MITSUGIRLY decides to CONQUEST new ports-complete pictorial review

[Clarasgrandma]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for all the detailed info. Love the underwater pics!

[mitsugirly]

DAY 7 (I believe it is??): Friday-Sea Day

 

 

 

With it being a sea day, I was not about to set my alarm and I was determined to just wake up on my own time. Of course when cruising, my "own time" seems to turn in to early because of being used to getting up early for that entire week. This would be no exception. It was rise and shine for me at 8:30am and I headed outside to check the weather. IT.WAS.HOT!!!

 

I'm up=the family up! I went back and woke them up and since it's a sea day, I try to hit the MDR for brunch at least once during the cruise. I love their Habanero meal and this is really the only reason I go to brunch.

 

 

 

 

Brunch is served in the Monet MDR. We placed our drink order and the hubby received his coffee. It instantly put a smile on his face and Sakari and I eagerly awaited his first sip of the day so that we could now talk to him.

 

 

 

A guy came around with a basket of breads/pastries and held them out and ask me which kind did I like. Now in the past, they have always laid a basket with an assortment on the table for you to try/eat while waiting on your breakfast. I expected that this time as well. But obviously things have changed a bit. Maybe a cut back occurred and they no longer do this? When he ask me which kind I liked, my reply was "Just a variety is fine" and he just stared at me. I stared back. It got a little uncomfortable. Wait...are you asking me to pick ONE? I guess he was. I would now proceed to try to pick one from the basket of scrumptious goodies that all looked good and I probably would have tried a little of all of them had he laid them on the table. So we have the bacon police and now the pastry police. Humpf!

 

I went with the cinnamon roll looking thing and it was HEAVEN! Sakari liked it too and this would be the start of me liking these for breakfast as well. Too bad that I didn't discover these earlier in the cruise.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Our meal arrived...let me check my time stamp...within 20 minutes. But at least I had my one cinnamon roll to keep my mind and taste buds occupied from thinking it's taking too long.

 

 

As you can see, I also ordered the cheesy grits=heaven! Wow these things are good. I'm originally from Alabama, but raised here in Ohio by my 'Bama folk and many mornings at home growing up included grits. But cheesy grits! That takes it to a new level. Yes, I had these once before on Carnival and they were just as good back then too.

 

However, the Habanero...I didn't really care for it as much this time. I don't know what it was. I walked away from there feeling like I probably won't order this again in the future. The hubby ordered it for the first time this time and he seemed to enjoy it. But then again...he had coffee ruining in his veins at full throttle so anything is probably good to him at this point.

 

After breakfast, Sakari insisted this just had to be a pool day. I knew that it was going to be crowded and crowded it was! When we went out back to check the pool, Sakari discovered a mermaid tail laying on the side of the pool. She just knew she had to get hers as well.

 

Off we went to the room to gather our things and back to the pool we went.

 

It was crowded! Everyone was taking advantage of this bath tub in the hot weather. Sakari found her mermaid friend and they would spend most of the day in the pool. Yes, she is in this crowd. I chose to stay at the table, in the shade, for a majority of the time. Crowds don't bother me too much, but in a pool, it kinda does.

 

 

As the day went on, the crowd died down...thank goodness. It actually gave people some room to get in without becoming bff's with everyone around you and kept people from being in my personal space, which happens to be not touching any body parts while just trying to find a space to stand in.

 

The girls enjoyed their day as mermaids and of course...got a lot of attention.

 

 

 

Thrilled found us and they decided to grab their bathing suits and head to the pool with us. The girls played in the pool and us "girls" headed for the hot tub for awhile. We stayed there just about all day...until 5:15pm. We met another nurse and her family and sister that were cruising. It started out as us trying to figure out what the symbols on her back tattoo stood for. I instantly said "It's zodiac symbols and I bet it's her kids signs". We went back and forth...and well, me being me, got up to ask her! We (Kia and I) stood around forever talking to the sisters and they were really cool. In case you wondered...I was right. Of course with most tattoos their is a story behind it. We listened to her story and we all got to know a little about each other.

