littlered87

Since we paid for faster to the fun we thought we would be able to go straight to our room & have our stuff we were so excited to see our ocean suite :D... Not the case :eek:, our room wasnt ready until about 12:30, during that time we went to the buffet aft- Mediterranean of course dragging along our carryons which included a suitcase, a purse, a small bag, and hubbys asu's and got some lunch and of course drink of the day!

In the captains lounge we met an awesome couple Dottie & Chris who we met several other times throughout the cruise & another story about them & united parking later.

WELCOME ABOARD!!!! We were the second people aboard -quite different from being the last on our last cruise!

Once at the port we only had to wait outside in a short line for about 5 minutes & we were the second people there for priorty/fttf so we didnt have to wait behind anyone once past security when we got up the elevators we were directed to the captains lounge and we were there until about 11:30 and then it was time to make our way down the gangway!

We decided we would leave Thanksgiving night (while everyone was out black friday shopping and waiting in parking lots so the roads would be clear)... tried to nap after eating Thanksgiving dinner before our 13 hour drive to Miami but who can nap when your vacation is waiting! We were both pretty restless, hubby managed to sleep for 6ish hours of course waking up every hour or so ... 1 am and the alarms went off & it was time to hit the road and we were out the door in 20 mins!! :D As soon as we crossed the GA/FL line we hit a huge truck tire and it messed up my front bumper a little :mad: we arrived in miami a little after 12 so it really wasnt a 13 hour drive, I am not a good hotel planner with cities im unfamiliar with so when i googled hotels in downtown miami and Hilton Garden Inn popped up & a rate of $123 I called.. The woman at the desk said they were close to the port & about 15 minutes from South Beach so i booked- crock of poo! They are literally RIGHT beside the airport..I am a very light sleeper, fortunately i hadn't been to sleep since the night before so i had been up for 30 some odd hours and I was able to sleep, and the woman told us we could check in early because we knew we would be getting there before 4 ...when we got there they told us we had to wait til 4! We had planned on napping but that didnt happen, we went across the street to dennys & had breakfast then drove around for a bit & went back to the hotel & sat in our car for 2 hours- they sent security out to our car to see why we were loitering!! are you freakin kidding me?!? Red head, temper, no sleep- yeah that didnt go well for them. They got us a room right then (about 3) The room was nice and the ac worked very well (we love it cold) , we freshened up and went to South beach- it was a VERY windy day & was overcast, there was hardly anyone was on the beach! We hung out there for a short amount of time & then strolled down through all the outdoor food places & shops for a while and enjoyed downtown miami -music was playing everywhere -pretty awesome place!... We headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner and then went back to that side of Miami to find Bubba Gump in Biscayne where we managed to spend $115 for dinner ,this place is a little pricey , we usually spend about $70 for the 2 of us for anyone interested in eating here ..Biscayne also happens to be an outdoor mall - that luckily for me stayed open till 11pm because despite making 3 packing lists and double checking suitcases I forgot to pack something pretty important and i wasnt going commando for the whole vacation:rolleyes: Parking is $20 in this area so if you plan to visit youre now forewarned.

DO NOT use this company!!!

Not only is it sketchy its not at the address they give you & they wont answer their phone there are no signs and the lot isnt labeled its just situated behind a little convenience store ,..I called their customer service number that happens to be in Knoxville TN and they couldnt tell me where it was either so we drove around for 30 minutes .. Then They refused to get me a shuttle to the port before 11:30 and thought it was hilarious, i flipped my **** on the guy because we had priority boarding on our ship as he sat there smoking weed in a chair not caring one bit.. I hunted down my own shuttle and made the guy take us to the port along with another couple experiencing the same thing & we had all called the "customer service" number trying to figure out the problem since they state that shuttles are available starting at 9am to take you to the port...

Low and behold the day we get back from the cruise We started called about 7:30 (and they said theyd have shuttles every 15 minutes starting at 7) to tell them we needed a taxi...never would answer the phone so we left about 20 messages on their answering machine & this time there were FOUR other couples having the same problem... hundreds of shuttles and taxis had come and gone & around 9:30 we decided to just pay a taxi to take us back .. and by the way none of the taxi drivers had ever heard of the lot ... I called the customer service number to ask why there were so many issues and the guy got an attitude with me told me they werent his drivers and he didnt have to help me & hung up I called back to get his name - he hung up again I called again and asked for his name again and again he hung up on me. THIS PLACE IS A SCAM! So if you think youll park here to save a few dollars youre actually going to spend the same plus you have to deal with their crap!

like everyone else has said, it was just someone from the miami office... we didnt book through a pvp

still hopeing someone has info on this cabin?!!? were heading to miami tomorrow

Yes, i should have said "upsell" ... we paid $304 pp with military discount so $604 for our balcony, the cost of the Ocean suit for 2 is $1778, they offered the ocean suite to us for $149 pp more so we paid $ 906.

the upsell fairy called me today actually...for our cruise in 3 days.. we had a balcony we only paid 304 pp with military discount...we got upgraded to an ocean suite for 149 more pp so a total of $906..i looked at carnivals website before giving her an answer and the ocean suite cabin for 2 totaled to be 1776... so we gladly accepted..

