Fresh off the CONQUEST. Here's a review

[sk8rmomof3]

So I will start this by saying that this was only our second cruise, first one with kids, and first on Carnival! I'm no expert at writing reviews, but wanted to tell our experiences. I have yet to go through all of the GoPro footage and edit a video, but I have some pictures.

A little back story:

This trip was in the making for three years. I had gone back to school to get my bachelor and master's degree in nursing education. I promised the kids that when I finish my schooling, we would go on a trip to thank them for putting up with me for the 3 years. My husband won a cruise last year with his work and we did a 5 night trip on Independence of the Seas without the kids. When we got home, the kids unanimously decided against Disney and for a cruise. Their only request: Please keep it a surprise. SOOOOOO going in to this trip, they knew a cruise was coming at some point after I graduate, but didn't know what cruise line, when we were going, where we were going. The only thing they knew was that we would drive there (because we drive EVERYWHERE). What the didn't know, was that we even got a plane ride, courtesy of my parents!

I have to say that this site helped me be prepared for the trip so I wanted to write our experience to help others. I am NO expert, but here are my observations from the trip!

So here is the trip on a day to day basis: (I'll do my best!)

[sk8rmomof3]

DAY ONE:

We woke the kids up at 5am on May 6th. We told them "It's time!" and no one believed us! I had been pranking them for some time now that it is time to go to the cruise, so there was hesitation when we woke them up! But once they saw I was recording, the realized this was it! I had our bags ready to go and in the living room so they could see this was the case.

 

So we got in the car for the "19.5 hour drive". We had to pull over in to a parking lot to get directions to pick up Uncle Greg, my husband's best friend. Wink Wink....this was a ruse to pull over. We were across from the airport at this time, but nice for us, Greg lives in that area so they were not suspicious. We've never been to his house, but they know he lives near the airport. So we called my mom to say good bye (again, this was all pre-planned to reveal the surprise of flying). Here is the flying reveal video:

They were hesitant because they've never flown before and there was no way to prepare them for this. HOWEVER, rest assured, they were excited.

We pulled in to the parking garage that again, my mother had given us a certificate for, and a shuttle pulled up to take us to the airport.

 

Our flight was for 9am and it was 6:30am at this time. We got right through security and got some breakfast and now was time to prep the kids for the ride. Gabriel, my 9 year old got a mysterious belly ache (nerves). We gave the kids some gifts from my sister, some note pads and pens to write their experiences down:

 

We got on board for the first of 2 flights of the day. We had 1.5 hours to Atlanta, then 1.5 hours to Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

We finally landed in Fort Lauderdale and the shuttle for the hotel was right there. Our bags were already on the carosel when we made our way to the baggage pick up, there was no wait!

[teknoge3k]

Following, love how you surprised your kids. :)

[sk8rmomof3]

DAY ONE CONTINUED (HOTEL):

We stayed at the Springhill Suites because they had free airport AND port shuttle. When we arrived, we went to sign up for the shuttle for the next day and they said that the morning shuttle was filled already by a group of 25 people that landed early. The first shuttle we could take was at 12:45. This caused stress because we had an 11:30 time for boarding and of course, I didn't want that delayed because we were excited. But we decided to wait it out and see what will happen. We had found out about this one restaurant through the hotel website that has a free shuttle and has seafood. It's called the Rustic Inn. Another surprise for the kids was that my aunt and uncle that had moved to Florida over a year ago live nearby so they met us for dinner.

Dinner was delicious. I ordered ribs, my husband ordered some seafood platter, and raw oysters. The food was absolutely amazing. Now, according to online reviews, this place has long lines and suggested going early, we were there at 4pm and got seated right away. Dinner was a success!

 

After dinner, the shuttle picked us back up (you just tell your waiter that you need a shuttle and they let them know). We went back to the hotel to swim. The pool was amazing. There was a hot tub, a fountain that has a mini waterfall in to the pool, and we tested out the new GoPro!

 

My husband and his friend Greg went for a walk across the street to the store to get Mountain Dew to bring on board. I reminded them that each person can bring 12 cans of pop on board. What did they get? BOTTLES. Sorry men, but you didn't listen. Yup, so they bought bottles of pop. They said they'd try to get them onboard anyway, and if they are confiscated, they would be confiscated.

