Stinger-pr's fascinating honeymoon, Fascination cruise review- Oct. 16-23, 2016

[Stinger-pr]

Glad to see you're back continue this great review!!!:D:D Still loving it. Best one I've read on CC.

Aww...you're too kind! Thanks for still reading and for your kind words.

[Stinger-pr]

Funny you say that - it was snorkeling at the base of the Pitons there on a cruise almost 8-9 years ago with Spencer that caused us to come home and get SCUBA certified. We've since gone back to dive it, and will be doing so again next month.

 

Also, just wanted to say that it is was the first week for the American Table being rolled out, I feel for you. We were on Glory the very first time that American Table was rolled out on any ship and dinner was a miserable experience. The way it is structured it adds another column to the food order (for sides I believe) and the kitchen and the wait staff couldn't seem to get it together. They have tweaked the menu a bunch since that first week roll out, putting back some favorites, but between the time it took and the complaints from people who had set menu items they couldn't live without, it was a nightmare. I thought the food was nice for a change. The hours for dinner service, not so much.

 

And you mentioned the digital photos, which is now on Vista and is awesome. You can pull up on your phone or tablet with the app and see it all, delete and you want and purchase either an actual print, or just the digital file. So much nicer that searching the walls for photos.

 

You've posted great pictures! Thanks for doing the review!

 

I've always had this thing for snorkeling for some years now. It's a whole different world underneath the water surface, it's just mesmerizing! I am currently looking into scuba classes that I can fit into my schedule and almost got it narrowed down to three places. It can be a difficult choice sometimes since we got a lot of places that offer similar packages. I might not dive at the Pitons when I go back since I think that getting everything set up for the 5 of us by then would be difficult. But after reading about Mitsugirly's experience with the dive shop at Coki Beach in St. Thomas, we are seriously considering that option for our trip. But the diving/snorkeling the Pitons is absolutely and awesome experience!

 

About diner: I really do hope the get better by the time we return in '18. We are still debating on staying with Your Time dining (for reasons I'll explain when I post diner on night 7) or go for late assigned seating (although we'd prefer to not share a table). We really haven't made our minds up yet. But diner was painfully slow. There was just too much time wasted with our empty plates in front of us.

 

Carnival seem to be notorious for being slow to roll out better tech and processes for a lot of things and the ship photography has certainly been one of it's slowest. I don't know if it's a cost cutting issue (although with so much photo paper being "recycled" I have my doubts) or what. But not only do other cruise lines (even within Carnival Corp.) have better, more efficient tech, they currently have, from what I've been reading, prices that tend to be higher than other lines. We'll see how long they take to roll out a system like the one on Vista. I only hope it takes less time than what they took to roll out Carnival Hub on the fleet (which is STILL not complete).

 

Thanks for reading and I'm happy you've enjoyed it so far.

[Stinger-pr]

We are flying in late the night before and staying at the SJ Suites. After the cruise, we are staying an extra day (cheaper flight home) and staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan.

 

I have been looking at the Puerto Rico port of call page trying to find a good restaurant to eat Sunday night. I saw Marmalade but didn't want anything upscale. Was considering Cafe Puerto Rico for Mofongo. Where would you recommend? Also, for breakfast, Cafe Mallorca or La Bombonera?

I'll use part of and answer I posted recently in the San Juan section of the Port of Call area concerning this:

"As far as restaurants go, Marmalade is well regarded as an upscale restaurant with great food. But the only thing local about it is that it's located in San Juan (and maybe uses local ingredients). Their menu is available online and you are more than encouraged to make reservations well in advance. If you're looking for local food within Old San Juan, you can try Raices, Cafe Puerto Rico, Punto de Vista (which will be just a few doors down the street from SJ Suites) or Cafe Manolin (old school dinner-style where the locals have lunch). Barrachina is another great restaurant that, price-wise, would slot in between Marmalade and the rest."

 

For breakfast, I'd go with Cafe Mallorca. Their various mallorcas, served sandwich-style, are an item you will likely enjoy and more than likely will not experience again unless you come back to PR.

[Stinger-pr]

So glad to see you're back and glad you finally got some relief from work...hope that continues. Like Sparks mentioned, I'd be more than happy to go down and help out if needed!!! :D

 

I LOVE your sunrise pictures with Redonda!!! Those are spectacular! Were you able to see Montserrat that morning? We were able to see both Redonda and Montserrat when we did the same itinerary on Liberty in 2015 and I was thrilled. I knew about the volcano on Montserrat erupting back in 1995 and that there have been a few eruptions since. We're also big fans of Jimmy Buffett and every time I hear his song "Volcano" (one of the ones he always performs in concert). I later found out that he actually wrote the song "Volcano" and his whole album while in Montserrat...before that first eruption. So I was thrilled to get a glimpse of Montserrat the morning we sailed into St. Kitts. We also had gorgeous views of Nevis that morning as well with one of my favorite sunrise pictures of the trip.

