"12/12/12 LIFE'S A BREEZE" a cruisin USA "Long and Lengthy" Cruise Novella

[mountainbreeze]

WOW! Your pics are amazing, and I'm sure it was really awesome to see in real life. I had never heard of the Baths, but now I want to go too!!!

 

That sand on the beach looks so soft. Thanks for continuing your review :)

[pinkiesue]

....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I said earlier, it's a pretty good trek. 3 1/2 football fields worth of semi-trecherous path way.

 

 

We emerged from the path onto the beach. Quite a sight.

 

This rock looks like Darth Vader or a skull :)

Loving the pictures.

[cruisin USA]

Still Here..... Sorry about the delay. We're almost there.

 

Last night I came and responded to posters, and posted 5 pictures. On the 6th picture, the screen froze, and when I came back, all that I had posted was gone!! OUCH

 

 

Going to try again, and cue up for more review.

 

 

rhcpchicka.......Metallica and RHCP announced ......Should be a good show. I've seen them both.

 

Michelle....Sorry to hear you missed your trip to the Baths. The IC is a good choice. Although we didn't try it, there's a monorail station(what we in Detroit call the "mugger mover") right there. Might be nice just to take the entire trip around(as long as they don't make you get off). Bayside is a good choice.......Bet they have great seafood there.....hehe

 

 

Senatorsfan..... You caught my little inside joke to Mary Ann. You've read my other reviews haven't you?......hehe

 

 

Andrea......Like I said. A "Don't Miss" if you're ever in that area of the world.

 

 

Speaking of which......A few more gratuitous Baths shots before we continue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to get something to eat, and then see if I can finish up Tortola tonight.

 

 

Gary

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Pretty soon I could see the Breeze at the pier.

 

 

 

We pulled up to our spot next to her.

 

 

We all got off the boat. Most headed back to the ship, causing a long line.

 

 

We boarded, and headed back to the cabin. There on the bed were 2 invitations to the past guest party which would be held tomorrow between 3:30 and 4:15. They were made out as "door knob" markers that you could hang on your door knob saying (In big letters at the top)"Off Having a Ball with the.......(then the VIFP Club logo) Underneath......"Don't wait up, I'm enjoying complimentary drinks and appetizers with other Gold, Platinum, and Diamond members of the VIFP Club. I'll catch up with you later!." Cool. We changed, and headed to the lido for lunch. The deli was open, and sounded like just the ticket. There was a short line, but soon we were up. I ordered us a grilled Ham and Cheese sandwich to split. Piled on some pickles and pickled cole slaw and off we went. We took it back to the room to eat on the balcony. We started cocktail hour a little early today. We'd been going since 7 am! I ended up laying down on the bed to watch some TV. I told Mary Ann we'd probably leaving soon. She told me to look out the window. We were already moving. Not the first time that that's ever happened....hehe Soon we were out to sea, leaving Tortola in our wake. It'd be almost 2 days before we'd see land again.

 

 

 

 

We headed out. Object: Casino. We hadn't played too much this trip. Here and there. It was busy. I noticed that 2 ipads were missing from the "Casino Vault" machine.

 

 

We've never played, but we'd see people gathered around it from time to time trying their luck to get the prizes out. (Evidently, someone had.). There was a couple of spots at the Craps table. I headed over. Mary Ann headed to some slot machines close by. It was still light out. I could see the deck outside the casino. There was a jacuzzi out there(Full of smart people looking in at the folks losing their money....hehe). Neither one of us was lucky. We made our way out to Ocean plaza, and walked outside to the smoking area. We ended up walking back and around the aft to the other side. It was windy, but not nearly as it had the night before. It was getting dark. We went inside, and headed for the cabin for some refreshment. We had put a good dent in our supplies, but we still had quite a bit left. I knew we weren't going to be able to finish the Jager....sigh. Mary Ann opened up her last bottle of wine. We still had 4 sodas, 8 Coronas, and 2 days left. Pretty good timing, I'd say. We'd definitely bought a few along the way too. They weren't too big on advertising the DOD's this trip. Usually theres a picture card, with the recipe on it sitting right on the bar. I saw none of these this trip. ....No specialty glasses? No advertising of DOD's? What's up Carnival?

