Inpiration Review - Easter Break, Western Caribbean 4/5/10

[Lady_Jag]

Hooray for late port arrivals! We weren’t scheduled to arrive in Cozumel until 11:00am, so we were able to sleep in this morning. Yay! I set our “room service alarm” for 8:45 this morning so that we could have a nice, lazy morning.

Some months ago, I booked a Dolphin Encounter online with an independent tour agency for the three of us. I briefly considered using Carnival’s excursion, but their minimum age was 5 or 6, which would have left Alyssa out. Besides, with this independent agency, Alyssa’s encounter was free with an adult booking. So my and Alex’s Chankanaab park admission (regularly $16/each at the gate) was included in the price of the encounter, and Alyssa’s admission was a discounted rate of $5.50 (regularly $8 at the gate), so our total cost for the three of us was just over $160, plus cab fare. I gotta say, it was worth every penny! But more on that later.

We made our way up to the Lido deck for the late risers’ breakfast. The lines this morning were the longest I had seen this week! Even so, the wait wasn’t that bad, and we had no trouble finding a table. TIP: For the best outdoor seating, skip the pool area and walk towards the aft part of the ship through the Brasserie. On both the port and starboard sides are small decks just above the Serenity area that have several tables. These two dining areas are nice and quiet and have lovely views off the back of the ship. It is where we breakfasted today.

After breakfast, we climbed the stairs to the upper deck so that we could watch the ship dock at the pier. We were next to an RCI ship (I think it might have been Freedom of the Seas, but I’m not sure.) At the other pier in the distance was a Costa ship. Docking was short and smooth, and before long, we were filling up our water bottles and on our way to our cabin to grab Alyssa’s booster seat and the “port bag” I had packed the night before. Around noon, we were making our way down to the gangplank on deck 3. What a crowd! People were piled up in the stairwells and elevator bays when we got there. But as long as we just kept moving along, somewhat like cattle, we were able to get off the ship without much difficulty. (BTW - Cristian the photographer was there to take our picture as we left.)

 

We walked down the incredibly long pier and tried to find our way to the taxi area. There, we tried to find a line to wait in, but there didn’t seem to be any orderly lines anywhere. After two women cut in and jumped into the cab in front of us, I discovered that the key was to smile and make firm and steady eye contact with the man who was directing the cabs in and out of the area.

Finally, a car stopped in front of us, and Alex opened one of the doors. I placed Alyssa’s booster in the back seat while Alex walked around and got into the other seat in the back, then I placed Alyssa into the booster and struggled to get her seated and strapped in while the cab driver and man directing the cabs urged “Rapdio! Rapido! Quickly! Quickly!” Flustered, I climbed into the front passenger seat and reached for my own seatbelt as the driver took off.

“Mommy,” Alyssa observed, “this is just like ‘Crazy Taxi!’” Alex and I chuckled and agreed as we sped along the main road. (Crazy Taxi is an arcade game at our local pizza joint, in which you play the role of the cab driver looking for fares. You can drive as crazy as you want – on sidewalks, backwards, wrong way down one-way roads, etc.)

We arrived at Chankanaab park and I paid the $10 fare (and a tip, to make up for the “Crazy Taxi” comment). A man with a clipboard met us as soon as we stepped out of the cab and asked if we had a reservation. I showed him my paperwork, and he checked our names off, then gave us all wristbands for our admission and encounter.

Before we went through the turnstiles, we stopped to see an iguana and parrot that two guys were showing off. Alyssa was fascinated and wanted to pet them (the iguana and parrot, not the guys showing them off!) I brought out the cheap waterproof 35mm camera from our port bag and snapped a few pictures. Now, I must have had one of those “oblivious” moments while I was trying to take the pictures, because I did not hear the guy who was putting the parrot on my daughter’s head say that photos would cost $5. So after a couple of pictures, Alyssa returned the bird and iguana, and started to run towards the gates. I threw the camera in my bag and followed her. Fortunately, Alex DID hear the cost of the photos and stayed behind to pay the man. Whoops!

Inside the park, we found the information desk first. It was not even noon local time, and our encounter wasn’t until 1:00. The lady at the desk told us to come back and check in around 1:05. She then told us to enjoy the park and pointed us to the locker area for our bags and Alyssa's car seat. The lockers were free, and there were plenty available. I thought we would need 2 – one for our stuff, and one for Alyssa’s booster, so we found two top lockers next to each other. Only problem was, try as he might, Alex could NOT closer the locker door with Alyssa’s booster in it. The darn thing stuck out just an inch or so too much! D’oh! So I got the “brilliant” idea to use an empty, out of the way locker at the very bottom of one of the banks near the floor drain. I closed the door as far as possible (it was still a tiny bit ajar), then removed the key as an indicator that the locker was in use.

Chankanaab was a lot bigger than I expected, with a HUGE swimming pool (There was a sign in front of the pool stating that use of the pool was only for those booked for dolphin experiences, but that day passes were also available), small outdoor café, show arena, fountains, playground, lagoon, and a lot more than I actually saw. Alyssa’s primary interest, though, was the pool:

 

I set our towels and such against one of the nearby palm trees and blew up the beach ball I brought for Alyssa’s pre-encounter entertainment. She had a wonderful time playing with the ball and the other kids in the pool, and we only had to remind her once that she needed to share. (Actually, she was ok with sharing her ball, except when it came to one little boy who would grab the ball and then run off with it and not let her have it back. Ah well.)

As our check-in time approached, I told Alyssa it was time to go and get ready to meet the dolphin. Eventually, we got her out of the pool and went back to the locker area to put our towels and junk away. Alex said “Ummmm….that locker you put the booster seat in looks empty.” Wha?!?

Sure enough, no booster anywhere in the locker area! Seriously? Who would want to steal a cheap plastic booster seat? With a sigh, I walked over to the information desk and explained that we were missing a booster seat from the lockers area, then asked if anyone had seen it. She radioed security, got a response, and then said, “OK. See that man in the white shirt way over there? He’s got it.”

Yep! Walking down one of the docks not too far away from the lockers was a man carrying Alyssa’s seat. I collected it, thanked the man profusely, then joined Alex and Alyssa back at the locker area. The only thing I can think of is maybe someone wanted to use the locker and seeing the door unlocked, tossed the seat out and put their stuff in. Then, seeing there was no key, decided on a different locker. Or maybe the door opened up and someone accidentally kicked the seat out onto the floor? I don’t know. No scenario really made any sense to me. Oh well. Alex took the seat to the information desk and told one of the guys behind the desk, “this is too big to fit in the lockers. Can I…” and before he could ask, the guy said, “No problem! We’ll keep it here for you!” Cool.

