this one guy from Tennessee (Keith) who decided to take a cruise by himself and not wait around for someone to join him. We met him the first night at the Lido deck bar. Nice guy. I encouraged him to join all the activities and go to the singles functions. Well.. he took my advice. He was in everything and all over the place. I kept running into him and he always had a huge smile and greeted me like a friend. At the end of the cruise, he was hanging out with this nice girl.

Day 1 Departing Miami
The first night on the cruise after dinner, I wandered around the ship as is my habit. I'm not a gambler so I decided to see what the bars were like. I ended up at that place you saw in the one picture with the elephants out in front. There wasn't anyone in there but us. The band in there was picking up speed so Susie and I decided to have a drink. Our traveling friend Danny came in after a while and had a drink with us. Then all of a sudden a whole bunch of people started coming in. I figure.. ok this is fun. Then the social cruise directors popped in. OK.. I see a nice crowd here for the Singles mingle.. huh? The three of us looked at each other oh well.. Then they come over and say.. time to get up and meet everyone and the guy puts a name tag on me.. "But I'm not single..." he wasn't listening so I figure.. what the heck and got up to talk to people. Marty joins the party and that�s the picture you see us dancing together. So I didn't crash a singles party... they crashed my party. LMAO

Day 2 Key West
My DH and I got up as we pulled into port. We docked at the navel base docks. They had the Conch train there ready to take us into town. We decided to take the Conch train tour since we had never seen most of the island. 45 minute tour for $25 a head. Not bad in my opinion. The driver/tour guide was funny and knew his stuff. It was an interesting tour. We strolled up Duval street and stopped in at the Turning Bull for a margarita and the guy was singing and dressed like Elvis. HAHAHA

We ended up in the redfishbluefish where I had a couple of wonderful Mojitos. btw.. I couldn't get a Mojito on board the ship. :( We took the Conch train back to the ship at around lunch time and settled in on the Lido deck as we sailed away. And this is where you see me with my snowman pictures. Oh there�s more. HAHAA I went down the slide a few times and had a great time. This was formal dinner night so everyone got all cleaned up. We had intentions of going to the captains party but stopped at the bar outside of the casino. Never made it to the party. HAHAHA I had the lobster. YUM! After dinner I changed clothes and took a tour around the Lido deck to see what was going on. After that, I headed down to the disco. The place was hoppin. I found myself standing next to this family party and they invited me to join them. I danced and danced to my hearts content until about 1am. Then it was bed time for me.

Day 3 Calica
I woke up the next day totally at ease. The ship was still at sea since we didn't get to Calica until the afternoon. Leisure breakfast on the Lido deck and we ate a light lunch before we docked. We were the only ship at Calica. yes it is a big gravel pit.. a working port. The taxis were lined up and ready to go. We decided to go to Xcaret. We didn't book it on the cruise. There was a booth right on the dock where we got a cab for $6. The tickets were $53 a piece (american). We packed some swimsuits and headed out. It was a HOT day. I loved the park. Seeing all of the animals and plants. At about 4, we decided to go for a swim in the park. They had inner tubes you could float in. Absolutely perfect. It was right next to where you can swim with the dolphins. My feet needed a break. This park is NOT for people who don't like a lot of walking. My dogs were barking the next day. HAHA We got cleaned up and caught a cab into Playa. I didn't realize it had all been rebuilt. Its lovely down on 5th avenue. Yes that is the street name. hahaa We decided to go to Senor Frogs which is right on the water and have a few beers there. Then it was off down the beach. We found this place that looked right over the beach. So calm... We had a few beers there and just relaxed. I have to say they gave us the best fresh hot chips and salsa I've ever had. We caught a cab back to the ship after that. It was too late for dinner but that was ok. We ate dinner in the buffet that night. Yumm.. After dinner, I scooted over to the disco for bit then we checked out the deck party. Then it was bed time.

Day 4 Day at Sea back to Miami
Today was our big day at sea. My feet needed the break. HAHAHA I changed into my swimsuit for the afternoon. There were no lounge chairs to be found. Oh well. That�s ok. We found a chair in the shade and that was good enough for me. Before 3, I changed into my shorts and made my way to high tea. MMmmmm lovely. I was surprised how many people showed up. Right after that was the galley tour. I could kick myself for not bringing my camera. Absolutely amazing down there. And it was steamy hot. I feel for all the people who work down there. We were given the walk through tour and some demonstrations on veggie carving. After my tour, I went back up to the Lido deck and met up with my friends. We kicked back until dinner time people watching and enjoying the band. There was one incident that I saw that made me upset but people will be people where ever they go. Since it was our last night, we lived it up. I took a last tour around the ship and enjoyed being on sea. I went down to the disco to get in a little more dancing then stopped in at the karaoke contest that my friend Danny was in. He didn't win but he did get in the top three. :)

Day 5 Back in Miami
Since I didn't have a plane to catch, we lounged around as long as possible until they told us we HAD to get off the ship. HAHAHA A nice breakfast on the Lido deck and debarked. *sigh*