 

 

,,,,,to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

At this point I would like to say that I was pretty aprehensive when I heard about the Awesome Drink Program. Basically $50 a person(Actually all cabin inhabitants have to buy it so say $100 per cabin per day) for unlimited(up to 15) alcoholic drinks a day. First thought.....Not a very good deal, and a real money maker for Carnival. Let's stop for a second and look at the math...What jumps out at me is that for this cruise a 2 person cabin would have an $800.00 alcohol tab alone. ..30 drinks a day for the both of you.....Just over a fifth per cabin, per day. I know you can get all sorts of drinks(up to just under "super premium") But in our example let's just take a premium fifth(Absolut) to average it out between the sodas, mimosas, shots, etc. If they can sell Absolut aboard ship for 19.95, let's assume that it's close to their price. $20.00 spent...$100.00 made.Take out $8 a day each for tips. = $84 profit!!!! Let's also take out $4.00 for mixers(juice and sodas). Roughly a quarter a drink. Ends up being 400% profit!!!.(On the biggest part of their business).That's also assuming that you'll drink your maximum every day. I'm thinking by 3 days of this, you'll be ready to slow down a little....just a guess. I'm guessing a BIG money maker for Carnival, and one of the reasons the stock has gone up steadily over the past couple of months(Authors note...Please keep in mind this review was written before the Triumph problem) Of course I'm speaking for myself. I'd be on the floor most of the time if I drank 15 drinks a day. Others, maybe not....

 

 

 

I sure did have a few MAJOR concerns about the program itself though. Would there be big lines at the bar? Certainly with all the free drinks, people would be lined up for another "free" one. Would there be a lot of wobbly drunken people roaming the promenade at night looking for that 14th or 15th one? Fights?(With all that alcohol flowing,,,,certainly a possibility). Rows of people puking from the rails?(It did enter my mind).

 

 

Fortunately, we didn't see any of this. It was easy to find a bartender at all the bars. You might have to wait for 1 person, but that was it. Nobody "visibly entoxicated", No fights observed.....(HURRAY). I do worry that eventually they'll have to cut someone off, and someones going to raise a stink, but I'm glad I didn't see it.

 

 

.....to be continued......

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

We just hung out on the balcony till it was time to get ready for dinner. I skimmed through Fun Times. The 2nd blackjack tournament was running from 8:30-10:30. We'd have to really rush out of dinner to play in it. We decided not to. Bad timing Carnival. You knocked all the late sitting diner's off the list of potential players(me included). We had set sail at 3:30. Seems to me they could have run the tournament from 4:30-6:30 with the finals being at 10:30(after everyone's dinner, and to get some more people in the casino).Tonight's entertainment? Hasbro the Game Show episode 3..... We could watch that on tv later if we wished, and the Blue Iguana Mexican Fiesta which we put on the "definite maybe" list. So tonight would probably consist of Dinner, cocktail hour back at the cabin, strolling the ship stopping from venue to venue.(Probably a stop back at the casino.....hehe).

 

 

We headed to the dining room for dinner.

 

 

 

 

Tonight's selection??? "Cream of garden fresh broccoli(enhanced with aged wisconsin cheddar)" Green bean and roma tomatoes

(tossed in a light vinagrette)" and "Chateaubriand with suce bearnaise(sliced, grilled beef shoulder tender)" The soup(as always) was hot, and tasty. Love homemade cream of broccoli. The chateaubriand was melt in your mouth delicious(especially when you dipped it in the bernaise sauce!). Mary Ann opted for "Corn Chowder(creamy corn soup with potatoes and vegetables)", the didja, which was Escargot Bourguignonne(burgandy snails in garlic butter with an infusion of chablis and pernod)" and Martini braised basa fillet with tomato, chili, and fennel(served on a sundrid tomato, chive and patato gallete)" It was noted the this was "a winning recipe created by chef Ajay Nair in the Italian category at the 5th bardi cruise competition") Mary Ann's review?......She liked it..(Just like Mikey...hehe). Dessert?...."Amaretto Cake(almond flavored chocolate cake)" and hearsmart "Diet new york cheesecake(prepared with sugar substitute)". The cake was good. Let's just say I'm not a big fan of diet cheesecake(strawberry topping or not). Alan and Karen told us they'd be eating at the Cuccina de Capitana restaurant the next night so we'd know when they didn't show up for dinner. Tonight, Ken again made his announcements, his Sinatra song, and the waiter's again entertained us with "Finiculi, Finicula".

