Willdra’s Celestial Carnival Celebration May 28-June 4 Cruise Review

[ninjacat123]

"Sha-nah-nah" massages!  The masseuses should wear t shirts with that on them!  I'm still laughing🤣

Did you stop for a free sample of the Guavaberry liquor?  DH and I did and of course, had to buy a bottle.  Many moons ago the Guavaberry store had hand painted bottles, which we bought one.  Loving the review!!

[mamiamjo]

Stupid question. Just curious, you mentioned the lady's credit/debit card not working for Emeril's, are you not able to charge those venues to your cabin?

Anyway, loved your description of the braiding and the massages at St. Martin 🙂 Also love the pics of that beautiful water. We've been there once and are hoping to return on another cruise sometime.

[ninjacat123]

6 hours ago, mamiamjo said:

Stupid question. Just curious, you mentioned the lady's credit/debit card not working for Emeril's, are you not able to charge those venues to your cabin?

Anyway, loved your description of the braiding and the massages at St. Martin 🙂 Also love the pics of that beautiful water. We've been there once and are hoping to return on another cruise sometime.

When we were dining at Emeril's on MG, we used my sign and sail card like any other venue on the ship.  

[Rulers Mom]

7 hours ago, mamiamjo said:

Stupid question. Just curious, you mentioned the lady's credit/debit card not working for Emeril's, are you not able to charge those venues to your cabin?

 

Once on a cruise several years ago my husband’s employer wrote a bunch of bad checks, including a large “bonus” one to us.  It bounced while we were at sea, and caused every check we wrote to bounce, including to our credit cards.  That cut off purchases with our sign & sail account for a few days until we could get in touch with our banks/cards back home and sort it out.  

 

Not easy to do when you are on a ship.  We had to cancel everything we hadn’t pre-paid, and held our breath the rest of the trip when we made a purchase.  It sucked, and it was embarrassing.  Some of the payments weren’t even due, and the card companies cut us off anyway.  

[princess76021]

12 minutes ago, Rulers Mom said:

Once on a cruise several years ago my husband’s employer wrote a bunch of bad checks, including a large “bonus” one to us.  It bounced while we were at sea, and caused every check we wrote to bounce, including to our credit cards.  That cut off purchases with our sign & sail account for a few days until we could get in touch with our banks/cards back home and sort it out.  

 

Not easy to do when you are on a ship.  We had to cancel everything we hadn’t pre-paid, and held our breath the rest of the trip when we made a purchase.  It sucked, and it was embarrassing.  Some of the payments weren’t even due, and the card companies cut us off anyway.  

this is where we need the "oh crap" button!!

Hugs from the oven (texas)

[willdra]

13 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Another great read Willdra! We will be in St. Maarten in October, and were planning to do exactly what you did, except for maybe the X rated massage. Great minds think alike! 😁

 

LOL!! That massage was so inappropriate. I had second hand embarrassment for my boy the whole time! 🫣🫣

[willdra]

10 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

"Sha-nah-nah" massages!  The masseuses should wear t shirts with that on them!  I'm still laughing🤣

Did you stop for a free sample of the Guavaberry liquor?  DH and I did and of course, had to buy a bottle.  Many moons ago the Guavaberry store had hand painted bottles, which we bought one.  Loving the review!!

 

That's a beautiful bottle! Definitely a keepsake! ❤️❤️❤️

 

[willdra]

9 hours ago, mamiamjo said:

Stupid question. Just curious, you mentioned the lady's credit/debit card not working for Emeril's, are you not able to charge those venues to your cabin?

Anyway, loved your description of the braiding and the massages at St. Martin 🙂 Also love the pics of that beautiful water. We've been there once and are hoping to return on another cruise sometime.

 

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. She was using her Sail and Sign card, so her bank/credit card was declining the charges from Carnival. As a result, Carnival must've frozen her card until it was resolved. 

[willdra]

1 hour ago, Rulers Mom said:

Once on a cruise several years ago my husband’s employer wrote a bunch of bad checks, including a large “bonus” one to us.  It bounced while we were at sea, and caused every check we wrote to bounce, including to our credit cards.  That cut off purchases with our sign & sail account for a few days until we could get in touch with our banks/cards back home and sort it out.  