Problem solved, we met the rest of our group for some instructions and a sort of demonstration with a dolphin puppet on the “right” way to interact with the dolphin. (Don’t touch below the belly button, don’t pet the face, place your hands palms out for the handshake, etc.) Then off we marched to get our life jackets. There were about 16 of us, including at least 6 children. We lined up and waved to an employee shooting videos of our encounter. Afterwards, we walked down to the end of a dock, past 4 dolphin “pens” or so. In each pen, I saw a dolphin pop up to say hello or jump out of the water and land with a splash. This was going to be soooo cool!

Our dolphin’s name was “Simba,” and he was in the last pen, the one closest to the open ocean. We descended the stairs into some rather cold water, but it didn’t take long to get used to the temperature. Alyssa immediately clutched Alex and tried to cling to him, but soon loosened her grip as we walked across a metal grate that brought us close enough to Simba to be able to pet him.

We all got a turn petting Simba, and his trainer was very good at keeping everyone’s attention. Simba would swim past us or do a trick, then someone in the group would get to “kiss” him and “shake hands” with him, while the videographer/photographer captured each encounter on film from the dock above us or in front of us.

From time to time, a boat would race by in the ocean behind us, and I would grab the chain link fence behind me to keep from being pushed off the metal grate by the wake. Also, one of the little girls in our group was celebrating her birthday that day, so we sang “Happy Birthday,” and gave the “sing/canta” signal to Simba so that he sang along with us.

We were in the water with Simba for at least 45 minutes, but I could have stayed there for hours! Finally, Simba showed us how fast he could swim, then splashed us all with his tail. We gave him one final pet goodbye, then climbed the stairs, put our shoes back on, and walked back to the park. “I miss Simba!” Alyssa said. “I know, honey, but we have to say goodbye. I bet Simba is going to tell all his dolphin friends how he met a little girl named Alyssa and got to be her friend.” A huge smile crossed Alyssa face when I told her that, and she shouted “Again!”

We returned our life jackets and were directed to an upstairs room to watch the finished DVD of our encounter. These guys work FAST! We no sooner grabbed our towels, dried off a bit, and sat down in the viewing room before the DVD was playing with background music, stock footage of the dolphins, and close-ups of each of our encounters. Awesome! Afterwards, we were escorted back downstairs to the store, where a couple of employees tried to sell us pictures and a copy of the DVD. We did a little wheeling and dealing, and wound up purchasing the DVD and four of the photos for a pretty reasonable price.

By that time we were pretty hungry, so we decided to grab a munchie at the café located just outside the store. Alex and I split an order of fully loaded nachos, and Miss Picky didn’t see anything she wanted other than a popsicle. Good thing I had packed those individual boxes of cereal from breakfast that morning! Alyssa was happy to munch on dry Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms before tackling the popsicle. Alex also ordered an ice cream sandwich that Alyssa was VERY interested in!

While we were sitting there, one of the other participants from our group came by and said "well if it isn't Alyssa! You were very brave out there!" Then he asked Alyssa if she enjoyed meeting the dolphin and told us that he had done the encounter at Sea World before, and that this encounter was far better for a much cheaper price. I told him this was our first experience, but that it was wonderful and I was very satisfied with the quality and value.

Anyway, after our snack, I took Alyssa to the bathroom to change into some dry clothes. She looked VERY tired, so I figured it was a good time to head back to the ship. We got the rest of our stuff out of the locker, collected our booster seat from the info desk, and left the park. Out front, a guy called a Crazy Taxi for us, and asked if we were with Costa. “No, Carnival,” I said, and off we sped back to port. On our way, we spotted Tia and the rest of our group (minus Joel and Mark) doing their segway tour. It looked like they were having a great time too!

Alex wanted to check out some T-shirts when we were back in the port area, so Alyssa and I took a look around while he stopped in one of the stores. There were a group of people in Fat Tuesdays wearing balloon hats, and Alyssa wanted someone to “share” their hat with her. Instead, I distracted her from the bar by letting her check out one of the vendor carts to see if there was a small souvenir she wanted. She picked out a pink hand drum like in the Karate Kid 2 movie.

Alyssa decided she was too tired to walk then, and raised her arms for me to carry her. Ugh! That pier seemed so much lonnnnnger walking back than it did when we arrived! By coincidence, Tia and the gang were right in front of us at the security checkpoint before the pier, so we chatted a bit on our walk back to the ship. It was 5:00pm ship’s time.

We dropped our stuff off in our cabin and got cleaned up for dinner. Ah, digital camera, how I missed you! Alex teased me about how spoiled I was to complain about having to WIND the waterproof camera and not getting to see how my shots turned out right away. LOL! Yeah, ok. I AM spoiled. But in my defense, it’s been at least 5 years since I’ve used a 35mm camera, and even longer since I used a cheapo plastic one!

We made our traditional stop at the sushi bar before dinner, and were surprised to see that there was actually a line this evening! Weird. Then we figured out why. The lady at the front was placing an order like she was ordering a take-out lunch for her whole workplace: “Um…what’s that? Mackerel? That looks ok. Lemme get 5 of those and… um… 4 of those with the shrimp, and…uh…what’s on top of that one? Eel? Ew…well then, lemme get 3 of those, then 2 more without the eel on top. Now what kind of sauce do you have?...”

Dinner tonight was delicious as always, and we had a great time recapping our days. Over at the “kids’ table,” Kelsey called over to our head waiter, Nadel: “Sir, can I have some more bread, please?”

“No!” Nadel said, “You left your camera here last night, so you don’t get anymore bread! You being punished!”

Kelsey was stunned. I laughed. “Please????” she asked, smiling.

“You have to do better than that,” Nadel teased, “I want to see the puppy dog face.”

Kelsey tried, but was still showing a smile. “Alyssa,” I said, “show her how it’s done!” And Alyssa immediately poked her bottom lip out and pulled the same “sad kitty” face Puss In Boots pulled in the Shrek movie. Kelsey finally managed a convincing pathetic face, and Nadel passed her the bread basket:

To be continued...