[sk8rmomof3]

DAY TWO.....EMBARKATION DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

How I have waited for this counter to look like this:

 

We woke up around 7am and headed down to the free breakfast. Holy cannoli, this is definitely a hotel for cruisers. The lobby was FULL of people and luggage. We got a spot to eat. They had typical hotel breakfast food like waffles, sausage, eggs, ham, and bagels, cereal, and fruits. It was good and well maintained. When I got in the elevator with my son, we were talking, and I met Tipsy from this board! Hi Tipsy!

I couldn't believe the amount of people that I saw in that lobby! So we wanted to still try to get on the 9:45 shuttle if possible, and the hotel had a shuttle representative at a special stand in the lobby. He said there was no way we were getting on that shuttle. I was upset on how they did the sign ups for the shuttle. So basically, if I booked a plane to arrive at 9am the day before, I could reserve the shuttle for the next day for 25 people and not allow anyone else a chance! Oh well. So my husband decided it was less stress just to call a cab so we could get there earlier and not be upset about having to wait until 12:45. The cab said they would send a van at 10:15 and so we had all of our luggage and were standing outside by 10am, only to see a cab pulling away EMPTY. We figured maybe it wasn't our cab since we still had 15 more minutes. No one came. By 10:20, my husband called them back and they said they don't do scheduled pick ups, and would put us on a list. :o Seriously???? Anyway, the shuttle guy heard our frustration and asked if we were waiting for a shuttle . We explained our situation and he said we were in luck, the owner of the shuttle sent an extra shuttle and we could get on the 10:45 shuttle, which was only 5 minutes away. PERFECT! We considered ourselves lucky. As the shuttle arrives, the cab also arrives. Sorry sucker, we are taking the free shuttle. You snooze you loose.

We pulled up to the port a little before 11 after making a stop for the people for Allure of the Seas to get off. So it's just barely 11, we have an 11:30 board time. No one checked that. We got right in. We got right through customs with no wait. We got through security. BACK UP A SECOND.....so the Mountain Dew dilemma.....husband and friend decided to each put 2 bottles of Mt Dew in their carry on bags for the ship, the rest they each put some in their luggage........OK, back to the story:

husband got throught security with both Mt Dews. Greg, his friend, did not. They took his. Same security guy, different outcome. Oh well. They knew they were risking it. We got to the counter to get our sail and sign cards, then escorted to the waiting room area. We were loading group 4. They were loading the priortity people at that time, and it was just barely 11:30. By 11:45 we were on the ship! I was expecting long lines and a long wait, but for not having Faster to the Fun, or any special boarding anything, 45 minutes wasn't bad in my opinion!

First picture on board:

 

I can tell you that Tyson, the sea turtle, made us famous. Everyone knew my son because of Tyson. That turtle goes everywhere with us!

And so we were off to explore. Of course, in true kid fashion, they wanted to see it all RIGHT NOW but that's impossible. So off to the kids club just to see that first. On our way we happened to see the sign up for the Dr Suess breakfast, so we signed up before it got filled up. Then off the kids club. BUT on our way to kids club, we found ping pong, so we had to play ping pong first..

 

And as we played ping pong, we got hungry, and we HAD to eat, so......FIVE GUYS IT IS!

 

 

 

FIRST OF MANY Five Guys Burgers. Lines were only about 2 people deep, so that was no problem. And NOW we are off to Kids Club to meet the people:

 

[sk8rmomof3]

Day TWO Continued:

So we made it to Kids Club to say Hello and get the schedule. Little to my knowledge, much to what I have heard but didn't think would apply to us, started an addictive relationship between my two youngest, Julia Age 6, and Gabriel age 9. They asked constantly to go to kids club and never wanted to be with us!

 

By this time, we went to check out our rooms. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing I never took a picture of our room numbers, which I always do when we are on vacation. What a bummer. Oh well. So we have 6 people, which meant girls in one room, boys in the other. We were only 2 rooms away from each other. We booked inside cabins to save on money. I can honestly say that with having kids, I can see the benefit to having a balcony room (haven't had one yet) but after a hot day at the pool, my oldest and I would go to the room to cool off and read for a while for peace and quiet, and sitting on a balcony would have been nice. BUT I like to save money and that was an expense I didn't need.

