First Cruise: A Review Carnival Sensation 08/21/2011

[IcyHound]

Warning: This review is filled with minutia. I comment on everything and anything. This review is also photo heavy. This review is also written by an enthusiastic person who has never cruised before.

 

A more succinct review will be posted under the Sensation's reviews.

 

Cruise Date: August 21st, 2011 a four day cruise on the Carnival Sensation

Cruise Stops: Freeport, Bahamas and Nassau, Bahamas

 

Underwater photographs were taken with a Kodak Playsport. It did quite well in the ocean.

 

The review spans travel as well as cruising. It is very long. I commented on a lot of things that I had questions about. I am a planner by nature and like little details.

 

It took us two weeks to book another cruise. We are going on the Liberty 01/07/12.

[IcyHound]

Flight to Flordia

 

Fly early if you can.

We arrived at the airport about two and a half hours before our flight. We normally try for three, but I had gotten off of work at 0700hrs and I was not moving as fast as I might have. We had packed well in advance so we where fine there.

 

We fly United. Tim flies with them all of the time for work. He travels a lot for his job so he is a premier member and gets perks and miles to fly with them. We went to their self check in section and attempted to check ourselves in. The first terminal did not work. We slid over to another terminal but then we wound up stuck between two high maintainance groups.

 

The people to our left wanted to change everything about their flight. Instead of going to the check in line for buying and changing flight details, they stood in the self check in line and occupied one of the people. Each of the airline people are assigned to two terminals. They are there to check your ID, put on your baggage tags, and load your baggage. They did not have the time to do any of this thanks to this group.

 

To our right, was a British couple and three teen age girls. They where upset becuase however they had booked their tickets, it caused the girls not to sit together. One of the three is sobbing becuase she will have to sit by herself. The father is snarling at the guy about how they keep getting the run around. The girls are now all crying. Their luggage is pink but I don’t think that had anything to do with the entire situation.

 

All told, it took us forty five minutes to get our bags checked in.

 

Then we had to wade through security. The high maintenance couple to our left appeared near us in the security line. We got out of that line and moved to another. I’m glad we did because they caused another incident over at the security point.

 

By the time we made it to our flight we had fifteen minutes until boarding. We had not eaten all day, our plan being to eat in the terminal. Instead, we ran through the airport and passed a sign that said ‘Last place to stop for food here’ and reached our terminal. Wheezing and out of breath I ran back to the last stop for food and bagged chips and some apples. As I headed back Tim called and told me that our flight was delayed for an hour due to technical problems with the plane.

So much for running around. We went and got dinner. It was a nice meal that reminded me that you only get plastic utensals inside of hte airport. Unless you are in one of the airline clubs. There, you can get real utensals.

 

Another flight came in. It was a bigger plane and I assume it was either scheduled to sit for a while or head to Florida. It was our plane now. and we where on our way with an hour and a half delay. This is the type of reason why we had decided to fly the day before. I would not want to live with the stress of trying to fly in the same day as the cruise and having the flight delayed.

 

When we selected our hotel, we selected one that was close to an airport. We looked into it and they said that they had a shuttle to the cruise line. This seemed to be the easiest option. We flew into Orlando and rented a car from Hertz. We would then drop the car off at the airport by the hotel and take the shuttle provided by the airport to the dock.

 

The Hertz rental itself was a bit of a mess. My husband has been a Gold Member of Hertz in the past. He signed up for it. However, he has said that it often does not work. Therefore, he went to the desk to pick up the rental car. There he was told he was a gold member and he could just go and pick out a car. So, when we went to the pickup there was a sign board and his name was not on it. We went into the next office where we were told we were not gold members and given our rental car. Our rental, of course, was located all the way to the back of the lot. It was a little Toyota Corolla. I was hoping for the Nissan Versa we had originally asked for.

 

The Toyota Corolla has no trunk space. We fit our two large cases in the trunk and it was done. There was not enough room for anything else. Not even a backpack. The third case and the backpacks went onto the back seat.

 

It was about an hour’s drive from Orlando to Melborne airport. It was a smooth ride with little traffic. We went to the hotel. We dropped off our stuff and went back out, our goal to get something for dinner. The highway sign said that there was an IHOP nearby. However, it seems that the sign lied to us. There was no IHOP.

We wound up at Steak a Shake. This was a very nice experience. Nice enough that we wrote a review. There was also a massive fraternity meeting going on and everyone was dressed in purple. They took up about a quarter of the restaurant. The staff managed to keep them corralled. ‘Thank you.

 

Back at the Hotel we decide to ask the front desk about the shuttle. She says, “We can help you arrange transportation.” This is where things start to go downhill. “We don’t have a shuttle ourselves” she said. “I can help arrange transportation to the cruise line but it will probably cost a lot. Can’t you just drive? They have parking at the pier.”

 

“We have a rental car,” we remind her.

 

“Oh. You sure wanted to the last minute to plan this.” I can’t say what comes after that becuase my head exploded for a moment. We accepted contact information for the airport shuttle and for a private company called Black Ice or something else shady and went to our room.

 

There we said “*****” to each other and pulled out our laptops to look up transportation. This is when we learned that the free WiFi that the hotel had bragged about was slow. If you wanted their fast internet you had to pay to play. Also, the bed was rock hard. I flopped down on it, stomach first and almost vomited because it felt like someone punched me in the gut. I was not expecting that and I apologize to my stomach. It didn’t deserve that.

 

We made some phone calls but no one was open. Frustrated, we decided that we would call in the morning. Worst case scenario, we’d get a cab.

 

Residence Inn Marriott Melbourne

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

I slept poorly on that rock hard bed. It was awful. I woke up about every thirty minutes. I’d love to say that it was excitement, but it was misery.

We woke up sore and grumpy. I called the airport shuttle to inquire about the shuttle schedule to the port. I was told that they had one shuttle scheduled to go to the port and that it left around noon. We are supposed to be boarded by 1430hrs. That is not much time considering the distance from the airport to the cruise lines was about an hour.

 

We went and got breakfast. Coffee was needed by the husband. We where both a bit hungry and tired. It worked out for us. They had a real breakfast, much to my surprise. Often times, the breakfast offered by a hotel is some old bagels and dry pastries. They had eggs, sausage, potatoes, waffles, cereal, oatmeal, and juices. They also had coffee. At one point, I looked around and realized that I was the only adult not drinking coffee. I felt strange. It did not help that someone had switched the television to an evangelist Sunday morning service. I learned that God can read text messages and knows when you use his name in vain. I guess all of those comic strips of them using computers in heaven are true.

 

We started making a plan B. Plan B evolved as I did some reading and discovered that there was a car rental right by the pier. I asked my husband to see if we could move the drop off. He was tired and grumpy about our sudden lack of premade plans. When he called Hertz they said “Sure, and your rate is the same.” That means the 63 dollars we were paying to rent the car from the previous day covered us dropping off at the pier. They also had a shuttle to the cruise terminal.

 

This was becoming a better situation. Finding the actual addresses to GPS coordinate ourselves was a little bit harder. People have been cruising for longer then there has been an internet. Some of these established agencies are not online yet. This makes finding simple bits of information hard. Everyone wants to route us to the airport as their home base.

 

Yet, we found the address, packed up, and headed out.

 

At checkout the receptionist asks, “How was your stay?”

 

Tim looked at her and said, “It sucked. The bed was horrible. It was incredibly hard.”

 

“We hear that a lot,” she chirped. “People either love them or hate them.”

 

“I hated it,” he snarled. “It was awful.”

 

“Sorry about that! So, here is your bill,” she checked us out. “Oh yes! The night clerk said that you all were taking a limo from Black Diamond?”

 

“No. We thought the hotel had a shuttle. We rented a car.“ Tim glared and we left.

 

We will write a poor review for that hotel. TripAdvisor.Com and I will have a talk.

 

 

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Residence Inn Marriott in Melbourne, Florida: Do not stay here unless you like hard beds and shady dealings

 

Heading to Port Canaveral

 

It was about ten when we left. We stopped at CVS along the way to get some drinks. On the ship, soda costs extra. Or you can buy a soda card. Well, for a 4 day cruise a 30 dollar soda card for each of us seemed excessive. You can bring up to 12 nonalcoholic beverages on board. You can also bring a bottle of wine or champagne each. I grabbed a selection of drinks for the two of us and hopped back into the car.

 

I’ll say that Florida’s roads are well marked. However, I would expect there to be more signs that say CRUISE SHIPS THIS WAY then there were. We did not see any signage until we were three miles away on the road that leads to the ports. A bit after the signs we start to see the ships sitting at port. They loom up over the trees and they are enormous.

 

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The Disney Dream has the red stacks and the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas is the other. My ship, the Carnival Sensation, is smaller and tucked behind them.

The Hertz place was right past the ships. We had barely stopped weaving all over the road as we ogled the cruise ships and then Hertz place appeared. It was not even a mile past the ships. We parked and started walking towards the building. Two employees approached us and asked if we had our mileage. We gave it, they grabbed the keys and told us to hop on the shuttle and enjoy our trip. We blinked and bam, we are on the shuttle and on our way.

