Mitsugirly's extensive back to belly sun & sky review

[mitsugirly]

There were tigers (the younger group that Sakari moved up from) that jumps through the hoop of fire.

 

 

 

 

The rope wranglers

 

 

 

Chinese yo-yos

 

 

 

Juggling acts

 

 

 

More juggling

 

 

 

Plate spinners

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The show lasted 45 minutes and then it was over.

 

 

 

 

 

The kids had a good time and the parents were proud.

 

 

 

Can you tell Sakari poses a lot for pictures? Look at the hands.

 

 

 

After the show, the kids headed back to the kids club and I headed back to the shopping area to check on my tee shirt request.

 

As I was standing at the counter waiting for the lady to ring up the person at the register, I looked down and GASP!!!!! OH NO....IT COULDN'T BE!!! The big diamond in my wedding band was GONE!! Are you kidding me? This thing has been hit and banged against everything for 8 years and it has held up like a rock. I haven't managed to hit it on anything this cruise and the diamond is gone!!

 

We looked everywhere. I back tracked all the steps we had made and I'm pretty sure that it was there at the Circus show. We spent the next hour or so with our heads hanging down to the floor and of course everyone we passed ask us what we were looking for. The staff helped us look everywhere and even took us back into the Stardust Lounge and had people get up and move from the area that we were sitting at (there was now a bingo game going on). Sigh* It was like finding a needle in a haystack. I just knew that we would never find it. My heart sank.

 

I can tell you that you never notice anything dirty on the floors until you are looking for a diamond on it. You will notice every little spec of anything that closely resembles a diamond or white in color. I can also tell you that if you look close enough you will find all kinds of things that may or may not be diamonds on the floor and especially in the restrooms. Costume jewelry or whatever, you wouldn't believe the amounts of things I found that were...who knows, real or fake.

 

Ok, yes I know I haven't painted my nails or removed the polish since returning home from the cruise. Disregard the icky nails...my poor ring.

 

 

I was completely devastated. Completely. (I just turned the ring in the other day to have it sent off to see how much it's going to cost to repair it. I haven't heard back from them yet).

 

I really thought my other ring (which I'm still wearing) that I purchased from the Getaway would be the one to lose the diamond in it. If you read my Getaway review, you would know that the week I got off the ship the huge diamond in it became lose as well. I have yet to send it off and it has remained intact. Sigh

 

We pretty much searched for the rest of the day and at a certain point, I just said to my husband "You know we'll never find it. I just know this in the bottom of my heart. Looking for it is doing no good and I'm not about to let it spoil the rest of my vacation. I'm done searching!" Although I did catch myself with my head down a few more times that night when I approached the areas that I was in, but for the most part, I did well.

[mitsugirly]

It was 5pm and time to pick up Sakari. Then we headed back to the shopping area to finally check on my shirt. The people at the counter said they had no idea what I was talking about or who the associate was that helped me.

 

I did notice one of those shirt/hat combo's on the counter and ask if it was mine. They had a tag on it with someone else's name and room number, so it was not. I told them that was exactly what I was looking for and what they were supposed to find for me. I wasn't leaving without my shirt this time since I knew for sure they had some. Why they were not bringing them out baffled me. At that point I was not a person to be reasoned with. Moma bear had just lost her wedding ring diamond and I'm not taking no for an answer.

 

They went back to search what they had and what do you know...they found some. I picked a dark brown shirt (since that's one of the colors I don't have yet) and Sakari picked out a whale and a turtle stuffed animal that said "I love to cruise".

 

It looks like they changed the styles on these shirts now.

 

 

 

Back in the room we had received our information about getting kicked off the ship the following day and how they were going to nicely do it.

 

 

 

We were given VIP tags, even though that pretty much means nothing to us because I like to take my time getting off. I'm never in a rush.

 

 

 

We had a VIP gift waiting for us.

 

 

 

We decided since this day had turned into a crappy day, I needed some cheering up. We were going to go out to dinner at the 7 Seas to try to have a relaxing dinner instead of the hustle of the buffet area.

