Liberty's Memorial Day Review (photo heavy) - Including Extra Days in San Juan!!

[trippingpara]

 

 

 

After our stop at the St Peter’s Great House and Botanical Gardens Hajjii asked who wanted to go to Megan’s Bay, Coki Beach or Coral World. All but one lady wanted to go to Megan’s Bay. I believe she ended up going to Coral World. I have heard great things about Megan’s Bay. I can now declare that it is all true! The beach there is like a little slice of heaven on Earth!

 

One of my big concerns on this trip was how to carry all of my cameras and protect them when we were at the beach. I was generally carrying 3 cameras with me; my Sony dSLR with multiple lenses, a GoPro 4 and the new Olympus TG-3 underwater camera. To help protect them and to secure the dSLR when we were swimming/snorkeling, etc., I got a PacSafe camera backpack. Awesome! I now love this bag. All of the compartments can be secured by clipping their zippers into hidden pouches and one of the shoulder straps can be released so it can then be secured around a bench, tree, chair leg, etc. Very cool! It’s not impossible to steal from but it does make it so difficult that the average thief will move on to easier pickings. I was very happy to find on Megan’s Bay a very large picnic table that I was able to secure my camera bag to.

 

And with that secured, it was off to the water! Yes, my entire family are all part fish. I guess that would make us more like amphibians which probably puts us closer to frogs. Hmm…makes me sound French. Don’t like it! We’ll stick with being part fish! Any who, we spent the next two hours frolicking and snorkeling around the incredibly blue and clear waters of Megan’s Bay. For the snorkelers out there, the best snorkeling is near the rocks on the far side of the bay but we still found good schools of fish out in the center of the bay even with the impossibly perfect sandy bottom.

 

Trippette enjoying the azure waters of the Caribbean!

 

Lady Trip doing some free diving to get a closer look at things

 

Trippette and Mr. Trip spending some quality father-daughter time

 

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[trippingpara]

Loving the review....and the photos are wonderful.

 

Quick question about San Juan - you have a picture coming into SJ while you were on a ferry - the hotel I have booked is showing in the picture (Sheraton) -is the pharmacy you were talking about close to there???

 

Thank you do much! Yes, it is just down the street. Looking at the photo, see Señor Frogs to the left of the Sheraton? The building that is to the left of Señor Frogs is where CVS Pharmacy is. It is located near the opposite end of the building. It is about a 3 minute walk if you stop and grab a drink at Frogs on your way there! You can see the CVS sign hanging from the building from the front of the Sheraton. You can't miss it. Just remember when you come out of the Sheraton turn RIGHT not left! Don't use this photo as a guide, it's backwards! I would suggest going to CVS as early as possible (even the day before if you can) as it gets very crowded on the Sunday that the ship departs as everyone goes there to buy wine, soda, suntan lotion, bug spray, etc., before they board. Happy cruising!!

Edited June 18, 2015 by trippingpara

[Shih-tzu]

Will definitely be there the day before the cruise - I need to buy a certain type of aerosol sunscreen and I can't fly with it....don't want to get sun burn exploring the forts and Old SJ :)

[trippingpara]

Unfortunately, like all good things, our time at Megan’s Bay had to come to an end. Everyone slowly sauntered their way back to Hajjii’s truck (which was now being driven by Godfrey himself) for the trip back to the pier. On the way back we chatted with a very nice couple from Texas whom we would run into again on our excursion in St. Maarten. Before we knew it, our time in St. Thomas had come to its inevitable conclusion and we were forced to do the death march back to the ship. “DING” and we were back on the ship and our mood quickly changed back to excitement as we could now explore the ship some more.

 

The first step was to clean up and change. For some reason, the ladies were pretty adamant that I take my shower first. Concerned that I must be funk-ifying the room up, I eagerly jumped into the shower. While I was showering, unbeknownst to me, a steward came by and knocked on our door. Lady Trip and Trippette rushed to the door and quickly and quietly ushered in the steward. Meanwhile, I was completely oblivious, cleansing thyself humming some Bob Marley tunes outloud. As I stepped out of the head (restroom), I expected to find the ladies sitting on the balcony chatting it up. Instead, I found this:

 

Lady Trip and Trippette surprised me with a birthday cake from Cherry on Top.

