Willdra's Silent Carnival Sunshine Sept. 17-22 Review

[willdra]

5 hours ago, Indiansbaseball said:

I’m so late to this party but I got binge read…which is awesome ! As usual …loving your review ! We are cruising this October as well ! Can’t wait ! 

You made it to the after party! 😃😃😍

[willdra]

4 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

My recent cruise on 9/24 was my first since October 2019.  I'm Diamond-did not realize they no longer leave tickets for the free drink, that you had to pick up $25 casino chip or they did not leave diamond gift on the last night.  Wish I had read this sooner!  And yes, those short ribs on the last night are fabulous!  

We are still learning how to redeem everything. Our biggest problem is forgetting to get them. 😜🤪😜

[willdra]

3 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

Thank you again for the great review. I look forward to the next one!

I appreciate this so much!! 🥰🥰🥰

[willdra]

2 hours ago, karmamule said:

We are waiting for our room to become available so we can finish check in and enjoy the rest of the day before our cruise starts tomorrow. I especially appreciated having some Willdra time to make lounging in the lobby less boring. 😀

Thank you for appreciating it!! ♥️♥️♥️

[willdra]

1 hour ago, pirate4me2 said:

😭 I can't believe it's the end already! I need another great review to read ASAP to get me thru until I board Mardi Gras next month! 

We are in Houston now getting ready to sail on the Vista tomorrow. Hopefully I will have that review posted before you go! 😜😉

[pirate4me2]

2 minutes ago, willdra said:

We are in Houston now getting ready to sail on the Vista tomorrow. Hopefully I will have that review posted before you go! 😜😉

I'm jealous, I love the Vista. Have a great time!!!

[Megan_Strick]

On 10/9/2022 at 10:55 PM, willdra said:

We ate our fill then rolled out of there. All of the errands were done, so there was nothing left to do but go back to the hotel. That hotel was in a great location. It only took a few minutes to get to and from downtown. We liked that. When we got there, we had to stop at the front desk to get towels. I think they ran out earlier cuz there were several people down there asking for them.

 

In the room, there was nothing to watch but Diners Drive Ins and Dives. This is a kid tested mother approved pre-cruise show, since it makes us look forward to hitting Guy’s Burger Joint when we get on the ship. Watching Guy beforehand sets up the mood. I low key think it's a conspiracy.

 

Keeping with our regularly scheduled program, W and I dug in our suitcases, rearranged stuff, looked for stuff, said a cuss word (or 3) when we couldn’t find the thing, then we got ready for our last night night before cruise day.

 

Before I fell asleep I said a prayer thanking God for the life of whoever it was that decided that even tho shrimp look like little sea alien babies, they might taste good.  I prayed for the entire lineage of that genius who pulled off the disgusting parts of those unattractive little critters, dropped them in some batter, deep fried 'em, and gave us one of the best tasting foods ever.  Shrimp definitely has its own chapter in Jesus' cookbook.  

 

 

 

 

 

Yay! I'm excite. I cruise on the Sunshine next Sept. I live in Brunswick, Ga so Charlestown is only 3 hours from me. And yes, Savannah would be a great port. Only an hour north of me.

[Megan_Strick]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:59 PM, willdra said:

We walked into the ship at 10:59 according to the time stamp on the picture that I took. We entered on Deck 4 in the Main Atrium. It felt nostalgic. We went to our Muster Station first, so that we could get that necessary business out of the way. We were assigned Muster Station C, which was (gasp) outside. I can’t remember the last time I attended a Muster Drill outside. I felt like I was hurled back in time to the dark ages. Say it ain’t so. I’m sorry y’all but mustering outside is now the ghetto. We walked out there and I was so happy that it only took a few minutes. We got there right as they were starting a safety briefing. It took 3 minutes. We were free to leave the ghetto after that.

 

 

 

I chuckled when you said the ghetto. It reminded me of the episode of RHOA when Nene went to see Kenya at her "rental" and she said the ghettoooooooooooo. LOL

[willdra]

Go Home Day 

 

We got up at 7:15. We had to be out of our cabin by 8:30. Since we had pretty much put everything up it wouldn’t take us long to get ready. Or would it? 

