Carnival Splendor 6/10/13 ... a ramble

[thomarvin]

Cant wait to go and we have a cabana too. Yay.... Thanks for the pictures.

[chardee04]

Day Two - Fun Day at Sea!

 

So we couldn't do the Cooking Demo - but it was after noon,

 

DH and I plan on checking out the cooking demo. Did you arrive there late? We're trying to figure out how early we should go to guarantee our seats.

 

Great thread btw. Thanks for all this detailed information.

[canadiangal40]

Great review Kath! I can't wait for our turn. I love all the detail of day by day and your pictures are beautiful! I want a blue margarita! :D I can't wait for the rest of your review ;)

[absolutely brilliant]

Cabana snacks....

 

 

So you don't need lunch either. That looks like enough to sustain you for a few hours & then have lunch when you get back onboard.

 

I know that they will drive you to the cabana when you get off the tender but will they also pick you up & take you back to the tender? That would be a real plus for me!

[Cyber Kat]

DSis and I got ourselves all dolled up for dinner and photos. DH hates getting dressed up so he had on his favorite dress shirt and khaki type pants. People were wearing all sorts of things, but the general tone of the evening was Elegant.

 

We went down to Deck 5 and got a couple of photos taken. The backdrops were much better on the Miracle. I don't know if they are changing them up all around, but these were not great. One of the things we don't like about the photos is all the poses! They are not natural. I want a photo of ME - not some photographer's (who doesn't know me) notion of ME. DH doesn't smile for pictures, and by the time the photographers are done with him, he's glaring :D. That said, I bought more photos this time, than I ever did before, but they were mostly the candid shots they do when you get off in the ports. For some reason, they came out great.

 

I'm going to have to stop - it's time for work ... be back at lunch time!

[Anyislandwilldo]

If you're getting hot food, take 2 plates. Once you've put your food on the one, cover it with the other.

 

 

After 6 cruises, this is the first time I've read this tip. It's a good one. Thank you!

[Aprilmay13]

Kath, my husband and my daughter's boyfriend don't want to wear a suit on any of the formal nights ( well my hubby cant fit in his , and my daughters boyfriend doesn't have one ) Will they stick out too much???

 

I was think a dress shirt of nice collar shirt and dress pants maybe khaki pants like you said... What do you think ???

[Cyber Kat]

Kath, my husband and my daughter's boyfriend don't want to wear a suit on any of the formal nights ( well my hubby cant fit in his , and my daughters boyfriend doesn't have one ) Will they stick out too much???

 

I was think a dress shirt of nice collar shirt and dress pants maybe khaki pants like you said... What do you think ???

 

There were a lot of people - men mostly :D - that weren't all gussied up! Many just had a dress shirt and pants. Some a dress shirt, pants and a jacket - no tie. Some a dress shirt and tie, pants, but no jacket. Some in suits, a couple of tuxes - not as many as in the past.

 

I like dressing up, but it's a casual world we live in these days.

[murr202]

Kath,

Is there more to your review????

 

Don't keep us hanging!!!!!

[Cyber Kat]

Day Two - Fun Day at Sea

 

Sorry I keep having to stop - real life intrudes - ugh!

 

Anyway ... so we went down a bit earlier for the Captain's Celebration. We had a couple of pics taken, then headed to the El Mojito - our usual. There was a ship's officer at the opposite end of the bar. Gabriale, one of the bartenders, told us he was the ship's doctor.

 

I noticed that the sun was out and setting through the window, next to the bar. I knew this wouldn't be a great photo, but I took it anyway

 

 

You can see that it was still a bit rough.

 

As we enjoyed our pre-dinner cocktails, (I had the Zonin Prosecco again) two couples sat at the second section of the bar - it has a second bar that encircles the first section where the bartenders were. They ordered the mini martinis from the tasting menu. Now mind you, this is 2 guys and their respective girlfriends/wives.

 

The whole time they were sitting there they were making crude - really crude, sometimes gross comments about the women who passed by. All I kept thinking was what was up with the 2 women? How could they sit there through that - they looked a bit chagrined. I kept thinking - girls, if you are married to these guys - get yourself unhitched. And if you are not married - why aren't you heading for the hills?

 

These were the only obnoxious people we encountered on the whole cruise, so I guess that was good - we did encounter them again - but I'll get to that later.

 

We went down to deck 3 & the Gold Pearl for dinner. Once again, we were 3 at a table, for 10. We had a lot of attention, because the wait staff had less to do - it was lovely!

