(This post goes after Grand Turk) Happy Earth Day from the Deck of the Sunshine!

This post is out of order--but because of when I posted, I can't change the order.. Oh well.

Today is the last day of the cruise and a Sea Day. I think that is a good way to end a cruise—it gives you a chance to mentally prepare for the end of the vacation. More practically, it gives you a chance to pack and organize things for the trip back to reality.

I am using my last day to pack up the cabin and get the luggage ready to go out in the hallway tonight so it can be taken off the ship for me and ready for pick-up tomorrow morning. Another perk of being platinum is that my luggage will be ready first and I can be one of the first off the ship tomorrow, if I choose. I will choose that tomorrow as we have a car rental for the day.

I’m sitting in a sunny window taking advantage of the faster Wi-Fi in this location. The water is that deep, dark blue indicative of the ship being in very deep water. God, I will miss this.

I am also using this last sea day, which by the way is very calm, not windy and just partly cloudy, to gather my thoughts about the cruise and this ship.

While there were many things I loved about the ship there were other things I did not care for. In no way did any of the things I didn’t like have an impact on the great time I had. Instead, it will make me carefully consider choosing this ship for another vacation. Just consider this “first world ramblings”.

We are so privileged to be able to have a vacation like this on a regular basis and I am very aware of how blessed I am.

First, the things I loved:

·         The Crew – these people are the friendliest, most hardworking people you will ever meet. From my Cabin Steward, Ryan, our wait staff in the dining room, Mario, Rocky and Slav, and just generally any staff member on the ship had a smile for you and behaved as if your happiness was their purpose in life.

·         Mongolian Wok – I am going to have severe withdrawal when I leave the ship!

·         The variety of areas to have a meal or a snack was incredible. Guy’s Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, Mongolian Wok, the Deli, and the Pizza place, the lido buffet-with too many selections to name, the Main dining room, the Taste Station and ALL included in the price of your cruise. There are also several up-charge restaurants you can choose to dine at—Bonsai Sushi, a steakhouse, Japanese restaurant, Cuban food at the Havana Bar and an Italian restaurant.

·         The cabins were somewhat updated from standard Carnival décor, which was a nice change.

·         The port selections on this cruise were wonderful and the main reason I chose this cruise.

·         The Comedy Club was great and something I attend multiple times during a cruise.

·         The Serenity area on this ship was beautiful and spacious.

·         Increasing the number of outlets in the cabin from 1 to 2.

·         The décor and seating areas on the Lido deck were updated and very cheery and inviting.

·         The Havana Bar was my favorite area to sit and eat lunch. It was in the aft of the ship with large, aft-facing window to watch the wake. The décor is also Cuban-like right down to fake palm trees that look like they are growing up and out of the room. It also usually features an acoustic guitar player, which was very nice.

·         The Soups and desserts in the main dining room.

·         The overall cleanliness of the ship. That has been a constant on every ship I’ve sailed on.

·         How the wait staff dances for us a couple of times during the cruise. It’s pure Carnival and it looks like the staff really enjoys it too.

Now, the things I did not care for:

·         The persistent sewage smell that was present in several areas of the ship for the entire cruise. One place it was very noticeable was in the lobby on Deck 3—which is a heavily used area. It caused us to relocate more than once.

·         Items that should have been repaired or replaced. There were several in my cabin: the caulking in the shower was pulled loose in an area about 8 inches long, there was black mold specks in the caulking and a screw sticking out of the shower plate that I caught my toe on. An outlet plate that was on the verge of pulling out of the wall.

·         The biggest thing for me was the American Table dining experience in the Main Dining Areas. I did not like it at all. I prefer (and expect) the same level of service in the dining room as I’ve had all the other times I cruised with Carnival. I missed the white table cloths, charger plates, the large assortment of silverware at your place setting, having your chair pulled out and your waiter placing your napkin in your lap, waiters coming around with warm bread and allowing you to choose a piece, having your water glass filled almost the moment it was empty. Just the whole decadent, pampering experience. Instead, we had a water bottle on the table, a bread basket placed on the table, less silverware, etc. Even the wait staff was attired more casually.

