bonnys

We sailed on Fascination several times when she was in Jacksonville and they were some of our favorite cruises, so this is very sad to see. That being said, CCL getting rid of the Fantasy class ships is not surprising. I just hope that CCL realizes that not everyone wants to sail on Monstrosity of the Seas type ships and can come up with a creative solution. I personally prefer smaller ships that allow you to meet and actually get to know more crew and passengers. I do sail on the bigger ships but I find that the atmosphere with 5,000 people is not what I prefer in cruising.

I recently took this photo as we were leaving Grand Turk this past September. It is one of my absolute favorite pics from all of my cruises.

The ship has been photoshopped onto the image. It's wayyy too big! Also, its a HAL ship :p

HMC started out as, and still is, Holland's private island. CCL just stops there as well because they are both owned by Carnival Corp.

Yet another great review! I am looking forward to the rest of it. We had to choose between Breeze or Sunshine for our cruise this Spring and because of the week we are sailing, we ended up choosing the Sunshine (8 days vs. 6 days) but will hopefully get to go on the Breeze in the Fall.

Back in July, I made the decision to get healthy and change my lifestyle, not just diet, prior to our Labor Day b2b cruises. I lost 18 lbs. before I left. On board I thoroughly enjoyed the food on the ship, but all in moderation. And my big splurge was dessert EVERY night as well as a or two each day. After being gone for two weeks (10 days on the ship) I came home with the mindset that I would not be mad at myself if I had gained any weight back. Much to my surprise and happiness I went to my Dr.'s and weighed in and found out that I had not only not gained any weigh back but had actually lost an additional 6.7 lbs.:D So it is possible to cruise and reverse all of your hard work. We cruise again in April and my plan is to be just as successful and not have any regrets. I am now down 33.7 lbs and should be very close to my goal weight by then.

Best of luck to everyone that is trying to get healthier!

 

We spent the morning in the water and in the cabana

Andrea, if you look REALLY close Chad and I are on a float in the lower right corner of this pic!

Andrea, it's great to read about the cruise. I loved meeting you and Cody. I can't wait to hear how you viewed the cruise (since I didn't see you after HMC).

Our vacations are just a part of our budget. We put a certain amount each paycheck in a vacation account at the credit union. Any extra or surprise money gets split...half into savings (that doesn't get touched at all) and the other half into our vacay account.

DH travels (via plane) every week for work and earns hotel, air, car rental, and credit card rewards that we use for pre and post cruise expenses. We are using hotel points to pay for our pre-cruise hotel stay and our excursion to Atlantis for the day on our upcoming cruise.

I do have a change jar (that I have to hide from DH or he raids it ;)lol) that I keep. The only coins I use for payment at a store are pennies, otherwise it all gets stashed when I get home. The same goes for cash. Ones and fives get put in the jar. It adds up very quickly and we never miss it. For vacations DH does not want to fly since he is on a plane twice a week 40-45 weeks/yr., so whenever possible we like to travel via train. I paid for our Amtrak tickets (sleeper car accommodations round trip) for our upcoming cruise with my jar money, and I didn't spend it all. And since we get a sleeper all our meals are included, so no extra food expenses, even our dinner will be covered because of the time we will arrive in Miami. The last time I raided it was for our December cruises.

The only thing that competes with cruising is motorcycle cruising. We have one and love it so we split vacation time each year. 1/2 for cruising and 1/2 for bike trips.

5:40 am?!?!? I am with your DD on that one. I would not have been a happy camper.

We leave here in 23 days for our b2b on the Victory and your review is making me want to start packing and leave now.

 

 



 

He has this weird thing about not letting pool water touch his lips. He’s weird.

 

I have heard of some odd quirks, heck I have quite a few myself :rolleyes:, but I have never hear of this before. It gave me a good laugh!

Still enjoying the review and looking forward to the rest.

I agree on the bamboo sheets. They are amazing! I bought some from Cariloha (in Grand Cayman) as well and love them. I was worried about them wearing out too soon so I went to a store here in Charlotte, NC, Tuesday Morning, and found some. They are just as wonderful and under $75 for king size. So if you have one near you, check them out.

I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad that you were able to continue on with the cruise...I am willing to bet that your dad would have wanted that.

We board the Victory in 42 days for our b2b that will also make us Platinum.:D I can not wait and truly appreciate your taking the time to write a review. It will help feed the PCO (Pre Cruise Obsessing) and pass the time. Looking forward to the rest!:)

Well did they? Good review so far. We were on the imagination back in December so it is fun reliving those memories. Well except for the heat. It was just barely warm enough for shorts when we went.

Interesting. I didn't know about the promotion at the time and paid for our cruise with Visa. So I didn't even try for the MasterCard promotion.

 

Now if I edit my online checking and change to MC which I plan to use onboard anyway will it make us eligible for the promotion? Or the cruise itself has to be paid by MC only?

I'm not sure but it is worth a try.

I just signed up for this for our b2b and am really hoping that we get the credit. Since I have already prepaid for our excursions, travel, etc. this would pay for our tips and drinks. We might actually leave the ship without spending any more of our own $ since we already have OBC from promos and price drops. Sure would be nice!

Going on My first cruise 8/29-9/2 on Carnival aboard the Victory and man this was the best review I have read. Thanks for all the info...

We will be on the same sailing.

Ratch, thanks for the review. No matter how many cruises I go on I think it is great to read a recent review of one that I have booked. Our itinerary is backwards of yours, with our day at sea being day 1 and Nassau is the last day. I really wish it was reversed like yours. There is just something relaxing about finishing a cruise with a lazy day on the open ocean.