 

Then Thrilled split...I think it was time to head to the kids club to pick up the munchkin and I decided it was time to try out something new. I went to the BBQ place right upstairs and grabbed me a plate. IT WAS YUMMY! Too bad we kept missing it throughout the cruise because I would have rather had it instead of pizza!

 

 

After the hubby seen my plate, he went up to get his own before they closed. We tried to get Sakari out to eat but when there's water involved in the immediate area, there's no hope in getting her out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

So we left at 5:15pm, after dragging our mermaid out kicking and screaming...not really, but that's what it feels like when we have to get her out. All it really takes is a little "We won't go swimming tomorrow if you don't get out now" and that seems to work. Not saying this doesn't still cause some pouty faces and all of course.

 

Back at our room, this guy was waiting on us.

 

 

Sakari decided she was hungry and wanted to eat instead of waiting for the kids club at 6pm. It doesn't look like much of a meal, but at least it wasn't pizza right?

 

 

So after that I honestly don't remember how we killed our time because I know that we had to wait until the kids came back to camp from eating dinner. Once they did, the camp instructor made a comment about "She's now 11 and she needs to make up her mind which age group she wants to be in". I ask her what she meant and she said that the night before, she had ask her which camp she wanted to be in for the rest of the cruise...either 6-8 year old's or the 9-11 year old's. Well, thrilled's daughter is 11, so last night she decided that she would stick with that age group so that she could be with her. The only problem is, she never really went (but once that I know of). So tonight, I ask her which she'd like...in hopes that Michaela would be there, she decided on the 9-11 year old's. Big mistake I guess and she would now be stuck in this group for the next 2 nights.

 

I was told I had to take her down to the "conference room". Remember that back at the beginning of the cruise when I did my picture tour? THIS is what the 9-11 year old's got to go to...tell me if you would think this is fun?

 

 

They did have the chairs moved of course and there was a girl in there with a ball kicking it. But still...I bet she now wishes that she didn't have a birthday.

 

After dropping her off and now feeling extremely guilty for doing so...we headed to the comedy show.

 

 

This time around there was a new guy with new material. We seen Thrilled in the front row seats and sat almost directly behind her. She would take several pictures of her and "little thrilled" and my hubby would stand behind them to try to photo bomb the pictures. She didn't even know we were there the entire show until it was over. We told her she had been photo bombed...we are still waiting to hear if the pictures turned out with a hairy faced dude behind them????

 

[mabones]

Aww, look what I found!

 

 

You had to walk down the deck and over to one of the little huts hanging out in the water to get to the restrooms.

 

 

I found that the women's door would not shut and stay shut no matter what I did. There was a man standing outside of it, which I thought was weird, so I decided to try the men's restroom out. At least it shut and hey, I've been known to go in the men's restroom many times if I don't feel like waiting on the woman's or it's out of order. I'm not picky. I don't sit on the seat anyhow.

 

 

 

This was a very interesting place on down from the dive shop.

 

 

 

 

I thought I recognized this area. We were there in March to take a Sunset Cruise that we booked through Shoretrips.

[mitsugirly]

We killed some time in between the comedy shows and headed to the casino for awhile. We had discovered that the guy from the other night (with picking the kids out of the audience) was going to have an "adult" show at 9:15pm. Wait what? They were having one at a time we could actually go??? YES! Winning.

 

So after hanging out at the casino until it was time to go, we headed back to the Punchliner. Well, this show ended up being exactly the same as his other show, only with adults. You sit in your seat and hope that you don't get picked on. But it was still funny.

 

We picked Sakari up on the 4th floor, in the conference room, and she had made a ship out of foam. That's what they did. She said she was bored and didn't like it. She said there were hardly any kids in there. She mentioned 2 others, but I'm not sure if that's all that showed up or not.