·         The more casual attire allowed into the Main dining room. I don’t want a formal atmosphere but just people decently dressed. Make people take off the baseball hats, turn them away when they look like they are dressed in their pajamas, things like that. I guess ENFORCE the dress code they state in the Carriage of Contract. Resort Casual is not specific enough for some people. UGH

·         This was one of my biggest complaints—but not with Carnival, with the azzhole parents that allowed their children to go stomping down the halls at all hours of the night—just generally letting them run amok. And adults, clomping past the staterooms at 1-2 in the morning, not bothering to lower their voices and carrying on like no one was sleeping a few feet away from them. WTH is wrong with people? I find myself asking myself that more and more. I think that may be a true sign of getting old. LOL! I need to remind myself of the time of year of the cruise and not pick a Spring Break cruise or any time when the possibility of lots of children are aboard.

·         The American Table menus. I think I can honestly say there was no night in the main dining room where I was ‘wowed’. Don’t get me wrong, the food was edible and you certainly wouldn’t starve but the entrée selections were not that great. One night I had an appetizer of soup, a salad and a chicken entrée that was really gross—tough and tasteless. I ordered another soup and called it dinner.

·         Along that same vein—the fact that they moved the salads to the appetizer section and honestly if you didn’t know you would probably limit yourself to an appetizer or salad, when, in fact, they are different courses.

In summary, I will look for ships not using the American Table Menus and if Carnival decided to move this across the whole line, I will look for a different line—platinum status here or not. I will choose to cruise at times when schools are in session unless the itinerary is one in a million.  

In closing, I will tell you that the vacation was fabulous. I had wonderful traveling companions and would not hesitate to cruise with them in the future.  And as stated, the dislikes were relatively minor but when spending my money, I like to have the vacation meet the expectations I have and this one missed on a few items.

Oh and the cabin I choose—be warned, it was 9177, on the Lido deck forward. It was convenient obviously to the Lido deck and Serenity—the reason I chose it. And it is directly below the spa. I thought there would be little noise in this location. HA! Every day, early morning, afternoon and evening, they drag stuff around up there and it’s a bit annoying. If you are a light sleeper, reconsider.

Until next time,

Gypsy Jilly

Rainy Days and Mondays

Actually, we woke this morning to continuing high seas and winds and clouds. What? Clouds? But after a cloudy, rainy start to this Monday at sea, the skies cleared although the high seas and winds remain. The pool and hot tubs were heavily used.

After another wonderful morning spent sleeping in, I got up, got coffee and went over to the Havana Bar to read and enjoy watching the sea—a favorite pastime of mine. There was a woman playing acoustic guitar and singing everything from Dream On to Walk the Line. It was very relaxing and quite quiet when compared to the lido buffet and pool areas.

When lunch time arrived, once again, I chose the Mongolian Wok. Chicken and stir fry vegetables in a Thai BBQ sauce. It was very good with a bit of a kick to it. Kolton and Betzi joined me and decided to try the pizza today. They said it was good. I do love the way this ship has pizza, freshly made and available 24 hours a day. You can get as little as a slice or a whole pizza with a variety of toppings. They do pizza right on this line!

We went to the shops and the casino where I promptly lost money in the slots—something I usually never indulge in. But they enjoy playing and were both lucky.

At 3 we made our way to the Aft Sunrise Restaurant for Tea. Yes, English tea. I wanted the kids to experience that. A formal dining room experience with white tablecloths, fancy folded napkins, a wooden box containing different kinds of tea and individual pots of hot water. Then the tea carts made their way around the room with cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon on toast points. After that, the pastries: macaroons, pound cake, various other cakes and cookies and, of course, scones with clotted cream. YUM.

I really like the Sunrise restaurant better than the one we are assigned to for dinner. For tea, we were seated at a table right next to the window. As we were on Deck 4, we had a great view of the high seas and that gorgeous dark blue water.

We walked back through the Casino after tea and decided to give the slots another chance. I spotted an older Wheel of Fortune machine in the back of the casino and decided to give it one last try. I live to hear that “Wheel of Fortune” when you get 3 wheels, and then hit the button and watch the wheel spin around and around, hoping for big money. It’s addicting. It was my favorite machine back in the day when I went to Vegas regularly.  I got a couple of spins and hit some big 7s or something and was smart enough to cash out.