[Lady_Jag]

Before we could order dessert, my tired little girl asked if she could lie in Alex’s lap like the night prior, so we scooted her chair next to his, and tucked her in with her sweater and napkin again. None of the desserts on the main menu seemed appealing to me…I wanted something cold…so I ordered the banana split and brownies off the kids’ menu. Yum! I will certainly be suggesting that to Alyssa the next night!

After dinner, we carried our sleeping Alyssa back to the cabin and tucked her in. It was close to 8:00, our departure time, and there were several names called over the PA system. I asked Alex if he would mind staying with Alyssa for just a little while so that I could go up on deck, take a few pictures, and look for “runners.” He said that was fine, so I made my way to the front of one of the upper decks.

I’m not sure how I got there, but I happened upon a side deck where I could clearly see inside the part of the bridge that hung out over the side of the ship and two officers were inside, talking. I climbed the stairs to the front deck just over the bridge and look out towards Cozumel. I was snapping pictures when I heard someone calling “Laura! Laura! Up here!” I turned around, and it was Joel, just one deck above me. “Hey, Joel!” I waved. “Hey! Where’s Alex?” he asked.

Joel came down the stairs to meet me where I was standing, and started to tell me about the 6 people who nearly missed the ship. He said one lady in particular was incredibly drunk and was all arms and flailing hands in her staggered trot down the pier. She was yelling something like “wait! Wait! I’m supposed to be on that boat!” LOL!

I invited Joel back to our cabin so that he and Alex could go out and have fun while I watched Alyssa. He told me about his Discover Mexico tour and how much he enjoyed it, then said that Mark had woken up with a hangover that morning, but still went on his zip lining excursion. Yikes!

Back at the cabin, Alex and Joel had a little chat, then decided to check out the deck party upstairs. “Can we bring you back anything?” Alex asked. I thought about it, then asked if he would stop in one of the stores and buy me one of the resin ornaments that look like little models of the ship. “Ok,” Alex said, then he and Joel left. No room service picnic tonight. From the looks of it, Alyssa would not be waking up anytime soon.

I was tired, but not tired enough to go to bed, so I decided to start packing. I know it sounds weird, but in retrospect, it was probably the best decision I made the entire cruise. You see, I hate that last night on the cruise when you’re trying to savor each second and take in the last few shows, but instead have to hurry up and cram everything you can into your suitcases before they’re picked up at 11:00pm.

So this time, I was going to try something new. The night before our last cruise day, I methodically and neatly gathered up our belongings (save the items we would need Friday and Saturday), and packed everything up. I carefully checked every closet, drawer, shelf, and nightstand so that we wouldn’t leave anything behind, stashed the bags we would check in the closet with Alyssa’s stroller, and made sure that the totes we would carry off weren’t too heavy. Perfect.

Packed and organized, I thought I’d take a few more pictures. (Did I mention how much I missed my digital camera?) I photographed Alyssa, our towel animal (a cobra), and our door decorations, then left the door ajar while I took a picture of…of…hmmm…I decided to photograph the crew door across the hall, the hallway itself, and one more of our door, just for kicks.

One of the room stewards (pictured down the hallway in the photo above) saw me taking crazy random pictures, laughed, and asked “On assignment?”

I blushed. “I really missed my camera today. I had to leave it behind while we were in port.”

He smiled and asked “want me to take a picture with you in it?”

“Um, ok,” and I handed over the camera.

“Show me a little attitude,” he said:

Tomorrow would be a day at sea…our final fun day.

[ImmortalxKiss]

Was the boat rocky at all?

 

I'm asking this because I've had the unfortunate luck to be on some really rough ships the past 2 years where many cruise pros have even said it was the worst they've seen, lol. I am hoping we get luckier this go round.

[Lady_Jag]

Was the boat rocky at all?

 

I'm asking this because I've had the unfortunate luck to be on some really rough ships the past 2 years where many cruise pros have even said it was the worst they've seen, lol. I am hoping we get luckier this go round.

 

Honestly, I thought it was pretty smooth sailing. A lot depends on the weather and its affect on the seas (I once sailed when a cold front swept through and created 12' swells. :eek:)

 

Still, compared to my cruise on the Glory (a bigger ship) last May, I'd have to say the ship's movement was a lot less noticeable. In fact, after my Glory cruise, I still felt the ship's motion for a good 3 days before getting my land legs back. This cruise, the swaying stopped within 24 hours.

 

My SIL said she thought the movement was greater than when she sailed the larger RCI ship several years ago, but even so she said it wasn't too bad.

 

Good luck and I hope you have a great time!

[RedRam99V8]

Before we could order dessert, my tired little girl asked if she could lie in Alex’s lap like the night prior, so we scooted her chair next to his, and tucked her in with her sweater and napkin again. None of the desserts on the main menu seemed appealing to me…I wanted something cold…so I ordered the banana split and brownies off the kids’ menu. Yum! I will certainly be suggesting that to Alyssa the next night!

 

After dinner, we carried our sleeping Alyssa back to the cabin and tucked her in. It was close to 8:00, our departure time, and there were several names called over the PA system. I asked Alex if he would mind staying with Alyssa for just a little while so that I could go up on deck, take a few pictures, and look for “runners.” He said that was fine, so I made my way to the front of one of the upper decks.

 

I’m not sure how I got there, but I happened upon a side deck where I could clearly see inside the part of the bridge that hung out over the side of the ship and two officers were inside, talking. I climbed the stairs to the front deck just over the bridge and look out towards Cozumel. I was snapping pictures when I heard someone calling “Laura! Laura! Up here!” I turned around, and it was Joel, just one deck above me. “Hey, Joel!” I waved. “Hey! Where’s Alex?” he asked.

 

Joel came down the stairs to meet me where I was standing, and started to tell me about the 6 people who nearly missed the ship. He said one lady in particular was incredibly drunk and was all arms and flailing hands in her staggered trot down the pier. She was yelling something like “wait! Wait! I’m supposed to be on that boat!” LOL!

 

I invited Joel back to our cabin so that he and Alex could go out and have fun while I watched Alyssa. He told me about his Discover Mexico tour and how much he enjoyed it, then said that Mark had woken up with a hangover that morning, but still went on his zip lining excursion. Yikes!

 

Back at the cabin, Alex and Joel had a little chat, then decided to check out the deck party upstairs. “Can we bring you back anything?” Alex asked. I thought about it, then asked if he would stop in one of the stores and buy me one of the resin ornaments that look like little models of the ship. “Ok,” Alex said, then he and Joel left. No room service picnic tonight. From the looks of it, Alyssa would not be waking up anytime soon.