 

That is what we had been looking for. Organization and coordination.

The driver for Hertz was fantastic. He gave some facts about each ship docked. The Disney Dream was at dock with the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas and the Carnival Sensation. The Sensation is the smallest of the ships by far.

 

We got dropped off. I did not have to pay the porter for my bag. He did not ask and I did not give. We will see if our bags make it. We printed our luggage tags out in color. I then folded them as instructed and taped them up with clear packaging tape. Then, we stapled them all around the edges and in the center. It will take some effort to remove them. We also have luggage straps around the bags and nothing valuable inside of them.

 

At the terminal, we have VIP boarding. It means a super short line and a direct walk to the ship. I kept managing to get into the wrong lines. There are signs and the signs have arrows. There is normally a path by the sign. Yet, it is the next path over that I am supposed to take. How, I am supposed to know this I am not sure. Don’t walked by the sign, pick the unlabeled lane one line over instead.

I then got yelled at for taking a photo graph as we walked up the steps to get to the gang way.

 

The first glimpse of the ship was neon.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

It was hard not to stop and stare around us. While boarding a ship is not an accomplishment, it felt like it at that moment.

[IcyHound]

Carnival Sensation - First Views

 

We entered the ship right at the base of the four story atrium. Another group entered as we did and said, “You can’t even tell that you are one a ship!”. It was true. It was like being inside of a Vegas Hotel. Lots of neon, bold colors, crazy decorations, and a bar full of people right in front of us. We stepped into the glass, neon elevators and headed up so that we could get out of the flood of boarding people.

 

Boarding officially starts around 1230 but if the ship is ready they start taking them as early as 1130. We were on board by 1200.

 

We went up to the Lido deck. I figured that wherever everything was, up would mean the open decks. The Lido deck is where the pools and the buffet are. There is also the Mongolian grill and a burger and hot dog buffet as well. These are all free ship food places. We had our backpacks and bags of soda so we wanted to find some place to settle down until we could go to our room.

 

We picked a table at random and settled in. My husband went off looking for something to eat. I guarded the bags and people watched. The food lines where already very long and it was only about 1230. However, most people were carrying their bags and waiting to go to their rooms

 

The Pool on the Sensation is very small. It is around 15 by 30. It looks to be very shallow. It is not a swimming pool. It is a body of water to play in. If you just want to splash around head to the aft (rear) of the ship and try the water park. There are several slides and lots of water works to splash around in.

At each end of the pool is a circular hot tub. There are two of these. Lounge chairs abound. They are full of sun burnt people. These sun burnt people seem to be enjoying themselves. I left them to it. I was interested in swimming in only one body of water and it was not on the ship.

 

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There are another two, small hot tubs on the Serenity Deck which is the adult only area. This did not open until the second day we were out. The lounge chairs here are also more comfortable. They are padded and for the most part set up side by side.

 

My husband wandered back with a plate from the Mongolian Grill. It wasn’t bad. I would have liked a bit more sauce. He got it schezuan style and it was quite spicy. I did find the deserts and they are the first things that I took photographs of.

 

Chocolate Cake – Very Rich

 

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Candied Fruit Cupcake – It’s like a fruit cake with regular cake. I didn’t try it

but Tim said it was tasty.

 

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We also had some salad and fresh fruit. There was watermelon, cantaloupe and money do melon. I nabbed a few pieces of french bread and Tim found the rotisserie and had some meat carved. The lines were getting long and we didn’t know how to navigate them. The lines for the Grill the Mongolian and the Rotisserie all pool in the same general area but there are three stations. In the main buffet area there are two sides that mirror each other. This all helps the traffic to funnel through and move quickly because there are three different stations for a total of six places to fill your plate.

 

It was a lot of food and plenty of places to sit. Sadly, some of those places were outside. Not adjusted to the heat yet, we found a hallway and settled down there.

I also learned not to use unisex bathrooms. The seat did not lift and men had been using it and missing. I do not blame this on the ship. The bathroom was clean. It did not smell bad. It was just obvious that people had been using it and using it poorly.

 

There are plenty of gender specific bathrooms scattered around the ship. I avoided the unisex ones after that. They are right off of the pool area and lots of people trotted around barefooted. Yuck. My eyes cross just thinking about it.

[IcyHound]

A Grand Suite on the Carnival Sensation - U98

 

Around one thirty we decided to see if our Cabin was ready. There had not been any announcements about cabin’s so we decided to go look. I figured that the decks would be locked down if they did not want us on them.

 

We were in room/cabin U98. This is a Grand Suite on the Upper Deck in the middle of the ship. We had an extended balcony as well.

 

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There are two twins that are connected into a king. The bed was VERY comfortable. After the hard ass bed we had the night before, this was blissful.

 

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There is also a couch, a chair, and an ottoman. The couch is a pullout bed if you want to shove a few more people into the suite. It has more then enough room for more people.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

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The fridge never got cold. It stopped things from being warm but I could not grace it with more then being a bit cool. It was not cooler then the AC. The AC kept the room cold. Tim said he could do with more air flow and resolved to bring a fan the next trip.

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There is also a chair behind me as well as the door. There is a lot of room here.

 

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The door stays open by itself. Getting something to hold the door open had been a lot of discussion. We did wedge the chair in front of it just in case while we played with the lock. The lock and the handle are separate so you will not lock yourself out unless you turn the actual lock from the inside. There is a lip to get back into the cabin and Tim and I both tripped over it several times until we got used to stepping high.

 

[IcyHound]

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The bathroom also is a step up. The light switch is on the outside and it is at normal level. Therefor, if you try to turn it off from the inside of the room you almost fall out. The tub is very tall. The lip of it was above my knee. The shower was in the center of the tub which was also odd feeling. It is very deep but not very large through the center.

 

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The tub is nice and deep to lounge in. However, if the ship is rolling be careful about stepping into it. It is high enough that you are very much off balance stepping in. There is a rail and the counter is right there.

[IcyHound]

I had watched a cruise ship special while I waited for my trip. It was filled with fun information and it was about turn over day for the Oasis of the Seas. Freedom of the Seas was in port and it is the Oasis’ Sister Ship.

 

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Also the Disney Dream was in.

 

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The Disney Dream did a similar route to the Carnival Sensation. It did a four day cruise and then a three day. The Freedom of the Seas does a 7 day.

 

Both of these ships are much larger then the Sensation with twice the passengers. We had a light load with only a bit over two thousand people on board. With fewer passenger’s we where the first out. I got to see one of things, that to me, is coolest about a cruise ship.

 

They back up, spin in circles, and parallel park like a car. I had watched the Monarch of the Seas dock on a television special. They spun it in a circle when they went to port. Being on the ship as it spun around was very cool

 

You saw the photographs above. We parked on the rear upper deck and watched our ship back out of dock and spin around to open water.

 

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And off we went. About this point we lost cell reception from land. The Florida coast line was attractive.

 

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Later, the Dream came up from behind us and passed us moving a lot faster.

 

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And then the Dream passed us.

 

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We unpacked our clothing. I’m not used to unpacking when I travel but Tim is. I took the closet and he took the drawers. There was more then enough room. Our room could easily hold four people and all of their luggage without anyone tripping over anyone else.

[IcyHound]

I was excited to eat. The buffet was featuring Italian that night. Tim changed into long pants and we went to find our dining room. We had chosen any time dining and we decided to eat around 7:00. We had assumed that we would eat later, but after unpacking our things we where excited and hungry and very, very tired.

 

We were assigned to the Fantasy Dining Room. There are two dining rooms. The second is called the Ecstasy Dining Room. The names make me giggle.

 

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

Outside a show girl in full costume was there for people to take photographs with her. I'll discuss pictures during another post.

 

They are elegant places with lots of glass and brass, wood chairs and table cloths every where. The seating arrangement seems to be that assigned dining gets seated in the center. The center of the room is a raised platform. The any time diners eat on the sides. There are tables of four and tables for two. They will combine them for larger parties but you get to eat privately.

 

Now privately sitting is not a cuddly booth for two. For the most part the tables look like this.

 

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One side is a booth and one a seat. There is an average of eighteen inches between the tables. Its enough room to slide in and out but it is not secluded. The booth side faces the windows. The tables are narrow but somewhat long. When they seat you they pull the chair out for the woman and place her napkin on her lap. I hate this. I can pull out my own chair. I can also put my napkin where I want to. I tended to sit on the other side of where they pulled the chair out becuase I had no idea they where pulling the chair out for me. My automatic reaction is to avoid them so it made for some awkward seating situations until I caught on. This type of thing is an interesting divergence point between Tim and I. I shy away from people giving me services that I ca do on my own. They don't bother him and bit and in fact he enjoys the attention.

 

When you sit down you get fresh bread and butter. They make all the bread on ship and they do an excellent job of it. Its crusty and soft. Your water glass is filled and then the drink waiter comes around and tries to convince you to spend some money on alcohol or soda. Tim didn’t care for the taste of the water. It had a bit of a metallic flavor. He asked for some lemon and that cleared it up. He kept offering me lemon and I kept saying no. The flavor did not bug me.

