CruzinScotty

Today I hoped the MDR would be the less crowded breakfast. There were more people than usual; but I still would not call it “busy”. One last chance at the raspberry pastry, baked apple, corned beef hash, and the bagel/cream cheese/smoked salmon.

We then said our good-byes to DB/SIL since our debarkation numbers were not close to each other. We headed back to the cabins to freshen up before we were supposed to be out by 8:30.

We took this picture before breakfast. I sure hope it’s not where we go get the luggage. ;)

After breakfast it didn’t take long for it to look like this:

Oh yeah, they gotta feed the lucky dogs that got to follow us!

Next: Debarkation - the slow, the ugly and the excellent!

I was awake early today. Out on the balcony one last morning at 5:30 and could see land. I expected us to be closer, almost into the causeway since the captain had announced that we were supposed to dock at 6am. But, that’s when the pilot boat arrived. I’m not sure what threw us a little behind. We were definitely traveling slower most of Friday which indicated to me we were ahead of or at least on time.

It was a little overcast this morning which didn’t allow for great pics. Here’s a few of the “best of the worst”. LOL:

We had to turn around in the basin. The sun was came out a little more for a better exposure. Here's where the Miami Heat play:

So now we've come full circle:

We had received a nice letter from Carnival on embarkation day stating that the ship would dock one spot down when we came back. For those in the parking garages, they would have shuttle buses to transport people. I sure hope that doesn’t put a damper on the end our wonderful week!

Hint: If you decide to do a trip report; emoticons are not necessarily your friend! When I tried posting at the beginning, I kept getting an error message that my post was too big - only 6 "images" allowed. I figured the size of my photos was the culprit. As long as I only did 3 pics; everything was fine. I just realized those little emoticons were the culprit. Go back and count them now: 5 large pictures and one emoticon make for the allowed 6 images. :eek:

If I had only known, I wouldn't have had so many individual posts. LOL

Time to finish the packing and to put the luggage outside the room. Then a few of us made it to another comedy show. Joe Bronzi does a great job with improv.

After the comedy show, there was this great show called “Legends” that was going to start. If you’ve been following, you know there are some fellow CC members who participated during this show.

I noticed you didn't mention the "Legends" show on the last night? Did you get a chance to see it, or was it that GP (Garth), I (Elton), and the rest of the group so bad that you were just being polite?? Ha ha ha.

I wish I had known you were part of the show; because sadly…..I missed it…. :eek:

My last night tradition on a cruise is to finish the evening with some pizza and ice cream. We only did the one comedy show tonight before heading to the Lido. Dinner was so filling; I just had ice cream – to fill in the nooks and crannies. ;)

Back to the room for our final towel creation:

Tomorrow is an early day, so I typed up my daily notes this evening. Then some last minute time on the balcony and to bed at 11:15.

Next – It’s not quite over yet.

It was time to start packing a little at a time. Then, I wandered the ship for a bit.

Hint: if you don't have a balcony and are looking for some REALLY quiet outside space – try Lobby Deck 3.

A few of us decided to meet at the Love and Marriage show which is always fun.

The show has 3 couples, starting with the newly-est married. Married on the ship embarkation day – as close as you can get. Then, they look for the couple married the longest – 54 years. Lastly, once they have the oldest, they shoot for the middle – a couple married 25 years. The husband in that group didn’t look to thrilled to be up there. LOL

But, before the show started, when I arrived, they were already doing a trivia contest. You started with everyone standing answering A or B questions. Last person standing wins the infamous “ship on a stick”. Much to my surprise, DB was the winner! I should have known – he is quite the trivia buff. He informed me later that while others were golfing and hot tubbing this morning, he was winning his first “ship on a stick” – I was watching him win his 2nd. Show-off. :p

Afterwards, I hit the steam room and sauna one last time. And just a bit more packing. It was a lot less painful to do it in stages this time. :)

There was another Veteran’s Meet in the Piano Bar. DB went with Pop this time since I had gone the first time. The Piano Bar is conveniently located next to the Alchemy Bar where SIL and I met with Corina. She did come up with a special drink – just for us. :D FANTABULOUS! We would have had another if there had been time. I even took part of mine to dinner. I know it had pineapple infused rum, pineapple juice, banana essence and one other item I don’t remember.

