Inpiration Review - Easter Break, Western Caribbean 4/5/10

[Lady_Jag]

Alyssa let out a few whines in her sleep around 4:30 in the morning, which made my Mommy-sense tingle. I lay awake listening to see if she would wake or settle back down, and soon I heard nothing but Alex’s snores rumbling through the cabin. I continued to lay there, staring out the window at the still-dark sky and thinking, “What time is it? 5:00am? Really? Why can’t I go back to sleep? Ugh.”

I lay there, too wound up to sleep, but too tired to do anything. I thought maybe a hit shower would relax me, but the shower shared a wall with Alyssa’s bunk, and I didn’t want to risk waking her. Then I remembered how much nicer the gym showers usually are and rolled out of bed. I grabbed my Del Sol tote, crawled under Alyssa’s bunk, and stashed everything I would need, plus my camera into the bag. Then I pulled on my yoga pants and old Carnival “Fun Ship Winner” T-shirt, slid my flip-flops on, and carefully, quietly, left the cabin.

My watch read 5:30 when I stepped into the deserted hallway. I knew that the gym would be at the front of the ship with a spectacular view, so I took the nearby aft elevator as far up as possible, took a snapshot or two of a completely empty atrium (whoa!), and then started walking across the ship:

 

It was still dark, and the upper decks were wet and slippery. A couple of times, my flip-flops were more like skis and I slid a few inches, so I slowed my pace and watched where I planted each step. The Lido deck was also empty and the pool area had a beautiful glow in the last few minutes before dawn:

Speaking of dawn, it didn’t dawn on me that the gym opened at 6:00am until I made it to the spa area and found the big spa doors blocking my path. D’oh! Well, I was up now and wasn’t about to go to journey back to my cabin at the completely opposite end of the ship, so I reclined on one of the cushioned benches near the window and waited. Before long, a man in shorts, running shoes, and wearing headphones showed up, ready for his morning workout. He saw the closed spa door and stopped, then looked around, confused. A few minutes later, two other men showed up in workout clothes. I sat up and wandered over to where they were in front of the door. “It doesn’t open until 6.” I said.

All three looked at me like I was a vagrant begging for some spare change or a beer. How odd! Then I remembered what I was wearing – white T-shirt, black yoga pants, and cheap blue flip-flops, with a bulky canvas bag hanging on my shoulder. Add to it my bed head hairdo and lack of make-up, and yeah…I probably did look like a bag lady on vacation!

6:00 came and went, and the spa doors never opened. No sign of any Carnival employee either. Hmmmm. So the crazy bag lady suggested that maybe the gym had a separate entrance, and perhaps this was one of those weird layout things where you had to go up and over to get there. I must have been pretty convincing, because all 4 of us were wandering around the “City Park”/Waterworks area, looking for a stairwell down to the spa deck. No dice.

It was 6:10 and the doors were still closed. So we all went down a deck to look for a way in. Nope. The guys gave up and headed back to the spa a few minutes before I did. When I got back to the spa, it was 6:15 and the doors were finally open. Hooray! I walked in, and looked around for an employee would could give me a locker key. No one was there. Hellooooo? Helloooooooooo? Nothing. I snapped a couple of pictures of the ice cream cones amidst all the spa products in the display case, and decided that if no one was here anyway, there was probably no need for a locker, so I walked into the Ladies’ locker, showered, dressed, and took a couple of pictures of the sauna and steam room facilities:

Someone was finally attending the desk when I left the spa and started walking back to my cabin. I crossed the Lido deck, where pool attendants were dragging out lounge chairs for the upcoming crowd. They were surprised to see me. I just smiled, said hello, and wished them a nice day. I helped myself to a cup of hot decaf tea. Ah! NOW I can sleep.

I crept into the cabin and waited for our 7:30 room service “wake-up call.” Right on time! I placed the tray on the desk, crawled under Alyssa’s bunk again, and climbed into the bed, where I immediately fell asleep until around 9:00.

To be continued...

[Lady_Jag]

Alyssa scarfed down all the muffins delivered by room service while Alex got up and got ready to go. I asked if Alyssa would like to go to Camp Carnival, and she burst into tears. ??? I was surprised, because she LOVED Camp Carnival last year, so I told her we would just go to check out the schedule and if she didn’t want to stay, she didn’t have to. She reluctantly agreed, so for the third time that morning, I walked the length of the ship.

