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#My1stCruise - My Date with Destiny Journal / Review

smplyblessed619

By smplyblessed619,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

Are you planning on sailing on Sunshine?  

110 members have voted

  1. 1. Are you planning on sailing on Sunshine?

    • I've sailed on Destiny and WILL sail on Sunshine.
      29
    • I've sailed on Destiny and will NOT sail on Sunshine.
      10
    • I haven't sailed on Destiny but considering Sunshine.
      52
    • Undecided.
      19

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Monday, November 26th, 2012 – Embarkation Monday, Fingers Crossed

 

 

Wrapping up the 1st night...

 

 

Walking around the ship a little more… Mom decided to hit up the casino, and I was just ready for a shower and bed…

 

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Our first towel animal!!! Our room steward "Blessing" was awesome!!!

 

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Every night, I’d put the animal in the window…

 

I found myself up watching the water go by, listening to the waves. It was here when I took a moment to truly be thankful for this experience, release all of the craziness it took to get there and realized I was finally living my dream - a dream fulfilled, #My1stCruise.

 

Last photo from Monday – Like ships passing in the night…

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Next up: Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

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travlngrl1996

travlngrl1996

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Travlngrl1996-I have loved your reviews and thank you for taking the time to read & reply to mine! :) I hope I can bring back some lovely memories for you!

 

Awwww....That's so sweet! I'm glad you enjoy my reviews. I can't wait to get an opportunity to write the next one!

 

I'm so happy you enjoyed your first cruise. Welcome to the addiction ;).

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pamelab

pamelab

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Great review! So sweet about the towel animal and to be thankful for your first cruise!:)

 

Can't wait to read more. Was this a Thanksgiving cruise? Our family is sailing on the Sunshine this Thanksgiving.

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Awwww....That's so sweet! I'm glad you enjoy my reviews. I can't wait to get an opportunity to write the next one!

 

I'm so happy you enjoyed your first cruise. Welcome to the addiction .

 

 

Great review! So sweet about the towel animal and to be thankful for your first cruise!:)

 

Can't wait to read more. Was this a Thanksgiving cruise? Our family is sailing on the Sunshine this Thanksgiving.

 

Travlngrl1996-You and me both! We're looking at spring 2014 itineraries and I just discussed a possible Congrats cruise for my niece graduating and going to college for next summer.

 

When I first joined CC I was just searching Destiny reviews, but then I started seeing folks post their reviews in their sigs and that's how I discovered yours. Read them all :)

 

Pamela-Thank you! I am truly grateful for the experience, and especially to have experienced that with my Mother. More to come, so please stay tuned! :D

 

Also, this was the Monday after Thanksgiving. I teased my coworkers and family about them eating turkey and me roasting like one...hahaha.

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Sunrise in the Caribbean

 

I remember being lulled to sleep the night before by the soft rocking of the ship as she set out to sea. We chose a cabin on the Riviera deck at the suggestion of my wonderful PVP (Laura). She said the lower, most mid ship you can get, the less you’d feel. She was right; it was the perfect amount of movement to let me know I wasn’t at home, but not so much to keep me up at night. We had started our vacation before the vacation by taking Dramamine when we landed in Miami to help prepare us for the cruise (as another suggestion). I had gotten a prescription for the behind the ear patches, but in all of the excitement prior to flying out of Louisville, I completely forgot to pick them up. That wouldn’t be an issue, until later in our voyage…More to come on that later.

 

Let it be said that my mother is an early riser, me, on the other hand – not so much. However, I was determined to catch at LEAST one sunrise while on this cruise. With a peaceful night’s rest, I stirred easily (or maybe it was the lovely wakeup call) and decided to head to the Lido deck to catch the sunrise. The TV told us when to expect it, and I called for a wakeup call (because, of course we forgot our travel clock). My lovely mother was up before me and had already gotten some coffee and had her AM smoke, but she came back to our room to make sure I was up and ready for our first sunrise.

 

Note to self: Pack more “casual” clothes. I’ll go into detail on my dos / don’t for packing later, but it was this early morning start that I realized – a track suit & jacket/sweater would have been nice. It was very windy on deck that early, and made for a “chilly” start. I was in the Caribbean so it wasn’t too cold, just saying.

 

We were due in port at 8:00a and we were right on schedule… Entertain me as I share some sunrise / pulling into port photos…

 

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Sunrise in the Caribbean

 

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This is one of my favorite shots!

 

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My Lido breakfast....eggs were just okay, French toast was DELICIOUS, and I’m determined that the Apple Juice & Lemonade are crack. I’ll go on a cruise, just for those.

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

My 1st Time out of the Country – Welcome to Nassau!

 

 

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We didn’t have anything planned for Nassau, or any of the ports for that matter. No excursions, no sight-seeing tours, we just knew we wanted to see some of the sights and put our toes in the sand. Leading up to this cruise, I told everyone I simply wanted to relax, sit on the beach, drink at 11a (should I choose to) and look at men. Well, I had my fair share of all of the above, I’ll just say that. LOL. I had done a lot of research on all of the ports and we were off the ship, info in mind and off to find an adventure.