 

We went back to the room for the hubby to do some work. Sakari and I decided we wanted some popcorn and headed out without daddy in search of some popcorn at the Dive-In movies. It must have been raining out because everything was wet and those few watching the movie were sitting under anything with a roof. Score...we were able to get some popcorn...and we made sure to grab some salt on the way out. For some reason, I was in the mood for pizza! Can you imagine??? But I was hungry. I hadn't ate since earlier at the pool around 2pm and discovered that we hadn't even had dinner. Of course at this time, pizza is the option.

 

We headed back to the room with our prized dinner possessions of the night to share with daddy.

 

I figured I would get a head start on packing tonight and managed to get 2 suitcases packed while Sakari did some drawings and daddy worked.

 

I can tell when she's tired and she's just scribbling to be doing it and this is a prime example. LOL

 

 

 

 

I encouraged her to use her new birthday gift art set from Thrilled and I got a reply of "But I can't draw with a pencil. I don't know how". I convinced her that it's just like drawing with a pen, only better because you can erase if you make a mistake." Of course she reminded me that she doesn't make mistakes, but I was still able to convince her to give it a try.

 

She was stuck on dragons tonight and a scribble dragon is what I would get. She experimented a little with the "black chalk" and the erasers "that smelled funny...here smell" and this was her end result for the night.

 

 

I told her good job! Then she reminded me "It's only my first try, I'll get better". Aww, she's so sweet, but she was tired and off to bed we all went.

[mitsugirly]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for all the detailed info. Love the underwater pics!

 

Thanks and glad you like the pics.

 

 

I thought I recognized this area. We were there in March to take a Sunset Cruise that we booked through Shoretrips.

 

How cool. I think a sunset cruise would be so much fun. It's something I was wanting to do in Bermuda, but we opted for the "$0" expense of watching it from the beach instead. I would still like to do one though.

[E@syPe@zy]

Kim...Thank you so much for this wonderful travel documentary! It just doesn't do it justice to call it a review or report.

I would encourage you and your husband to get scuba certified. It really won't take very long and your super bright and it will be the best thing you ever did when it comes to diving. Just remember....don't ever hesitate to ask questions or voice your concerns. It's yours and your familys' well being at stake.

When I was certified a long time ago (1974), the buddy system was a necessity and that meant that your buddy was within an arms length or about. Sakari should have bee with a dive master and he/she should have been right with her. And I cringed when I saw your husband's depth regulator didn't work. Geez. You always need to know what depth of water you are in. It's absolutely necessary. Please...if you are going to continue to dive, get the certification. You will be amazed at how much you will learn and that will build your confidence and make for better dives....and safer dives. You're gut reaction to the dive shop was right on target.

Thanks again and sorry for the preach.

[mitsugirly]

Kim...Thank you so much for this wonderful travel documentary! It just doesn't do it justice to call it a review or report.

I would encourage you and your husband to get scuba certified. It really won't take very long and your super bright and it will be the best thing you ever did when it comes to diving. Just remember....don't ever hesitate to ask questions or voice your concerns. It's yours and your familys' well being at stake.

When I was certified a long time ago (1974), the buddy system was a necessity and that meant that your buddy was within an arms length or about. Sakari should have bee with a dive master and he/she should have been right with her. And I cringed when I saw your husband's depth regulator didn't work. Geez. You always need to know what depth of water you are in. It's absolutely necessary. Please...if you are going to continue to dive, get the certification. You will be amazed at how much you will learn and that will build your confidence and make for better dives....and safer dives. You're gut reaction to the dive shop was right on target.

Thanks again and sorry for the preach.

 

Thank you for such wonderful comments on the review. I really appreciate it.

 

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I will continue to throw the option around with the hubby. I definitely need to build confidence in the diving and get over my anxiety issues.

 

 

I think I would have just felt better if he would have kept her beside him the entire time. At any given moment they were sometimes a good 15-20 feet away from each other. I tried to stay by her most of the time, but sometimes she did get away from me or the hubby as well.

