Just home from the Conquest 7/26-8/2...

[jensing317]

Jenn - did you book Sunset Beach on your own or with Carnival? I want to take Meg to a place that has both a pool and the beach.

 

 

You don't book Sunset Beach, you just tell the guard at the terminal that you need a taxi to Sunset Beach and they will get you one. Once you are there, you tell the guard at the gate you want a day pass and they walk you in to this room where you pay. $60/adults $30/children. The cab was $10 each way and we tipped him a couple of $$.

 

Have fun! It's a great place to spend the day.

[jensing317]

I was kinda hoping the "happy ending" had something to do with someone being tossed overboard.........

 

Doug

 

 

Haha...don't think the thought didn't cross my mind once or twice

[WAcruisers]

What a wonderful review! You have more patience's than me, I would have said something to both the parents and the horrible little girls! There is no reason for anyone to be rude, but for the parents not to teach their little princesses how to act is another thing. Sorry your son had to be a victim to them being bully's. You sound like a wonderful mother! Your son is a hansom young man. Great job!:D

[bdann]

This is a great report! Keep it coming!

[Gilesgirl8]

I love waking up in port! It's a new day and a new adventure! Montego Bay has some of the most beautiful landscape I've had the pleasure of waking up to and I just love it! The mixture of mountains and the ocean with that exquisite blue water and the lush greenery that separates the two...wow!

We disembarked the ship had our pictures made with Rasta Man and wandered around the market outside the terminal for a few minutes. Finding nothing that we just had to have, we went into the terminal to make our way to our next adventure.

We had decided early on, after reading great things about it here, to spend this day at the Sunset Beach Resort. We were shown to a taxi at the terminal and for $10, arrived at the resort safe and sound. We loved being there. The pools were awesome, the beach was nice and clean and full of seashells to collect and everyone there was as nice as they could be. The food wasn’t great but the margaritas were top notch and free flowing. J We spent most of the day in the pool floating around the lazy river or on the slides. Helpful hint here though: wear high powered sun block and reapply often. I applied once and didn’t think another thing about it and paid for it later that night.

We hung around the resort until about 4 and headed back to the ship. Since our room was port side, we got to watch the Jamaican marching band until it was time to get ready for dinner. They were so cool to watch. They marched and danced and played until every passenger was on the ship.

Were considering going to Sunset in October...Can you tell me why the food wasn't great? I'm vegetarian and this is my main worry about going here...that they won't have anything for me...Can you tell me what was there to eat? Thanks

[MicksMom]

Get ready, MM. I'm going on 8/23 and I'm going to post a hella lot of photos.

 

Scott,

 

I will be waiting. Enjoy your cruise!

[jensing317]

What a wonderful review! You have more patience's than me, I would have said something to both the parents and the horrible little girls! There is no reason for anyone to be rude, but for the parents not to teach their little princesses how to act is another thing. Sorry your son had to be a victim to them being bully's. You sound like a wonderful mother! Your son is a hansom young man. Great job!:D

 

Thank you so much for your kind words.

 

I think he's pretty cute too. :)

[jensing317]

Were considering going to Sunset in October...Can you tell me why the food wasn't great? I'm vegetarian and this is my main worry about going here...that they won't have anything for me...Can you tell me what was there to eat? Thanks

 

 

Well, we'd had 3 days of Carnival dining room food. Does anything really compare??? :)

 

The food at SB was just kind of bland. They have a great salad and fruit bar but the rest is chicken nuggets, hamburgers and some other "casserole" type dishes that did not look appetizing. We were actually thinking about looking into taking a land vacation there until we ate lunch.

 

BUT, that's just us. It might be great on another day to another tastebud.

[poptart]

Loving your review and pictures. Looking forward to the rest :D

[jensing317]

Sorry this has taken so long. I had to drive my mother to DFW to the airport today. :eek: Yikes!! That place scares me.

 

Ok...so here's the rest of the story for Wednesday.

 

Tyler opted for dinner with Camp Carnival so I dropped him off and the rest of us headed to dinner and had superior service again…not to mention the delicious lamb I had for dinner.

The MD came by to check on us, saw that I was sunburned and said that in his country, they use natural remedies and for sunburn, it’s good to put vinegar mixed with ice cubes on a washcloth and rub it on the burn to take away the sting. He later had a glass of vinegar sent to my stateroom along with a note saying that he hoped I felt better. I wasn’t expecting it, so when we walked in, there was an *interesting* smell in the room. We laughed when we realized what it was. I thought it was incredibly sweet of him to do that. Again… above and beyond the normal.

