Carinval Glory - NYC to New England... A Memoir

[Delta Hotel]

Your oldest daughter has very nice penmanship and I love your youngest daughter's drawing.

 

Thank you. It's always nice to hear favorable things about your kids. Kind of makes me beam a little. We love them very much, despite their parents.

[hc14]

well i definitely look forward to reading more of your review(s)

[SnowWhiteNYC]

Thank you. It's always nice to hear favorable things about your kids. Kind of makes me beam a little. We love them very much, despite their parents.

 

lol

 

Please sir I want some more!

 

Loving your review...seriously...Thank you for taking the time!

[pe4all]

I am now PARANOID about using my credit card!:D And on top of that, I just realized that we will have to wait till 2012 for your next cruise memoir! Can't you squeeze one in before that? Or make this one last till then? Pleeaase?

[rnvattes]

Ok, aside from being a very interesting writer, I just wanted to tell you that you're a very cool Dad. Your girls are fortunate.

(I'm sure Shaky is a fabulous Mom as well :))

 

Agreed. Have found myself thinking this several times. The whole rock thing kind of got to me and I was a little verklempt for a moment.

 

Good Dads are too few in this world. Good for you for being one of them!!!

[hockeyluver]

Catrin,

 

Thank you, that is so sweet. We're both glad that so many people seem to be enjoying it.

 

And, BTW, thanks for calling me Shaky and not BEEF. I really do dislike being called BEEF (or Mrs. Beef).

 

LOL everytime he calls you mrs. beef it makes me crack up, my daughter is dating a guy and his last name is LeBeof (the beef) and that is his nickname, they had been together for a while and she said Oh me and Nic are going out to dinner and a movie tonight..." I said what happened did you and Beef break up... she said uhhhh no Beefs name is Nic. :D :D :D so some day my daughter could very well be Mrs. Beef

 

 

Ok i took a few days off of reading so i could enjoy my morning reading with my coffee in hand.......

[armymomjarmatt]

Your review is better than great. ALthough it is the reason that I am still sitting in my pj's at 9:34 am!

 

The java flavored syrup I used to get on amazon. I havent checked in a while for it but I did get it a few months ago.

[hockeyluver]

Sorry I spelt that wrong it is LeBoeuf... I stand corrected.

 

It is very common for cars to stop and let pedestrians cross the road, pedestrians have the right of way. I still check to make sure the car is going to slow down thought :D I am really interested in cruising the east coast now!!

[ShakyBeef]

LOL everytime he calls you mrs. beef it makes me crack up, my daughter is dating a guy and his last name is LeBeof (the beef) and that is his nickname, they had been together for a while and she said Oh me and Nic are going out to dinner and a movie tonight..." I said what happened did you and Beef break up... she said uhhhh no Beefs name is Nic. :D :D :D so some day my daughter could very well be Mrs. Beef

 

 

Ok i took a few days off of reading so i could enjoy my morning reading with my coffee in hand.......

 

The Beef, that's great. Even better that it was the only name you knew him by.:p

[mizLORInj]

Enjoying the memoir!

Note to others: the CAD to US$ currency conversion mentioned is not accurate (I think writer was kidding about $12.99CAD = $57 USD?!); US$ is almost the same as CAD.

Happy sailing!

[ShakyBeef]

I am now PARANOID about using my credit card!:D And on top of that, I just realized that we will have to wait till 2012 for your next cruise memoir! Can't you squeeze one in before that? Or make this one last till then? Pleeaase?

 

 

That whole credit card machine thing kinda freaked me out a little bit, too. When I found out about it for the first time. Last night while proofreading his post.

 

He never even told me, Mrs. Paranoid About Security anything about that at the time. He didn't even mention it afterwards - something like, "Oh by the way, Wifey, you might want to keep an extra close eye on the credit card statement for fraudulant charges after using that machine."

 

Nope. I found out about the whole thing just last night.:rolleyes:

[ShakyBeef]

Enjoying the memoir!

 

Note to others: the CAD to US$ currency conversion mentioned is not accurate (I think writer was kidding about $12.99CAD = $57 USD?!); US$ is almost the same as CAD.

 

Happy sailing!

