Gemynii

1st Sea Day Cont.

This cute little guy was waiting in our room when we got back from dinner.

We went back up on deck and got to experience another beautiful sunset.

Can you see the whale tail in the clouds?

We spent some time on the Lido deck and I snapped a shot of the deck all lit up. My flash was off again for this, so it's blurred.

We went to the adult comedy show that night. The Queen Mary Lounge was packed, so I was stuck sitting next to my mom and her BF. I found it hilarious, but I felt weird clapping with mom sitting there. I felt like I should appear shocked or something. Awkward! Afterwards, we all went to our rooms to try and get some sleep before our early port day.

Up next... Grand Cayman

1st Sea Day Cont.

After leaving the casino, we went out to the casino bar where they were doing karaoke. Here are a couple of minute videos.

After karaoke, we headed to our rooms to get ready for cruise elegant night in the dining room. I thought DD looked beautiful all dressed up. So did my niece.

The lobster tail was very good... I ordered two. DH had the lobster and the steak which was excellent. DH was not turned away for wearing a polo shirt and khakis.

After dinner, we went to the family comedy show in the Queen Mary Lounge deck 9 Aft. I had a Tirimisu Martini which was very tasty.

1st Sea Day Cont.

Spent some more time on the upper decks enjoying the view.

DD (left) and one of my nieces had another smoothie.

A pic of the wake:

Sis had won some money at the casino, so she talked me into going down there. I put $5 into one slot machine and lost it. Sis matched my $5 on a different machine and we lost that money, too. I was ready to go at that point, but sis wanted to play another game. I sat down at one of the machines where smoking is permitted and, since you have to play to smoke there, I put the 4 ones I had into the machine. On the 2nd spin, I got the "Bonus Round" and ended up winning 15 free spins. During the free spins, I was given 10 free spins twice. By the time the machine finished spinning, I had won $48. I cashed out and did a happy dance.

Great Review. Can't wait to see more. Sailing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is always exciting

Thank you.

It was quite exciting. I had to keep telling myself that they've sailed under it many times and wouldn't let it hit, but that didn't stop me from remembering when the old Skyway was hit by a barge and crashed down :eek:.

1st Sea Day Cont.

By 10:15am, pretty much all the chairs were taken.

It was getting hot, so we each got a smoothie. The raspberry peach was really good. DD didn't care for the strawberry pina colada, but she liked the simply strawberry that DH got. DH said that in the 15 mins it took to get the drinks, several people tried to take our chairs :p.

Ahhh... this is the life.

At noon, we decided to give up our chairs and head to lunch. As soon as we stood up, there was a group of 3 there to take them.

Around the pool:

After lunch, I snapped a pic of the Master Mixologist Contest that was going on.

1st Sea Day

We woke up at about 7:30am to the ship rocking. My tummy was not too happy, but luckily, I didn't get physically ill. We got ready and headed up to the buffet for breakfast. I opted for 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese and a green apple while DH loaded up his plate and DD grabbed a couple boxes of cereal without milk.

View of pool from smoking section of Lido deck (starboard).

The area around the pool was already starting to fill up by 9:15am.

There were still some chairs available, but most were "occupied".

The water was beautiful, but very choppy. The wind was crazy and the binder clips I brought came in handy to hold the towels down.

Embarkation Day Cont.

Some pics of the atrium lit up. I had to turn my flash off and for some reason, pics blur when I do that, so I apologize for the quality.

And the wall art just off the elevator on Main deck.

We were really tired since we woke up really early, so we were back in our room by 9:10pm. We set the sleep timer on the TV and watched it until we fell asleep.

Next up... 1st Sea Day.

Embarkation Day Cont.

I tried a variety of foods from the buffet. The beef was okay. The lasagna was good even though the meat had the texture and flavor of deviled ham.

There was rain visible on the horizon, but we didn't sail into any.

The sunset was beautiful.

Great review! Thanks. Keep it coming!

 

I love this photo! (quoted below). You know why? Because, for the most part, all the seats are full!

 

Any time I walk up to the bar it is always filled out like this;

 

person, person, EMPTY SEAT, person, person, EMPTY SEAT, person, person, EMPTY SEAT, person, person, EMPTY SEAT, person, person, EMPTY SEAT, person, person, EMPTY SEAT.

 

And that really irritates my GF and I when we just want a drink at the bar...together...as a couple.

Yep... and it was the same way at the United Stated bar next to the casino. DH and I would often end up with one of us sitting and the other standing. Only about 8 seats of the bar was considered a smoking section, so we would have to lean over one another to use the ashtray.

Love it so far... 1st time cruiser in Sept. TY for the list!!!:)

Thanks and you're welcome. I looked at so many lists before our cruise. Just remember that everyone's needs are different, so what may have been useful for one may not be for another. I hope you have a great trip!

Embarkation Day Cont.

I managed to drag DH over to the rail for a pic. Geez, worst pic ever. I couldn't have looked more frumpy. DD took the pic, so I blame her :p.

Next, we went to see what the view was like from the front of the ship.

I thought this pic was cool with the three ships out in the distance.

I think there may have been a wedding on the ship and there was a group taking photos out on the sports deck.

Since it was already 7:30pm, we decided to eat at the buffet. On our way there, we saw that security had been called to take care of a situation.

Embarkation Day Cont.

View of Serenity on deck 9 Aft from deck 11 Aft. We never did go there.