 

 

Thanks so much for the "preach". I'll take it any time...good or bad. That's how I learn. Many thanks.

[mitsugirly]

DAY 8: Saturday=Sea Day

 

Another sea day...sigh. I really wish this cruise had more ports...for instance Bonaire would have been nice!

 

 

 

So, another morning of not setting the alarm and I was still up this time at 9:30am. I headed outside to check out the weather and once again, it was steaming hot. I knew exactly what this meant for our family...another pool day, because what else is there to do on a ship when it's hot out but swim right?

 

I headed back down to the room because everyone knows the drill by now...if I'm up then = everyone's....wait, what's this? Everyone IS up already. Wow, I was shocked. But, one problem, why does Sakari have a bathing suit on? Her reply was "daddy told me to". But we are going to breakfast. You know that thing you do when you get up that consist of anything but pizza??? She threw her cover-up on and was ready to roll.

 

For some reason today I decided I would take pictures of what they offered at the buffet for breakfast. It's the same every day, so here's a weeks worth for ya.

 

 

 

 

Wouldya lookie here! Cinnamon rolls...guess what I'm getting this time~yep!

 

 

Sakari would also follow my lead once she seen I had returned with them.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

This is our favorite omelette maker. We went to him every day. He was so nice and immediately learned what we wanted every morning. There are 2 omelette stations but the line was always shorter on this side.

 

 

 

 

I would deter from the "normal" breakfast today and when I grabbed my pig of the day from the police, I decided to try some potatoes and a bagel and cream cheese as well.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

After breakfast, we still had to go back to the room. After all, I didn't get up and immediately put a bathing suit on to head to breakfast...so I needed to change.

 

We already had our towel animal for the day. I'm sorry, this is still just too weird. They need to come at night.

 

 

 

When you get these on your bed, you immediately take a deep breath and sigh because this is always the reality check that this cruise is almost over.

 

 

We made it to the pool at 11:15am and the mermaids were already out in full force.

 

 

Once again, it was pretty crowded out there. Of course I didn't expect anything different.

 

 

I like that the hot tubs in the back (not sure how they are in the middle) are really huge. There's plenty of room for everyone. However, Sakari and I would have this one to ourselves.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Ahh, the life of a 9 year old mermaid.

 

 

Selfie with the daughter

 

 

We both noticed we had someone following us. I believe it was a RC ship out there. We would notice that it would stay with us the rest of the day.

 

 

I over heard someone say that the Chocolate Exravaganza was going on in the buffet. For those of you that indulge in chocolate, this is for you. I don't really like chocolate, but I always like to go to these to take pictures of the creations they have. Only problem is, there really wasn't many creations to see. It's nothing like NCL's chocolate night with the fountains of chocolate and the sculptures made out of chocolate. So, if you are expecting this...forgetaboutit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

Oh look, the only "fancy" they had...

 

 

 

 

 

I settled for this instead. One of many during the cruise.

 

[mitsugirly]

Back to the pool area I went within 5 minutes. The hubby ask what took so long...he knows me and the chocolate buffet issue. I'm only there for the pictures and nothing more.

 

I had made up my mind that I just had to try the Lobster Roll at the sea food place out back by the pool. I have never had one and I have heard people say they are good. It was now 2:15pm and awhile since we had breakfast, but I really wasn't too hungry. I thought it was just going to be a roll with lobster on it. I didn't realize you actually got two of them and fries to go with it.

 

I knew it was $12, and that's pretty expensive to me for a roll, but I wanted to say I tried it. I ordered it and noticed they instantly tipped themselves 15%. So this lobster roll would cost me $13.80.

 

I was given a beeper to take back with me.

 

 

This is what $13.80 will get you. It was good. Good enough for $13.80? No. I wouldn't do that again. The buttered/toasted bread was outstanding! I could have just ate that. But honestly, it pretty much tasted like the bread with the chewy texture of something inside that was the lobster. The bread pretty much over powered the lobster. I even got the hubby to try it (and he don't eat lobster) and he said he could only taste the bread. Of course I told him since he had never had lobster before, he just couldn't distinguish the two tastes like I could. Expert here.

