Essiesmom

I wanted bacon but apparently this is a bacation day. The lift is not working

Decided to split up the photo dump

First towel animal and more menus. Pics from lido deck. Oasis and Joy

I have just has the most marvelous time. Went aft on lido and watched Ostentatious of the Seas and NCL Joy come in unfortunately we all went straight in, no one rotated and backed in. Joy got the best parking spot. Seaside is yet to come. Still need real breakfast, but found sticky buns on the buffet. Not as good as MSC though. But the best part…I parked myself on a lounger to try loading pics to Shutterfly..,and it worked! I can load on CC from phone or iPad but there are other forums I post to where that doesn’t work. I follow ships through the Panama Canal and need Shutterfly for that And I have a ship on the canal today. I won’t go ashore until after lunch. Pics…various food porn. I didn’t take pics of my corn chowder, spinach salad or prime rib last night. But here is my Cobb salad and mixed lunch from yesterday noon

I'm not a joiner, drinker, gambler...but feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer. EM

Greetings. I intended to start this on embarkation, but exhaustion got in the way. There will be pictures, but later. I am starting out on my Surface Pro and pictures are in my iphone and they don't communicate. Some are iGreetings from the Carnival Elation. I had n Shutterfly, but Carnival has always blocked that. Perhaps I should introduce myself: Although I am Essiesmom on the forum, my name is Carolyn, and I am a senior...79 now and halfway to 80. I lost my travel partner last year so I am back to fighting for solo bookings. I started out Sat. AM about 0745. I had a 10-1030 checkin window and it is a two hour drive for one who obays the speed limit. I hate I95 so I usually take the back roads to exit 49, but this time I went down US17 and got on at the Riceboro exit. Not long after I left my house, the Low tire pressure light went on. Not going back to have it checked. My car is a 2022 Subaru and i had it serviced a couple months ago. Traffic was not too bad on 95. Somewhere below Brunswick I was surprised to see a deer near the highway, outside the fence. It brought up a memory of seeing more on another trip a few years ago...but then my memory said 'that was pigs, a lot of them'. Well, a mile or two further, there were a bunch of black pigs along the fence on the highway side. The trip was otherwise uneventful. I always stay on 95 and get off at exit 358B Zoo Parkway/Heckscher Blvd. because when you are approaching the port you get two nice views of the ship. Unfortunately they four laned the road a few years ago so you can't pull off for a pic. No problem entering the port, no lines. I drove around, paid my fee, and just as I pulled into my parking space the Two hours since ignition notification went off. I got out with my tire pressure guage and went around the car. Nothing was obvious ly low so it will wait until I am home Thursday. Got my suitcase and backpack out and rolled them over to where a porter was collecting checked luggage. I usually travel carryon only, and this is my carryon size suitcase (22") but after my last cruise from JAX and rolling my bag and backpack up the long and steep ramp, I decided to check the suitcase. With AirTag inside. I visited the bathroom, then went into the terminal...no lines. First is to set your bags down along a yellow line and back up so the handsome German Shepherd can sniff them. We all passed. Then to security and to the checkin line for Priority (platinum). Short wait in line, then back to the seating area. Maybe 20 min there, and we were on the way onto the ship. I came straight to my cabin after being checked off at my muster station. Door was open, no card in mail slot. I dropped off the backpack and left. Went up to the buffet and had lunch, though it was only 1100. It had been a long time since breakfast and my body was telling me to eat. Fish, mac & cheese and broccoli. Then I wandered around, taking some pictures, people watching. Around 2pm I was back at the cabin exploring it. I can't remember when Elation was last in drydock, but my 1A cabin, U173 has two USB ports by the bed, and two at the desk as well as two US outlets and one EU outlet. It is actually quite a roomy cabin but storage is quite limited. Two 12" closets, four shelves and two drawers. I unpacked my backpack and then took a nap. After my nap, no suitcase yet, so I went looking and found it in the elevator lobby. Claimed it and came back to unpack. That accomplished, the official muster drill over the intercom took place. By that time we had the engines going, pulling away from the pier and making our 180 turn. I went up to the deck over the bridge for the passage under the bridge. There was the usual oohing and awing as we went under. Never looks like the whale tail is going to make it. (It's 1803 and they have just paged the medical response team to M226). The lights have flickered and gone off momentarily a few times, too. Back to my story. I was not terribly hungry, not excited by the menu (to be posted later) and thought about skipping the MDR for the buffet. There had been some movement and I have been more and more sensitive to seasickness as I get older, so I put on my sea bands. I went to the MDR...ten minute wait time, but my table was ready by the time I got there. Even on this smallest ship, it is a long way from my cabin to anywhere... I have anytime dining, was seated at a two top way in the back of the Imagination dining room. In a long line of two tops. I had the chicken soup, cobb salad, and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Next to me was a young couple, his forst cruise and he was a little seasick, though it didn't deter him finishing his steak. I saw hime at breakfast this am and he was wearing sea bands and all better. After dinner I wandered around and people watched. It was very cold in that dining room and I wondered how some of the folks I saw going in would handle it. I guess you have to wear abbreviated clothing to display your tattoos. I retired really early for me, 2130, and didn't get up until 0730. It's a sea day and brunch in the MDR, so I went to the buffet. Busy...with the time change and extra hour of sleep, lots of folk up early. Cottage Cheese and melon for me with orange juice. Then a cinnamon roll and croissant. Off to wander around. Sat in the casino bar for awhile, saw the beginning of the Paris tennis final, when the TV was switched to the Chiefs/Dolphins football game in Frankfurt. Got roped into doing some coaching for my neighbors in trivia. I wandered some more, found a seat in Alchemy bar...some of the more comfortable seating around the ship, where I sat and tried to catch up on Cruise Critic. Back to the cabin for a nap, and then some more wandering. Lunch in the buffet, little bit of ham, fish, and salads. And soft serve. For some reason I have craved soft serve for months, since my last cruise on Elation in March. There is no place around home to get it except Dairy Queen, and they only have vanilla. Celebrity had it half of the day, but usually it was vanilla and strawberry. MSC had is very limited hours and the first day it was...Lime? But their not free Gelato is to die for. I wandered around some more and finally came back to the cabin. Now I am dressed for Elegant Night, and prime rib. Sunday evening. i"m back in my cabin after dinner and the show. At dinner I was seated between a young couple from NC, not sure if it was her first cruise. Law enforcement and health care. On the other side were two female friends, one of which had left hubby at home, not enough vacation time. We ended up talking crochet... The shop was Heart and Soul, I think I may have seen it before. It was okay. Three guys and four girls. Maybe there was a guy missing? Afterward I sat in front of the piano bar and listened to a solo guitar/singer who was really good. Wanted to try piano bar, but it looked crowded. So it was time to head back to the cabin, after a stop up in the buffet to refill my iced tea. There is the usual Carnival demographic onboard, but I think they may be a bit better dressed. Amazing what people think they look good in...and what passes for elegant. I did see one fellow in a tux leaving the MDR, patent shoes included. No waistcoat or cummerbund, though. By the end of the evening there were a lot of ladies carrying their sparklu silver spike heeled shoes... There are a lot of pre-school children onboard, and a few strollers. The usual scooters, walkers, and a knee walker. Tomorrow is Nassau. I have nothing planned. There are four ships due in tomorrow, MSC Seaside, Oasis, and someone else big...forget who. Hope we get the slot closest in. I have closed all my circles in my Heartline app, so I can go to bed. After I take some pills... The long ramp... Lunch in the buffet This is Essie of Essiesmom, making her first cruise in two years