 

 

I love these two! They are so awesome!! I was completely surprised and I’m usually really good at catching on to things like this, but they snuck one by me! So we sat down and enjoyed a couple pieces of Carnival’s chocolate cake. YUM!! As I continued to mow down on this delicious cake, the ladies jumped into the shower (separately!!) and got themselves cleaned up and changed into some proper cruise casual attire (whatever the heck that means!). We then headed out and started to check all the nooks and crannies around the ship. There are tons of photos of the Liberty on this forum so I won’t clog up this thread with more of them unless someone would like to see certain areas. Hopefully I got them as I didn’t take as many of the ship as I normally do. I know, I know, I’m slipping!

 

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Edited June 19, 2015 by trippingpara

[trippingpara]

Will definitely be there the day before the cruise - I need to buy a certain type of aerosol sunscreen and I can't fly with it....don't want to get sun burn exploring the forts and Old SJ :)

 

They have plenty of sunscreen (both aerosol and regular) there. We stopped flying with sunscreen, since we found its just easier (at least in San Juan and Hawaii) to just purchase it when you get there.

[trippingpara]

Some departing shots of St. Thomas...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trippingpara]

Before we knew it, our stomachs was telling us that its dinner time. Luckily for us, we had YTD (Your Time Dining) so we made our way over to the Golden Olympian for dinner. We were seated at table 223 a nice 4 seat table that was serviced by Corina, Wayan, Gede and Jayvon. What a crew! They were awesome. We had so much fun joking around with them. I even got Corina to start teaching me Romanian. We would end up requesting to be seated with them every night (well, almost every night – more on that later!).

 

Oven Roasted Mojito Chicken

 

Braised Rabbit

 

Veal Parmesan

 

Cheese Plate

 

Fruit Plate

 

I ordered my usual Melting Chocolate Cake when Corina and the rest of her team surprised me with a piece of birthday cake and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday." Lady Trip and Trippette jumped up and down swearing they had nothing to do with it!

Dinner was outstanding. Very tasty! Dinner at the MDR is a nice rarity for me. The concept of dining out for me is very similar to that of Lady Trip shopping. Get me in, feed me and get me out. For some reason, I don’t like to sit down and slowly enjoy my meal. I guess the Marine Corps sorta ruined that concept for me. To this day, I still have to scarf my food down as fast as possible. You just never know when an errant mortar round might come screaming down on you! Yet, I really do enjoy the slow process at the MDR. It never seems to be slow to me. I never felt like I’m waiting for the servers to tend to us. Maybe because all of the dishes come out separately, one dish at a time instead of all at once at a regular restaurant. Whatever it is, I really enjoyed spending quality time with my family at the dinner table.

 

We tried to catch one of the adult comedy shows but we were never able to time it right. We either arrived way too early or way too late. This trend continued throughout the cruise. I guess it just was not meant to be. We ended the night with a couple cocktails on the secret deck on Deck 10 having fun and just being the all-around goofballs that we are.

 

Next up, Sea Day...

 

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[Elaine2]

It's been a while since I have cruised out of PR and that was RCL so can you tell me about the liquor store at the dock? Do they expect you to hand it over to them and pick up at the end of the cruise or can you easily throw it in your carry on to take on board.

 

Also, do you recall if they sell 12 packs of soda at this shop? thanks, enjoying your review so far.

 

 

First off, Congrats on your DD's graduation. She is absolutely stunning. You have a beautiful family, including ur self !! We are going on the same cruise in May 2016 for our 40th anniversary ! Seems so far off but I know it will be here before ya know it ! My question is twofold, is the alcohol cheaper at the duty free store u mentioned then say a grocery store or walgreens ? Also do they not scan or check your backpack as u are boarding ? Do they check backpacks at each port u stop at when returning to the ship ? (Lol, guess that was 3 questions !"

Enjoying ur review so very much ! Thanks for taking the time to write it !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bktich]

Loving the review. We leave in 79 days on the Liberty for our 20th anniversary. Our first cruise with Carnival.