 

 

Sakari continued to draw an audience with her mermaid tail and swimming skills. She had a group that was asking her all kinds of questions and the guys ask if they could get a guy mermaid tail. "Of course you can! Those are merman tails and they are black". She was so excited that others were interested in her "profession".

 

 

The hubs and Sakari decided to eat as well...I'll let you guess what they had...it starts with a P and ends with an A.

 

We stayed until 5pm and then back to the room to shower and change.

 

Sakari said she was sad that it was the last day of the cruise and I said "prove it" and this is what I got.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

At 6pm, it was time to drop Sakari off with her "own kind" because it was dinner time. We decided to take this opportunity to go from floor to floor to take pictures of everything. This is always the night that I run around crazy and do a lot of walking...all for the sake of the review.

 

When we got upstairs, we noticed this.

 

 

 

I knew there must be a party about to happen tonight.

 

 

I started thinking how cool it would be to be on a New Years Eve cruise and have all the balloons drop at midnight. Of course I would require much more than this. It would need to include some colorful confetti...oh, and sparkles. Sparkles would be nice.

 

 

We didn't get very far before my battery decided to die on me. Well guess what, our room is on the 1st floor. That meant double walking and going back down then back up to start where we had left off. Oops. Thank goodness the hubby rolls with the punches.

 

Once I was done, we went to the casino to kill some time. We ran into Thrilled who told us about a magic show tonight in the theater. I swear if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have known about half the stuff going on during the week. I know, there's this thing called the Fun Times, but I just never have it with me when I need it. Usually Kendra carries it around and keeps me informed. I guess that's one area that I'm lacking in and need to work on that she exceeds in. But, Kendra isn't with us this time...this time I would rely on Thrilled. hehe

 

At 7:30pm, we headed to pick up Sakari because I know she likes these types of things. Then off to the theater we went.

 

 

She had all kinds of goodies from the kids club and she especially liked her light up bracelet.

 

 

I don't know how she managed to talk them into a Stingray necklace (since she was officially a Shark now and they had already given her a shark necklace), but she got one.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The show began and part of the audience was used in some things. Sakari was amazed and she just couldn't wrap her head around the things he did. I love these shows.

 

 

After the show we headed to Pixels for the 3rd night in a row trying to find our Aruba picture. It was no where to be found. I was discouraged. We spoke with the employee there. He seemed like a disgruntled employee at best. The tablet they use to scroll for pictures they take and you can order was dead. The charger wasn't working. They had no working equipment. He kept saying "Report it, tell them what crap we have to work with. Tell them how upset you are about not getting your pictures. Tell them everything". Um ok dude, settle down. Another person came up to him and said "Tell me what your name is again?" He told her and she walked away. I said "Are you in trouble?" His reply was "I could care less". He really was not happy at all.

 

In the end, we never did find my picture and this will be the first time that we don't have a family picture in port as we get off the ship. I'm kinda bummed...not as bummed as the employee obviously...but still bummed.

 

Oh, I forgot this part...when we were out at the pool during the day, a guy came up to us and ask if I had a minute to answer some questions. He was the supervisor to the photography department. Eh, sure, I'm not doing anything at the moment but hanging out at the pool while my mermaid swims. He ask how we felt about the ship, the decor, what we would like to see during dry dock, any improvements that could be made and the photographer aspect of it as well. We did mention that it would be nice if they had a computer system that did face recognition, like NCL does, and it would be easier to find pictures and order them. He said they tried it once and it didn't work very good and they stopped within weeks. He mentioned how the computer can not recognize your face if you have glasses on and so on. But, this would be with any system them and others use it???? We talked for a real long time that day and he was super nice. We also mentioned how nice it would be to have a place to still order pictures after getting off the ship. I have heard this question asked so many times...how to order pictures that you decided you wanted after the cruise. He said it would just take too big of a server, but I'm sure there's a way somehow.

