Our 25th Anniversary Adventure - Baja Mexico & Hawaii on the Inspiration & Splendor

[TravelLots]

Hi Jeff and Patti!

What’s the Academy of Fun?  Is that only for Journey trips?

Edited June 2, 2019 by TravelLots

[Jamman54]

18 hours ago, fyree39 said:

I love Patti's dress. I can see there's a pattern to the black fabric that adds interest.  So pretty! 😎

 

18 hours ago, SenatorsFan said:

I agree, Patti has a very pretty dress. 😃

Heather

 

Patti reminded me that she wore that dress on our Honeymoon cruise 25 years ago!!! 

 

[Jamman54]

16 hours ago, Cherrys said:

Jeff and Patty, greeting passed on to Ruther. Told him I expect a lot from him!

 

You are in good hands. Enjoy your cruise! 

 

11 hours ago, TravelLots said:

Hi Jeff and Patti!

What’s the Academy of Fun?  Is that only for Journey trips?

 

I believe that it is a Journeys cruise thing. It is a lecture series that covers topics such as photography, social media, food, art, etc. A more detailed explanation can be found in the Fun Times. I invite everyone to take a closer look at the Fun Times that I post for this cruise. You will see a lot of events and activities that you will not see on a normal cruise. Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[TravelLots]

Nice! Thanks Jeff ☺️

Edited June 2, 2019 by TravelLots

[Jamman54]

Day # 12  (April 29^th)  -  Sea Day # 2.

 

Here are today’s Fun Times……

 

 

 

 

We were up at 7 am to cloudy skies once again. The seas are fairly calm and the temperature is 67 degrees.  Here is the view from our balcony looking forward and aft as we make our way towards Hawaii…..

 

 

 

Patti decides to skip breakfast today, opting instead to go to the gym and work out. I make my way up to the Lido to grab a cup of coffee then head to the Spectacular Show Lounge for today’s Morning Show. Patti will meet me there…..

 

 

Today’s show features CD Lee, Tyler, and another member of the Fun Squad, Connor…..

 

 

Lee interviews Jacques, who is the Art Auctioneer aboard the Splendor…..

 

 

 

Lee shows off a special coin that was donated by the Facebook Group aboard. It will be auctioned off as part of the Groove for St. Jude fundraiser later on in the cruise. We got a close look at it and it was impressive…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited June 2, 2019 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Lee next interviews the other half of the ballroom dance instructing couple, Tom…..

 

 

 

Here are Tom and Jo together on stage…..

 

 

After the Morning Show I made my way up to the Splendido Pool Bar starboard side for a few beers. This became my morning ritual on sea days. I hung out and watched both the ballroom dance and hula dance classes.

 

Patti stayed in the Spectacular Show Lounge for the Wild Hawaii lecture and the Fun Finds Shopping Show…..

 

 

 

Here Fernando and Jaydeep, the shopping gurus, discuss the best buys on board ship, and the ports of call…..

 

 

We met back at the cabin where we found today’s towel animal…..

 

 

We went up to the Lido for lunch. Patti went through the buffet line and I went to the Grille for a couple of cheeseburgers. Afterwards we made our way down to the casino to play in today’s slot tournament. However, by the time we got there, they were not taking any more sign ups. Oh, well. Patti was going to check out pictures and the shops. I played blackjack for a few hours and didn’t do very well. Outside of the casino by the Oceanview Bar, the Dolce Trio was performing. They are, in one word, awesome…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti just wanted to hang out in the cabin and read, so I made my way up to the Cloud 9 Spa for a few hours of pure bliss.

 

While I was gone, Patti had signed us up to have our caricatures done for free at the Cool Lounge. Once I got back from the Spa, we went to see Ty the art guy…..

 

 

Ty was a funny guy, and the ten minutes or so that we spent with him were a hoot…..

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished work. We did tip him even though this looks nothing like us! 😁

 

 

Soon it was time for tonight’s dinner. Here is tonight’s menu…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Tonight, Patti had the butternut Squash soup, Caesar salad, and grilled Japanese sea bass…..

 

 

 

I had the antipasti, chicken patties, Caesar salad, and chicken fried steak…..

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight’s dessert menu……

 

 

Patti wasn’t hungry for dessert, but I had the Boston crème cake….

 

 

After dinner, Patti walked the Promenade then made her way back to the cabin. I was going to visit Jose at the Sports Bar, but it was closed. We are now out of satellite signal range so there will be no more satellite television until we get to Hawaii. The same thing will happen on the way back next week. This is what you will see if you tune into a satellite channel on your television……

 

 

Instead, Jose was working at the Oceanview Bar, so I sat down and had a few beers with him there. Back to the cabin to find tonight’s turn down service. We will be turning our clocks back one hour again for the final time. We will now be on Hawaii time…..

 

 

Coming up next:  Another relaxing sea day including the Diamond Lunch and dinner at the Steakhouse.

[Jamman54]

15 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

Tom and Jo were on our Hawaii cruise last year.  Tom is a HUGE Dodger fan.  Please, if you see him wandering around, tell him the Dodgers beat the Phillies last night. 🙂

 

Has Lee said anything about beating the $40K in St. Jude donations from our October Hawaii cruise? No way will you guys beat that much in donations.  No way! lol

 

Tom and Jo are great people and much loved by Carnival. 

