Here ya go.....another Legend review, another perspective

[JohnBoy in NC]

I still live in the town I grew up in' date=' the town my mama is buried in. My sister lives less than a mile away and we talk almost every single day. Her two kids and my two kids think of both of us as their mamas almost. Our dad lives about 8 miles from us, and our brother just a few miles further off of the same road.[/quote']

 

Enjoying your review - we sail the Legend in January...this time with 2 other couples...one of which is a cruise newbie and their son has the same condition (he is not going this time...but if they like cruising he may in the future!)

 

What part of NC do you live? We all live in central NC - around Pittsboro area (near Chapel Hill). Been enjoying your southern/food references....as I am a NC native. :)

 

Blessings

John in NC

[Andoria]

:::::::Applause::::::::::: Really great review. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

[ibskinny]

Awesome review!! thanks again for posting.

[mrivers451]

Great review!! Makes me feel like I am on the ship! 6 weeks and counting until we are aboard the Legend.

 

Just a quick question what was the website to find the info about the resort for a day in GC? We will be taking our 14 mo. old son on his first cruise and it would be great to be able to bring him back to an a/c room for his nap.

[hbrote]

Thank you for sharing your cruise.... I have found it entertaining and informative in the way it was presented. Enjoy the kids for they will be grown and out before you know it.

[KroozFoolz]

Thanks! Absolutely great review!

[JFontaine]

This is my first day on the Carnival board and I stumbled across this review, which really should be required reading for a host of good reasons. Summer - I've had tears in my eyes from that first shrimp, to the kyak and the monkey and dozens of photos of smiling, happy kids. I wish you and your family many wonderful adventures.

 

(And a tip - I have problems with tenders - so I always stand back and let everyone board until I get a signal that it is ready to go, at which point I hop on. This puts me in a good spot to get off fairly quickly. I understand that this method could lead to anxiety about the tender 'leaving without you' (it won't) and I offer my experience with the utmost respect and without one doubt that you have carefully planned ahead.)

[summercruisin']

A few final thoughts, as promised...

 

First (and bear with me here - and if you can't bear a little mushy stuff, feel free to skip to the bulleted items), I have read many complaints here on CC, and in my 9 cruises spread over 13 years I have seen lots of changes, which one might label as good and bad. Sometimes things go perfectly; sometimes not so much so. If you are not happy with something, please, please....for the sake of your own personal well-being.....let it go. Life is so very short (losing my mom and three babies tells me this!) and so very precious. We hear it all the time and tend to disregard it as trite, but it is so very true, and there is not much worse than regret when you realize you didn't take advantage of what you have! Each and every one of us is given challenges and blessings. I take every advantage I have to remind my high school students.....we are mere humans. We can choose to learn from the challenges we are given. I embrace life without my mom (even though it sucks!) and life with an autistic child, because without my support and love, what will he have? Most importantly, I focus on the blessings - My mom had a lasting impact on me and left me well equipped to handle life. I am able to help my son and celebrate the many wonderful things about him....in fact, if it weren't for him, I would not seek out graduate level eduation to help both him and others and I simply wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't have a greater appreciation (and PATIENCE!) for the special differences in each and every person. And I am so lucky to have DD, who is without a doubt my sunshine in life, plus family and health and enough money to travel but not much else! Tonight, like every night, we snuggled before she went to bed (she demands that and I wouldn't have it any other way), and she wrapped her tiny arm around me and whispered, "I LOVE you, mama." There is nothing you or Carnival can give me.....nothing that money can buy....that can even TOUCH the value of this....and nothing you take away from me matters in comparison either. A cruise, with freebies or without, is just icing on the proverbial cake of life.

 

 

Put life in perspective....free drinks, being first in line, how many loads of laundry you get for free, whether your card is the "right" color and you have to wait in line with those with a less-valuable color, whether or not the tips are fair....NONE of this matters when you are faced with and charged with helping the people you love make a positive difference in this world. Yes, it sucks that there used to be more than one free drinking opportunity and now there are not plus now your free drinks are at an inconvenient time, and it sucks that Carnival doesn't pay the good people who make our trip memorable nearly enough, and it sucks that Carnival is letting people buy their way into YOUR just desserts when you have EARNED it by being so wealthy as to cruise 10 or more times, and, heck, it really sucks that your food isn't awesome every. single. time., and it sucks that sometimes people break in line or act rude or fail to "control their bratty kids".....but really? If these are your complaints, you are soooooooo lucky compared to the VAST majority of the world (and even to your neighbors!).