[familyfuncruise]

Great review! Looking forward to our trip on the Liberty in 15 days.:D

[IPAdrinker99]

Fantastic review! I'm heading out on this exact cruise July 12th. I was on the fence about bringing my DSLR camera but after seeing your photos I think will. I was hesitant to bring such an expensive camera with me to some of these places. What good is buying a great camera and not using it I guess. Can't wait for the rest of your review. :)

Edited June 20, 2015 by IPAdrinker99

[bda73]

 

 

 

After our stop at the St Peter’s Great House and Botanical Gardens Hajjii asked who wanted to go to Megan’s Bay, Coki Beach or Coral World. All but one lady wanted to go to Megan’s Bay. I believe she ended up going to Coral World. I have heard great things about Megan’s Bay. I can now declare that it is all true! The beach there is like a little slice of heaven on Earth!

 

One of my big concerns on this trip was how to carry all of my cameras and protect them when we were at the beach. I was generally carrying 3 cameras with me; my Sony dSLR with multiple lenses, a GoPro 4 and the new Olympus TG-3 underwater camera. To help protect them and to secure the dSLR when we were swimming/snorkeling, etc., I got a PacSafe camera backpack. Awesome! I now love this bag. All of the compartments can be secured by clipping their zippers into hidden pouches and one of the shoulder straps can be released so it can then be secured around a bench, tree, chair leg, etc. Very cool! It’s not impossible to steal from but it does make it so difficult that the average thief will move on to easier pickings. I was very happy to find on Megan’s Bay a very large picnic table that I was able to secure my camera bag to.

 

And with that secured, it was off to the water! Yes, my entire family are all part fish. I guess that would make us more like amphibians which probably puts us closer to frogs. Hmm…makes me sound French. Don’t like it! We’ll stick with being part fish! Any who, we spent the next two hours frolicking and snorkeling around the incredibly blue and clear waters of Megan’s Bay. For the snorkelers out there, the best snorkeling is near the rocks on the far side of the bay but we still found good schools of fish out in the center of the bay even with the impossibly perfect sandy bottom.

 

Trippette enjoying the azure waters of the Caribbean!

 

Lady Trip doing some free diving to get a closer look at things

 

Trippette and Mr. Trip spending some quality father-daughter time

 

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Would it be possible to snap some pics of the pacsafe bag. What model number? As mentioned earlier, i too enjoy taking photos and plan on bringing down with me a nikon dsl to go along with gopro4 and a nikon underwater camera. The dsl also has an extended zoom lense if i could somehow have a bag for all that plus the gopro floating stick ill be very happy not to lug two seperate bags all over the carribean

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[trippingpara]

First off, Congrats on your DD's graduation. She is absolutely stunning. You have a beautiful family, including ur self !! We are going on the same cruise in May 2016 for our 40th anniversary ! Seems so far off but I know it will be here before ya know it ! My question is twofold, is the alcohol cheaper at the duty free store u mentioned then say a grocery store or walgreens ? Also do they not scan or check your backpack as u are boarding ? Do they check backpacks at each port u stop at when returning to the ship ? (Lol, guess that was 3 questions !"

Enjoying ur review so very much ! Thanks for taking the time to write it !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you so much for the kind words! Generally the duty free store is cheaper since there are no taxes on it. However, I found the prices at CVS to be pretty good as well (we are not buying high end wines, so the price is pretty low already). Plus buying them at CVS allows us to pack them better in our carry-on vs trying to shove them in there at the terminal. (We take them back to our hotel room and pack them along with our clothes, etc.)

 

They do scan all carry-on luggage as you board. If they believe that your bottle is something other than wine or champagne, they will place an orange ziptie on your bag and you have to turn it in when you board the ship. If you purchased something from the liquor store, just keep it in the stores bag. You can either place that bag into your carry-on after security but before you get on the ship or you can hand it over to security when you board. Please note, Carnival's rules state that you must turn in any alcohol aside from one bottle of wine or champagne per adult.

 

Yes, they scan you bags, backpacks, etc., when you board the ship at every port. This is Carnival security so they are strict about not bringing alcohol aboard. The security at the cruise terminal in San Juan is the Port Authority not Carnival, hence the difference in the security measures. After the initial boarding in San Juan, you cannot bring anymore alcohol on, wine or otherwise.