 

We got dressed up and headed there. No lines or waiting as always.

 

 

I had the yummy mushrooms like always.

 

 

 

[janpo]

I feel for you about your ring. I lost my diamond from my wedding ring at work. I never did find it. We ended up getting a whole new ring set. Its beautiful but not the ring I was married in.

[Perfect Stranger]

So sorry about your ring.

 

Sakari was the best dressed and prettiest on stage!

[mitsugirly]

That was followed by some Alfredo noodles

 

 

 

 

 

For desert I had the apple pie and ice cream. The weird thing about desert was that Sakari wanted ice cream. She had watched them bring out the apple pie with ice cream and she decided that she just wanted the ice cream. When I ask them for ice cream for her, they replied "we don't have ice cream in here for desert." Um ok. So maybe they ran out? Nope, it was on my plate. I have found that "usually" the NCL staff will go out of their way to get you something that you need. I have even had a time that the staff went to the buffet to get something Sakari was wanting, even though I told them it was not necessary. They always go out of their way. This person was not!

 

So I shared my ice cream with Sakari and promised her I'd get her some more up at the buffet.

 

 

 

I don't even know what this was...it must have been the hubbys

 

 

 

On the way out I noticed the little light buzzers they give you if you need to wait on a table. I can assure you there was no waiting for ANYTHING on this ship this cruise...at least not for us.

 

 

 

Later that night, it was PJ night at the kids club and Sakari wanted to go for the last time. We headed back to the room and I finished my packing before taking her there. I have to say that I have NEVER started packing this early on a cruise before, but it sure worked out better!!! I was packed before the evening of activities hit and we were able to enjoy our night without having to rush back and pack last minute and try to get the luggage out. It worked out nicely and I think I will adopt this practice from now on.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We dropped Sakari off at the kids club and once again headed to the casino for our last night of fun. I won a little, I lost a little. When I was done playing for the night, I cashed in another $558 total. Not bad at all and a lot more than what I came with.

 

When we got back to the room, there was a message on the answering machine that Sakari was tired and wanted picked up. It was 9:30pm and I figured it would work out well since my packing as done and there really wasn't any more we needed to do.

 

On the way back from the kids club, we took a different set of elevators and came down the long hallway. Sakari was dragging behind us (which is unusual for her because she always has to be in front leading the way) and then I hear "MOMMY, IT'S THE SUN!!! IT'S OUR SUN!!" I had no idea what she was talking about. She says "It's mine!!!" I walked back and found our door decorations on someone else's door!!! They had it actually hanging up on the door. WHAT??? Really? I took it right down and back to the room. The only thing wrong with it was that they had pealed off my name on my sun. Everyone else's was intact.

 

 

 

I can't believe I walked right past it and Sakari spotted it right away. Our door decor is nicely saved and will go in our scrapbook at home now.

 

Sakari brought balloon art back to the room with her from the kids club.

 

 

 

She claimed she had them make me a flower bracelet too because she loves me so much. She is so sweet.

 

 

We checked on our Internet minutes and there was still 71 minutes left of time. I decided to use up the time by checking in fb and contacting my daughter on there, who would be meeting us on the next cruise in FLL the following day. We caught up on things back home, the great time we have been having, the weather and what our plans were going to be when we all arrived at the airport.

 

Now I must have really been into this packing early thing because when it came time to put the luggage out to be picked up, I couldn't find my luggage tags or the customs form anywhere. I ended up having to unpack everything to find it. Yep, I had packed it away with all of my paperwork. Geesh.

 

At this point, we decided we were hungry again and wanted a snack. We decided to order a pizza.

 

 

 

I remember the first time we ordered a pizza on the Epic. It was the absolutely nastiest thing I had ever tasted. We ended up throwing it away. Over the years, the pizza they serve at the buffet had changed and was pretty good. The pizza that we had the other night was decent, not great like most of the other ships, but edible.

 

They charge you $5 for the pizza and can be delivered anywhere: room, pool, casino, bar, you name it.