When we walked into the room, Alyssa immediately latched herself around my neck and started to cry, “Mama! Don’t leave me!” Aw! I grabbed the 2-5 year old group Capers and assured Alyssa that she didn’t have to stay if she didn’t want to. She calmed down and said “maybe later.” I smiled and told her “Oh, Alyssa, look! This afternoon they’re playing leap frog and painting a silly monster and playing candy Bingo!” That put a smile on her face! “OK, Mommy,” Alyssa said, “later I can go to Camp Carnival and play.”

We climbed the stairs to the mini golf area, and Alyssa was ready to play! Boy, was it windy, though! I held on tight to my little girl, because the wind was literally pushing her over! “Are you SURE you want to play?” I asked Alyssa. “YES!” she said, jumping up and down excitedly.

Alright. I handed Alex my camera bag while I went downstairs to the pool area so that I could check out 2 golf clubs and a couple of golf balls. Before I could hand over my S&S card, Joel popped up behind me. “Hey!” he said, “where’s Alex?”

I checked out the clubs and walked with Joel up to the golf course. On the way, Joel told me that his cabin (a category 1A, E181) was haunted. He laughed and said that at 4:30 that morning, he was awakened to the sound of some loud gurgling coming from his shower drain. He looked, and there was liquid bubbling out of the drain. Ew!

As it turned out, this happened the entire cruise, always at 4:30 in the morning! Joel would call guest services who would send someone to “fix” the problem, but then the very next morning at 4:30, he would hear “SLOSH! SLOSH! GURGLE! BURBLE!” Joel said he noticed a storage closet next to his room in which ran a bunch of pipes, so he thinks that some sort of drainage system would automatically kick on at 4:30 to flush out the plumbing or something. Still, by the end of the cruise and several calls to Guest Services, they finally told him that there was nothing that could be done about it. Bummer. He had asked Mark, who had the cabin next to his, if he heard any of the noise, and Mark said no. So for you solo cruisers – DON’T book room E181 on the Inspiration unless you are a very sound sleeper!

After a few holes of mini golf, Alyssa style (she cheats!), we all went downstairs to the Lido deck to get out of the wind and chat. There, we ran into Tia and Katie, who had just gotten up (11:15!), and then CJ. We chatted a bit more, and then I asked Alex to watch Alyssa for a little while so that I could go purchase a ship pin from the Fun Shops onboard. Notice that the new pins available for purchase are not exactly like previous past guest pins, but are of the same style:

Anyway, I wanted to have lunch in the MDR today, so Alex agreed to meet me in front of the Mardi Gras dining room at noon. I waited our front at noon, but didn’t see him. 10 minutes passed without any sign of Alex or Alyssa, so I reluctantly decided to dine alone. The minute I sat down at a table, Alex and Alyssa came strolling across the room from the opposite doorway! Ha! They had been waiting for me to show up on the other side and finally decided to get a table too!

Lunch was just ok. I had brought a coloring book, crayons, and stickers to keep Alyssa occupied since she only picked at her sandwich. One of the servers fell in love with her when Alyssa offered one of her stickers to her, and Alyssa, sensing that she had a captive audience started sticking the stickers on her head! The server laughed and removed one of the stickers, then stuck it smack dab in the middle of Alyssa’s forehead!

I took Alyssa back to Camp Carnival so we could do the Build-A-Bear activity together while Alex found a spot in the sun to relax. Build-A-Bear had been cancelled, and Camp Carnival wouldn’t be open for anyone over 2 until after 2:00. Bummer.

I took Alyssa to the Fun Shops to look around, and she picked out a new stuffed dog named “Murphy.” Then she dragged me into the Paris lounge (main lounge) nearby. I took a few pictures of the nearly empty lounge, and Alyssa asked if we could stay for the next show. “Well,” I said, looking at the show schedule, “the next show won’t start for over an hour. Let’s find something else to do.”

So we walked towards the back of the ship and passed the Violins casino bar, where the Entertainment Host was beginning a game of “Sea Feud” with several people. Alyssa wanted to play and pulled me over to the small stage. I told her she wouldn’t like the game and would get bored, but she really wanted to join in. So the Host (sorry, I forgot his name) asked if we had a team, and when I said we didn’t, he asked another couple if we could join theirs. I sat down in the chair, and Alyssa immediately jumped up and said “Let’s go, mama!” Ummmm….yeah.

