Solo Fun Aboard the Sunshine for BC7 (Feb. 16 - Feb. 23)

Background info:

My reviews are extensive and I love to post my photos. If long reviews aren't your thing; stop reading now. I can’t help it; I have only child syndrome and love to talk when I’m comfortable around you, but since I don’t know any of you from Adam, I don’t mind being free as a bird with you. That means I may share some TMI moments.

This is my 2nd solo cruise and I doubt it will be my last; unless of course, I get married or reenter the dating scene. I’m in my late 30s and love to travel. I’m pretty much easy going until you tick me off, but even then, you really have to push my buttons to hear this Lioness roar.

This was almost my last review on CC because some posters posted some things on my last review and the moderators removed it! Though it’s back, it’s now closed. That review was a lot of work, but I won’t harp on that anymore.

I will say this; if you have nothing nice to say, and I’m not talking about a differing of opinion, but if your intent is just to be spiteful and nasty, please save your comments; I've worked too hard on my review just to have it removed or locked.

Now that we have an understanding, let’s get started! :) I’ll say it again, you've been warned; I tend to include a lot of information.

I booked this cruise almost a year ago; the sailing was February 16, 2014 and I booked it March 8, 2013. I get great rates with a particular hotel chain, but could never find ANY rooms pre cruise, but booked my post cruise room. I originally was going to drive to New Orleans, but decided against that when I learned about All-Star. I booked a flight on March 28th; the first time the prices had fallen from approximately $700 to exactly $216.10. That’s robbery IMO for an hour flight, but it sure beat the possibility of being in traffic for more than 6 hours and paying for gas and to park my car. I found a room near the airport for $33 with taxes, and no, it wasn't a roach motel; it was a very popular hotel chain. I also booked my post cruise hotel near the port for the low, low price of $43 with taxes.

As time went on I joined several FB groups that were related to Bloggers Cruise 7 (BC7) and was able to snag a room in Metairie for $133.07 with taxes and because someone worked out a group rate, 2 weeks later I snagged a room in the Garden District for $158.07 with taxes. I cancelled the hotel near the airport because I’d wound up paying close to what I was paying for a room in the Garden District or in Metairie after you factored in the cost of a cab or a shuttle. I eventually transferred the room in Metarie to another Diva.

In December I could have had the same room in the Garden District for $40 cheaper because someone was releasing their room, but someone else in one of the FB groups needed it for all 3 nights and I only needed it for 1 night, so she agreed to pay me the $40 difference I would have saved either the night before the cruise or sometime during the cruise. I really didn't believe her; we still had 2 months to go, and besides, I still had a good rate.

I learned the week of February 3rd that I had to go to Austin for a Cost Report Training the day after I return from vacation. I spent time fighting to get approval to have my travel expenses pre-paid and this had to be done before I went on vacation; I didn't want to think about it while on vacation. I didn't get the approval until February 13th!!!

A week before the cruise a co-worker (Debbie) phoned me asking for my sail dates because she wanted to know if it would be okay if she drove down the morning before the cruise and stayed with me in my hotel. That was great to me because although I was in a lot of groups, I spent a lot of time preparing for my Breeze cruise that I took in October 2013. So, though I chatted with some people, I can’t say I formed a bond with anyone. I felt like the new kid in school, trying to fit in with a group that had already bonded.

Debbie’s decision to drive down to NOLA saved me from having to take a taxi from the airport to my hotel; everyone in the FB groups were coming in 2-3 days early and I was arriving Saturday morning. I had a work event to attend on the 7th of February and happened to mention to another co-worker, Keisha that Debbie was driving down to NOLA on Saturday the 15th and asked her if she wanted to make a girl’s trip out of it. She said yes and I had to let Debbie know what I had done…since she was the one driving.

Originally I wanted to avoid All-Star like the plague, especially since I had done such a good job of avoiding the chaos when it was in Houston the year before, but I learned of a free party a comedian I liked was hosting and wanted to go. The morning of the 8th I attempted to RSVP for the tickets, but the free ones were no longer available. I did see some early bird VIP tickets for $22 and felt that was a good price considering the amounts that were being charged for other parties.

I asked Debbie and Keisha if they wanted to attend, but by the time they responded, I was already on the road for an event I volunteered for; I’m a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member. Since I wasn't due to leave Humble (a suburb on the NE side of Houston) until 5 pm, I called up a good friend and asked her to purchase the tickets for me because I didn't want to risk the cheap tickets selling out before I could get home. It also helped that she lived in Humble and I was able to stop by afterwards and pay her for buying the tickets for us. It also gave us some time to catch up with one another too.

The week of the 9th I still hadn't packed anything and to top it all off, my church was having revival the 10th – 16th and I was in attendance every night except the 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th. The killer part was that I wasn't getting home until 12:30 a.m. and still had to go to work too! Because I hadn't completely packed, I knew I had to work a half day on Friday. By Wednesday I was almost packed; well, I had taken down everything I was going to wear, and did a trial packing of my suitcase. The outfit I was going to wear to the party wouldn't fit, so I asked Debbie on Thursday if she would mind bringing my luggage with her; yes, I took an extra suitcase for one outfit!

Friday, February 14, 2014 (Pre- Pre Cruise)

I overslept for work and didn’t make it to work until 10 am, but I still left at 12 noon though. Before leaving, I informed Debbie that I didn’t get the suitcase packed; I figured since she was bringing it down, I might as well pack water and additional things that couldn’t be carried on to the plane. She informed me that she was leaving work early and gave me two options; I could bring my suitcase no later than 4 pm or she could meet me near my house since she had to pass by it.