 

I decided to try something different - I had the Saki stewed beetroot carpaccio with grapefruit sections and gorgonzola crumbles and arugula. Now I've had beet salad before, and I quite like it, but the grapefruit just didn't seem to go. It was okay - not my favorite. The West Indian Roasted Pumpkin Soup, on the other hand was scrumptious! Carnival makes really good soup. Of course, I had the lobster tail and the shrimp - both were excellent!

 

I had the carmel apples on puff pastry for dessert and it was yummy!

 

Sorry, I've got to leave you again - but I'll be back!

[Cyber Kat]

DH and I plan on checking out the cooking demo. Did you arrive there late? We're trying to figure out how early we should go to guarantee our seats.

 

Great thread btw. Thanks for all this detailed information.

 

We arrived a little late. DH was there about 15 min before the start and they were already at capacity - so go early if you want to do it!

[Cyber Kat]

I'm back!

 

Finishing up Day 2!

 

We wandered around a bit before heading back to the cabin. I forget what we were looking for, but I found this sign at one of the buffet areas - I couldn't resist!

 

 

It was cute and silly and I have a weakness for cute and silly!

 

In addition to towel animals every night, our steward also made us this in the bathroom ...

 

Couple of other notations ...

I got the internet package - the $59 for $120 minutes. On our last cruise on the Miracle, I couldn't connect in the room, so each afternoon on the sea days, we would go to sit on the promenade deck by the sushi cart and I would annoy my Facebook friends there with pictures and comments.

 

This time, I could connect in the room, but it wasn't a great connection. Still it was easier than taking the netbook elsewhere. I reduce the size of the images with Photoshop and they upload pretty fast. Oddly enough reading and posting text took longer.

 

We also ordered a bottle of Cognac for DH - for nightcaps and a six pack of water so we could have cold water in the room.

 

As I have mentioned, my sister is platinum, so we also had a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and she got the Tervis Tumbler for her gift.

 

We went out on the balcony and were surprised to see stars. The Big Dipper was right there behind us! It looked like we were going to have a good day the next sea day.

 

We were tired and we had lot going on the next day so we started to get ready for bed. DH was watching the hockey game on TV (the only night we got to see it - I don't know why, but the NBC affiliate in FL, where they were picking up the signal from, decided to show repeats of something else - I forget what)

 

Anyway. I was sitting on the bed and my sister had just come out of the bathroom, when there was a knock at the door.

 

It was a Carnival Security person. She said, "We've had a complaint about all the noise in here. I have to ask you to keep it down." She looked around like she was disappointed not to find a wild party going on.

 

Mind you, she is looking at 3 old people in nightclothes, and it is 10:30pm - not even late.

 

We said, "We're not even talking, let alone making noise."

 

She insisted, "We've had a complaint."

 

My sister said, "It must be some other room. I was out on the balcony before and I heard people arguing."

 

Security person scowled and said, "I'm telling you, you have to keep your voices down."

 

I said, "Can't keep it much lower than not talking." She didn't like that response.

 

"Don't make me come, back," she said, and closed the door. "No sorry, must have been the wrong room." - when it was quite clear, that she had the wrong room. Too funny.

 

I hope the rest of Carnival's security force is more observant and quicker on the uptake than she was. It HAD to be clear she had the wrong room.

 

Three old people in their nightclothes and complete silence in the room from outside. :D

[sailorJo]

Too funny about the noisy passengers! And for the security person to be so insistent! I have to commend you for taking it so well.

[Cyber Kat]

I slept past the sunrise, but I got up early enough to go to the gym again. On my way back - between 8am & 8:30, I walked through the Lido. Most of the chairs at the main pool had something or someone on them. There were a lot of people sleeping. I assume they got up early and finished their sleep on the lounge chairs. I don't want a chair that bad :D

 

I stopped at one of the phones and called down to the room to see if my sister had gotten room service. You could order on the TV, but she likes to fill out the card. We didn't have any. I'm guessing it's because the aft wrap and the bowling alley balcony room next to it share a little hall. I wouldn't have known where to leave it and it could cause confusion.

 

She didn't want to deal with the TV, so she just called. They were very prompt throughout the whole cruise. And very good at picking up the trays in the hall. (Which is where housekeeping said to leave them)

 

So I headed back to have coffee and a cinnamon danish on the balcony.

 

This is the weather we had for Day 2 - Blue skies, calm seas. And it was like that for the rest of the cruise, except for a bit of cloudiness on the last day.

