JennN

If it took too long to snag one, we'd just bounce down the stairs and catch the elevator in the big bank below.

 

Haha I can't wait to tell my husband I think someone else saw evidence of my chocolate cake hissy fit.

Haha! That's what we did! One of the two elevators was always out so we just walked down one flight. We LOVED being right off the Serenity deck. We spent soooo much time there!

Ok, gearing up to do more reviewing soon! I gotta get back on track!

Keep in mind all those months are during hurricane season!

Victory in 14 days, Victory Aug 22 and Splendor Nov 22!

Tell the kids in Alchemy that Nicole and Jenn and the Mother in Lw from December say hello!

Yes, before you leave the desk, make sure she puts that sticker on! Helps you when you need to go to the service desk and you can get into the Platinum/Diamond line!

Nice review. Going on Sunshine March 7

 

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Thank you! I hope to have this finished this weekend but glad so many of you are reading it and getting out of it as much as I've put in!!!

Great Review! My daughter & I sail on the Sunshine soon and can't wait:)

You will have a blast!!! We certainly did and hope you can tell!

Enjoyed the pictures. We are thinking about the Sunshine.

If I can help you decide in any way, let me know. Especially if the pictures don't do something justice!

Following! We just booked a trip on the Sunshine for October.

We loved it!!! Hope you do too!

Safeway stores sell them as well here in the DC area!

Three times - Once in St. Lucia, Soufriere. We got our tickets but my MIL waited a day and then it was sold out. Once in Cozumel, La Casa en la Playa and then one more I think in St. Thomas, a snorkel adventure.

Made me so sad

!

Nope. I am a goody goody and never try. I bring on two bottles of champagne, tell security as I put my backpack on the xray belt and sometimes they look at it, sometimes they don't.

How do you know this?

John Heald has addressed the issue a number of times. I work with companies like Palmolive and Colgate and have been told that their free samples are very sparse and few between.

I'm loving this review. Thank You! We were on the same sailing and it brings back nice memories. Curaçao was a highlight of our trip (well, and the water spout too!)

 

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I've attached my picture of the spout. We had an aft balcony and were amazed at how long it lasted.

 

I was able to get a map location, we were off the tip of Haiti.

 

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So cool! You had a better pic than I. I hope you had as much fun as we did :)

Great review, thanks for sharing... We are going on this itinerary in Aug 2015.

You will have a blast!

awesome review!

Loving this review!!! And the pic of your MIL and wife, zoning out looking at the water, I almost spit out my coffee!!

it was the weirdest thing. I came out of the bathroom and they didn't even flinch! Must have been tired from the walking, lol!

Thanks for reading!

In case you haven't been able to tell that I've spent 3 posts on Curacao, we really loved it!

Post cruise, MIL was home to Maine for 2 weeks before driving back down to Florida (stopping at our place for a few nights in the DC area) for 3 months or so - work lets her work remotely! So she bought a few Caribbean themed beach cover ups. We did that on our cruise in St. Lucia (I expressed concern, being larger, about one size fitting all and the lady said, "When I say one size fits all, I mean one size fits all" in a heavy Caribbean accent so that's a running joke too) so we know when you see one you like, you have to get it!

We got back on board and had a yummy lunch - my wife, for the 5th straight day in a row got pasta. I think I ate a salad and a few Havana Bar empenadas. And then we headed to Serenity, complete with a yard of mango daquiri for DW

DW went up for her nap and missed the bridge...we went and got her around 4pm to go to the spa. But weirdly enough, the two of them got in a trance from the water and well, sat and stared for a while...

So obsessed, my MIL wanted a picture of it:

My poor wife went into the room for a nap (please, we argue all the time because I can't figure out why she just wouldn't nap on deck) and for a second time she missed something (she missed the water spout too from napping) - the bridge opening and that ship coming out!

LOL

Anyway, once in the fort we sat down for a drink as we were bogged down with liquor and sweating. I had Presidente beer (2 for $6? Sign me up!) and my MIL and wife had pina coladas.

As we were trying to cool off (the umbrellas were even equipped with misters) my MIL pulls out this gem, "I am so hot, it's raining in my crotch."

I've never laughed so hard!!!!

I think my wife is scarred for life. Or at least, was until her pina came out!

See how sweaty?

It was a very cute plaza area and we enjoyed downing out drinks, cooling off and walking back. I may or may not have run through the fountain area with a bunch of 5 year olds on the way back.

Another reason why my wife loved Curacao, besides the alcohol (Rom Berde - looks like NyQuil and IMHO tastes like it but it's locally made and is a mystery as there is no research on it!) is the cobblestone self walking Historical Tour:

She had to pay me to even take pictures of these signs as I was bored to tears!