 

 

 

Okay, off the soapbox. Here are a few final points....

• we missed a lot of stuff. I have the Funtimes for each day if you are curious about what we missed, but I cannot comment on those things. We were too busy doing whatever we needed to do to enjoy our time with our family. There were some things we wished we had done--the passenger talent show; a comedy show, especially for just me and DH; the piano bar (but it was always empty :(); the ice carving demo; tea time; the marriage show; trivia and more!). However, we seriously didn't regret a moment.
  
• the food was always just as good if not better than what I've served at home (and I'm a serious cook).
  
• the drinks were fine. I don't cruise for drinks (free or otherwise), but I do think a frou-frou drink is a nice touch, and if it is free, even better.
  
• the "perks" for cruising 9, 8, 4, and 3 times were fair enough. Anytime I get special attention or something for free, I think that is just great. It doesn't matter to me if I got more attention or more free stuff last time. Still a treat. We got free drinks, pins, an invitation to the gold/platinum/diamond party, and several people acting like they cared that we were back.
  
• Camp Carnival was great. It felt safe and comfy for my DD when she wanted to be there. When we got off at ports, both of our children were with us at all times. I am not of the mindset to send DD to CC so that I can be a "free" adult. If that were the case, I'd leave her and DS home with responsible family members (like we did when we went to an AI in Aruba!). If I go on a family vacation, I expect to be with my family.
  
• The photo opportunities on board are a decent deal considering you can get as many pics as you want taken, and you just buy what you want. They are expensive, but if the photographers catch a great look, it is very much worth it.
  
• I wish I had tried the martini tasting (just sayin').
  
• I bought trip insurance through an outside agency, and although I didn't have to use it, I'm glad I had it. My 67 year old dad lives on his own and is just getting over treatment (both surgical and chemical) for cancer as well as having been in a motorcycle accident that almost killed him. It was good to know that we wouldn't lose everything if we had to cancel to help him.
  
• I wish our neighbors had not left their balcony light on all week. It wasn't a huge deal, but there was a night that I wished I could see the stars. I think they didn't even realize they had it on permanently and could turn it off.
  
• People slammed doors and we could hear them. People ran in the halls too. These were annoying. We still enjoyed our cruise.
  
• Our room steward came twice a day and did a good job keeping everything straight. We never formally met him. I think we passed him in the hall twice. He gave us ice every day without asking (obviously, since I'm not even sure that's who we saw in the hall....we sure didn't have to ask!). An assistant room steward greeted our DD by name at least twice. Although I would have liked to have known (for sure) who was making towel animals for us and moving our stuff around, I feel okay without that personal connection. Now that I know the stewards have to hand-sort the trash (learned that on JH's blog), I feel bad that he had to pick up DD's pull-ups since she still cannot get through the night completely dry (bless her).
  
• We were fine with the TV channels offered. We didn't watch much TV.
  
• We missed the real bands, both on the Lido deck and at the past guest party. Oh, and on the Promenade. Used to be really cool to listen to singers with a guitar or piano back-up while walking (often tipsy, I'll admit) along the Promenade. I have a picture of DS and me dancing to the crooning of a lady with piano accompaniment on the promenade when he was almost 5....I cherish it.
  
• Sometimes the elevators were slow. We didn't miss anything important because of that.
  
• A balcony is a nice splurge. An extended balcony is even better.
  
• I never made it to the Serenity Deck this time. I'll bet it was nice, though. Same goes for the gym and spa. I usually make a point to get to those spots at least once (if nothing else, to shower in the spa......nice!), but it just seemed that my kids needed my attention instead. And it was worth the sacrifice. But next time, I will work on DH giving me at least an hour or two to "disappear" in addition to the wine tasting that he allowed me this time, which was generous IMO.
  