 

 

 

When our pizza arrived...oh my... YUCK! The same taste the other pizza we had on the Epic. What the heck? Why can they get it right at the buffet but not delivery? Wouldn't it be the same pizza? They load it with cheese (and I'm a cheese lover), but this stuff doesn't even taste like cheese. It's like fake processed no fat, no whatever cheese. Just gross.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now the weird thing for tonight was that they had decided to move the smoking section to the opposite side of the ship. Same place, but just the opposite side. From the rumors that I heard, the lady that was in the exercise room at nights, that was always closing the blinds, complained about working out and people sitting there smoking and watching her. Plus she didn't like that it was located right outside the exercise "healthy" room. So they moved it. I find this weird since there have been multiple complaints over the years about the locations and such that all it took was 1 person complaining about it and they moved it. I would be interested in knowing if it was moved back after this cruise. Just weird...

 

Once I located my luggage tags and customs form, I weighed my luggage only to find out that 1 of them was over 50#. Ugh, I had to repack again. I guess it's a good thing I got all of this started early in the day otherwise, I would be up half the night trying to get it right.

 

I found this cute little luggage contraption that you attach to the handle of your luggage and raise it up. It's digital and tells you how much your luggage weighs. I found it in the gift shop and I think it was around $19. In my opinion, I would definitely be able to use it and get my moneys worth. So I purchased it and it came in real handy for the rest of the cruise and will for future cruises.

 

We also found some paper brochures in the room that night that listed all of the NCL ships and where they go to. I kept it as a handy "go-to" and will be looking it over and planning accordingly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all, there are still a few ships I haven't been on.

 

 

Here is a copy of the disembarkation schedule and color of the tags. I have always found that they "usually" call you tag color earlier than what is listed. After all, they want you off the ship to get it ready for the next sun and fun seekers.

 

 

 

We headed to bed around 12:30am and I wasn't as sad to think about getting off of the ship knowing that I would be meeting up with the family the next day and heading to another ship. How exciting.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I had set the alarm to wake us up at 8am. However, like most days, I was up at 7:45am. I heard the announcements and headed up to the deck to check on the weather before waking up the rest of the family. It was cool out. Sigh* What was wrong with this Florida weather?

 

On the way back to the elevators, I noticed that one of the spa windows was broken and pushed in. Did someone have too much to drink last night? I mean I know it was really windy and the waves were high, but geesh.

 

 

 

I managed to drag the family out of bed and we headed for breakfast at Moderno. This time they didn't have the table set up with the eggs, bacon and sausage. I was a little bummed about that.

 

They did have the waffles and egg omelette's, but for some reason, this place was packed compared to the other days and I really wanted my bacon. So we headed over to the buffet...which was a little crazy this morning of course.

 

The breakfast was different this day. The eggs were super runny, the bacon was basically raw (which I hate) and the hashbrowns were gooey. It was really a bad breakfast. What a way to send you off the ship.

 

We headed back onto the deck to take a few of those "sad I'm back in port" pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I checked in with the kids to make sure they weren't going to miss the plane like last time. My oldest daughter (the slow one that makes us late to everything and has no sense of time) said she had been up at 7am that morning and was shopping for some last minute things at Walmart. She had everything packed since the night before and all paperwork ready. They informed us that there was snow at home now and it was extremely cold. It made me glad I wasn't heading home quite yet. We double checked our plans to meet up at the airport and then we were ready to head down to the room to get our things and get off the ship. Our cruise was complete.

 

We headed off the ship at 9:40am and was directed to take a "different" route off. I'm not sure why and it came out at the front of the line where people were in line to get off.

 

 

 

I was sad when I seen this sign

 

 

 

The lines were extremely long getting off.

 

After we found our luggage, it took about 1/2 hour. There was a guy directing the lines that you could tell he had one job and one job only and it was probably a made up job and you would have thought he went to special training for this job..he was SERIOUS about it and never cracked a smile. His job....to tell people to move up. That was it. He patrolled the area like a cop telling people keep moving, keep moving, move up, move up. There came a point and time that it just became a joke. People were laughing and we were squeezing together like sardines and saying "make sure there is NO room in between each other...keep moving keep moving". It was like we had never been in school and didn't know how to move in a line when it moved up. I guess he thought we didn't understand the concept of how a line works. It was aggravating at first and then just became a form of stress relief and laugher for everyone in the line.

