Mitsugirlys graduation getaway cruise

I had worked up an appetite with all of the activities we were trying to fit in and new that Sakari needed to be back at the kids club by 2:15pm so that they can get ready for the Circus show.

We headed over to O'Sheehans and was quickly seated. I had been craving a cheeseburger and fries the entire week and decided I was going to get it today.

We ate as quickly as we could and headed back to take Sakari back to the kids club for practice.

BUT, not until I snapped another picture of my new bling.

On the way across the pool deck and over to go up to the kids club, I decided I needed a drink myself and ordered a mudslide. It was very yummy.

The bartender gave Sakari a cup of cherries and she loved it.

You see that missing tooth on the bottom? Yep, she lost that the night before we left on the cruise. This was just the missing tooth cruise I tell ya.

We dropped Sakari off and we headed to the Casino to kill some time until the show.

We also made reservations for tomorrow at 9:15pm for Teppanyaki (both Kendra and I agreed on the time). Then I also found out that you had to have reservations for the show tonight for Legally Blonde. I tried to make reservations and they were showing ALL SOLD OUT!! :eek:

I tried for the following night too (since there were 2 shows each night for 2 nights).....SOLD OUT! Seriously? So I guess we weren't going to get to see that show.

The circus show started at 4pm and usually there is plenty of seating. This time the theater was pretty packed and we had to sit back a ways. Sakari is use to seeing us sitting in the second row. She could not find us the entire time and had a sad look on her face...but the show must go on.

Joel was the ringmaster

The tigers and lions came out first. This was Braydens group since he was still 5 years old. He's in the gray with the yellow lion mane and if you notice, he's pretty much the biggest in the class.

Brayden was so big that he knocked over the "blazing fire ring" and fell.

-3UPuVyx284

Next up was Sakari and her feather balancing act.

Notice how the kids are all lined up in a row along the curtain area and she's out in the front of the stage. Yea, she's a ham.

sa1RruSMMZo

Her big moment was over and the kids started to single file off the stage...except Sakari would was still in the front of the stage performing some more.

Last off the stage

She gets a high five from Joel

After the show ended, everyone came out on the stage

Brayden looks more than thrilled.

Sakari really enjoys doing the circus show every cruise. I think she really liked that she moved up to the big kids "team" and got to try something different. She has been a tiger for so many cruises now. Hopefully next cruise she will pick something different (balancing plates and so on).

Still enjoying your review and loving that ring, you lucky girl! Baguettes are my favorite, too. They make everything sparkle!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Kendra stayed in the theater for a little bingo and Courtney hung with her. We made our escape.

Shortly after the show we went to pick Sakari up and headed outside to walk around on some of the lower decks (this is when I managed to get a lot of my outside pictures). We hadn't really been to the back of the ship down here yet and seen the wake. It was beautiful as always and represents where we have been and the memories we have made.

As we circled around, we came to Dolce Gelato and decided to try out their icecream. I really had no idea what it was about, but figured why not. It was $2.50 for 1 scoop of any flavor and I elected Vanilla Bean on a sugar cone. I love vanilla bean anything...especially cheesecake. So this had to be good. Sakari got the strawberry and the hubby got caramel I think?

Kendra come out of the doors after her bingo and coming "this close" to winning. She wanted to know why we were buying ice cream when it's free inside??? I replied "because I wanted to try it out" and so she decided she wanted to try it out too. Monkey see, monkey do.

The ice cream was VERY soft and melty. (If that's a word). Like before you could even take a lick it was running down the sides of the cone, the napkins, your hand. It was ridiculous. The hubby made a comment about how he didn't think it was frozen enough either. It was a mess.

The bad part about it was it wasn't even very hot outside. It was warm, but I can only imagine if it would have been one of those hot scorching days with the sun beaming down on you.

I ended up having to get a cup to put Sakari's in. It just was not going to work as a cone. Meanwhile, I'm getting brain freeze (why do they call it brain freeze? It doesn't freeze your brain, it freezes your throat!! I never understood that) from trying to eat mine as quick as possible.