• The beach towels......wish I had bought one this time. I say every time that I'm gonna get one. They clearly hold up well. They are nice sized. And the logo and ship emblazened on them look nice. I swear on my platinum cruise I'm so getting one!
  
• Chef's Table is worth every dollar, even with the "new" menu.
  
• There are puzzles along the Promenade that you can pick up to entertain yourself in a quiet moment. I picked up one that was a test of genius and claimed that most people can't answer half in one sitting (there were 32 questions) and that if you answered 19 you were a genius. I answered 18 in an hour with my kids distracting me :). Not sure if it was just made to make me feel good about myself, but it kinda did.
  
• I didn't make it to the casino, except to walk through a time or two (with DS holding his breath! :rolleyes:). I'm not much of a player anyway. I hope somebody won big, but I didn't hear about it.
  
• I wish we had eaten breakfast in the MDR at least once.
  
• I wish we had ordered room service at least once. DS almost did, but when he remembered that the peanut butter & jelly came toasted, he changed his mind.
  
• We bought a cruise certificate for $100. It was easy. You'll hear about it every day from about halfway through the week until the last day at sea. We can use it within two years (and get some onboard credit) or get a refund if we can't use it (it is "fully refundable"). I suspect we'll use it since my next cruise will be #10.....gotta fit that in before 12/31/2013 just for the sake of saying one of us earned platinum under the "grandfather clause." Especially since that one is me! :D
  
• If you book Carnival excursions, search the Internet for coupon codes first. It makes you feel a tiny bit better to get even a 10% discount on the overpriced excursions.
  
• Chef Panda rocks.
  

I think that is it. I appreciate everyone's nice words and support, and I hope I didn't turn off too many people with my mini diatribe earlier in this post. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer.

 

 

If you want to connect on Facebook to see other trip pictures, email me at pmain13@hotmail.com and tell me your CC name as well as the name I should look for on FB. I'll respond with my FB URL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good night, friends.

Edited August 9, 2012 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

This is my first day on the Carnival board and I stumbled across this review, which really should be required reading for a host of good reasons. Summer - I've had tears in my eyes from that first shrimp, to the kyak and the monkey and dozens of photos of smiling, happy kids. I wish you and your family many wonderful adventures.

 

(And a tip - I have problems with tenders - so I always stand back and let everyone board until I get a signal that it is ready to go, at which point I hop on. This puts me in a good spot to get off fairly quickly. I understand that this method could lead to anxiety about the tender 'leaving without you' (it won't) and I offer my experience with the utmost respect and without one doubt that you have carefully planned ahead.)

 

Thank you very much.

[summercruisin']

Awesome review!! thanks again for posting.

 

Great review!! Makes me feel like I am on the ship! 6 weeks and counting until we are aboard the Legend.

 

Just a quick question what was the website to find the info about the resort for a day in GC? We will be taking our 14 mo. old son on his first cruise and it would be great to be able to bring him back to an a/c room for his nap.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the resort info. Hopefully someone can help you out! You are right that it would be convenient with a 14 month old, though! DD was 18 months on her first cruise, and we were lucky to be able to schedule our port days so that she could be happy too!

 

 

Thank you for sharing your cruise.... I have found it entertaining and informative in the way it was presented. Enjoy the kids for they will be grown and out before you know it.

 

^--so true. They've already grown way too quickly right before our eyes!

 

Thank you all very much.

[summercruisin']

I have learned so much from you about your son's condition. He seems to handle himself very well. It takes a special set of parents to be able to handle some of the problems that can arise from having this. The two of you are angels! We have friends (two different sets) who each have sons with this condition. One just graduated from high school. He too is a map reader - anything to do with maps! The second is also in high school but now that my children our out, I do not see him much anymore. You have helped many of us to understand more about this, how to handle a child we might run into who has it, and possibly how to help if one needs help. Thank you for all of that.

 

Our grown son is ADD and has done very well. He did not outgrow it but is doing well as an adult with a wife, a daughter, and one more on the way. We had our trials and tribulations as well but nothing like what you are dealing with.