I head to the bank and get my needed cash for the trip; the teller was impressed with how thorough I was. Everything went into envelopes and was broken down to the tee for everything I planned on doing (tips, spending money, and money for excursions).

After leaving the bank, I get a manicure and pedicure and then I go get my eyebrows threaded. I head home so I could finish packing both suitcases. I phoned Debbie and told her that I may have to take her up on her offer to meet me, but she changed her mind because she opted to do something else after leaving work, but she did tell me she was leaving at 5:00 after all because she had to finish up something, but she told me not to get there after 5:00.

My cousin was supposed to do my hair at 5:00, so I couldn’t play around. Long story short, I finished packing the suitcase I was taking to Debbie, head out the door and I’m stuck in traffic! Why is there traffic in this area? There’s never traffic at this time and headed the direction I was headed! I call Debbie at 4:50 because I was just sitting. I call my cousin and tell her I’m not home yet, but all is well because she was running late and needed to pick up her daughter. Whew, but Debbie’s going to leave me. I live 15 minutes from my job and it took me darn near 35 minutes to get there. A vehicle had broken down. Good Lord! After I got past that, it took me 5 minutes to make it to my job…I think I was driving 75 – 80 mph.

I pull in the parking lot right as Debbie existed the building. It took me 15 minutes to get home. I get my hair done later than anticipated (my cousin wasn’t ready for me) and then I eventually head to church. I had planned to leave around 10 pm since I had to be out of my house by 6:15 am for SuperShuttle, but I left after midnight. I head to another cousin’s house to pick up a poster he was working on for me, but it wasn’t finished. He said he’d have it done in the morning, but I didn’t believe that to be true; he had a lot of things to paint and I was leaving in the early am. I get home, shower, and pull out my clothes I’m going to wear in the morning and call it a night…after setting my alarm for 4:30 a.m.

Saturday, February 15, 2014 (Pre Cruise)

I wake up to my phone ringing. In a daze I answer, and I hear, “Hello. This is SuperShuttle with a friendly reminder that your driver will be at your destination within 10 minutes”. WTH! I didn’t hear my alarm! I jump up, get dressed, then run upstairs to wash my face and brush my teeth. I thank God I had taken my shower the night before…or shall I say earlier that morning. My phone rings again and the driver needs to know if there’s a code to get in my gate. I was supposed to walk Queen this morning, but thankfully my mom is here.

The driver phones again and he’s outside. Did I put my passport away? Did I leave it out? Get out of the house…you have to go, I say to myself. I inform my mom she has to walk and feed Queen and I run out of the house like a mad woman. I get in the van and ask the driver to give me one second; I needed to make sure I had my passport and I do. Off we go to pick up 3 other passengers. It was a good sign for me because the next person he picked up lived in a complex named Le’ Maison and that’s where I was staying pre-cruise!

After all people were in the van, the driver turned on the air…full blast…and mind you, it was 40-50 degrees out! I pulled my blanket out, but it wasn’t helping so I asked him if he was hot and he responded, “No, I thought maybe you guys needed some air”. Um, I think not. For a moment I was wondering if men experienced menopause.

I check on Debbie and Keisha and they got a little bit of a late start; Debbie wanted to be on the road by 5:00, but I believe their day started around 5:45 or 6:00. My flight takes off and lands on time. I believe I arrive to New Orleans (NOLA) around 10:05 and Debbie and Keisha arrive around 10:15. I think I may have waited all of 5 minutes for them to find where I was in the airport.

We find a bank for Debbie and then we’re in search of food. We find ourselves in the French Quarter (FQ), but I didn’t think we should pay to park in addition to paying for our food. I suggested we head to the hotel, see if it was possible to check in and then head out again for food. We get to La Maison and some lady who hadn’t booked a room prior to arriving in NOLA was working my last nerve. I wanted to check in, relieve my bladder, and go eat, but noooooooooooooooo, she had to spend time talking about the pricing for the rooms (almost $300 per night) and wanted to know if there were other hotels near Maison. She wanted to know if they discounted for AAA (they did, but not for the event) and then she finally decides to book the room. She was a little set back by the 3 night minimum. When the receptionist told her the room wouldn’t be ready until 3 pm she asked if she would receive a discount for waiting. REALLY WOMAN?????? GTFOH with your nonsense!

I’m next in line and pretty much am told the same thing; my room wouldn’t be ready until 3, but I was informed where to park the car and was given a temporary parking pass. I head out to the car (after emptying my bladder) and inform Debbie where to park. After parking, we head to the lobby and ask where to catch the trolley.

We had so much fun on this day. We went some of everywhere, witnessed drunkards, ate at Oceana’s (great food BTW; it was my 2nd visit), and took tons of photos, well, I took tons of photos. I love taking pictures. I have pictures of things that would probably get me banned from CC and from any social site.

I had some people thinking I was going to get arrested. You should have seen their faces and heard some of the comments when they saw me do this:

I had permission from the officer to get on his bike, but unbeknownst to me, he followed my friends and me and when I got on the bike, he stated, "Hey, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be on that bike!" You should have seen the looks on our faces. It was too funny and he got the best laugh.

More photos around Bourbon Street:

Something was attacking me. LOL

I have no words!