We met Su, our cabin attendant and he asked if we needed any extra pillows or blankets, and asked if we wanted morning, afternoon, or both service. Because of this board, I decided both. I liked having the towel animals delivered and the Fun Times each night.

 

We got situated in our respective rooms, and prepared to swim and eat.....again.....

[teknoge3k]

......FIVE GUYS IT IS!

 

 

 

 

FIRST OF MANY Five Guys Burgers. Lines were only about 2 people deep, so that was no problem. And NOW we are off to Kids Club to meet the people:

 

This confused me for a second. I told my wife "did you know Conquest has a "Five Guys" on it? Then continued on to the pictures.

 

Five Guys is a very popular hamburger restaurant.

 

 

Guys Burgers is a different hamburger joint on the cruise ships. :cool:

[sk8rmomof3]

We ate at the buffet before swimming and sat upstairs near the BBQ place. It was delicious. We did have one casualty during late lunch.....This was too much stimulation and he didn't make it out awake:

 

At this point it was time for muster drill. Yes, this was hot and long. Fortunately for us, we were in the shade, but standing there for almost 45 minutes with young excited kids is not fun. They couldn't even see or hear what was going on. They got their wrist bands and that was it. No one scanned us in or anything, but they did have clicker counters, so I'm sure that they knew how many people to expect and there was no mention of calling for people.......

So then we decided to walk around, get some swimming and sliding in, and explore. We found the mini golf, and took walks. Then it was time to eat. AGAIN! We had Renoir dining room, anytime dining. I was expected a wait, as we got there around 7pm, but we got escorted right away to a table. Dinner was good, and the strawberry bisque I would have never tried unless people on this board wouldn't have mentioned it....so I tried it and it was DELICIOUS!

 

My husband and his friend are big eaters, so they ordered multiple appetizers and meals, while my oldest and I got just one. It was good food. The mac and cheese with bacon was amazing. You can certainly tell it's all premade food that's just reheated though.

 

Dinner took almost two hours. We had a slow server. He was funny, and they kept us entertained. A magician came to the table which the kids loved, and a pirate came to take pictures with us. However, it wasn't enough to keep the little one awake:

 

Dinner took so long that I didn't stay for dessert. I took the two little ones to my room to put them to bed. My husband, daughter, and his friend went exploring, and when they came back at almost midnight, my husband picked up my son and took him to his room. What a great first day!!!!

Ok, carpal tunnel setting in.....need a break. Be back soon!

[JimAOk1945]

The Conquest is a wonderful ship. We have cruised on her twice and enjoyed it both times. Great review and pictures. Looking forward to more.

[sk8rmomof3]

This confused me for a second. I told my wife "did you know Conquest has a "Five Guys" on it? Then continued on to the pictures.

 

Five Guys is a very popular hamburger restaurant.

 

 

Guys Burgers is a different hamburger joint on the cruise ships. :cool:

 

 

Bwah ha ha ha ha... I didn't even realize I did that! I've never even eaten at Five Guys, yet I typed that! We have a Five Guys near us and I've never been. Funny! I meant Guy's Burger Joint!

[teknoge3k]

Bwah ha ha ha ha... I didn't even realize I did that! I've never even eaten at Five Guys, yet I typed that! We have a Five Guys near us and I've never been. Funny! I meant Guy's Burger Joint!

 

 

We had Five Guys last night for dinner (they have great burgers). I completely stopped when you said it, and told my wife. Then I continued reading. You should try 'em though.

[sk8rmomof3]

We had Five Guys last night for dinner (they have great burgers). I completely stopped when you said it, and told my wife. Then I continued reading. You should try 'em though.

 

I must have sea-brain! And it won't let me edit it to correct it! Oh my.......and I thought I was doing so well! Ha ha

[teknoge3k]

I must have sea-brain! And it won't let me edit it to correct it! Oh my.......and I thought I was doing so well! Ha ha

 

No worries, nobody else will probably even catch it. I just did because well, I like Five Guys and just had it for dinner last night so it stood out to me. =)

[tawaik]

Nice Review. Looking forward to the rest.

