"VALENTINES DAY AT SEA" a cruisin USA "LONG and LENGTHY" review

[Koval]

Haven't taken a cruise yet where we weren't given something with a misspelled word on it. LOL!!!! Carnival typed "out" instead of "our".

On My first Cruise they had written Sail and Sin cards' date=' on something explaining about how to use them...I thought, are we going to sin?[/b']

 

 

Gary, what a Nice afternoon read for me,

thank you so much for your time and effort putting this all on the boards.

Maybe we will see you on the Hawaiian cruise...

[loltastic]

Excellent review! Thank you for taking the time to write it!!!

[CalgonCruiser]

I too, wanna express my thanks for a great review and lovely read. Please reconsider posting future reviews...Not all people respond, but several (me, included) read and stalk picture reviews without commenting. Sea ya, hopefully soon.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Gary please say it ain't so, this can't be your last review!!!

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Great review! We just booked the Miracle out of NYC looking forward to it.

[silvercrikhix]

Thank you, Gary, for sharing your experience! I really enjoyed your points of view. May the sun continue to shine upon you and the winds to fill your sails!! :D

[cruisin USA]

back from oblivion for a few moments.......

 

 

I haven't been back to this thread since I finished it. I just needed to step away for a bit. When I came back tonight, I found some really nice comments.......

 

 

Thank you, Gary, for sharing your experience! I really enjoyed your points of view. May the sun continue to shine upon you and the winds to fill your sails!! :D

 

 

silvercrikhix........What a beautiful sentiment. Thank you...And same to you!!

 

 

 

Jimmy Geegitz and Lady_Jag......I (along with most of CC) LOVE this ship!! I'm betting you will too!! (I would like to pre-cruise in NYC someday....sigh)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did notice something funny that I didn't mention in the review. Does anyone know why they'd "white paint" over the Carnival logo on the ship? I mean...It's etched in their already....You might as well highlight it. Right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

keenestatemom.......{{{{{Gail}}}}} I hoped that I could help bring you along for this cruise. I remember you on the roll call, and I know you were really looking forward to it.....Good Luck, and God Bless.

 

 

Jim, Allen and the rest of the VD@C peeps.......Sorry we can't make it with you on the Conquest. Our traveling on the Breeze this December makes it too difficult. However..(tossing the ball over to your side of the court)..You and your gang are more than welcome to join us for a "Miracle" reunion to Hawaii next October. It's an official CC group, so you can get $100 in OBC(from what I've been told)..The Roll Call peeps so far seem like a fun group.

 

 

Speaking of which......

 

Koval, LUPY48, and Mountainbreeze.........81+ weeks and counting!!! (See you over on the roll call)....and Koval, you will definitely see Mary Ann and myself aboard. We kinda stick out(in that beauty and the beast sort of way.....hehe). We'll probably make it to a few of the CC /rollcall functions.(Count me out on the "fastest down the waterslide" competition...hehe). As I told ALL the peeps in the last roll call, "Please feel free to come up and say "Hello" to us.

 

 

To Ms Fun Bunch, Calgon Cruiser, loltastic, Seniorstallion, LizaMM, teacher34, wayland168, Jifner, New2Crusing24, LynnAnne, lotusbogardi, and SoundDawg........

 

Thank you ALL for your kind words.......All I'll say at this point about posting another review........ "Like the man said.....Never Say Never"

 

 

I think that about covers it...

 

 

Thank you all again,

 

 

Gary aka cruisin USA

[NeuroQueen]

I do not know how I have missed your reviews before, but they are all spectacular!! I have now read all of them and you are a master storyteller! Loved your pictures, especially the ones of you and the rock stars. Happy sailing.

[WeBeCruisin']

 

 

Jim, Allen and the rest of the VD@C peeps.......Sorry we can't make it with you on the Conquest. Our traveling on the Breeze this December makes it too difficult. However..(tossing the ball over to your side of the court)..

Gary, you get a second chance!

 

Jim is putting together a back-to-back on the Victory for October 10-19 2013. It is 4 days plus 5 days and will include Key West, Cozumel, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau. Out of Miami. It will be most of us you met on the Miracle and maybe 30 or so more who are some of the greatest people in the world to cruise with. If you want more information, I'm at jahmonduu@aol.com. Would love to have you join us.

[LUPY48]

Gary, please email me at shathe1@aol.com so we can connect via a 'popular' social media site about the Hawaii cruise, where we can chat 'openly'.

[Scrapbookhappy11]

Great review and pictures! Did you by any chance find the keys?

[oncruisecontrol]

....continuing....

 

 

 

 

 

We had pretty much circled town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took a photo of the "cruise ship" next to ours. (I know which one I'd rather be on!!)

 

 

 

We came full circle, and ended up at the stairs to Iguana Joes.