 

 

Because I have been reading forums about cruising I knew that I could order whatever I wanted. This was a good thing because the menu looked pretty good. There is a section called Didja (As in Did You Ever) and it features an exotic selection that you might have wanted to try but did not want to risk.

 

The first day it was Escargot. I’ve always wanted to try it but not enough to pay for it. So this was a great option for me. I’m pretty adventurous with exotic food. I won’t eat things with mayonnaise on them but I’ll try snails.

 

I didn’t take photographs of the menus. They are pretty wide ranging. There is a daily menu with staples such as a flat iron steak, a burger, spinach dip and a Caesar salad. There is a daily comfort food section with things like meatloaf and fried chicken.

 

I stuck to the ritzy side. The first day I wound up with the duck appetizer, a Caesar salad, and the escargot. The waiter came up and asked, "What would you like?" and I answered, "A lot of things" and rattled off my list feeling giddy and wicked at the same time. It was fantastic.

 

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The duck. It was on a spicy rice noodle and they were delicious. I’ve been learning to cook rice noodles becuase I love the texture. They are a bit slippery. Tim also got the duck but he did not care for the rice noodles under it.

 

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The escargot. It was chewy and buttery. A lot of oil on the dish. The toasted piece of bread helped to absorb the oil and give it a flavor more then an oiliness. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t super great either.

 

I didn’t get a photograph of the Caesar salad. I ordered a fancy named chicken dish that was basically a piece of chicken coated and cooked in fresh herbs on a tomato cream pasta. The pasta needed more sauce and the herb thing had a bit of a blandly bitter undertone. The piece of chicken was cooked to perfection and was succulent and moist.

 

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Tim got a pork chop type thing that he said was very good.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

[IcyHound]

And then for desert. Tim ordered coffee and I ordered tea. The desert menu has about 10 selections on it. They have two main deserts, a low calorie deserts, ice cream, sorbets, and then alcoholic drinks. I had heard a lot about the warm chocolate melting cake so I decided to try it.

 

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My first impression was that it was a chocolate lava cake. But then I realized that it did not have a liquid center. It was really, really, very rich. Its tasty and a nice dark chocolate flavor. Its super sweet and the ice cream helps to tone it down. I ate about half of it and then I was chocolated out. My husband tried it. His eyes lit up and he started to drool a bit as he consumed the rest of it.

I can see why people like it. However, it was not unique in my opinion. I tried the other, more exotic deserts for the rest of the trip.

 

I liked Tim's key lime pie a lot more the the chocolate cake. It was very creamy.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

There was another interesting thing. The couple next to us saw us get the plate of lemon slices and did the same. We would come to see them multiple times through the rest of the cruise. Two thousand people are a lot of people but you start to see the same people over and over again. The girl seemed a bit grumpy and the man uninterested in what she had to say.

 

I noticed them becuase they where some of the only people in the dining room wearing shorts and t-shirts. I was reminded of the heated arguments on Cruise Critic about dress in the dining room.

 

I had to chuckle a bit inside.

 

Evening Explorations

 

Carnival delivers a little ship news print that is called the FunTimes. They also call the ship the FunShip so take it as you will. The news letter is useful. It tells you the times of all the shows and activities on board as well as their locations. There are a lot of on ship advertisements for things such as the art auction and the gambling classes. However, there is also a simple itemized list of all ship activities. This includes what time we are entering and leaving port, what time to return to the ship, when meals are and what the feature meal is at the Lido Buffet.

 

This is how I found our first event attempt, called Game show Mania. It was the only interesting thing that I saw on the first night and I suggested it to Tim. He agreed and we made our way to the lounge after dinner.

 

This seems to be how you earn ships on a stick. These are gold colored cheap trophies that Carnival gives out for games and silly fun. They had movie trivia at the start as well as music trivia. Not being one that watches movies or listens to music it was over my head.

 

The Gameshow Mania was basicaly onboard jepordy. I’m not sure what I had hoped for. I guess something interesting. This was not interesting. I left. Tim stayed. I decided that wandering the depths of the ship would provide me with much more interest.

 

It turns out that I was right. I’m not the social type. The ship was quiet. The bars were full and the air smelled of intoxication. I don’t drink and at times I have trouble dealing with drinkers. I remind myself that a cruise ship is one of the better places for people to decide to drink on. I avoided the crowds and sought out the quieter parts of the ship.

 

There where a lot of couples talking. The atmosphere around them was often tense. I do not think that the conversations where pleasant. There were many frowns and strained atmospheres. Perhaps this was a fix it cruise for many. Ocean and sky. These are two pieces to a romantic puzzle.

 

Night time on board fascinates me. The interior of the ship is a lot like being in a building. We had hit a bit of rough water and I did not have any type of sea legs. Therefor, I could feel the pitch and roll of the floor as I walked around and occasionally staggered when the ground was not where I expected it to be. The shops are open late and everyone is running around with a drink in their hand. I wound up with raffle tickets to something at some point. I’m not sure what the raffle was for or where it was. This happened a few other times on the ship. I know it was either for art or jewelry, two things I was not interested in pursuing on my ship.

 

I know that sounds strange, but even though they assure me that they are giving me great sales and excellent deals, I don’t believe them. Crazy as it is, I just don’t.

 

I started with the Lido deck. As I stepped outside I wondered if I was in the right place. For a moment, there seemed to be no wind and a black ceiling had been placed over the entire expanse. I shook off the feeling and instead stared up at the expanse of unlit black sky above me. A string of light bulbs runs the length of the deck and they block out the starlight. The walls of the deck are also two stories tall with the upper edges being another area for sunbathing. This makes it very warm with very little air movement. The air, instead is heavy with the scent of chlorine from the bubbling hot tubs.

 

I wound my way up the steps onto the next balcony. We had not really been forward so I headed that way, climbing steps as I found them. At one point, I stepped through a doorway and found myself on a spongy surface. Puzzled, I followed the red squishy path and discovered the mini golf area. I then realized that I was standing on the jogging track. They were located at the very top of the ship to the front. Beyond them, was a balcony. It involves walking along the jogging path and stepping off onto the edge of the mini golf AstroTurf to reach. However, it is the tallest deck for guests on the ship and you can really gather a nice headwind.

 

I discovered the deck 11 front balcony. It sits right above the bridge. The ways to access it are small and off the beaten path. Form the Lido deck you go past the bars on the left or right sides of the pool area. There is a door there and it leads to a long, dark deck. This deck is where the controls for the life boats are. If you heard forward there are little signs that stop you from entering the bridge, but the stair case leads up to a deck that wraps around the front of the ship.

 

There are also polished wooden doors right past the elevators before the atrium. They are inconspicuous compared to so many of the other doors.

This deck is amazing. It’s better, in my opinion then the one up top because it is a bit darker and it is more forward. You can feel the wind and just lean into it and enjoy being on a ship.

 

After a bit, I returned to our room and sat on the dark balcony watching the moonlight over the water. It is a fantastic past time. I highly recommend it.

 

I was being a glutton. There is no other excuse then the desire to indulge in true gluttony. I have no excuse. Nor do I feel shame. I wanted to try as much food as possible. I only had three more days after all. That's not a lot of time to try a lot of things.

 

I had to order room service. It was free after all. Our menu was missing a page when we arrived. I asked our steward, when he introduced himself to us, to replace the page. We found it on the bed later that evening. The room service menu is limited. It contained deserts and sandwiches and a chicken and steak dish.

 

I ordered a roast beef sandwich for myself and Tim decided on a BLT. We also got some hot tea and desert.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

The food was good. The bread was lovely. I hate highly processed bread that gets soggy quickly. The sandwich had mustard on it. I’m not a big yellow mustard fan so I ate around that section. It had a slice of brie cheese on the bottom.

 

I decided to try a custard type flan desert. It had a caramel sauce and diced apples on it. It was okay but I don’t really like custard type deserts. I keep trying them and I keep not liking them. Tim loves it and happily consumed the rest of it.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

I tipped the person delivering it. The only other times I got room service after this was the morning. At those times, they dropped off the menus and left before I could tip.

[IcyHound]

Sunrise over the Alantic

 

From Bahamas - 2011

[IcyHound]

This is what I ordered:

 

Two orders of melon, two orders of citrus, two orders of toast, two orders of cereal, two orange juices, two smoked salmons, some strawberry yogurt, hot chocolate and coffee. It is not as much food as it seems.

 

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Very tasty stuff. Not very much of it.

 

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The melon was not ripe. This was hit and miss through the entire trip.

 

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The smoked salmon was divine. My husband did not care for it. I ate his as well.

 

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The toast was very soft. Barely toasted.

 

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The orange juice had ice in it. I did not care for that at all.

 

The biggest problem was that they forgot the coffee. Tim was not functional without coffee. He did not care for the smoked salmon either. He ate his cereal and his fruit and his yogurt. We then went up to the lido for some coffee for him.