He never moved an inch...even with me leaning on him

Why did I think someone was in here? LOL

More Bourbon St photos

A real leprechaun. LOL

I don't know what he was

We look at our watches and determine we need to head back to the hotel to get ready for the party; the party is from 2 pm – 8 pm, but it’s already 4:30 pm! We get to the hotel, shower and dress for the party. We make it down to the lobby, take some photos and just as we’re about to walk out the door, our trolley pulls away! I thought we should walk to the venue, but Debbie was against it, so we waited another 20 minutes or more for another trolley to show. The first one that came wasn’t going all the way down St. Charles, so we had to wait for the next one and it was packed! We arrive to party at 7:15, but Lil Duval is no longer at the party, which I figured. Truthfully, I no longer wanted to go, but didn’t know how Debbie and Keisha felt about throwing $20 down the drain. We enter the party and immediately I’m hit with skunk in my nostrils. Ugh. I stop breathing through my nose and we walk around the venue and make our way towards the stage/dance floor. The patrons appear to be in their 20’s and the music is not my cup of tea. Debbie leans over and asks if I was ready to go and I say yes faster than a speeding bullet.

My picture in the lobby. I think our group photo is on Debbie's or Keisha's phone

I was ready to party

They were either on their way to a party or coming from one. I'm just glad I didn't burn for posing with them. LOL

We got the heck out dodge; they were smoking weed in there. I don’t even think we stayed 5 minutes. We decide to head back to Bourbon, but catching a trolley was a beast. Everyone that passed us was filled to capacity…no lie; I should have taken photos; it was so jammed packed. While waiting for a trolley, some guy walks up to me and just starts talking. He was flirting with me and then he starts to flirt with Keisha. He’s ping ponging between the both of us. His friends eventually led him away; their driver arrived and they were headed to some party. They said we could ride for $5 a head, but we knew better than to get in the van with them.

We finally get on a trolley, and meet some idiots (in a good way) that had us laughing the entire ride. One guy was hitting on Debbie; that’s the one that really had us in stitches and another was hitting on Keisha. We thought the trolley operator was pulling our legs when he told us we had to get off the trolley (everyone, not just me and my friends); the trolleys weren’t going near Canal because of the traffic, so we had to walk the rest of the way. We stopped for food at La Bayou and I had an amazing meal.

Everything was good, but I can't tell you about the green beans because I don't eat those at all.

I'm so glad you're back, girl. I love your reviews. Eagerly waiting for more. I have done several Solo cruises, and I loved them all.

I'm so glad you're back, lady. I love your reviews, and I'm eagerly waiting for more. I have done several Solo cruises, and I loved them all.

Subscribing. Looks like it is going to be a fun review. Thanks for taking the time to do it!

We walked around Bourbon some more and found ourselves at Spirits. Keisha and I ordered their popular drink, The Resurrection. Man! That drink had me going. I laughed at everything. We stopped in a club so I could dance some of the liquor off, but that never happened because people ended up on stage making fools of themselves. So I guess I laughed my liquor off. We decide to head back to the hotel and that’s when I remembered I hadn’t got my beignets, but I knew we weren’t going to get them because Café Dumunde was in the opposite direction. We get to the trolley stop and it’s a gang of people waiting to get on. The trolley driver was no punk; he wasn’t letting people on until the people who were already on could get off and he made us form an orderly line (well, as best as could be formed).

I liked this drink. Keisha did too, but she said it gave her a headache the next morning.

I was shocked he wore those

We probably would have been waiting 2 or 3 hours to get on a trolley because there was no way we were getting on the one in front of us. We decide to walk back to the location we were originally dropped off, but Debbie gets the bright idea to continue walking to our hotel! Is she crazy? Keisha and I objected to that; that was 10 blocks away and we had already walked 6 blocks! These weren’t normal blocks, these were country blocks…and besides, my feet hurt! Debbie said we would be out all night waiting for our trolley and could get back to the hotel faster if we just walked. My tipsy behind blurted out, “You’re willing to walk 10 blocks to the hotel, but couldn’t walk 5 to the party? What kind of sense does that make?” Debbie just ignored me and she continued walking and Keisha and I followed behind like puppy dogs.

At some point my bladder was talking to me, but we were walking and I was good. Keisha decides she wants some Popeye’s chicken and we stop for food; well I waited with Keisha but Debbie continued to the room so she could relieve her bladder. I go to the ladies room and double-backed out of there; that was the nastiest restroom I’ve ever seen! I go back and sit down to wait for Keisha to get her food. My bladder says, nope, I’ve got to go now and Keisha walked over to where I was sitting. I asked her to guard the men’s restroom. I was going to wait until we reached the room, but once I saw the toilet I could no longer hold it. I realized as I got closer that there was pee everywhere on the floor and I couldn’t avoid stepping in it. Ewwww. It was a real balancing act. I was making sure my pants didn't touch the floor and I didn't touch the toilet!

Keisha and I made it to the room and I attempted to make sure my luggage was in order. I did take the time to wipe the bottom of my boots with Clorox wipes. I sat on the bed and basically dozed off while sitting up. I eventually made my way to the shower and nearly killed myself because I fell asleep in there. I woke up enough to actually shower and then went to bed.

Sunday, February 16, 2014 (Embarkation Day)

I think my alarm was set for 7:30 a.m. but I got up at 7:00. I got myself prepared for the day and waited around for Debbie and Keisha to get ready, but Keisha took another shower that morning and I was hungry so I left them in the room and headed to the area where breakfast was served.