I haven’t been dwelling on it or letting it get in the way of my fun on this cruise, but my cabin is still experiencing plumbing issues. I had to call maintenance again this morning to report the issue of the non-flushing toilet was still there. In addition, the sewage smell we’ve noticed at several different places around the ship is now in the hallway outside my cabin. Luckily, the smell is not in the cabin—YET. I’m not pleased about this but I am not being an idiot like Julianna’s parents.

If the problem begins to impact my enjoyment of the cruise or I am severely inconvenienced in any way, I will raise the issue until I get a satisfactory answer. Until then, I’m just waiting to see how it plays out.

Tonight's dinner was 'meh'. I ended up having 2 cups of asparagas soup and a Caesar Salad--both of which were delicious. The main courses were very forgettable--IMO. Again, I bring up the lack of formality in the dining room and our waitstaff is quite slow. We arrived at dinner on time and 8:15 and we did not have our appetizers until almost 9pm. And instead of bringing your appetizer first, then a salad, it all comes at the same time. Blah. I am not a fan of American Table as I've said before. I think Carnival made a big mistake with this--but again, just my opinion.


We did have an interesting diversion while awaiting our food. A woman sitting 2 tables away from us was apparently very intoxicated. She lit up a cigarette in the dining room--which was taken away from her and extinguished. Then she went to a waiter's station on the next level (a step up from where we were sitting) and stood up on the ledge and was talking to a waiter--about who knows what. They told her to get down. Security was called and she was not escorted from the dining room but taken back to her table. However, there was a security person or two in our area for about 20 minutes keeping an eye on her. I think that was a dining room first for me.

We went to the comedy show for the 10:30 show and saw one of the most Un-funny comedians I have ever seen. That was 40 minutes of my life I will never get back. I'm back in my cabin now, finishing up this post and getting my stuff ready for tomorrow and St. Maarten. I rented a car for the day.....

So, ttnf, this girl is tired from all this relaxing I've been doing!!

Blown Away--Almost

Today was our first sea day. I took advantage of that and slept until about 10am. My companions got up a bit earlier and went to the sea day brunch. They called the cabin and food wasn’t sounding good to me so I went back to sleep. Well, I tried to. The people in the cabins across the hall from me are thoughtless idiots. No matter what time of day or night, they use their ‘loud voices’ and have no concept of how to close a door quietly. Sigh

After a long, hot shower, I eventually made my way up to the Lido deck to have a bit of breakfast. It is normal breakfast fare. The stations are set up with hot dishes like scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes, pancakes, waffles etc. Another station has pastries and breads, another lunch meat, cheeses -etc. There are other areas dedicated to custom made omelets and the Havana Bar has ‘Cuban bites’. I know they also offer a Green Eggs and Ham character type breakfast for the kids.

As today was Easter, they had an Easter Bunny available for pictures and bunny face painting for the kids as well. There may have been other activities but I didn’t see them.  I will say the Kids Clubs are in high gear as there are many kids on this cruise and from what I’ve heard and seen, many of the kids attend.

The sun was shining and the sky mostly cloud free when I made my way outside. The main pool area was wall to wall people around the pool and the tiered areas around it. I started climbing to the next decks intending to go to Serenity and read a bit.

The ship was still rocking and rolling and the winds were still constant at 50 knots. Holy crap. It was difficult to walk up the steps and the wind was unbelievably strong. Still, there was some seating up there—no loungers or clam shells loungers. I took a seat in one of the sectional seating areas and settled in to read. After a few minutes, I was cold. I headed around the corner to the towel station and checked out 2 towels and covered up. Yes, the wind made it that chilly. After covering up, I was able to stay there for a few hours and read, nap and watch the sea. Despite being on the 14^th deck, it was very easy to see how large the swell was and see the whitecaps.

These seas rival the cruise Lindsey and I were on in 2008 in the Mediterranean. Still, a sunny day at sea is a good day in my book and I enjoyed just being outside despite the wind. The captain came on for his daily update and said he was changing course to try and get to a less choppy and windy area. But I don’t think he had any luck as the winds continued all afternoon.