 

I sailed on the Conquest April 2016 between Chemo treatments. This cruise was so relaxing for me and we needed it to bring me to my happy place. Carnival=Therapy for me:hearteyes:.

[sk8rmomof3]

DAY THREE (Day at Sea) Monday May 8:

So of course, if we were home, we'd totally sleep in all day, or at least want to sleep in if we didn't have work or obligations. But no, we are on vacation and our bodies told us to wake up at 6am. So we went for a walk around the upper decks. It was so peaceful and nice up there. The buffet opens at 6:30, so we walked until that opened, then we ate some breakfast. Then we walked around and found the Morning Show on accident while looking at the theater and decided to stay to watch the show. There was I think a total of 8 people in the audience, but it was fun nonetheless. On Royal Caribbean, our first cruise, I didn't know there was such a thing as a cruise director, so to meet ours on this cruise was a cool idea.

Our cruise director was Chloe Loddo and my son was instantly in love. She asked him to be a counter to count how many times she broke into random song during the show (11). She kept referring to him during the show and even called him up on stage!

 

During the show she asked if anyone could finish the lyrics to a song "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" and I was able to and they said they would send a prize to our room! Holy crap, I didn't realize this was a thing. So I got excited to have won a prize and felt like a celebrity having gotten to meet the cruise director. Ha ha. Then we went about our day.

Kids club opened at 10am and both little ones asked to go. So off they went. I checked on them hourly and they never wanted me. I didn't see them again until literally 10pm, despite checking every hour to hour and a half to make sure they weren't ready to leave. I think that was my only complaint is that without going to check on them, there's no other way that they let you know your child wants to come out. But mine were quite content there. I didn't want them to feel like I dumped them there to have kid-free time, but that's what they wanted, they were having fun, so off I went to sit by the pool and read a book. Ok, well.....and have an adult beverage as well.

 

We only purchased the bubbles package for myself and my husband. (His friend got his own). We aren't big drinkers. This was my first drink out of a total of 4 the entire trip. I have to say my biggest complaint over the drinks (pop) on the ship compared to Royal Caribbean is that they are not easy to get. You either have to wait in line at a bar by the pool, or find another bar. Then they make you swipe your badge and sign for it every time. On RC, you just walk up to any restaurant, flash your card so they can see the sticker, and they pour you a drink. No hassle, and easy to access. I found that getting my pop refilled was more hassle than it was worth, so I went thirsty a lot, or got the free water or lemonade at the buffet. My kids don't like pop, so the unlimited hot cocoa, water, and lemonade was perfect for them.

We literally just had a leisurely day, sat by the pool, wandered around, shopped, and enjoyed each other's company (my oldest daughter and I). She's 13 and had no interest in her kids club. My husband and his friend were off playing Bingo and doing whatever. It is better for me this way. I got to do what I wanted, and he was entertained.

At one point, we made it back to our room, and I had gotten my prize. A plastic piece of ship, as Chloe referred to it! And a platter of chocolate covered strawberries. Yum! Thank you Chloe!

 

I checked on the kids one more time, they still didn't want me, so it was time to get ready for the formal night. Since the kids were eating with the Kids Club, I could have a nice sit down dinner without kids being bored. So off to get dressed.

[cajunfla]

No worries, nobody else will probably even catch it. I just did because well, I like Five Guys and just had it for dinner last night so it stood out to me. =)

 

I saw it, and was gonna let her slide. Love 5 Guys! Had Guy's Burgers on our last cruise. Not impressed.

[sk8rmomof3]

We got ready for the formal night. Now I was really worried about this because on this board there have been some posts about how people dress and I didn't want to offend anyone. I brought both my daughter and I simple black lace dresses that could be easily packed and be as formal or as casual as you want them to be. I think we blended in well.