 

Lee did mention the 40k raised on your cruise, and yes, our cruise didn't get close to that.

If you remember,  we were originally booked on the October cruise but switched to the April cruise because it was closer to our anniversary. 😎

[mumofsons]

We did this cruise a few years back in September from Vancouver on the Miracle - we absolutely loved it - and was pretty surprised how cool it was and how choppy the water was for the first three days.  Our cruise critic group was over 100 people! Thank you for taking me down memory lane - I am really loving your review as always :)!

[Webecruzen]

It looks like a wonderful time so far.  You guys are looking great!  

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, mumofsons said:

We did this cruise a few years back in September from Vancouver on the Miracle - we absolutely loved it - and was pretty surprised how cool it was and how choppy the water was for the first three days.  Our cruise critic group was over 100 people! Thank you for taking me down memory lane - I am really loving your review as always :)!

 

Thanks for following along again. The Hawaii cruises are great. 😀

 

35 minutes ago, Webecruzen said:

It looks like a wonderful time so far.  You guys are looking great!  

 

It was one of our favorite cruises for sure. Looking forward to sailing with you guys again in the near future. 😎

[lottiegreen56]

That last meal makes me want to take a journeys cruise! I also like the cultural enrichment activities they've included. I've said for years that Carnival is missing the boat not offering things like that. 

 

Not asking for spoilers but the casino better start treating you better. I hope you weren't giving them action on the 6/5 table! 

[Jamman54]

6 minutes ago, lottiegreen56 said:

That last meal makes me want to take a journeys cruise! I also like the cultural enrichment activities they've included. I've said for years that Carnival is missing the boat not offering things like that. 

 

Not asking for spoilers but the casino better start treating you better. I hope you weren't giving them action on the 6/5 table! 

 

I wound up breaking even for the cruise. All the regular bj tables were 6/5 except the $25 table which was rarely open even when requested. I don't play Fun 21 or Face up. 😎

[RobinCruiser]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. Do you (or anyone else reading) happen to know if the Long Beach Cruise Terminal had free wifi? And if so, is it very reliable? I'll be there in October and will need to book a Lyft to Anaheim after the cruise. (Lyft is available in CA right?) Canadian here... so not too sure.

[Jamman54]

17 minutes ago, RobinCruiser said:

Great review! Thanks for sharing. Do you (or anyone else reading) happen to know if the Long Beach Cruise Terminal had free wifi? And if so, is it very reliable? I'll be there in October and will need to book a Lyft to Anaheim after the cruise. (Lyft is available in CA right?) Canadian here... so not too sure.

 

Not sure about the wi-fi in the terminal. Our phones are 4G. 😎

[mikayla73]

Jeff - Looks like lots of fun for both of you. We were on the Splendor several years ago. Those pink donuts ... It's what I remember most about the ship. 

[grandmarnnurse]

For some reason, I haven’t been getting any recent notifications of additions to your review. I had to go searching for it this morning to catch up. 

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, grandmarnnurse said:

For some reason, I haven’t been getting any recent notifications of additions to your review. I had to go searching for it this morning to catch up. 

 

May want to check and make sure you didn’t accidentally unsubscribe and check your notification settings. I got a notification when you posted.

[grandmarnnurse]

8 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

May want to check and make sure you didn’t accidentally unsubscribe and check your notification settings. I got a notification when you posted.

No. That can’t be the problem, as I’m receiving all the notifications on all other threads on cruise critic. 

[Cairns Cruisers]

I believe it happened after last Tuesday's site update. Anything posted after then is showing up in notifications but everything prior is gone.

[Frank12]

Dolce Trio was on our September cruise on the Legend. They were incredible!

[Princess Cruiser27]

Hey Jeff. TC here from the "other board"   😀 Happy Belated Anniverary.  Welcome to the flying 1st class. Yourself and Patty are now spoiled on flying 1st Class. I've been flying 1st Class for years now.  Going to try to play "catch up" here with the thread. 

 

Barb

[Princess Cruiser27]

Another great read Jeff. I've stayed in Long Beach twice before my Princess Cruises out of San Pedro. I did take a walk to the Shoreline Village the first time I was there. And I also did the Queen Mary.  I see Carnival is still using the safe where you need a card to swip it open/closed. Princess/HAL uses a numbered key pad for the safe, which I like the number key pad better.  BTW the Imagination was the first Cruise I took back in 1996. 

[Jamman54]

21 hours ago, Frank12 said:

Dolce Trio was on our September cruise on the Legend. They were incredible!

 

Yes they were! 😀

 

20 hours ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

Hey Jeff. TC here from the "other board"   😀 Happy Belated Anniverary.  Welcome to the flying 1st class. Yourself and Patty are now spoiled on flying 1st Class. I've been flying 1st Class for years now.  Going to try to play "catch up" here with the thread. 

 

Barb

 

19 hours ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

Another great read Jeff. I've stayed in Long Beach twice before my Princess Cruises out of San Pedro. I did take a walk to the Shoreline Village the first time I was there. And I also did the Queen Mary.  I see Carnival is still using the safe where you need a card to swip it open/closed. Princess/HAL uses a numbered key pad for the safe, which I like the number key pad better.  BTW the Imagination was the first Cruise I took back in 1996. 

 

 

Thanks Barb! Always great to have you along for the ride. Patti swears that we will never fly coach again! 😀