 

Up there, he got some scrambled eggs. I tried a bagel but it was awful. I had another plate of fruit and some hot tea as we watched the ship come into port.

 

As the ship came into port we could see what looked to be a derelict ship named Sea Escape sitting in the water.

 

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I looked it up later but I was not finding out much. It may be a casino ship. All I know is that it was rusted out, its name was half worn off and it just looked sad.

The ship pulled smoothly into port. They are graceful, these behemoth machines. and we headed back to our room to grab our snorkel gear and change into bathing suits.

 

We had purchased underwater camcorders (Kodak Play Sport)and waterproof watches for the trip. We also had water proof wallets that hung around our necks to hold our ship cards and our cash. Now we would see how all of it stood up to the ocean herself.

[IcyHound]

An Excursion through Carnival

 

 

The morning starts off hot. Not the intense searing heat that I normally associate with summer. The heat is different as is the humidity, but it is still hot. I had slathered Tim down in sunblock and he had purchased a hat. I was soaking in the sun. I don’t burn as easily as my pale, pale spouse.

 

The idea had been to pick an excursion that started at 1215. By the time we went to preregister for it before our trip, all the slots where filled. Instead, we wound up with a 0915 slot. We decided to go through Carnival for the simple fact that there is a wait guaranty when you go on an excursion with the ship. The ship was only in port for 10 hours. 10 hours is not a lot of time when you run into trouble. When you book your excursion with them they will wait or they will get you back to the ship at their expense. This type of thing matters to me. I would hate to ruin my vacation over 20-30 dollars on the price of my excursion. Call it, insurance.

 

How to get to the Excursions was simple. I think the ship should have handed out a page that explained how to get to the excursions and how they collect you. With the daily news letter (FunTimes) they also deliver a handful of junk mail. Its like going to my own mailbox but on my cruise ship. These pages are adverts for the spa, the art auction, gambling classes and on board sales. I think it would not be hard to explain how to get to the excursion.

 

In Freeport:

 

First, you get off the ship. This means going down to deck three and going to the pier. You then walk the length of the pier, go through a gate, and find yourself in a little shopping area with some pavilions and lots of busy ships.

 

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View from the ship of the pavilions.

 

The pavilion have signs on them for the various excursions from the ships. You mill around at these signs and wait for someone to arrive and call your excursions. This person then hands you a waiver that says they won’t blame you for breaking stuff and you won’t blame them for getting hurt or dying.

 

There are also taxis everywhere. This is for the more adventitious and those that have private excursions. There are also people picking up the private excursions. Its a well organized chaos but still chaos.

 

We waited by our sign. Our excursion was to leave at 0915. At 0900 a woman appeared and called for people for our excursion. She handed everyone a waver form to sign. This is the waver that stops them from suing you for breaking their stuff and you fro suing them for hurting you. It’s a pretty interesting form and it includes a waver for gross negligence.

 

Our bus then arrived. It was a charter buss and we loaded up. The buss was the Bahamas Taxi Union. The driver handed us little laminated cards. Some where laminated some were just taped over. These were our bus passes to get back onto the bus and back to the cruise ships. Otherwise we would need to get a taxi. The last taxi would leave at four pm and after that we where again on our own with needing to get a taxi.

 

Like England, Japan and Australia, the Bahamas’ are left hand drive. There is an eclectic mix of right hand and left hand drive cars on the road. Cars seem to own the road unless other cars are approaching. The middle of the road is a perfectly fine place to be, it seems. The shoulders are also well worn of grass becuase people have to use them like crazy. We sat at the front of the bus and the bus spent more time in the middle of the road then on either side of it.

 

We passed Burger King, McDonalds, and KFC. McDonalds was closed down. Burger King seemed to be the popular fast food place for the port according to the driver. “Have it your way,” he chuckled. We also came across a street light fallen in the center of a rotary. The solution was to direct traffic through a parking lot which had an entrance to the rotary past the fallen street light. The problem is that to get to the parking lot we had to drive across grass and over a curb.

 

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We the did this feat in a very large bus. The driver did not even blink as he headed off road. The road crew flagged us by. I guess they often direct buses to go off road. Why not? I’m closed minded I guess. I like my buses on the asphalt. Passenger eyes were wide and knuckles were going pale. We made it back to the road and continued on to the port.

 

We got dropped off at what I think is a taxi and bus stop/stand area. Our guide turned out to be a young man of about sixteen or so. He muttered ‘snorkeling that way’ and charged off. We followed. He walked very fast. We followed faster. He never looked behind him. I sighed.

 

The Port area was a mixture of a mall and a port. There where a lot of shops, some dance clubs, a lot of bars, and then the catamarans that went out to take people sparkling. Several hotels bracketed the harbor. It is a beautiful picture. I’ve seen similar images on television my entire life but living it was different.

 

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It was early but the shop keepers where all out. One lady’s shop was a little wagon full of hour glass shapes. These turned out to be hats. Strange, crazy looking hats shaped like hour glasses.

 

The shopkeepers immediately started to call out to us to visit their shops. We followed our guide like good ducklings. We rounded a corner and reached the boats. At that point we where told that our boat was broken. However, if we were willing to wait another forty minutes they would load us up on another boat and we could go snorkeling. Was that okay with everyone?

 

“Yes!” People stared at the woman like she had two heads. We had half an hour to look around the market place. I found a few items that I liked but I did not want to buy things and drag them onto the ship.

 

I am not used to dealing with shop keepers like this. They are calling to you to come into their store as you look from the edge. Some are polite and their voices a bit sensual as they try to lure you in. Some call you pretty girl or handsome man. Others say ‘I have to make a sale today’ and some even do the ‘I have children to fee’ spiel. They all have the same thing but some have a few different pieces. This means, if you are looking for that diamond in the rough you have to keep looking. They say things like, “We can make a deal”. I’m an American girl and I am used to going to the store, paying whats on the sticker, and leaving. This made up pricing and deal making is beyond me and makes me uncomfortable.

 

Also, the prices are not cheap. Tee shirts are cheaper on the ship sometimes. Most of the people on the ships are only going to go to a few local places that they are taken by the ships. The shopkeepers know this and their prices shoot up to match. There are no deals to be found, just decisions to be made if what you see is worth what they offer or what they might deal it down to.

 

I found a lovely wooden gecko that is a wall hanging. The same thing was in several shops. The one that I stopped at had a lady that was not as pushy as the others. I said that we would come back later after our trip.

[IcyHound]

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We headed out of the harbor to the reef. As soon as people got on the boat they shucked off their clothing and scuttled to the front of the catamaran where it was open to the sun. It was the first day and there was not a lot of sunburn yet.

You do not need to bring your own snorkel gear. They have everything for you as part of your excursion. They also sell underwater cameras on board but we had already purchased ours. You can also purchase a snorkel at the excursion desk on the ship so that you do not have to share. The stuff that we got before hand is a snorkel tube with a valve on the top to stop water from back flowing into it if a wave crashes over you. It also closes when you dive and keeps the tube pretty water free. I also wanted us to have our own masks. My experience with communal eye ware is that it is often scratched up. They also provide a flotation vest. Its not a life vest, its simply a vest that holds some air to help with your buoyancy. One of the straps goes between your legs. Many people were unable to figure out that bit of the configuration until the instructional briefing was given and it was demonstrated to them. They also had to keep telling people not to try walking around the boat in their fins.

 

There was a young man who was wearing jeans. I got the feeling that his father only just prevented him from wearing a long sleeve shirt as well. He was wearing a pair of flip flops. When he stepped onto the boat they asked him, “What size shoe?” and he goes, “I don’t know. I wear these.” The man looked at him like he was an idiot. The boy, who was about sixteen just wandered past him. Eventually they got him fitted but it took a few tries.

 

Once we reached the water we were able to gear up and slide in. The water was so warm. Warm like a bath warm. It was around 87 degrees. What a lovely experience. It was salty though. Saltier then what I am used to at the beach. Bitter, gag you salty. I had turned on my little water proof camera/camcorder and started snapping photographs.

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After our hour we reluctantly came in. The salt water was so buoyant and snorkeling was such a comfortable, natural thing. The environment was beautiful. However, a storm was rolling in.

[IcyHound]

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We went back to the market and found the stall we had promised to return to. I got my wooden gecko and also picked up one of the mobile, wooden dolphins they had everywhere. The shopkeeper thanked us for returning.

 

We didn't really explore here. We were tired and salty and wanted a shower and rest.

 

It started to rain cats and dogs. We found a bus that looked right and got on. There was a young man on the bus who was thrilled to be there. “This is the best cruise ever!” he kept saying as well as “This was the best snorkeling trip ever!”

 

My husband decides to ask him how many cruises he has been on. “Just this one!” he says. They are on the Fascination. It also turns out that the snorkeling trip was canceled. However, he was in love with life. That type of attitude is cute to see. Not enough to get me to have my own children but its nice to see happy thrilled with life types.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

[IcyHound]

I do not care for Mexican food.

 

I found the Mexican day to be disgusting.

 

Tim liked it.