I chatted with a few people while enjoying my waffles. Eventually Debbie and Keisha made their way to breakfast and Debbie informs me that she can drop me off at the pier if I needed her to and that’s when I remembered I needed to pay a lady from the group for the shuttle to the pier! I would have taken Debbie up on her offer, but I didn’t want to bail on my commitment to Vera; especially since we signed up and she paid in advance for the transportation.

Deb, Kish, and I said our goodbyes; they headed to the car and I head to the hotel lobby to meet up with the shuttle group. Loading the van; well, we were in an SUV, had me wishing I had allowed Debbie to drop me off at the pier. I felt like I was on an island where the tour guide/taxi driver tried to cram everyone he could into his car. I will say the guy who was handling our luggage did an impressive job with stacking and restacking our luggage, but almost being crammed in wasn’t cool. I didn’t have much to worry about because I was in the passenger seat, but I felt for those in the other rows.

Things I saw en route to the pier

We finally head to the pier at 9:30 and the set up at the port was a little weird to me. The porters weren’t visible and you couldn’t tell who was arriving and who was leaving; it was pure chaos IMO. I make my way to the entrance and I was told to head upstairs so I could check-in (after it was verified I was cruising) and thankfully another worker asked me if I wanted to check my bags…because Lord knows I did. I informed her I had no clue where the porters were and she told me where to go.

I drop off my bags and just as I was walking away, another couple drops off their bags and I notice that the porter placed their bags out in the open but mine was hidden. I should have said something then, but I made my way back to the entrance to check-in. Everything seemed to be moving fast until it was time to get our S&S cards; I don’t think anyone was at work and those who were, were in no real hurry; they moved at a snail’s pace. That was the longest wait ever!

After taking this photo I witnessed a lady who was in trouble with security. I have no clue what she did, but it was too early to already be in trouble.

I end up with Zone 3, but my TA spotted me and said I could board with her since she had priority boarding. We’re now on the ship and I make my way to my cabin to put away my heavy bag then head to the Lido deck for a Blue Iguana taco, but the tortilla was dry; it was like chewing on sandpaper.

After I eat the contents of the tortilla, I walk around the ship taking pictures. At some point I went to my deck to see if my bags had arrived and they hadn’t (I didn’t share that I was concerned about my bags making it on the ship. It bothered me that the porter put my bags in a different area from everyone else’s, and I wanted to leave the waiting area to go outside to see if my bags were still behind that wall, but I was assured by an employee that my bags would be on the ship). I didn’t panic because it was still fairly early, but it stayed in the back of my mind that they wouldn’t make it. On my way to my cabin I witnessed the most bizarre thing. I get on the elevator and this family is on. The elevator reeks of urine to me and I just assumed one of the kids wet themselves. Why oh why, when the family exited the elevator, was it the husband???? :eek: His shorts were wet, he was drinking a beer, and his wife didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed! It wasn’t even noon yet!!!!!!

Photos around the ship

The atrium

Arcade for the kids and the kids at heart

I don’t recall where I was when the announcement for the safety briefing was made, but I honestly hate being the first one there, so I snuck to my cabin to see if my bags had arrived and they hadn’t, but I noticed that my schedule for the Blogger’s Event for the week was in my cabin. I set my alarm for 4:45 so I wouldn’t miss the Welcome Party at 5:00 and I took my time getting down to deck 4 for the muster drill and I still was early! I pay attention each time a drill takes place, but this one seemed different, so I made sure to be extremely alert. The speaker was rattling off numbers for lifeboats and I was like, “how in the hell am I supposed to remember that?” and then it hit me; we were all on the even numbered boats, starting with boat 4…or was it 6? and ending with boat 24.

Now I remember where I was… somewhat; I had gone to the funnel for an informal M&G with the Divas, but no one was there. We were supposed to meet at 2:30. I later learned that our TA said it was for EST, which meant we met at 1:30. After the drill I headed to the Lido deck for the sail away party. Normally I join in with the line dances, but I was merely a spectator this time.

More photos around the ship

Dave and I

I don't recall why I took the photo...or maybe he snapped the picture of himself

Me and Diva Debbie (not my coworker who drove down)

I found the Monkeyhead Jester and got my coveted necklace

The Serenity Deck

I leave the party early to make sure I get to the Welcome Party and it’s much like the Past Guest Party; we had unlimited drinks! I was pleasantly surprised by that. During the party John talked about what was in store for us, we witness first-hand the camaraderie between he and Calvyn, and we entered a raffle to join John for dinner at either JiJi’s, the steakhouse, or at Chef’s Table.

The party was supposed to end at 6:00, the same time several of us Divas had reservations at the Steakhouse, but it didn’t end until 6:30 or 6:45 because purchasing the raffle tickets took longer than they anticipated; it was so bad that John began an honor system, people got their tickets and were given a slip to fill out and turn in so that Carnival could charge them. I didn’t win any of the raffles and I head to dinner, but I couldn’t go to the steakhouse before grabbing my lanyard that would grant me access to the remaining Blogger’s events. The lanyards were supposed to be in our cabins, but they didn’t arrive on time, so we were asked to get our lanyards from someone at the back of the room. Either enough lanyards weren’t ordered or people took more than they should have because some who missed the Welcome Party never received one.