 

Now Shipwreck...our favorite!!! I'm so glad you you enjoyed it as much as we did. I know many don't care for it, but "to each his own", right? :D Like you, I also found an empty conch shell AND a sand dollar too, and brought both home. Your conch looks like mine did, all cruddy, but it sure cleaned up nice. It's actually orange...just beautiful! And the sand dollar actually made it home and without breaking. When they are white like that, they are already dead. That's just the bleached out shell. When they are alive, they are covered in what looks like greenish/brown "fuzz". Great souvenirs...authentic AND free. :D

 

Again, I am really, really, really enjoying your review and loving every minute of it. You know I love the pictures you get. So glad you're doing it again next year too!!! :)

 

Unfortunately no, I was not able to see Monserrat or the volcano. We were too far away by the time I got topside and my camera and filters de-fogged. But I will surely give it a try next time. Since we will be sailing in summer as opposed to Autumn, having better light earlier might be able to help with spotting it from the distance. We were pretty close to St. Kitts by sunrise. That's a great story about that song BTW.

 

Look... I go to the beach here in PR with a fold-up beach chair, a cooler. a beach blanket and sunblock/suntan lotion. The only umbrella I carry is for rain and it's in my car. For us, a lounger and umbrella is not a "must-have/necessity/deal-breaker/vacation-ruining/"this-place-sucks-because-they-don't-have-it" kind of thing. We eat from food trucks, hole in the wall places and from vendors selling local fritters on the side of some random street. I said all that BS just to make a point that we are simplistic. Places like Shipwreck might not be everyone's cup of tea but the reality is that that type of traveler miss the whole point. Life in the Caribbean is about simplistic delights. We love the simple things in live. If we want upscale travel, we go to Europe...lol. We loved Shipwreck as a whole; the place, the vibe, the food, the beach and the snorkeling. It was great! I've been to Carambola and whatever... Like you said, to each his own. Unfortunately, my sand dollar didn't make it home in one piece so another reason to go on another cruise...lol. The shell did make it in one piece and cleaned up nice. The only thing is that it started to go from orange to white in the pointy part but it still looks great.

 

I'm happy you're enjoying it so much. I'm guessing the next review will focus more in family cruising. It will be interesting enough since more than likely we'll be in a 5 person ocean view cabin with two Pullman and a trundle in the room. Getting two rooms is an over $500 difference right now and since there are so few balcony and suites in this ship, the fare for a more comfortable, bigger room is just too much out of our reach. We'll see...

[nokidz]

thank you for posting pics of the menus. I have been reading your review during lunch break. So as I eat my ham sandwich, I choose my "dinner" off of those menus.....lol

[pghsteelerfan]

Pghsteelersfan, when are you and DH doing this cruise again? I loved your reviews the last 2 times!

 

You know, I'm currently twisting my hubby's arm to to this itinerary again! :D Even with Fascination, an smaller/older ship, now doing that route wouldn't bother me one little bit. From what I'm seeing in reviews, the feedback is that it doesn't seem to "feel" as crowded and she's kept nice and clean, so I think I'd like that. I also love the pictures I'm seeing of her. Thank you about my reviews and I'm really glad you enjoyed them. :)

 

Unfortunately no, I was not able to see Monserrat or the volcano. We were too far away by the time I got topside and my camera and filters de-fogged. But I will surely give it a try next time. Since we will be sailing in summer as opposed to Autumn, having better light earlier might be able to help with spotting it from the distance. We were pretty close to St. Kitts by sunrise. That's a great story about that song BTW.

 

Look... I go to the beach here in PR with a fold-up beach chair, a cooler. a beach blanket and sunblock/suntan lotion. The only umbrella I carry is for rain and it's in my car. For us, a lounger and umbrella is not a "must-have/necessity/deal-breaker/vacation-ruining/"this-place-sucks-because-they-don't-have-it" kind of thing. We eat from food trucks, hole in the wall places and from vendors selling local fritters on the side of some random street. I said all that BS just to make a point that we are simplistic. Places like Shipwreck might not be everyone's cup of tea but the reality is that that type of traveler miss the whole point. Life in the Caribbean is about simplistic delights. We love the simple things in live. If we want upscale travel, we go to Europe...lol. We loved Shipwreck as a whole; the place, the vibe, the food, the beach and the snorkeling. It was great! I've been to Carambola and whatever... Like you said, to each his own. Unfortunately, my sand dollar didn't make it home in one piece so another reason to go on another cruise...lol. The shell did make it in one piece and cleaned up nice. The only thing is that it started to go from orange to white in the pointy part but it still looks great.