Alyssa spotted the slot machines across the tile floor and on the edge of the casino, and ran for the “game!” She sat down in front of the machine, and I told her no, she couldn’t play because that game was for grown-ups. Before I could finish my sentence, a security guard was next to me. “Hello,” he said, “she can’t be here.”

I was mortified…again. “Sorry! I’m getting her out right now.”

“But I AM bigger!” Alyssa protested, “I’m already FOUR!” she said, holding up 4 fingers as we walked away. Sigh!

I was too embarrassed and confused to know where I was or where I was going, and wound up taking my little girl out of one 21 and up area and into another! We climbed down some stairs to a lower deck, and I spotted Joel. “Hey, Laura!” Joel waved. He walked over to us and told me “This is the Serenity deck.” Double d’oh!!

We quickly made our escape before another member of security could escort us out. Joel and I walked Alyssa back to our cabin where we found Alex taking a little nap. I let “the boys” chat while I dropped off Alyssa’s new friend, Murphy the dog, and took Alyssa over to Camp Carnival. What’s one more trip across the length of the ship anyway? I’m just working off tonight’s baked Alaska, right?

Camp Carnival was open and Alyssa was ready to play. Except I had forgotten my S&S card back at the cabin! D’OH! I wouldn’t be able to check Alyssa in without my card, so we walked BACK to our cabin, grabbed the card off the desk (thank goodness Alex was still there and could let me in!), then walked BACK across the ship to Camp Carnival! Whew!

Now one of my favorite activities on sea days is having tea while listening to soothing piano music. Today’s tea would be in the piano bar…if only I knew where that was. I wandered around for at least 15 minutes, encountering dead-ends at the MDR and a few other places, before I FINALLY made it to the right lounge!

I walked in, and the lounge was dead quiet and empty, save for the tables set nicely with teacups, plates, and napkins. Hmmmm…tea all alone? I chose a comfortable seat near a large window, and accidentally knocked a teaspoon sitting on the plate in front of me. CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

At the sound of my clumsiness, a waiter came out, looked around, spotted me, then brought over a box of assorted teas for my choosing. He was followed by the pianist, who sat down at the piano and began to play soothing music….just for me. Another server came along with boiling water, then a cart full of yet-untouched goodies. Jackpot! “Just leave the cart!” I joked, picking up a fork. The waiter laughed, then gave me the “tour” of the cart. I chose a cucumber sandwich and the yet-uncut, multi-layered, chocolate “Devil’s cake.” YUM!

I sat listening to the music and enjoying my “private” tea for a while, then another woman walked in and sat down. She muttered something about her husband coming, and before she could pick out his tea for him, he appeared. The two chose a couple of the desserts from the cart, drank the tea, and were gone in about 5 minutes. Alone again with my thoughts. A server came by to offer me a second cup of tea and suggested the chamomile flavor. It was a great recommendation! I enjoyed it even more than the green tea I chose earlier.

I glanced at my watch, and figured I should give myself plenty of time to get back to Camp Carnival for their 3:45 pickup deadline. I took my last few sips, waited for the end of the current melody, then thanked the pianist and the server who stood near him for a wonderfully relaxing tea:

At Camp Carnival, Alyssa was all smiles and holding a piece of candy in her hand. The little boy who was being picked up before Alyssa asked for a second piece of candy, and the counselor told him, “It’s ok. You can have more than one!”

Well, that was all Alyssa needed to hear! She immediately stooped down to the basket of candy and started piling up as many pieces as her little arms could carry! She saw me laugh at her and explained, “just ONE for now, and the rest for later, Mommy!” I apologized to the counselor and told Alyssa she didn’t need all that candy, but the counselor just smiled and said, “If it’s ok with you, it’s ok with me.” Alyssa clutched her “just one for now” piece in her hand, then shoved the rest in my bag. Well, at least she had fun!

Tonight was our one and only Elegant Evening. It was also the night of the Captain’s party, but since we’re not big drinkers and didn’t want to feel rushed, we missed it. Instead, we went to the sushi bar to snack on a bit of sushi and also pick up a few samples to bring to dinner for the rest of our group. Tonight, we agreed to change up the seating arrangements so that all the teenagers would sit at the 6-top, and us adults (plus Alyssa) would dine at the 10-top. This arrangement worked out so well, we kept it for the rest of the cruise.