 

Not easy to do when you are on a ship.  We had to cancel everything we hadn’t pre-paid, and held our breath the rest of the trip when we made a purchase.  It sucked, and it was embarrassing.  Some of the payments weren’t even due, and the card companies cut us off anyway.  

 

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I think something similar happened to the young lady in front of us. She was explaining a situation close to this to her table mates (who didn't help her). Unfortunately, there's not a lot that we can do to fix stuff like this when we are on a ship in the middle of the ocean. That's why I felt bad for not adding her food to our tab. 😔

[willdra]

 

2nd Sea Day

 

I got up at around 7:21. I completed my wake up routine then got up to Serenity around 7:57. There were still some primo spots left, so I got a few loungers for my peeps to join me.

 

Before I left the cabin, the only sign of life out of W, was his sleep sounds (snoring).  So I figured it could be awhile before he made it up there. No problem, I prepared for that. I took my iPad and my phone so I could entertain myself while I waited. It worked. I was thoroughly immersed in my electronics, and the time passed quickly.

 

T was the first one to come up. He didn’t stay long tho. He was just stopping by on his way to the gym. K was sick the night before and he said she prolly wouldn’t be leaving the cabin that day. She had an angry gut and an unhappy butt. Staying close to the restroom would be critical in this situation. Thoughts and prayers.

 

After T left, I went back to reading and waiting for W. He showed up shortly after 10. At 10:25, we left for brunch. It was bustling down there. It took 26 minutes for them to take our orders. Next, I went potty, then I went to get W's Yeti from Serenity, cuz he left it there by accident. 

 

On the way there, I was in an elevator with 3 little girls. The oldest, who had to be around 9, kept pressing the button to close the doors quickly, after we stopped on every floor from 6–18. She wouldn’t wait for people who didn’t know where they were going, and she closed the door before some people who were taking their sweet time, could get on. Then she gave them a look like "Better luck next time" as the doors were closing. As we were riding up, her sisters were like "What's up with that?", to that she replied "When that bell dings, they better use it or lose it". "Now. Sashay Away". JK, I added that last part. 

 

There's always something unusual going on at/in the elevators. The day before, this guy got on with us, and he took a long time to decide that he was going to Deck 7. Then when someone got out at Deck 6, he started to follow them. I said “you said you were going to Deck 7”, then he got back on and said “Oh I forgot. I just start following other people”. I don’t mean any harm, but that has to be extremely counterproductive. Just wandering around, following strangers until you happen to find what you were looking for, cannot possibly be a good use of time. That's hustling backwards.

 

 

 

[willdra]

I got up to Serenity (pretty fast thanks to that little angel in the elevator), and all was well. There was no time sticker on our stuff. I grabbed W’s Yeti, then ran back down to Deck 6 as fast as I could. I should’ve actually walked, but I took the elevator which stopped on every single floor.

 

When I got back some of my food had arrived, but not all of it. Our server said there was a backup in the "Skillet Cake" line which caused the wait. I didn’t mind at all, especially since mine was still warm when he gave it to me. It was the best Skillet Cake I’ve ever had, and I wish I could ask for it hot every time. It melted in my mouth.

 

We ate quickly, then went back up to Serenity. We were gone an hour, but it felt like twice as long. We got back in our seats and didn’t move until food or facilities called. When it was facilities, We would just go back to our cabin. It was easier to go there, except when our Steward was cleaning it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maluhia87]

2 hours ago, Rulers Mom said:

Once on a cruise several years ago my husband’s employer wrote a bunch of bad checks, including a large “bonus” one to us.  It bounced while we were at sea, and caused every check we wrote to bounce, including to our credit cards.  That cut off purchases with our sign & sail account for a few days until we could get in touch with our banks/cards back home and sort it out.  

 

Not easy to do when you are on a ship.  We had to cancel everything we hadn’t pre-paid, and held our breath the rest of the trip when we made a purchase.  It sucked, and it was embarrassing.  Some of the payments weren’t even due, and the card companies cut us off anyway.  

I've had a cc stolen and didn't find out until our first port stop. Luckily I could contact the CC without incurring additional charges, and we had enough other zero transaction fee cards for the trip.  

[willdra]

 

When we were hungry again, we took turns getting food. I opted for Street Eats, W went to the Deli.