Edited June 20, 2015 by trippingpara

[trippingpara]

Fantastic review! I'm heading out on this exact cruise July 12th. I was on the fence about bringing my DSLR camera but after seeing your photos I think will. I was hesitant to bring such an expensive camera with me to some of these places. What good is buying a great camera and not using it I guess. Can't wait for the rest of your review. :)

 

I really worried about it my first time too but I came to the same conclusion: I didn't spend this much on a camera to never take it anywhere! That's why I have over 6 different camera bags - depending on where I'm taking the camera! With such beautiful scenery, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't bring it! Have a great cruise!

[bktich]

I really worried about it my first time too but I came to the same conclusion: I didn't spend this much on a camera to never take it anywhere! That's why I have over 6 different camera bags - depending on where I'm taking the camera! With such beautiful scenery, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't bring it! Have a great cruise!

 

 

Which lens or lend did you use the most. I am taking my nice camera but only want to take 2 lens. Which 2 types did you use the most!! Thanks bunches

Edited June 20, 2015 by bktich

[pcvtmom]

Loving your review! We've done many of the same activities you've chosen (Barrachina's, Godfrey Tours, Mountain Top w/banana daquiris...) Oh how I'm missing the Caribbean right now! You've also given me some good ideas for the future. I'd love to do the kayak tour in San Juan and the Bacardi tour. Guess I'll need to plan another cruise. What a shame ;-)

Congrats to your daughter upon her graduation from THE best university in the Old Dominion State! Both of our kids are Hokies, too! The way you all cruise and do things together reminds me of our family.

[trippingpara]

Which lens or lend did you use the most. I am taking my nice camera but only want to take 2 lens. Which 2 types did you use the most!! Thanks bunches

 

I used a Tamron 18mm-270mm Piezo Drive that was my primary/main lens. I also brought a Sony DT 2.8/30mm Macro and a Sony 3.5-5.6/18-70mm with a fish-eye attachment which I used both heavily on the last time we took this same itinerary but I didn't use either one this time). Since my Tamron is both a primary lens as well as a zoom lens, it covers the vast majority of my needs. My other two lens that I brought were primarily for different/unusual shots which I didn't use this time around. For just standard straight photography (not for professional gain), I would recommend just a primary lens (18mm-75mm area) and a zoom lens (75mm to 300mm area). That should cover the vast majority of your needs (assuming you're just doing personal family/vacation photography). Hope that helps! Cheers.

[trippingpara]

Would it be possible to snap some pics of the pacsafe bag. What model number? As mentioned earlier, i too enjoy taking photos and plan on bringing down with me a nikon dsl to go along with gopro4 and a nikon underwater camera. The dsl also has an extended zoom lense if i could somehow have a bag for all that plus the gopro floating stick ill be very happy not to lug two seperate bags all over the carribean

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

It is the Pacsafe V25 Camsafe Carrying Case for Cameras (in Olive). It is a daypack so there is a camera compartment on bottom (holds several lenses/flash, etc., plus camera body) with a large open compartment for clothes, food, etc., above it. In addition, there is a small compartment for passports (has RFID protection), keys, etc. as well as a large back compartment for a laptop or 3 liter hydration bag. I highly recommend this bag if you're a camera geek like me and just can't leave home without a camera but want some measure of protection.

 

 

 

 

The black pouches and clips are not included (I attach my camera straight to the backpack straps to reduce weight on my shoulders - love it!)

 

I have a wide body camera and it fits with ease.

[trippingpara]

 

 

[trippingpara]

I figured I should probably put these at the beginning of the day not at the end of it.

 

 

 

[trippingpara]

Tuesday, May 26th – Sea Day (somewhere in the Caribbean Sea)

 

Even though we did not have a port this morning, we still had an excursion that required that bloody alarm clock to start buzzing and ringing and making a bunch of annoying noises until I promptly threw it overboard. Okay, so I mentally threw it overboard but it did make me feel much better! Our excursion this morning was the famed Behind the Fun tour. All 3 of us were pretty excited about this (or at least they pretended really well to make me feel better about my giddiness).