So how was it? Just my opinion, but not worth the $2.50 for sure. Not only because of the non-frozen part, but to us, it just wasn't very good. This was an all around consensus from everyone that day too (and Sakari doesn't turn down ice cream often...she didn't finish hers). I would much rather have the soft serve at the buffet or even the hard scoop ice cream at the buffet counter. I would never buy it again.

YOUR REVIEW IS GREAT!!!!! I am Loving every bit of it. I just told my husband we need to go to St. Thomas :D the pic that you took with your camera came out so clear and beautiful. Now I would like to know would you go on this ship again? What type of camera are you using. Do you having any ideas where you going next.:rolleyes:

Since the ice cream really wasn't the greatest or filling, we decided to head back to the room and get dressed up to go to one of the MDR's.

Here is our water puddle for the day....rolling eyes.

This is where I ended up taking pictures of all 3 of the MDR's. Why? Because NONE OF THEM WERE OPEN! So, we ended up at the buffet again.

After dinner, I discovered some cake at the buffet. Hmmm, I wonder what this will taste like? It looks like a cake. It presents itself like a real cake. Could it be a REAL cake...not a NCL desert made cake?

It was YUMMY! It was the real deal and not the icky NCL deserts. I was happy AND it WASN'T butter-cream icing either! Even happier!!!! It was the whipped topping icing and I loved it.

Sakari insisted on this pink "thing" that looked like a cake, but it was an imposter. To me it looked like the normal rubber texture cake they make. It just looked fake. But she tried it and said it was ok. But then again, she didn't eat all of it either. She enjoyed her strawberry. I guess she got in her fruits for the day (bar cherries earlier and now strawberries).

Back to change into normal clothes since I kinda felt rediculous being dressed up for the buffet and Sakari was wanting to head back to the kids club at 7pm when they opened.

When the elevator opened on deck 12, the doors to the kids club was closed and the staff was preparing for the night. We were the first to arrive (yeah, Sakari was anxious).

She posed for a picture while we waited and the lines grew behind us.

I had this obnoxious child behind me that stepped on my foot once (not the hurt foot, the other) and at one point he was swinging around something (I don't remember what it was) and it hit me pretty hard in the funny bone. It wasn't so funny and I held back the scream, the tears, and the punch in the throat.

Tonight was Survivor night. Obviously whatever they did, Sakari survived because she did come back to the room later that night.

I love how they decorate everything. It's so cool. I also love the lit doors in this place. How hip is that?

We signed her up for sitting services for tonight. It was the White Hot party made over into the now GLOW party and we were ready!! We had been planning on this night for months. We had glowing paint, glowing eye shadow, glowing fingernail polish, glowing outfits, glow jewelry...yep, we were set.

I told them that we would be back before 10:30pm to check on her and they said "You can just call us or we'll call you on the iConceirge line if we need you". Um, ok.

We had about 2 hours to kill and decided since we couldn't go to the show, we would hang out in the casino and try our luck until it was time to get ready for the fun night.

Back to the room at 9pm to start getting ready for the GLOW party. I had wore my outfit that Kendra bought me for the glow party on 80's night. I was really struggling with whether or not I should wear it again. I finally decided against it. I ended up with some hot pink shorts on instead and I wore my white sequins shirt that normally goes with my white hot party outfit.

We painted our arms with different colored glow paint and I painted a yellow happy face on my chest. hehe

We had our glow and glitter make up on, glow necklaces, glow earrings, glow bracelets and glow glasses. We were set for the party.

I met up with Kendra and Courtney in her room....still getting ready of course and being late. Everything had to be perfect...except the time we arrived of course.

We arrived and the party was hopping!!!

CSaXbTHgREE

The place was PACKED!! For all of you that always come on here and ask, "Will I feel left out at my age? What age groups are there? Should I go alone?" Well look at this video. Every age group, I don't think anyone is left out of anything, and feeling alone? Pshhh, how would you be able to tell in this crowd?

It was me, the hubby, Kendra, Courtney, Kolin and Brayden. Kendra's bf said he was going to get in the shower and come in a little while. Well, that never happened and he fell asleep. Almost instantly, Kolin decided he didn't want to be here either and left to go back to the room. He said "I don't dance and feel stupid, so I'm leaving." LOL

This ship photographer came around and took some pictures.

