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Two GAPearl reviews in one! Imagination 3 day 11/15 & Sensation 3 day 12/12- PLATINUM


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Your favorite Carnival cruiser is back! :D

 

Welcome to not one but TWO GAPearl reviews. They’re gonna be short because they were short cruises, but I have two reviews nonetheless. I can’t believe I just finished writing my Breeze review two short months ago, and now I’m back again already.

 

The only reason I was able to squeeze in two more quick cruises this year is because Carnival waived the single supplement for select sailings, and I got a really cheap interline rate on both. Yes, both of these were solo cruises. I booked the Sensation cruise a week or two before I left for the Breeze, and booked the Imagination a week or two after I got back and was going through cruise withdrawals. I also had a 5 day trip to New Orleans three weeks after the Breeze and two weeks before the Imagination for my friend’s wedding. Needless to say, it’s been a busy travel season for me!

 

Here I am, your story teller.

 

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Not much has changed since the Breeze review. I’m still Kimberly. I’m still 33. I still live in Georgia (might have to change my name if I ever move; how does FLPearl sound? lol). I still work as a sky goddess (flight attendant). I still am not naming my airline. I'm still saying you will know which one when I greet you with a good morning, how are you. It has happened recently! :) And finally, yes, I’m still single.

 

“But Kim! What happened to G?” You ask.

 

The short answer to that is nothing. :rolleyes: He and I kept in touch briefly and saw each other once after the cruise when I had a layover in his city, but that was pretty much the end of it. He got busy, I got busy, we live really far apart, so oh well. I wonder if any potential suitors could be out there reading this in cruise critic land? That could save me the hassle and money of fooling with eharmony again. Haha :D

 

And if you’re sitting there asking “Who the heck is G?” I need to stop whatever you’re doing. STOP. RIGHT. NOW. Go read my Breeze review and get all caught up. :cool:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1925679

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Thursday, 11/14

Ft. Lauderdale

 

I took an early flight down to Ft. Lauderdale so I could have some beach time before the cruise. I landed at 9:15 am and picked up my rental car from Alamo. It was $30 total and I got upgraded to a midsize. I picked out a good looking red Chrysler 300.

 

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Because it was too early to check into my hotel, I went to the Galleria Mall for a little shopping. Men, you can ignore this part. I bought a ring and a pair of earrings from Express, got 5 body creams from Bath & Body Works (buy 3, get 2 free, plus I had a coupon), my Clinique concealer, and funtabulous lipgloss and candy yum yum lipstick from MAC.

 

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After an hour or so at the mall, I went to Publix to grab some wine and a few toiletries for the cruise. I can’t believe I spent $50! As one of those crazy extreme couponer ladies, I should have had a whole buggy full for $50. I headed back toward the Dania area to my hotel, the Sleep Inn and Suites FLL Airport. My room was cheap, about $55, and they upgraded me to a suite.

 

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After getting settled in, I headed back out to where I just came from, back towards Ft. Lauderdale Beach. It was a beautiful, sunny day. At least it was until I got out there. After driving 25 minutes and paying $7 to park, it got real cloudy real quick. The sun basically disappeared and left me with a bunch of gray clouds. It got windy and cool, especially with the big ocean waves. I left after an hour.

 

This was me when I arrived, happy and ready for a beach day.

 

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This was me leaving disappointed.

 

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A few pictures from Ft. Lauderdale Beach.

 

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Notice how deserted the beach is.

 

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Ft. Lauderdale Beach seems to go on for miles. There are lots of shops and restaurants.

 

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I checked in at Ft. Lauderdale Beach on Facebook, and a pilot friend of mine saw it and text me saying there were going to be leaving soon and to look out for his plane. Unfortunately, I wasn't on the end of the beach that's close to the airport, so I didn't get to wave to him in the sky.

 

I stopped at Pollo Tropical for lunch on the way back to my hotel and took a nap when I got back. Later that evening, I went to the movies and saw The Best Man Holiday. It was opening night and I have been looking forward to seeing this movie all year. Spoiler alert- bring a box of tissues if you haven’t seen it yet! When I made it back to the Sleep Inn I spent the rest of the night downloading music and updating my playlist for the cruise. Embarkation coming right now.

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Girl you gotta find a man :o:D

 

Hahaha seriously! I turned 33 and was like oh God, that clock has started ticking! :eek:

 

Yay, another GAPearl review! I love your reviews, they are like reading a really awesome story. :)

 

Thanks! I hope you enjoy this one too. :)

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Friday, 11/15

Day 1- Miami/Embarkation

 

I was up early at 7:30 am, showered and packed and was out at 8:45 am. I grabbed a bagel with cream cheese on the way out and had a smoothie drink I bought at Publix yesterday to go with it. I cranked up the Daddy Yankee in the car and headed for Miami. I was so pumped up and ready. Traffic was ridiculous but I kept jamming, excited for my upcoming weekend. I got the car back right on time and took the free shuttle from the airport to the Port of Miami. I made it around 10:45 am.

