This was the first time Al and I went on a cruise, just the two of us, leaving from Port Canaveral going to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk on the Carnival Sunshine.  During this cruise, we experienced a lot of firsts which I’m excited to share!

• Cruise Director:  Al and I weren’t aware how important the cruise director is on a cruise.  Ours was awesome!  Our Cruise director was Mikey, and he made you feel like you wanted to be wherever he was on the ship because you knew you were going to have fun!  Now I know what it means to say Carnival’s “Fun Ships”!  Mikey selected Al to participate in a dance contest and Al actually won!  Mikey started our day with fun and had events all day long if you were up to it!  Here’s a pic of Mikey with Al and I.

Another event Mikey held was one where the DJ played well known songs and we were supposed to sing the words in between the chorus.  Check out how Mikey, our Cruise Director, handled this event.

• Cruise Compass: You really need to take a close look at this! Most of the time, it’s a difficult decision to choose between the multiple, concurrent events.  The cruise compass is packed on sea days as well but less so on port days.  Also, you don’t want to miss the sail away party, various bands, themed parties, tea time, sea day activities, etc.

• Specialty Dining: I hear that Chops Steakhouse is awesome but we have never tried it. I find it hard to pay for dining when there are so many free options. Al and I discovered that Cucina Del Capitano and JiJi Asian Kitchen restaurants are free for lunch but you pay during dinner hours. The lunch and dinner menus aren’t exactly the same but they are similar enough such that you get a feel for the dinner fare.

• The Comedy Club has been hit or miss for us. There is an R rated and G rated version.

• Karaoke is also hit or miss. You really need a great host, good singers, and a fun crowd to make this work. We went on a cruise with my sister and her husband and my sister stole to show!  Check the video out below!

So I say all this to say that we truly enjoyed our cruise!  Looking forward to the next one!

Between The Dashes!