 

God bless you and your family! It was a joy to read about your trip! Makes me want to be on a ship right now! But, alas, I will have to wait until the end of the year. . . .

 

summercruisin', I really appreciate your openness in sharing your struggles, thoughts and rewards in dealing with your DS to fellow CC's. Your patience, devotion and love for your family is evident and your son is benefiting from it. It was wonderful that your family could go on this cruise and have such a wonderful time together. Overall, emotionally I think your DS handled this vacation very well and had a fantastic experience as was evident by the numerous photo's that you posted where a genuine smile was seen. Even the fact that your DS ate in the MDR all by himself is a remarkable sign of strength and confidence. I don't think that my DS's would even want to that! They would likely just pick up something from the Lido deck and head back to the cabin! :rolleyes:

 

Thank you for bringing us into your family and sharing your awesome cruise vacation with us. I wish you all the best and many more happy family times and wonderful memories together!

 

Enjoying your review - we sail the Legend in January...this time with 2 other couples...one of which is a cruise newbie and their son has the same condition (he is not going this time...but if they like cruising he may in the future!)

 

What part of NC do you live? We all live in central NC - around Pittsboro area (near Chapel Hill). Been enjoying your southern/food references....as I am a NC native. :)

 

Blessings

John in NC

 

 

We live near Greenville, so not far from you at all! (but you're near the big city! :D)

 

Thank you all for the nice words!

[summercruisin']

:::::::Applause::::::::::: Really great review. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

 

thank YOU!

[summercruisin']

What a wonderful review...one of the best I have read on these boards! I'm sure your candor educated a lot of people about dealing with a child on the autism spectrum and I can fully appreciate your feelings about your children after experiencing miscarriages (and threat of miscarriage with DD). I too, had 3 miscarriages before finally giving birth to my "miracle" twins! I was on bed rest the entire pregnancy because my twins threatened to miscarry for the first 20 weeks! Now, they are entering their senior year of high school (DD's first day is today!), so it seems like a long time ago, but I do remember the anguish of losing those pregnancies and the fear that went along with the twins' pregnancy!

 

You are doing a great thing by traveling with your kids...I think travel is a wonderful education! We did that with ours as well, and even lived overseas for 4 years.

 

I would love to see your facebook photos. I hope you do share your contact information!

 

Thanks again for a lovely review! I hope you don't mind, but I posted a link to it on the "best of" thread...http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1663308

 

 

Thank you for the kind words and for sharing my review! I'm so sorry you had to go through losing babies as well....it's so tough. And how awesome that you have twins all grown up (nearly!)! My first loss was an ectopic which took one of my tubes as well; the next two were miscarriages (one just days after having seen the heartbeat on ultrasound :(). It's all so heartbreaking, especially combined with not knowing what to expect, and (as you know) when you finally think it all just might work out but then realize you may lose that one (or two, in your case)....no words can explain. Blessings to you and your children! If you are like me, you mourn those losses but also know that the children you got are what you needed...just right for you.

[nanapapa23]

DH and I sail on the Legend Nov 18 so I am soaking up everything I can about the ship and parking. If you could include a info on the parking garage, it would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully, those rates will still be place when our time to cruise comes. Keep the pictures and the review coming. LOVING IT!:)

 

There is a parking garage across the street easy and very convenient, however it is $15.00 a day. We have parked there many times. There are other options, i.e. private lots which I need to research more. We sail Nov 18th.

[JohnBoy in NC]

We live near Greenville' date=' so not far from you at all! (but you're near the big city! :D)

[/quote']

 

Small world...I grew up in Greenville - moved when I was 10 yrs old. Stopped by my old neighborhood on way back from Manteo/Lost Colony this past weekend.

So glad you had a great cruise w/ your family! Enjoyed your soapbox post as well.

Enjoy the rest of the summer - God bless

 

John in NC

[crusinpsychRN]

I enjoyed your review immensely!

 

If you could, could you tell me what time trivia was on first sea day? I sail in Sept. and the roll call wants to do a M&G on that day, but not during trivia!