 

We had to meet in the Antiquarian Library at 9 am so we ran over to the Lido Deck to grab some breakfast a little after 8 am. This time we stopped at the Blue Iguana for some breakfast burritos. At first, I wasn’t too impressed with their offerings. Don’t ask me what I expected but it wasn’t what was laid out in front of me. Nonetheless, I pulled up my big girl panties and requested a bunch of things that sounded like they might taste pretty good mixed together in my belly. Wow! I must be some friggin’ burrito making rockstar because that burrito was awesome! If you don’t like spices, avoid the Mexican eggs and get the regular scrambled eggs. If the term “Mexican” in front of the word “eggs” wasn’t enough of a hint, there are jalapeno peppers in them ‘der eggs. Trippette apparently missed that hint and found out the hard way. They’re not overly spicy but Trippette and I are hardcore Irish folks with an extremely bland palate that can’t handle any level of spice. Now Lady Trip on the other hand is pure Italian and she does love her spices so those eggs were great for her.

 

After breakfast, we went up to the library to meet our tour guide. She was the ship’s trainer. There were a couple other families with us including the couple that we had just seen on the TV this morning as the longest married couple from the Welcome Show. They were so cute. They also ended up on the Newlywed Game later in the week. They had met in France where she worked in a bank and he was stationed in the Air Force in the early ‘60s. They’re now retired snow birds splitting their time between Florida and France. Turns out he also was a Hokie graduate (attended Virginia Tech) – small world! We spent a lot of time chatting with them. Once our guide came in, we had some coffee and snacks and were handed our Behind the Fun tour pass that allowed us access to the hidden secret world of “the crew”. You have to say “the crew” in a hushed tone. Don’t ask me why, but it sure does add a bit more mystery and suspense to the comment.

 

 

While we were in the library, we got some coffee/tea/juice and snacks. The trainer also handed us a little pamphlet with a bunch of the statistic of the ships along with the recipe for Melting Chocolate Cake. Unfortunately any electronics are forbidden on this tour so we have no photos except what was taken and sent to us. Security even came and strip searched us! Just kidding, but a very serious looking security guard did check us with a wand. If you did bring any electronics, they will take them and return them to you at the end of the tour. I was hoping to see someone get thrown into the brig but they’re not that mean. After the search, we started our tour going out to the bow of the ship on Deck 3.

 

It was neat to go out to the very bow where the ship’s bell resides. A spare anchor is usually also sitting here (you can see the various racks that secure the anchor) but it was sent away for repairs. Luckily for us, we did not need a spare anchor!

 

By the way, if you're wondering that flag that's flying is the official Carnival flag

 

As the trainer finished telling us about the bell and anchor, a photographer appeared and took some photos of us standing with the ship’s bell.

 

 

I’m sorry if I get the order of our travels wrong, but it will give you the general gist of what is on the Behind the Fun tour. Our next stop from here was over to the backstage area of the main theater. I have toured around extensively as a drummer many moons ago so I’ve seen my fair share of backstages before but I’ve never seen one on a cruise ship. It was interesting to see how they secured the various backdrops, cases, equipment, electronics, etc., from rolling around. Any backstage is filled with things that can cause some serious damage/injuries/death if allowed to roll or fly around unchecked. You know, like what would happen to these things on a cruise ship bobbing around in the sea! I was also surprised to see that their stage rotates and lifts. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised but I didn’t expect that level of equipment and capabilities onboard a ship.

 

While the stage manager was explaining the going-ons behind the stage, a young gentleman and I were both engrossed with the drum kit used by the main stage band. You can always tell drummers, they suddenly act like 3 year olds at the sight of a high end drum kit. We tend to drool and then talked excited with one another about all of the different equipment and compare it to what we have. It’s an instant bonding thing. Lady Trip just rolled her eyes has I giggled in excitement chatting with my new found drummer friend.

 

Our little drummer chat was cut short as it was time to move on to see the dancer’s dressing rooms just off of backstage. English Danny, the head dancer was waiting for us in the female dressing room. Why Danny, a male, was sitting in the female dressing room was beyond me. I just figured that the men’s dressing room was probably a mess and the lady’s kept their room far more tidy and probably smelled a wee bit better too. Anyways, it was neat to see all of the costumes that they change into during a show. Each dancer had their own rack with all of their costumes hanging in the order that they wear them. I was surprised to hear just how many shows that they do during a week. Due to Liberty’s port intensive schedule, they actually have the lightest schedule out of all the other ships in the fleet. He said the average dancer works about 30 to 35 hours a week on the Liberty. That includes their other duties as well (they also have to assist passengers and have other security related tasks). We then exited the dressing room and were standing outside as our guide talked some more about life onboard a ship at sea. While we were chatting, the dancers were all starting to report to work and were logging into their time and attendance clock that was right next to us. I never realized how small they were. All of the ladies were these wee little things.