 

The customs was super fast. A quick glance at the form and a "Have a nice day" and you were out of the terminal.

 

The cab ride was a flat $25 to the Tampa airport and he was a crazy cab driver.

 

We had decided this time to do the early bird check in with SW. We were very pleased to see that it gave us seats A36, A37 and .....B50???? What the heck??? How does this happen? Sakari was the B50. So obviously she wasn't going to board by herself and would board with us.

 

Our flight said that it was delayed for 10 minutes. We were to leave at 1:20 and would be leaving at 1:30 instead. But the airplane arrived at 1pm instead? What kind of confusion do they have going on here?

 

When we got ready to board, they stopped us when they seen Sakari's ticket. They said she would have to go back to B50. Um...what?? No, I don't think so. So then they said, well one of you will have to board late with her. I tried to show them my "early bird" check in papers where I purchased it for ALL OF US and they claimed they did not do it for her. If that's the case, how the H3LL was she checked in then??? I sure didn't check in any of us. How would she have been assigned a number? I paid for it! They claimed I didn't. I had my paperwork in my hands with the receipt to prove it. They wouldn't even look at it.

 

They told my hubby to go ahead on and "save" us 2 seats. So what's the difference then? There was going to be a big issue and some words thrown if I got on the plane and they didn't allow my husband to save the 2 seats for us. It's one thing if you didn't pay for it and you are trying to save seats. I understand that open seats are game for anyone...but not IF I PAID FOR EARLY BIRD. I still don't know what happened, but I was mad.

 

They acted as if they were doing me a favor by telling me after he got on that they would allow us to go when they were done with boarding all of the A passengers and I could go with the "family" boarding. Geesh. She was just being difficult I swear.

 

We had a whopping 38 minute flight to FLL. It was so quick that they actually took the drink orders prior to us leaving the airport. LOL

 

We arrived safely at FLL and was ready to head to our next fun filled week.

 

 

I will finish with a few "final thoughts" about the Sun on my next post. But this extremely long review is DONE.

 

Thank you all for hanging in there with me.

 

I will be back later. Time to do a little Christmas decorating today.

 

 

[SuiteTraveler]

Sorry about your diamond. You were smart not to let it ruin your cruise.

[hpecorari]

Sorry to hear about your ring. I know a replacement is never the same.

 

In regard to the Pizza? Had it on the Star and it stunk! Would never order it again. I, also, don't understand why pizza at the buffet is better!

 

Thanks for the review. You did good! :)

 

Harriet

[dreamingmermaid]

Can't be that obvious if I don't see anything on two tries.

 

I've found "Waldo" easier than that.

 

Edited: Sorry if my previous message was too revealing, but I was inclined to believe that since this was not fixed that the person who emailed was not specific enough for mitsugirly to find and fix on her own.

Edited December 10, 2014 by dreamingmermaid

[hpecorari]

 

Again, thanks for letting everyone here know this. I'm not sure it was the smart thing to do! I'm sure she didn't want it 'known' and since most couldn't figure it out......you've just told them. Maybe you can remove/delete/edit your post? She's been e-mailed about this.

 

Thanks

 

Harriet

[Blondie008]

Have you checked all your insurance policies? Your travel insurance? Household contents? Both of these covered my loss of diamonds - worth a check at any insurance policies you have?

Looking forward to your SKY review now

Thanks for sharing all with us!

[violettewaits]

1) So sorry to hear about your ring! I would have been so upset! Good for you that you didn't let it ruin the rest of your trip.

 

2) OMG! Someone else found your sun and was hanging it on their door...with your hubby and daughter's names on it? That is so weird and rude!!! The only explanation I can think of is if it fell on the floor and they didn't know which cabin it came from, so they just hung it on their door hoping you would see it? Maybe? :)

 

Loving the review so far and can't wait to hear more!!! You're inspiring me to do a detailed one when I get back from my next trip. :D

[Input122]

You are very welcome and I'm glad I can be of some help to you in planning. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will help as much as I can. :)

 

Did you book this LFK tour through the Ship?