Before heading to the steakhouse I check one last time to see if my luggage had arrived. When I saw the luggage was not there, I wasn’t aware that I blurted out my disbelief, because the next thing I heard was my room steward informing me that he placed my luggage in my cabin. Whew! I had to check for myself and true to his word; my luggage was in the cabin.

I head to the steakhouse and just about everyone is there; how did they all beat me there? Did they leave the Welcome Party sooner than I did? I was seated and shortly after we were given our menus. For those of you who don’t know; you are given a bottle of wine per table on the first night, but because there were so many of us, each of us was given the choice of red or white wine. I never touched my glass and I really didn’t pay attention to see if other people’s glasses were refilled.

(Skipping to dessert; if you want more information on the steakhouse, ask me and if I know the answer, I’ll tell you.) I was extremely tired and wanted to take my cheesecake to the room. I asked the waitress for my check and I swear it took her 20 minutes to never come back with it. I was falling asleep at the table. I decided to go to the front for my check so I could go to bed. The waitress apologized for the delay; it was pretty much a circus in there because I’m sure us Bloggers threw the schedule off.

My cheesecake was pretty much wasted because the plate couldn’t fit in the fridge and I had my room steward take it away. (I came back to the room as he was just finishing up with my towel animal).

Some photos of food from the Steakhouse

This was a fermented pear. I don’t eat pears and surely didn’t want this one because it was hard as a rock! Everyone at the table was perplexed on how we should eat it. Someone suggested that maybe we were to use the lime and I said, “is the juice supposed to make the pear open up?” and Diva Debbie laughed at me. Finally, I asked our waitress how to eat the darn thing, I was just curious at that point, and she informed us that the “pear” was a rock and what was on the lime was the actual pear! Oooh. Ok.

My delicious crab cake; I had two

The Chilean Sea Bass...soooo good

Filet mignon

This looked soooo good. The cherries were humongous! I didn't take a photo of my cheesecake; because I got to go, it wasn't decorative.

My bed mate for the night

I'm so glad you're back, girl. I love your reviews. Eagerly waiting for more. I have done several Solo cruises, and I loved them all.

Thank you for the warm reception. I'll have to check your signature to see if you've posted any reviews. I really am enjoying cruising solo

Subscribing. Looks like it is going to be a fun review. Thanks for taking the time to do it!

Thanks. I really did have a fun time on this cruise. It was an absolute blast! And you're welcome.

Great review! Can't wait for more!

Kim

Subscribing so I can soak up more information on the Sunshine! Super excited to board her this Summer! Your review will give me a nice fix.:)

Monday, February 17, 2014 (Sea Day 1)

My alarm sounds at 6:30 a.m. and for some strange reason my throat hurts, but I get over it. I shower and prepare for the day. There’s a Q&A session that starts at 8 am with John Heald, but I need to unpack my suitcase. I really don’t want to deal with doing that later in the day. I wound up leaving my room at 8:30 to head to brunch.

The MDR never carries the orange passion fruit juice, so I grab two cups of it from the lido deck and make my way to the Sunrise Dining Room. I had some difficulty locating the dining room, but finally made it. I was seated in Everston’s section. He’s a lovely guy from Jamaica; he made sure I had everything I needed. I felt sort of bad because I didn’t eat all of my breakfast; I was full from drinking water, both orange passion fruit juices, and eating 2 muffins. I was able to eat an entire pancake and some of my scrambled eggs, but the remaining 3 pancakes went to waste.

My fruit from breakfast

After breakfast I went to Pixels and purchased my embarkation photo and headed to the Lido deck after putting the picture away. I watched some new game called Squirt It???? The game seems really foolish to me; maybe the game can turn naughty and that’s why the powers that be thought up this mess? Two couples are chosen from the crowd and the guys are taken away to don their customs while the women are left to answer multiple choice questions to earn them squirts. After the question round the men are brought back out wearing fins, shorts, and goggles. The women are blindfolded and have the number of quirts they won to cover their mates bodies with sunscreen lotion. After that task is completed, they must rub the lotion in. The point of this game is still unclear to me; it was a waste of time IMO. I stayed for the mixologist contest and the maker of the Blue Nasty won.

My throat was still giving me problems so I headed to the infirmary to see if they had anything for a sore throat. I purchased a box of lozenges and 3 packets of Alka-Seltzer; the alka-seltzer was suggested by the nurse; she stated I should gargle with it. Gargling with alka-seltzer was a first for me; I thought you drank the solution.

I headed to the casino to meet up with the slot pull crew; I signed up for a slot pull with one of the numerous groups I’m with on Facebook. Initially our starting pot was $675, we had $900+ at some point, but ended our pull with $757 in the bank; a $1 profit for all of us, with the exception of the person who had the highest pull; she walked away with an additional $225. What was her pull you ask? She won $480 in one of her pulls!

The smoke in the casino really interfered with my allergies, so I couldn’t wait to get out of there!

At some point during the day I head to Tea Time with John. I had the opportunity to meet the infamous singing maître’d, Ken, and he blessed us with a performance. I will say that that was my first and will be my last tea time. I enjoyed talking to John and seeing Ken’s performance, but I don’t drink tea (I attempted to drink it, but the water was cold and the tea was blah). I like cucumbers, but not a part of a sandwich, but I did have some lovely pastries.

