Cruise- Sunday,Sept 14 - Day 1

On Sunday, September 14, 2008 we arrived at the Port of Miami and prepared to board the Carnival Valor for a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean! We checked in at the port almost immediately and then we had to wait, and wait! But alas, we were on board by about 1:30pm and ready to enjoy some yummy food, warm sunshine, and great company! I am so happy the Aonika & Rick, Christy & Carl, and Dad & Ronda were able to make the trip!!
Before any cruise can leave - everyone must do the boat drill! This is where you go to your room, get your life jackets, and go to your muster station. This prepares you in case there is an emergency - they want you to know what life boat station you need to be at. My favorite part about this is that no matter who you are, you look silly in a big orange life jacket!!
We only saw Miami for a moment before we were aboard the ship. The weather was beautiful as we left. I love the view from the back of the ship because you can see the trail of where you've been. We were escorted out of the bay by the US Coast Guard! That was pretty awesome - you could see the guns on their boat - I felt pretty safe! Shortly after we left, Tim and I ran in to some people that we'd been chatting with on the Internet for a few months. After some introductions and a few pictures we took off to explore what we'd be calling home for the next 7 days!
We found this guy in the Casino! The Carnival Valor was designed with heroes and heroines in mind. Great people from history! The Shogun Casino was interesting. The decorators traveled to China to find these little "men" to put in the Casino. They were everywhere! Short ones, tall ones, fat ones, skinny ones, long beards, no beards, and so on! We had fun making faces at these guys!
As the day came to a close we enjoyed some delicious food in the dinning room. Atri from Indonesia was our waiter and she was fantastic. She learned our names on the first night, and what we liked and she had it perfect every night thereafter! Atri went home at the end of the cruise to see her 2yr old daughter and her family. She had been working on the ship for 6 months - and now she'll be off for 3 months before she returns to another ship - probably the Carnival Elation out of LA (maybe I'll see her there!!!)