I had a late lunch at the Mongolian Wok—again. I cannot get enough of that food. Today I had chicken, vegetables and cellophane noodles in a black bean sauce. And I walked over to the Havana Bar area to eat it. That area overlooks the aft of the ship. I ate my delicious lunch watching the wake. I headed back to my cabin around 4 or so and found these giant dryers on the floor near my door. The maintenance man told me there had been a ‘flood’ in another cabin. Sure enough, when I walked in, the carpeting near my door was wet.

Because I expended so much energy lounging and eating, I decided to read but my eyes kept shutting and I drifted off, only to be awakened by my lovely neighbors screaming for Julianna to “Come on, we’re waiting”…Julianna, Let’s go…..Julianna, get out here this minute” I was pretty much ready to go and drag Julianna out of the cabin but apparently she appeared and the door slamming began. I drifted back to sleep…..RING RING RING. Hi, this is guest services, I’m just wondering about the clean-up in your cabin. Is everything alright now? You don’t notice any uh… smell? Oh great, it was a sewage flood. But luckily I did not notice any smell. Any other issues? Yes, I tell her. My toilet doesn’t flush all the time. You push the button and nothing happens, then like 5 minutes later it flushes. Ok, we’ll have maintenance come up and then finish drying out your cabin. What time do you go to dinner? 

Ok. Now back to my nap.  Dozing off……KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, then the door opening. Oh, Hello Miss Jill, I just wanted to drop off your Platinum Gifts, I can come back. I said, No just come in and leave them. It’s fine. Seems I am entitled to a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a pin with the year and ship name on it. Good, now maybe I can get a nap. Ahhhhhhhh, rocked to sleep once again by the ship.

Tonight the cabin and the crew were in the atrium lobby for a meet and greet. Social butterfly, me decided to shake hands with each of them and ask them some questions. If you know me you know that is so not me, but for whatever reason, I did it. I actually even had a picture taken with the Captain.  But after I did that, I immediately headed to a hand sanitizer station to douse my hands. Now, that is very me!!!

Now, onto dinner! Tonight was the first formal night and the American Feast dinner. Most people were dressed to the nines! I love seeing that. The tables were covered with a white tablecloth tonight but that formality I love at dinner was still not present. I had pasta carbonara as a starter and the lobster and shrimp for my dinner. Oh and while we were waiting for our appetizers to come out, the waiter came over and started speaking to Kolton about complimentary wine and showed him a wine list. Then it came out that the wine was for the inconvenience of the accident in his cabin with the plumbing. Ummm, yeah that was me. So I chose a nice bottle of white wine to go with dinner. I thought that was very nice as I was not really inconvenienced at all.

Pasta Carbonara

Lobster and Shrimp

After dinner, we walked out to the atrium where they were just beginning a Motown tribute. We were 1 deck above and the place was packed. They had the stage show singers and dancers all around the bar and then for 2 more floors above, people were gathered around the railings. We watched that for a lot longer than we should have and then made our way to the comedy club. We should have gotten there a lot earlier as it was SRO. So we stood and the comedian was very dirty and very funny. I’m glad we decided to go.

There really is so much going on, day and night, on this ship. You will never have enough time to do it all.

Totally random thought--the Cruise Director on this ship began to annoy me Day 1 with a particular word she uses in her 'announcements' every single time. The word is "lovelys". It even looks annoying spelled. She refers to all the passengers as her "lovelys'. Good day my lovelys, have a great evening my lovelys, enjoy your day at sea my lovelys. She is British--obviously. And to me, she is just as annoying in person. You just know she has those awful British teeth. I hope I don't get close enough to her to find out. LOL

Well, kids, it’s 12:30 and I should get to sleep. Another grueling day of lounging is up tomorrow and I need to rest up.

Oh, and I will post pictures tomorrow—I took a bunch on my phone but forgot the thingy that takes them off your phone and puts them on the computer. So I am re-taking pics with my camera!

TTFN---The winds and high seas continue to blow us further southeast but we are down to 47 knots. 