We walked around a little, explored the shops and made our way to the magic show. We saw Deja, the diva of deception last year and we were excited to see another illusionist on this trip. Well, turns out, Lady Helluvi’s show is EXACTLY the same as Deja’s…to include the story she tells at the end before the snowflake. BUT, we loved it last year and we loved it this year. She’s terrific and even if you watch her closely, you don’t see the key to the trick. We sat wide eyed and fascinated the entire hour and still walked away asking ourselves…how the heck???

Back in the room, a rabbit had snuggled under my covers and on my pillow!!

Not being one to share my comfort bedding…the rabbit had to move to the table because I’d had a full day of fun and I was ready to crawl into bed and dream of the day to come.

(P.S. Ruwan was right…the vinegar did in fact take the sting out.) Tomorrow, Grand Cayman! (And I have a TON of pictures from GC)

[jensing317]

Oh, I wanted to let you know...in case anyone is looking for one, I bought a Vivitar Vivicam 8400 at WalMart for $99 prior to this trip. It's a digital camera that's waterproof up to 10 ft.

 

It takes FABULOUS pictures in and out of the water and has hook ups so that you can hook the camera up to the computer or to your T.V.

[jensing317]

We woke up the next morning already anchored off the coast of Georgetown, GC, which has to be one of my favorite ports of call. The island is beautiful, the people are friendly and the water is an exquisite shade of blue. Last year, we did the underwater sub so we opted for an Air Conditioned bus tour of the island. The company was Webster Tours but we booked it directly through Carnival.

We arrived on the tender and made our way through the paparazzi and security and while we were standing there discussing what to do until our tour time and I heard someone calling my name. Since I have a really common name (Jennifer), I didn’t think anything of it until someone grabbed my arm. One of my son’s teachers from school was on our cruise.

We hadn’t seen her until that time but what fun to run into someone you know while you are in a foreign country. J Tyler was excited to see her and they exchanged hugs and ship stories. After that, we saw her all over the ship. Funny how that works out.

We walked around the shops right off the pier while we waited for our tour to start. Found the pirate statues and a beautiful church that was open. We thought it was funny that they had a sign advertising their Vacation Bible School which was the same VBS that we had done at our church here. Anyway, we enjoyed the scenery and when it was time, we walked back and waited in line to board to our bus.

Tyler and Grandma

This was probably the best excursion I’d ever been on. We had a tour guide who was very knowledgeable about the island and the sites that we passed by. Our tour stopped at the Governor’s Mansion, the beach, the Tortuga Rum Factory, Hell and the Turtle Farm as well as a great narrative about the island in general. The tour took about 3 hours but it was well worth it all.

Turtle Farm

 

Governor's Mansion

[jensing317]

More pictures from around Grand Cayman

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jensing317]

Here's some pictures from the Turtle Farm

 

 

 

 

[Scott_F]

My wife really enjoyed the turtle farm up until the point that one of the employees told her they sell about half the turtles to restaurants. :) Said, we gotta pay the bills some how.

[jensing317]

Greetings from Hell!!!

 

 

 

[jensing317]

My wife really enjoyed the turtle farm up until the point that one of the employees told her they sell about half the turtles to restaurants. :) Said, we gotta pay the bills some how.

 

 

Yeah, we got a little turned off by that remark as well. At the beginning of the tour, they were bragging about how great they were to be here breeding and hatching the eggs and then you go around the corner to another tank and they tell you that soon, this tank will be turtle soup! :eek::eek:

[camreesmom]

You don't book Sunset Beach, you just tell the guard at the terminal that you need a taxi to Sunset Beach and they will get you one. Once you are there, you tell the guard at the gate you want a day pass and they walk you in to this room where you pay. $60/adults $30/children. The cab was $10 each way and we tipped him a couple of $$.

 

Have fun! It's a great place to spend the day.

 

Hi Jennifer, we were actually on this same cruise.....slept right thru the M&M...it was sad. We never miss the shows and we missed both Sunday's and Monday's. Oh, well, we went to relax and relax we did! ;)

 

We booked Sunset Beach thru www.jamaicaforaday.com and I have to say, we were treated like royalty. We paid an additional $9 for adults for r/t transportation between the port and the resort. It was well worth the extra $9! A driver met us there with a sign with our names on it in the building where you go thru security. We rode in a brand new party type bus. Anyway, it was really convenient because we were able to pay ahead of the cruise with our credit cards and we received resort and transfer vouchers by email before we even left home.