 

 

This is the view from the little side piece of the aft wrap.

 

This is looking down from the aft section ...

 

We think they used those platforms for washing the windows in the Gold Pearl restaurant which was a few decks down.

 

This day was my sister's birthday, so I talked her into going to the Brunch so we could use our drink coupons.

 

I know on some ships they were letting people use them at the lobby bar and sometimes other bars, but on the Splendor they have to be used in the Black Pearl dining room.

 

I tried later on in the week with DH's - he wasn't using his and I wanted a free Bellini. I ended up going into the dining room - there was a line, but I wasn't waiting on line for a drink. I asked, if I could get the drink. It was kind of involved - they are not ready for this - but I got my drink.

 

Brunch was great! We arrived around 9:30. There was no line at that time and we were seated right away at a table for 2 (DH didn't want Brunch - just his bacon sandwich, which he got in the buffet.)

 

DSis got her birthday Bloody Mary - so she was happy. I had a Bellini - love these! I had chocolate chip pancakes - with both chocolate and maple syrup. They were quite tasty! We each sampled some of the goodies in the basket. The lemon cake was fantastic! I could have eaten more.

 

DSis ordered an omelet and she said it was also good. I thought the coffee was good too. I understand that Carnival has recently switched brands to LaVassa and it was a definite improvement.

 

The people next to us either hadn't heard this or were a LOT more fussy about coffee than I am. At home I buy fairly expensive beans and grind them fresh for each pot, but I wasn't going to jump through hoops for coffee. The ship coffee was find. People next to us had a French Press and their own coffee. The steward brought them hot water without blinking an eye.

 

They also had their own hot sauce and some other condiments that they used to doctor up their food. I found it a bit strange, but hey - whatever floats your boat!

 

I eat mostly organic and locally grown, but I wasn't bringing a pantry on vacation!

 

The comedian came on - told a couple of jokes that were mostly not so funny, then left. No big deal.

 

After brunch we went back to the cabin to collect DH and find something to do. But we had an unplanned diversion.

 

The speaker in the cabin crackled on and Marcello said, "May I have your attention." Now this was a bit alarming, as they don't make announcements in the cabin unless it's something you NEED to know.

 

Well, he wanted to tell us why we had stopped - which I'd noticed at about the same time. Apparently they had spotted a large something floating in the water and they were going to maneuver over to investigate.

 

Alrighty then - there's nothing wrong with our ship, AND we are going to have an adventure!

 

We rushed out to the balcony and the mystery flotsam was on our side! Looked like it could be the bow of a boat that had broken off. As we got closer, this is what it looked like ...

 

No one in the water - nothing else around - nothing to see here ... move along. Oh well. When we did the Behind the Fun tour, someone asked the Captain about it.

 

He said that they were obligated to investigate anything like that and rescue people if necessary, and if not - report it as a navigation hazard - which they did.

 

He also said that it looked to him like the nose of a small plane. I didn't like thinking about that possibility.

 

And without further ado - we were off once more on our journey to the Caribbean ...

 

Photo is of the engines starting up again - view from the aft!

 

I have to leave you here, but there will be more! Coming up - the water slide, the Wedding and a night at the Pinnacle Steak House!

[cathyoo]

Just lovvvvinnnnggg the review. Thanks so much

[Aprilmay13]

I wait all day to hear more of your reviews..:):)

[bangzoom6877]

Loving your review!!! That's scary, seeing something like that floating beside the ship. I would've freaked out.

[Cyber Kat]

Loving your review!!! That's scary, seeing something like that floating beside the ship. I would've freaked out.

 

It was only alongside the ship because we steered over there to investigate in case there were survivors from a wreck in the water. But there were none. I hope if it was some kind of wreck, that the people involved got rescued. The Captain told us that when they reported it, it hadn't been reported before, so IDK. Could have been some wreckage that washed out to see from Sandy. I hope that's what it was.

[Cyber Kat]

More Fun at Sea...

 

I called this a ramble, because I'm not sure of the order of things and I'm putting things in as they pop into my head.

 

As I said, Day 3 was a busy day. We did the slide - it was on my list! I have, in my head, a list of things I want to do each cruise. SOme are new, some are carry-overs. This was a carry over. I always say, I'm going to do the slide and I never do. This time we did! It was fun, I'd do it again!

 

The Splendor slide is open on top. I couldn't do one of those that are closed over. I'm too claustrophobic for that!