 

 

 

 

Dinner over, we made our way out to the promenade, and strolled towards the front of the ship. We passed the Liquid Disco. It was still too early for a crowd. We walked into the piano bar. It was pretty crowded. Every time we'd walk through the bar itself would be FULL with lot's of peeps on the comfy couches scattered about. Of course we hear Ron say "Hey Look Who's Here!" Quite a few people(a Chorus) again shouted "Holy S**t! C'mon In!". We stayed for a bit. Ron was wearing his Elton John glasses and a boa....hehe. Making our way forward we saw the sushi bar(It was never very busy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the largest "fun hub" computer station area on the ship.

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the Red Frog. It occurs to me now, that I always had a drink in hand when we went there, and never ended up buying an actual "Thirsty Frog" ale.(Next time). Tonight it was Adam on guitar. They really pick good guitar/singers in these Red Frog pubs.

 

 

 

 

Actually, when you think about it, there's live music for all tastes playing across the ship on any given night. We stopped again at the casino. Still no luck......sigh. At least we weren't playing for very much. We went back to the room. I still wasn't that tired. I told Mary Ann I was going to go play a little while longer. I went back down and I played some more craps with a guy who had this MAJOR goatee. He looked like Jim "the anvil" Neidhart if you know who that is. Made some money back, but I was tired, and it started getting pretty back and forth. It'd been a long day. I went back to the Pizza Pirate, and got my first slice of Carnival "pepperoni" pizza this trip.

 

 

 

 

Sprinkled it with red pepper flakes, and headed back to the cabin. The pizza was pretty good. The pepper flakes gave it a pretty good "tang". I washed it down with one of our icy cokes out on the balcony. It wasn't nearly as windy as it had been the night previously. Tomorrow, we'd be at sea all day. We had a few plans to explore places we hadn't been yet on the ship. I went in, got in bed, and fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship.

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited March 9, 2013 by cruisin USA

[Crusin Karen]

Oh, there is nothing like going to sleep with the gentle rocking...one of the TOP things I miss :(

[rhcpchika1]

The end is near! Still enjoying all the updates :)

[CalifCruiser1]

I was excited to see your Bon Vonage dept info BUT it has changed I just got off the phone with the dept you can now only order 2 items meaning - 1 bottle or 2 bottles of booze or 1-4 pack of beer and 1 bottle or 2 -4 packs of beer. I even asked if friends could buy us extra beer packs the answer was no. It's a limit of 2 items (booze) per cabin. :(They still charge tax on it. They really are limiting it to what you can pre buy.

[cruisin USA]

Still here?......hehe

 

 

Sorry, I've was sooooooo busy this weekend.

 

 

 

 

Lot's going on. I've finally got some time to post, and finish this review up. Once again, Thank you for your patience.

 

Karen.....I agree. That subtle swaying of the ship just lulls you to sleep like nothing else.

 

chicka....You are right. We're almost there.

 

CaliforniaCruiser1..........BLAST!!! Wouldn't you .know they'd change it....Probably after reading this review....

 

 

There is one more thing I'd like to share before continuing.

 

 

Last Wednesday, We took a limo down to the MGM casino in Detroit, to celebrate Mary Ann's birthday. Mary Ann had her daughter Jess on her birthday(what a present), so they both share the same birthdate. We took both daughters and their boyfriends along for the party. We had a fabulous buffet on "all you can eat" crab leg night. We even had a couple winners in the casino.(I won 132, so I'm figuring dinner was half price hehe)....

 

On the way home. Mary Ann handed out cards to both daughters. The front of the card read. "Mary Ann's Birthday" up top with "2014" and "And You're Invited". She explains that it was soooo hard getting us all together this year, that she wants to make sure everyone can make next year's party. The inside of the cards read......

 

"You are hereby invited to Mary Ann's next birthday party.......2014

 

When: Feb .......

 

The Party will start at(our address)

 

Sip coktails as your limo takes you for a scenic 1 hour drive to Detroit's own Metro Airport.

 

Take a tour of the terminal....While you get ready to board your plane for sunny Florida

(Hotel and City TBD)

 

Rest up, Cause the next day you'll be Partying Like a ROCK STAR......."

 

 

turn the page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"......cruising aboard Carnival's newest ship

 

 

"The Breeze"

 

 

Then we printed the itinerary of the cruise along with the return date

 

"RSVP's are needed ASAP so we can start planning this fabulous trip"

 

 

 

Just loved the look on those faces!!!!