So the upgrade fairy called tonight.. offered us an upgrade to an ocean suite from a balcony... we jumped on it.. who can give me info on cabin number 7228.. if anyone has pics it would be sooo appreciated!!

sorry i havent posted the fun times yet. i wont be able to scan them until thursday

i cant remember what this was i think it was some kind of fish hubby ordered

baked alaska and wmcm

i will post the funtimes tomorrow

Next was sea day,

i started my day with this pretty thing!

we ate lunch at the mongolian wok

and way later the sandwich grill

a sunset sitting out on our balcony

at dinner

caprese

shrimp cocktail

serenity (at night) its aft and super relaxing at night!

dinner dancing ..notice the guy on the pole... lol

the blonde woman was our server Michaela

and then this...

and the pirate ship bar

and thennnnn when we got back on the ship there was a shark swimming outside our balcony...not a great picture but

the atrium

the pool at night all lit up

For half moon cay we didnt have any excursions planned so we slept late then got a tender

pulling in

and the most beautiful water weve ever seen!!!!

our boat anchored

7 days until the victory out of miami for us!!

there was dancing and music at dinner tonight lol

and then of course warm chocolate melting cake!

and then we found him

The Queens Staircase...it no longer has the waterfall the left its now just limestone walls...

we went back and ate lunch on ship today was "caribbean day" at the lido... i decided to be adventurous again.. and tried a few things..most were not good

there is a dessert table there every day with tons of different desserts & my fat kid self was like yessss

atrium staircase

for dinner i had some kind of pasta with chicken , it was pretty yummy!

hubby tried 2 different entrees...yes you can do this...you can order as many apps, entrees and desserts as you want!

the back of our docked ship. you can see our balcony in this pic middle row about 3 balconies down ...

totally cliche but.....

several gift shops inside the festival place building

their government buildings are PINK!!

Junkanoo Beach

city lights bar on promenade right outside the casino

I think this was the society bar

Next up Nassau

The festival place building, you have to enter through here to get anywhere in nassau, also once you exit it and youre looking at the park ahead on the other side there is a fence to your right, you can go through it to the building across the street and get your passport stamped if you want that done. I had researched the walking tour that included queens staircase, fort fincastle and some other stops and we printed off 4 different mappings from people on here...but once we started walking we didnt feel safe & decided to go back and get a taxi... there were several guys with taxi vans offering a tour of the island for $50 per person and we didnt want to pay that... so passed them by...there were also swarms of the hair braiders that would NOT leave me alone..almost intimidating and im a pretty stern person.. we ended up with a guy named Ronaldo that said he would do it for $25 a piece as long as he got one other couple to go ... we waited about 10 minutes and then we were all on our way.. it was SOO worth it he was AMAZING we ended up tipping him another $25 he took us ALL over the island, the poor, the middle class, the upper class, all the sights we wanted to see & then lots more and to a beach and some shopping... told us the history and everything we could ever want to know!! I wish i had gotten his picture.. We ended up driving around for about 3 hours and he would stop whenever we wanted to ..

of course we played at all the photo backdrops..i think this was one of my faves.... if youve never cruised there are several backdrops set up on the promenade deck around dinner times..

and some are down by the stairs this night as well

several more & there are different backdrops each night (we spent $300 on photos :eek: but i wont bore you with those)

then we checked out the casino..ive never been in one before this..but there were ALOT of slot machines...several rows..

since this was a 5 day tonight was the "elegant night"

i tried the pumpkin soup he tried the "didja ever" alligator fritters (tastes like a fishier chicken)

and of course

and the dead given........

and when we got back to change....

youll keep walking past a little elementary school i think it is , and then the beach is through the gate! At this point it was the bluest water we had ever seen!! (of course until we got to HMC)....

There was a little place called Billy Joes to the right as soon as you come towards the water & a guy selling coconuts & hair braiding to the right.. and yes they WILL nag you to braid your hair , esp if your hair is long & my hair was down to my butt -_- There are also water sport rentals right in front of the water heres the pricing & menu from Billy Joes

I had a pina coloda .....this is what it looked like and was yummy!

we felt a little adventurous and tried the fried conch ...probably wont ever eat it again, didnt have a bad taste it was just extremely chewy & im weird about texures

this is the view from where you eat at billy joes