 

I'm happy you're enjoying it so much. I'm guessing the next review will focus more in family cruising. It will be interesting enough since more than likely we'll be in a 5 person ocean view cabin with two Pullman and a trundle in the room. Getting two rooms is an over $500 difference right now and since there are so few balcony and suites in this ship, the fare for a more comfortable, bigger room is just too much out of our reach. We'll see...

 

Aw...sorry you didn't get to see Montserrat. It's just to the right of Redonda. We were directly in front of Nevis when we saw it and since it was so clear that morning, we were still able to see it as we headed into St. Kitts. I'm pretty sure I had pictures of it, next to Redonda, in my Liberty 2015 review. If I don't and you'd like to see one, I can always post. It was shaped like the letter "M".

 

Your reasoning is EXACTLY why we loved Shipwreck. We're both simplistic ourselves. And I'd LOVE a week (or more) in Puerto Rico. Valentinebaby1 and her husband are the same way and they've gone to some really neat places off the beaten path (she talked about them in her reviews and have told me so much about them. Yes, we're still in touch. But that's my kind of vacation. So sorry about your sand dollar, but great excuse to go back. :D

[Stinger-pr]

thank you for posting pics of the menus. I have been reading your review during lunch break. So as I eat my ham sandwich, I choose my "dinner" off of those menus.....lol

LOL...you got me smiling with this. I always remember that when I started cruising I read a few reviews with the menus posted and it helped me plan (and in some cases look forward to) my diners. So I'm just paying it forward.

[Stinger-pr]

You know, I'm currently twisting my hubby's arm to to this itinerary again! :D Even with Fascination, an smaller/older ship, now doing that route wouldn't bother me one little bit. From what I'm seeing in reviews, the feedback is that it doesn't seem to "feel" as crowded and she's kept nice and clean, so I think I'd like that. I also love the pictures I'm seeing of her. Thank you about my reviews and I'm really glad you enjoyed them. :)

 

 

 

Aw...sorry you didn't get to see Montserrat. It's just to the right of Redonda. We were directly in front of Nevis when we saw it and since it was so clear that morning, we were still able to see it as we headed into St. Kitts. I'm pretty sure I had pictures of it, next to Redonda, in my Liberty 2015 review. If I don't and you'd like to see one, I can always post. It was shaped like the letter "M".

 

Your reasoning is EXACTLY why we loved Shipwreck. We're both simplistic ourselves. And I'd LOVE a week (or more) in Puerto Rico. Valentinebaby1 and her husband are the same way and they've gone to some really neat places off the beaten path (she talked about them in her reviews and have told me so much about them. Yes, we're still in touch. But that's my kind of vacation. So sorry about your sand dollar, but great excuse to go back. :D

 

Yeah there was a bit of a haze that day if I recall so maybe that's why I didn't pay much attention to the other islands.

 

Let me know if any of you guys come for an extended stay. Apart from a meet and greet, I could recommend a few nice places and maybe talk you into staying on the West coast. I'm sure that, since your vacation approach is similar to mine, that you guys would love it. There are no big hotels but rather, small inns, villas and guest houses around the Rincon and Cabo Rojo area that are great. Also, and most people don't know this, there's an airport on the Northwest side of the island that has flights from Jetblue and United being serviced there. Downside is that availability is much more limited than in San Juan (airport code is BQN, by the way).

 

Being that Carnival's Blogger Cruise just ended, wouldn't it be great if for some cosmic alignment we could get you guys, Valentinebaby1, Mitsugirly and others like us in the same ship at the same time?? We could do a huge review with each one posting a day (and have huge fun as well!!!!)

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten

 

Today’s FunTimes

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

Disclaimer: We had some things planned for this day but it turned it turned into our “shop and rest” day, so I’m sorry to disappoint those who were waiting for and Sint Maarten adventure.

We got up late today since we didn’t really have any concrete plans for the day. By the time I woke up we were already maneuvering at the dock in Sint Maarten so I decided to let DW sleep a few more minutes and I tried to stretch my back a bit because as soon as I got up I felt it stiff as a rock. Immediately I knew I’d be having a rough day. But I tried to make light of it and keep going. We ended up getting to breakfast almost at 9am and again lines were short and moving fast.