 

The line wasn't too long. My sister and I left our stuff with DH - who wasn't doing the slide - not no way - not no how :D As we started up the stairs, I realized we were still wearing our flip flops. What to do? We dropped them at the bottom of the stairs in the shade to be retrieved afterward. This was a mistake - more on that in a moment.

 

We made it to the platform at the top and it was my turn. The sign says, cross your feet at your ankles and your arms over your chest - so I did as instructed.

 

WHOO - that thing is fast! I was concerned about getting water up my nose at the bottom - and with good reason. I hit that bottom pool section (not the actual pool just an end to the slide with about 10-12 inches of water) with a mighty splash and completely drenched myself - I looked like a drowned rat :D.

 

I waited for my sister, who came down sitting up. I asked her how she managed that. She said, "Don't cross your arms over your chest." I said, "And you didn't think to tell me that!" Sisters!

 

So we went back up to retrieve our shoes - this is where we discovered our mistake. The deck was HOT! HOT! HOT! Did I mention that the deck was HOT? There are black squares of anti-slip paint all over that area not a good color. Even the bits of blue in between were hot. And the stairs (2 flights) going up to the slide stairs had black treads - I never noticed before.

 

Word to the wise - take 2 pair of flip flops - one for the top and one for the bottom - or get someone to bring your shoes down to the bottom.

 

After the slide, my sister tried out one of the hot tubs on deck 10 above the lido pool (remember this - not a lot of people discover these until later). DH and I grabbed a drink and headed back to the room. I don't remember what I was drinking that day. DOD was Pomegranate Lemonade, sounded interesting, but I may have had a Kiss on the Lips.

 

We were eating dinner in the Steak House that night to celebrate my sister's birthday and we had a wedding to go to, plus I was still full from Brunch, so we passed through the buffet to grab a little snack. They had a sushi section in the buffet (this was there most days - by the stairs that go up to the rotisserie), so got some sushi and some chocolate chip cookies (did I mention that these are oh so scrumptious?).

 

The wedding!

 

One of the people in our roll call was getting married on the ship. It was actually a vow renewal because they wanted to be married by the Captain. The Captain can only do this at sea, but when you are at sea there is no legal jurisdiction, so they had to be actually married before the cruise.

 

She had to pay for 20 people for the reception and she only had 13 with her, so she had 7 slots. We were 3 and I didn't want to go off to a wedding and leave DH and my sister out, so I had originally told her we wouldn't hog 3 spots, but she called and said that only 3 others were coming and that there would be room for us.

 

The reception was being held in the Piano Bar at 2pm, so we headed on down there. We arrived just as the bride, groom and wedding party were walking from the Boardroom where the ceremony was held to the Piano Bar - perfect timing. They did a little receiving line and in we went. The bride looked lovely in her gown and the groom was beaming. The rest of the wedding party - including a flower girl and a ring bearer were in red and black, which matched the color scheme of the Piano Bar.

 

They had hors d'oeuvres and an open bar. One of the Carnival wait staff was offering drinks from a tray. I recognized the Blue Margarita, so I had one of those. DH asked for beer and my sister had red wine.

 

 

One of the other couples (our M&G and slot pull organizer) form our roll cal had come with their daughter. So we hung out with them. The bridal couple did a first dance and cut the cake - it was all quite lovely.

 

The hors d'oeuvres were all wonderful! There was sushi, and stuffed mushrooms, little fried chicken bits, salmon thingys, fruit in martini glasses. And some other things that were tasty, but I don't remember what they were.

 

Hailey, the Piano Bar singer, played. I though she was good - not great. I've heard others say she was dreadful. IDK - maybe she's better at wedding music. The bride was satisfied and that's what counts here. They did a conga line led by her father in and out of the room. Her mother and father were very nice and joined us in the slot pull and on the Behind the Fun tour.

 

It was just a lovely afternoon and a nice unexpected surprise. Every cruise should come with a wedding!

 

It was over at 4 and we headed back to our cabin to relax a bit and then get ready for dinner. Our reservations were for 8.

 

When we returned to the cabin, I noticed that we had "Tree Mail" (I'm a Survivor Fan - I heard someone else call the little mail box thing "Tree Mail" and it stuck in my head!)

 

If you recall - way back on embarkation day, I put my name on the waiting list for a cabana at Half Moon Cay. The "Tree Mail" was the confirmation - YES I got one! It was Terra Cotta cabana #13. I kept wondering if perhaps the people who had the reservation were superstitious and didn't want 13. Good luck for US!