 

Getting off the ship for the 1st time… Ahh, the memories!!

 

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Our “Private” Beach

 

 

Stepping away from the port, headed to the welcome center we were met by tour guides offering their services. There were print-outs and pictures of all that we’d see, we even entertained the thought of taking the $60/per person 2-hour tour of Nassau, but decided against going with our first offer.

 

We stepped inside, still unsure of what we’d do that day and a nice gentleman was offering cab rides to Paradise Island, Atlantis, to the beach etc. for $6/pp. Mom and I shared a glance and realized this is where we needed to be. We asked a few questions – how would we get back, what time and so on and the man answered everything to our satisfaction. We waited for more passengers to fill his van, and before you knew it we were escorted through the courtyard to his parked taxi.

 

The van packed full of passengers was off for a day’s fun. A quick taxi ride over the bridge and we were on Paradise Island where a few passengers got off at Atlantis. I saw a number of resorts and made a mental note to Google some of them in the future for travel plans. The rest of us decided to spend the day at the beach and agreed to be picked up at noon. The driver told us anyone would be happy to escort us back to the port, but agreed to pick us up at noon.

 

It was still very early, I’d say just a little after 9a and we were walking up a dirt road to a public beach next to Sheraton Grand Resort. We were greeted with offers of beach chairs 2/$15, which we happily agreed to. We walked along the beautiful, sparsely populated beach and decided on the perfect spot for the day. The waves were crashing and a few kids were playing in the water.

 

The tide was very strong that day. I mean, while it was beautiful to look at, I attempted to “swim” and got only a few feet into the ocean before being tossed back on shore. One of the local merchants said the tide was even stronger the day before – 2 people almost drowned.

 

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I'm not sure why these are showing up so large - I apologize folks.

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Our “Private” Beach

 

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This is the life!

 

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Yes, my mother got action shots – whew. I'll save your eyes from the rest... LOL. This is about as far as I got into the water because of the tide.

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Our “Private” Beach

 

 

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Yeah, no swimming for me!

 

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So relaxing… You can see the tide is coming further up on the beach. And to think, Mama wanted to put her chair right there!

 

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I had a “custom” anklet made… I can still hear her now, “heyyy fluffy gal, you want a ankle bracelet? We don’t discriminate against our big gals around here” – in her island accent. “We make these custom, you want me to fit you?” And she proceeded to sit down next to me, in the sand, I picked one that I liked and she started taking the necklace apart, fitting it to my ankle. After taking it apart and fixing it to fit me, she put it on my ankle. My mother also got an ankle bracelet and I got an additional bracelet.

 

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Well, it's time to catch our taxi back to the port...it's just now getting busy!

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Our “Private” Beach

 

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We wanted to stop by the market, and were told it was in walking distance but this was the only market we noticed (inside the welcome center).

 

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Headed back to the ship…

 

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Enjoying your review and reliving my Nov cruise on the Valor in Nov out of Miami as well!

 

I love reading reviews from first timers - and thank you for being so thorough and posting pictures!

 

Erby-Thank you! Where did the Valor visit in November? Thanks for taking the time to read & reply, hopefully you'll stay tuned for more :)

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erby2283

erby2283

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Erby-Thank you! Where did the Valor visit in November? Thanks for taking the time to read & reply, hopefully you'll stay tuned for more :)

 

We went to Key West, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay, Jamaica.

 

And of course I will! :p

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Our “Private” Beach

I'm still unsure why these photos are showing so large, I apologize folks - I'm pulling the link directly from FB, maybe I changed the size setting when I took pics at the beach? I'm not sure.

 

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Look, it’s our room!

 

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Lunch from the Lido...I tried the Chinese place and wasn't thrilled - aside from the fact almost all of the dishes had shellfish in them, they were pre-made which meant they couldn't do a special order.

 

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smplyblessed619

smplyblessed619

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Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 – Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Returning to the Ship & Nap Time!

 

I decided to explore around the Destiny a bit, before ultimately deciding to take a shower and take a nap! That became a theme for us on this cruise – go to port, take a shower, take a nap. That’s not something that I get to enjoy while at home, working as much as I do, and as busy as our lives can be, so I thoroughly enjoyed this leisurely pace.

 

Doug & Evelyn had caught a boat ride to Atlantis and enjoyed their casino. We met up with them back on-board and had lunch together. We agreed to meet up for dinner, as tonight was the formal night (changed from Friday’s Sea Day) and decided on a time before going our own ways for the rest of the day.

 

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Mom, Doug & Evelyn – Doug enjoying one of his many soft serve snacks and the ladies enjoying a smoke.

 

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I didn’t spend very much time by the pools, but I didn’t notice the infamous “chair hog” issue as I had read about so much before.

 

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Construction on deck – at different times, I noticed caution signs as the crew was busy completing construction.

 

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Next door – the Carnival Fascination… It looked like the crew was doing some sort of safety drill.

 

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