Though the ship didn’t leave Port Canaveral until late in the afternoon on Monday, April 30, Josh & Alejandra Guido and I arrived not long after Noon; just like at an airport, there were security and boarding procedures to go through that took a long time. But unlike an airport, the atmosphere was very sociable and almost festive. From the very beginning, everything went smoothly, thanks to the hospitality of the Webster Family who not only let us stay at their home in Orlando over the previous weekend, but also provided the timely transportation to the port.

My first impressions of the ship were that of extreme luxury and merrymaking.  How the ship was constructed to accommodate so many rooms in a relatively small space was fascinating to contemplate and it took me several days of discovering the inside levels and outside decks before I was confident about going where I wanted to go!

Though there were over 150 people attending the CEF Conference onboard, the ship housed more than 1,200 guests thus making the activities of a typical, worldly lifestyle very plentiful. Gambling, drinking, rock music and immodesty abounded. For this reason, I strongly do not recommend cruises and will probably never go on one again, but for this particular trip, the pros outweighed the cons and the worldliness was endured for the advancement of better, God-honoring accomplishments.

That first evening and all the next day we were at sea, traveling from the Florida coast to Nassau, Bahamas. It happened to be quite cloudy during this time, and thus very windy (the strongest winds I’ve ever felt!), but thankfully it was still always warm, and I enjoyed walking the decks and taking in the experience of being on the open seas. There wasn’t much to photograph, but I was sure to make the sunrises and sunsets every morning and evening!