 

We came back with our food, then we sat out, ate, and read our books until W wanted to get in the pool. I stayed put. I was extra comfortable, and I didn’t want to mess it up. He got back around 4pm.

 

Sometime later, the cool cabin bed started calling me, and I couldn’t hit the “decline” button. I packed up and took some of W’s stuff with me back to the cabin. It was like an oasis in the desert. The air was blasting, and the sun was hidden behind clouds which made it kinda dim. Perfect napping conditions. I jumped right in!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

When I woke up at 6:40, W was napping too. I looked at my phone and we had a message from T saying that he and K wouldn’t be at dinner. K still felt bad. I wish I had something to help her out but I didn’t really bring anything other than Ibuprofein and Aleve. Aleve always makes me feel better, so if she’s still puny later on, I would take her some of that.

 

It sucks being sick on vacay. On our very first cruise, I didn't prepare to be seasick. I had no idea that it even existed. I spent several days not even leaving the cabin. Someone gave me some Dramamine, and it relieved my nausea, but it dropped off fatigue and severe sleepiness to take its place. I was pretty much narcoleptic. I couldn’t keep my eyes open to save my life. Therefor I missed most of the cruise, and I didn't love cruising because of that experience. After that, we decided to give it another try, and thanks to non-drowsy Dramamine, here I am, conquering cruises like a queen! 

 

[willdra]

I got on the app to see what the wait time for dinner was looking like. It was a 70-80 minute wait, so I checked us in. We showered, and took our time getting ready. I was going "no glam", so it wouldn't take long for me to look decent. I didn’t even put my contact lenses back in, cuz I wasn’t really feeling it. I didn’t feel like going thru the "put in" or "take out" process. Good thing I look alright either way. I guess.

 

The app wasn't lying when it said 70-80 minutes wait. We waited around 70 minutes before our table was ready. I’m glad that we checked in early. I couldn’t imagine going to dinner at 10pm. We would definitely have to pregame, but it would be rough. It was 8:07 when we got the notification. This was one of those times when we had to refresh the app, or the time wouldn't change. It was giving 1990's Nokia flip phone energy.

 

When we arrived, we were shown to our table, which was all the way in the back. On the way in, we made a pit stop, and the host taking us, just stopped to talk to one of his homies. I think he forgot that we were following him. He remembered tho, when W said something. He looked startled, then started walking again. I honestly think he was just asking for directions. I don't blame him. I still don’t know how they remember where these tables are. From what I could ascertain, there is no rhyme or reason, other than odd is on one side and even on the other side. That numbering system has to be hard.

 

We were eventually led to a small 2 person table, with another 2 person table very close to it. Yes. One of those that may as well be a 4 person shared table. There was a lady by herself seated at the table next to us. It seemed like she had been there for awhile. She was already getting her appetizers when we arrived.

 

We spoke to her, and all was well, until they sat a large party at the table on the other side of us. They were loud and active. I looked at the lady next to us when they sat down, and I burst out laughing, cuz her face said everything. She was looking like "Oh H No. Not today y'all. Not.Today." She looked at them like they were a table full of moldy Fig Newtons.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After that quick teehee, I had to look away, and go back to not inserting myself into other's drama. For dinner, I ordered Shrimp Cocktail, Lobster, and Prime Rib. I didn’t order dessert because W and I were gonna share (we'll see).

 

After we ordered, our food came fast. We were able to get thru everything by 9:15. Maybe because we skipped dessert. Our entrée's filled us up, we didn't have room for a string bean. One bite of dessert would've had me popping out of my Spanx like a can of biscuits. Nobody needed to see that.

 

I couldn’t believe when we were walking out, there were still people waiting to be seated. God bless ‘em. It would be midnight before they got food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[princess76021]

4 minutes ago, willdra said:

After that quick teehee, I had to look away, and go back to not inserting myself into other's drama. For dinner, I ordered Shrimp Cocktail, Lobster, and Prime Rib. I didn’t order dessert because W and I were gonna share (we'll see).

 

After we ordered, our food came fast. We were able to get thru everything by 9:15. Maybe because we skipped dessert. Our entrée's filled us up, we didn't have room for a string bean. One bite of dessert would've had me popping out of my Spanx like a can of biscuits. Nobody needed to see that.

 

I couldn’t believe when we were walking out, there were still people waiting to be seated. God bless ‘em. It would be midnight before they got food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You guys look fantastic!!