Dinner was fabulous, but we didn’t get a dessert menu because Tia had ordered a birthday cake to celebrate Katie’s sweet 16. Oh well! The cake was really good and filling.

(BTW - That's Nadel on the left. He's been with Carnival for 17 years and worked on all but the "newest" ships!)

 

After dinner, we took our group around to the various venues for photos. There was a bit of a line for the “Titanic staircase” backdrop, but it was the one Tia really wanted to do. So we waited. Apparently, whoever created that backdrop made it look EXTREMELY realistic, because when I told Alyssa “it’s our turn,” she ran over and tried to plop down on one of the steps! THUD! She nearly brought the entire backdrop down on her! The look of surprise on her face, though, cracked me up, and we both chuckled as I scooped her up and stepped aside so that the photographer could reset his backdrop.

By the end of all the portrait sessions, Alyssa and I were both zonked, so we went back to the cabin to call it an early night, while Alex and Joel went out to find some fun. I barely made it through an episode of “Lost” on the TV before the day caught up with me and I was fast asleep.

[Lady_Jag]

Paris lounge stage

 

Stairs to the Paris lounge balcony. (I have a minor obsession with photographing stairs and long corridors.)

 

Strawberry bisque...MMmmmmm!

 

The "kids"...this time on "REAL" stairs!

 

Tonight's towel animal was a dog...or a pig...or a pig-dog...I mean, "pog!"

[nxtdoor]

wow about the slides not being open the whole time. did you ask anyone what the deal was? My kids will be so upset if they are not open. and I will be too. i want to slide too.

[audi02]

I'm loving this review, especially all the pictures. I'm getting married on the Inspiration in October, so all of this is helping so much. Quick question: I want to have a thank you brunch style thing for all my bridesmaids somewhere on the ship. Any idea what dining area I can meet with about 10 people to hand out some gifts and order mimosas. I would like to make formal invites but don't know what area to tell them to meet since I've never been on the ship.

[aquaman92]

We were on the Inspiration in 2004 for my daughters graduation .Back then it was a 7 day cruise Your pics are fantastic.:)

[Lady_Jag]

wow about the slides not being open the whole time. did you ask anyone what the deal was? My kids will be so upset if they are not open. and I will be too. i want to slide too.

 

No worries! The SLIDES were open, but the waterworks part (water park/water sprayers) were not. I think there might have been mutiny among all the teenage spring breakers if they had closed the slides! LOL!

 

Alyssa did the racing slides once...she just barely made the 42" height limit, but didn't like landing in the water at the bottom so she never tried it again.

[Lady_Jag]

I'm loving this review, especially all the pictures. I'm getting married on the Inspiration in October, so all of this is helping so much. Quick question: I want to have a thank you brunch style thing for all my bridesmaids somewhere on the ship. Any idea what dining area I can meet with about 10 people to hand out some gifts and order mimosas. I would like to make formal invites but don't know what area to tell them to meet since I've never been on the ship.

 

Congratulations! I believe if you contact Carnival, they can put you in touch with an event planner (if you don't already have one) to arrange a private venue. Or, if you just want to do an informal on-your-own thing, the MDR (Mardi Gras) is open for breakfast until around 10:00 each day, except for embarkation day.

 

Also, there is a separate coffee shop/cafe on board that's somewhat quiet near the Violins bar and promenade area. They sell chocolate dipped strawberries (they look like they're wearing tuxedos) and various cakes and goodies.

 

Alex got a slab...and I do mean a SLAB of cheesecake that could feed at least 3-4 people for only $2.25 at the coffee shop/cafe. The Violins bar is not far from there for ordering mimosas. And I believe that there was a special on mimosas and bloody marys until noon during our day at sea. (Could have been other days as well, but I didn't pay much attention.)

 

If you do wind up on the Promenade deck, after your brunch, you all can walk straight through the Candlelight lounge on that deck (aft) to get to the adult-only Serenity area and enjoy the hot tubs and plush lounge chairs (if there are enough available).

 

Good luck and congrats again!

[Lady_Jag]

We were on the Inspiration in 2004 for my daughters graduation .Back then it was a 7 day cruise Your pics are fantastic.:)

 

Thank you! My hubby got me a really cool SRS camera for my birthday a couple of months ago, and I have been having fun experimenting with it.

