Cruising......A Life Changing Experience

As I look back over the years since my first cruise I realised that cruising has been an important part of my life. From the moment I made my first deposit on my first cruise. I took the brochures that the travel agent gave me and they became my treasures. We had chosen Carnival's Festivale for our first cruise, February 25,1983. We had made the deposits in April of 1982. For nearly a year I read that brochure from cover to cover. The brochure lived on my bedside table. Every night I would look at it before going to sleep. My imagination would go crazy as I imagined how the cruise would be. Finally the day came and I took my suitcase and departed cold snowy New Hampshire for warm sunny Miami Florida.
Since my return from that first and most wonderful cruise I have lived for the next one. Within a week I was booked on the Mardi Gras. Of course the excitement was there again. For the last 29 years that is how it has been for me. Incredible excitement from the moment the deposit was made. Of course cruising was and still is my main subject of conversation. I was always living for the next one. I was always trying to convince my friends to go on a cruise This was through the 80's and into the early years of the 90's
There were years I was unable to cruise at all due to family commitments. That was okay as I always knew I would cruise again when the time was right. In the meantime I took courses in cruise sales. I went to work as an outside agent for an agency in NH. I was so enthusiastic. I did not sell a lot but I did try and it was always fun trying. The years passed and life went on. Eventually in 2002 came the time when cruising could again be a part of my life. I booked the Carnival Spirit for an 8 day cruise from Miami. After that cruise I was researching the next one when I stumbled across a great website full of information and nice helpful people. I joined the forums on that site and "met" some of the most incredible people ever. I eventually went on a group cruise with them.I used to read about the dinners these people, The Central Florida Cruisers had in Florida. I knew that some day I would live in Florida and join the fun.
It had always been my plan to move to Lakeland, Florida in my future.I had lived there when I was young. When I left to go home to my family in Massachusetts I knew I would be back. I knew that I would know when the time was right. Life went on and I sold cruises from time to time and also worked at my job. Eventually the time was right for me to move back to Florida. I made my plans and finally arrived here in Lakeland in June of 2007. Coincidentally Lakeland was near where the Central Florida Cruises were gathering. I am now retired from my full time job. I work my own hours from home selling cruises and vacations.
The fine folks from that large website are now friends. Because of that site and my love for cruising I have met many wonderful people from many places in the US and other countries. I have a small cruising forum of my own filled with great people. Some of them I have met and they are good friends. In the future I hope to meet more of those people from those websites.
So you see cruising for me was more than just a wonderful vacation it was...... A Life Changing Experience.