 

Therefor, I will not say that the food sucked but I was not impressed. I tried a bit of everything and put most of it aside. I was thankful for the prolific plates of fruit at the buffet. They fill me up and allow me to sit and eat with Tim. He tucked away the beans and rice and cheesy bean filled slurry that makes up Mexican. At this time, I had not discovered the grill area where the hot dogs and hamburgers are. If I had, I would have had a much better meal. At that point I thought that it was a mirror image of the Mongolian Grill.

 

I will also give the desert’s a C. All of the cakes that I tried were dry. The flavor was good but the cake itself was heavy and dry. This would become a theme at the buffet cakes. The ones that were being cut by people and served to you at the buffet were delicious. The ones that where out on the easy to serve trays where not as spectacular.

Fed and rested, we changed back into regular clothing and scuttled back out to look in the stores right around the port.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

We figured that we had an hour to go and buy something. We set timers on our watch. The shops where right beside the ships, but why risk it? Our ship would leave at 1700 hours and I wanted to be back on board by 1630. When we headed back off of the ship, the area that we had entered the ship from was being shut down. We asked if we could still leave. They said sure. They again scanned our cards for us. I guess it is easier and faster for them.

 

This gangway was by the rear of the ship, placing it right by the doorway to get on ship. When we first left in the morning, only the exit by the atrium was open. Now two exits were open. I approved of this. We bounced back through the gate and checked out the straw market.

 

I was not sure what I was looking for. I wanted something interesting and unique to remind me of where I had been. Most of the shops in the straw market at the same thing. They have t shirts and sundresses, tote bags and hats. They all have straw baskets and I watched one shop keeper weave one as she was waiting. That I did not expect.

 

Unlike the markets at market where we snorkeled, everyone was calmer. There was not as much cajoling to get us to enter the stores. Thus, I entered more stores. Since this market is right by the port they deal with a larger group of tourists. Perhaps they have become used to the quieter approach.

 

The first half of the market did not interest me in the least. I had to answer a few questions about my Vibram Five Fingers. I also got asked about the strawberries clipped to my belt. They are tote bags that collapse into a small round circle on a string that's decorated like a strawberry. It seemed that I was more interesting then the wares around me. I like to pick up unique objects for memories but I do not like clutter. I will not buy a bag just to buy a bag. I don't carry a purse I wanted one or two nice, unique things. The mugs, the t shirts, the woven straw purses with flip flops (something I do not own) and Dora the explorer on them were not interesting. I won’t buy a hat or knick knacks to hang around the house and create more clutter. I was disappointed and getting ready to return to the ship when something caught me eye. I had seen the shop when we entered and noted it mentally. Now that I was closer, I saw that the wood carvings that had attracted me in the first place where almost all the shop sold. They where not the light weight wood carvings that I had seen, but more basic and raw. I was immediately riveted by a carving of an owl’s head on a giant blade. The entire thing was sculpted from wood.

 

We went into the shop next door. When we came out, the owl knife carving still rivited me. I pointed it out to my husband and walked towards it, examining it. My steps where slow and I was fixated. It grabbed me. I can’t say I have ever had a carving do that before. I wanted that carving.

 

“Come on and take it down,” the shop keeper said to me. The interior of his shop was a series of simple benches with a pile of wood chunks in hte middle. I took the carving down. It was the length of my forearm and heavy.

“That is sold mahogany,” he said.

 

“How much?” I asked.

 

“Forty dollars. If you take it, I will wrap it up now. It’s for wisdom.”

 

I winced. I turned to my husband and said, “Forty?” I kept peering at the carving. I wanted it but I was so caught up in my want that I wasn’t sure I was thinking rationally.

 

My husband looked into the hut with its chunks of raw wood. The shop keeper was working on a carving as we watched. A slab of wood stood as a dressing table where he applied polyurethane to a glossy lacquer. “He is carving them here, by hand. His shop is here. That’s pretty authentic to me. Get it.”

 

“Okay.” I dished out my forty dollars. Could I have bargained? Maybe. Was it to much for some? Maybe. Did I care? No. He wrapped it up for me and I handed over the money. I took my new acquisition and tucked it under my arm. “It is absolute lovely. Thank you,” I said to him and we headed back to the ship.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

We decided to take one more detour. There was a guy with a large, obnoxious hat outside of a store. He waved people down. They took photographs with him. The store looked like it had a lot of hats. I figured that Tim would like to try out a hat or three since he had developed such a sudden fondness for his own.

 

The store did not interest me at first. It was crowded and mostly filled with bags. The bags where thirty six dollars apiece. Way to expensive for my blood. I was on the lookout for rock and shell jewelery. I worked my way into a back corner where there where many random things on the shelves. What caught my attention was a beaded design shaped like a gheko. The first one I tried was lovely with blues and greens but it was to small. I started to sort through them and discovered one in blue and gold and red. Thy are quite clever really, with beads locked and turned to create joints and eyes. The belly is a different color from the back. Some time and effort went into them and they are obviously not mass marketed like the dolphins and sharks and scorpions that filled every other ship.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

The gheko joined my little treasure hunt. Please, and almost out of cash, we headed back to the ship. It was four and we had half an hour to get back to the ship. However, as we approached the dock it looked as if they where going to take up hte gang plank. We slid in and I unloaded my treasure onto the belt. I was so distracted I forgot to unload my pockets to be scanned and he had to remind me. On the other side the security lady goes, “May I look at it?”

 

“Sure. It’s a giant wooden knife. I didn’t expect to get to keep it.”

 

She unwrapped my treasure, saw that it was wood and wrapped it back up. “You will need to give it to the housekeeping check in,” she said.

 

“Okay.” I went around the corner and looked for a table that said housekeeping check in. I found a table that said, Alcohol check in. I said, “I need to check in my item?”

 

“Right here.”

 

“Okay.” He asked me what it was. I said a wooden knife. He filled out a form with my name, room number, and a basic description. I then pulled out my sculpture and took a photograph of it. He then wrapped it in another layer, labeled it, and taped it all up. We then scooted upstairs to watch the ship leave port.

 

It is interesting that the ship is attached to the dock with just rope.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

You expect there to be more then rope keeping a gigantic cruise ship in port. The ropes belong to the ship. Its sensible. Then the port does not have to have different strength ropes for each type of ship that comes in. The ships crew causes the ropes to go slack. The dock workers then unhook the loops and the ship reels them in. Once the last ones go the ship was free and immediately started to drift away.

 

No one came running at the last minute. It looked like everyone had made it back to the ship. We watched the ship leave port and the port pilots ship leave.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

From Bahamas - 2011From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

 

 

When we got back to the room I had note waiting for me. It stated that they had checked in a prohibited item and that I would receive it at the end of the trip. It had the description of the item, my name, and our room number on it.

[IcyHound]

We got out first towel animal. I think it is a cute feature.

From I think it is supposed to be a sting ray. It was adorable. Our room was not turned down on Sunday night because my husband did not want them to come in with us having stuff everywhere. Later, we relaxed about it. We did use the safe for some things.

From That sold my husband on the entire thing. The sunglasses are his. I’m assuming its a bulldog. The little extra bit where the steward set up the scene with the sunglasses where adorable.

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Tim said he left some rubber bands hanging around. I am assuming that its a monkey climbing type of thing instead of the bondage scene that it might be.

From I caught this one on a cart. It’s a kitty!

From The heart doesn’t do anything for me. I did put the tip for the steward inside of it and repositioned it up the bed for when they did the evening turn down.

The last one.

 

From I think it is a seal. I am not fully sure.

 

 

You can buy a book on board (and I am sure the website) that explains how to do the folds to make the towel animals.

 

 

More Excursions

 

 

I don’t know my spouse very well. We’ve been together for over eight years but some of his inner quarks and desires elude me. They are so different from my own. After our snorkeling trip and what a positive experience it was we decided to see what else we could sign up for.

 

 

We went to the shore excursion desk and selected the Segway Tour of Nassau. Tim also picked the ships tour when he found out that not only would he get a tour but he would get to meet the Captain. This excited him. I admit, I wa snot expecting him to be excited to meet the Captain but he was. He asked if I wanted to go as well and I told him no. I might find it interesting for free but I didn't feel like fifty five dollars of free.

 

 

There is always the possibly that the excursions will be sold out. However, it is nice that you can go and buy them while on ship. They are really quite well organized. The excursions are actually done by contractors who have agreements with the cruise lines. This makes them more restrictive and safer. At port, you can easily do almost everything and more that you can do on ship but you don’t have the guaranties. This is both good and bad but in the end I feel more good.

[IcyHound]

I was excited to go to the dining room. The Lido had not enthralled me. I was even more leery of it after the fiasco with the horrible Mexican theme.

Tonight was lobster night. I like lobster. I’m just not willing to pay lobster prices. It amuses me that something that was once considered vile, peasant food has become a mainline dish. I had ever plan to consume the lobster that was part of my cruise price.