 

Again, we had Your time dining, and I was worried about a wait since the kids were at the Kids Club and I knew this wouldn't allow for me to check on them. BUT we were seated right away. I knew I was in for trouble when I saw lobster on the menu. Now again, my husband is a BIG eater. He loves his seafood. I do not. Hence, he never gets it at home because I do not cook it. SOOOOO this is his chance. Last year on RC, he had ordered a total of 4 lobster tail and I was so embarrassed. I braced myself for this one. He was good and started off with only 2 orders at first. By the end of the night he had eaten 5 meals. (he ate the shrimp but not the other side dishes, but again, it's all premade food they just reheat, so despite telling them you don't want the sides, they still have to give them to you). I'm also picky about all the side dishes and prefer simple things like mac and cheese, but they still had to give the other sides to throw them away, then give you the sides you wanted. Seemed odd, but whatever.

I ordered the chicken breast and it was AWFUL. A rubbery piece of something that tasted horrific. I didn't eat it, and instead, I just waited on the chocolate melting cake I had heard so much about and didn't get to try the night before due to children falling asleep. My daughter had the prime rib and loved it.

Husband's lobsters #3,4 and 5:

 

When we left the dining room, we walked in to a presentation of the senior staff members and got to see the captain and Chloe and all the management staff. Again, hate to compare RC to Carnival, but on RC, we didn't have a chance of meeting the captain or cruise director, and here, I felt like it was so much more personable, and we got to see them not just from a distance. We got a picture with the captain and with Chloe, which to my surprise, she recognized us from that morning, and asked about our son.

 

 

By this time it was about 7:30 so I went to check on the kids, who of course, still wanted to have nothing to do with me. So I decided to not check on them so often. Again, I just didn't want them to feel like I didn't want them around me, as this was a family vacation, and I didn't intend on them feeling like I dumped them off to ignore them. But they were perfectly content and loved having friends and the activities. The staff in Camp Ocean were amazing.

I went back at 10pm to pick them up since that's when it ended without having to pay extra. The views were gorgeous that night. As soon as they got back to the room, I showered them, and got them in bed and they were sleeping. Again, my husband came to get my son to take him to his room when he was done doing whatever he was doing. Works perfect for me because I'm not a late night person at all.

[sk8rmomof3]

I saw it, and was gonna let her slide. Love 5 Guys! Had Guy's Burgers on our last cruise. Not impressed.

 

 

Ha ha. Thanks! Cruise brain over here!

 

My husband also was not impressed, but he's biased. He is a manager for a burger joint, so he hates burgers as a whole since he's around them all the time. So he's not a good judge. I loved the burgers. I think #1, I've been on a diet since Jan 1, lost 31 pounds before the cruise, and so this was my first burger in 5 months! and #2....those fries....oh, the fries. Delicious. Again, no fries in 5 months either, so it could be that I had gone so long without that the grease tasted terrific!

[sk8rmomof3]

DAY FOUR TUESDAY:

So this was our port day in Ocho Rios. I was prepared for long lines to get off the boat, but we were able to walk right off with no wait. It was quite nice.

I had planned the bobsledding adventure. I really wanted Dunn River Falls, but seeing as though my youngest is 6 and just now starting to like swimming, I thought it might be too taxing on her. The kids were excited to bobsled but hesitant of the ski lift ride up. When we pulled in to the port, it was much prettier than Falmouth Jamaica was. I was worried about how to find the bus to our excursion as when we were on RC there wasnt much direction as to where to go. I was very pleasantly surprised that everything was well labelled and we were quickly escorted to our bus. We got on the bus and drove about 5 minutes to the bottom of Mystic Mountain. Keep in mind, if you haven't been there, bring bug spray and close toed shoes. I had the shoes, not the bug spray, so for $5 you could buy the bug bracelets. Well worth it in my opinion because my youngest reacts horribly to bug bites with huge welts and I prefer to keep that away.

It was raining when we got there, and my kids said it has to rain because it's the rain forest. :') I was worried that they wouldn't run the ski lift thing, but they kept it going. The area was beautiful, the tour guides explained the procedure to us, and off we went. The lines weren't bad at all, and the surroundings were wonderful.

 

The views from the ski lift were amazing. It's about a 15 minute ride to the top. At tower 11 they take your picture. They warn you ahead of time, and there is signs to tell you in case you forget. You have the option to buy the pictures if you like. We didn't buy them, and I don't know the price.