I was tired, but not tired enough to go to bed, so I decided to start packing. I know it sounds weird, but in retrospect, it was probably the best decision I made the entire cruise. You see, I hate that last night on the cruise when you’re trying to savor each second and take in the last few shows, but instead have to hurry up and cram everything you can into your suitcases before they’re picked up at 11:00pm.

 

So this time, I was going to try something new. The night before our last cruise day, I methodically and neatly gathered up our belongings (save the items we would need Friday and Saturday), and packed everything up. I carefully checked every closet, drawer, shelf, and nightstand so that we wouldn’t leave anything behind, stashed the bags we would check in the closet with Alyssa’s stroller, and made sure that the totes we would carry off weren’t too heavy. Perfect.

 

Packed and organized, I thought I’d take a few more pictures. (Did I mention how much I missed my digital camera?) I photographed Alyssa, our towel animal (a cobra), and our door decorations, then left the door ajar while I took a picture of…of…hmmm…I decided to photograph the crew door across the hall, the hallway itself, and one more of our door, just for kicks.

 

One of the room stewards (pictured down the hallway in the photo above) saw me taking crazy random pictures, laughed, and asked “On assignment?”

 

I blushed. “I really missed my camera today. I had to leave it behind while we were in port.”

 

He smiled and asked “want me to take a picture with you in it?”

 

“Um, ok,” and I handed over the camera.

 

“Show me a little attitude,” he said:

 

Tomorrow would be a day at sea…our final fun day.

 

Woah talk about attitude??? I was getting a little worried about what came next in the photos??? :eek:. Just kidding. woo hoo

[Lady_Jag]

The night before had been one of the best night’s sleep I had the whole cruise! Ah! The three of us woke up refreshed and happy, and looking forward to our second and final fun day at sea. We took our time getting ready for a little hot tubbin’ and moved at a lazy pace while Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs played on the in-cabin movie channel...again. (Alyssa loves the Jell-O part.)

By the time we were ready to leave the cabin, it was around 10:00am or so. Time for brunch. I called room service and ordered a beef & brie sandwich for me and PBJ (untoasted) for Alyssa. “AND CHOCOLATE CAKE! CHOCOLATE CAKE! CHOCOLATE CAKE!” Alyssa shouted. Alex preferred to take a look at the buffet, or maybe try a calzone from the pizza station.

Within minutes…or maybe seconds…from the time I placed the phone back on the hook, our order arrived. It was almost scary how fast we got our order, chocolate cake and all! I took the tray, thanked the server, tipped, and gathered up my bag for our “brunch” on the Lido deck. We ran into Tia’s friend, Roy, in the elevator bay, and chatted a bit as we got in the elevator.

“Whatcha got there?” Roy asked.

“PBJ, steak and brie sandwich, and chocolate cake,” I said.

“Steak and brie?!?” Roy was interested.

“Yeah. I heard it’s really good,” I said.

“It is!” interrupted a teenage boy next to me, “I ate 3 of them last night!”

“Well, you can’t get a better recommendation than that!” I laugh.

The doors opened, and a wet boy in a bathing suit, (he looked about 10 years old) was waiting to get on the elevator while we were getting off. I looked at our bathing suits, coverups, and flip flops, and said “if you’re going outside, you should know it’s raining.” Ummm…ok.

We found a table inside the Brasserie next to a window, and while Alex decide on, then ordered and acquired his meal, I got me and Alyssa settled with our room service order.

“Hey!” Joel called from behind me, “Where’s Alex?”

I smiled and invited Joel to dine with us. “I got you guys something,” he said, then handed me a ginormous plastic Carnival shopping bag. “Cool! Thanks Joel!” inside were 3 St. Jude bracelets and t-shirts for the “Groove to St. Jude” benefit that would be held later that afternoon. “They didn’t have any youth sizes,” Joel explained, “so I had to get Alyssa an adult small. It’s going to be a while before she grows into it.”

“That’s ok. Thank you, that was very nice,” I told him.

Alex arrived with his drink, silverware and sides, and in minutes, the guy at the pizza counter was bringing him a fresh hot calzone. Wow! What service! I tried it, and it was pretty darn good! Not that I regretted ordering my sandwich instead. That kid on the elevator was right about it being really good too!

After brunch, we went out to the pool area to assess the situation. It was still raining steadily, but it was a light to misty rain, rather than a full out rainstorm. I looked at all the lounge chairs around the empty pool, most of them covered with soaking wet towels that were getting even wetter by the rain. (Chair hog cheats!)

I shrugged, placed my bag next to one of the metal palm trees in a dry covered area, and Alex, Alyssa and I made our way to the covered hot tub. It was already occupied by a woman and her two little boys. I smiled sympathetically at her as she tried to keep the boys in check: “No, don’t splash people! Uh-uh. You can’t jump in here. Ow! Get off! OUCH! You just stepped on my toe! No kicking! Watch out! Don’t do that. Settle down now…”

Meanwhile, my Alyssa politely said “excuse me” to the lady as she climbed into the hot tub and sat down between me and Alex. The little boys’ antics entertained her for a while, and then she got interested in holding onto the wall behind her and bobbing up and down in the seat between us. Soon, the little boys decided they wanted to swim in the empty pool (I always wonder why people abandon the pool when it rains!) Joel joined us a few minutes later, and we chatted for a while. Then it was time to get out, dry off, and prepare for the digital scavenger hunt I really wanted to play at noon.

Alex wasn’t so sure about it (he’s not much for games), but I pleaded with him to come with me so that I wouldn’t be a team of only me again. He was a sport and agreed to come and look after Alyssa.

When the game began, it turned out that there weren’t enough lists to go around. So a woman asked if she could take a picture of someone’s list. Everyone else had already scrambled to collect all the items in the allotted 20 minutes, so I told her she could photograph mine. She debated with another lady she knew about who would take a picture of the objects, and who would take a picture of the places so that they could split up and divide the list in half. (Game cheats!) Then she finally took her dang picture.

“Wait!” The other lady said, “I need a picture too!” And she brought out her camera. Oops! The batteries were dead. Hold on, need to change the batteries in her camera. (Seriously?!?) Oh wait! Let me get one more picture, just in case… (Nice guys finish last, right? LOL!)