 

There's a Royal Caribbean ship.

 

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And a whale tail! :D

 

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The terminal was EMPTY. FTTF would have been a waste today. I saw the B2B people being escorted off and walking back onboard.

 

Zone 1 baby!

 

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I was on the ship around 11:15. This was my second time on Imagination. The first time was with my mom three years ago on the Key West/Cozumel route. I had lunch and met a few people from the roll call- Diane and her daughter, and Matt and his brother and father. I already had my bathing suit on and hit the hot tub as soon as I was done eating. This was a short cruise and I had no time to waste! I met a couple in the hot tub that recognized me from the Breeze review. Unfortunately some rain came. That didn’t bother us at first, but then it started pouring.

 

An empty lido deck.

 

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I went over and chatted with Matt and his family. They were wearing Captain Booze Crew shirts and told me the story behind Captain Booze. Maybe he’ll jump in here at some point and share it. Don’t be shy guys. lol

 

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Me having a pina colada.

 

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I went back up to the lido deck and hung out in the hot tub some more. Then I saw like 30 good looking guys all wearing these red shirts by the bar. There ain't a shy bone in my body, so when I went to get a drink, I struck up a little conversation. They were fire fighters from New York and cruise together every year. Single ladies in Rochester, you might want to burn something down. Just saying. :o Around muster drill time, our cruise director Skip Lyons said we were missing a few hundred passengers. I was wondering why the ship seemed so empty. My muster station was in the Illusions Club. Perfect, I can do the Wobble one last time before we sink.

After the muster, I headed back to the lido. I skipped the line dancing to get some sailaway pictures. I love, love, love sailing from Miami!

 

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Disney Magic.

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Edited by gapearl
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An NCL ship, can't remember which one.

 

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Friday afternoon rush hour traffic.

 

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Here comes Magic behind us.

 

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A rather empty South Beach.

 

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Back at the bar, I chatted it up with Matt and his brother Chris and the firefighters and had another drink. One of the guys from the group loves salsa dancing and asked me up on stage to dance when the DJ got some Latin music on. We danced a few songs and said we’d pick this up later in the club. I headed back to my cabin to shower and get cleaned up for dinner. The closest laundry room was across from U154, and I took a couple of my dresses up there to iron.

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I had late seating in the Spirit Dining Room and was seated at a 10 top. Joining me for dinner was a ladies group of three friends, a couple about my age, one of the firefighters, and two ladies from Colombia. I’m tentatively planning a land trip to Cartagena, and I tried talking to them and asking them questions about their country. They spoke good English, but were very antisocial. I found that a little odd. Any time I meet someone from a country I want to visit, they’re usually very excited to talk to me about their home. Not tonight though. What a shame. The rest of us at the table had good conversation all night.

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This was my plate by the time I remembered to take a picture of my appetizer.

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I'm very predictable. I always order the chicken a la greque the first night. Spoiler alert- I ordered it the first night on Sensation too. lol

 

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Some people ordered the warm chocolate melting cake with butter pecan ice cream and loved it. I stuck with vanilla.

 

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Our waiters danced to “Low” tonight.

 

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After dinner, I caught a little of the Divas Show. It was much better than what I saw on the Breeze. I would have stayed until the end, but I headed to the 11:15 pm comedy show of Ronnie Bullard. I got to the Illusions Club around midnight and it was packed! And hot, like no air conditioning hot! I danced until 3 am and capped of my night with a grilled cheese sandwich from room service and headed to bed.

Me with some of the firefighters.

 

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"Glistening" from what seemed like a lack of AC in the Illusions Club.

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OMG I love these.

 

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My blind towel animal.

 

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Up next: Nassau-1, Kim-0! :eek:

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I caught wind of your cruises when you made a comment on another post. I saw that you had gone on a cruise and quickly started looking for your review (haha). So happy I found it this morning and will put it aside to read when I come to the office from lunch. Can't wait!!!

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Yayyyy!!! Can't wait! You should do a travel blog to chronicle your

non-cruise travels. I would totally subscribe! :)

 

I did have one last year. It was just much to keep up between CC and my trip advisor reviews. I might try it again next year.

 

Been patiently waiting!

 

Oh snap, hey Matt! Things just got real around here. :D

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Thanks for the review(s) and great photos....................Happy Holidays:)

 

Thanks for reading! Happy holidays to you as well. :)

 

Who has more fun than this girl ^^^? Is anyone else living vicariously through Kim? Lol

 

Hahahaha :D

 

I caught wind of your cruises when you made a comment on another post. I saw that you had gone on a cruise and quickly started looking for your review (haha). So happy I found it this morning and will put it aside to read when I come to the office from lunch. Can't wait!!!

 

Glad you found me again! Next post will much later tonight. I have to go play sky goddess soon. lol

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