[caissonqueen]

I still have no clue what photo is upsetting some people. :confused: The nerve of people to steal your door ornament and use it for theirs. Someone stole the beads from my door in Feb. on the Jewel. Took it on the last night. Oh well, my best friend and I got a lot more from the parades afterwards. :D I love the pics of Blue Kay. You did not help my craving for a warm place. Blue Kay looks much better than Maya Chan for the room and clarity of water. Definite hidden treasure, well not for much longer though.

[ncklhaus]

I'm really looking forward to the next segment of your review!

I feel for you about the loss of your diamond. On our last cruise I realized that the back to one of my diamond stud earrings fell off, so in order to make sure I didn't lose it I put it in my pocket for safe keeping until we got back to our room. When I reached into my pocket to put it away, it was gone. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and searched everywhere but never found it.

I also want to thank you for enlightening us about the Furries. Honestly, I had no idea that they were a sanctioned group with codes of conduct and cruise line liasons. Boy was I wrong about them. :o

[mitsugirly]

I feel for you about your ring. I lost my diamond from my wedding ring at work. I never did find it. We ended up getting a whole new ring set. Its beautiful but not the ring I was married in.

 

Thanks. I won't part with my ring and instead have it placed. It's just too expensive and of course sentimental. I hope I hear from them soon so I can at least put my mind at ease about getting it replaced.

 

So sorry about your ring.

 

Sakari was the best dressed and prettiest on stage!

 

Thanks and thanks! :D

[mitsugirly]

Sorry about your diamond. You were smart not to let it ruin your cruise.

 

Thanks. I really didn't have a choice. I refuse to let it take me down. Now if I would have lost the entire ring...that might have been a different story. :p

 

Sorry to hear about your ring. I know a replacement is never the same.

 

In regard to the Pizza? Had it on the Star and it stunk! Would never order it again. I, also, don't understand why pizza at the buffet is better!

 

Thanks for the review. You did good! :)

 

Harriet

 

I'm just replacing the diamond that fell out of the middle. It will be good as new once that's done.

 

I just don't get the whole pizza issue either. It makes no sense. But then again...neither does the hockey puck biscuits they have on every ship. How can they not get biscuits right???

[soaringfalcon]

I don't think this review was too wordy or long at all. You could keep writing forever :)

 

I'm so glad you had a positive experience with furries and could enlighten people. One of my dear friends is a furry and when she first told me the only thing I could think was of the CSI episode with all the weird fetishes. It's not that it for her at all and she does so much for charity.

[mitsugirly]

Edited: Sorry if my previous message was too revealing, but I was inclined to believe that since this was not fixed that the person who emailed was not specific enough for mitsugirly to find and fix on her own.

 

 

Again, thanks for letting everyone here know this. I'm not sure it was the smart thing to do! I'm sure she didn't want it 'known' and since most couldn't figure it out......you've just told them. Maybe you can remove/delete/edit your post? She's been e-mailed about this.

 

Thanks

 

Harriet

 

Ok, can we please put this to rest and stop drawing attention to it over and over?

 

IT CAN NOT BE FIXED. Once you post something, you only have XXX amount of minutes to correct something. I was informed way after that. Nothing can be done.

 

I do appreciate everyones concern but bringing it up over and over does not help.

 

Thanks again Harriet for emailing me. I appreciate it. :)

[mitsugirly]

Have you checked all your insurance policies? Your travel insurance? Household contents? Both of these covered my loss of diamonds - worth a check at any insurance policies you have?

Looking forward to your SKY review now

Thanks for sharing all with us!

 

We do not have insurance on it. :( I will just have to pay to have it fixed. No worries.

 

Thanks for joining me with this review. I can't wait to get started on the next.

 

1) So sorry to hear about your ring! I would have been so upset! Good for you that you didn't let it ruin the rest of your trip.

