MITSUGIRLYS DAWN TO BERMUDA NOVEL (or review as some may call it)

[mitsugirly]

OK....here we go again.

 

DAY 2 (SATURDAY) SEA DAY.

 

 

 

 

 

Since it was a sea day I decided not to set the alarm and just wake up at our (my) leisure (because truth be known, once I'm up, it's time for everyone else to get up...momma says so).

 

I woke up and 10:30am using my belly alarm and I went out to the pool deck to check on the weather before waking the rest of the family up. It was chilly and I was bummed. I had really hoped by now things would be a lot warmer. JUST GIVE ME HEAT!!!

 

Back down to wake up the family and head to breakfast. We decided to head to the buffet since they were open later than the other places.

 

After breakfast we walked around a little and took a few pictures killing time. Sakari is not cold natured like I am and insisted on wearing a dress. That child can stay in ice cold water and it wouldn't bother her.

 

 

This was her idea, although it didn't turn out too well. She has been having her pictures done by me since she was very young. She loves photography herself. She knows the poses and she can come up with stuff on her own. We were standing at the bar in the middle of the atrium trying to purchase our soda packages and she said "I want you to take a picture of me here" and ran down the steps and around.

 

 

So...back to waiting to buy a soda package. We waited and waited and waited. I swear we were probably there a good 30+ minutes before we were helped. So many people there and not enough help. Then the hubby screws things up and tells them he wants 2 beverage packages...because pop is a beverage right? The guy came back with a HUGE bill and the hubby looks at me and says "Do you really want to pay that much for pop?" I had to laugh and ask him "What did you say you wanted? The soda package with a diamond in the bottom of the cup?" Seriously...LOLed. I explained to the guy what we wanted, he corrected it, gave us our "souvenir cups", a glass of diet Pepsi, a glass of Mt Dew and we were on our way.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed back to our room to get our "shhh pass" without telling anyone where we were going (to the private party).

 

 

I have to say that I have ALWAYS HATED that they have this party at an hour that the kids club is always closed (1pm). I don't feel right bringing my daughter to this for some reason, but we are forced to since it's the same time every time.

 

Let the free drinks begin...

 

 

 

The captain came out to speak to us...and told us he had no idea who was running the ship at the moment. Hopefully it was on auto-pilot and thank goodness we weren't close to any reefs to run into. I'm sorry, did I just say that out loud? j/k folks, I would have LOVED to be on the ship 2 weeks ago and had that happened! Just saying...

 

 

Sakari was happy when she was finally able to get her a virgin drink in a cute little cup. She ask me "Am I going to get drunk?" LOL...kids. I told her "yea, punch drunk". She looked worried but drank it down like a soldier. But not before "cheers" was to take place.

 

 

I tell you getting a drink this time was just as hard here as getting a drink at the bar. They seem to never come around and the place was PACKED!! At one point we finally got our second drink and I ask for another virgin for Sakari. He said he would go back to the bar and get her one. When he came back a lady sitting behind us grabbed it and I thought Sakari was going to tear up. I looked at the guy and told him that we would require another one because that was supposed to be hers and he looked at the lady and said "did you want alcohol in yours?" She said "OF COURSE I WANT ALCOHOL" he said "then you don't want that one." LOL

 

Sakari got her drink and she was happy again.

 

 

 

Like always, I never win anything. This party was a little different than all the rest I have been to though. Before, they would just call your name and you went up and got your prize. This time if they called your name, you had to "shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your booty, shake your booty" all the way there to the song. Then once you got to the stage, you were required to put on your best superman stand/pose, then up to the band to do some other type of pose/stance and then you got your prize. I was almost hoping they wouldn't call my name. I guess my wish came true.

 

We finished off our whole 2 drinks a piece, since that's all we could get from the waiters, and out the door we went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pamster]

Aww, glad you are here joining me. I have been trying to get my hubby talked into an Alaskan cruise for awhile now. Actually, truth be known, I'm trying to talk myself in to it as well. I seriously HATE the cold, but I want to suck it up just for the experience and the "new" animals we would see. I know Sakari would just love it.

(

 

Oh you HAVE to cruise Alaska. I HATE the cold, too. Shoot, I've lived in the desert southwest for almost 30 years, that's how much I HATE the cold. But we've done 3 Alaskan cruises and absolutely loved it. It's true that you won't want so much pool time, since it is chilly. But it's not THAT cold. The very edges of the cruising season are the chilliest, but even September isn't as cold as winter in Ohio. ;-) There is so much to do and see, you MUST do it.