 

 

They'll love the Breeze!!(So will we AGAIN on our beautiful aft wrap).....

 

 

Getting a bite to eat, and will resume shortly.

 

 

Gary

Edited March 13, 2013 by cruisin USA

[Crusin Karen]

What a FABULOUS way to celebrate the birthdays and such a GREAT WAY to give them the news too! You all must be so excited!

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Sea Day 3

 

 

 

I woke up, and found Mary Ann on the balcony. It was pretty sunny. Most of this trip had been partly cloudy skies, but today the sun was shining bright overhead. As we got ready for breakfast, I thumbed through the Fun Times magazine(like on most mornings) to see what was going on for the day. What looked good? Well, first thing that catches my eye is another Playlist Production, "The Brits". Butch had mentioned this production during one of his talks, about the shows and the music. He mentioned a few of the British bands, then something about "Hermin's..........." He let every else answer "Hermit's". That was on the list. The "Dive-In" Movies was having James Bond night. hmmm. Probably not. The disco was having an hour of Michael Jackson music between 9:30-10-30.......er......also probably not. The slot tournament was running from noon-2:30. That was a "could be". We had to keep in mind that the VIFP party would be at 3:30. Tonight would be the 2nd elegant night. We'd have to try to get some more elegant photos.

 

 

 

 

Today would also be our last chance to try the Punchliner comedy brunch(and our free drink coupons). We got to the Sapphire dining room, and were led to a table for 2, lined up with 6 or 7 other "deuces". We were handed menus, and it took a waiter about 10 minutes to get to us. When the waiter came, we ordered. Mary Ann ordered Eggs Benedict.....sauce on the side. (One of the best "insider" hints ever). I ordered the Huervos Rancheros(scrambled eggs over a chicken quesadilla). We both ordered OJ. and coffee. We asked our waiter about using our drink coupons. He said he'd send someone over. A few minutes later our drink waiter appears. We both ordered Pina Coladas. Our drinks beat breakfast out. The eggs looked great, and the Hollandaise sauce was a "sunny" yellow. I'd seen eggs benedict on this trip where it looked like those "egg bennies" had looked like they had sat for awhile. My Huervos Rancheros was FABULOUS!! Quite a lot, and I couldn't finish it all. While we were eating, it was annouced that 1 of the 2 comedians (JR McCollom)for our following 2 nights had missed his plane, so that meant that the one who made it(Lowell Sanders) would do 4 shows tonight, and the other would do 4 shows tomorrow. Then he announced "Here's Lowell Sanders!" Lowell comes out. I knew we were in trouble when he comes out, explains he's doing all the shows tonight, then asks "Does anyone know a good joke?"..... (I think he needed to save all his material for the 4 shows...hehe) Some guys steps up, and tells this joke that ends with the punchline...."He was arrested for armed robbery".....sigh. Lowell talks a little while longer, saying that he hoped he see us at his show tonight. And off he went. Liked the brunch and free drink. The comedy could have been better. After he left, we headed outside. We just strolled around deck, enjoying the sunshine. We stopped off for a few more rounds of ping pong. I remember enjoying the sunshine, thinking, "Here it is almost Christmas, but it sure doesn't feel like it" None of the holiday pressure. Just smooth sailing on a sunny day, with all our worries left behind. Life is good. Our balcony was on the the wrong side for sun,

 

 

so we decided to go lay out on deck. The sun was beating down. It was pretty hot. We went up to the Serenity deck. No seats(or clams) available. Not too many people in those chairs, but lots of towels holding them....sigh. We knew there wasn't anything available by the pool, so we headed up a deck, and worked our way aft. It was tough to find a lounge, but we did. Right outside the Cuccina del Capitana restaurant. We baked for awhile, The sun was pretty intense, and our DOD's disappeared quickly. The most intense sun of the trip. We lasted about an hour. Back to the room to change, and it was getting time for cocktail hour. We were enjoying our balcony, when I look at the clock. It's 2:20. Uh oh. I had read that Jimmy C's BBQ would be open today till 2:30. I told Mary Ann I was going down to see if I could score us another pulled pork sandwich to split. I'd just bring it back. I headed down. The line had about 30 people waiting!!