 

Once again, we realized we hadn't ate dinner yet. I told the hubs "I'm NOT eating pizza again...seriously" So we headed to the deli...IT WAS CLOSED!!! Seriously? Are you serious?!? Wow, our ONLY option was pizza...again! I swear I'm never eating pizza for months to come. I've had enough. I feel doughy. I feel like I haven't really ate on this cruise. I feel like I definitely didn't get my moneys worth in food this time around.

 

But...pizza it is...or starve and starving we were.

 

 

The hubby ate part of the pizza and Sakari was chomping on the rest. He said "This is not about to fill me up tonight, I'm going to get another". When he headed back up to the line, there was a new menu put out...he came back with something different. I did not want to talk to him after that. Take your new food to another table mister!

 

 

Of course he said he would gladly go up and get me one...but guess what? I had just ate pizza and I wasn't hungry anymore. Sigh They had hoagie sandwiches and also lasagna.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

For being a return Carnival cruiser, you are given a free "drink coupon"...the catch is, they must be used on the LAST night and AFTER 5pm. I attempted to get my free drink, but the pool bar would not accept them. We were told to go to the casino...so we were off.

 

We managed to get our free drinks and all was good while we hung out and people watched for awhile.

 

 

 

 

I ran into Thrilled in the casino and told her I needed to go back to the room to finish packing. She told me that the luggage needed to be out by 10:45 she thought. Oops, I'm a little late. Well hopefully they would still take them.

 

I had an entire glass to drink and I guzzled it down and stumbled back to the room.

 

 

WE MISSED IT! There wasn't a single luggage sitting outside for miles. Darnit. We are going to be forced to lug our luggage around all morning with us...and with a 9 year old. I can't believe this. I know with NCL, I think they want luggage out between 11-12 midnight. But you can always find a hall full of luggage still sitting out there after that and plenty of employees still gathering them. This time, the halls were empty and not a sole in sight. The entire staff went into hiding I tell ya.

 

I actually tried calling housekeeping and even the customer service desk. No answer from either...the multiple times I called. Ok, I was just going to suck it up. No Aruba picture, only pizza to eat, and I'll be lugging my luggage around all day tomorrow.

 

I finished my packing with my bottom lip stuck out and we headed to bed between 12:30-1am. NOT excited for tomorrow to come.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

LAST DAY...going home

 

I was in no hurry to get off this ship...with or without my luggage. We had a late flight and was going to need to sit around waiting anyhow. So, I believe I sat my alarm for 8am.

 

However...I would hear very loud noises from the engine and us pulling in around 5:45-6am. Ugh. I just couldn't sleep. It was so loud. I looked at my watch and I swore it said 7am. So, I went ahead and got up...only to find out it was really 6:30am, but now I couldn't sleep at all.

 

I headed outside to check the weather and it was raining. Yucky day.

 

 

 

I headed back down stairs and figured I'd let the fam sleep some. Ok, 10 minutes, that's good. Time to get up.

 

I did some last minute packing while they were getting ready. Then we headed downstairs for our normal breakfast. It was crowded. Everyone was hungry and wanting their last meal. I wish I could have just slept longer.

 

They started calling self assist and started with the upper decks. They called something like deck 11 and 9. Ok, are they going to go the odd route? Is there even a deck 11 with rooms? Then a long wait. Then they called a few more rooms about 1/2 hour later. Then they stopped. We were told over and over that it was just too crowded in the terminal and they were at full capacity and they would need to stop calling rooms for awhile.

 

We headed down to the casino to wait.

 

 

When they started calling numbers again, they started with the actual colors. Wait a minute...what happened to the rest of the self-assist? I was confused, although not in a hurry I guess.

 

We ran into Thrilled and family and hung out.

 

Sakari was busy drawing of course...how else does a 9 year old mermaid occupy her time?