View from the ski lift thing:

 

Once we got to the top, there is much to see. They have a lot of historic things to look at for the Olympics, but I had heard the lines get long for the bobsled, so we bee-lined to that first so we could have time for everything else and not worry. We only had about 10 people ahead of us. We had it all planned out. I was going to ride first with my youngest. They connect the bobsleds if you want them connected. The youngest sits in the back. The person in front controls the speed. My oldest daughter went by herself, and my son and husband were going to go alone, but my son doesn't weigh enough to go on his own. He was tall enough, but apparently you also have to weigh enough. I don't know....so they connected as well. I went kind of slow for my daughter because she is scared of things. She actually let me ease up on the brakes and get some speed. I recorded the whole thing, but again, I haven't gone through any of the GoPro footage yet! It had also stopped raining at this time!

Once we all did our ride down the mountain, it brings you back to the top. We went then went in the gift shop and did a little shopping. It was nice in that area because they didn't hound you. Set prices, and they didn't try to make you feel uncomfortable. Then we made our way to the gorgeous pool area. It's an infinity pool overlooking the mountain, and you can see the cruise ship in the distance. It was amazing. There is also a waterslide that we must have gone down 50 times.

 

We got a little hungry and the lifeguard radio'd to a waiter to come take our order, and we got one cheeseburger, one order of chicken fingers, and one order of jerk chicken and rice, then 2 waters and 2 pops. It came to $80 :o But it was well worth it. I had a Diet Pepsi, which I love, and it tasted a little odd. Not bad, just different. Yup, cuz it's made in Jamaica with Jamaican ingredients. Ha ha. Not your regular American Diet Pepsi. But it still wasn't bad, just different. It started to rain again after we ate, so we gathered our things up and looked around under the roof at the memoriabilia. It was really interesting and we also watched the drummers and dancers. It was very nice and pretty. The rain wasn't anything nearly as bad as we get in Ohio, so we could tolerate it. It wasn't coming down too hard, and it wasn't cold, so we were fine.

 

Of course my son just HAD to wear his Jamaica outfit I had bought him last year on our cruise. He told me before the cruise that IF we were going to Jamaica, he wanted to wear it there. So I packed it just in case we went to Jamaica! Good thing is in Ohio it's only 50's, so packing summer clothes, the kids had no clue they were missing! Ha ha...if only he had his eyes open in this picture. Now I want to show them the movie Cool Runnings and they'd really think this is cool!

We made our way down the mountain by the ski lift thingy again. It was still raining, but tolerable. Of course, lucky us, my husband and son were in the chair ahead of us and had to announce all the 8 foot tall spiders in the webs that we passed. I mean seriously? Those things were massive and had power in numbers. OK, so they weren't 8 foot tall, but anything passed a centimeter big is just too big for me.

We found our shuttle to take us back to the ship. There was a local vendor there that had fresh coconut and sugar cane, so my husband bought some. He was born on Philipenes and this brought back many memories for him. He and my son went to town on their find. This snack was only about $6 and my husband shared the sugar cane with others on our shuttle bus (before we boarded since there's no eating on the bus).

Once we got back to the area to load, we did a little shopping, but were eager to get back on board because the vendors scared my kids. They were the aggressive kind that followed you and just kept talking. The one actually asked my daughter if she was scared. They really were the most aggressive on our trip. We did manage to buy a few things and not the inappropriate wood carvings that my son so nicely had to point and scream "Holy crap, that's inappropriate" everytime he saw it. Oh my.

[sk8rmomof3]

TUESDAY CONTINUED:

Once we got through the security gate, it was time to get on board.

 

We were about 1.5 hours before boarding time, so getting back on the ship was no problem, and we quickly got back up to our rooms. The little two were eager to get back to kids club. We took showers and got dressed so I could drop them back off at kids club before they went to dinner. The girls wore their new Jamaican dresses:

 

I got a drink called a Miami Vice, half strawberry margarita, half pina colada. Drink #2 of 4 for the trip. It was delicious and just what I needed. I grabbed my book and went to read on the deck. Now I have to say, again, RC comparison, last year, we NEVER had a chance at getting a seat on any deck poolside or not. On Carnival, there were chairs everywhere. Everytime I wanted to sit down, I could find multiple seats, even poolside. Yes, there were chair hogs with their towels, but still, there were many chairs around at all times, not just port days.