Time to head to dinner. I had the mango cream soup, frog legs (got DS to order some for the first time!), and the crab cake. The crab cake was very good; it had lots of crab and also apple. Tonight was also the repeat of prime rib; I enjoyed it immensely.

Oops, time for more music with Maria-an dancing on the counter tops! Then, our final desserts are served. WCMC and the Grand Marnier Souffle were the main attractions.

After dinner, we had goodbye photos with our great wait-staff:

I sure hope I wasn't talked about at the other tables because I wore a new "Old San Juan" t-shirt to dinner. Hey - I was wearing what I intended to wear off the ship the next day. :p

I enjoyed your review as well as the photos. It REALLY makes me want to take another one next year. My compliments for taking such detailed notes. I think my brain was just on vegitation mode all week trying to take it all in. My daughter also had me busy with excursions. For those of you who were considering the following two, the Power Cat Snorkel in St. Thomas was a lot of fun, but there wasn't a lot of sea life to see. If you're considering the SNUBA in Grand Turk, be aware, they break you down into 2 groups. 1/2 of your time out there is SNUBA while the other group can snorkel. Eventually you switch. It was still a good time, but a bit misleading I thought.

 

By the way, I noticed you didn't mention the "Legends" show on the last night? Did you get a chance to see it, or was it that GP (Garth), I (Elton), and the rest of the group so bad that you were just being polite?? Ha ha ha.

I missed your other note. Great info on the excursions, I love hearing what other people did!

Usually I take a note pad and just write bits and pieces of an outline. Then, when I'd get home; I couldn't read my writing 1/2 the time. This is the first time I took my laptop, solely for typing "legible" notes.

As far as the "Legends" show: we just finished lunch on Friday. You'll have to wait and see if I was there or not... :)

I heard the cake with the truffle on it was good. I'm sorry I didn't see it when I went thru the buffet.

The white chocolate cake was too cakey = dry. The top two items are "chocolate sushi". The one on the right - not good. I thought the one at the top might have coconut instead of rice. Nope, it was rice. This one, however, we pretty good.

Mythree favorite things from the "Chocolate Extravaganza": chocolate dipped pineapple/cantaloupe; banana fritter, rice pudding. Notice how only 1 of 3 is chocolate. :p But, they had so many choices; there's no way to try them all. Again - next time!

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This if my first cruise with four ports. I loved them all. But, I did miss the extra sea day. There’s too many lunch choices and not enough time.

Can you believe that I waited until the very LAST day to finally make my way to Guy’s! I had the Ringer and added sautéed onions and mushrooms. Yeah, it's probably best that I only had one of these things. :p

Also today: the Chocolate Extravaganza! Some decided to make this their lunch. Finally a few food pictures. Here's the buffet:

Gotta throw in a burger pic, plus some chocolate:

Did you get Carnival to include that cruise in your past cruise history?

I thought it was there in the past; but I don't think so now. It's OK, DW are at the same number of days. It's just barely gold by the new standard; so a long ways to go before Platinum. I do hope with the new changes they will go back to having the Past Guest Party at a convenient time. On this trip, it was during the San Juan sailaway. We didn't want to miss that, and had too many people to try to sneak into it anyways. ;)

I agree with that theory, as I had, I think, a total of 3 that week, and all three were different. I loved the "medium" one, and handled the "rare" pretty well, just thinking it was like pudding, recently off the stove-top.

If I would only order one dessert, I'm sure I could make it thru the "rare" WCMC more easily. :D

thank..... taking notes..... sailing in august

If you have any specfic questions; feel free to ask away!

Prior to my first cruise in January I came across a review by another cruise critic poster and learned that you can order varying degrees of "doneness"...is that a word? :p It was something the poster picked up during chef's table.