 

 

 

We worked our way up the stairs. It was definitely time for a cool drink. We'd been here before. It was CROWDED. Couldn't even get a spot at the bar. We didn't stay. Just walked along the upstairs sidewalk between the building. We stopped in a shop. Mary Ann bought a sun dress and a cool Ed Hardy lighter(she had left her's aboard ship). I saw a "All Who Enter Must Surrender the Booty" sign that intrigued me.(It would go great with our towel) I didn't buy it(but ended up buying one later).We ended up at "Mojitos" bar to rest our weary(hot) bones. Saw a couple of the ships personel there enjoying themselves. It's cool that Carnival encourages it's staff to co-mingle.(Watch out for those Italian officers though...hehe). After our rest, we headed back to the ship for to refresh, and drop our souveniers off.

 

 

 

....to be continued....

 

I'm really enjoying your review. You have a wonderful writing style. I have a quick question: The areas around town where Iguana Joe's and the casinos and shops are.....is that within walking distance from where the ship docks?

[oncruisecontrol]

ahem.......continuing......(I guess "resuming" would be more accurate)

 

 

 

 

 

We were back off in about an hour. Found the cabstand. The driver said it'd be $15 to take us to Palm Beach. $15 apiece I ask? Nope, just $15. I asked if it would be easy to get a cab back. He said "No Problem" just come back to where I'm dropping you off, and talk to the man in front behind the podium. We entered the cab. The island was much more developed since we'd been here last. On the way, we spotted a Dominos Pizza, a Quiznos. McDonalds, and a Wendys. This island even has it's own Harley Davidson dealership(talk about Americanized). The strip across from the Palm Beach hotels had grown ENORMOUSLY. Bars and Restaurants lined the whole stretch. Most notable was the addition of the Hard Rock....The driver dropped us off at the Radisson. We just walked right out to the beach. Heck with a day pass. We brought our towel. It was a little walk to the beach. We just followed the sand trail out through the pool area, and out onto the beach.

 

 

 

One more question: How long was the cab ride from the taxi stand to Palm Beach? I'm guessing that it must have been a short drive since it cost only $15.00 for the two of you?

[lucybug95]

Thanks so much for the awesome review. Not even going on this ship but just spent most of the night drinking Bud Light and loving the review!!!! Glad you had such an awesome time. We will be on the Dream this summer and hope to have as good of a time as ya'll seem to have. :D

[fraubritta]

can anyone tell me if there is a venue for ballroom dancing on the Carnival Ships?

[cruisin USA]

Came back to find some more people had posted to this thread..

 

 

fraubritta.....I don't know of any ballroom dancing on the ships. But I think it would be a fabulous idea for the ships to have a dance class each night(I think a "dirty" dancing class would be a HIT for couples). Ballroom, Latina, Hip Hop, whateva!! There's usually plenty of open spaces with "piped in" music capabilities. Beards take note....hehe

 

 

Lucybug95.....Have a GREAT trip!!! and thank you for your kind words.

 

 

oncruisecontrol....It's a short walk from the ship to the shopping district. 10 minutes tops.

 

 

(Down through the Multicolored awning in the left window. Hit main street, and make a right)

 

The cab ride to Palm beach was between 10 and 15 minutes.

 

 

Scrapbookhappy....As stated in the review.....My bartender texted me the first day(while we were in Ft. Lauderdale) that she had found the keys on top of a bag of beer can empties,. Sure took a load off my mind, and I hope that it never happens again!!!

 

 

LUPY.....Hope all is well. Talk to you soon.....I have been following the roll call thread, and it seems to be more on topic these days. But in this review, I did mention that we weren't too much into "roll calls" anyway.

 

 

WEBECRUISIN!! Allen!!!!! We'd LOVE to join you all again, and I'm SURE it will happen. However, We're going to be going to Hawaii on the Miracle from Oct 19th -Nov 5th 2013.....You sure had a fun bunch(and now I know why you didn't make it an "official" CC party....I had been wondering). I'll be in touch, and I'm sure we'll cruise together again!

 

 

NeuroQueen....thank you for your kind words. If I would have had more time, I would have gone into greater detail, but I'm a busy man.

 

 

Thank you all for your comments......Back off into oblivion.

 

 

Gary aka cruisin USA

[LTyler]

Hi Gary - i finally hot some time yo read your great review thanks for sending me the link love the Aero picture also!!! I hope we get a fall show in Vegas this year but I maybe on a cruise then hope all is well by you happy cruising and Aerosmith!!!!! :):)

 

Lisa - do u like my screen name lol!!!?!?!

[pwilliams1952]

Gary, thank you so much for taking the time to post such wonderful reviews. You are a master storyteller who knows how to leave your readers wanting more. Even though it took me the better part of the afternoon and early evening to read this, I couldn't put it down. You rock!

 

I guess I'll see you on the Miracle in Oct 2013. I can hardly wait.

 

Thanks:D

[kenrod]

cruisin USA

Thank you for an excellent review! I thoroughly enjoyed your narrative and pictures.

 

This is an itinerary that I wanted to take, but the Carnival Miracle won't be sailing this route for now. I believe the Carnival Freedom has taken over.

 

Anyhow, thank you very much.