Our Cruise History


Our first cruise dated back to June 25, 1990 aboard Royal Caribbeans brand new Nordic Empress. We were brand new cruisers and somehow Carol got us booked on the Maiden Voyage. The cruise was a four night affair departing from Miami. I like to mention this next part because it really shows how things have changed at the Port of Miami.
We drove from Carol's Mom & Dads home in Palm Coast, FL to Miami after dropping off the kids with their Grandparents. I first exited the Interstate believing I was making the correct turn. As we drove along we could see ships on the other side of a body of water. There was one in particular that stood out. We wondered if it was ours and it was longer and taller than all the rest. I turned around to get back to the highway and the right road.
Upon finding the Miami Port exit from I-95, we drove in, and I mean we just drove right in. I parked my new Ford Taurus virtually 50 feet from where we entered the sparkling new huge ship. I recall that the parking was free. It was just a paved lot in front of the ship.
We checked in. There was no big port termminal at that time, just a small building. After check -in, we entered the ship. We walked into what we later learned is called the "Centrum". Classical music was being played by a small ensemble. I remember being handed a glass of Champagne as we walked in. We looked around in amazement. Nordic Empress was beautiful. There was even a glass enclosed waterfall rambling down from the upper section of the centrum, which was at least seven stories high. Everything was brand new and shiny. Handrails of brass......knee walls of glass............everything shimmering and shining. All I could say was....WOW!

This is how we summed up our first cruise. "TOO SHORT!"...."we want to go back.".....and we did.......but not for awhile. The next nine years were the Disneyworld and Seaworld and Universal vacations with our young children.

NEXT CRUISES

Carnival Paradise- April 1999 This is where we met Greg from Montana.
Carnival Ecstacy - April 2000 Carols Mom & Dads' 50th Anniversary cruise.

RCCL Explorer of the Seas March 2002 The return to Royal Caribbean...and the re-union with Greg from Montana.

The Explorer cruise.
This was our first "internet" cruise. I had AOL as my internet service. One of the channels had a Travel link and thats how I bumped into a site called Cruise Critic. This was a message board site that devoted totally to cruising. I initially joined as a member under a different name about 2000. But in 2002 I joined as NYcruisr. I actually intended it to have an "e" in cruiser but after the typo I thought to myself ..." I like it." And so...NYcruisr was born.

Next time........... All about the EXPLORER of the Seas and how it helped to create the MIXED NUTZ CRUISE GROUP.