The view out of our table window:

And to the other side:

We pondered for a while about what we wanted to do after shopping and we decided we wanted to go to Maho since DW had never experienced the airplanes so close over her head and the jetstream as they took off. So around 10am we started to make our way to deck 3 to disembark. When we got there we figured that a lot of people slept in late since the gangway area was packed with passengers on their way off the ship. After taking our gangway picture (they just keep up stacking up!!) we started walking towards the main plaza at the pier.

By pure coincidence, I thought the above photo looked familiar and I realized that I took almost the same one (below) the previous year when I sailed on the Liberty with DD. If you count the "shaded squares" of the concrete floor from the red roof you see the furthest away to where I'd be standing and you'll see I was even at almost the same spot, but a few feet to the right for this year's pic. I swear I didn't even plan it. Could this be the start of an "every time I stop here..." photo collection?

We skipped taking our picture in front of the St. Maarten sign (for now) since they were tons of people taking turns with their pictures. So we decided to get ours on the way back. We dove into one of the shops right behind the St. Maarten sign to check out the prices for the specific booze we were looking for and for a couple of 11lb. wheels of Gouda cheese we were asked to bring back for our families and for me as well.

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

Since I already knew the better planes to see arrived after 1:30pm, we took off into Phillipsburg to do some liquor shopping. We were going to take a regular taxi but went for the water taxi instead. For $5 you get a one way trip into town but for $7 you get an all-day round trip pass that allows you to come and go as you please. The ticket booth for the water taxi is located on the left (as you leave the dock) of the main square. Then a short walk gets you to the water taxi pier.

One of the advantages of the water taxi is the views! You get all kinds of picturesque settings to gawk at while looking all around Great Bay. That’s something you can’t do on a regular taxi since all you see are buildings and cars.

And the color of the water here is AMAZING!!!

The water taxi comes every 15 minutes or so and once you board at the cruise docks you have two options as to where you can get off the boat. The first stop they made was at the Philipsburg Marina which is a short 3 minute walk from the start of Front Street where all stores of the main shopping district are.

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

The other stop is at the Captain Hodge Warf. This pier is located right in the center of the shopping area and most of the jewelry stores are located in the vicinity of this pier.

DW had never been in Phillipsburg since on her only previous visit, she fell ill and basically spent the day in her cabin. So we decided to get off at the marina and walk Front Street from the beginning. The thing is that before we even made it to Front Street she had already stopped at a few stores, even buying a new hat in one of them. So at least she was off to a good start…lol. At the start of Front Street is where the Yoda Guy “museum” is located. DW, knowing what a Star Wars geek I am, asked me why I wasn’t even interested in going in and I told her my experience when I visited it in 2014 (a summary of which you can read in the review for that cruise if you follow the link in my signature). In short I was deeply disappointed and it was one of those “once is enough” type of places.

On this part of Front street is where a lot of the souvenir shops are located. Although scattered all over the place, the largest concentration of this type of shops was in this area.

It was just across the street from the Yoda Guy museum that my go-to store for liquor purchase is located. The place is called Friendly Duty Free.

Trust me; I have shopped for liquor on St. Maarten three times (including this stop) and three times I have walked up and down Front Street comparing liquor prices. These guys are hard to beat!! They have a great selection and always have very good BOGO sales of popular liquors. The other place with a larger, more varied selection is perhaps The Captain’s Duty Free Store at the aforementioned Captain’s Hodge Warf. This time around was no exception. I looked at the prices, made my list and kept going. After the day was said and done I ended up back at Friendly making all my liquor purchase (except one specialized liquor they didn’t carry). Like most (if not all) stores, they gave me the option of packing up my purchases, and delivering them to the ship (which I gladly accepted). For that, they ask you for your ship card or the info about your ship and cabin number. I have never had a purchase arrive broken or with missing bottles and my guess is that this seldom, if ever, happens. These people live from their reputations and they make a point of making sure your purchases arrive in good condition to the ship before it leaves.

While I was hunting for booze prices we went in and out of most souvenir stores in the area. We bought a few things for ourselves and the kids and found that, while some places advertised free internet (with a purchase, which negates the “free” concept), we found a strong, completely open WiFi signal at this place:

We sat for a while under that tree in the background since today the sun was really out in force! Even while the WiFi was free we ended up thanking them for it since we bought some refreshments while we called home (internet calls), checked Emails and that darned Facebook thing (you just can’t get it out of your system).