 

 

Yes, that is his usual sarcastic humour. The fact that the Canadian dollar is now stronger than the American dollar does not make most Americans proud. He was poking fun at that shame of ours. In the above conversion, he originally had it typed as $12.99 CAD = about $34 USD. I suggested he exaggerate the amount even more, to $57 USD so that it would be clear he was joking. I guess we failed.:o

 

 

Edited to add: Just in case it isn't obvious, the bookmark for $4 CAD being $13.50 USD is also an exaggeration/joke.

Edited July 20, 2011 by ShakyBeef

[pe4all]

It is very common for cars to stop and let pedestrians cross the road, pedestrians have the right of way. I still check to make sure the car is going to slow down thought :D I am really interested in cruising the east coast now!!

Warning! If you take the Glory out of NY to Canada as Delta did, beware!! NY drivers will NOT stop for you!:p:D

[Delta Hotel]

[The following segment IS a part of the memoir, this line however, is not]

 

For documentation purposes, here is a map of Halifax, and the route we took through the city. We start from the ship, and continue on the red line to the Maritime Museum. After the museum we keep walking until we reach the end of the waterfront. We turn left and head up George Street until we reach the Citadel, only stopping for a few minutes at the park in the middle. After leaving the Citadel (blue line), we walk one block south to Prince Street then walk back down the hill to the waterfront area. We stop for lunch at Hamachi Steakhouse then walk back to the ship.

 

[BSUGrad]

I am loving your review. I also agree with you. I am not overly paranoid, but I am always surprised when people post so many personal photos of themselves, especially kids. Too many issues to think about. Looking forward to the rest.

 

I have always been curious about this. How does posting a picture on-line make you any less secure? What exactly could I do with a picture of someone from the internet? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I am just genuinely curious...I don't understand what the security risk is.

[Delta Hotel]

I have always been curious about this. How does posting a picture on-line make you any less secure? What exactly could I do with a picture of someone from the internet? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I am just genuinely curious...I don't understand what the security risk is.

 

Hey BSUGrad,

Your question is simple, but the answer is very complex, and the possibilities are endless for how to use someone's picture. For example (and this is completely fictional, but realistic), lets say that you find a thread on CC where someone is talking about taking a cruise in a few weeks such as a roll call. If that person provides their home town (which many do), their first names (which many do) and perhaps their occupation, the kind of car they drive, their employer, the name of their kid's school, etc... It's pretty easy to use these bits of information to find their full names, their addresses, and other useful information.

 

If they post a picture of their kid, and it's easily deduced where their kid goes to school, a pedofile could go to the school and easily pick them out using their posted picture. The possibilities are endless for someone who thinks this way.

 

If you can deduce someone's address (which isn't all that hard), you can go to their house and rob them while they're on vacation. That's a common one.

 

Pictures of people's faces are more valuable than one might think. I have done IT security consulting for large police departments and local governments. It's amazing what you can do with just a picture of someone's face. Even Google's Picassa freeware program has a very impressive facial recognition system and database cataloging ability. If you apply these technologies with purpose and mal intent, a lot of harm can be done.

 

I know how this stuff can be used for good and bad. If me keeping personal information and pictures off of Cruise Critic even remotely prevents my family from being a news article or statistic, I'll gladly do it.

 

Boy... I think this might have been the most serious moment on this thread, yet!

 

DH

[ShakyBeef]

Just to add to DH's above post...

 

We participate in roll calls and like getting to know our fellow cruisers. We share a lot about us with people here on CC (as this ridiculously log memoir proves:rolleyes:).

 

We just don't want to share the pertinent details that DH mentioned above with anybody and everybody that could be shopping these forums and other online sites for victims.

 

I believe (hope) our fellow roll call members have gotten some sense of "knowing" us before they first "meet" us onboard, even if they don't know our real names, yet.;):)

[gwtw328]

just wondering because we were, enjoying your blog very much.

thanks for the laugh. From Delta Papa

[hockeyluver]

Enjoying the memoir!

Note to others: the CAD to US$ currency conversion mentioned is not accurate (I think writer was kidding about $12.99CAD = $57 USD?!); US$ is almost the same as CAD.

Happy sailing!