Nevertheless, the game was fun. Our team of 3 was basically me scanning the list, finding the person, place or thing on it, then taking the photograph, while Alex and Alyssa tried to keep up. Our 20 minutes was up in no time, and I had all but 3-4 of the items. Hey, there was a chance!

Nope. A group of 7 (a team that had 1 more person than the max. of 6 listed at the top of the list…Game cheats!) had acquired all items, PLUS a big bonus of one point per person in the “Group hug.” Bummer. Oh well, I had fun anyway, and extra person or not, they deserved to win for getting a picture of everything INCLUDING a man wearing a bikini. [shudder!]

We went back to our cabin to clean up and a bit and grab the sunscreen, since the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. Alex asked Alyssa if she wanted to go to the Waterdon’tworks area, which of course, she did. I didn’t feel like baking too long, but was ready for a little serenity. I told Alex I’d find them near the Waterdon’tworks a little later, and made my way to the adult area off the back of the ship.

There were no empty chairs on the Serenity deck. I saw Roy and CJ in the hot tub and talked to them a bit. Then I saw two loungers with no bodies, only towels, and figured I’d relax in one for a bit until the original occupant returned…if he or she ever DID return.

Hmmmm…the towel was pretty wet! I looked back at the occupants of the hot tub and called to Roy, “Hey, does this belong to any of you guys?” When they said no, I neatly folded the towel and placed it on the table next to me. Then I adjusted the chair and settled in.

Comfortable now, I brought out my camera and took a few pictures of the sea and of the yellow umbrellas against the now blue sky. Then I put the camera away and just took in my surroundings. “No Smoking” signs were plastered all over. Yet every so often, a guy a few lounge chairs down would take a few puffs of his lit cigar, then quickly “hide” the hand holding the cigar down between him and his companion’s lounge chairs. (Smoking cheat!) I just shook my head, and started humming “Smoking In The Boys Room” to myself.

About 20 minutes later, a pair of feet in pink flip flops stopped next to my lounger. “Excuse me,” came a young lady’s voice, “but that’s my seat.”

I sat up, smiled at her, and said, “Just keeping it warm for you.” Then I grabbed my bag and stood up, ready to go find my family.

“Thanks,” she said, then pointed at the chair covered in a wet towel next to her, “You can use that one if you want. It’s my friend’s, but I don’t know WHEN she’s going to make it out here!”

I thanked her, folded up the wet towel, and basked in the sun a few more minutes. I wondered why the towels were so wet if at least one of the chair hogs was obviously not, nor had been, in the hot tub. Aha! The morning rain! Must have been a classic case of saving the chairs with a couple of towels early in the morning, and then the rain came in. My puny brain congratulated itself for solving another Scooby Doo mystery. Now it’s time to check on Alex and Alyssa.

I left Serenity deck feeling warm and calm, and walked upstairs to the slides and Waterdon’tworks. I spotted Alyssa right away and knew Alex couldn’t be far. Sure enough, he was in one of the lounge chairs close to the bottom of the racing slides, where Alyssa was playing. I watched her play for a while, then walked over to Alex to see what was on his agenda for the rest of the afternoon.

“I want to do the galley tour at 4:00,” he told me. That sounded interesting, but I had done it before on other ships, and thought I would take Alyssa to see a show choir in the Paris lounge at 4:15. (I was really curious about what it was about, as the Fun Times had specifically noted a disclaimer that the “Above Event is Not Affiliated With CCL Entertainment.”)

“Want to come to tea with me in a little while, then you can go to the galley tour from there?” I asked.

“Ok,” Alex said, “I’m going to let Alyssa play for a few more minutes, then I’ll meet you back in the cabin. We can clean up and then go.”

Sounded like a plan to me, so I kissed Alex and Alyssa goodbye. I wanted to seize the opportunity to have the cabin to myself long enough to get a hot shower without the sounds of little fists banging on the bathroom door and a little voice repetitively calling “Mommy!Mommy!Mommy!Mommy!Mommy! Are you in there? Mommy!Mommy!Mommy!Mommy!Mommy!” LOL!

I was just toweling off when Alex and Alyssa returned. I flipped through the TV stations while they got cleaned up. Alyssa was starting to whine about going back to the Waterdon’tworks, but Alex told her that he happened to know a place that sold gummy bears and gummy worms, and was wondering if there was a little girl on board somewhere who would like some. “Me! Me! Me!” came the answer, as Alyssa bounced up and down.

We headed for the Formalities shop where the coveted candies were on display in plastic bins with tiny scoops. “Back in 10 Minutes” read the sign on the door. Bummer. So we waited around and checked out the view. (Of course I had to take some pictures while we waited.)

5 or so minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Formalities opening, so we walked past the Violins bar to the Avant Garde lounge. Inside, was a “Just in time to save” sale, in which the shops on board had set out racks of clearance clothing and a few tables of watches and jewelry. Alex was the only one interested in browsing, so I entertain Alyssa and walked around the club with her a little. Alex didn’t see anything he just had to have, so he walked with us back towards Formalities, which had finally opened.

Alyssa broke into a run and chanted “Gummies! Gummies! Gummies!” The lady behind the counter smiled at her. We helped Alyssa bag some gummy bears and a few gummy worms, weighed our purchase, and put just over $2 on our S&S card. The lady behind the counter asked Alyssa, “You want to stay with me? I give you more candy!”

“OK!” Alyssa replied, nodding her head emphatically.

The lady laughed and said, “OK, you can stay with me then!”

“Well, Alyssa,” Alex said, as he took her hand to lead her out, “You just failed *that* test!”

We walked down to the piano bar (of course we got a little lost along the way!) to afternoon tea. Other people had actually attended today’s tea! There were a few tables already occupied when we arrived.

“Nice to see you again,” said the nice waiter who served me my solo tea a few days ago. I smiled appreciatively, selected a chamomile tea, and commented that tea time was one of my favorite shipboard events.

Alyssa set some of her gummy worms on her saucer, and started munching on some gummy bears. Another server came along with the cart of goodies, and I requested a cucumber sandwich and scone each for me and Alyssa. The server saw the gummy worms and said, “In my country, we call those [the word eludes me at the moment].” I repeated the word and asked, “What do you call candy in general?” He told me, and I tried to teach Alyssa how to pronounce the two words. She managed to get close enough, and then offered one of her gummy worms to her new friend with the cart of goodies. He smiled and thanked her, but politely refused.