[mitsugirly]

The hubby has the worse bladder ever created. Seriously! He's worse than any child. We stopped at the restroom...oops, it's flooded...and not from him either. I over heard several people talking about what despair the ship was in and how many repairs it needed. Now remember, this is only the first sea day and people are saying all these bad things. I'm starting to worry...then that's when I started noticing more things.

 

Then we headed up to the kids club because Sakari was begging to play with her "new friends" since we got up. Who were we to stop her right?

 

After dropping her off, we headed down to the photo store to make a decision on what I was going to do about my charger. I know from plenty of other times that there would be no hope of finding just a charger. I debated, I pouted, I gave the hubby puppy dog eyes, I was in dispare over what to do. The only thing I could do is what I have to do every time...purchase yet another camera. I told him I would go ahead and purchase one but swore that when I got home I would sell it right away. I had no intention of using it, I just needed the charger. If I wasn't able to sell it, I would give it to one of the kids for Christmas (probably Kendra since she's the only one that really cruising non-stop with us) and that was justifying my purchase at this point.

 

We made it down to the photo store and "browsed" around, then ask the staff "if" they had chargers...and of course I knew the answer "no" but they added a "we are sold out of them". Um ok? Then he proceeded to tell me they have a universal charger. Ok...where's that? No, THEY have a universal charger...not one for sale. Sigh. Ok, that's not going to do me any good.

 

So, I started looking around for another Olympus Tough camera to purchase. Wait...where are the Olympus Tough cameras???? THERE ARE NONE!! Once again, "We are sold out". How are you SOLD OUT???? What the heck! Now is the point that I'm seriously ready to cry...seriously. No chargers, no cameras, I'm screwed. How can I do a review without pictures? I NEED my camera. I NEED my batteries. Wait, I NEED pictures of my vacation for MY needs too!!! It's my first trip to Bermuda and I won't even be able to prove it or have anything but a memory of it. sniffle

 

I walked off super worried and hurt and didn't know what I was going to do. Truth be known, I acted like I was going to search for our pictures taken on the ship so that the photo guy couldn't see the tears in my eyes. I live for my pictures. The hubby stayed back and talked to the guy. Then came to me and told me that the guy said he would charge my battery for me...since they had the universal charger, it should work...AND IT DID!!! Back in business again...in 2 hours that is. WOO HOO. I was happy.

 

Off to the casino to celebrate...or either donate. I wasn't sure which one it was....actually we donated that day. Boo

 

We picked Sakari up at 5pm from the kids club and swung by the photo shop to pick up my newly charged battery and then headed to the Blue Lagoon for lunch. I always just love Blue Lagoon.

 

 

 

 

I always get the Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip and chips. Now in the past, this has always come out a greenish color, I assumed from the spinach. However this time it was white and runny. Um...did someone forget the spinach? It was almost like drinking a creamed soup that wasn't too creamy. It tasted like it was from a can. Did they recently change their recipe or something because I remember this happening on the last cruise too. It's not at all what it use to be.

 

 

The hubby ordered 10 wings and fries and I ordered 10 wings.

 

When the hubby got his food, there were only 9 on the plate and they didn't bring the fries. When I got mine, I only got 6 on my plate.

 

 

When we said something to the waiter, his reply was "They can't count"...and he said it with a very serious face and I seriously believed him! So....um how about the rest of them? The hubby said, "well, I'd like to order another 6 piece then and that should do it". So they quickly brought out another 6 piece (got it right) and his fries. Sakari got her regular cheeseburger and all was good.

 

Sakari and I HAD to order the cheesecake. I live for this stuff and it was YUMMY!!!! Even the stuff on the sides was yummy and I have no idea what it was (it was very sweet) LOL

 

 

It was only 5:30pm (which meant we did have fast service there...yippee) and the sun was coming out FINALLY!! It was also getting warm out so we decided to head back to the room for our swim suits and go out to the pool for awhile to kill some time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shayhooper]

Woohoo! Thank you for doing another review. In general I love your reviews because you do a wonderful job of showing what the experience will be like for a child. My daughter is a year younger than Sakari so your kid friendly insight is greatly appreciated.

 

Specifically I've been looking forward to this review because I am trying to decide between the Dawn and Breakaway for our own Bermuda trip.

