Day 1 of Cruise - Sailing from Tampa, Florida, for Our Very First Cruise

 Day 1 of  Our Cruise  – Checking in and Boarding Our Very First Cruise Ship

Our cruise ship sailed from Tampa Bay, Florida

Throughout our entire Florida trip, today was what we have been waiting for - boarding our very  first cruise ship!

We left our hotel in Port Richey at around 11am. Our ship would leave the Tampa port at 4:00pm but we were asked to be at the port 2 hours prior departure.

D., our friend, was kind enough to drive us to the Tampa port. We had lunch at C.B. on our way to Tampa.  Even with the GPS, it took us more time than we had expected getting to the cruise terminal.

By the time we got to the port, it was 2:3pm. I was surprised that there were no lineups; we were the only people checking in.

There were port officials and cruise personnel helping us every step of the way making sure that we knew what we were doing.



There were a few procedures to follow:

1  1.    Check in at Terminal 3 where the port officials checked our passports and cruise tickest which we  printed out from our computer.

2 2.   We went up to the Security Clearance area where our luggage and carry on were scanned, a   procedure similar to the one at the airport. I was glad they did that as we would not want anyone coming on board with any weapons at all.

3  3.   After security clearance, we had to answer a detail personal information questionnaire along with a   health form.     

W  4. We went to the Carnival counter where staff members were  ready to receive passengers.
      Our individual photo was taken and we were issued a card to our cabin. This is also the card that we would use for all our purchases on board.

5.      

Boarding our cruise ship!

F


    5. Finally, we proceeded to board our cruise ship -
–      the Carnival Miracle for our Caribbean cruise!

A Carnival Cruise Ship

As soon as we got to our room and unloaded our luggage, there was a knock on our cabin door.

It was time for the passenger safety drill on deck.
Whew! We just made it and it was about 3:50pm.

Passengers assembled at Muster Station B

Each passenger on board has been assigned a muster station if we need to assemble on the ship in case of an emergency.











There are four Muster Stations on the Carnival Miracle cruise ship:  Station A, B, C, D.

 Ours is Muster Station B.

Waiting for the safety demonstration at our Muster Station

Our fellow passengers were already assembled and waiting at Muster Station B .

After a few minutes, we had the safety announcements over the PA system and a safety demonstration by crew members at our Muster Station.

Our cruise ship set sail from Tampa Bay,  Florida

We hang around on the deck watching the cruise ship sailing off from Tampa Bay.

























We passed by a neighborhood close to the bay and had a good look at the houses.

After exploring the ship for a little while, we attended a welcome presentation at the theatre.







We had our first dinner on the ship at 8:30pm, went to bed and had a good night sleep.

Looking forward to our very first cruise!

R.T.
on the Carnival Miracle Cruise Ship
Tampa
Florida, USA
Sat.,Week of Feb 19