 

I wish our cruise was 7 days like yours. 5 days is nice, but I almost feel incomplete without those 2 extra days. ;)

[audi02]

Thank you so much for the suggestion. The coffee shop sounds perfect to get spoiled with some deserts. I just want a chance to thank everyone right after the wedding. You have been very helpful and I really appreciate your thread.

[CCbaby817]

I'm loving this review, especially all the pictures. I'm getting married on the Inspiration in October, so all of this is helping so much. Quick question: I want to have a thank you brunch style thing for all my bridesmaids somewhere on the ship. Any idea what dining area I can meet with about 10 people to hand out some gifts and order mimosas. I would like to make formal invites but don't know what area to tell them to meet since I've never been on the ship.

 

Sorry to butt in here, but have you thought about doing it during the afternoon tea time? Looks like it would be petty quiet, with relaxing music and desserts/snacks. Just an idea... Congrats on the wedding!!!

[paper1122]

Hope you have a great time on your upcoming cruise! The reason why I said the ship needed some TLC was because:

1. The waterworks area was not operational the entire [spring Break] cruise.

2. One of the glass elevators got stuck, trapping a few people in it for 30 minutes the first day. It remained non-operational the rest of the cruise.

3. There was graffiti plastered on the inside of the doors of one of the aft elevators.

4. Several of the mosaic floor tiles in the public areas where noticeably broken/missing.

5. The deck plans in the elevator bays still showed a children's pool where the Serenity area is.

 

I'm really not sure why I could navigate the Glory so much better than the Inspiration. I guess it's just a case of "Different strokes for different folks," or maybe I did more research last year. I don't know, but I was so much more "navigationally challenged" on the Inspiration. :p

 

You may have made the navigation comment due to the dining room layout which prevents you from going aft to stern on that level. I am not sure if it is the same on the Glory or not having never traveled on the Glory. My trip on the Inspiration was my third Fantasy class voyage so navigating was quite easy for me so I may be a little biased.

 

I was on the Inspiration last October and was very impressed overall being that the boat is 15 years old it was in very good condition, of course there is always going to be repairs needed, regardless of the ships age.

[audi02]

Do you know what time is tea time and which days they offer? That would be a very cute girly thing to be able to do. Thanks for all the advice and well wishes. These boards are great.

[Lady_Jag]

Do you know what time is tea time and which days they offer? That would be a very cute girly thing to be able to do. Thanks for all the advice and well wishes. These boards are great.

 

That is an excellent idea! Tea was at 3:00 both sea days, and in the piano bar, I think it's called "Rhapsody in Blue." Plenty of room and great music, desserts, and of course, tea. :D

[Lady_Jag]

Sorry for the delay. I've been battling a vicious chest cold and some pretty tight deadlines at work. On with the show...

 

“OW! OW! OW! OW! MOMMMMYYYYYYY!!”

It was around 4:30 in the morning, and Alyssa was screaming from her bunk. Both Alex and I shot out of bed and lifted her out of the bunk bed. Her eyes were still closed, but she was crying.

“Alyssa. Alyssa. Alyssa! What’s wrong? What is it, baby?”

“Owie! Owie! Owie!”

“What hurts?”

“Nooooooo!! Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Alex thought he felt a charley horse in the back of one of Alyssa’s legs, and began to massage the area. I continued to talk to her, calmly, asking what hurt.

“My ear!!!” she wailed, grabbing at her left ear.

“Does it hurt on the inside or the outside?” I asked, trying to examine it.

“The OUTside!! Ow! Ow! Ow! My bum hurts! Owie!!” then she began grabbing at her backside.

Alex and I looked at each other, baffled. Before we could figure out our next move, Alyssa had settled down to a soft whimper.

“Do you want to sleep with us?” I asked.

“Uh-huh,” she whispered.

So we lay our little girl in the center of the bed and climbed in, one on either side.

About an hour after that, she had a little “accident.” Argh!

By the time room service knocked on our door, I was too exhausted to open even an eyelid. I muttered something about there being a tip in front of the safe in the cabinet for the server, and Alex rolled out of bed and answered the door…dressed only in his underwear.