[TampaCouplePDB]

 

 

Thank you for this pic!!! We sailed her three years ago, but just DH and I. This time we are going with our children and have one of these rooms. We wondered what it looked like.

[estebofarr]

Loved your review and the pictures of your beautifulul children. I am so glad the trip was a success for your son especially. I always try to be extra tolerant of people with children as I could only imagine what is going on. I traveled with my four kids when they were small and now with the grand kids, and they always come up with something new. Thank you for the review and the time it took to write it and share with us.

[SoundDawg]

Awesome trip report!! I really enjoyed going on vacation with you! :D

[whisker2193]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We don't sail Legend until march of 2014 but I always like like looking. One question: how tdo you find the houses to rent when you travel? Any particular website? Thanks!

[RNGALNG]

Hi Leslie...

 

I had to do a lot of detective work to "find" you. It's a good thing you love bells so much!

 

This is Renee from the Coral Princess Panama Canal cruise in February.

 

How have you been? Looks like you were on another cruise.

 

I am trying to reach you to get the list of email addresses. I am so angry with ShipMate and their constant upgrades. Each time...they lose my contacts. They said that I had to register and I did. I was able to retrieve my canal itinerary but not my contacts.

 

Letme know how I can reach you...

 

Linda and I are planning a Hawaii cruise in the spring of 2013. It would be a hoot if I could announce it to our group.

 

Renee (displace local girl)

 

Renee!!!!!!!! So glad you found me! I lost your card with all the information on how to get in touch. (I still don't know how to use the cruise critic boards yet.) I too am discussed with the app for Shipmate! Here is my email: We can get in touch again this way? Cellarbeller@att.net

L

[wmac]

When we got back to the port area' date=' we had about an hour and 15 minutes before "last tender." We considered going back to the ship right away, but since this was our last port, I wanted to enjoy every last minute of our time there. We decided to walk across the street and check out Margaritaville, and I'm so glad we did! I have been to Margaritaville in Myrtle Beach, SC, a time or two and wasn't very impressed either time...it was just okay. My kids and I love Jimmy Buffett (who doesn't?), so we headed over. I had no idea that they had a curvy slide and pool IN their restaurant (on the roof)!!!! Very cool!!

 

 

[img']http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/pmain13/100_1527.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

We were directed to their "cabana" right by the pool where we grown ups could sit and eat while the kids played in the pool

 

 

 

 

Mom enjoying the cabana within view of the kids....

 

 

 

 

We had a view of the ship...

 

 

DH and I really enjoyed our time together sharing a snack (coconut shrimp and calamari.....yum!!!! I had a margarita; DH had a local beer). Another heavenly hour.

 

We loved Margaritaville too!!!!! In fact that is me in the picture and my DD in the pool :eek:

[crazychuckie]

My very first post and you brought it out.

 

You are a very awesome Mother and Person. You are very strong and kind hearted. You seem like a very genuine person that don't let the little things get you down and I admire you for that. A lot of what you posted before the bullet points are the same way I feel. We go on our first cruise on the Legend in October. It will br my wife, 2 DS(15 and 13), and me. I will be going with the same attitude you described yourself as having and I feel I will have a great time!:cool:

 

Thank you for your WONNDERFUL review! You have an amazing family.

 

A few final thoughts' date=' as promised...

 