We all three sat and listened to the piano music for a while. Alyssa soon pointed to the pianist and declared, “Mommy, he’s just like Mr. Emery” [Alyssa’s music teacher at her school and the choir director at my church.] Then she noticed all the piano keys on the bar that circled him, and immediately wanted to go “play” them.

About 10 minutes before 4:00, I suggested that Alex try to make his way to the Mardi Gras dining room for the galley tour. Alyssa pleaded with him to take her with him, so after agreeing to hook up after our respective events, Alex carried Alyssa out. I stuck around to finish my tea and listen to the music.

Then I gathered my things, thanked our servers, and strolled around the public spaces, taking a few pictures here and there as I slowly made my way to the Paris lounge at the front of the ship.

The Cabell Midland Show Choir turned out to be a high school choir comprised of many of the kids I had seen around the ship, including Mr. I-Ate-3-Steak-And-Brie-Sandwiches-Last-Night. They put on a nice song and dance routine that lasted a little more than 15 minutes. Only 4:30. Hmmmm….what now? I decided to take some more pictures of the ship so that I could try out the various scene and lighting settings on my camera. (“Hey, I wonder what this ‘food’ setting does?!”)

I’m not sure how much later it was, but I ended up in front of the Mardi Gras dining room, and waited a while longer for Alex and Alyssa. When a few more minutes passed and they didn’t appear, I went back to our cabin to wait. Alex and Alyssa were there, and Alyssa was fast asleep. Aw! Alex said that she fell asleep on his shoulder during the galley tour.

[Lady_Jag]

We let Alyssa nap while we got dressed for dinner. I told Alex that the comedian, Allyn Ball, was going to be performing the R-rated comedy show tonight, and suggested that we check Alyssa into Camp Carnival while we went to the show. After all, our bags were already packed and ready to be set outside the cabin. All I had to do was add a few cable ties and our luggage tags (we had #21, so we would be one of the last off the ship).

When it was time to head for the dining room, we woke Alyssa. She stretched, yawned, and declared herself “hungee.” Well, that’s good, we told her, because it’s time to go to dinner!

I was glad that Alyssa was wide awake this time for our final meal in the main dining room. (So were Nadel and Marichu.) Just like the rest week, the food and service were outstanding. I gave Alyssa the thank you cards I had written out the night before and that held a little extra tip money plus scratch off lottery tickets just for kicks. I told her which one she needed to give to Nadel, which to Marichu, and which to Ramesh, our Maitre D. Alyssa was thrilled to have such and important mission, and wanted one more picture with our wait team.

We then brought Alyssa to Camp Carnival and considered attending the main show in the Paris lounge before the comedy show. Nah! Instead, we wandered the ship and found one of the “secret doors” that lead out to the semi-private decks up front. Brrrrr! It was COLD and WINDY tonight! We raced to a stairwell going up and wound up at a glass door that lead to the gym. Locked! There were a couple of people in there, but the door turned out to be only an emergency exit. D’oh!

Joel’s room wasn’t far, so we walked to his room and knocked on his door to invite him to join us at the comedy show later. No answer. We looked down at the luggage he had set out well before 8:00, and considered pranking him, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, we went for a walk about the ship, then stopped at our cabin to put our own bags out before making our way towards the aft lounge.

We passed through the photo gallery and saw Tia buying some pictures from Cristian. After she made her transaction, I asked if she had enjoyed the cruise, and if everyone else had had a good time. She said they all had a wonderful time, and were glad they booked. Well, almost everyone. Her husband wasn’t all that impressed, and she probably wouldn’t be able to talk him into another cruise, but that’s ok. We agreed that cruising isn’t for everyone, and at least he wasn’t completely miserable the entire trip.

We told Tia we’d see her later and made our way towards the aft Candlelight lounge so we could check the Serenity deck for Joel. We happened upon both Joel and Mark near the Violins lounge. “This guitarist coming up,” Joel explained, pointing to the small stage, “He’s great! He looks Asian, but he’s from Canada, and he sings country songs!” Ummm…ok. We sat down across the table from him and watched several of the high school choir gather in front of the stage. Guess it didn’t take this guy long to get a strong following!

We talked a bit and listened to the music, while the kids in front of the stage sang along, danced, shouted out requests, and just had a good time overall. At some point, the guitarist started playing the Chicken Dance. Joel jumped up and started flapping his arms behind me, coaxing, “C’mon, Mark! C’mon, Alex! C’mon, Laura!” No thanks, I think I’ll sit this one out.

One of the high school boys, however, saw Joel clucking and flapping alone, so he shouted, “Hey! OK!” then ran over, grabbed Joel, and brought him into his group to dance. I laughed. Joel stuck out like a…well, like a 40-something guy in a sea of high school kids. Dang! Of all the times not to have my camera! LOL!

After the chicken dance, the guitarist started singing “Friends in Low Places.” All the kids threw their arms around each others shoulders and started swaying back and forth. Joel, not realizing that he was now “crashing” the party, tried to join in at the far end of the line. He attempted to throw his arm around the nearest shoulders and sway with the rest of the crowd, but the girl whose shoulder happened to be nearest to Joel was NOT amused! She shot him a look that said, “As IF, old man! You are so not good enough to be touching any of THIS!” Surprised, Joel moved away, and eventually made it back to the table where Mark, Alex, and I were laughing hysterically!

Another song or two, and then Alex and I decided it was time to move to the Candlelight lounge so that we could get good seats for the comedy show. We invited Mark and Joel to join us, but they said they’d probably stay put and listen to the music a while longer.

Inside the Candlelight lounge, we endured the last few “all ages karaoke” performances as more and more people started to enter the lounge. Finally, karaoke was over, and announcements were made that the comedy show would be starting soon, so order your drinks now for fastest service. The entertainment host also announced that the show was for ages 18 and up ONLY, and that they would be checking IDs of anyone who appeared to be even close to 18 years of age. He said, “even you are here with your parents, you MUST be 18 or over to stay and watch the show.”

We were watching the entertainment host and other Carnival employees make their way through the audience, carding people and “bouncing” the kids out, when who should sit down at the table next to us but the kids from the Violins lounge, including Miss I’mTooHotForYouOldMan! The entire table was carded. Some had legit IDs, but 3-4 of the girls (including Miss TooHot) had no IDs on them and were sent away.

