The long anticipated trip on the Carnival Triumph actually arrived much too quickly. A super hectic week left Susan still shopping for clothes the night before the trip and packing into the wee hours of the morning. Though getting ready has almost become routine, it was still a lot of work. Brooklyn's main worry was leaving her new guinea pigs, Lucky and Toby, for a week, but they were left in good hands with our house sitter, Sandy. Greg, on the other hand, thought that problems with the business would not strike until he was adrift on the ocean. However, just moments before he left Safford, a diesel decided to break down. This meant traveling to Phoenix with Greg trying to make decisions on what to do. Randall and Dennis, although not mechanics, did a good job getting it up and running while Greg was gone.

It was nice not having an early morning flight out Friday. Of course, little did we know that having Greg make the travel arrangements this time would certainly not pay off. For the first time we had two stops on the way to Ft. Lauderdale. Greg swears the itinerary he booked via the internet never said that. Normally we travel at least a day early when we take a cruise. This gives us time to enjoy Miami and spend time on the beach. This time we cut down on the extra time which made Greg very nervous about arriving on time. The ship doesn't wait around for a couple of extra people when you have paid in advance for the room.

Despite the long flight and multiple stops, we survived the trip. Preston and Brooklyn spent the short stops on the flight talking to the Captain in the cockpit. Though the flight was cheap on Southwest, peanuts and pretzels sure didn't make the six hours on the plane very easy. Arriving in San Antonio was easy. It gave us a chance to move forward in the aircraft to make a quicker exit when we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale. However, when we arrived in Tampa Bay, we sat for nearly an hour and a half in the plane while we waited for another aircraft to land and transfer passengers onto our flight. Arriving into Ft. Lauderdale at 11:30 p.m. gave us the false impression our travels were about over. Though we anticipated a 45 minute drive into Miami, little did we know that finding the hotel would take another hour and a half. Greg still swears he was never lost.

After a late night, we slept in a little, then were anxious to get on board. Even though we had at least seven hours to go until embarkation, Greg felt as if he were going to have a heart attack after we slept in. Needless to say, we didn't get any breakfast that morning. We stopped at our usually photo place before returning the rental car and preparing to board. We've decided we will be able to guage the growth of our kids by various pictures throughout the years in this exact spot.

Poor planning leaving little time to pack did result in one bad thing--way too much luggage! There actually was a time when Preston and Brooklyn use to share a bag. Now we were up to six bags. Being in Miami always suggests that strange things happen. Sure enough, while trying to return the car to Alamo, the entrance was blocked by police as they were arresting a woman for some unknown reason. So we waited impatiently as the police made the arrest and cleared the path. Unfortunately, the shuttle for the pier had already left and we had to wait for the next one. It wasn't long before we were on our way to the pier.

After checking in with the terminal and going through the check in procedure, we picked up our keys and headed upstairs. It didn't take long before we were minutes away from boarding. A quick stop for that great souvenir photo, and soon we were off.

Upon first arriving in our suite, we were greeted by a dozen roses for Brooklyn to celebrate her 6th birthday. That, along with a cake and two great CD holders and t-shirts for the kids, were great surprises from Greg. We knew that the mini refrigerator was a little different than normal from the other rooms that we have had. This mini frig was stocked full of goodies such as candy, liquor, sodas etc. Apparently, we didn't read the sign very well as we took all the stuff out of the frig in order to put in our own stuff, like Greg's Mountain Dew. We were very surprised when we got a bill the next day reflected we had bought all the product that we had taken out. Seems that the refrigerator automatically debits your room as you take items out. One phone call fixed everything.

Our cabin was beautiful with a dressing room and a bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. The best part about the whole thing was the large deck where we spent much of our time. As soon as we sat down, we were up again to go and explore the ship. Even though we've been on this size ship before, the Carnival Destiny, each ship is designed differently. This ship's interior was designed after famous places in the world such as Paris (where we ate dinner), Coney Island (buffet style grill on the liddo deck) and the Rome Lounge (fabulous Las Vegas-style revues).

As we slowly moved down the channel out to sea, Preston loved watching the jet skis taking advantage of the ship's wake. The only bad part of the entire trip turned out to be our neighbors to the front of us. Our neighbors were very obnoxious, intoxicated, foul mouthed and the rudest people we've ever seen. They had two suites purchased for the cruise and were a large group of college students who got together every now and then. We figured they had an average of 20 people in their state rooms at any given time. They even had people sleeping out on the balcony. Needless to say, many of the other neighbors around them, including us, complained to the security, and they were there instantly to control the out-of-control situation. They had to come back one more time and security made the point clear with them. As the cruise continued, they calmed down a little bit, but we still had to endure a little loud music, a smelly hallway, and a bit of noise. When you take a cruise, the last thing you want is banging on the wall all night long. It was even a job to walk down our hallway with about 30 bottles of champagne covering the floor each day outside their room. We gave an A+ to the security for their part in controlling the neighbors.

One of the first things everyone enjoys is a great burger and fries on the Liddo deck, and then the kids had looked forward to the ship's soft serve ice cream for weeks. Where else is there ice-cream available at no charge 24 hours a day. We started out by the pool to eat, but eventually moved inside. Susan and Greg figured that as they get older, the loud Calypso music by the pool was just too much for them. As the cruise went on, they got accustomed to the loud music and began to enjoy the sounds of the Caribbean.

The big question remained--was Brooklyn going to be tall enough to go down the ship's slide. It's not like DisneyWorld where dad can stuff napkins in her shoes to make her taller. This time she cleared it with not problem. We knew the kids were going to have fun in the sun if they could both go down the slide. Camp Carnival was our next stop on the list of things to do before we left the pier. Three years ago, Preston fell in love with one of the Camp Carnival directors whose name was Heidi. Each time we go on a cruise, she was always on another ship. As soon as we asked if any one knew Heidi, they laughed and said we had just missed her by 10 minutes. Seems that she had just finished her last cruise and was heading back to England. We were so disappointed that we had missed her.

The muster station drill is never a lot of fun, especially for mom who hates having those life jackets around her neck. But this one went quickly and before we knew it, we were done and ready for more fun.

On the way out to sea, the Carnival Triumph made its way inland to make a turn around then back out to sea. In the mean time, another ship slipped out of the pier and headed off. The Triumph is so long that it can't make the quick turn like the other ships. In the far distance, the Carnival Imagination is also getting ready to sail out for a five day tour. We didn't get to see Royal Caribbean's newest ship. Their ship, although not as big as the Triumph, includes a rock climbing wall, roller blade track and believe it or not, an ice skating rink. What will the cruise lines think of next?

Back on our deck we enjoy the last sites of Miami before heading out. It took about 30 minutes to turn the ship around. As the ship passed the last buoy marker, the pilot boat picked up the person in charge of maneuvering the ship out of Miami, and we knew our trip was ready to begin. It was nice to be on the right side of the ship as we could watch the Florida keys pass off to our side.

The sun begins to set on Miami as we are finally at sea for the evening and the following day. Greg always liked to watch the sunsets. The sun, believe it or not, gives a false illusion to the time that it takes to set. As soon as the bottom of the sun touches the water, it doesn't take but another two minutes for it to disappear into the ocean. Susan was still skeptical of this, and so it was a bet that when we returned to Safford, we would sit outside and see how long it would take for a Safford's sun to set over the mountains. Wonder who will be right? After skipping the early sitting for dinner in order to see the sunset, we headed to the dinner buffet. This was where the true eating began. Seems that everyone always carried as much as he can when the food is free. By the end of the trip, no one ever gets too much since they are so tired of eating all the food.