 

 

I wasn't going to, and ended up getting us each a chicken taco from the Blue Iguana. They were just starting to take everything down. We were running out of limes. I scooped up a bunch after I doctored our tacos up. and headed back up to Mary Ann. We'd missed the slot tourny. No big deal. After awhile, we decided to go down and see what our photographs looked like. The photo shop is now called "Pixels"There's a sign they use now. It asks "How Will You Tell Your Story?".....

 

 

(If they only knew......hehe).

 

One other thing about double the passengers....double the photos!!! It was pretty hard to find ours. Eventually we did. We saw some keepers. Some were quite similiar, and we had a hard time choosing between them. We found our embarkation photos on a table that must have had thosands of 5x7 photos. I saw Ron and Amy's picture as I thumbed through looking for ours. They were wearing their Misfit shirts.....how cute. We trashed our bad ones, and took our keepers up to the counter to buy. By this time, I knew we'd hadn't spent much of our onboard credits.

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited March 13, 2013 by cruisin USA

[cruisin USA]

......continuing.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

We still had more of their money to burn. We ended up at the shops.

 

 

 

(couldn't go in. I'd be too much like a kid in a candy store....hehe)

 

 

Went into the Carnival logo shop, and looked around for awhile

 

 

 

 

 

I got 2 luggage sets(handle grips and nametags), 2 lanyards with clear plastic card holders at the end. I got Mary Ann the black lanyard with the crystals on it. Pretty, and pretty sturdy, the plastic card holder at the end was pretty tough. I'd recommend it. I picked a blue(they also had red) nylon lanyard that said "Carnival" on it for me(the plastic card holder on this isn't very sturdy, and I wouldn't trust it for my sail n sign/credit cards ashore). Just a matter of replacing the card holder....easy fix. I also bought a couple decks of Carnival playing cards, and 2 blue plastic waterproof Carnival "cigarettes/valuables" holders that you can hang around your neck. What kinda puzzles me, is why Carnival doesn't place some of their Bon Voyage items in their logo shop?

 

 

The beach towels would have easily sold out at $25.00 apiece.

 

 

 

 

The bottle "coolies" that had been placed in our cooler items(probably by mistake) would surely have sold.

 

 

Hey, why not a can "coolie" available too? (Red and Blue with white writing on each).

 

 

 

 

These plastic tumblers that were also included in the coke package, would have made great items.(for use onboard, and they stack easy in your luggage). Not to mention the Tervis tumblers.

 

 

 

Didn't see any Carnival Corkscrews either, and I bet they could get DOUBLE price for one of the soft-sided coolers they had delivered to us.

Just a thought Carnival. You've come up to this point. Let's expand upon the LOGO!!!(and make you a few more bucks in the process).

 

 

 

We had to take everything back to the cabin. More stuff to pack...sigh. Out on the balcony, we just watched the ocean pass by. Tomorrow, we'd be in Nassau, and wouldn't set sail till dark. This would be our last chance just to enjoy the utter vastness of the beautiful, deep blue ocean. We just sat and enjoyed the view. The time just kinda flew by. I looked at my ipad to see what time it was. 5 pm.....Geez, we missed the past guest party. That was a first. It was setting in a little bit that tomorrow would be our last day. The trip truly did "Breeze" by.

 

 

 

 

 

......to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

Tonight was the 2nd elegant night. Pretty soon, it was time for dinner. Mary Ann had brought another outfit. I went with a "black theme" Speaking of which, I thought they might have a "black and bling" night like they did on our last cruise. Nope. So it would be "black and elegant" tonight I guess. We got out early to get a a few more photos taken, then headed to dinner. Karen and Alan weren't there. Got to talk to the people next to them. She was the one who wanted to know where I got the Pepsi. Turned out that they were from Ohio. Midwesterners, just like us!! It might have been the pictures I was taking of the food, but the lady asked if I wrote reviews. I told her I had written reviews before, but had sworn off posting them.......

 

(We'll see, I'm still undecided if anyone else will ever read this review besides Mary Ann and me. I guess if you're reading this I've changed my mind....notthattheresanythingwrongwiththat......hehe).