The show started soon thereafter. Allyn Ball had us all laughing, and it was an enjoyable show. Afterwards, we made our way to the Lido deck to split a slice of pizza. Tia and her friends were playing cards at one of the larger tables, so we sat down and chatted with them a while. Around 11:30, we excused ourselves to pick up Alyssa from Camp Carnival. There was a long line of parents flowing out of both the 2-5 group and 6-11 group doors!

We found a place at the back of the line, which moved quickly. Inside, I saw the kids lying on the floor, their heads on pillows, and blankets on top and under them. So cute! Ice Age2…or maybe it was the third one…was playing for those who, like Alyssa, were still awake.

I turned in my $250+ Camp Carnival phone and signed her out. Alyssa spotted me right away and popped up with an excited “Mommy!!” She was wearing bunny ears, and her face was fully painted. I held her hand and she jabbered on and on about how she got a snack, and they played games, and she got to color her bunny ears, and she got her face painted, and…and…and…

I wondered aloud if the “snack” she got was a case of Pixie Stix and 2 liter of Jolt cola.

“No,” Alyssa corrected, “it was chips and apple juice!”

Back in our cabin, I clean up Alyssa and got her ready for bed. Then I double-checked the bags we would carry off, changed, then climbed into bed as well. It was the end of our vacation, and I was not looking forward to our drive home tomorrow.

Tonight's towel animal was a phallic...I mean...a snail. It made me and Alex laugh.

[Lady_Jag]

Shakespeare Library

 

Atrium

 

Twister slide

(The colorful things in the forerground are supposed to be water sprayers for the Waterdon'tworks.)

 

Towel Animal Meet n' Greet...I mean, Demo.

 

Our entertainment host

[Lady_Jag]

Woah talk about attitude??? I was getting a little worried about what came next in the photos??? :eek:. Just kidding. woo hoo

 

Ha! Frank, you crack me up. I'd say that's about as much "attitude" as I can muster...wouldn't want to break the camera. :eek:

[Lady_Jag]

And now we've reached the worst day of the cruise...the day we woke up and were unceremoniously tossed off the ship and thrown back to the real world. Bummer.

 

I woke up as we were docking back in Tampa. I heard the grinding and rumbling of the engines as the ship slowly, slowly, came to a stop next to the pier. Sigh! I took my time getting dressed and making sure one last time that we weren't leaving any of our belongings behind.

 

My clumsy movements about the cabin woke Alex and Alyssa, but they both continued to just lie there in the bed. Oh well. Our luggage number was 21, so we had plenty of time before we could leave the ship anyway. There was a soft knock at our door, and before I could even turn the handle, the door opened, and for the very first time this cruise, I got a good look at our room steward!

 

"Oh, you sleep in? I'm sorry," he apologized, backing out of the room.

"We're on our way out," I explained, "we just need a few minutes." But the door was closing before I could even finish my sentence or catch his name.

 

Once we were all dressed, we reluctantly schlepped our carry-off bags up to the Lido deck. We located a table just inside the Brasserie near the door leading out to the pool and across from the restrooms.

 

The line inside the restaurant was huge, and stretched almost to our table by the door, but I noticed the line outside seemed pretty manageable. Today was the first time we were the round disc-shaped crispy little hash brown potatoes that I love so much were available. (Well, there's one bright spot to the day!)

 

Pretty soon, Katie and Kelsey stopped by. Katie, told us how sad it was to say goodbye to all her new friends, but that they had exchanged email addresses and would stay in touch. Kelsey, being the typical preteen, was thrilled to be able to text again. LOL! I think the poor thing might have suffered some serious withdrawals if the cruise were any longer!

 

"Well, we better get back so we're not in trouble for being late," Katie said, and off they went.

 

Joel had already found us and pulled up a chair. He said that even though he had luggage tags that had #10 on them, he might as well wait with us, since I was driving everyone home. Ha! Ha! A captive audience.

 

My attention turned to entertaining Alyssa, who was ready to go and whined about missing Simba the dolphin. I brought out a Mickey Mouse puzzle book with one of those "invisible ink" type markers, and we solved mazes and played games while Alex and Joel talked.

 

"Daddy," Alyssa said, "I have to go pee pee!"

 

Alex looked at me, then looked at the unisex restroom door a couple of feet away. "You wanna take her?" he asked, "I'd do it, but that unisex bathroom is really nasty!"

 

So I brought Alyssa into the Ladies room by the automatic door. EWWWW! This bathroom was pretty darn nasty, too! And not just "unclean," either. The bathroom had 2 doors - when you walked through the first door, you're in a tiny little anterior room with a little waste basket and the "real" bathroom door to your right. When you push open the second door, you enter the actual bathroom and are immediately standing in front of the sink...and in my case, standing in a huge puddle of dirty water on the floor.

 

I brought Alyssa into one of the two unkept stalls, let her take care of business, then carried her over to the Isla Sinka to wash her hands. I couldn't imagine why all that water was on the floor, considering the pools and hot tubs weren't open, and no one would have had the opportunity to stand there dripping in a wet bathing suit. Maybe it had been there since yesterday? Yuck!

 

Or maybe it came from the sink. I noticed that the sink itself had a very large crack in the basin, but more than that, when I turned off the water, I heard the sound of water hitting water coming from under the cabinet on which the sink was resting. Yikes!

 

I nearly slid on the wet tile flloor on my way out of the bathroom. Then in the little anterior room with the wastebasket (there were lots of paper "misses" wadded up on the floor around it), I saw that the the little paper-for-the-door-handle dispenser had been ripped off the back of the main door, and several more wadded tissues were stuffed in the little plastic shelf that remained. Yuck!

 

Back at our table, Joel was getting antsy. He decided he would meet us over by the valet stand at the base of the parking lot, then made his way to the door. Ummm...ok.

 

More numbers were called, including #19, which was the number for the rest of our group. We waved at Tia and the gang as they wheeled their luggage past us, and told them we would see them later. About 20 minutes later, our zone and the rest of the zone numbers were called. Time to go.

 

We exited the ship pretty easily. There was a bit of a back-up in the lobby, but that gave me just enough time to search for my and Alyssa's S&S cards in my tote bag. Since we had a stroller, we were directed to the elevator when we got to the terminal. A nice couple with their own little one in a stroller held the door for us. Their little one was probably 2 or younger, and did NOT look happy. "I know how you feel," I told her, "I didn't want to leave the ship and make a long drive either."

 

"Yeah," said the dad, "we're from Michigan, and have an 18-hour drive ahead of us." Yikes!