Hugs from the oven (Texas - 100+ 40 days in a row)

[willdra]

W and I decided to go see the situation at the Punchliner after we left the dining room. We wanted to attend the 9:45 show, and from experience, we were good on time. Until we weren’t. We didn’t expect the huge push to see that comedian. The line was all the way back to Javablue. Um no. We went to the cabin to change, then we regrouped and made new plans. We decided to catch Carnival Game Night at 10:45 to see what it was about.

 

We were a little early for it, so we walked around a little beforehand. We went into some shops to see if there was anything that we wanted to buy. I saw a couple of T-shirts that I liked which I would prolly go get the next day. If I remembered(W was hoping that I didn't). Next, we walked back to the casino and got my $25 free play for W to use, cuz I would be sleepy after the game night. Everyone knew that I was never gonna use it. I just like to pretend that I will do adult things from time to time. Keeps W on his toes. 

 

After we did that, we went and got in line to go into Punchliner. This time we were in line right by the Piano Bar. That wasn’t  a bad place to be. We could sing a long while we waited. We saw T coming out of the comedy show, when it let out. He said K was feeling better, and she should be back with us the next day. That was wonderful news. I was concerned about her.

 

Carnival Game Night on this ship, started with trivia, then ended with the winning team going head to head at the memory game. It was fun to watch, and it allowed me to catch up talking to y’all while I also spent time with W. In the end, a young dude won, and it was cute to see.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After Game Night, I went and got my hot water, then back to the cabin. As I was making my tea, I realized that I hadn’t had ice cream on the ship yet. Oh let's change that. I grabbed an empty cup, and went down to Deck 8. I’d learned on Mardi Gras where the late night ice cream was(hallelujah). I also got some tap water since I was running low in the cabin. After those errands, I went back and stayed in. W went to the casino to spend my $25 in chips (plus more money that he wouldn’t tell me about).

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for ice. Blessings to the king (or queen) who decided they were done with hot drinks, swollen limbs, hot rooms, and everything else that was improved by adding ice. Thank you God. Ice slaps every time. Joseph’s stepson definitely had something to do with that one, and we are grateful.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

43 minutes ago, princess76021 said:

You guys look fantastic!!

Hugs from the oven (Texas - 100+ 40 days in a row)

 

Thank you! Hopefully that oven will start cooling down soon! 🥰

[matt082600]

10 hours ago, willdra said:

After Game Night, I went and got my hot water, then back to the cabin. As I was making my tea, I realized that I hadn’t had ice cream on the ship yet. Oh let's change that. I grabbed an empty cup, and went down to Deck 8. I’d learned on Mardi Gras where the late night ice cream was(hallelujah). I also got some tap water since I was running low in the cabin. After those errands, I went back and stayed in. W went to the casino to spend my $25 in chips (plus more money that he wouldn’t tell me about).

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for ice. Blessings to the king (or queen) who decided they were done with hot drinks, swollen limbs, hot rooms, and everything else that was improved by adding ice. Thank you God. Ice slaps every time. Joseph’s stepson definitely had something to do with that one, and we are grateful.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Joseph's stepson".....LOL!!!  I almost spit my coffee across the room because I laughed so hard!  Great review!

[#55worktoplay]

Great review once again. You are a great couple. 

[ninjacat123]

12 hours ago, maluhia87 said:

I've had a cc stolen and didn't find out until our first port stop. Luckily I could contact the CC without incurring additional charges, and we had enough other zero transaction fee cards for the trip.  

I carry in my Apple Wallet some digital Carnival gift cards as back up or to pay off the sign and sail instead of my CC.  I get my digital gift cards through AARP at 10% off 😃

[willdra]

4 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Great review once again. You are a great couple. 

Thank you so much!! 😃

[willdra]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I carry in my Apple Wallet some digital Carnival gift cards as back up or to pay off the sign and sail instead of my CC.  I get my digital gift cards through AARP at 10% off 😃

That’s smart! I didn’t know that the Carnival Digital Gift Cards could go in the Apple Wallet. I need to get some of those. We usually get Carnival Cards from Kroger when they have 4xFuel Points so we are paying for the cruise and saving on gas. I like that AARP 10% off deal tho! I’m all for anything to keep the costs down. 🤑🤑🤑