From there, we walked down even more side streets and we kind of fell in love with the town!

That is a bus stop!

we saw "Dushi" all over and a woman in a t-shirt shop (that we spent $80 in!) explained that it meant sweetie - in a way kind of like the expression "Virginia is for Lovers" or when you call something awesome. Instead, you say Dushi. Kind of neat!

We really enjoyed walking the streets and talking to people. I didn't care how drenched in sweat we were!

And I apologize for the tackiness now but we thought their license plates were way toooooo cute so we took a picture!

OK, so we cared a little but and decided that we'd walk back and stop in the fort area for a drink before heading back to the ship for lunch. Well, a shower and then lunch. We talked to a cruise couple from Australia who knew about the bridge too and we took a picture of the sign:

It was weird how obsessed my MIL and DW became with finding out all they could about this bridge. It didn't help that there was a cruise ship in between this and another, "taller but not tall enough for the ship to go under" bridge.

One more from the bridge

Now then, we finally made it into the town - which screamed Caribbean to me!

DW's mission, despite it being 9am, was to buy some local liquor, including the obvious Curacao. She brought her backpack and good thing too since she spent 1.5 hours in this unassuming liquor store:

It was NOT a United Colors of Benetton, for the record. At first, the women running the joint looked at us like we were going to steal something but after some chatting, DW was sampling and deciding what she was going to buy. We also spotted a local beer and she bought that too for me. But then she wanted to sample some other stuff so I went back outside to sit. And I contemplated going into the pharmacy to get more cold meds but decided overseas pharmacies scare me because I don't know what to ask for or what they could be selling! So I stalked it, longingly

We decided beer would be good for me to kill the cold but we had no opener (neither did the store). So as we ventured down another side street, DW bought a bottle opener and I drank my beer on a bench. Hey, it was almost 11a by that point!

I keep forgetting to mention that we went to the spa every day. But geesh is it TINY! Plus, there was a family (same ones who complained at the steakhouse) in there who were loud and obnoxious. They owned the place apparently! And no matter what time we went, there they were. By the last 2 days, we didn't bother to go. I was feeling sick so I liked the steam rooms but enduring their idiocy wasn't worth the 5 mins of breathing!

Anyway, onto Curacao!

Like I said last entry...my MIL and I wanted to go visit a beach. A good beach to get rid of the bad taste of Aruba's beach. We both love to swim whereas DW likes to read. Or learn (pshhhht! I am on vacation, don't learn me!). We sauntered up to Lido/Havana Bar for breakfast...My MIL got her $5 fresh squeezed OJ from the bar and I was so sad but it took me all that time to learn that Havana sold lots of coffees - Latin and Italian so I found a new place for a really good $3 coffee.

We spied an infinity pool from the ship but knew it would be attached to a resort and it was probably a no-go for us. We decided to explore the city a bit and worst case scenario, we got bored and go back to the ship, change into suits and take a taxi somewhere beachy.

Instead, we walked over 15,000 steps in the humidity and heat where my MIL came up with our second memory quote of the trip...but I digress.

Waking up, we weren't so sure what the weather had in store for us!

The obligatory ship photos...

As you can see, there was a little cobblestone path that wound up and around to some port stores/bars and rather weird fort that was also turned into a shopping area.

Then a bit further out were some outside vendors. A lot of it was decorative or scarfy and we weren't interested. We were interested though in the bridge just ahead of us though. It was long but on the other end were these colored buildings and so we walked across it. It was wooden, there were a ton of people and the bridge moved!

I was tiptoeing across it as though that would somehow make me lighter and not cause the entire bridge to collapse! Plus, there was a weird stench and I just wanted across. It put a weird sensation on my knees though and I felt like it took forever to cross!

Anyway, where as I was perfectly content in just getting across, DW and MIL found some guys who worked on the bridge and found out it's a suspension bridge and swings open...it fascinated them and I just zoned out.

But finally, we got over the bridge and our excursion of the town began!

I don't steal. So I'd either return it to the cabin or, if there was no answer at the door, I'd return it to the service desk - just to ensure that it makes it to it's rightful owner (steward messed up once)...

see my review in my signature - it's now my favorite ship!

Sorry all these little things piled up on you and let you down.

Did you go down to guest services while you were actually on the trip? This would have given them an opportunity to correct the situation while you were still on board.

What exactly would making it up to you entail?

Personally, I am a firm believer of changing things around (read my Breeze review below) but giving people the opportunity to do so in the moment.