Halloween Cruise: Carnival Fascination Review & Pics-10/28/13 Sailing to LSC & Nassau

[All4fun&fun4all]

I keep trying to remember to change the font on these posts but I apparently have a hard time remembering. It can only get worse now that I am switching from wine to rum. Bare with me folks.

We got our room service coffee around 7:00am. It arrived right on time and Melissa got her decaf coffee and I got my regular. By the way, just to mention, Melissa was the PERFECT roomie to have. We worked around each other with showers and getting ready perfectly. Since she was flying, I brought our toiletries to use for the duration of the cruise and that worked out well also. I had the over the door shoe holder that held everything we needed.

Prior to the cruise, on the Ghoulie page, we discussed all sorts of topics. Jennifer 2 mentioned having mimosas/bloody marys on Serenity deck on the first Sea Day. One of our members (Bubba) planned on being the tooth fairy for Halloween and his costume had a white tu tu. During our day to day banter (which could become sarcastic and laugh out loud funny) member Tanya mentioned we should all wear tu tu's to breakfast on the first sea day and that one idea began to spiral completely out of control. A large group of us decided, yes, we shall wear tu tu's to breakfast and yes, a great many of us will actually make our own tu tu's. If there was a shortage of tulle in your town in the last month or so....now you know why.

I got dressed in my borrowed tu tu (thank you Nikki), my pink argyle knee socks and headed out to meet some folks on Serenity deck with the thought in the back of my head...what if these folks dont show up in tu tu's (or at all) and here I am BRIGHT pink tu tu and pig tails. Ah, whatever. I will totally rock this tu tu anyway.

Me....in my tu tu

 

I crept ever so slowly down the steps leading to Serenity and saw no one and it was quiet. Hmm. A few more steps and it is really quiet. Now I am a little worried. Then I see them all congregated under the overhang.

There they are

 

Then Jennifer and Kyle showed up

 

And Nikki and her mom

And then Kelly got Nathan dressed in his

And Bubba and Caz

I also noticed at this time, one lady moving a whole bunch of lounger chairs around near the railing. One of the chairs was blocking the pathway closest to the railing. Not sure what was going on there.

Where is our mimosa waiter? Apparently it was too early for a waiter to be making the rounds on Serenity but all it took was Sheryl to make mention to someone on deck and a waiter showed up within a few minutes.

[All4fun&fun4all]

I approached the roaming mimosa waiter and asked him for a double mimosa. He then asked me for my I.D. and I was thinking he was just doing that thing that makes older ladies feel good about themselves. So I laughed it off and thanked him and pulled out my sail and sign card. He got irritated with me and asked again to see my ID. He was DEAD serious. I told him I didnt bring my I.D. with me and that I have a 20 year old son. He was a bit hesitant in taking my sail and sign card and took other orders from our tu tu friends. That was just weird but dang I am still flattered!

While we waited for our mimosas and such we took a few pics. As Jennifer has said...this is like herding cats

But we are adorable

cuteness

 

one more

 

Sheryl's queenly wave

 

Serenity wake pic

After we got our drinks we went to the Sensation Dining Room for MDR breakfast. We marched our way through the Coconut Grove, down the little hallway, across lido deck and down the steps to the dining area.

Tu tu parade. I think that is a Carnival "beard" off to the left here.

[All4fun&fun4all]

When we came down the stairs we noticed a lot more tu tu peeps waiting. How cool is that???

A flock of tu tu's

 

And some more

 

As I approached the hostess at the front of the MDR she clearly looked shaken. We are a bit scary. She asked me "how many in your party" I said "A LOT!!" She again asked me "how many in your party". Oh crap, we forgot to count how many we had and clearly our hostess was not playing along with our silliness.

Ann was counting and we ended up with 28 tu tu wearing Ghoulies!

We took up 3 large round tables in a row. That. Is. Awesome!

Of course the indoor pics didnt turn out well but this one of Sheryl is cracking me up.

 

I had eggs benedict with Hollandaise on the side. It was spectacular. I want one so bad right now. Alas, we are having sloppy joes this evening. *sigh*

After breakfast I wanted to check out the gym. The equipment there is top notch and I wish I could say I made it back there after this day. It would be a lie if I said that. But honestly it is so easy to jog and look at this view than at my local gym. Also, I was running in my tu tu and knee socks and I spoke with one of the entertainment staff who was working out there. He asked if that was my costume for Halloween and I told him that it was my everyday apparel. I told him I would be dressing up for Halloween and he said he would look for me since he is judging the contest.