 

Our next stop was heading deeper into the bowels of the ship...

 

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[trippingpara]

We went down to and saw the crew’s gym (very small but loaded with some nice weights and machines), the paint storage locker (there was a buttload of paint in there!), the morgue and brig (couldn’t go in to them), stole a peak into Sick Bay and got a glimpse into where the crew’s quarters were on I-95 (the main thoroughfare on the ship). We couldn’t go into any of the crews’ quarters as they didn’t have any empty ones but you could see the main areas. The bulletin boards reminded me of the ones you see at college, filled with pictures and flyers for get-togethers and events.

 

We then found ourselves standing in the giant laundry facility. As a guy, I was thinking “laundry? Could you get any more boring! Let’s see some engines! How about some power tools, eh?” Grunt, grunt. It was actually extremely interesting to see how they can turn over hundreds of tons worth of sheets, towels and blankets on a daily basis. Lady Trip was in love with their automatic folding machines for the towels and sheets. I promised her that we’d buy one as soon as we had a house that could hold a 2 ton sheet folder. Now this was all old news to Trippette who has spent quite a bit of time in hotels working and has seen these machines before.

 

Now that all of the ladies were worked up over the awesome folding machines, we headed over to see the crew’s galley (that’s a kitchen for all of those non-seafaring types!). It’s basically a smaller version of the main galley upstairs that serves the passengers. We were able to rest for a few minutes, grab something to drink and they had cookies waiting for us. We then got to see the crew’s mess (where they eat), the crew’s breakroom – which is really a bar. Seriously, a bar. Yes, there was a full blown bar complete with a foosball table and pool table. A few crew members were hanging out there so we got a chance to chat with them. Turns out that drinking too much is a serious offense for them. Getting drunk off duty can cost you your job. They will immediately cancel your contract and drop you off at the next port of call. I spent a lot of time on Navy ships as a Marine so I can understand the danger a drunken person can pose within the tight confines of a ship but yikes, that still seems a bit harsh. Maybe I’m just getting soft in my old age! The crew didn’t seem like they had a problem with the role, they just stressed that they just have to closely monitor what they drink and how much they drink.

 

After that, we got to see the crew’s computer lounge where they can send and check emails and cruise the internet. See what I did there?? Huh, “cruise” the internet? Man, I crack myself up! Any ways, all expenses are covered for crew members (food, housing, clothes) except for phone and internet minutes. They have to purchase data/phone cards in order to call or email home. Sounds just like my time in the Marines! Departing the crew’s lounge, we stopped over to see the Captain’s mess. Yep, the Captain has his own mess hall. It’s actually a room with a large dining table that he shares with his “core team”. The Core Team is made up of his Chief Engineer, Second Engineer, Director of HR, Director of Housekeeping, Director of Security and the 2 medical doctors.

 

Our guide then led us up to her training room where we got to sit and take another break (there is a lot walking and stairs on this tour!). She then told us about the training available to all of the crew members and it’s all free. They had some nice equipment in there! From there, we went back down I-95 to the warehouses that store all of the meat and most importantly the booze! Yawzaa that’s a lot of booze! It was cool to be down there as I never knew they carried some of my favorite brands of beer (I was now a very happy man!). The meat locker was freezing and was awe-inspiring to see sooooo much meat in one place. I was in heaven! The warehouse manager was hysterical too. Now that we got to see how the food and booze was stored, it was time to see the main galley to see how it all comes together. We were met by the Sous Chef who showed us around the galley and showed us how they make soup and some of the other meals and then took us over to the pastry area where a chef was decorating a cake in front of us. They then had more cookies for us (it’s a good thing I’m part Cookie Monster!)

 

Then we were off to see the Engine Control Room. Since 9/11, passengers have been banned from entering the Engine Room, so now we see the Control Room instead. That’s alright with me. It’s a lot cooler, smells a whole lot better and it’s much quieter. Plus it’s lined wall to wall with lights and buttons and dials and knobs. I was like a kid in a candy store!! Lady Trip immediately grabbed my arm and ordered me to put my hands in my pockets and not to touch anything! Man, she knows me!!

