The only traveling we do now is cruising. We don’t drive far and Norman will not fly so twice a year we drive up to Cape Canaveral and get a cruise. We like NCL the best because we have been cruising with them so many times we are now gold members and get so many good breaks plus they have a special plan for people like me that can not eat any gluten. Last Saturday was our sailing date. We went on the Epic, which is a very large ship and it was all sold out. 4100 passengers plus over 1700 crew members. It is their last cruise for the season. Yesterday after docking and getting rid of most of these people and taking on more they are headed across the Atlantic Ocean for Europe where they will spend the summer and be back here in November. We had a wonderful time and the rest of this week I will take you along on our trip with pictures and stories of what we did.
We left the house last Saturday about 8am and drove to Cape Canaveral where the ship we were taking had docked earlier that morning. This time we had quite a long wait until they opened the ship for boarding. Then because we had preregistered we moved along pretty fast. We are gold members so could skip the longest lines but we did not get express boarding. We will get that after we get 80 awards points, we will have 84 points after our next cruise. We now have 77 because of this cruise. You get one point for each day you are cruising on NCL so you see we have been on quite a few cruises. Our first one was in 2003 I think. Anyways we got on board but could not go to our cabin because they were still making those up so we went up to the Garden Cafe for some lunch. After lunch we walked around the ship and found out where everything was until our cabin was ready.
We had a nice cabin – 12087 which was on the 12 deck aft. We were still at the dock and could see several other ships loading also. 
From our balcony we could see several of the ships. We were in dock 10 and that is the Disney ship in dock 8 right next to us. Every time we go there we get lost and wind up at dock 8 and have to go back and try again but it is easier than the Miami port and much quicker to correct when we make that wrong turn. Those other two sips with the big red and blue tail fins on them are Carnival ships. All of these ships were either going to the Eastern or Western Caribbean just as we were. 
This is one of the Carnival ships pulling out. They left the port shortly before we did. We got to the port about 11:30, had to be on board by 2pm and we set sail at 4pm. 
This is our cabin, a mini-suite as seen when you walk in. That is our balcony with two chairs where we sat out to watch as we pulled out of the port. We spent quite a bit of time out there reading and watching the water. Between this and the door is the bathroom. There is a curtain to shut it off when you want to use the bathroom, if you want but there is no need for it. 
In each mini-suite there is a tub/shower or a large walk in shower. We got the tub this time. Next time I will remember to ask for the walk in shower as I have trouble getting in and out of a tub. You see there are frosted doors on the tub/shower so you can close those for privacy . You can see the curtain on the left you can close if you chose Also see the front door so if you want to shower or go to the bathroom you put the sign out “do not disturb” so no one will come in or knock on the door when you are in the bathroom. 
Across from the tub is the sink and toilet.. You can see the font door and see the door for the toilet for privacy. It looks like a funny arrangement but it works great. 
This is the cabin looking in from the balcony. That’s Norman getting his shoes on, getting ready to go out. We went to bed early Saturday night because it had been a long stressful day and we were both beat. Sunday we woke up to a nice calm ocean. 
Sunday was a day at sea so we booked a show for the evening and got to play the slots. The show was “Burn the Floor” which was the evolution of dance from the middle ages up to the present. They were good but I had no desire to see them again. We went down to the booking desk and booked shows for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. We already had one booked for Wednesday. More tomorrow. Have a great day.
Oumapetts's Blog 
That looks like so much fun! You make me want to go – the ocean is so beautiful.
The cruises are always fun. We don’t go on the excursions any more as we have done most of them in the past and it is too hard for me to keep up with a group now. We just stay on board or when we dock at a port we walk out to the shops near the pier. We just enjoy being on the water. This trip was too calm for your Dad. He likes to be rocked to sleep but I like it calm so it is just one more thing we don’t agree on but are both happy either way.
I enjoyed your first day of your cruise and will be back tomorrow. It must be sort of sad to come home!!
We are always happy to be home but start planning the next cruise right away. We also sign up for “The Next Cruise” while we are on board because if you put down the deposit of $500 which is the required deposit of $250 for each of two cruises within the next four years we are also given $250 to spend on board that cruise. That $250 pays the tips which are required ($13.50 each, every day) and some of my shopping in the ship stores. If we decide not to take the cruises in that four year time we get a refund of $250, all we lose is the $250 we spent on board. We figure it is a win win and really nothing to lose since the interest you get for that $500 in the bank is only pennies.