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

After sitting around for way too long on our phones, we kept on browsing the stores around Front Street. Side story: I have a thing for photography. I love it as a hobby and I so wish I had more time to take some advanced lessons and to head out to just take a gazillion pictures of everything that has makes me want to move my eyes out of looking in a straight line. I’ve read about the electronic and photo stores in St. Maarten and how wonderful the prices are on this island. On my previous trips I never really paid any attention to these stores because 1) I wasn’t really interested and 2) I didn’t have the budget to buy anything anyway. This time I was paying more attention and decided to check the stores out and came to two conclusions: 1) “wonderful prices” to WHO?? Photography equipment must be really, really expensive wherever the core customers these guys expect in St. Maarten come from or they simply don’t have internet access because man, do the prices for cameras and lenses SUCK! And 2) the electronics stores sell all kinds of cheap crap for the price of expensive crap. The items range from new phones (some of them look like cheap imitations of Samsungs or iPhones because well, they are) to things that seem to be leftover stock from the 90’s. Sorry, just needed to get that off my fingers.

So after some price shocks and a few laughs because of it, we decided to make our way to the boardwalk when we heard this marching band music in the distance and decided to check it out.

The group is called Generation New Status STM and they were ROCKIN’!!! These kids had fire in them and they put on a great show full of energy and enthusiasm.

By this time my back was on a fritz and I was starting to feel a lot of pain, even though I had my painkillers early in the morning so after the show we walked for a while on the boardwalk (not really any boards to walk on but it’s the concept, right?), making our way back to the start of Front Street and to the first liquor store we visited to finally make my purchase. All the while looking at the water in Great Bay and how wonderfully clear and turquoise it was and wondering how it can be contaminated as they say it is and if it really is, how do they continue to allow people to bathe in it and do water sports? Other than jet skis and the water taxi, boat traffic was almost non-existent. How can it be that supposedly half of the bay (to the right of Captain Hodge Warf if coming from the water) is contaminated and not the other half (to the far left of the warf)?

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

Half way down the boardwalk I remembered that I wanted some hot sauce from Guavaberry Emporium and cut across one of the many alleys that lie between Front St. and the boardwalk in order to get there.

Having filled my hot sauce quota we walked few doors down the liquor store. Once at the store I got together my selections, or rather they did since I never touched one bottle. The lady working there did everything. She told me to point out to her what I wanted and she got it for me. After I finished, they asked if I’d be carrying the box to the ship or if I wanted delivered, an option I gladly accepted. They took my info from my ship’s card and in a matter of minutes I was on my way. After that was said and done we bought some final souvenirs at another nearby sotre and headed back to the ship via the water taxi again. We walked to the marina where we were dropped off earlier and waited for the boat to show up.

A few minutes later the boat arrived and we started our short ride to the cruise terminal. This gave us a great view of the Boardwalk and the beach in Great Bay as well as the surrounding area.

In the picture above, there is a structure at the top of that hill to the left of the sail boat. That is Ft. Amsterdam. Has anybody been there? Is it worth taking time to check it out??

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

When we arrived at the terminal and went straight to the Duty Free World store to buy our Gouda cheese. We ended up with three, 11lb. wheels (one for us, one for her family and one for a friend). If anyone’s interested, they are about $30 per wheel. Before we made our final walk to the ship we decided to try one of the famous guavaberry coladas everyone raves about.

All I have to say is…..Mehhh. I don’t’ know if the lady making the coladas was having an off day but I left with the feeling that I would NEVER pick this over a proper piña colada. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good. Maybe it had too much ice or the mix was too watered down but we were expecting something else entirely. Anyway, we took a few pics around the terminal before leaving for the ship.

These are the (now empty) taxi stands:

I’ll say this every time: other than in Puerto Rico, this is the most efficient, well organized taxi service of the islands we visited. No shoddy drivers (Barbados), nothing really priced too high (St. Thomas, San Juan), no forcing you into a tour to get to one place (St. Kitts). All popular destinations were clearly labeled and with fixed prices. Some even included the round trip fare (all paid in advance).

Another “I was here” picture:

BTW, carrying those 33 pounds of cheese all the way to the ship and then to the room was a pain!! Maybe next time I’ll remember to bring a backpack or something to carry them in.

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

Once we got back on board, around 2:30pm, too late to go back out and do our planned visit to Maho beach but my back had slowed us down too much and we burned too much time in town so we had to throw out our plans for the rest of the day so we left our stuff back at the room and made a beeline to get some food at Lido.