 

as of today $1.00 U.S. is worth 1.05 Canadian :D going tomorrow and buying up some for our January cruise :p

[Kerryman50]

I believe (hope) our fellow roll call members have gotten some sense of "knowing" us before they first "meet" us onboard, even if they don't know our real names, yet.;):)

 

:D:);):cool:

[Delta Hotel]

just wondering because we were, enjoying your blog very much.

thanks for the laugh. From Delta Papa

 

No, we weren't on the 4th of July cruise, we were on the 18th to 23rd of June cruise.

[Delta Hotel]

Sorry folks, I was going to post my next... post, but Photobucket is down for maintenance =(

 

I'll check back in the morning!

 

DH

[ShakyBeef]

as of today $1.00 U.S. is worth 1.05 Canadian :D going tomorrow and buying up some for our January cruise :p

 

Woo hoo! When did that happen (hoping that means the USD went up and not that the CAD went down:o)? It was just about the opposite of that($1.03 USD = $1.00 CAD) while we were there last month.

[hockeyluver]

Woo hoo! When did that happen (hoping that means the USD went up and not that the CAD went down:o)? It was just about the opposite of that($1.03 USD = $1.00 CAD) while we were there last month.

 

Did i mess that up ok lets see $1.00 Canadian will get me $1.05 U.S. ok i think i got it right this time :p :p all I know is that i am buying as much U.S. now as I can!!

[Delta Hotel]

This next picture is slightly out of order, but I thought it was worth putting in here, so here it is. This is the Price Water House Copper building on the waterfront, with the reflection of the Canadian flag in the mirrored glass. This picture was taken while walking back to the ship from lunch.

 

 

Then we board the ship. I like going into the ports, and I really enjoy seeing new places, but there’s just a simple and indescribable relief when you set foot back onto the ship. When both of my feet are safely on the ship’s deck, I can stop worrying about “ship’s time”, “All Aboard”, “Come back here, sir… you’re going to have to pay for that meal”, and those other annoying problems on land. Now, I can just relax, drink beer, and look forward to my next meal.

 

We plod directly back to the cabin. Daughter #1’s jeans are still covered in mud. Daughter #2 is tired from sitting in a stroller all day and falling. I’m tired and achy from walking all day, and Wifey’s… well, I don’t know about her.

 

When we get back to the room, Wifey begins taking care of Daughter #1’s jeans. From the time we get back to our cabin until dinner, I have no memory, no pictures, and no evidence of being conscious… which probably means that I flopped down on the bed and fell asleep until dinner.

 

Sometime before 6PM, I wake up, reach over to my nightstand and grab my camera. I pick up my camera from the bedside table like some people would reach over for their glasses or their teeth. I’m guessing Wifey woke me up after her shower and she was already dressed. I don’t require much prep time for dinner, so she lets me snore until just a few minutes before we need to walk out of the room. Again, she’s thoughtful like that.

 

The girls are dressed for dinner and are playing in the cabin while waiting for us to be ready. They make a little temporary playhouse out of the closet door and the bathroom door. All I can see is their feet under the doors, and all I can hear is their giggling and “character” voices.

 

 

It’s just a few minutes before dinner, so we head down to the MDR. We left the cabin with only minutes to spare, so we didn’t go anywhere else before dinner. We were seated and began our normal dinner routine. Two waiters offered me bread shortly after sitting down (both of which I refused); but we had to request our wine bottle from the night before. Normally, our unfinished wine bottle from the previous night would be waiting at our table for us when we entered the MDR.

 

For my dinner entrée, I know that I have my Indian food coming, so I look over the menu with the freedom of knowing that whatever I order, there’d be an entire Indian entrée coming with it. For some reason, I take comfort in knowing that I’ve got a fall-back plan in case I’m disappointed with my entrée, but I have no idea what they’ll bring me for my Indian dish. I really have no idea, but I still feel like it’s going to be a better bet than what’s written on the menu. Strange, I know.

 

Both daughters order the fruit salad for their appetizer. The picture below is the 5-year-old’s plate, not the 8-year-old’s plate; the two plates are almost identical, but I have been asked by Daughter #1 to specifically mention that this picture is Daughter #2’s plate.

 

 

For my appetizer, I order the fried shrimp sticks with sweet and sour sauce with fried rice and some kind of leafy salad with vinaigrette.