 

There were 3 engineers working and they happily taught us the inner workings of the ship and what all the flashing lights meant. I was engrossed with everything when I noticed that all of the women on this tour were incredibly quiet. Bored, I figured since this was a man’s area! I glanced over at Lady Trip and Trippette and noticed that they both had a glassy look in their eyes and were beaming from ear to ear. I quickly looked over at the other 3 ladies on our tour and noticed similar looks on their faces. Confused, I looked back at the engineers and suddenly realized the source of the ladies’ rapture. Them. The three very young and very good looking Italian engineers. It all made sense now. They didn’t hear a word these guys were saying! It was all gibberish to them, but the women were all smiling and laughing at every joke these guys said. It was rather funny as now I know what I would look like if I was ever at a cooking demonstration with Giada De Laurentiis! Ahhh, Giada…! Huh? Oh, sorry, I was sorta drifting off there…

 

Any who, the Third Engineer was having a lot of fun with the security officer (the same non-smiling one that wanded us earlier. (wanded? There’s one of those made up words I warned you about!). The engineers would make a joke about shutting the engines down or having one of us hit an alarm and we would all look over at the security guard and he would just be standing there with his arms folded glaring at the engineers. It was so funny. Well, our guide finally forced us to leave as we were getting behind schedule. It was now time to visit the bridge. I was surprised when they opened the door marked “Crew only” on Deck 8 only to find a large office area and sleeping areas for the Captain and Chief Engineer. I guess I expected to open the door and be inside the bridge not some 15 fifteen feet away from another door that led to the bridge. I always thought that guest cabins went right up to the bridge. Never expected a large outer office to the bridge be in between.

 

We finally did enter the bridge and you could hear the grasps from everyone. What a view these guys have! I think I’m going to go out and get my captain’s license just so I can have that view all day. The First Engineer gave us a tour of the bridge and explained a lot of the equipment and how the bridge operates. About 15 minutes later, the Captain came out and introduced himself. He stayed with us for quite a while answering the plethora of questions that the tour group had. He was very pleasant and cordial although you could tell that he did not care too much for the questions about the Concordia disaster. I thought those questions were a little distasteful like they were asked more for shock value than any real intellectual value. But what do I know! The Captain did a good job answering them by slightly deflecting: “I wasn’t there, so I really can’t comment on what happened, nor what was going through the Captain’s head at that time.”

 

After the question/answer session, the photographer suddenly appeared again and took some photos with us and the Captain.

 

 

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[trippingpara]

We were then brought down to the Golden Olympian Dining Room where we were served champagne and mimosas and were given our swag bags. The bags contained a Carnival Behind the Fun baseball cap and a bar of soup carved out in the shape of a swan. We also got to keep our Behind the Fun lanyard but we had to give back the Behind the Fun pass. A bit later on in the day we found a tray of chocolate covered strawberries and copies of the photos for all three of us in our room.

 

 

The whole tour from start to finish took a little over 4 hours. The cost was $95 per person and we thought it was well worth it. Yes, it was pricey and Lady Trip went through an aggravating experience to get tickets since it was a first come, first served style and they weren’t available to purchase online. Nonetheless, we plan on doing this again when we’re on the Vista next year. Hopefully, they’ll offer it on their inaugural cruise!

 

Now that the tour was over, we could now begin our relaxing sea day. The ladies wanted to check out some make-up seminar that the spa was offering, so I walked over to the Stage Lounge where it was being held out, verified the time it was to be over with and then headed out to the Lido Deck to watch the Hairy Chest contest, enjoy some drinks, soak up some sun and generally be a lazy sunbird. As always, the Hairy Chest contest was entertaining in a very sophomoric way, but entertaining nonetheless.

 

 

Once that was over, I hit up the Red Frog Pub for some drinks and then grabbed a lounger just above the Red Frog Pub where I told the ladies to look for me. Apparently, the make-up seminar went on for much longer than original scheduled. It was supposed to be for 45 minutes and it was now going on an hour and a half. I was starting to get cooked out there and the drinks were starting to flow a little too good. The Asst. CD was calling for people to join in on the cause for St. Jude Hospital so I got up jumped in line to donate for the 3 of us and then returned to our cabin to drop off the St. Jude shirts that I just got. As I walked back out onto the Lido Deck, I bumped into the ladies.