What a great tip! Have to try it next time and see if the wait staff know that I'm talking about. ;)

Hey, you got myself and my family in your picture of the swim up bar at Margaritaville! That's too funny.

Always happy to oblige a fellow cruiser. :p

Next, DW and Pa decided to play pool. The Pool table is in the casino, next to the EA Sports Bar. That is where you get the equipment. I told you on the one putt putt picture that DS might be practicing for something else. ;)

I took pics and then left. They said later it was fun/funny to play because – yes – the balls do move on a moving ship!

While they were playing, I met DW and Ma who had now moved to the back Lido hot tubs. It was so relaxing. I LOVE the hot tubs at the back of the ship. We don’t have an aft balcony, but kind of got the feel. More feet. :)

And, another of my favorite pictures of the trip:

Time for a quick warning. I've gotten a notice from Photo bucket that I'm 2/3 of the way thru my free monthly allotment. So, if you don't see the pictures; they will come back soon.

Next – Finally – more food porn!

We went back to the room, a few people needed to get changed. In the mean-time, DS couldn't help monkeying-around:

The change of clothes was because DW talked Ma into going down the water slide.

It’s hard getting good pics of people on the slide. This was much easier:

I promise, they really did go down the slide. :D

where is the Splashdown area where u took these photos.... will be on the same cruise in august....

when you exit the dock, you go thru a shop. After that; most people head to the left to the beach in front of the ship and where Margaritaville is.

Instead, go to the right. When you see the Ron Jon store, go to the left of that building.

Having your feet in the picture seems to be all the rage:

DS being a show off? Or practicing for something else????

For the athletically inclined:

Yeah - that wasn't us. ;) You just have to walk thru to get to the golf.

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Don’t cry because it’s almost over, SMILE because of what you did!

Regrets and sadness are not allowed – there’s 24 hours of sun and fun to be had!

Today is always our tradition of hitting some favorites one last time and squeezing in a few things new as well. For starters, I decided to try a new breakfast from the burrito bar.

I chose eggs, sausage, cheese, sautéed onions, hash browns, salsa and sour cream. The hash browns added a very delicious crunch! I also added fresh fruit and my last chance at banana bread.

Then, we split up with lunch plans in place.

Next: Golf anyone

We were doing well timing-wise until we hit dessert. The delivery took awhile and left us a little behind. We got to the Victoria Lounge just as the show was starting.

It was hard to find seats; very common if you arrived too late. DS came thru for us. He had arrived 30 minutes early and had snagged ½ of a booth. That wasn’t room for all of us, but the next booth was also half empty and there were two last seats at a table.

First up is Allyn Ball. He liked to make jokes about the fact that he is quite tall. Joe Bronzi has the 2nd part of this show. He was another improve jokester. I like both guys, but did prefer Joe more.

We headed to the Venetian for the show, “Just Rock”. I wasn’t sure the music would fit everyone’s taste; but they did do a good job mixing things up. Another enjoyable show for us. Though I did find it odd that they ended a “Rock” show with Disco music. :eek:

Some of us headed back to the comedy shows. We saw two shows, one from each guy. Then, it was up to the Lido for some ice cream.

You know the routine: to the room, balcony and bedtime a little after midnite.

Next: There’s still a full day at sea to be had

Seems like Corina is doing a very nice job in th eAlchemy. Glad to see Adri and Ioana found and trained someone who could carry on what they started.:)

I had seen so many positive comments about Adri and The Alchemy Bar. We really enjoyed it. Plus, with more ships going thru 2.0 updates; they've got to get more people trained for the new Alchemy's on the way.

We had a quick clean up , then it was time to meet again at 5 o’clock at the Alchemy Bar.