The server, a young lady who didn’t speak much English, handed him the tray and started to back down the hall. Alex was encumbered with the tray and started chanting “hold on! Hold on,” while he tried to find a place to set the tray down. But it was too late. The blushing lady had already bolted. Guess I should have told Alex to retrieve the tip…or at least some pants… BEFORE he opened the door. LOL!

Today was Grand Cayman day. The ship arrived around 8:10am, and there were several announcements asking guests to please WAIT until the ship was cleared before making their way to deck 3. Around 9:15, the announcement was made that general debarkation had begun, and that anyone who wanted to go ashore could now meet the tenders at deck 3. I could almost hear the stampeding as I sipped my hot decaf tea and nibbled on my croissant with strawberry jelly.

“Mmmmm! Muffins!” I heard Alyssa call out from the bed. She was smiling and feeling a lot better now. I handed her the plate of muffins from room service, and she immediately scarfed down two of them.

I wrote a note to our still unmet room steward, explaining that our little one had a bedwetting accident (like he or she wouldn’t figure it out from the wadded up pile of sheets on the floor!) and asked that he/she please change the sheets. I attached a few bucks to the note with a clothespin, then placed the note and money on the pillow. I decided to wander up to the Lido deck for a few pictures while Alex and Alyssa dressed:

The Lido deck was EMPTY! It was great! Broad daylight, and not a single body or Carnival towel on any of the lounge chairs! At the omelet station, I asked for scrambled eggs. The guy told me “scrambled eggs over there,” and pointed to a stiff pile of lukewarm powdered eggs. “Uh…how about a couple of egg whites, then, please?”

I sat down at my choice of tables and picked at my eggs while I took some photos. Ah! What a great day! I walked back to our cabin, and Alex and Alyssa were dressed and ready to go. “Look, Mommy!” Alyssa screamed as I walked through the door, “A pirate ship! Arrrrrr!” Sure enough, a pirate ship was sailing past our window, packed full of passengers on the Pirate Ship/Rum Punch excursion. How fun!

Anyway, we decided that since Grand Cayman was a tender port and we wouldn’t be ashore very long…just long enough to do a little shopping and look around…we would check Alyssa into Camp Carnival, then pick her up after lunch. (She would be having lunch with her Camp Carnival friends.) While we were there, we dropped off our assigned Camp Carnival phone for charging.

Down to deck 3 to board the tender boat around 10:45! There were about 4-5 people waiting for the next tender to arrive, and in less than 5 minutes, we were on board and waiting to head for shore. Another few minutes, and we were on our way. The water was beautiful! Such a rich Caribbean blue it was hypnotic:

We wandered in and out of the stores in Georgetown, sampled various Rum cakes, then decided to take advantage of a 6/$30 + 1 large cake free deal from Blackbeard’s. We also visited the Del Sol store to purchase a T-shirt for my father-in-law who was babysitting out kitty cat at home. I also looked around for a little treat for Alyssa, but after wandering around a while, I didn’t find anything really that she would enjoy. Oh well. I knew the shopping in the port area wouldn’t be all that wonderful, and the prices were usually in Cayman dollars (~1.25 USD), which meant I would have to do math to figure the price. LOL!

Anyway, I really enjoyed just walking around with hubby and taking in the sights and snapping a few pictures. There were live chickens roaming EVERYWHERE, even in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken, which even I thought was quite funny! I guess I should explain that the bird community hates me, and after being accosted by ducks, seagulls, chickens, storks, turkey vultures, peacocks, and various other fowl at some point or another in my life, I’ve developed an unhealthy fear of any animal with feathers. And they can sense my fear for sure! So you can imagine how uneasy I was when almost every corner I turned, a rooster or hen would pop-up, giving me that one-eyed, you-want-a-piece-of-me?, cockeyed look. Lucky for me, though, it never came to blows and I escaped without incident.

(Hard to see, but the chicken is under the table on the left!)

Around noon, we were ready for a snack. The last tender to ship would leave at 2:00pm, but I wanted to get back to the ship before a big crowd gathered for the very last tender. So we decided that we would look around until around 12:30, then catch the tender back. We made our next mission locating the Dairy Queen we saw advertised when we first got to the pier that morning. I know, there’s plenty of ice cream on board, but that giant DQ sign made us crave a chocolate-dipped soft-serve ice cream cone. We walked several blocks until we reached another tender pier (at least I think that’s what is was) and never saw anything other than that same DQ sign! Argh! We turned around and headed in the opposite direction, past a Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, and STILL never saw the stupid Dairy Queen! Argh! By 12:30, I decided to call DQ the “mirage” of Grand Cayman, and was willing to settle for ice cream on the ship later on. Back to the tender we went!