Someone from the crowd came and scooped Brayden up and put him on the stage in front and got him dancing. (Yes, Brayden went. He didn't want to go to the kids club and begged to come to the party).

(Click for a video of him dancing on the stage)

Oh geeze, I completely forgot that I had pre-party, getting ready pics to share....See my other new shiny ring? It glows yellow.

This is our Miley Cirus pose compliments of Kendra's idea.

I think the "glow" thing hasn't really caught on yet. Everyone is so use to the White Hot party and most were wearing white. Notice Courtney standing out in the crowd?

The speakers.

They dont have mini-fridges on cruise ships. They are electric coolers. They will keep some drinks "cool." But definately NOT cold. Big savings in electric bill. That is why they dont make ice either.

Our first cruise on Epic we were told by Sean the HD it was a cooler, not a fridge after we told him it was not working right.

Mitsu really enjoying, thanks :D

Even though this picture turned out blurry (I must have been bouncing up and down with the music lol), I still like it because you can tell by the look on our faces that we were having a great time.

Courtney and Brayden dancing.

Me and Courtney glowing....

We danced and danced. We waited for them to play ANY of the songs they normally play at the partys and we had been practicing at home for months. You know, the Wobble, Cupid Shuffle, Danza Kuduro, Gangham style, teach me how to dougie....anything. But none of them were played. It was all Latin/Spanish music and we really had no idea what any of them were. I have to say, it really wasn't as fun as they normally are.

Some "things" happened with Kendra and Brayden, and let's just say I was so embarrassed that I will not discuss it here. Security was called and they left. I was left standing by myself on the dance floor (the hubby had went to go get drinks) acting like I had no idea who those people were.

After I found the hubby, we decided to head over to Bliss. According to the dailies, the party would move inside at 11:30pm for the "after party". When we arrived, the "after party" was hideous if I say so myself. There was not 1 person dancing on the floor and only a few people at the tables.

We quickly decided that this wasn't going to happen and I would just rather go pick up Sakari from sitting and spend time with her. I figured she would be hungry by now and wanted to feed her before bed.

When we arrived at the kids club, everyone was upstairs (where they have the 3-5 year olds) for sitting. We actually got to go up and pick them up there.

Then we headed to the buffet, but it was closed. So we were off to O'Sheehans for a late night snack instead.

Sakari informed us that they had their "own" glow party at the kids club and she was excited to find out we did too. I let her wear all of my glow jewelry.

We returned to the room to find this little guy just hanging out.

We were in our hard bed and sound asleep by 2am.

I'm so happy to be reading another of your reviews. :) Congratulations on graduating nursing school; we all knew you could do it. :D I'm sorry this wasn't the cruise of your dreams, but I'm glad to see you were able to make the best of it. I'm really enjoying all your pictures, too. I like St. Thomas and St. Maarten too and hope to return someday.

Heather

Aww, thanks. I'm glad you are enjoying the pictures. Hopefully you will have a chance to return. I'm glad we finally were able to. :)

They dont have mini-fridges on cruise ships. They are electric coolers. They will keep some drinks "cool." But definately NOT cold. Big savings in electric bill. That is why they dont make ice either.

I have a cooler at my desk at work. It is the same size as the ones on cruise ships. I just keep bottles of water in it and the water is cool.

Big price difference of fridge vs cooler. You can get a cooler for $70. A fridge would cost hundreds.

I really don't understand why have them then? To me, a cooler is something you put a bag of ice in and it just simply insulates it and keeps it cold. I honestly haven't had too many problems with getting my soda cold on the other ships. This was was just horrible. Like it didn't even keep it "cool". They are pretty pointless if they are not really designed to get items cold or cool. Just a waste of money if you ask me. :( I just thought it was also weird that the control wouldn't go past the number 7. I was thinking maybe that was part of the issue too. I wasn't able to turn it up all the way (which I'm pretty sure the other ships, you were able to do that?).