One thing I had forgotten to mention: Of the days we had lunch or grabbed a bite when returning to the ship from being on land all day we usually went for the grill and burgers, fries and some other stuff. We loved the fried chicken strips they served there but we always had problems getting any. Two days of a whole week, we got to eat some (boarding from St. Thomas and on Sea Day) although they were on the menu every day. I thought they were just made to order then but I got a “no, we don’t have, were not making any” response. Something else I noticed was this:

Strawberry yogurt? This was the ONLY day it was available during the whole cruise.

We went to the room to relax for a while, take a shower and so I could rest my back a bit and DW could put some Icy Hot on it (big mistake since the room smelled for the rest of the night) We returned topside just as we were pulling off the pier to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, there were numerous clouds near the horizon and we didn’t get much of an interesting sunset.

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

After seeing the sun hide behind the clouds we returned to the room to formally and sadly begin our packing progress with a heavy heart. We got everything back into our suitcases and got our three cheese wheels packed into an extra carry-on size bag to make it easier to move once it was time to debark. This would also help with some of the liquor when I pick it up the next morning. Around 8:15pm we were almost done so we decided to stop to go to diner.

Tonight’s menu:

I think I’d forgotten to post this, for the benefit of those wine lovers:

We arrived at the dining room and asked to be seated in last night’s crew area. We gave the Head Waiter’s name to the hostess and after a few short minutes we were escorted to a table were Oleksander promptly welcomed us back. It was 8:30pm when he handed us our menus, asked about our day and asked me if we’d be having white bread again tonight. He remembered! We both ordered the Flatbread appetizer and all I can say is that it was delicious!!!

Just a few minutes after our empty plates were taken away, our main course arrived. Wait…what??? That fast??? Why, oh why didn’t we sit in this area from the beginning? Less than 40 minutes had passes since when we arrived and the moment we had our main plates in front of us. We were so happy that we finally found a great crew but sad it had been on the last two nights.

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

 

For our mains DW ordered a steak with fries (and baked potato) and I went for the Coq Au Vin. DARN that thing was amazingly good!!!! So good in fact that for a moment I pondered about doing something I’ve never done before: asking for a second serving! But it would really have been literally pigging out because I was satisfied with what I ate.

 

 

 

 

We had our Chocolate Melting cake while the dining room staff was doing the “Goodbye song” and before leaving we thanked Oleksander for two amazing diner services.

Not hold on to something because this might stir the pot a bit. I’ve never been one to mess with how the tips I pre pay are distributed and I always reward good service with a little extra directly to that person. However, seeing the difference in the diner service we had most of the cruise compared to the last two nights with this crew I wanted to make an adjustment and specify that the dining staff portion of my tips was directed to this crew, Unfortunately, Oleksander informed me that it was not possible. Tips for servers working on the non-assigned time dining room get the same tips no matter who served who and those who provide good service get the same tips as those that could care less and there’s no way to specify who gets my share. I could do so in the assigned time dining room but not Any Time Dining. I still give an extra tip anyway since I was more than pleased with their service.

But I also realized something else: The bad servers are the way they are because they are allowed to be that way. For example: when one of my guests brings up a complaint, I want details, specifics and every, and anything that helps me understand the very root of whatever problem or situation arises. When I coach my employees I do so with facts, and provide corrections to their wrongdoings. I say this because the last two nights (and I only saw him those two nights), the Maitre D’ (I forgot his name but he was kindda Hindi) casually strolled around the dining room, randomly asking guests if everything was ok. On the last night he approached our table and I tried to explain our ordeals on the first 5 nights and he acted like his food was getting cold at his table. As simple “Sorry you feel that way. I hope we can do better next time you sail with us”. I swear that was his answer!! But When I praised the crew for the last two nights he literally said “They’re just doing their job.” I just wanted to tell him “NO you I***OT!! He did an exceptional job along with his crew and you can’t even be bothered to recognize as such!” I was mad!! I talked to Oleksander on my way out and told me to write about him and his crew on the guest satisfaction survey Carnival sends after you’ve sailed. He said that when they get good comments they get points. After X amount of points they get extra time off or more shore-leave time and other special things “backstage”. So guys, when you get that survey, make sure you mentioned whoever made your cruise extra special.

Ok, rant over….

[Stinger-pr]

Day 7: St. Maarten continued...

After diner we went to the Pixels gallery to finally do a final selection of the pictures that the ship’s photographers had been taking all week. We spent well over half an hour deciding which would make the final cut. Thankfully we had checked them out during the week and had been bundling them together so we didn’t have to be all over the place looking for them because it was pandemonium tonight. Everyone was looking for their pictures and people were just piling into each other. It was a mess! I insist that Carnival needs to roll out what they have in the Vista with the kiosks and virtual galleries. Unfortunately, this will be just wishful thinking perhaps. The Fascination, for example, is slated for dry dock on Jan./Feb. 2018 and the installation of such a system is not in line for this refurbish so I guess it will be quite some time until we see this.