 

She showed me her picture...

 

 

I ask her where she came up with that and she pointed at daddy.

 

 

We waited and waited and the colors and self-assist were called in really weird orders.

 

Deck 1 (us), self-assist was finally called at 10:30am. We said our goodbye's to the Thrilled family and hoped to see them at the airport since we both had late flights.

 

We headed out to the terminal and it took about 1 hour. We had our luggage, this should be quick right? Wrong! We also had downloaded the debarkation app to "make things quicker" that this port is now using. You put all of your information in it and upload your picture from the passport and the day the cruise ends, you put your terminal number in it and it's supposed to make things faster. However, there's not a separate line for this and you still have to wait your turn.

 

We would get in line, which would wind back and forth and back and forth...the entire length of the terminal. It was crazy. It took at least an hour. Then we finally made it up to customs. They didn't ask any questions. We didn't have to present our customs form. I guess this is what the app is for. However, it took forever for each person on the app to scan their assigned bar code and we still needed to give them your passport. I really don't see what this app is good for. The only thing I did notice is that there's absolutely nothing on the app that ask you about your purchase's. It's not listed anywhere and they didn't ask me about it either. Weird.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Once outside, we summoned a Lyft driver and he was there within 5 min. When we pulled out of the terminal, there was a sign saying right turn only...he decided to go left. Well left took you in a circle and over to the RC terminal...which he was forced to wait in that long line of people getting into vans, buses and cars. Our driver was aggravated. The traffic was crazy and he tried to go around once without success and was told to get back in line.

 

When we finally made it out of there, it seemed as if we were passing the airport. This driver was so irritated and I felt bad that he had wasted a lot of time at the RC terminal, therefore probably losing money in doing so, that I was actually going to tip him more than what the trip cost in the first place. HOWEVER...about that time, he made a comment about he was "going the long way"...just in case he encountered any traffic the other way. Well, that long way was long! Had I been in a big hurry to catch a flight that I was probably already late for after not getting called until 10:30am on the ship, I would have been pissed. But, I didn't want to be just circling the airport either. He also started explaining the streets. Um...I don't know what streets you are talking about or the area. He said "You don't live around here?" Really? If I lived here, would I be getting off a cruise and having a Lyft driver take me to the AIRPORT? Think about it dude.

 

We finally arrived at the airport and was relieved. Sakari loves the Guy Harvey drawings here and insisted on pics.

 

 

 

 

She says "that's the guy that paints the ship" (NCL).

 

 

We were starving at this point and decided we needed some food. Something other than pizza. We headed down stairs and found a bakery.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I noticed some people staring at this guy in a glass box area. I went over to investigate. He was just sitting there. People had really strange looks on their faces.

 

 

Then I seen they were trying to figure out if he was real or not. He was wax. But, you really couldn't tell. You would set there waiting for just a smidge of movement...or him to take a bit of a breath...which never happened.

 

 

 

Every detail just looked so real.

 

We headed outside for awhile and Sakari fed the "birds"

 

 

It was pouring and icky outside. But, what else is there to do when you have hours to wait?

 

 

 

This was my attempt to show just how hard it was raining and pouring off the building. Look below my name stamp and it was like a waterfall.

 

 

 

We hung out, we looked for Thrilled, then we headed into security and to our terminal an hour before it was time to leave. I have NEVER seen an airport this crowded in my life! Like ever. It wasn't this bad when we went to Orlando with all the screaming kids. There was no place to sit, there wasn't even a place to stand. It was worse than the pool on the ship! Everyone was in my personal space!

 

We finally made it on the plane and we were off and home within a little over 2 hours.

 

 

END OF TRIP.

 

I'll do a few final thoughts to finish up tomorrow. But, I'm headed to bed now.

 

I hope everyone enjoyed the review and hopefully got some ideas when visiting these ports.

 

 

[perfect match]

Mitsugirly the stingray wrestler.