So apparently Jamaica wore everyone out:

 

NOTE: That is MY book, not my husband's. ha ha

So we decided to skip the main dining room and just eat when we felt like it from the buffet. This worked for us. I checked on the kids, there were quite content in the kids club, so I kept them there until 10pm again. When I picked them up, I took my son to his room to change in to his pajamas, and we found this in his room from Chloe the cruise director:

 

WOW what a surprise! First of all, I don't even know how she knew his room. We never gave it to her, and we were different rooms, so she had to do some investigating (or an assistant had to do some investigating). So he got a note,, chocolate covered strawberries, and a plastic piece of ship! He was tickled pink, and this only further deepened his crush on Chloe.

I took the kids to my room, we had all intentions of watching tv, but all fell asleep instantly. My husband came to pick Gabriel up whenever he came back. I was so sound asleep I never noticed he came!

SIDE NOTE:

I forgot to mention, night one.....our neighbors were incredibly loud. I was prepared for slamming doors and some talking in the hallways. But seriously, these people sounded like they were in my room. Yelling all night and banging and crashing sounds as though they were fighting. It was ridiculous and went on until 6:30 am. I got barely any sleep that night. I told my husband and he let Su, our room attendant know, and he had security come speak with them. We had no problems the rest of the cruise. Guest services even called a few days later just to check up on the issue. I was impressed. I don't know what they said, but it worked!

[sk8rmomof3]

SIDE NOTE TO TUESDAY;

Totally forgot to mention, this was my official graduation day! As of that day, I was a graduate with my masters in nursing education! I totally forgot that day and my kids reminded me that afternoon! Hence the drink I had! My husband also had something special delivered to my room!

 

The cake was delicious, although the two younger kids didn't like it. I also didn't know to refrigerate it and it went bad after a day. Ooops! But it was a nice gesture!

[teknoge3k]

DAY FOUR TUESDAY:

I had a Diet Pepsi, which I love, and it tasted a little odd. Not bad, just different. Yup, cuz it's made in Jamaica with Jamaican ingredients. Ha ha. Not your regular American Diet Pepsi. But it still wasn't bad, just different.

 

If you ever get the chance, go to the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. You can watch them make a Coke, but they also have soda fountains from all over the world so you can see what Coke taste like in different countries. It's really neat! Some of them are really good and some are worse than cat vomit. (Not that I've ever tasted cat vomit, disclaimer)

 

Also you mention about keep checking on the kids. I am not sure about all age groups but I know for my younger son we can ask for a phone and they will give us a phone that works on the ship to communicate with the kids club. My oldest (12) never went to the kids clubs so I don't know about for his age. He has more fun on his own roaming the ship. Something to keep in mind on your next sailing so you don't have to keep running back and forth.

[sk8rmomof3]

WEDNESDAY:

So Wednesday was a busy day. We had a port in Grand Cayman from 8-4, then we had Build-A-Bear.

We docked and got off to get to the port. We had to take a tender to get off the boat, but they had plenty of tenders running. There was also a Royal Caribbean ship there was well. Liberty of the Seas I believe. It came after us. When we got off the tender, we were escorted to a tented area with signs for our excursion. I had picked the turtle farm, as this is my son's fascination, and I knew it had something for everyone. I had a feeling this would be everyone's favorite port. We had to wait an hour before our shuttle was ready to take us, and you had to watch because the ship stays on ship time, and Grand Cayman is an hour behind. They were very good at reminding you of this, and even the bus driver told us to make sure we knew ship time versus local time. They must had said 800 times, "Whats your bus number, who's your bus driver, and what time to get back on the bus?" "Bus 6, Best, and 1:30 SHIP TIME". This gave us a total of 3 hours at the farm once we got there. It was about a 20 minute drive to get there, but our driver was fantastic and hilarious as he told us all about the island and gave us a good tour.