The cucumber sandwich with a-l-l of that mayo. Gross. I hate for my sandwiches to have an excess of anything. It grosses me out for anything to ooze out of my sandwich when I bite into it. My skin is crawling just thinking about it. Oh, and that beef thing was gross too. I'm really not a sandwich person to begin with.

I saw his gold chains and had to take a picture with him. He was Vanilla Ice the rest of the cruise to me.

Me and my twin Patricia. It's an inside joke

I asked John if I could get him in trouble with Heidi and he said sure. Here's the outcome:

His face was priceless!

I just realized I did a double post, and I'm so sorry. Sitting here watching more SNOW FALLING in Northern Virginia :eek: I am anxious to here as much about the Sunshine as possible, since this is my next cruise ship. I cruised on her twice when it was the Destiny, so I am loving your pictures.

I had no Solo reviews, but they were so much fun. I usually got porthole cabins, and this was before the double fees were imposed.

After Tea Time me and two of my fellow cruise divas head to the Havana Bar to meet with others from the BC7 group to participate in a cabin crawl. My favorite cabin to date is the Spa Suite. OMG, if I could afford one I’d book one every time. That thing is spacious! You enter the cabin and you have a living room, a separate sitting area (vanity), a walk-in closet; yes, I said walk-in closet, with hardwood floors, and the bathroom is humongous! Forgive me for the shoddy pictures, but you get an idea of what to expect in a spa suite.

Spa Suite Photos

Entering the cabin

This is still in the entrance/livingroom!

the bedroom

The bathroom

The bathroom (so you can see the tub/shower)

The walk-in closet

I saw another spa interior cabin, but that cabin was small in comparison to mine. It felt as soon as you walked into the room, BAM, there’s your bed. I viewed some Aft wrap balcony cabins, some regular balconies, and an interior.

Pictures of the Havana Bar; I should have posted these before the spa pics

After the cabin crawl I was headed to my room to get ready for dinner and to take my photo with John Heald, but on the way to my cabin I ran into one of my fellow cruise divas. I ended up talking to her and her family for an hour. Her brother-in-law is a complete fool; he had me dying of laughter. We parted ways and I continued to my cabin. I missed the first photo session with John, but headed out 30 minutes early for the 2nd one that was to begin at 7:15.

The information on the Blogger’s schedule stated pictures would be taken on deck 4, midship, but there were no signs telling us where on deck 4 we were to be. I asked one of the photographers in Pixels if he knew where the photos would be taken, but he stated there was a line during the first session coming from the Limelight Lounge. I headed to Limelight and caught a bit of the comedy show that was already in session; there was no way our photos would be taken there. At 7:05 I walked out to see if a line was forming somewhere in the area and sure enough one had formed at a photo session area not far from the Limelight. I surely hope I was in the right place…and I was.

John made an appearance at approximately 7:10. I was 5th or 6th in line, took my photo and headed to the Sunrise Dining Room for dinner. I had to walk through the Limelight to get to it. Let’s just say it was a complete fluster cluck down there. You couldn’t tell where the line began for dining and who was standing around for an elevator, or who was standing trying to talk to the comedian. After 1 minute in the wrong line I joined the correct one for dinner. I made it to the MDR at 7:20 and had a 45 minute wait!!!!!! I was instructed to head to the Alchemy bar to wait for my page. I’m not sure how long it took for my pager to go off, but let’s just say I wasn’t a happy camper because I was seated by myself even after I told the waitress I didn’t want to eat alone. I know it shouldn’t have, but it put me in a sour mood for dinner.

My mood worsened when I noticed that two parties who were seated after me received water and tea and I had yet to be served, and they received their bread baskets. I was ticked off. My server FINALLY showed his face and brought my menu. I also asked if he could bring the kid’s menu so I wouldn’t have to wait forever for dessert. Though he was a sweet guy, I don’t ever want to be in his section again! He wasn’t very attentive, when he did come to my table he was rushed, and he didn’t bring the kid’s menu like I asked. He said it was better to get it after I finished my meal; NEGATIVE! He wasn’t only rushed with me, from my vantage point I could see he was rushed with other patrons.

I normally order the shrimp and lobster on formal night, but ordered something different. I love fish, but this fish was dry; the only dish served with it that was good was the potatoes and broccoli. I had a banana split for dessert, and fruit cocktail and alligator fritters for appetizers. I realize I made it seem like the server never brought the kid’s menu; it wasn’t that, he didn’t bring it when I asked for it. He insisted on bringing it when he wanted to bring it.

I wanted to catch a comedy show after dinner, but I couldn’t stay up for the 10:15 show, so I went to bed.

The pictures that go with the previous post

My photo with John. I will say I thought this photo should have been free, but we received a $2 discount off the photo. Let me also go on record stating that I'm appreciative of everything that was done for us on BC7 because we did receive some things I didn't expect.

Me and Comedian Percy Crews

My appetizer. Do you notice the empty seat across from me?

My dessert; yeah, I didn't post photos of dinner. I find the older I get, I really don't like bananas...at least not eating them.

My bed mate for the night.

Tomorrow's post will be the beginning of Sea Day 2. Good night

Subscribing so I can soak up more information on the Sunshine! Super excited to board her this Summer! Your review will give me a nice fix.:)

Thanks. Hopefully you can glean some information from my account of what I did on the ship. I think you'll like the ship.