At the gate, we ran into Joel, who, judging from his bags, had a more productive shopping trip than we did. He talked about how he met up with a friend of his (I swear, the guy is like Kevin Bacon, he knows so many people!), who was sailing on the Carnival Freedom, which was anchored between the Inspiration and the Disney Magic that day.

When the boat arrived, we made our way to the upper deck and happened to spot Cristian, the ship’s photographer from the night before. We chatted with Cristian for a little while and learned that his contract with Carnival began in November, and that he had only 2 months left before he could return to Romania to be with his girlfriend, who was finishing school. He said he doesn’t make it off the ship all that often, and that even today’s trip was just a 30-minute visit so that he could check his email and book his plane ticket at one of the internet cafes. I asked if he planned on signing on with Carnival again, and he said he did after a 2-month vacation, but that the next contract, he and his girlfriend would both be signing up.

(Cristian and Joel)

Back on board, we made our way through the normal x-ray/scanner procedure. Cristian was behind us, and when I glanced back, I saw that he had to remove his shoes for inspection. Wow.

To be continued...

[Lady_Jag]

Back on the Lido deck, we grabbed some lunch and an ice cream, chatted with Joel about our days, then to Camp Carnival to pick up Alyssa. We stopped by the cabin to drop off our stuff, and our bed had fresh sheets already. It seemed so inviting, I couldn’t resist a 10-minute power nap. Alex took Alyssa to the Waterdon’tworks area, and I headed up to the Serenity area for a little sun. The cushioned lounge chairs are nice, but man were they HOT after baking in the sun! I was glad for my towel to buffer the heat from the chair. It wasn’t long, though, before I moved to one of the two relaxing hot tubs in the area. Three names were called over the PA system several times. Yep! Someone must have missed the last tender back. We were scheduled to leave at 3:00pm, but didn’t start moving until around 3:15. (Later, Tia would tell me that she saw a late tender show up with 3 people on board.)

I checked in on Alex and Alyssa at the Waterdon’tworks area, and Alyssa was alternating between running around chasing a couple of little boys (I sure hope she grows out of that!), and scooping water out of the base of the slide area with some other little boy’s sand buckets. A brief chat with Alex, and I was off to play Twisted Scattegories near the Violins bar. I *almost* won! And considering I was a team of…well, just me…and played against 5-6 other teams of 3-5 people, I thought that was pretty good. I tied with 2 other teams for first, and since the social host had brought only one medal (never saw any sign of a ship on a stick this cruise), he had us answer trivia as a tie-breaker.

I got the first question right. The high school girl next to me got the second question. Third and final question was “what is the term for ½ a barrel of beer?” Ummmmm...leave it to the high schooler to know the answer was “keg.” LOL! Oh well.

Oh! There was one strange thing that happened during our game of Scattegories. We were sharing our answers for the final category, when the social host suddenly said, “Um. One minute. I’ll be right back.”

Then he ran…yes, ran…off and disappeared around the corner near the elevator bays. We all sat there looking at eat other and sharing looks of confusion. I checked my watch. It was 4:30, and the past guest party would begin at 5:00. Several minutes passed, and finally, the social host came back. We applauded. He grinned sheepishly, then said “God works in mysterious ways!” Ummmm…ok.

The past guest party was awesome! It was in the Paris lounge (main show lounge) at the front of the ship, so there was plenty of room for everyone. A band played, the free drinks flowed, and several servers made their way through the lounge with various appetizers. The woman singing invited everyone to dance on stage. “Don’t be shy!” she pleaded. That’s all Alyssa needed to drag her daddy up on stage. The two danced for quite a while until finally another little girl, younger than Alyssa, and her daddy walked up onto the stage. That would be it for Alex’s dance. Alyssa immediately cut in and started dancing with the other little girl, while Alex and the other dad stood awkwardly looking on. After a couple of minutes of just standing in the spotlight, the other dad held out his hands to Alex, and the two dads begin to dance. LOL! I couldn’t stop laughing! What a sport!