 

We found out that this was our waitress's last time for serving us. She was at the end of her contract, and was heading to New Jersey to visit her sister. They have some rule about working the last night of the cruise for some immigration reason. We'd be sad 'to see her go. She was nice and she was a great server! Tonights dinner- Elegant night 2- Baked Sweet Potato Soup(enhanced with cheddar cheese), Shrimp Cocktail, and Prime Rib(with baked potato and traditional toppings). I made sure to get horseradish. Mary Ann had Fatoush Salad(garnished with arugula, mint, feta cheese, and flat bread), Frog Legs. (I really wasn't into the arrangement They made it look like a frog laying there on the plate.... Just sayin........),and the heartsmart "Broiled Fillet of Norwegian Salmon"(artichokes, sun ripened tomato and kernel corn medley). Dessert? "2 Gran Marnier souffles(served with orange vanilla sauce) " YUM!!!

 

Ken came on the microphone, and welcomed us all, Along the way, it was mentioned that he had a CD(not a cruise director) for sale. His croonings I suppose. Another Sinatra song, and then the waiters do their thing. I can't help but think that tomorrow they'll be singing that tune sung to the melody of "Leavin on a Jetplane". I pushed the feeling aside. We still had plenty of cruising left. We headed off to the cabin to grab cocktails,

 

Our Fun Times was laying on the bed along with another cute towel animal.

 

 

Quick pit stop and then we headed down to the Ovation Lounge for our last Playlist Production show, "The Brits".

 

 

We walked through the entrance into the theater. There, stood a guy and a gal in 60's type clothes. She had a hippie headband, and Nancy Sinatra type dress with GoGo boots. Turns out they were the hosts for the pre show. She got up onstage, and started with some British Music Trivia.

 

 

It was a point for the audience for a right answer, and a point for the duo for a wrong one. They'd play a song, and she'd ask what the next line was. The audience did pretty good. Thank God for wireless microphones. The guy was all over the auditorium floor, getting peoples answers. Folks got really stumped on a Queen's "We Will Rock You" (Waving your banner all over the place). Eventually the audience won though. She said, "And what you've won..............is a free show".....booooooo. Just as they left, the lights dimmed, and the show started.

 

 

 

I'll tell you right now. This was our favorite of the 3 shows. This show really helped open my eyes to the potential that having these movable led panels could bring.

 

 

Keep in mind, "The Brits" is a review of British bands(mostly of the 60's), The show started with "Georgy" and her "Georgy's Girls"(So,...they hadn't eliminated troop leaders altogether in the playlist produtions, Cool). First number? "Georgy Girl" Complete with the "girls" toiling over Georgy, primping her up, just like in the movie. For the next couple of songs we're introduced to Georgy's male counterpart. The thing is, he's an led "cartoon character" drifting from one panel to another as he sang his part. He's dressed in this technicolor outfit that really jumps out of the panels. A very 70's style(ouch), complete with striped pants and a rainbow vest.....hehe. By the 4th song he jumps right out of the panel. Now he's alive and in person! Pretty cool. Then...SHE'd gp back behind the panel, and become a cartoon! I thought that it was pretty imanginative. The choreography had to be a nightmare. They'd go back and forth between being a cartoon and a real person, all the while singing with the rest of the troop. Of course the Who, Stones, and Beatles were represented. I didn't hear Herman's Hermit's, I did heare some oldies I hadn't heard in a long time. The troop danced and sang well. I'm thought to myself that "Ticket to Ride"(on the Miracle) would highly benefit and look GREAT with old shots and vintage films of the Beatles (or 60's London shots)on the panels throughout the show. This was "Ticket" on steroids. Thumbs up Carnival....More like this please.

 

Before we knew it the show was over.

 

We made our way back to our cabin to pick up cocktails, and headed for the 11:45 "R Rated" comedy show in the Limelight room.The room was FULL. As luck would have it, we mananged to get the last table to stand at near the rear/center of the room.

 

 

One thing about this showroom. The floor rocks!!! You can really feel it!!! We see DJ ALX(from Minnesota) He say's "Hi Guys"(we're used to it), as he passes. It's evident he's coordinating the show, running from the DJ booth to the stage. Eventually the lights dim. A screen drops. A video starts. It's George Lopez(another good move Carnival, getting a big name to endorse their product on your ship....pat on the back). I can tell it's an R rated show when George drops the F bomb. Something about not letting the kids get their effen fingerprints all over the ship while you're here at the comedy show. The video ends. ALX comes out. He says "I'm ALX, Where am I from?" Lots of folks yell "Minnesota". He then goes on to introduce the comedian. He made a little mistake.(It was no big deal, but he was still being hard on himself about it when he came back to the control booth). Lowell Sanders came out. He's a pretty laid back comedian. He mentioned that he had a CD of his act for sale.(Seems like I've heard that one before.....hehe). It must have been hard doing four shows in a row. He was ok. The best laughs he got were for talking about "You folks cruisin, are crazy". He goes on to point out "Where else would you see people waiting 15 minutes for an elevator to go down 1 floor?" Huge applause. Probably everyone in the room was guilty of that one. Pretty soon the show ended. We were at the back and got out easily. We walked up by the piano bar. Ron was still playing. "Does he work every night?" I thought to myself. We stayed for a couple of songs, and headed back to the cabin. It'd been a long day. We just hung out on the balcony for a bit before bed. It'd been a long day.