 

My roomie Melissa and friend Robin worked out a bit too

 

After I left the gym I went to the internet cafe to leave a message for the Andrew. Since we had a roll call set up on Carnival.com I decided to use that to communicate with Andrew while onboard since it's free to log on to the carnival site while sailing. I would leave him a message when I had some down time and he could log on and respond. It was a really great way to stay in touch without incurring crazy cellular fees or having to pay for internet minutes. You can see our conversation if you log on to carnival.com, go to community, go to ships, go to Carnival Fascination and scroll to our roll call. ITS FREE!!!!! Just be aware it is NOT a private conversation. Anyone who logs in can see it.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Alrighty then, one more post and I will call it a night. Dinner is almost ready!

After sending Andrew his message I went to the atrium and saw this which displayed the Seasonal drinks for our sailing.

NIFTY Halloween drinks

I got the Green Goblin and it was sooooo good

Then Millie and Leisa saw me from up above and yelled down "TU TUUUU!!!!"

 

It was getting close to time for the Ghoulie Gathering. Prior to sailing, within CC and the Ghoulie page we talked about having some sort of a Meet and Greet. I had heard about open bar meet and greets in the past but I never wanted to be the one responsible for dealing with the money aspect of planning. After talking about it a bit Valarie offered to plan it, Jennifer offered to handle the payment aspect since she would put it on her Carnival card and gain points for it in the end and I said I would get wristbands and do name tags.

Thus began a perfect blend of party planners. We set up a group chat between the 3 of us and any time a person would pay, I would add them to a spreadsheet and make a nametag for the Ghoulie. We called this the Ghoulie Gathering.

Jennifer and Valarie contacted a group coordinator who then sent out pricing for different functions. We decided to see if anyone would be interested in a two hour open bar with dry snacks for $20.00 pp. There was a HUGE interest. Jennifer set up paypal info to take payments beforehand and we posted the information on CC and the Ghoulie page. The Carnival coordinator set the deadline for Oct 14th and we submitted the final count to Carnival and we were given a venue. We kept the venue a secret so that the potential for party crashers would be minimal. We messaged each person the venue info as they paid and requested that they reply so that we knew they had the info when the day came. Carnival also offered a non-alcohol package for $10.00 and some of our group purchased this package.

We ended up with 56 total participants in this party. It was a great value and I would totally participate in this in the future however, I dont think I would handle the party planning aspect in the future. It was a little bit stressful.

[alreadypacked]

This is a great review!!

 

You all looked like you had tons of fun and I can't wait to read the rest!!:)

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Great review. Hope to see some costumes.

[All4fun&fun4all]

Great review. Hope to see some costumes.

 

I took several pics of costumes!

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures! Thanks for bringing us along with you! :D:D

[I Luv Crusin]

How in the world have I missed your previous reviews? I wanna go next time!!!

[COJO1956]

Looking forward to more!!!

[IslandCruz]

This review is rocking! :)

[cruisinJenF]

So happy it's time for your review!!!!!!! So much fun! Keep up the good work!

[redryanc22]

Your writing style is impeccable. You leave the reader always wanting more.

[Amy_617]

I love your reviews! We are cruising on the Fantasy in January and I have read all 3 of your Fantasy reviews! I feel like I already know the ship and I haven't even stepped foot on it yet! I like your writing style so much, that when I saw you were writing another review, even though it's not on the Fantasy, I wanted to read it! You definitely keep your readers coming back! Thanks and Keep up the good work!! :)

[my2monkees]

I love your reviews! We are cruising on the Fantasy in January and I have read all 3 of your Fantasy reviews! I feel like I already know the ship and I haven't even stepped foot on it yet! I like your writing style so much, that when I saw you were writing another review, even though it's not on the Fantasy, I wanted to read it! You definitely keep your readers coming back! Thanks and Keep up the good work!! :)

 

 

Amy we will be on the same cruise. This will be my 5th time on the Fantasy.

[KNowme1st]

subscribed. no present or future plans at moment for this ship. So no idea why. ;-) looks like a fun poster, so I did. lol

[crusinpsychRN]

Tutus are too too funny!

[wobblypops]

I'm having a great time reading this, Nancy!

 

I would love to meet you and Andrew one day!

[All4fun&fun4all]

Good morning! I will try to get as much done on this review today that I can. My internets are not cooperating with me but I shall persevere! Standby!

[All4fun&fun4all]

Since I was in charge of making nametags and getting wristbands I started doing a little research on cost for these items. We had two party options; alcohol and non-alcohol. I figured I could get wristbands in two colors, red for NON alcohol and green for GO alcohol. I started my search for wristbands at Party City. Their prices were outrageous! I decided to check on amazon's site and sure enough, I was able to find 50 red and 50 green Tyvek wristbands for around $3.00 per color. I was also able to find nametag kits for $10.00 for 50 name tags which were plastic sleeves with the little clip attached and the paper to print them on. Check out amazon if you find yourself in charge of making nametags or getting wristbands.