 

We had such a fantastic time at Sunset Beach that we're seriously considering a land based vacation there. Like you said, they were not stingy with the alcohol at all either.

 

Our youngest daughter was really impressed by the illusionist. We sat in the upper level of the theatre off to the side and we really thought we'd be able to see something that would give her secrets away but no such luck.

 

Would have to agree about the Motown guy also....he was great.

[jensing317]

Hi Jennifer, we were actually on this same cruise.....slept right thru the M&M...it was sad. We never miss the shows and we missed both Sunday's and Monday's. Oh, well, we went to relax and relax we did! ;)

 

We booked Sunset Beach thru www.jamaicaforaday.com and I have to say, we were treated like royalty. We paid an additional $9 for adults for r/t transportation between the port and the resort. It was well worth the extra $9! A driver met us there with a sign with our names on it in the building where you go thru security. We rode in a brand new party type bus. Anyway, it was really convenient because we were able to pay ahead of the cruise with our credit cards and we received resort and transfer vouchers by email before we even left home.

 

We had such a fantastic time at Sunset Beach that we're seriously considering a land based vacation there. Like you said, they were not stingy with the alcohol at all either.

 

Our youngest daughter was really impressed by the illusionist. We sat in the upper level of the theatre off to the side and we really thought we'd be able to see something that would give her secrets away but no such luck.

 

Would have to agree about the Motown guy also....he was great.

 

Nobody made it to the M&G so don't feel bad. :)

 

I had no idea you could pre-book Sunset Beach. I'll have to remember that for next time because I think we'll definitely go back.

 

Which reminds me...if anyone's interested...Sunset Beach will let you pay at the door with a credit card. You don't have to pay cash if you prefer to use plastic.

[cruisedarling]

Jenn, I am loving this review. Your son is just adorable. We were getting off the Conquest the day you were getting on!! We also went to Sunset Beach and loved it. It was overcast and rainy that day, so we didn't sunburn. I also live in Central Texas, Bangs, if you don't mind me asking where do ya'll live? Can't wait to read the rest of your review!!

[camreesmom]

Nobody made it to the M&G so don't feel bad. :)

 

I had no idea you could pre-book Sunset Beach. I'll have to remember that for next time because I think we'll definitely go back.

 

Which reminds me...if anyone's interested...Sunset Beach will let you pay at the door with a credit card. You don't have to pay cash if you prefer to use plastic.

 

I'm always a little leary of using our cc out of the country. Jamaicaforaday is based in New York so I felt more comfortable with that. ;) I also liked that our transportation was pre-arranged. A rep for jamaicaforaday met us in the cruise terminal. We had a bad experience last September in MoBay where we got separated from our group just outside the cruise terminal and ended up having to take a taxi on our own.

[camreesmom]

Nobody made it to the M&G so don't feel bad. :)

 

Well, now I feel super bad. I can't believe no one made it. :( Now that I've gone back and re-read our roll call thread, I realized that Cruise_Q was on our excursion in Grand Cayman. We booked a tour thru Nativeway and there were only 14 people on the boat....12 of them were part of my family group and she and her husband were the other 2. I never got her name because I was trying to keep an eye on the little ones but I gave her my business card since we took pics of them and they took some of us so I'm hoping that she contacts me. They were really nice people.

[ACSoCarCruiser]

Enjoying the review so far Jennifer. I cannot wait until I am back on her in September and November:D

[MicksMom]

Jen,

 

Still loving the pic's & review. I swear I have all the exact same pictures from Grand Cayman. We did the same excursion on our first trip to GC 2 years ago.

 

Also curious where you live if you don't mind. We live in Fredericksburg. Keep the great review coming!

[gypsyrose]

Oh, I wanted to let you know...in case anyone is looking for one, I bought a Vivitar Vivicam 8400 at WalMart for $99 prior to this trip. It's a digital camera that's waterproof up to 10 ft.

 

It takes FABULOUS pictures in and out of the water and has hook ups so that you can hook the camera up to the computer or to your T.V.

 

 

I think I have my DH talked into an underwater camera but was considering a higher priced one thinking the 1 at walmart wouldn't take very good pics. Did you take any pics above water? Would you mind posting some of your pics from that camera? LOVE your review!!!!