I think we just called the airlines. Been awhile. We got some amount for the damaged luggage but nothing for the VCR Camcorder we had in the luggage in another case. Eletronics were not covered for damage. Was the last time any time camera was not a cary on for me.

 

The Ump

John

Oh gosh. I completley forgot about this. They are probably going to laugh at me if I call at this point after all this time. :o I'll probably just not worry about it and buy another or just continue to use this one. :p The hubby does have another luggage. I just bought him another one just because my son needed a luggage and I figured he could just use the hubbys.

I have always made sure I never pack any of my valuables (camera's and so on). Although we have never had a problem with the airlines until now, I still don't trust what could happen.

It's beautiful! What a lovely thing after all that happened.:)

Thanks so much. I kinda love it and it matches my wedding ring perfect (which has the same style but more too it). I keep telling the hubby they are a perfect match. :D

That pink outfit is leading me to believe that is, in fact, his purse... :cool:

 

Carry on.

I totally cracked up with this one and let the hubby read it. :D But, the outfit is actually red. The shirt is super weird (I can't remember where he bought it at), but the material is flipped inside out (and yes it's made this way). So what you are looking at is the inside of a red printed shirt. LOL :p The shorts are a reddish maroon. But this is still funny.

Wow.....what a guy....what a gift!

Nice

:)

 

Now you have something forever to remember the cruise.

I'm hoping I do. (Story to follow). :o

You're putting too much information in.

 

Just the part after v=

 

just this part: fHEq_pN7ST0

 

fHEq_pN7ST0

AWESOME!!! It worked. Thank you so much!!! cc members are totally AWESOME!

So cute!! My daughter thinks she has to pose everytime she gets her picture made too. Maybe it's a six year old thing, no she's seven and still does it! I'm waiting for her to outgrow this stage because sometimes it just looks silly.:p

Well, I think hers is that I have been taking her picture (not a point and shoot, but with the dslr and props) for years now. She knows every pose there is to do. She is completely trained to stop in the middle of what she is doing, pose real quick, then back to doing what she was doing. It's like watching two different people. She could be in the middle of having a fit about something and I say "mommy's taking your picture" and she'll stop, give a pose, smile, I click the camera, then she's back to being upset. :D :p

I don't think she'll outgrow it...look at Kendra in every picture that she knows I'm taking of her. She's always gotta do something. :p

Still enjoying your review and loving that ring, you lucky girl! Baguettes are my favorite, too. They make everything sparkle!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Thanks so much. I continued to take picture after picture of my ring while I was on the cruise. I just couldn't get enough of it. I need a really good one of it. I kept trying.

YOUR REVIEW IS GREAT!!!!! I am Loving every bit of it. I just told my husband we need to go to St. Thomas :D the pic that you took with your camera came out so clear and beautiful. Now I would like to know would you go on this ship again? What type of camera are you using. Do you having any ideas where you going next.:rolleyes:

Thanks so much.

No, I would not go on the ship again. But not because of the ship but because I have already been on it. I try not to do the same ship over. To date, I have managed to do a different ship every time. I like to experience new things.

I am using an Olympus Tough camera(s) for these pictures. Point and Shoot and waterproof.

Yes, we are booked on the Sun in November and it's back to the same old ports on the Western Caribbean...Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. :D

Our first cruise on Epic we were told by Sean the HD it was a cooler, not a fridge after we told him it was not working right.

 

Mitsu really enjoying, thanks :D

Thanks so much. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

I hope I have responded to everyone. Sometimes it gets hard to catch everyone's responses and questions when they show up in the middle of my post.

That's all for tonight. I'm so tired for some reason. I'll continue some time tomorrow after I look at the pictures from that day and get them downloaded.