 

2) OMG! Someone else found your sun and was hanging it on their door...with your hubby and daughter's names on it? That is so weird and rude!!! The only explanation I can think of is if it fell on the floor and they didn't know which cabin it came from, so they just hung it on their door hoping you would see it? Maybe? :)

 

Loving the review so far and can't wait to hear more!!! You're inspiring me to do a detailed one when I get back from my next trip. :D

 

I pondered on the loss of the diamond for hours. Then I just couldn't do it anymore and had to snap out of it. I don't think the hubby ever gave up. He was looking for it the rest of the time.

 

Our SUN door decor had 3 suns on it and each one represented us. We each had our names on it. When we found it, it was all 3 of them except on my sun (the middle one), they had removed my name from that sun. :( But it's ok. I have plenty more of the alphabet I used on it and can replace it again for the scrapbook. We made everything from my scrapbooking stuff.

 

We had first thought that it might have fallen down and someone hung it back up. However, I would be inclined to believe that if this was the case, it would have been hanging a little closer to our room. This was quite a ways down the hall like a good 20 rooms or more. So I'm not sure.

[mitsugirly]

Did you book this LFK tour through the Ship?

 

I had to chuckle when I read this and now I have to ask if you actually read the review for it? :eek: :p

 

NO It is not booked with the cruise line. That was what the entire review for LFK was about. LOL :p :D

 

The nerve of people to steal your door ornament and use it for theirs. Someone stole the beads from my door in Feb. on the Jewel. Took it on the last night. Oh well, my best friend and I got a lot more from the parades afterwards. :D I love the pics of Blue Kay. You did not help my craving for a warm place. Blue Kay looks much better than Maya Chan for the room and clarity of water. Definite hidden treasure, well not for much longer though.

 

Good for you for getting more beads. hehe I remember them throwing them down from the floors into the atrium. We got quite a few that way one night.

 

Yes, I have to admit, I loved Blue Kay a lot more than Maya Chan. It is definitely a hidden treasure and I hope they keep it just the way it is and don't get greedy when cruisers start to come their way and start charging an entrance fee. That will spoil it all.

 

Shhh, keep it a secret. :)

[mitsugirly]

I'm really looking forward to the next segment of your review!

I feel for you about the loss of your diamond. On our last cruise I realized that the back to one of my diamond stud earrings fell off, so in order to make sure I didn't lose it I put it in my pocket for safe keeping until we got back to our room. When I reached into my pocket to put it away, it was gone. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and searched everywhere but never found it.

I also want to thank you for enlightening us about the Furries. Honestly, I had no idea that they were a sanctioned group with codes of conduct and cruise line liasons. Boy was I wrong about them. :o

 

Thanks and gasp! I know that feeling of being kicked in the stomach. It hurts but at least I didn't lose mine completely. Yikes. I immediately went back to the room with both of my rings...well, I should say 1 1/2 rings at that point :p and put them both in the safe. I did not even bother to wear them on the next cruise and I haven't even put the other one I bought from the Getaway cruise on since I returned home.

 

I don't think this review was too wordy or long at all. You could keep writing forever :)

 

I'm so glad you had a positive experience with furries and could enlighten people. One of my dear friends is a furry and when she first told me the only thing I could think was of the CSI episode with all the weird fetishes. It's not that it for her at all and she does so much for charity.

 

Aww, thanks so much for not thinking it was too wordy. I sure was starting to think so and know a few others did too. I think maybe if I had everything done and ready to go when I started the review, it would have went faster (even if it had the same amount of content and pictures). At least people wouldn't have been waiting and I think the waiting is the problem versus being able to just sit down and read it all at once.

 

I'm glad we had such a wonderful experience with the furries and I'm glad I met them. I hope to run into them again some day. Maybe I'll plan a cruise around that time again next year. :D It sucks that tv shows have to portray them in a negative way so that everyone watching will get a bad impression of them. I mean, we all know that everything you watch on tv is real right? I have to laugh when I watch shows like Greys Anatomy (which I love) and some of the things they do and say on there cracks me up...especially since I work in the real world and in the emergency and trauma room. That stuff is so not real. :p