Once we got to the farm, we had to stay with the group for about 20 minutes as they showed us the first few areas. We saw the breeding tank, then each tank with different age turtles, then led us to the tank where you could get in an hold the turtles. The guide said those turtles were 37 months old. I felt like speaking to a toddler's mom who never can get off using months!

They take a picture of you holding the turtles and offer you to buy it. Now be prepared.....the prices change. The guide will tell you $25 for one picture, $35 for two pictures, and $45 for all the pictures. We picked the ONE picture we wanted. Took the SD card to the counter to pay and the guy said it's $25 for the one picture, but if you want them all it's $30. Ok, what's an extra $5? So I was prepared to get printed pictures, but they just hand you the SD card. That's it. ha ha. Oh well.

My youngest was scared for some reason and wouldn't hold the turtles. They do make you sanitize before and after handling the turtles and have many bottles of disinfectant available, plus a handwashing station.

After we held the turtles, we decided to swim. They have a fresh water pool with a water slide, and then a snorkeling pool. We took our youngest to the fresh water pool where she and my husband swam, then I took my oldest daughter and son to the snorkle pool. That was awesome. They provided snorkel gear (we used our own), and a life vest. We went out with the GoPro and got a lot of good footage. I can't wait to look through it all. Then we switched and I stayed with my youngest, and my husband and son went snorkeling.

 

They have the areas of the fresh water pool roped off so you don't get too deep. They have the shallow end, then ropes to the landing area of the slide, then to the rest of the pool with waterfalls and much deeper water with an island in the middle. It was gorgeous. The snorkeling area was amazing, but you could see the algea, as expected. There were 16 turtles, and multiple tropical fish in there, and we saw many!

We got the package that included lunch, since it was only $5 more, and I'm sure their lunches cost way more than $5 a person. The lunch was a "buffet". It was BBQ chicken, rice and beans, and veggie pasta dish. Then they have fruit punch and water. The food was good, I loved the flavor, but instantly I knew my youngest wouldn't eat it. The nice lady serving us said she would bring her chicken fingers and fries, and it was included. They also had a man playing music and singing while we ate. It was a fun atmosphere. I say it was a "buffet" because my husband went up for seconds and they kind of looked at him funny. But they let him get another plate.

At this point it was 1pm and we only had a half hour and still wanted to see the predator tank, the aviary, and the souvenir shop. Too much to do! I could have used another 2 hours easily there. We raced to the predator tank, which thankfully was not much,, and we went in to the aviary quickly. Then went in to the souvenir shop that I would have liked to spend more time in, but we got a few quick items and loaded back up in our shuttle. It was a nice excursion, well worth it, but I could have spent much more time there!

[sk8rmomof3]

If you ever get the chance, go to the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. You can watch them make a Coke, but they also have soda fountains from all over the world so you can see what Coke taste like in different countries. It's really neat! Some of them are really good and some are worse than cat vomit. (Not that I've ever tasted cat vomit, disclaimer)

 

Also you mention about keep checking on the kids. I am not sure about all age groups but I know for my younger son we can ask for a phone and they will give us a phone that works on the ship to communicate with the kids club. My oldest (12) never went to the kids clubs so I don't know about for his age. He has more fun on his own roaming the ship. Something to keep in mind on your next sailing so you don't have to keep running back and forth.

 

I saw the phones the first day, but figured it was for the little ones. Good thing to know for next time! I think people do just leave the kids there all day because they kept reminding us of when they eat, etc, and made mention, "You know, that is 6 hours away, and that's a long time" so I wanted to make sure I was present so they knew I wasn't just leaving them. (The staff)..........

[cajunfla]

Ha ha. Thanks! Cruise brain over here!

 

My husband also was not impressed, but he's biased. He is a manager for a burger joint, so he hates burgers as a whole since he's around them all the time. So he's not a good judge. I loved the burgers. I think #1, I've been on a diet since Jan 1, lost 31 pounds before the cruise, and so this was my first burger in 5 months! and #2....those fries....oh, the fries. Delicious. Again, no fries in 5 months either, so it could be that I had gone so long without that the grease tasted terrific!

 

We might eat burgers 3 or 4 times a year, one of those is grilled at home, and the others are 5 Guys.