 

I had a form to fill out with what kind of sodas we wanted and what size swim fins we needed. And there were tickets for priority boarding for the tender - not that we needed it because my sister is platinum and we got to ride her coat tails :D! I knew I invited her along for a reason!

 

As I was putting the envelope up on the wall (I had clips with strong magnets for this - they came in very handy!), I noticed that the Past Guest Party was that afternoon at 4 or 4:30.

 

As a Gold Level I had an invite and so did my sister, but DH did not because he got demoted from Gold to Red with the new set up. I wanted to go, but at that point I didn't need anything else to eat or drink and I wanted to chill before dinner. Not one to miss out on the free drinks, my sister went.

 

For those who are interested, she said it was much improved. I'd heard that, but she confirmed. Better, bigger drinks, tasty food - much to her disappointment, there are no longer mini meatballs - her favorite.

 

She said the cruise director was good at the little chat. No film of ships and promotions aka commercials. There was dancing and the Splendor still has an orchestra.

 

I'm going to stop here and do the dinner later. I'll leave you with a couple more balcony photos.

 

This is the aft portion ...

 

 

This is the wrap portion facing the starboard side of the ship ...

 

 

And this is looking into the cabin from the balcony door

[boaterette]

I have been on the Splendor twice on the west coast. I am enjoying your review.

[SusieCruisie]

The Carnival web site makes it look like the Cabanas are $229 for each person, but it's not. It's $229 for the Cabana. You get supplies - soda, chips, dips, fruit, floats, snorkels and fins for 4 people - but you could do 6 maybe even 8 if people will be in the water most of the day. That bag of chips alone could have fed half the ship! :D

 

We had 3 people so it worked out to $76 dollars each. Four people would be $57.25. If you only have 1 person or 4 people or 6 people (2 of whom do not get supplies :D )- it still is $229 to get the Cabana. There is no actual per person charge.

 

They should explain it better on the web site.

 

Oh - and if you get a cabana, you don't need to bring towels off the ship. They gave us towels to use while we were there.

 

Oh! So you wound up getting your cabana after being on the wait list? I am hoping that I will as well!

[Jamman54]

Oh! So you wound up getting your cabana after being on the wait list? I am hoping that I will as well!

 

Happens all the time. Last year I booked the Fascination two weeks prior to sailing. Of course, all the cabanas at HMC were sold out. Put my name on the waiting list, and I got one!! Of course you won't have a choice of which one, but that doesn't matter. I wound up with #14. Just make sure you head to the Shore Excursion desk as soon as you board and put your name on the list. Good Luck!!!

[Cyber Kat]

Oh! So you wound up getting your cabana after being on the wait list? I am hoping that I will as well!

 

Yes - but make sure you do it as close to when the Shore Excursion desk opens as you can. They open at noon on embarkation day. I was first on the list and I got a cabana, the people after us did not. So it pays to be the early bird!

[Cyber Kat]

The Steak House Dinner

 

So June 12th was my sister's birthday and we had reservations at the Steak House (which I made online before the cruise and received an email confirmation).

 

We went to the steak house for the first time on the Miracle. Spirit class steak houses are unique because the restaurant is sort of in the Whale Tale stack, Part of the stack has windows/skylight and it's really nice.

 

The Splendor steak house, doesn't have that. It's up on deck 11 and kind of tucked in the corner. It does have a skylight, but it's a much more intimate space. I liked the set up.

 

The hostess was great - very welcoming and she made us feel special. She escorted us to a table by the window which was very nice.

 

Note: the steak house is on the port side of the ship. We were heading south, so the sun was on the other side. Remember this, because we ate there again on the way back and it was very cool.

 

Nina was a our head wait staff person and she brought us our menus and sent over Brad, the beverage person. He took our drink orders. I had the Paul Louis, Blanc De Blanc (which, for those who do not know, is a white wine made from white grapes. Most white wine is made from red grapes with the skins removed.) I loved this wine!

 

The other member of this wait staff team was Dragena - who had more energy than one person has a right to. She literally bounced over to our table. Like Tigger, I think her legs were made of springs. She was an absolute delight and she took excellent care of us.

 

They brought us the little amuse-bouche that they always serve. My sister and I had some kind of yummy soup that had cheese as one of the ingredients and DH had a steak tartar dish, that he was surprised to like.

 

I ordered the Ahi Tuna Tartare - which I LOVE! Some people cruise for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake - I cruise for Ahi Tuna Tartare. I can't get this scrumptious dish any where else. I had the Beefsteak tomato salad with Gorgonzola crumbles, Surf and Turf with Bearnaise sauce and the Medley of Fresh Mushrooms. Everything was done to perfection and DELISH!