 

 

It was also elegant night. I had gotten a dress for this occasion. It is a cocktail tress I am told. I don’t know. Tim liked it. I thought I looked like an idiot, but I always feel that I look like an idiot when I dress up. The ship brochure was filled with urgings to go and get your photo taken at the photo opportunities while dressed your best. There were also long lines at the laundry rooms for people to iron their stuff. We had wrinkle-less fabric and I’m a slob I guess becuase a few wrinkles wouldn’t bother me a bit.

 

 

We ate late this night. We wanted to make it to the comedy show that started at 1000hours. This put us at dinner right around eight. It was right before the timed seating started and the place was a zoo. We wound up getting a pager and we had to go and wait to sit down. Our wait was about fifteen minutes. We went into the Oak Room and attempted to do a crossword puzzle. We learned that we suck at crossword puzzles.

 

 

Once we were seated, we again got a table that was a half booth. I got to

 

sit on the booth side. The goal had been for us to trade the view each day. We forgot that it was already dark when we sat down. Whoops. I also forget how unreasonable wearing a dress is. Ahh well, it was kinda fun (even if I look the fool) and the husband so rarely sees me dressed up.

 

 

The room was buzzing. The first night had been calm. I figured that people were still getting their bearings. Tonight was a bit crazy. The servers moved at about five thousand miles an hour. Everything took a bit longer then it had the previous night but it was also packed with a line of people waiting. At one point our server stopped and apologized for the wait and length of time things were taking. “It’s lobster night,” he said. “We normally serve ninety percent of the ship these nights.”

Wow.

 

 

This is where the night started to get amusing.

We noticed that to the aft, beside us was the same couple from the previous night. They were wearing jeans. The male part had on a t-shirt and the female part had on a nice top. My husband noticed me looking and he chuckled at me. I could not help but feel amused. I thought of Cruise Critic and the massive arguments over what people wore in the dining room. Then I noticed that they both had on flip flops and I had to bite back giggles.

 

 

Then I watched the male half lean over and pick up a water bottle and pour it into his glass. He then closed it and placed it back down beside him. It was the big, liter bottle of water you can buy in your cabin. The previous night he had not liked the taste of the water. I guess this was his fix.

 

 

For the food.

 

 

Appetizer wise, I started out with the ‘Didja ever’ and tried the crocodile balls. When we were heading down to Florida I had told the husband that I wanted to hunt down crocodile. It is as if Carnival heard me. I also had the fruit plate.

From Bahamas - 2011From Bahamas - 2011

The husband had the mushrooms.

 

From Bahamas - 2011 Next I had the lobster. It was properly done, soft and succulent. I should have ordered two.

From Bahamas - 2011

The husband does not eat crustations of any type. He had the prime rib cooked closer to well done.

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

Desert I had the souffle. The waiter dropped it off and then suddenly, to my surprise he stabs it with a spoon (it was not violent but I was not expecting my cake thing to be stabbed) and pours a creamy sauce onto it.

 

 

 

He then said, “Is that enough?” and I said, “I don’t know? Is it?” he chuckled and said, “Some people like it extra sweet” to which I replied, “Whatever you think is right.”

 

 

 

I often eat things with the sauce separated from the cake but I figured I’d go with the flow. I am so glad that I did. I should have ordered two. I will order two next time. It was divine. I still have dreams about it. It was a Grand Mariner Orange something or other little souffle of bliss. Wow. It was also quite hot and stayed that way as I consumed it like I hadn’t been gorging all day. Wow, it tasted so good.

From Bahamas - 2011

 

The husband had a chocolate and cream pie. I let him have a small nibble of my souffle and he said he wishes he had gotten it. Next time he will order two as well.

 

From Bahamas - 2011 On the other side of us from the grumpy couple that we began to call Jeans Guy and Grumpy Girl, there was a young couple. They seemed to be having a very nice time. Halfway through their meal, they had a friend approach. I looked at her and realized that she was extremely intoxicated. She held her liquor well.

 

 

She was holding a table for them at the comedy show and she wanted them to know that they needed to get to it. She staggered away and the male half says, “Shes been at it,” and the girl goes, “Yeah but shes done for the night.”

 

 

About ten minutes later she comes back. This time she has a large glass that she hands to the female friend and goes, “Is that to strong? I’ve been trying to dilute it but it has a lot of rum in it.” The girl tastes it and goes, “It’s pretty strong.” Yeah. She tells them not to have the souffle. It was ‘so so and not that great’ and staggers off.’

 

 

This is when I comment to my husband that a cruise ship is a rather good place for people who are that wasted. No walking in the streets or driving cars.

 

 

Then she comes back again right as desert is served. Now she is holding her shoes, her hair is wild and her eyes are glazed. It seems that she had taken her shoes off and gotten chased out of the dance club. She was cut off at the bar. She was to drunk to find the comedy club becuase she had been at the wrong place. The other two finished their food and herded her out.

It made for an amusing meal. We finished up and hurried out. There was only about ten minutes before the comedy show was to start.

[IcyHound]

The moral of the story is to get to the comedy show early. There had been very few lines or crowds on the ship. We learned, later that we were running just under two thousand passengers. The full ship with a body in every bed is twenty six thousand. We headed for the comedy show around fifteen minutes before it was due to start. As we got closer to the lounge, more and more people began to join us. We where not even in the lobby when we were stopped by a solid wall of bodies. They had closed down the show due to the room being full.

We were disappointed. Not, our vacation is now ruined and we will never ever cruise with Carnival again disappointed. More like not getting the flavor lollipop we wanted. My husband went and asked if the show would play on another night. They said that it would play two nights hence. That wasn’t so bad. Next time, we would just get there much earlier and sit and chat and enjoy each others company while we waited.

Th husband and I looked at each other and decided to go and explore the ship a little bit. I realize now, looking back through my pictures that I did not take as many pictures of the interior of the ship as I wanted to. Next time, I will correct that.

From Bahamas - 2011

 

From Bahamas - 2011

[IcyHound]

I will never laugh at a Segway again. Instead, I will be consumed by a jealous lust and it will take every ounce of my self control not to knock the operator off and SegwayJack his ride.

 

When we woke up we had already docked in Nassau. Room service was cereal, coffee, hot tea, and smoked salmon with fruit plates. We ate and woke up. We had slept exceptionally well. We are also not morning people. A note had been slipped under our door that said that we were going to leave port early.

 

 

From Bahamas - 2011

Early was midnight instead of seven am. This did not bother us. I’m sure those that planned to party the night away would be frustrated. Considering that there was a category two hurricane forty eight hours away and headed straight for the island, I was not going to complain. Instead, I was going to enjoy the fantastic weather and beautiful scenery and the fact that I was in the Caribbean. I’m a pessimist by nature but I was determined to have a great time and absorb the beauty of my vacation. I didn’t want to be one of those people that complained about everything.

 

 

I was a bit frustrated about where to go for the excursion again. This time, we were about twenty minutes early and the little huts were right outside of the ship on the pier. We waited under the Carnival Hut. There were Royal Caribbean huts and Disney Huts as well. As we watched, the Majesty of the Seas came into dock and I got several nice shots of her. A Norwegian Cruise Ship was right beside us. The Fantasy and the Fascination were docked nose to tail. Later, another Royal Caribbean ship came in. In the end, there were six ships in port.

From Bahamas - 2011From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

From Bahamas - 2011

We waited for a bit and a snorkeling trip came and went. I’ve learned that the excursions leave on time and I will try not to be thirty minutes early anymore. However, some people managed to get turned around. A snorkel trip had left about ten minutes before. I was debating how I wished we had plotted in another snorkel trip when a group appeared. I heard them say,

 

 

 

“Where is everyone for snorkeling?” and chatting among themselves.

 

 

I turned around and said, “One just left for catamaran snorkeling.”

 

 

“That is what we had.” The group was six people. The three husbands went to the carnival employee who was kind of organizing everything. The women stayed by all huffy. A moment later one of the men came back and said,

 

 

 

“They just left.”

 

 

“You can catch them around the other side,” said the Carnival employee.

 

 

 

“That is where they leave from and they would not yet be gone.”

 

 

“We just came from there!” The men exclaimed. “We got directed over there and when we got there they sent us here. Now you want to send us back?”

 

 

“You can catch them.”

 

 

“I can’t walk anymore,” said one of the women. “We’ll just go shopping and

 

you three go.”

 

 

“We want a refund,” said one of the men.

 

 

“We don’t provide refunds for this situation, Sir,” said the employee. “Its in your excursion contract.”

 

 

One woman makes a huffy sigh and goes, “Michael, take care of it.”

 

 

At that time our guide showed up. The husband and I retreated from that group to pick up our wavers and such. As we headed out, we caught up with the group who was not going to snorkle and were very pissed.

[IcyHound]

Our guide led us through some buildings, down some streets, and eventually to a cab. She chatted out instructions about paying attention to our Segways, our wheels, and that our driver would be ‘Reggie’ and that ‘Reggie’ would drop us back off so not to ride with anyone else. She was chatting with Reggie the entire time on a walkie talkie. Our group was only four people, total, so we moved fast and found ourselves in a hot taxi driven by Reggie who didn’t believe in opening windows or running the air conditioning.