 

I normally like a lot of dressing on my salads. I don’t like my salad to be completely drenched in dressing, and I don’t want so much that it appears that I had some kind of soup when I finish my greens. There shouldn’t be a pool of dressing at the bottom when I’m finished – just a nicely even coating of dressing along the bowl. I want just enough dressing to marble each leaf, tomato, piece of cheese, mushroom, or whatever’s in my salad. I’m not talking about 100% coverage, either. In a perfect salad scenario, I would want less than 50% coverage on any given piece, but that’s 50% coverage on all items, not spotty coverage so that I get heavy dressing on one bite, and all dry leafy stuff on the next bite.

 

This salad comes out with plenty of dressing. It’s on the side, and in a little, proud, white bowl. I wouldn’t normally describe a bowl or other item in a place-setting as “proud”, but this little bowl really seemed as though it could take on all of the other dishes and plates in a fist fight. It was short, thick, and only as elegant as it needed to be, but otherwise purely functional. I don’t think it would necessarily win the fight with the other dishes, but it might be a close call. Of course, we’re talking a one-on-one fight – not all of the other dishes at one time, that’s just not fair at all.

 

 

You were expecting me to have a picture of the little dressing bowl, weren’t you? Well, I don’t. And I’m not going to apologize for it.

 

Mom orders the fried mozzarella, but they’re not like mozzarella sticks. They look like over-sized chicken nuggets or small fried fish fillets. Mom takes a bite of her first fried mozzarella nugget and does her normal mouth-closed-but-mumbling-from-the-corner-with-food-still-in-there, “Mmmmm, that’s good…” Daughter #2 is interested in the fried chunk-of-stuff. She doesn’t know what it is, but it’s fried, and looks like fried chicken, chicken nuggets, or one of the many breaded and fried things that she’s familiar with.

 

With Mom’s permission, I offer her some of it without telling her what’s inside of it. As I pick one up with my fork and start moving it toward her, she feels the trap being set, and pulls her face back a little, looks me in the eye, and says, “What’s in it?”

 

I wasn’t surprised by this, and was even expecting it. I had a plan. In case you didn’t already know (and why would you?), Daughter #2 doesn’t like cheese. More accurately, she doesn’t think that she likes cheese. She eats cheese almost every day as a part of something else, and says nothing about it. However, if you tell her that it’s cheese; she’ll refuse it –even if she’s already begun eating it and knows that she likes it. It’s some kind of 5-year-old kid principle thing. Whatever… it’s not hard to work around a 5-year-old’s principles.

 

I hold the fork over the plate about 8 inches in front of her face, and I say, “yummy stuff, you’ll like it. It’s like a chicken nugget, but it’s not chicken.” Anyone that’s 7-years-of-age or older would quickly realize that I didn’t really answer the question. The 5-year-old does not. She gives a quick shrug and gives her “I guess if Daddy says it’s not chicken, it’s not chicken” face and takes a bite from the corner. I can see her tongue and mouth working through the breading and reach the cheese. Her face goes through several expressions of realization within a second or two. She settles on her “It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t like it” face. I ask her, “Would you like another bite?” She replies softly and politely, “No thank you, Daddy. I don’t want any more of that.” I’m satisfied, and don’t push it anymore. At least I didn’t have to tell her it was cheese.

 

 

Daughter #1 eats most of her fruit, choosing to leave one chunk of honeydew on her plate for last. She moves the honeydew to her bread plate. She takes her knife and fork and quietly begins to carve the honeydew chunk into a little chair. No one at the table notices that she’s doing this until she puts her knife and fork down, turns her plate strategically, lays her hands in her lap, and smiles at me until I notice her. From the corner of my eye, I notice her movements and look over to her. She’s smiling at me and says, “It’s a chair.”

 

I smile back, and say, “Yes. Yes it is.” I reach back and swing my camera around from the back of the chair where it hangs during dinner and snap a picture of her chair. I quickly review the picture on the little LCD screen for lighting, color, exposure, sharpness, and general composition. As I lower my camera from my face indicating that I’m done with my picture, she looks down that the little honeydew chair, waits for Wifey’s acknowledgement of her mini-fruit-sculpture, and then takes her fork and eats it.