I just realized I did a double post, and I'm so sorry. Sitting here watching more SNOW FALLING in Northern Virginia :eek: I am anxious to here as much about the Sunshine as possible, since this is my next cruise ship. I cruised on her twice when it was the Destiny, so I am loving your pictures.

 

I had no Solo reviews, but they were so much fun. I usually got porthole cabins, and this was before the double fees were imposed.

Too bad I didn't have the huevos to book a solo cruise years ago. I've sailed Destiny once.

And no worries on the double post, but I do hope you're able to gather something from my review.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Forums mobile app

Nice start to your review. I was hoping that someone was going to do one from the Bloggers cruise. Our friends got engaged during this cruise....maybe you saw his Proposal. My friends are Glo and Smokey....he proposed to her onstage in the Liquid Lounge

Nice start to your review. I was hoping that someone was going to do one from the Bloggers cruise. Our friends got engaged during this cruise....maybe you saw his Proposal. My friends are Glo and Smokey....he proposed to her onstage in the Liquid Lounge

I met them. They are a hoot. John almost ruined Mike's surprise. I was in the audience when Mike won the necklace for Glo and I was there again when John called them up to the stage.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 (Sea Day 2)

I woke up at 1:30 a.m. but shortly went back to sleep. I officially get up at 6:30 a.m. when my alarm sounds. I get ready and head to breakfast. I skipped the MDR because I didn’t want to waste food and headed out the secret door of the Waterworks deck to walk down to the Lido deck. I grab two ¼ halves of a waffle, a chocolate muffin, a slice of some type of breakfast cake, and a cup of the orange passion guava berry juice. I shared a table with a guy who works in the prison system for the state of Illinois. We chatted for a while then went our separate ways. I head to Live With John & Calvyn and am entertained. This event began at 8:30; had I known breakfast would have been provided for us I would have headed there from the beginning. Basically we learned some things about Calvyn and John. Towards the end of the session, John called up the couple who won the necklace in his welcome party (I didn’t mention that other prizes were raffled) and the guy proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes! I briefly spoke to John about my dining situation and he suggested I try the early or late dining. I couldn’t readily make up my mind because 6:00 is too early for me and 8:15 is late, so he asked me to drop by Tea Time with him later that day. Great, I have another event at 2:45, but I have to give John my decision.

I walked around the ship for a bit and ran into a member from one of the FB cruise groups I’m in and we talked for 15 minutes. I headed back to my room and watched The Hobbit until it was time to head to the Lido Deck at 12:00 for the Hairy Chest Contest. When I walked out the men had already been chosen, but it seems the criteria for being a judge has changed. A MILF, a grandma, and a college cutie were needed. I enjoyed the show; the men were awesome, well, some of them were. One man was cheated from continuing on in the competition by grandma. I think she misunderstood who was to be given the medal. Oh well. Though I continued to watch I can’t really tell you if the person who won really deserved it. After the competition I enjoyed a Guy’s hamburger while watching the ice sculpting demonstration.

If you read my Breeze review, you may remember that I said Guy’s burgers weren’t anything to write home about. It must be the cooks or something, because the burger I had on this cruise was awesome! I do wonder why the ice sculpting demonstration continues; the same thing is always sculpted.

This is the gentleman who was cheated

I really should be ashamed of myself because I headed to the Havana Bar to see what was served for lunch. Why did I order the meat lasagna and a side of spinach? The spinach was gross because it was salty and the lasagna was ok; I ate half of it, but I think that was roast beef in the lasagna. Now that my stomach is about to burst, I had some time to kill before the M&G with the Divas so I headed back to my cabin and took a nap. My alarm sounded at 2:45 and I head to the Piano Bar. When I walked in things were already in full swing; I didn’t leave my cabin until 2:53 and then I went to the wrong deck for the bar. I walked in around 3 pm. Turns out I set my alarm for the wrong time; the M&G began at 2:30. Oops!

I can’t count how many funship specials I had, but I was certainly tipsy and the rocking of the ship didn’t help. I was fortunate enough to get a raffle ticket and I won a lovely gift. OMG, I forgot to peep my head in for John’s Tea Time! After the cocktail party I head to the casino for the slot pull with the Divas. Our net winning per person was a -$5; therefore I got $10 of my money back. Some people have early dining so they head to their cabins but I sat in the casino for a couple of more minutes. I had no plans of going to the MDR tonight and I really wasn’t hungry so I head to the cabin for a while before heading to the 6:45 comedy show. When I walked out of my cabin I noticed that information for tomorrow’s excursion was under my door, but I didn’t have all needed items. (I booked an excursion with one of the FB groups and wristbands were needed for our group and it was obvious they had already been handed out, but I didn’t have mine). I went down to guest services so they could call Annette for me and it turns out that she and Kathy (a lady I’ve been talking to on the cruise) were roommates. Kathy told me what was needed for my wristband and I headed to the casino to see if I could find Annette. If you’re reading this saying, “I thought she was going to the comedy show”, well, I was until I had to stop at Guest Services.