 

 

It was about eight minutes to the Segway place. Reggie was a very aggressive driver and we clung to the vehicle. The Segway place was behind a tattered building with a narrow and full parking lot. We were dropped off and kind of wandered over, puzzled. However, things improved quickly.

 

 

The orientation talk was about 5 minutes while we got on helmets, elbow and knee pads. They gave us a bottle of water to put in the bag on the Segway. Since our group was so small, we each got someone to work with us through the first uncertain moments of using a Segway. It took me about two minutes to relax and enjoy it. The husband, about ten. It is easy, it is fun, and it was incredible.

 

 

They let us play around their field for about fifteen minutes. They have a little obstacle course they ran us over that mimicked various terrain surfaces we would deal with as well as obstacle avoidance. Obstacles include each other. That was fun. I can envision myself jousting on these.

They took our pictures. Pictures were available after for 15 dollars for one and 20 for two. Cheaper then prices on the ship, that.

 

 

The tour was fun. We went through town, pass the free beaches, shops, dining, and headed to some of the inner island areas. We got some history and some of the local vibe. We then played in a field, did some race obstacle courses, and headed back. We had a fantastic time. I want a Segway like nothing else. I will now, always look for Segway tours when I go places. Its a great time, you cover a lot of area and don’t worry about sore feet. Our guide was fantastic. We tipped him.

From Bahamas - 2011From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

 

 

When we got back, Reggie was in a bit of a panic. He almost dragged us back into the van. We managed to buy our pictures and tip our guide before we were in the hot van and headed back to the ship.

 

 

This is where the experience loses a bit of shine for me. Reggie drove like a mad creature, screamed and honked at people, muttered and cursed, and finally dumped us about four blocks away from where we were supposed to be because traffic was to heavy.

 

 

Whatever. Screw Reggie. Segways rock.

 

 

We decided to explore the town a little.

 

I was hoping for another sculpture when we ventured into the town.

 

The Scam: They tell you the necklace is free and thank you for coming to the island

 

The Reality: They then ask you for a small donation to a charity (a charity which they do not name but its for children)

 

The fallout: I looked at the guy and say, “That’s how it goes? I’m not interested, take it off.”

 

“Okay,” he said and removed it. The next one we met I said, “I’ve already heard that song and dance, not interested.”

 

We went through a few shops. I’m not a shopper so my shopping mostly revolves around finding interesting things that match my taste for decorations. I have several tapestries from Japan for instance and I got my wooden knife owl from Freeport. I wanted another wooden carving and I braved the thickness of the crowd looking for one.

 

The first place we went was a t-shirt shop where the shirts turn a color in the sunlight. They were cute but nothing really struck my fancy. Next, we went to the straw market. We pushed through the people. The shop keepers are not as aggressive. I wanted some type of wooden bead necklace, but there were so many people it was not worth the aggravation. Plus, many items had made in china labels on them. I wanted the real thing.

 

We found the sculptures but I was disappointed. The one who had the most interesting items mostly had walking sticks and giant fish. He did have some almost completed turtles but nothing was lacquered. If the turtles had detail I would have grabbed one. As they were, I was not impressed enough to spend my money in it.

 

I almost got a painting, but nothing struck me as what I really wanted. We decided to walk along the pier back to the ship. On the way back, I found more items that almost got me but not quite. There were painted rocks, and conch shells, starfish and more. Yet, none of them said take me home they just whispered that they would be clutter and attract dust. I did find one lady selling italian ice. She had fruit punch, apple, and I think cherry. It was hot and I love italian ice. I got one in fruit punch and then spent the rest of the walk directing people to her stand as they asked me, “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT” with great excitement.

 

Here, I discovered one of the buildings we had trotted through on the way to the segway tour was the port control area. We wound up in line and found out that we needed our photo ID as well as our ship card. We had no photo ID with us. We figured that they’d let us on since the ships check us as well and we did have valid ship cards. As we stood in line i passed a sign that said, ‘Jet Skis’. I stopped and asked for a price (70 dollars) and times (until four pm). “We’re doing that after lunch,” I told my husband.

 

Once we made it to the check point, they looked at our sail and sign cards and waved us through. The guy had more fun making fun of my name with rhymes then anything else. Off we went to the ship for lunch, our photo Ids and plans to change into swimsuits to go and jet ski.

 

[IcyHound]

We tried the grill area for lunch this time. I said, “don’t eat to much” and my husband said, “Okay.” I got Mongolian for both of us and he ran off to get a hot dog for himself and a burger for me.

 

 

Once I had the Mongolian in hand I found him at a table with hot dogs, burgers and fries. I plunked down the Mongolian and said, “I thought we were not going to get super full?”

 

 

“Whoops.”

 

 

Lunch was okay. The burgers are pretty good. Not the best thing ever put on a bun, but nice and flavorful if thin. I don’t mind them thin. I take off half of the bun anyway, plus I understand the concept of mass market food and money management. They are going to be just enough and not more. I’ve had Michelin star burgers before and its a different environment and a different comparison. (I still dream about those Michelin star burgers as well, wow) The hot dogs I don’t care for but the husband really enjoys. The fries are super tasty. The Mongolian was not so much. It needed more sauce in my opinion. It wasn’t bad just not great. I will try it again on my next cruise but I did not eat it again on that one. There were better meals available on the ship.

 

 

Fuller then we meant to be, we went to change and rest for a little bit before we went to use the jet skis. We had gotten little water wallets. They are plastic with a clamp and a rubber seal. They had stayed dry for our snorkeling and we wore them around our necks to carry our sail and sign cards. We added our photo IDs to the mix. Our swimming clothing looks more like tops and shorts. Its easier then carrying bags for cover ups and such things. On our feet we wore our Vibram Five Fingers. They are all I wear these days and they are excellent beach shoes. My pair for the day were bright blue and yellow and got a lot of attention during the day.

 

 

We went and found the Jet Ski place. The off Carnival excursion is a bit more... rugged. We paid, they called the guy to expect them and put a pink band on the husbands wrist with the reservation number. Everyone assumed that we were Jet Sking for the husband and that I might not want to do it with him. I didn’t tell them it was the reverse.

Our cab fare to Paradise Beach was included. Our cab fair back was not.

 

 

 

From Bahamas - 2011

We avoided hawkers for jet skis, beach chairs, umbrellas, water, beer, para sailing and everything else. We found our place and after a brief argument about who was riding and the fact that we wanted to ride double we went out on the jet skis.

From Bahamas - 2011

The husband just wanted to ride. I did a ten minute learn to use the jet ski with its owner and then released us. I will say that for two heavier people, it wallowed a bit. He enjoyed himself. I had fun but I learned that I don’t like having a passenger. I am a motorcycle rider and I refuse to have a passenger on my bike. Now I am even more sure that I will never allow someone to ride behind me on my bike. There is no warm ocean to catch us if we go over. Because he is not a strong swimmer I fretted about him the entire time. We had life vests but I still worried. Then, a strong wave came as I was turning around and off we went.

 

 

I was frantic about my husband. I surfaced and found he was right beside me, giggling and holding onto the side of the jet ski with his life vest doing its job. The water was so warm the fall itself wasn’t a shock. Also, the flavor of the water was different from the snorkeling in Freeport. It was not as bitty and nasty saline.

 

 

The jet skis owner came and rescued us. The husband went back in and I finished riding around. I will list Jet Skis as a lot of fun. Next time we will each ride our own. I tipped the young man that had been so informative and we laughed over our unexpected plunge into the water.

 

 

Now he has a story to tell about how I dumped him in the Ocean.

 

 

Sand Sand Everywhere

From Bahamas - 2011

We decided to stay on the beach and play in the water.

From Bahamas - 2011

My idea of beach and ocean is not pleasant. It was limited to Ocean City, Maryland on the east cost. The sand is dirty and full of trash. People like to use drugs on the beach as well and there is a constant worry about strings along with the trash. The water is normally very cold and a murky color. The sand is full of shells and trash and you begin to fear for what you might have stepped on. There are also plenty of jelly fish to top things off.

 

 

The beaches and the water in the Caribbean are nothing like that. The beaches are clean if you take away the cans and bottles of drink everywhere. People tuck them into the sand to go play in the water. This is not the best idea that they have ever had. The cans get filled with sand. Beyond this, and the occasional bottle in the water it is very clean. I think people are surprised at how quickly the tide comes in and they get their things stolen from them.

 

 

The water is warm. It is warm like a bath is warm. At only a few degrees below your body temperature the feeling is blissful. There is no cold shock to it. Also, it is very, very clear. This helps make things a little bit nicer in an already nice day.

 

 

[IcyHound]

We were already wet from the jet skis. It was a simple matter of going, “Wanna play in the water?” and Tim saying, “Yeah.” We trotted down to the water and plunged in. The water is a lot of fun. Swells come in and the undertow happily drags you out. You can go about fifty feet out before the grounds shifts down a bit more rapidly and you are free swimming. There is a swim line to separate the swimmers from the people on jet skis.