Smoking area on deck 11 Aft starboard side.

Random pic

We had an escort out of Tampa Bay.

There was a cool little island with a lighthouse that we spotted as we were leaving the bay.

Embarkation Day Cont.

Almost to the Sunshine Skyway.

The front of the ship had no problem clearing.

I was standing under the whale tail and started to get nervous at this point.

OMG! DH was standing back on deck 11 Aft and he said it looked like it was going to hit. He thought I was crazy to stand under the whale tail.

That was really close.

Glad you had a great time, nice door decorations! Flip-flops are southern girls ruby slippers!, lol

Can't wait for more!

Happy Sailing,

Thanks. I did have a great time. Vera remembers you and your family and said "Hi". She said that a lot of people knew her on sight before she served them and I said that you had made her famous in your review. She was pleasantly surprised by this news.

I wore the heck out of my flip flops! I wore them most of the time, especially when my feet started to swell a bit.

That reminds me that I forgot something on my "Useful Items" list. I packed some Diurex water pills... just in case. Thank goodness I had them.

Embarkation Day Cont.

After sail away, we headed back to the room to try and unpack some. This was waiting when we got there. Umm... not quite sure what it is.

Pic of the window in our room.

The single outlet located next to the vanity.

At 6:15pm, we were almost to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, so we went up to watch.

Embarkation Day Cont.

After the muster drill, it was time to grab a DOD. For embarkation day, it's the Funship Special. I thought it was yummy.

Bon Voyage!

People were so happy to sail away, they were dancing on the deck.

Embarkation Day Cont.

The announcement for the muster drill came at 3pm. We were in zone 3, so we headed to the Leonardo Lounge located on deck 9.

Mom's BF fell asleep, so she had some fun and sis and I snapped pics to use for blackmail later.

After the demonstration on how to use the lifejackets and what to do in case of emergency, we headed to our lifeboat station located on Lido deck 10.

View of Channelside from lifeboat station 12

Embarkation Day Cont.

View of the Port of Tampa

Pool, hot tub and kiddie pool located on deck 11 Aft

The basketball court is also located on deck 11 Aft

Embarkation Day Cont.

The pool was already crowded at 2:30pm. DD was the only one of the three of us to actually go in the pool and hot tubs.

Judging by the number of people in the pool, I think the towels on the chairs were theirs.

Pool Stage

Whale Tail

Embarkation Day Cont.

Some more pics from around the ship...

Bar and piano in the atrium

Glass elevators

Gym located on deck 12

I subscribed, looking forward to reading the rest of your review, especially through the eyes of a first-time cruiser. We will be cruising with first-timers in November!

Thanks. My mom and her BF have cruised many times before. Sis and her DH went on one small 3 day cruise that they won but didn't enjoy since it was during a hurricane. I can tell you from a viewpoint of a first timer sailing with a seasoned cruiser (mom) to not try and get your friends to do certain things at certain times. All I heard was "you need to go to this" or "make sure you're here at this time". The least enjoyable part of our cruise was someone else trying to put us on a schedule.

Embarkation Day Cont.

Now for the bathroom. The toilet was scary. The suction was crazy. It was also very loud and we could hear when our neighbor flushed.

The shower was a good size. The shower curtain is cloth. Unfortunately, our water pressure sucked! Both mom and sis said theirs was great over on the starboard side.

Shampoo and Body Wash are provided in dispensers in the shower. As I stated in my "used" list, I brought my own conditioner.

The cabinet over the sink was huge and my stuff only took up about a third of the space.

Here's what we got in the gift basket. Some shampoo and conditioner, two samples of toothpaste with two packets each and some Listerine breath strips.

Embarkation Day Cont.

DH thought I was crazy for taking so many pics, so I took one of him in the room. Our room had the two twins made king and one upper.

The upper folds up against the wall. There was a little black button on the left that you had to push to lower it. TV was a small flatscreen in a mounted box.

Hallway with closet area (bathroom across from closet)

Vanity (you can see the bathroom door in the mirror as well as the little black button on the upper)

My mom had a surprise waiting for us in the room.

Embarkation Day Cont.

As you can see by the time stamps on the pics, from the time we parked our car until we stepped on the ship was about 45 minutes. Overall, I found the embarkation process to be very easy.

DH ended up boarding before me, so I snapped a pic of him going through the door

Our first view of the atrium/lobby area on deck 7 (this is also where you will disembark from).

We headed up to the Lido buffet (Paris Restaurant) located on deck 10 Aft. We met up with my Mom and her BF who had arrived earlier and had gotten a table for our group.

We set down our carry-ons and I decided to try the Mongolian Wok since I had heard so much about it. I got mine with the Tai Barbecue sauce and was not impressed. Sis tried the Szechuan (sp?) and said it was much better. It was also less spicy even though the posted sign said the opposite.

The announcement came at 12:30 that the rooms were ready, so we grabbed our bags and headed down. We were booked in room M134 which is a category 6C (oceanview) room located on Main deck (deck 5). I had originally booked a 4C (interior) room, but was able to upgrade for only $100 more total. I also decorated the door :p.

Can't wait to hear about your vacation!! I liked your used and not used list!! I always pack highlighters too, but last time I didn't use them. I guess it depends who you sail with, my mom and I use them, my dad and I don't, and last cruise it was just my dad and myself.

Thank you. I may have over-packed :o, but since we drove, I didn't have to worry about baggage fees. I went by the saying "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it".