From left to right - the French Kiss, Martini Reduction and The Remedy:

The drinks this evening were just as good. We enjoyed reviewing the menu and speaking with Corina. I was admiring the huge vat with pineapple slices in it (pineapple infused rum). SIL noticed on the menu that there were no drinks with banana in them. We mentioned this to Corina, she said she could make something for us. We told her that her mission was to come up with a drink with banana and pineapple in it for our final drink tomorrow night. She said, “no problem”. :)

This evening, the rest of the gang found seating on the Promenade while we had our drinks. This was the first time we weren’t upstairs for a sail away. The view was still pretty great.

We headed to dinner exactly at 5:45 with the hope of ordering less courses and making the 7:30 family comedy show. It was the 2nd formal night; DS decided to skip out and got some pizza on his own timeframe.

Because we were 8 instead of 9; we had a different table with Maria-an and Tamas. We were along the window – very nice. I had the bing cherry soup and seafood sampler (shrimp, smoked salmon, ahi tuna) for starters. The corn chowder was also popular. For dinner, some had the shrimp, but the Chateaubraind was the winner of the evening. Best…beef….dish…of…the…trip. WOW! They also served these yummy chunky-mashed potatoes beef.

We only had the singing/dancing a couple times at dinner. Maria-an was one of the ones dancing on the table top! I like the dining room entertainment more when it’s not too long and not every evening.

The most requested dessert choices this evening were Baked Alaska and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.

Next: Comedy Tonight.

We didn’t spend as much time at the Splashdown area as we would have liked. They have a great beach with more chairs on this side of the dock – that’s what next times are for.

We decided to get our Grand Turk pictures on the way back on the ship – less crowds you know. And, there was a wonderful breeze walking back to the ship.

Everyone has seen this picture of the Grand Turk sign:

But, we decided to take a picture from the side of the wall. This is one of my scenary favorite pictures:

Next – It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

So, as we’re in Ron Jon’s, I spot an extra room. Turns out, it’s a connecting store with a special surprise. As we leave the store, I tell DW and SIL we have to keep going even though they are ready to head back to the ship.

No, no – you have to come this way. Finally, they see the astronaut under the canopy!

I vaguely remember in my researching Grand Turk that there was a NASA presence here. It turns out that in 1962, two of the Mercury missions landed very close to the island. They have set up a great display.

The Mercury 7 symbol:

When we had had enough of the salt water, it’s time to switch to the chlorinated variety. :)

At the Margaritaville pool, if you want to be with the crowd you can:

Or, you can find some quiet places, too.

We thought about heading down the beach a bit for some local food. We really did. But, it was really hot and we dashed those plans. Instead, we found another table at Margaritaville and split some conch fritters and cracked conch.

Then, DS headed for the ship while we decided to get a little shopping in. Cocoa Beach is a favorite in our family, so when we saw the Ron Jon store, we had to stop by and maybe make a purchase or two. ;)

Next: Gee, it’s awfully hot outside to be dressed as an astronaut.

In HMC, they had a sign – 472 miles to Grand Turk. What a difference it made in the temperature of the water. It was still cool, but VERY nice. OK, I’ll admit – the fact it was sunny and hot outside might have made the ocean feel more refreshing.

We stayed in the water for a very long time. At one point, a large school of fish came by – something in the sheephead/spade family. They kept swimming between us. It was really neat:

They were so close you could feel the tails and one even the body of a fish brushing up against you. No snorkel required. :D

We found out later that another group had thought to bring bread from the ship to attract the fish. The reason didn’t matter, our encounter was still very special.

After some family time, we split up. Some went directly back to the ship. Some stopped to shop on their way back. Myself, DW, DS and SIL stayed for more fun. So, again – a crowded beach and we’re looking for some chairs. Luck is with us a 2nd time. In the very 1st section, up in the palm trees, we found 2 chairs in 30 seconds. DS didn’t want to swim, he was more than happy to watch our stuff while we swam.

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We don’t have a lot of sun worshippers or beach lovers in our gang. We decided the best thing to do was for everyone to bypass the stores getting off. I know – this was blasphemy for the women. ;) We wanted to all spend some time at Margaritaville.

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