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Great review!!

[lhuggi1]

Great Review thanks for taking the time to post !!!!

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Nassau

 

 

 

 

Woke up, and once again, joined Mary Ann out on the balcony. We were scheduled to arrive at Nassau at noon. Eventually, we could see the island.

 

 

We slowly pulled into the bay area in where the ships are piered at. I could see a ship docked. It wasn't Carnival. It ended up being the RCL ship "Monarch of the Seas". As we slightly turned to align ourselves with our dock, I could see a Fantasy Class ship parked in the middle. As we approach I see it's our old friend the Imagination.

 

 

It was on the Imagination that I first learned of Veranda Suites aboard Fantasy class ships. It was purely unintentional that we went through the "secret doors", and out onto the deck leading to the front of the ship. I looked up, and saw the Veranda Suite balcony's.

 

 

I did some research, and on our next cruise aboard the Paradise, we had one. Really liked it compared to the "Oceanview rooms". The next time we cruised on the Imagination, I opted for a "guaranteed" suite. We ended up with suite U69, A PENTHOUSE suite!!!!! This trip was also memorable for a couple of other reasons too. 1. John Heald was aboard(as a passenger). He had mentioned that he met his wife on that ship.(Never got to meet him, but I did see a stogie in the ashtray I thought might have belonged to him....hehe) 2. I did get to meet CC's own LHP!!! Linda was a nice lady, and I'm glad I got a chance to meet her on one of her umpteen cruises. We really LOVED that Penthouse Suite, and right now, we could see it right across from us! Had to take a picture or two of "our" balcony.

 

 

Finally, we came to a stop. We were docked at Nassau!

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

The ship would be in port from Noon till 7. We'd been to Nassau 4 times before this. The first 2 times, we stayed at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island . Very Pricey, but I would consider it a "Don't Miss" if you hadn't been there before. While we stayed there, we found our way down to the straw market, and Senor Frogs. On our first cruise here. we ended up going back over to Atlantis (since it had been a couple of years). It had subtle changes. But nothing too much. Last time we cruised here, we went to Cable beach. A nice secluded beach, set amongst low rise hotels. I had liked it there. We went down to eat. Today was our last lunch, and we had decided earlier in the trip to go to the Cucina de Capitano for the free pasta lunch.

 

 

 

 

Little Italy

 

 

If you're looking for the Cucina de Capitano, I'll tell you the best way to there. Just head(back)to the aft elevators. Go to lido deck(11). Step out of the elevators. Just walk forward(as in towards the front) and follow the door on the "right" side into the buffet, and on your immediate left will be the stairway that leads up to the restaurant.

 

 

I like how they display the menu outside the restaurant. Might be something you'd be interested in. We walked up the stairs. Pretty cool how instead of having 2 levels of buffet, they use the top level for an Italian restaurant.

 

 

 

The first thing I noticed? The smell. Italian cooking. No mistake about it!! YUM. There was a table with a sign that said "Reservations" on it(So much for Butch saying it would probably be sold out the first night). We gave them our name, and we were asked to sit, and wait till we were called. We waited in a sitting area with fabric, padded chairs. It wasn't very long till we heard our name, and were given our menus, pencils, and tablecard number(26). The hostess explained that we should fill out the menu card, and take it up to the cooks(who were cooking in a BIG open area).

 

 

 

Cool we could watch them making the food. It wasn't very busy, but got busier throughout our meal.