The cutie pie server who was helping me at the Diva M&G

I chat with some people who I’m friends with on FB while in the casino, but I never found Annette. I look at my watch and see that I need to head down to the Limelight to catch the 6:45 show for Al Ernst. My plan was to catch the 6:45 for Al and the 7:45 show for Percy Crews, the 9:15 Playlist Production of Motor City, and head to John Heald’s event at 10:00. Well, the 6:45 show for Al was full and the door guard wouldn’t allow me to stand up to catch the show. I pleaded and begged to be let in, but he said no. I wasn’t hungry so I walk over to the Liquid Lounge and catch the 7:15 show of Motor City. After the show I head back to Limelight to catch Percy’s show and what do you know; it’s filled to capacity!!!!! I really wanted to see Percy Crews because I caught a bit of his show yesterday, but I didn’t see his entire routine and he was funny. He had a 10:15 that night but it was conflicting with John’s 10:00 event. :(

I walked around a bit, checked out some photos in Pixels, and I don’t recall what else I did, but I made sure to head to Limelight 30 minutes before Al Ernst’s 9:00 show. I sat next to my FB sister and her husband and we thoroughly enjoyed Al’s performance. My sis was tired and she didn’t make it to John’s event, but I headed to Liquid Lounge to catch Battle of the Sexes. If I failed to mention it, John and Calvyn are hilarious. I know you’ve gathered that from his blogs, assuming you read them, but man, the two of them together is a riot. There were two rounds in Battle of the Sexes. During round 1 there was one girl Calvyn chose to be in the battle and she really captivated John. She had large breasts and John kept messing with her. In this round the women had to answer questions that a guy would know and the men answered questions that women would know. The last person standing won a prize.

Me & Calvyn

I was picked for the second round. During this round it was women against men. John and Calvyn required us to get things from the audience and bring them to the stage. The first person back won that round. This continued until there was either one person standing or all of one sex remained on the stage. Well, the women won. It was 3 of us remaining on the stage and all of the men had been eliminated. Because there could only be one winner, we remaining three had to choose a guy from the audience and dress him any way we chose to dress him. I chose my guy and off we went. I told him to give me his clothes because he was going to wear my dress. He looked at me like I was crazy. LOL I told him that I trusted him and I hoped his wife wouldn’t be mad. If I had time to run to my room I would have put a bra on him. The audience chose who the best dressed man was and unfortunately, I didn’t win (well, my guy didn’t win which meant I didn’t). I honestly felt robbed and some people told me that I should have won, but that’s the downside to traveling solo…you don’t have friends and/or family there to cheer the loudest for you. But I congratulated the winner. Her guy was a hoot. After the battle, John was so tickled and told me that I should come work for Carnival. Hmm; how much do the Entertainment Staff make? Oh, I forgot to mention that the winner won some nice gifts; I believe a diamond necklace was one of them. I also failed to mention that I apologized to John for missing the tea time and he asked me to leave a message for him at guest services if I should change my mind about my dining preference. Before heading out of the lounge I walked over to Ken and told him that I enjoyed his singing at yesterday’s tea time and he asked me what time did I have dinner. Long story short, he asked me to come to late dining and I told him I’d come.

Pictures of the clothes swap

I wasn’t ready for bed and was ready to party but the club wasn’t open. It was a quarter to 12 am when Battle of the Sexes wrapped up. While walking on the Lido I ran into one of the DJs and he informed me that the party would be in the Havana Bar at midnight, but I’m not sure when they set up because at 12:15 there was no DJ in sight. I struck up a conversation with this lady and her husband; he was wearing a beer mug hat and she had on a hat with horns. That was the conversation starter, but they were the couple who were engaged this morning. We chatted a while longer and headed to the pizza place. I took a photo with the employee while waiting for my pizza and once I received it and ate it, I headed back to the cabin, showered, packed my beach bag, and watched tv until I fell asleep.

Me, Glo, and Mike.

Lovin your review! We will be sailing on the Sunshine in May! Can't wait...Trying to bump this back up!

Yea.. it worked! Now MORE...MORE...MORE..

Great review and photos!!!!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 (Isla Roatan - Honduras)

As usual my alarm sounds at 6:30, but man was I sleepy. Of all nights I decided to stay up late the night before an excursion. I was dressed in record time and out the door for breakfast. We docked at 8 am and I was probably off the ship around 8:45 or 9:00 am. According to the note that was slid under my door, the busses would leave 45 minutes after we docked. Now I’m in the port area and have no clue where I’m meeting my group. I walk around a bit hoping to see someone, but I knew that was a crazy idea, so I decided to look at the note again and that’s when I saw we were to meet outside of the terminal after walking over the hill. Duh!

Photos along the way

When I recognized some people after climbing and descending the hill, I was relieved that I hadn’t been left behind. And wouldn’t you know that the organizer arrived well after our departure time :eek:, but it was all good. One bus departed shortly after I arrived; the couple who were renewing their vows left on that bus and those of us remaining took two other vans that departed what felt like 30 minutes after Heidi and the others did. I think the problem was that Carnival opened up an excursion to Little French Key (where we were headed) and it’s possible some van drivers had to cater to the Carnival guests or maybe they were waiting for the organizer of our group to show??? We had a little bit of a drive over to Little French Key but it was a fun ride over. We saw the ex-governor’s house; which was huge (I took a picture but we were moving too fast, so it’s blurry), a chicken establishment which had a racist name in my opinion; Bojangles Chicken (I so wanted a picture of it, but I wasn’t able to snap the photo in time), and we saw armed policemen pull a guy over. I asked our driver why was the guy being pulled over; was it customary and he said the police pull over all workers to get money from them. They know the driver has just made a delivery and they want a cut of their profit. How sad! But the driver assured me that the police don’t stop the tourists because they thrive off our business and don’t want to see us go/stop visiting.

This truck was in front of us when the officer motioned for him to pull over