 

My friend Sunshine assisted me with the design (because she is crafty like that) which was a ghost ship in murky waters with a screaming skull coming out of a cloud. She did a really good job with them. I also made a final excel spreadsheet of all the members that paid, put them in alphabetical order and color coded them red or green for which package they purchased. I thought it was pretty well organized but implementation at the door was a bit jumbled. I shouldnt have had that double mimosa!

 

We arrived at Passage to India (our venue for the party) about 20 minutes ahead of time so we could prep everything. We gave the bartender the color code instructions for wristbands. We agreed that I would read off the person's name as they walked in the doors and would say their package color. Jennifer would get the corresponding color of wristband and would put it on them and Valarie would hand out nametags.

 

Jennifer is ready to party

 

 

Sheryl, Jennifer, Valarie and I are ready to party

 

 

Frantically tearing wristbands

 

 

Receiving our guests at the door (photo courtesy of Nikki)

I have a clipboard just like Julie McCoy on Love Boat *snicker giggle*

 

 

There was a great turn out and I am so glad we had this gathering of ghoulies. Even happier because I just heard there was a price increase on these functions after we got back. Our little group is joking that perhaps it was our fault because we drank the Fascination out of booze.

 

 

This is a picture of most of our group. Some wandered off after a minute or so. Again, herding cats

 

[All4fun&fun4all]

We were all very secretive about our location for the gathering in the months prior to sailing. One of our members suggested a secret handshake and posted a picture from the Simpsons

 

I found this to be so funny and set out to secret handshaking all that would comply willingly.

Another

 

The most wonderful thing about this party is that you could either order whatever you want from the bartender or you can take off the tray that the waitress was walking around with. And they would always give you two drinks at a time. I had sooooo many rum punches. So many!

Am I twerking with Robin? (photo by Nikki)

 

Then I proceeded to milk an elephant. It is NOT as easy as it sounds.

 

Partay people!

 

[All4fun&fun4all]

Here's one way to wear your nametag

 

Maybe I should slow down on these rum punches. It is elegant night after all.

 

Two more? Sure why not.

I take pole dancing classes for fitness so everytime I see a pole, I feel the need to do a pole trick. This pole was too small.

 

Me and Tanya's sheep. I forgot to find out the back story on the sheep.

 

Then someone broke a glass on the dance floor (wait, were we dancing??) and we realized that party time is over. Our party was 12:30-2:30....EVERYBODY VACATE THE PREMISES!

[All4fun&fun4all]

Now, with the Ghoulie Gathering behind us, we all stumbled out between the elephants and scattered among the "normals" each going our own way, some with eventual common destinations. A few of us decided we would like to participate in the Thriller Dance Class. Heck yeah I can learn a new dance. Surrrrre! But there was time to kill. It was only 2:30 and the class was at 3:15 so I went off by myself on an adventure.

I brought along some Halloween stickers to add to decorations that I would see on cabin doors. I started on Empress deck and worked my way down to Main before I ran out of stickers

 

Some of the door decorations were really spectacular. Look at this one!

 

Now out of stickers, I walked outside for a moment and saw this

 

Just lovely isnt it? I arrived at the Palace Lounge just in time for the Thriller Dance class. Hooray let's learn something new!

 

This was a lot of fun

 

These guys broke the dance down into steps and were easy to follow. After trying it a few times they did just the ladies and then just the men. They said at the lido deck party on Halloween night they will call us all up to perform for everyone.

[All4fun&fun4all]

After dance class I stopped into the atrium and ordered a Twilight Zone with my favorite bartender of this trip. Her name is Katarina

 

Twilight Zone in a tu tu makes everything better

Shortly after this I wandered back to my cabin to change clothes and get fancy for elegant night

On the way back

 

Pretty

 

Elephants at Passage to India

 

This is the only picture of me for elegant night. Self pic in doors of elevator

[All4fun&fun4all]

Everyone at our table was also at the Ghoulie Gathering earlier in the day but all of us managed to make it to Elegant Night's dinner. No way am I gonna miss that lobster!

Valarie and John

 

Melissa, Sheryl, Helen and Trace all fancied up

 

No food pics again. This camera does not like food porn.

For a starter I had alligator fritters. Pretty good!

Second starter was baked stuffed mushrooms. Pretty good also!

And of course for the entree I had the lobster. I ordered a second one and shared it with Melissa.

Then I tried another dessert I had been hearing about. The bitter and blanc. This was just not for me. I guess I am just not a dessert person at all.

Then the shot fairy came around and she had the blue shot glass that I wanted to get last time and was unable to get. This shot was a Bailey's and Kahlua. It was tasty but all I really cared about was getting that little blue glass.

 

I stopped by my cabin to change out of those uncomfortable heels and found this fella. (not sure what he is)

 

And Melissa got the monkey she requested.

 

Some of us met up at Passage to India lounge to support Nikki in her karaoke performance. We wore these awesome shirts which got a great deal of attention. Many times someone would ask me where the rest of us were and one person said " I just saw drunk 5 go by a minute ago"