 

 

We swam, we played in the waves, we made use of our under water cameras and took photographs of our toe shoes. My Vibram Five Finger’s are an excellent water shoe. You can dig in like you do with yor foot without the discomfort of shells or weird things on your feet.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

There is also a lot of free floating seaweed in the water. So I took an underwater photo of seaweed on the surface.

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

A group of young men got in a little bit away fro us. I do not think that they expected the water to be as violent as it was. They swam, they splashed around, and one lost his sunglasses after an especially large wave came in and smashed all of us under.

When he realized he had lost his sunglasses he started to panic. It seems that they where a six hundred dollar pair. They all start looking but none are to be found. They asked us if we had seen them and we said no.

I looked. About two waves later I saw them. I lunged for them as the wave hit and got them only to loose them again. A few frantic grabs and I surfaced with a handful of sand and a pair of expensive sunglasses. I waved him down and handed them over. He thanked me profusely and said that if he had a hundred dollar bill he’d give it to me. That made me laugh.

We played for a while longer.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

It was easy to get dragged around the beach in unexpected directions. We played in the waves and played in the surf and finally, when standing was becoming to much work dragged ourselves out of the water and headed back to the ships.

 

 

The Kodak Playsport is a good little camera

From Bahamas - 2011

[IcyHound]

This was our first time catching a taxi on our own.From Bahamas - 2011

Let me first say that it is easy. It is also not that expensive. They charge four dollars a person to transport tourists between the ships and the tourist attractions. It seems to be unofficially officially done. The taxis are not crown vics or four door cars. They are ten person vans and they will squeeze thirteen or fourteen people into them. The AC often does not work and sometimes they don’t open the windows. It can be a hot and stuffy experience.

 

 

We walked down the path to the road that runs past the beach. This place is full of taxis. Full to the tune of a hundred or so. A few dozen drivers are milling around. One guy seems to be the organizer. He gathers up groups of eight to ten people as they come off the beach and hands them over to a taxi driver.

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

 

Our group loaded up. However, our driver swung back by the path to the beach and collected an additional four people. That made for twelve of us. It was cramped driving. Tim suggested that we get out. However, I just wanted back to the ship so my hope was that we would not die on the way there. Also, I didn’t think that any other cab would hold fewer people. 12 people x $4 per person = $48 for one trip. At least the window was open and the air flowed over us at least, which was a relief compared to the hot sweat box we had arrived in.

 

 

The Bahamas are left side drive. However, the vehicles are a mixture of right and left hand vehicles. It makes for some random driving. The driver’s are all over the road. The edges of the road are open for business if you need a bit more space. Most of the roads are not made for two vehicles and the corners are tight. On foot, horseback, or motorcycle it would be fine. In a car, its a hairy situation the entire time.

 

 

We also avoided the toll going back. When we started winding through back roads and one way streets I felt a bit of a twitch of worry.

From Bahamas - 2011

 

Like any city, once you move off the main roads it is not such a pretty picture anymore. The shops are very, very worn. It no longer has the festive look of the tourist areas. The island is not a super rich one and many of the people live at a substance living. Yet life is very different. Its calmer and more relaxed. People are just hanging out everywhere. The bars have more locals then tourists in them. It is a different culture. When we saw the ships rearing up out of the port, I felt relief. We slid out of the back streets that had helped us avid the toll.

 

 

During our trip we had been passed by an ambulance. The ambulance stopped at the local hospital. I was amused to see that it was named Doctor’s Hospital. That is the name of one of the hospitals my mother worked at for years. I was glad to see them because we had just passed another Taxi driving with the side door open. There were no seatbelts in these things.

From Bahamas - 2011

There are also police departments as well. Instead of being the somber things we are used to seeing they're often brightly painted like all of the other building. Even in green, pink, and white a police station is a police stations. It seems that some of them drive Crown Victoria’s as well. The emergency number is 919. It is 911 in America and 999 in England.

 

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

[IcyHound]

Not having eaten in fifteen or so minutes, we found the sushi cart and tried the sushi. It was pretty nice, but a lot of avocado and cream cheese. My husband likes this Americanized sushi I like my sushi simple and more traditional. Next time I will ask for the fish and rice only.

 

 

Dinner again. Tonight, I didn’t like anything listed but the fruit plate. It is one of the appetizers that is available every day. The husband had a pineapple and stewed fruit thing. He liked it, I did not. Next time, we will take pictures of the menu.

 

 

From Bahamas - 2011

From Bahamas - 2011

 

 

I had a fancy version of turkey and stuffing with gravy. It was all very good. I would have liked more everything but turkey. There was a ton of turkey. There were slices of breasts and a compressed roll of dark meat. It was delicious, but I would have loved more stuffing and cranberry. There were also a handful of fried green beans. I didn’t care for them much. To much breading.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

The husband had a Caribbean inspired dish of pork loin with a fried plantain strip across it with sweet potato and the same fried green beans.

[IcyHound]

The husband had tiramisu and warm chocolate melting cake.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

From Bahamas - 2011

 

I had a coffee ice cream pie slice and the fresh fruit appetizer. The fruit was not very ripe and I did not eat much of it for that reason. I did have hot chocolate and it was amazing. It is the best hot chocolate I have had yet.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

From Bahamas - 2011

 

We went back to our room to relax on the Balcony. I sat out and wrote for a while and enjoyed the night air. We settled down and watched some television off of our laptops and just enjoyed a quiet, relaxed evening. Later, we went out to walk the ship and lean off the balcony enjoying the dark, quiet ship.

[IcyHound]

You really do start to recognize people after a while. In the dining room, across from us were two ladies at breakfast. A man walked up to them and said, “Mind if I sit with you two ladies?” The two of them go, “Not at all!” and he plunks down next to them. Now, we recognized him from when we had checked in. He was checking in with another male. He was highly recognizable becuase of several large facial piercings. It did not seem that he knew the ladies. My comment to Tim was that he might be a male looking for older women to prey on.

 

 

I have a suspicious mind.

 

 

I enjoyed this. Due to all of our early excursions we only got to eat breakfast in the main dining room on the last day. That was the only day it was open. The food was succulent and the omelets light and fluffy. I also had french toast. Nothing was oily and it was a lovely start to the morning.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

 

From Bahamas - 2011

From Bahamas - 2011

I made sure to have fruit and hot chocolate as well. Hot chocolate at every meal will be my mantra for the next cruise.

 

 

Tim had signed up for the ships tour. We had a nice breakfast desert of sherbet and I went to drop him off at the Oak Room. As we left the dining room the man who had infringed on the two women goes, “What is wrong with your staff?” to the receptionists at the doorway. “Are they drunk or high or what? Everything came out cold, wrong, and ridiculous. The food was inedible. I am going to file a complaint!” The two girls looked at him with wild eyes as he ranted at them. I stood there, worried he was going to lose his temper completely. Work mode kicked in for a moment and I eyed him up and down pretty sure I could take him down in one or two moves when he ran out of steam and left.

 

 

I said, “I can’t say what his problem was. Our meal and service were fantastic! Thanks!” They smiled at me and I sailed by to watch him say goodbye to the two ladies at the elevators. Tim and I took a walk around the pictures, marveling at how many there were and all of the special carnival extra... stuff... you could buy to make your photos extra special until it was time for him to go to his tour.

 

 

Tim got to go on his tour of the ship and I spent some time sunbathing on the balcony. I loved the extended Balcony and maneuvered a lounge chair into the sunlight. The sky was clear and cloudy, clear and cloudy. Hurricane Irene was chasing us and the sky and sea reflected that.

 

From Bahamas - 2011

Tim appeared a few hours later glowing from his trip. He had seen the function of the ship, met the captain, had his photo taken, gotten chocolate covered strawberries and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He had also received the recipe for the warm chocolate melting cake and he was determined to try to make it when we got home. He does not really cook but we figured with some supervision from me, he could muddle through.

We did learn that the ship was only running about 2000 passengers. It can hold about 2600.

 

 

He told me how they had gone down to the training room where they have the Rosetta Stone to work on their English skills. Carnival it seems has a retirement program for its employees and also promotes up the ranks quite heavily.

 

 

He got to see the galley and walk through the spinning doors between the dining rooms and the galley. They went to the engine rooms and the bridge as well as through crew areas and passage ways. They went into the alcohol cabinets and he learned that at 3am the bartenders make their inventory updates to the guy in charge of all alcohol. Crates and crates and crates of alcohol.

 

 

He met the head Chef as well. Later we saw him checking the running of the Lido buffet.

 

 

The chief engineer was very personable. He was told that the officers were mostly Italian.

 

 

The crew dining areas and recreation decks. We learned that they carry their own fork lifts for when they are at port and cages that they load and unload with belong to the ship and are collapsible.

 

 

He really enjoyed it and I will join him next time.

 

 

Jeans Guy and Grumpy girl were on his tour. Their cabin was directly above ours as well. You do see the same people over and over.

 

 

No cameras allowed.

From Bahamas - 2011