 

 

We made our way over to a round table in the corner. Right next to the captains uniform. It wasn't a minute after we sat down that someone came to take our drink order. Mary Ann and I both wanted a coke with our lunch. "2 Cokes" I ordered. I looked at the menu. You could pick your pasta(linguini, penne, or farfalle), your sauce(Pomodoro(Tomato Basil), Red Clam Sauce, Bolognese(Meat Sauce) or Alfredo). and other additions(lots of choices like grilled chicken, italian sausage, garlic shrimp, cherry tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, spinach, or Arugula) . For Extras, they had Caeser Salad and Bread. The Featured specialty was Meat Lasagna. I opted for Bolognese with Linguini pasta. For extras, I picked mushrooms, onions, and italian sausage(to give it some tang). Mary Ann went for Bolognese with Penne, with mushrooms as her extra. We both opted for Caeser Salad, and Bread. I took the orders up, and handed them to a man behind the counter. Our table started to fill up. It took about 10 minutes, but up comes a waiter with plates on a tray. He checks our number, and sets our plates down.

 

 

The pasta was excellent. The salad was good, and the bread was FABULOUS!! A great experience, and a "Highly Recommend" in my book. We took our time .We could look out the window and see the lounges where we'd been sunbathing the day before. We finished, and headed over to the exit stairway. A picture right at the exit caught my eye. It was a black and white shot of 4 boys in a pool.

 

 

Ends up that 3 of these kids are now Carnival ship captains, and the other is an officer. Very touching

 

 

......to be continued.....

Edited March 15, 2013 by cruisin USA

[SenatorsFan]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your lunch at the Cucina. That's something I'm looking forward to trying, too.:)

That's a great story about the 4 boys in the pool.

Heather

[Mdchris]

I may have missed it, but what was the name of the hotel you stayed at in Miami before your cruise?

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Mary Ann mentioned that it'd be fine with her if we just stayed on the ship all day. The last(and only other) time we'd done that was at Key West on our 1st cruise ever(after we overslept). That'd be fine with me. It was at least a 150-200 yard walk just to the gate to get out of the cruise area. We'd been here PLENTY of times before. We really weren't interested in Senor Frogs or the new inside straw market, or another beach day. We knew the ship would be running at a leisurely pace with most of the peeps out exploring. We ended up at the cabin for a bit. Our luggage tags were on the bed. "1B".

 

 

Almost first off the ship. Unfortunately, we didn't need to get off THAT early(We still wanted our customary breakfast before debark. We missed it last time cause of the early number. We'd have to go down to guest services, and see if they'd give us a later tag.

 

I also checked the Fun Times to see what was going on. Variety Showtime. "The juggling talents of Dana Tyson"..10:15. A definite maybe. We weren't interested in the 10,000 COVERALL BINGO. I noticed they were running a different types of trivia contests every half hour in the Ocean Plaza from 10 am-4:30 pm(1 last chance for peeps to win that coveted "ship on a stick"). All kinds of trivia from General Knowlege to Movie Theme, Music of the 90's, Beer Trivia..etc. Probably not for us. There were the usual "last minute" specials on watch's, spa treatments, and art. Nothing we'd be interested in. Also, the other comedian had caught up with the ship. The 11:45 show was a probable. I ended up turning on the tv. It was soooo cool that we could check the dinner menu for the night. I also went to "My Account" for the 1st time. We were on our 8th day. We started with $330.00 OBC. There was still $63.13 left!!!!

 

 

After our drinks, the tips, photos, and souveniers, we STILL had money left on our account! I was sure we'd have no trouble using the rest up. It was good to know what we had to work with though. We just hung out on the balcony. It was mostly sunny, and it was interesting seeing the folks coming and going from the ships. I did notice that they'd placed a dumpster right next to the gangplank going into the Imagination. (Yuk). I told Mary Ann I thought that was pretty tacky.

 

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited March 16, 2013 by cruisin USA

[Jazzzy]

Hi Gary

 

Really enjoying this trip report. Great pictures, great details and great sense of humor! Thanks so much for writing it! very thorough and very interesting. I've been following along and am all caught up now, so need more :p

 

Thank you :)

[Chathamite]

Gary,

 

We are booked on the Breeze this December 15th, and are also confirmed in Cabin 7271. Just a quick question, how many chairs are on the patio? We are a party of three. Enjoyed reading this report, and am counting down the days till we leave(still 9 months to go--boo).

[gapearl]

Another awesome Cruisin USA review! Your stories are always so fun to read, and I love your pictures. Thanks so much for posting! :)

[mikayla73]

Great report. Thanks for all the info and great pics. I've got around 2 months until our Breeze cruise.