 

We were all too stuffed for dessert (except DH who had Courvoisier on the rocks as usual), so I asked if we could get a piece of the cheesecake to take back to the room. No problem, they said and brought us TWO pieces!

 

LOL - this was funny! We put it on the desk/counter/dressing table when we got back to the room. We hung out on the balcony for a bit and then got ready for bed.

 

We had intentions of going to the Comedy Club or maybe to see one of the shows but we never made it. Next time!

 

Anyway to get back to the cheese cake. My sister and I went to have some of one of the pieces and we realized that we had no forks. Note: if you take cheesecake back to your room, stop at the buffet area and get a fork.

 

We sort of scooped some off with something - a cork screw, I think, and it was really yummy.

 

I was half asleep when I realized we'd left the cake out on the counter. Not good. For some reason, the a/c would shut down in the middle of the night and it would get a bit hot.

 

So I get up with a flashlight - trying to be quiet so I don't wake the others. I take all of the soda (which we didn't have the steward remove) out of the fridge and I try to get at least one of the pieces of cake in there.

 

It won't fit - the plate with the cover is too big and the door won't close. Now what? I guess I wasn't as quiet as I thought, because my sister asked, "What are you doing?" I explained in a whisper.

 

She remembered that we had a small plate leftover from something - I forget what (probably one of the snacks we'd brought back to the room). She rinsed it off in the bathroom and we transferred the cake from the big plate to the small. Not an easy task in the dark with only a small flashlight.

 

Mission accomplished! And we were off to snoozeville until the morning when we would arrive at Grand Turk!

 

I'll leave you with a Day 3 sunset

[Cyber Kat]

Sunrise - and I'm up again (and I wondered why I couldn't stay up late enough for a show!)

 

 

We weren't due to dock in Grand Turk until 9am, so I had time for a quick trip to the gym. From my recumbent bicycle I was able to watch our approach to the island. Cool!

 

We had our usual coffee and danish and then headed up for "second breakfast" so DH could have his bacon sandwich.

 

After breakfast we went out on the deck (10) to check out the sights.

 

 

 

We've done this itinerary before in 2011 on the Miracle so we knew the drill and what we wanted to do.

 

There are usually 2 ships docked at Grand Turk. Ours arrived at 9am and was scheduled to leave at 3pm. The Liberty was to arrive at 11am and leave later - 5pm I think.

 

The last time we were there, we headed for the beach. While the water is lovely and it's neat swimming near where the ship is docked, there are rocks in the water. The sand around the rocks is very soft - as is the sand on the beach and walking is difficult.

 

 

A lot of people head down to Jack's Shack. My sister and I took a walk down there the last time. It's hike along the beach and tough going because the sand is so soft - it's difficult to walk in. There does appear to be less rocks in the water down there.

 

DH is not wild about swimming in salt water unless there are waves. There are no waves at Grand Turk - at least not near the Cruise Center.

 

The last time, my sister and I also checked out the pool and saw that there were some chairs available by an umbrella. I saved them and she went to get the guys, because we saw the second ship arriving and knew it would be mobbed after that.

 

So this time, we were prepared - we headed straight for the pool. We had left the ship a bit later than we intended, and we didn't have our pick, but we found 3 chairs in the shade of a tree with a view of the ship.

 

The pool is a great place to just chill out and relax. Although it is right next to Margaritaville, it belongs to the Cruise Center and so there's no charge and you don't have to buy anything.

 

A few months back they were having issues with people getting sick - most likely a water issue. I wanted a Margarita from Margaritaville, but I wasn't taking any chances. We got a bucket of beers (6 for $47 plus tip!) and settled in. The pool was a bit more crowded than the last time - I guess people are getting wise, but still it was a nice day.

 

 

I love these little bridges they have over sections of the pool. It's one of those ones that meanders around.

 

We wanted to look in some of the shops, so we left our chairs to some people off the Liberty and headed over there about 1:30pm.

 

I remembered from the last time that the prices for booze were really good there, but we didn't find any bargains this time. The t-shirt, I liked in the Margaritaville shop was like $45 - I wasn't paying $45 for a t-shirt. I already had one from the last time.

 

There are a lot more shops there than the last time we were there. Del Sol, Diamonds International - all the ones you find all over the Caribbean. Nothing we were really interested in, so we headed back to the ship for a late lunch.