And you boys are absolutely precious!

ADD TWO MORE:

1-499 and :

500. marym933 - Florida

501. Cruisinjenf- Brett and Jen Las Vegas NV

502. Imluvncruzn - New York

503. Goldie - Georgia

504. scgamecock - Redneck Riviera, Florida

505. & 506. Cruisin'Doc and Mom - Mississippi

506 & 507 - Bassmaster150 and wife - Texas

508. HammerTX-Highland Village, TX

509. eroller - Miami, FL

510 & 511 WinnipegCruiser and wife - Canada

512 Cruzlover7, Buffalo NY

513 linbobky - western kentucky

514 BarbG (and Judy too!!)...Wisconsin

515 JinxyB, North Carolina

516 & 517 Coder01 & husband Wisconsin

518 WES143 Jacksonville, FL

519 ladyfox

520 mikefox2hotmail.com

521 Dizkid: Paul & Brigitte, Duluth MN

522-523 pops72106 & mrs pops72106, Mayflower, AR

524 Lambie, central Texas

525 PROCRUISE, Columbus,Ohio

526 NLBarry, Dave & Nancy, SoMD

527 firefly333, Texas

528 Grits

529 Shelleywood- Mississippi Gulf Coast

530 LifeIsGood - Pat - Florida

531 Crazy4Cruisin225 - Ted & Cindy - New Jersey

532 Little Jeanne - Missouri

533 Wennfred - San Diego CA

534 dezert cruzer

535 Moorbeer Scottsdale AZ

536 Caribbean dreams CA

537 Fighterzone & St Zoom

538 Scroggs Gainesville, GA

539 RjayB - Charlotte, NC

540 JeanietheMom - MD

541 jakesnana - FL

542 Jamman54 - NJ

543 jessed - NY

544 Mike Virginia

545 Teresa Virginia

546 Charles, Georgia

547 Debbie, Georgia

548 rraydon (Donna-Delaware)

549 Kate

550 NC Beach teacher Laura both from Morehead City NC

551 Shiela & Gary - Arkansas

552 Sparky2 - Mary & Ken - Belleville, MI

553 NGCCOT Sue and Mark Both Platinum Cumming, GA

554 Willyy: Bill and wife Stacey both Platinum, Philadelphia PA

555 dawnrae Florida

556 beachh2o + hubby

557. Jeff & shana from Illinois celebrated 27 cruises.

558.BonnyS & hubby (will be as of 9/2/13) Charlotte, NC

I did this for our Christmas cruise this past December. I usually do a tropical theme but went with this instead.

DH and I have heard about MC cruises and we really want to do one. I would really love to surprise him with this cruise for our 10th anniversary in March 2014. I would love to do it next year but I am pretty sure they are booked up and that the price would be a bit high for me to pay off without him noticing.

Looking forward to the rest of the review. I would have freaked over the size of the cabin as I am claustrophobic and do not do well in small spaces with no windows.

We are doing our first b2b this Christmas on the Imagination. Since it is a 3 day and a 4 day we are hopeful it won't be too repetitive. That is actually one reason we chose to do the shorter trips. If we like it we will be booking more.

Here is DH's cruise hat. There are pins on each side.

DH has a "cruise hat" (Panama Jack style) that is mesh and he pins his on there. It looks neat and is a great conversation starter. That hat goes on his head the morning of embarkation and gets taken off when loading the car to go home. Otherwise he wears it just about everywhere with the exceptions being the MDR or steak house. I have my Behind The Fun ball cap (that I rarely wear) and have them pinned on the bill.

Another random thought: Before I left on the cruise my mother gave me a pair of diamond earrings that she and my Dad had purchased a year earlier for the big occasion. Dad passed away last year so these earrings had extra special meaning to me.

 

I think it was the 3rd night when I was standing at the sink in the bathroom (dumb me!) and was changing from my diamond earrings to a different pair. Next thing I know, I fumble with the back of the earring and it goes flying into the sink and straight down the drain :eek:!

 

Oh sh%t I start yelling! I remove the stopper and can see my earring just laying in the bottom of the drain but I have no way of getting to it. I ran to the phone and called my room steward. I told him what had happened and he said that he would call maitenance. In less than 5 minutes the maitenance team had arrived and safely retrieved my earring. Crisis over.

 

I was extremely impressed with how quickly they sprung into action. I even made it to dinner on time :).

 

Gina

I just started reading your review and wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write it. My family is going on the Legend in April so it is exciting to read it. We went to Roatan last year and used Victor and our guide was wonderful as well. It is now our favorite port and we have booked again with the same driver. I can't wait!

The post I quoted made me tear up. I lost my dad 10 years ago right before Christmas. He had already purchased my Christmas (earrings) and birthday (12/26-bracelet) gifts and my mom gave them to me. They mean almost as much to me as my wedding set. I would just about die if I lost them and I gasped as I read your post. I am so glad you got it back!

Mike, thank you so much for the wonderful review. I started reading today and just finished. I have to say that this has brought back some wonderful memories. While not forgotten, they had been pushed to the side with all the rush that daily life entails. Reading about your vow renewal brought happy tears while I remembered my and DH's wedding on the Glory. We even got to participate in the Newlywed/Not So Newlywed game. We will be celebrating our anniversary while we are on the Miracle in March. I have shown this thread to my DH and went on and on that it would be amazing to renew our vows on our actual anniversary. I look forward to your review of the Pride in January.