One thing stood out as we walked to the theater to see the last show of the cruise: Man that line at guest services is ALWAYS long!! Are people having that many problems on the ship? On the contrary, both S&S kiosks usually had no more than two people in line, especially the one on the café. That one was almost always empty.

We went to the late showing of tonight’s main entertainer, DJ Cantu. He is an illusionist and has quite the interesting show full of electronic music, lasers, etc. His synchronized handling of lasers, especially during the opening of the show was fantastic. I won’t spoil much of it and since it was very dark most of the time during his show, I took no pictures but trust me, try to go out of your way to see his show if you’re on the Fascination and he’s still on. You won’t be disappointed!

After the show we went up to Lido because we had cell phone signal!! We went for some pizza before going to bed and since we’d be passing between St. Thomas and the island of Culebra, PR, we would be having cell service for around two hours so we grabbed a few slices, headed out to the aft chairs on Lido and when our phones grabbed the signal we got in touch with our families and kids and confirmed our transportation for tomorrow.

We then went back to the room and started to unwind to get some rest. Tomorrow might be debarkation day and we might not be transferring to a hotel or the airport but once off the ship we had a full day ahead of us. Even with my back killing me, we ended up going to bed just after midnight.

Ohhh…wait!!!! I forgot about our bags!! On the last two trips I had done self-assist debarkation and handled all our luggage ourselves, which included the extra purchases (BTW my kid hated me for it last year…lol). With my back acting up and simply because, well…I didn’t want to carry our bags off we decided to try leaving our bags to Carnival’s staff to be taken off the ship in the morning. By the luck of the draw (and I say this happily) we were given tags with Zone 23 on them. Right away we knew we’d be getting off late. But we never thought it would end up being so late. So most of our bags were outside our door by the (loose) 8pm deadline (we left them out before diner) and we stayed with our extra carry on and backpacks with a change of clothes for the morning and space to put our purchased liquor in so it’d be easier to haul off the ship.

So, that’s it for today. Tomorrow we arrive back home, a cluster***k of a liquor collection process and US Customs.

[pghsteelerfan]

Yeah there was a bit of a haze that day if I recall so maybe that's why I didn't pay much attention to the other islands.

 

Let me know if any of you guys come for an extended stay. Apart from a meet and greet, I could recommend a few nice places and maybe talk you into staying on the West coast. I'm sure that, since your vacation approach is similar to mine, that you guys would love it. There are no big hotels but rather, small inns, villas and guest houses around the Rincon and Cabo Rojo area that are great. Also, and most people don't know this, there's an airport on the Northwest side of the island that has flights from Jetblue and United being serviced there. Downside is that availability is much more limited than in San Juan (airport code is BQN, by the way).

 

Being that Carnival's Blogger Cruise just ended, wouldn't it be great if for some cosmic alignment we could get you guys, Valentinebaby1, Mitsugirly and others like us in the same ship at the same time?? We could do a huge review with each one posting a day (and have huge fun as well!!!!)

 

I think we really lucked out with the clarity of the air the week of our cruise. Even from the ship in St. Maarten the morning we were there, we were able to see Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Eustatius, and Saba. Not 100% positive, but it may have been Montserrat that I was able to see next to Nevis (Nevis was blocking Redonda).

 

I would just love to spend a week (or more) vacationing in Puerto Rico. I'm glad you mentioned the west coast. I friend of mine was there a few years ago (Isabella) and loved it and I think they did get over to Rincon. Her husband likes taking pictures and gets some nice ones, so she posted them on FB...just gorgeous!!! They also spent some time in the Rio Grande (???) area and also San Juan. Thank you for mentioning the other airport too...Washington Dulles International is only about 20 minutes from us and they just happen to be a United hub, so it's easy to find United flights. I'd also love to see Vieques or Culebra, preferably both as well, in addition to El Yunque and the Luquillo areas. But definitely, I would be sure to let you cause we'd love recommendations and a meet and greet would be great.

 

Since you mentioned the bloggers cruise and all of us getting together on a cruise, I'd love that! We're still in touch with Valentinebaby1 and her hubby through FB. After we'd both done our Liberty reviews, we mentioned we should have done a combo review that we do together and share our experiences after each day. Getting all of us that you mentioned, and even some of the others, on the same cruise and doing a combo review like you mentioned would be EPIC!!!