First (and bear with me here - and if you can't bear a little mushy stuff, feel free to skip to the bulleted items), I have read many complaints here on CC, and in my 9 cruises spread over 13 years I have seen lots of changes, which one might label as good and bad. Sometimes things go perfectly; sometimes not so much so. If you are not happy with something, please, please....for the sake of your own personal well-being.....let it go. Life is so very short (losing my mom and three babies tells me this!) and so very precious. We hear it all the time and tend to disregard it as trite, but it is so very true, and there is not much worse than regret when you realize you didn't take advantage of what you have! Each and every one of us is given challenges and blessings. I take every advantage I have to remind my high school students.....we are mere humans. We can choose to learn from the challenges we are given. I embrace life without my mom (even though it sucks!) and life with an autistic child, because without my support and love, what will he have? Most importantly, I focus on the blessings - My mom had a lasting impact on me and left me well equipped to handle life. I am able to help my son and celebrate the many wonderful things about him....in fact, if it weren't for him, I would not seek out graduate level eduation to help both him and others and I simply wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't have a greater appreciation (and PATIENCE!) for the special differences in each and every person. And I am so lucky to have DD, who is without a doubt my sunshine in life, plus family and health and enough money to travel but not much else! Tonight, like every night, we snuggled before she went to bed (she demands that and I wouldn't have it any other way), and she wrapped her tiny arm around me and whispered, "I LOVE you, mama." There is nothing you or Carnival can give me.....nothing that money can buy....that can even TOUCH the value of this....and nothing you take away from me matters in comparison either. A cruise, with freebies or without, is just icing on the proverbial cake of life.

 

 

Put life in perspective....free drinks, being first in line, how many loads of laundry you get for free, whether your card is the "right" color and you have to wait in line with those with a less-valuable color, whether or not the tips are fair....NONE of this matters when you are faced with and charged with helping the people you love make a positive difference in this world. Yes, it sucks that there used to be more than one free drinking opportunity and now there are not plus now your free drinks are at an inconvenient time, and it sucks that Carnival doesn't pay the good people who make our trip memorable nearly enough, and it sucks that Carnival is letting people buy their way into YOUR just desserts when you have EARNED it by being so wealthy as to cruise 10 or more times, and, heck, it really sucks that your food isn't awesome every. single. time., and it sucks that sometimes people break in line or act rude or fail to "control their bratty kids".....but really? If these are your complaints, you are soooooooo lucky compared to the VAST majority of the world (and even to your neighbors!).

 

 

 

Okay, off the soapbox. Here are a few final points....

 

• we missed a lot of stuff. I have the Funtimes for each day if you are curious about what we missed, but I cannot comment on those things. We were too busy doing whatever we needed to do to enjoy our time with our family. There were some things we wished we had done--the passenger talent show; a comedy show, especially for just me and DH; the piano bar (but it was always empty :(); the ice carving demo; tea time; the marriage show; trivia and more!). However, we seriously didn't regret a moment.
  
• the food was always just as good if not better than what I've served at home (and I'm a serious cook).
  
• the drinks were fine. I don't cruise for drinks (free or otherwise), but I do think a frou-frou drink is a nice touch, and if it is free, even better.
  
• the "perks" for cruising 9, 8, 4, and 3 times were fair enough. Anytime I get special attention or something for free, I think that is just great. It doesn't matter to me if I got more attention or more free stuff last time. Still a treat. We got free drinks, pins, an invitation to the gold/platinum/diamond party, and several people acting like they cared that we were back.
  
• Camp Carnival was great. It felt safe and comfy for my DD when she wanted to be there. When we got off at ports, both of our children were with us at all times. I am not of the mindset to send DD to CC so that I can be a "free" adult. If that were the case, I'd leave her and DS home with responsible family members (like we did when we went to an AI in Aruba!). If I go on a family vacation, I expect to be with my family.
  
• The photo opportunities on board are a decent deal considering you can get as many pics as you want taken, and you just buy what you want. They are expensive, but if the photographers catch a great look, it is very much worth it.
  
• I wish I had tried the martini tasting (just sayin').
  
• I bought trip insurance through an outside agency, and although I didn't have to use it, I'm glad I had it. My 67 year old dad lives on his own and is just getting over treatment (both surgical and chemical) for cancer as well as having been in a motorcycle accident that almost killed him. It was good to know that we wouldn't lose everything if we had to cancel to help him.
  
• I wish our neighbors had not left their balcony light on all week. It wasn't a huge deal, but there was a night that I wished I could see the stars. I think they didn't even realize they had it on permanently and could turn it off.
  
• People slammed doors and we could hear them. People ran in the halls too. These were annoying. We still enjoyed our cruise.
  