Football Sunday….I’m on Elation and they have the game from Frankfurt is on in the bar by the casino. EM

I don’t think you will find what you are looking for in a short cruise from Florida. None of them will go anywhere but the Bahamas. If you want to try a different cruise line just to get away, try MSC. Ocean Cay is a beach paradise, but I wouldn’t call it unspoiled. Because it was very spoiled when MSC leased it and took a couple years cleaning it up and making it into that paradise. If you do decide to go for it, try not to book an inside or OV cabin for more that two, or you will be faced with those extra bunks on the side walls. EM

When I booked an inside Fantastica gty I found out my cabin when I got an email congratulating me on an upgrade to a balcony. EM

My cruise does not leave until Dec. 7 and I have done all of the checkin but won’t get docs until I am within 20 days. On one previous cruise they did send me a link at 30 days. EM

I’ll bet you could find a tux with shorts in Bermuda…. EM

Since you will be in the Med with a large percentage non-native English speakers, no comedy. Lots of music. EM

My experience is they assume you want your own table unless you tell them you are willing to share. EM

But who would be prosecuting? The items didn’t belong to Carnival but to Park West. Perhaps it is PW that doesn’t want any more publicity….about inflated values…. All Carnival would have lost is their commission if the items had sold. EM

Inside? OV, balcony? EM

An expected visitor was Ruby Princess @BillB48is there any reason that the flag should be at half staff at Cocoli?

Today we had a surprise guest, The World. Looking behind her you might notice the weather looks a bit challenging.

I think the reason they have separate Wi-Fi on Ocean Cay is they have it there for the live in/on staff. You may notice there is a sort of condo complex. Unlike some of the private islands they do not take all the food on for the buffet and food trucks. EM

I you carefully read the notice, you are not changing your username. you are changing your login credentials. And also careful reading of previous posts here #7,8 explained that is was currently not working since Monday. EM

Yes, and I wondered if she had permission to do so, or if the friend just assumed she could invite a guest. EM

The blank can be filled in with ‘to get someone else to do their research’. It’s very common on forums. Apparently today no one is taught how to do research. To the OP, look to the top of the MSC page left side. You will see Find your MSC roll call. Just below that is See posts about.. and to the right of that select ship. Click on Select ship and you get a drop down menu of the MSC ships. Select your ship and you will get a listing of threads that mention that ship. There is a post on perhaps page 3 titled Euribia - Hamburg which discusses the docking. EM

When they notify you the bid is accepted, the credit card is already charged. EM

Have you told the kitties yet? EM

I believe that was Costa Rica…. EM

Oddly, she is not even anchored in the usual place for tendering. And I don’t see any tenders running…. EM