[pghsteelerfan]

I just tried to quote your post #260 (that "quote" function again...sometimes it works, sometimes not). It's the one where you got pictures at the cruise center area in Sint Maarten from almost the same vantage point on your Fascination and Liberty cruises. The first picture includes a little shop that is designed kind of like a "tiki hut" called "Coco Express". CC member SenatorsFan commented on my Liberty review last year asking if I could recall a little stand that sells coconut smoothies that was located near the stand that sells the Guavaberry rum slushies. I could not remember and even went back through my pictures to see if I happened to get one with the other stands. I'll be this "Coco Express" is what she was asking about. Do you remember if it was coconut smoothies they were selling here? I hope she's reading your review and sees this, cause if it's what she was talking about, it's still there. She highly recommended it if it was.

[Stinger-pr]

I think we really lucked out with the clarity of the air the week of our cruise. Even from the ship in St. Maarten the morning we were there, we were able to see Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Eustatius, and Saba. Not 100% positive, but it may have been Montserrat that I was able to see next to Nevis (Nevis was blocking Redonda).

 

I would just love to spend a week (or more) vacationing in Puerto Rico. I'm glad you mentioned the west coast. I friend of mine was there a few years ago (Isabella) and loved it and I think they did get over to Rincon. Her husband likes taking pictures and gets some nice ones, so she posted them on FB...just gorgeous!!! They also spent some time in the Rio Grande (???) area and also San Juan. Thank you for mentioning the other airport too...Washington Dulles International is only about 20 minutes from us and they just happen to be a United hub, so it's easy to find United flights. I'd also love to see Vieques or Culebra, preferably both as well, in addition to El Yunque and the Luquillo areas. But definitely, I would be sure to let you cause we'd love recommendations and a meet and greet would be great.

 

Since you mentioned the bloggers cruise and all of us getting together on a cruise, I'd love that! We're still in touch with Valentinebaby1 and her hubby through FB. After we'd both done our Liberty reviews, we mentioned we should have done a combo review that we do together and share our experiences after each day. Getting all of us that you mentioned, and even some of the others, on the same cruise and doing a combo review like you mentioned would be EPIC!!!

 

There was a bit of haze in the air during that time due to the effects of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) blowing particles of dust all over the Caribbean during the summer, autumn months so visibility was a bit compromised after some distance. That's why you don't see the far away island shots as sharp as when closer.

 

One thing Puerto Rico has to its advantage is that there are so many things to do and places to go that can be reached from two different "hubs": the San Juan metro area and the west coast. If you're looking into a different stay, definitely stay on the west coast. Rio Grande is just before Luquillo and between both municipalities is where El Yunque lies.

 

Funny you should mentioned DCA. I will be spending a week in DC this coming summer with DW from Jul. 2-9. And yes, a combined review from all of u would be quite epic!

[easyboy]

Lots of useful info on your St. Maarten posts. Hope to experience the same in March.

[frayedend]

Thanks for the St. Maarten review. I have a question, maybe jumping ahead a tiny bit... If I do Self-Debarkation do you think it's possible to get to a flight that leaves at 11:40 AM? I"m almost positive that is the flight we had a few years ago and had no issues. But I'm not 100% sure. Other flights leave much later so I'd rather not wait around, and they are much more expensive.

[pghsteelerfan]

There was a bit of haze in the air during that time due to the effects of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) blowing particles of dust all over the Caribbean during the summer, autumn months so visibility was a bit compromised after some distance. That's why you don't see the far away island shots as sharp as when closer.

 

One thing Puerto Rico has to its advantage is that there are so many things to do and places to go that can be reached from two different "hubs": the San Juan metro area and the west coast. If you're looking into a different stay, definitely stay on the west coast. Rio Grande is just before Luquillo and between both municipalities is where El Yunque lies.

 

Funny you should mentioned DCA. I will be spending a week in DC this coming summer with DW from Jul. 2-9. And yes, a combined review from all of u would be quite epic!

 

Is the other name for that "Sahara dust"? We lucked out with decent clarity and I was so glad to be able to see the different islands. When we were on Valor in 2013, it wasn't that clear. Thanks for letting me know where Rio Grand is. My friend did say it wasn't too far from San Juan.

 

We're about 30 miles southwest of DC...maybe a meet and greet during a weekend? We're not too familiar with the downtown other than where the monuments are located but if you're looking for ideas of things to do outside of the city please feel free to ask. They also have one of the air and space museums (Udvar Hazy Center) near Dulles International (right up the road from us) that has Space Shuttle Discovery on display. We actually got to witness them bringing Discovery in on top of the NASA 747 and got tons of pictures. They flew it over several times since we're in the flight pattern.