 

 

I gently let her go and she stayed there for awhile, probably wondering if that was the last of the attention she was going to get from all of us and then slowly swam away. It's a good day when you can say you actually caught your own stingray.

 

 

Kim, I love this picture! I completely agree with you that any day you can catch your own stingray is a good day! Actually, I would go so far as to call it a great day! I love some of the pictures of Sakari in her mermaid tail with the stingrays, too. :D

 

We are just back from our Vegas trip, so I am playing catch up here. I've only just finished Grand Turk. I will have to finish catching up tomorrow. I do want to add my congrats on your new grandbaby, and to say that I'm sorry to hear about the break in at your business. I hope you have gotten all the details sorted out and that your insurance is taking good care of you.

[momof4girls]

Wow. That was quite the review! I am thankful you take the time to write these. All the work that goes into these...you should really have a blog!

 

Couple questions. 1) Did you not order room service at any time? I was thinking about all the pizza you ended up having to eat and wondered why none of you had room service OR the deli (assuming this ship had one). 2) Because I can't remember the dates of all your past reviews, do you usually cruise during spring break? And if not, do you notice a more crowded ship at that time? 3) How many times did you end up eating in the MDR?

 

I enjoy your reviews for every aspect of the vacation, especially because we also have adult children and a couple younger ones. (We were sure we were done but then changed our minds.) Thank you again for taking this time out of your busy schedule!

[mitsugirly]

Kim, I love this picture! I completely agree with you that any day you can catch your own stingray is a good day! Actually, I would go so far as to call it a great day! I love some of the pictures of Sakari in her mermaid tail with the stingrays, too. :D

 

We are just back from our Vegas trip, so I am playing catch up here. I've only just finished Grand Turk. I will have to finish catching up tomorrow. I do want to add my congrats on your new grandbaby, and to say that I'm sorry to hear about the break in at your business. I hope you have gotten all the details sorted out and that your insurance is taking good care of you.

 

Thanks so much for the comments. That stingray was HEAVY! Now I know why they always help you hold it. I didn't think I was going to be able to get her up to the surface for a picture.

 

 

I hope you had a good time in Vegas. Kendra went there while we was on vacation and had an awesome time! They got to see Blue Man (since they didn't get to see it on the Epic back in November because the BM was already off by then) and went zip lining. She can't wait to go back.

 

 

Wow. That was quite the review! I am thankful you take the time to write these. All the work that goes into these...you should really have a blog!

 

Couple questions. 1) Did you not order room service at any time? I was thinking about all the pizza you ended up having to eat and wondered why none of you had room service OR the deli (assuming this ship had one). 2) Because I can't remember the dates of all your past reviews, do you usually cruise during spring break? And if not, do you notice a more crowded ship at that time? 3) How many times did you end up eating in the MDR?

 

I enjoy your reviews for every aspect of the vacation, especially because we also have adult children and a couple younger ones. (We were sure we were done but then changed our minds.) Thank you again for taking this time out of your busy schedule!

 

Thank you so much. I actually started a blog a couple of years ago and trying to put all of this information on it. With my reviews getting so long, it's really hard and has been taking me forever to add things to it and get caught up because I keep taking too many cruises. :')

 

We did not order room service. Honestly I kept forgetting about it and the last cruise when we ordered it, they kept screwing it up over and over. It was a nightmare.

 

 

Yes, we usually cruise at Spring Break. To me, it seems like every time I cruise, no matter when it is, it's at full capacity. The only difference is, they say there's more kids during Spring Break. It was never really apparent to me until the evenings when the teens seemed to run wild at the pool area.

 

 

We only ate at the MDR one night (due to not being able to get in the other time we tried) and once for brunch. It wasn't the greatest experience (the dinner) and took over 2 hours. So, I wasn't real excited to go back.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

Always enjoy your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to post so many pics and details. I hope you'll review your Vegas trip once you end up going (and post it somewhere? I guess not on Cruise Critic, LOL). Hubby and I renewed our vows there last year and it was super-fun.