Thanks again to everyone that is going along this journey with me and enjoying it. I really appreciate it. :)

Can you try reposting the video of the fireworks? All the other ones worked for me but not that one :(

Can you try reposting the video of the fireworks? All the other ones worked for me but not that one :(

[YOUTUBE]wm0Nn-PfK3I[/YOUTUBE]

Hey I was thinking.... would you ever try another cruise line other then NCL?:rolleyes:

We do sound a lot alike. After I took my husband on our first cruise and came back and purchased a second camera just like the first (at that time a Canon D10), he knew I meant business. I explained to him that I wasn't about to miss out on any shots just because he might have the camera at that time. This way, I have my camera and he can use the extra one if needed. If not, then it's a space for backup when a battery dies in the other. :D

 

I honestly have to say about Maho Beach and watching the planes. We enjoyed our time there and the pictures that I took from the area we were in. But for some reason, I think I got better pictures the last time I was there from the Sunset area. I don't know. It just seemed like maybe we were closer? Or maybe we were more in the path? There was just a different atmosphere about being on the other side. You be the judge at let me know what you think.

 

Walls with opening/holes every so often is not your friend. Beware. :D ;) It wasn't the wall that got me, it was the opening in the wall. Yikes.

Yes, I carry a backup camera too. It's a good thing because last year on our Ruby Princess cruise the Fuji I'd just bought to use underwater died in the first hour of our cruise! I had tested it in our neighbor's pool to be sure it would work. Well, it seemed OK before we left, but when we got to our room I took it out to take my obligatory room pics whle the room was still clean and got nothing! The camera shop guy onboard thought it had shorted out even though it was completely dry inside. Long story short, Fuji gave me a credit with the store which I used to buy my Olympus. I think I chose it in part due to my seeing the pictures you'd gotten with your Olympus, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

I'll have to remember to let you know what I think about Maho. We are supposed to make our next stop in St Maarten next spring, but we may change the 3 day Disney Dream cruise we have planned for this fall to a 7 day Fantasy eastern. In that case we will do St Maarten this fall. I am planning to go to the Sunset area whenever we get there.

As for my broken arm, it wasn't the dock I was walkind down that got me. It was the rope I didn't see stretched across the dock because I was too busy taking pictures in the marina that did me in! I was too busy trying to protect the camera in my right hand, so I landed very badly on my left arm. Good thing it was the last night of that vacation!

I am really enjoying your review. I have only read your past reviews after you finished them. This time it is a lot more fun because I am reading along as you're writing it. As I finish each day, I can hardly wait for you to start the next. I have no idea how you get it all done, but you're certainly doing a great job.

I've been following this thread for days now. Love the review and the pictures!

We are sailing on the Getaway this September so I'm loving the pictures of the ship and the ports!

Hey I was thinking.... would you ever try another cruise line other then NCL?:rolleyes:

I'm not sure why the rolling eyes? We have been on Carnival and RCL before. So I guess the answer to that question is yes and I have. :)

Yes, I carry a backup camera too. It's a good thing because last year on our Ruby Princess cruise the Fuji I'd just bought to use underwater died in the first hour of our cruise! I had tested it in our neighbor's pool to be sure it would work. Well, it seemed OK before we left, but when we got to our room I took it out to take my obligatory room pics whle the room was still clean and got nothing! The camera shop guy onboard thought it had shorted out even though it was completely dry inside. Long story short, Fuji gave me a credit with the store which I used to buy my Olympus. I think I chose it in part due to my seeing the pictures you'd gotten with your Olympus, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

 

I'll have to remember to let you know what I think about Maho. We are supposed to make our next stop in St Maarten next spring, but we may change the 3 day Disney Dream cruise we have planned for this fall to a 7 day Fantasy eastern. In that case we will do St Maarten this fall. I am planning to go to the Sunset area whenever we get there.

 

As for my broken arm, it wasn't the dock I was walkind down that got me. It was the rope I didn't see stretched across the dock because I was too busy taking pictures in the marina that did me in! I was too busy trying to protect the camera in my right hand, so I landed very badly on my left arm. Good thing it was the last night of that vacation!

 

I am really enjoying your review. I have only read your past reviews after you finished them. This time it is a lot more fun because I am reading along as you're writing it. As I finish each day, I can hardly wait for you to start the next. I have no idea how you get it all done, but you're certainly doing a great job.

Honestly I don't know how I do it either. My husband says I'm superwoman. :p But this time around, I have had all the time in the world (other than still working on getting my new house together) since I haven't been to work in over a month now. I really need to put that on my "to-do" list. :D