 

At first glance, it was foggy in Charleston. That’s not unusual for port cities.  After I checked outside, I handled my hygiene while throwing junk in my little suitcase. We keep our small carryon size suitcases, and don’t set them out, so that we can put the stuff that we use the last day in them. I did good this time, I actually had room left. Normally I have to extend it cuz I underestimated the amount of space that I would need. I also put as much as I possibly could in the bag that I left for the crew to pickup. 

 

We turned on the tv to channel 14, and we saw that they were calling Deck 3 for express debark. That was the people who didn’t leave bags out. At around 7:45, they  had completed all of the self assist decks, and were now on Luggage Tags 1-4. That’s us! We had #2 tags. This is a great thing about being Platinum. We didn’t have to go down to get our own luggage tags. They put them in our mailbox along with Priority Debarkation instructions. We could’ve gotten off super early if we wanted to. We didn’t. 
 

 

[willdra]

We finished getting ready and at 8:01 we exited cabin 6317. There was no one in the hallway. We walked forward to the midship elevators. There were several families waiting to get an elevator. Since our bags were small and light, W picked up both of them and walked down the stairs. A quick minute or two later and we were walking off of the ship. There wasn’t a crazy line like there can be sometimes. 

 

This port is so unusual cuz you can tell the “terminal” is temporary. They brought in ramps and moveable stairs. When we exited the ship, we went down a long winding ramp that put us on the ground. Normally you go through a building and take some escalators down. Once we were on the ground, we waited to go into the building to pick up our luggage and pass through “Customs”. This was also weird. There was a couple of front of us who realized they left something. They went over and explained it to one of the agents on the ground. He radioed in and got permission to take the husband back into the ship. Thank goodness they remembered whatever it was before it was too late to turn back. 
 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

Inside the building, W got our luggage, then we waited in that long line, for I still don’t know what. When we could see what the holdup was, it seemed like we were in the line for the shuttles to take you to the parking lot. It was a slow loader. You could also walk. If someone was picking you up, you had to walk out across the street. W didn’t want to wait for the shuttle so we walked. It’s a good little walk. Maybe about 1/2 mile. We had our masks on still and I swear I thought I was going to inhale mine. When I walk I want to make it count so I walk as fast as I can. Mistake. I had on my backpack and I was pulling 2 suitcases. I was so out of breath, I thought I was having a stroke by the time we got to the car. I closed my exercise ring already on my Apple Watch for the day with that death march! I almost died doing it, but no pain no gain right?

 

 When we passed thru customs, we never showed our passports to anyone and there was nobody checking US Citizenship out there. I don’t know if they already addressed it with anyone on a Visa though. TJ said that they knew who had to pay taxes and declare items over the limit of $800/person, and that they were given instructions to meet beforehand to take care of that so maybe it was the same for non US citizens.

[willdra]

W found an IHOP in a nice area. It was close to Tanger outlets,  and tons of shopping. There was a Walmart and Sams there too. I wondered why we didn’t stay in this area, but after I thought about it I knew it was cuz God understood the assignment. He knows me so he didn’t show me this so I wouldn’t spend a bag in these skreets before we stepped foot on the ship. Once again, he has saved me from me. I’m going home under budget. Won’t he do it! 

 

 We walked in and it was just like the other one. There was 2 servers and no hostess. We waited a couple of minutes to be seated. Please tell me why this server who looked like she dries her wig in an air fryer, came up and asked W how many people were in his party.  He said 2. Then she looked at me and said “Are you here to pick up an Uber Eats order?” Girl what? Look Heloise, we are together, and it’s 2022 out here. I shouldn’t have to explain this to you. After W set her straight, she seated us. She was pleasant after that. I guess she remembered that she works for tips. 

 

If you are wondering “what’s the deal with iHop? Why do y’all keep going there?”. Welp, the 2x2x2 is on sale for $5. That’s a lot of food, that I usually can’t finish. Also, when Kroger has the 4 times fuel points, we always buy Carnival Gift Cards, Amazon, and restaurant cards. We buy gift cards for stuff we do all of the time. This way we are pre-paying for food, shopping, Sail and Sign, etc.  By strategically buying gift cards, we almost always have $1 off of gas.  