 

The claim area was kind of weird. Instead of the carousel we saw in Port Canaveral, all the luggage was grouped by number here and there across the large concrete floor. There was a roped off queue for customs that you had to wait in AFTER collecting all your luggage. There was also something that looked like a tall lemonade stand with the words "PORTER LINE" written across the board on the top. Two HUGE lines of people were lined up from one end of the room to the back wall, and neither seemed to be moving.

 

We didn't think it would be a good idea to wait with a four-year-old in either line for a porter, so we collected our bags and wheeled them into the customs queue. The queue moved really quickly. Alex handed over the declarations form, showed his Passport card, and then I handed my and Alyssa's cards to the agent. He glanced at the cards, made sure the photos somewhat resembled us, then waved us through.

 

Now came the tricky part. Even though we had valet parking, the valet stand was at the parking garage across the street. And without a porter, we had to navigate our umpteen bags, stroller, car seat, and Alyssa across the street. No problem. I strapped as much as I could to my smaller wheeled bag with the telscoping handle, then piled the rest into and onto the stroller. Since Alex was wheeling the two larger bags, I was going to have to push the stroller with one hand and drag my wheeled bag with the other.

 

"Alyssa, hon," I said, "it's time to start pulling your weight," and I handed her her own little wheeled pink bag. She was thrilled to be pulling her own luggage just like the grown ups! I was nervous as we approached the street, and ready to drop everything and grab Alyssa if she strayed even a milimeter from the crosswalk.

 

Fortunately, there was a crossing guard to keep the traffic at bay, but there were also trolley tracks that caught the wheels of Alyssa's bag. She stopped because she couldn't pull the bag out of the tracks, but before I could reach down to help her, a man behind us gave the bag a little nudge with his foot. Safely across the street, we saw Joel waiting with all his luggage at the valet podium.

 

Valet service was on the 4th floor of the garage, and our SUV was waiting for us as we got off the elevator. The valet offered to put our bags into the back for us, but since I knew what items were in each, I thought it'd be best if I stacked them so that nothing in the bags would get broken.

 

"You're really set on doing it yourself, huh?" the valet asked me in disbelief.

 

"Yeah thanks, but I got it," and I handed him a tip.

 

"Well, I'll check back in about 5 minutes, just in case."

 

Ha! We were loaded and moving in less than 3! On the road, I found the on ramp for I-75 and waited at the red light. Hey! Donna, Tia, and the gang were waiting at the light in Donna's excursion just in front of us! Cool.

 

Our impromtu caravan parted ways at I-4 (Donna continued on I-75), and traffic was a bear... again. (Coincidentally there was a traffic accident in the same place on I-4 as on the way TO Tampa), but traffic on I-75 was far worse. Tia told us that it took 30 minutes to go just a few miles on I-75, and that their 3 hour drive became a 6 hour journey home! Ouch!

 

So overall, I'd say this was a great cruise! We all had fun and made some great memories. And I think it made Alex even more anxious for our sailing next month on the Dream, because when we returned home, he immediately started researching the ship and its amenities: "Hey, did you know Camp Carnival was on the same deck as our cabin? Cool, there are hot tubs there too. What's 'Tandor?' Oh, the Serenity deck is on 2 decks!"

 

But that's another story...

[CCbaby817]

Thanks for the great review. We aren't even going on this ship, but I enjoyed reading it. Your daughter is just too cute. Glad everyone had a great time and got home safely. I look forward to your next review...

[Lady_Jag]

Thanks for the great review. We aren't even going on this ship, but I enjoyed reading it. Your daughter is just too cute. Glad everyone had a great time and got home safely. I look forward to your next review...

 

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to relive our cruise by writing this review. We can't wait until our next cruise adventure. :cool:

[nxtdoor]

Thank you so much for the review. It was great. I think I'm confused about the slides and waterworks. Are the slides not part of the waterworks? what is considered the waterworks? thanks

[Lady_Jag]

Thank you so much for the review. It was great. I think I'm confused about the slides and waterworks. Are the slides not part of the waterworks? what is considered the waterworks? thanks

 

Hi! Sorry for the confusion. You are correct. Technically "Waterworks" proper is one large area that consists of the slides and the spray park. The slides have a 42" min. height requirement for both the racers and the twister. The spray park takes up the rest of the area and is supposed to have a variety of sprayers and water features to play in.

 

The spray park was not operational this cruise, so the kids who didn't want, or were too short to slide had to find their own type of water play. Some scooped water out of the slides' base area, some waited to get splashed by people coming down the slides, and some ran the outdoor shower and created their own sprayers.

[MrsBlair]

Great review! I really enjoyed it! Have fun on the Dream and I hope you'll be doing another review when you return! :p

[USMC_Wifey]

This is the exact same cruise that we are leaving out on this Saturday. You mentioned that you used valet parking at the port. Do you remember what the cost was for this and how much per day they charge to keep your car at the port garage? Thanks so much!

[Lady_Jag]

This is the exact same cruise that we are leaving out on this Saturday. You mentioned that you used valet parking at the port. Do you remember what the cost was for this and how much per day they charge to keep your car at the port garage? Thanks so much!

 

Total for parking and for valet was $85, not including tip. I think it broke down as $14/day for parking, plus $15 for valet. You pay up front when you get to the terminal, then just show your receipt to collect your vehicle.

 

Have a great cruise! I wish I were escaping this Saturday. ;)

[TravelGirl828]

Thanks for the great review. I've sailed on this boat several times and looking forward to sailing again this weekend! :o

[kcjbo3535]

great review thanks

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your great photo review...enjoyable. :):):)

[Rosefloater]

Thanks for your great photo review...enjoyable. :):):)

 

Are you aware the post before yours was from 3 years ago?:eek:

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures!

[ch27088]

I enjoyed reading your review and can't wait for the next one when you return from your cruise on the Dream. I'm thinking of trying your trick on packing the next to the last night so that DH and I can spend time doing things on board instead of packing (excellent idea). Sorry the waterworks wasn't up and running, but at least the slides were open for the kids/adults. I actually enjoy the slides myself.

[Catrin]

Funny how these reviews from years ago pop up!!

 

The Inspiration isn't even in Tampa anymore.. it is in California!!!

 

Maybe I should re-post my old reviews!!! Some of the older ones are the best ones out there!

Catrin

[ccruisequeen]

I was confused as well. Didn't see the date was 3 years ago! Was going to ask if there was a white party so I could plan an extra white blouse!

 

 

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