A Sunshine Kinda Day

We awoke very early this morning, after a few hours of sleep, at the Aloft Hotel – BWI for a 7am flight. We took their shuttle (that runs every ½ hour) to the airport at 5am. Once again, Pre-Check was my friend. 2 people ahead of me in the security line and I could leave all my stuff in my carry-on, my shoes stayed on my feet and only had to pass through a metal detector.

The goodness continued as I had an almond pretzel from Auntie Anne’s and an Orange Smoothie from the smoothie place. Breakfast doesn’t get much better than this!

Boarding was smooth and I ended up having a great seatmate and we ended up chatting for the entire flight! It even made me forgot about the child that screamed for the first hour of the flight! Our luggage was on the belt in about 10 minutes and we were out the door to catch our shuttle to the port. We used Coltran Shuttle. The cost was $20 per person each way. The driver was so nice. He carries a stapler because most people forget those dumb luggage tags have to be either stapled or taped on the handle of your luggage. He did all of that before we even left the port.

Now the port was an entirely different story. A complete clusterf@#k. There were 3 ships in port and we had to wait about 30 minutes in the van because the people directing the traffic were so inept. UGH But after that the good mojo continued as I have priority boarding and was directed to a completely non-chaotic, quiet area to get checked-in for the cruise.  Then a stroll past all the other folks waiting to be called and we were on the Sunshine !!! 

First up—food. I must say I was impressed. I’ve not ever been on this ship but I liked how they had the buffet set up in smaller stations. It seems like there were not as many long lines. I immediately made a beeline for the Stir Fry place. I found it tucked away at the front of the ship near the Havana Bar. Most people had not yet discovered this place but it’s one of my favorites. I had stir fry chicken and shrimp with fresh vegetables and cellophane noodles in a black bean sauce. OMG Food Nirvana!

Kolton and Betzi went for the Guy’s Burgers and fries. They said they were delicious. Then we had to have a cone of soft-serve ice cream. My stateroom was ready when we boarded so we put all our carry-on stuff in my cabin and set off to explore the ship a bit. Then it was nap time until the muster drill.

After the muster drill, I came back to the cabin and my luggage had arrived. I packed everything away. The cabin does have an ample amount of storage. It’s decorated in a more updated color scheme and the art work is different. The bathroom is a bit different than other ships I’ve sailed on. The shower is much larger than the typical ones and therefore, none of that nasty shower curtain cling if you attempt to shave your legs in there. Very nice. Overall, a very comfortable room.

I chose Deck 9 this cruise—which is the Lido deck. We have 2 forward, inside cabins. It’s too early to decide if this was a good choice. I’ll let you know. The main reason I chose this location is that it is 2 decks below the Serenity Area on this ship and directly below the Spa-so no noise above us in the evenings. And we thought we wanted to be close to Serenity. This ship has a 3 level, adults only Serenity area, with its own pool and waterfall, hot tubs and a big bar. It is in the very front of the ship and offers some nice views.

The ship also has “Dive-In Movies” on the Lido deck in the evening. A family movie early and a more adult feature later—around 10. The screen they have is gorgeous. During the day it plays videos of underwater scenery that is so crisp and clear, I’m sure the movies will be gorgeous as well.

I am just back from dinner. We chose late seating at 8:15. It’s a tab bit late but on port days, we won’t have to rush back to the ship to make a 5:15 dinner. They have anytime dining on this ship too but I prefer a set time.  Dinner was good however, I almost choked to death on a piece of grapefruit in my salad. Really. I think they were getting ready to Heimlich me when I started coughing. Not really the type of attention one wants to draw to ones self—but that’s life.

Lack of sleep and a long day of travel today has wiped this gypsy out and I’m going to call it a night at 10:45. Tomorrow is a sea day and they are also having the Sea Day Brunch, which is always quite good.

The ship is rockin’ and rollin’ right now. The ship information on the TV says that we are moving at 17.5 knots and there is quite a bit of motion as the winds are 50+ kts and gusting. But it’s just going to rock me to sleep.

I will try and add some pictures tomorrow. 

Ta-ta from somewhere off the coast of Florida!