 

Although their make-up looked very nice, they weren’t very impressed with the “seminar” as they said it was more of a sales pitch not an actual seminar on make-up. Not too surprised. I often hear that about the various “seminars” that Carnival offers. I tend to avoid them like the plague. I can think of much more enjoyable things to be doing like…ummm…I don’t know…DRINKING instead of sitting in a seminar. But then again, they don’t offer seminars on power tools, cars or guns. I may have a completely different response if those seminars were available! Grunt, grunt!

 

Any who, now that we were all together again, we took a quick little self-tour of the ship for some more photos and then got changed in our swimsuits. There was a giant green slide that was calling our names! We ran up the stairs to Deck 12 to hop down the slide like little children. I was just praying that I didn’t have a repeat of the slide incident from our last cruise. One would normally expect to actually slide down a water slide pretty effortlessly. Me? Nope, I did my best impersonation of a dog scooting their butt across the floor all the flippin’ way down the slide! That’s a very long slide!! It wasn’t funny at all! Okay, so it was really funny for everyone but me! Alas, my fears were not realized as I quickly rocketed my way down the slide resulting in a giant splash down at the end. Something akin to a giant blue whale doing a belly flop in your backyard pool. Luckily everybody standing near the landing zone to the slide was already in the pool next to me so they were already wet. Coming down behind me was Lady Trip screeching like a little girl. Note to self, don’t screech like a little girl when coming down the slide. It can be heard the entire way down and is very funny to see a fully grown man splash down when you were expecting a 14 year girl!

 

My nemesis – the dreaded butt-scooting slide!

 

Lady Trip screeching her way down the slide

 

Of course, in true Trippingpara family style, the 3 of us bolted back up the stairs, giggling as we ran, throwing little kids out of way and body slamming anyone in front of us. Okay, in reality the two ladies had to carry me up the stairs as I was out of breath from screeching like a little girl after I got beat up by a toddler in diapers for cutting in front of him. What can I say? He was awfully big for his age!! Any ways, We went down the slide a couple more times until I was asked to stop as there was no more water left in the pool after my splashdowns. Seriously, we had a blast as we always do anytime we’re around water. There’s something magical about water that just turns us into kids. What is it that they say…”you’re only as old as you act.” In that case, I need a binky and some Depends stat!

 

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[trippingpara]

Since it was Elegant Night, we headed back to our cabin early to start getting ready. We treat Elegant Night as one of those rare opportunities to get all dolled up. So the 3 of us whipped out our best Sunday dress and headed down to the Promenade Deck for some photos.

 

I call this my James Bond photo.

 

Once we got our fill of photos, we headed down to the Golden Olympian for some lobster. Since we had such a great time with Corina and her crew the night before, we immediately requested her area again. We were seated at the same table and the wait team seemed very happy to see us again and greeted us all by name.

 

Since it was Elegant Night, that meant lobster was on the menu. I immediately told Corina that they better send out some divers to collect more lobster as I was definitely going to make a dent on their supply! We all laughed and continued with ordering our food. Well, Corina is a smart lady so she brought out two plates of lobster for me! What a gal! On my last cruise I had to order every plate separately after I finished the one before it. Nope, Corina just cut to the chase and brought out 2 to get me started! It was service like that that kept bringing us back to her team.

 

Oh how I love my lobster!

 

After we gorged ourselves on lobster (read that as Mr. Trip gorged himself on lobster), we headed over to the theater and watched the production show, Rockers. The band was really good. The dancers, meh, but I’m not much of a dance guy. The ladies liked it so you’re probably better off taking their opinion then mine! Once the show ended, we just strolled around outside for a bit and caught some of the Transformer movie at the Dive-in.

 

 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention. In celebration of Trippette's graduation from Virginia Tech, we had the room decorated and a cake sent in for her. Yep, unbeknownst to me when I ordered it, that it would be our second cake!

 

 

 

Up next, Barbados...and Calabaza!

 

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Edited June 20, 2015 by trippingpara

[QTPieRye]

Great review so far! Congratulations to your daughter and happy birthday! Love the elegant night photo of your family :)

 

Quick question regarding FTTF.... we've done it the past 2 cruises and it was worth the money, especially for tender ports. Since most (if not all) ports on this itinerary dock, did you think the FTTF was still worth it?