After that, no one else had any qualms with dancing on the main stage. The floor became quite crowded until it was time for the CD to introduce the captain and some of the senior officers then start the “Welcome home” Carnival movie. The band began to play again after the movie, so Alyssa dragged me up onto the stage to dance… but not with her. She merely wanted me to escort her to the stage so that she could again leave me standing there while she danced with two girls and their father. ??!?? I swear, if Alyssa wasn’t a mere 4 years old, I’d have a *serious* complex by now…oh wait…

I carried my third drink of the night, a screwdriver, to dinner with me. Alex carried Alyssa, who was sound asleep by the time we reached the table. Wow! We slid one of the chairs next to Alex’s and gently lay Alyssa across the chair and Alex’s lap. I covered little Sleeping Beauty with a sweater and linen napkin, and Alex folded up my wrap for a makeshift pillow. On and on she slept, until ½-way through dessert.

Tonight, I decided to give the melting cake another chance. I know, I know, it’s almost blasphemous not to like Carnival’s warm melting cake, but on my last cruise, I was served one that was way too overcooked, and I got turned off by the texture of what I could only describe as a burnt chocolate flan. Blah! So our head waiter, Nadel, set the WCMC in front of me and…it was not melting. Chocolate flan again. Bummer.

We gathered up our belongings, and Alex said he would stay with Alyssa in the cabin so that I could see the show – a magician of sorts, and the a comedian, Allyn Ball. Before we could leave the table though, our assistant waiter, Marichu, was calling me. “Ma’am! Ma’am!” I turned, and she handed me the digital camera my niece, Kelsey had left behind. I thanked her, then headed back to the cabin to drop off my own camera and order room service for Alyssa.

Now, it’s not often you’re literally handed an opportunity to be mischievous! But at the same time, my niece was only 12, so I didn’t want to get too crazy. So I used her camera to take a picture of Alex and Alyssa making a silly face. Then Alex took a picture of the inside of his mouth. I took a picture of my eye, and a couple of pictures of Alyssa’s (clothed) butt. Before we could think of any other “Easter eggs” to hide on Kelsey’s camera, she was knocking on her door. I opened the door, smiled and handed it to her without a word about the pictures. I hoped she wouldn’t discover them until after the cruise. LOL!

 

The show tonight was ok. The magician was someone I must have seen on another cruise, or maybe on a TV show, because I already knew every bit of his act. Allyn Ball was hilarious! There were plenty of kids sitting in the front row, so he had to keep it tame, but I found him very funny. After the show, I wandered into the photo gallery and bought a couple of our formal night pictures from Cristian. Then back to the cabin to shower and go to bed. Tomorrow would be my favorite day of the cruise – our day at Cozumel!

Tonights towel animal...a turtle?

[Lady_Jag]

View from the tender

 

 

Lifeboat drill in progress

 

Another shot of the famous funnel

 

Lido stage

 

Lido pool

[Bostonguy2010]

Keep up the good work! Cant wait to hear/read more!

[Lady_Jag]

Our "Stingray Encounter"...sort of...

 

Atlantis Submarine excursion

 

Carnival Freedom

 

Blue iguana

 

Plane coming in for a landing (upper right)

 

Fresh coconut

[Lady_Jag]

Nadel and Katie bust a move.

 

And so does Kelsey (left) and Marichu

 

Alyssa wanted her picture taken with a couple of the officers at the PG party.

 

Daddy-Daughter dance

 

Daughter-Daughter dance

 

My nemesis (I call fowl play!)

[Lady_Jag]

Keep up the good work! Cant wait to hear/read more!

 

Thank you! I'm going to call it a night and pick up tomorrow evening. :)

[RedRam99V8]

You still have the best reviews! laura! Hopefully I can make it into your reviews here the end of next month! I do a great knee slapping routine! Just joking! :D

[MrsBlair]

This is such a great review! Can't wait to read more. :)

[Lady_Jag]

You still have the best reviews! laura! Hopefully I can make it into your reviews here the end of next month! I do a great knee slapping routine! Just joking! :D

 

Thanks, Frank!

And it sounds like a plan to me! You do your routine, and I'll document it all and take pictures as "evidence." ;)

[Lady_Jag]

This is such a great review! Can't wait to read more. :)

 

Thank you! We really did have a great time, and writing a recap is helping relive it. :)