• Our room steward came twice a day and did a good job keeping everything straight. We never formally met him. I think we passed him in the hall twice. He gave us ice every day without asking (obviously, since I'm not even sure that's who we saw in the hall....we sure didn't have to ask!). An assistant room steward greeted our DD by name at least twice. Although I would have liked to have known (for sure) who was making towel animals for us and moving our stuff around, I feel okay without that personal connection. Now that I know the stewards have to hand-sort the trash (learned that on JH's blog), I feel bad that he had to pick up DD's pull-ups since she still cannot get through the night completely dry (bless her).
  
• We were fine with the TV channels offered. We didn't watch much TV.
  
• We missed the real bands, both on the Lido deck and at the past guest party. Oh, and on the Promenade. Used to be really cool to listen to singers with a guitar or piano back-up while walking (often tipsy, I'll admit) along the Promenade. I have a picture of DS and me dancing to the crooning of a lady with piano accompaniment on the promenade when he was almost 5....I cherish it.
  
• Sometimes the elevators were slow. We didn't miss anything important because of that.
  
• A balcony is a nice splurge. An extended balcony is even better.
  
• I never made it to the Serenity Deck this time. I'll bet it was nice, though. Same goes for the gym and spa. I usually make a point to get to those spots at least once (if nothing else, to shower in the spa......nice!), but it just seemed that my kids needed my attention instead. And it was worth the sacrifice. But next time, I will work on DH giving me at least an hour or two to "disappear" in addition to the wine tasting that he allowed me this time, which was generous IMO.
  
• The beach towels......wish I had bought one this time. I say every time that I'm gonna get one. They clearly hold up well. They are nice sized. And the logo and ship emblazened on them look nice. I swear on my platinum cruise I'm so getting one!
  
• Chef's Table is worth every dollar, even with the "new" menu.
  
• There are puzzles along the Promenade that you can pick up to entertain yourself in a quiet moment. I picked up one that was a test of genius and claimed that most people can't answer half in one sitting (there were 32 questions) and that if you answered 19 you were a genius. I answered 18 in an hour with my kids distracting me :). Not sure if it was just made to make me feel good about myself, but it kinda did.
  
• I didn't make it to the casino, except to walk through a time or two (with DS holding his breath! :rolleyes:). I'm not much of a player anyway. I hope somebody won big, but I didn't hear about it.
  
• I wish we had eaten breakfast in the MDR at least once.
  
• I wish we had ordered room service at least once. DS almost did, but when he remembered that the peanut butter & jelly came toasted, he changed his mind.
  
• We bought a cruise certificate for $100. It was easy. You'll hear about it every day from about halfway through the week until the last day at sea. We can use it within two years (and get some onboard credit) or get a refund if we can't use it (it is "fully refundable"). I suspect we'll use it since my next cruise will be #10.....gotta fit that in before 12/31/2013 just for the sake of saying one of us earned platinum under the "grandfather clause." Especially since that one is me! :D
  
• If you book Carnival excursions, search the Internet for coupon codes first. It makes you feel a tiny bit better to get even a 10% discount on the overpriced excursions.
  
• Chef Panda rocks.
  

I think that is it. I appreciate everyone's nice words and support, and I hope I didn't turn off too many people with my mini diatribe earlier in this post. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer.

 

 

If you want to connect on Facebook to see other trip pictures, email me at pmain13@hotmail.com and tell me your CC name as well as the name I should look for on FB. I'll respond with my FB URL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good night, friends.

[najnelle]

Loved your final thoughts!!!! Thanks so much for sharing.:)

[justretiredarling]

I did book it through Carnival (on their 'manage my cruise' page), because I couldn't find it elsewhere and because I wanted to skip the tender into Belize. I booked it two months before we sialed, and I used an online coupon code to get a discount. Easy! When we got on the ship, the tickets were delivered to our stateroom.

 

This excursion and the Grand Cayman ones were the only ones I booked through Carnival, and although they were expensive, there were some benefits to booking through Carnival. Hope this helps![/quote

 

I am now officially booked on the semi sub / island excursion. We used a 10% coupon code as well. Thank you Thank you! Also...Have a smooth/easy back to school. The first days of kindergarten were always so hot (no a.c. in our school) and difficult with the newbies. I will not miss that.