Hi everyone.  I'm on this site EVERY DAY, so I thought I'd write in.  My first cruise ever will be in 280 days!  Is it me or does that seem like forever?  My 10 yr. old and I will be on the Destiny to the Bahamas, with stops at Nassau, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay.  To say that we are both excited would be an understatement!  The more I read these posts, the more excited I become.  When my son sees the computer screen he says, "You're on that site AGAIN?!  Mom, you're addicted.  Why are you torturing yourself?"  I can't help it!  When I learn some new tidbit about the Destiny and tell him about it, he complains that I'm torturing HIM!  Does anyone remember waiting for their 1st cruise to happen?  How long was your wait?

Even though it was 15 years ago - I still remember - fortunately the cruise was a christmas gift and only had to wait 6 weeks! The longest wait was the cruise on the liberty in europe - that was over a years wait ! Enjoy the anticipation and get ready to book your next one - you will be addicted - there is no other way to totally relax!

My first cruise was a spontaneous "let's do it". So I didn't have to wait long.  But I was hooked on cruising after the first day!  I was kinda spoiled because I had a balcony cabin, so I figured for all cruises I had to have that type of cabin.  I soon learned the fun of cruising was not in the room, but out on the ship!  There is so much to do.  I think on every cruise I've been on, I've discovered something new to do onboard the ship.  It's nice having a balcony room for longer cruises (more than 5 days) but the porthole cabins or OV cabins are fine with me.  I just can't do the inside cabin.  I'm too claustrophobic (sp).  Anyway, enjoy your first cruise.  I'm sure there will be many more to follow!  (Just wait till your 10th and you get VIP status! It's awesome!!!)

If you think you are addicted now, wait until you get back.  I am usually trying to find my next cruise before all of my laundry is done.  Actually, I have 35 days to go for our 8 nighter and 24 days to go for the Dream Inagural ceremony and 2 night cruise to nowhere.  I am also on here ALL the time and love the tips and hints.  Have fun is all you need to know, it is kind of like a wedding, if something is going to go wrong there isn't much you can do about it so make the best and you will have the time of your life! 

Kids are funny, my 9 yr old is super excited and my 15 yr old doesn't want to go, she wants to stay home...the idea of being away from her friends for 9 days is horrifying!  Maybe I should let her stay home and save myself some money

My almost 3 year old granddaughter is super excited about the cruise next week. We booked her and her mother (my daugther) when the cruise went down to $99 p/p.  We took them with us earlier in the year too when it was super cheap. The baby loves the "boat".  She didn't want to go with the Camp Carnival crew the last time.  Hopefully she'll go this time and let her mother enjoy herself just a bit more than last time.  My older grandkids wanted to go too, but they are in school.  It's not as easy to take them with us.  They are 10 & 12.  I will try to get them on a cruise with us maybe next summer. Not sure I want to room with two pre-teens but we'll cross that bridge later.  Maybe we will be lucky enough to get adjoining rooms! 

Regina,

  Will you be going on the Elation one more time before it leaves? One of our daughters wants to go but wants a window view and her husband wants an inside.

4bolts:

Regina,

  Will you be going on the Elation one more time before it leaves? One of our daughters wants to go but wants a window view and her husband wants an inside.

We are going on Jan 15, the long MLK weekend cruise.  I wanted to go in March for my birthday, but I think we are saving to go back to visit relatives in Mississippi.  HOWEVER, since Elation will be relocating to Mobile, we may kill two with one by visiting family for a few days, then driving over to Mobile to welcome Elation to her new home port!  It will be great to sail on a familiar ship to new ports.

Love the new pic of you Diane!  Very pretty!!!

I scheduled our first cruise about six months before it actually happened.  six months is forever.  Luckily, we didn't know about this site back then, so it didn't get to drive us even crazier.

Come on, I booked a cruise for 10/30/2010 in August 2009...that's over a year...I booked the Dream about 10 months out so that one is only 35 days away! WooHoo!

Oh my, I'm so addicted already too!!  We are booked for our 1st cruise 363 days from now. LOL, but who's counting.  We booked it several weeks ago & we are both so excited! I'm on here atleast once a day & some of the other sites too.  I can not wait at all! Just hubby & I are going, but we are already talking about planning a cruise after ours so we can take our 3 kids along.  We will be sailing on the Conquest.

 Tracyanns:

 Aw, you don't have to rub it in!  Only 35 days, wow.  Have a great cruise!  

Wow, we have 2 things in common actually 3:-)  My birthday is in March also and i have relatives in Mississippi which is where i am from.  I live in North Carolina now.  The third is just enjoying cruising.  We are planning on booking the Dream next summer.  I can hardly wait.  

My first cruise was booked 6 days prior to sailing.  Ben hooked ever since. Is there a 12 step program for cruise addicts? I am self employed and this was the year 2000 and I worked alot harder in those days so I had to go when my schedule allowed.  Now I schedule my work around cruising! LOL. cruising has become more affordable so I go 2-3 times a year usually for cheap on off peak times.We have cruised enough to enjoy the platnium status-free laundry, VIP check-in, and the best part, Priority disembarkation.  There is NO way I could wait as long as some of you. I am flipping out just reading your post. I am like one of the other posters, I am online shopping for a cruise after we unload the car and get the laundry started. FYI - If you book your next cruise within 30 days of your last you will get 50 pp off your cruise fair.  

 Think I am spanish, thanks for the tip about booking within 30 days. I'm going to lose my mind waiting for my cruise. 279 days to go!

think i am spanish:

FYI - If you book your next cruise within 30 days of your last you will get 50 pp off your cruise fair.  

How recent have you done this?  I thought they did away with the Welcome Home Discount quite a while ago?