 

Back to iHop. As soon as we were seated, we realized that they need to change the smoke detector battery. That thing beeped the whole time we were there. It was like watching those TikTok videos, where I can’t even concentrate on what the video is about cuz all I hear is their smoke detector chirping in the background. Isn't it a huge fire hazard tho for iHop to have that going on? Anybody got the number to the local fire Marshall? 

 

We ate quickly after our food arrived  . That’s another thing about iHop. They might only have a couple of servers but service is usually pretty fast after you are seated. We were back on the road within about 40-45 minutes of getting there. 

 

We got home faster than ever. W and I unloaded the car and started unpacking. We have a rule that unpacking has to be done the day that we return. I went outside to get something out of the car and one of the workers from across the street came over. He and his crew were working on one of the neighbor’s roof. He said that he would pay me to use our electrical outlet. The neighbors whose house they were doing wasn’t home and their outside outlet didn’t work. I told him he could use it for free. He offered me $40 again, but I declined. If that was us I would want someone to help if I couldn’t get there. Once that business W’s conducted I went back inside so nobody else could approach me. 

 

After we unpacked we did nothing else the rest of the day. 

 

Before I fell asleep I said a prayer thanking God for seatbelts. W really tests the limits of ours when he’s driving. I’m 100% sure that I would’ve been hoisted from the car on many occasions if I didn’t have my seatbelt on. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[kdr69]

Thoroughly enjoy your reviews.  Thanks for taking us along on your travels! 

[christyran1228]

Thank you for your time posting your review ... I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was greatness! 😁

[Jamman54]

Thanks again for another GREAT review! Have a FANTASTIC cruise on the Vista. Looking forward to reading all about it. 

[ninjacat123]

Awesome review!!  And I agree that people working for tips should be friendly but what even impresses me more are people that are friendly that don't get tipped.  When I would go through the McDonald's drive thru (bad, I know) when I could hear the smile in the "can I take your order" person's voice coming through the little speaker box, I'd turn to my DDs and say "that's good customer service".  Then when I'd get my order and another person would look me in the eye and say "thank you" or "have a nice day", I'd roll away singing out "that's good customer service".  And if they got my order right?  Frosting on the customer service cake!

So looking forward to your next review!!

[SenatorsFan]

Thanks for this great read. Bon Voyage! 😁Enjoy the next cruise.

[nwcruiselover]

Thank you so much for another awesome review!  Looking forward to your next one.  Enjoy your upcoming cruise.

[Crusin Karen]

Almost fell off my chair laughing reading your IHOP comments! 🤣😂  Thanks for another great review!  Now I can get back to Jamman and Patti's adventures.  I swear,  if I won the lottery I'd pay for your cruises just to read the reviews!  Hope you're enjoying the Vista and taking lots of notes.  👏

[Indiansbaseball]

Enjoyed this so much ! Looking forward to your next ! Happy Sailing !

Edited October 15, 2022 by Indiansbaseball

[momof3cruisers]

This was a great review! I’m sad that you and Megan are both done with your reviews now. I keep meaning to do reviews on my cruises. I take the pictures etc but then it gets awhile later and I figure it’s too long past. I’ll try really hard on our B2B starting next week. I don’t get the internet packages though so it will have to be when I come home. 

[mlshum]

Oh yay!  Another Willdra review!  I'm a little late to the party but so excited to settle in and enjoy the ride!  We're on Sunshine in February so I plan to tuck away some information for future use...as well as be entertained (as you do so well)!

[willdra]

9 hours ago, kdr69 said:

Thoroughly enjoy your reviews.  Thanks for taking us along on your travels! 

Thank you for joining me! 😍😍

[willdra]

2 hours ago, mlshum said:

Oh yay!  Another Willdra review!  I'm a little late to the party but so excited to settle in and enjoy the ride!  We're on Sunshine in February so I plan to tuck away some information for future use...as well as be entertained (as you do so well)!

Thank you! Hopefully there’s something useful in here somewhere! 😃😆🤣

[willdra]

9 hours ago, christyran1228 said:

Thank you for your time posting your review ... I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was greatness! 😁

Oohhh I need to let W read this! He needs to recognize my “greatness” more! 🤗🤗🤗