[mitsugirly]

When we made it back to the room, we had a special delivery. It was from my TA...who I have to say is AWESOME and I didn't even book this cruise with this TA. I just recently found him a few months ago and booked my Pride cruise with him (both Kendra and I booked using him) and since I had already had this cruise booked with another TA last year, Kendra booked this cruise with him. He was still kind enough to send me a gift. How sweet! I guess he's a keeper right? (Read the card)

 

 

 

Out to the pool we headed on this nice, warmer, sunny day.

 

 

Sakari still has her golden tan from the last cruise 2 months ago. Lucky her.

 

 

 

Here's the kids lounge chairs I was talking about earlier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Like I said, I'm cold natured and even if the weather is 70 degrees, I'm still cold. So, the hot tub it was for me (us).

 

 

Of course being goofy because it's just not us unless we are goofing off.

 

 

 

We weren't there long before a worker came by and told us the pool was closing and everyone had to get out and leave. ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Why? He said they are only open from 6am until 6pm. SERIOUSLY? Why would they close the kids pool at 6pm every day is beyond me. That just forced the kids to head to the big pool, which is already crowded and that is the last thing I wanted to do because my kid isn't swimming in there without me being in it beside her and I'm still cold remember?? Bummer!

 

Sakari hopped on the bouncy thingy before saying goodbye to the pool area. She wasn't leaving without a fight.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed back to the room to shower and get ready for the "evening" (ha, to us it's not evening until like 10pm but we are on ship time for a week now).

 

Us girls were ready and waiting on daddy to shower and decided it was time to be goofy of course...

 

 

She couldn't stop long enough for me to snap the picture of her goofy face.

 

 

 

 

Our plans for the evening was to go to a show and then I wanted to eat at the MDR tonight since we were all dressed up. However, Sakari wasn't having it. She wanted to go to the kids club instead of hanging out with us. So, I decided after awhile that I would let her go and we would just have to do without her tonight. After all, it is her vacation too and I want her to have fun. She absolutely loves the kids club. She insisted on staying in her "pretty" dress.

 

After dropping her off, we headed down to the shopping "mall"...I use this term loosely because it was basically 2 stores. One side with the jewelry, booze and cigs and the other side with the clothes and trinkets.

 

Sakari collects the little ship Christmas ornaments from each ship. We had checked on the first day for them and couldn't find anything but the metal (pewter?) ones. I was so disappointed. When I ask about the white ones, I bet you can guess what I was told...."We're sold out" SERIOUSLY??? IS THIS SHIP SOLD OUT OF EVERYTHING?? WE JUST LEFT THE PORT YESTERDAY? Who does their ordering????? They should be beheaded! Just saying.

 

So...today we arrived and I ask another crew member about them (hoping to get another answer because I know that sometimes they don't have everything out and it could be in the back and if you ask for it they'll sometimes go looking for it) and I was told "yes, we do, I just put a few out" We made the Christmas ornament purchase and all was good in the world...at least Sakari's world.

 

She started collecting these a little late in the game and was missing about 4 of the ships. The WONDERFUL people here on cc have managed to pick me up all but the NCL Spirit and the Carnival Dream ship. (I always reimburse the cost of the ship x2 for the trouble plus shipping and it has worked out wonderful) That's all she has missing from her collection now. She has her very own Christmas tree in her room during the holidays and she decorates it with her ships. hehe She is responsible for these so during the "off" season, they stay on her dresser for display because her room is a "no-play" zone and she knows they will remain safe in there from the grandkids. She's the oldest (even if only by 3 months LOL) out of the other 5 grandkids and she has no intention on letting my grandson get a hold of them. Good girl!

 

 

Now momma's world...not so much. I collect a shirt from each ship with the name of the ship on it. At this point I bet you all can guess.... "We're sold out of them" Ugh. I'm not liking this ship at all with their excuses. How do you expect to make money if you are "sold out" of everything?

 

For you smokers out there...most ships carry the huge 5 carton packs. Not this ship...once again "sold out" so no deals for you and you are going to pay $46.99 for 1 carton and deal with it.

 

Their selection of just about everything is null and void on this ship. They didn't even have a section of stuffed animals for the kids on the ship. Not much for kids at all actually. I always allow Sakari to pick out 1 thing from the gift shop each cruise and it's usually a stuffed animal of some sort and she was unable to get anything this time. What a disappointment. I'm trying to spend money and NCL is actually keeping me from doing so. Hmmm

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I seriously don't know what all we did that night because I was so distraught over the shopping situation (well, not really but I still don't remember), but I do know we headed to the Aqua MDR for dinner that night at 9pm.

 

 

Super crappy picture. I'm not sure what happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always seem to get a pic of the hubby in this thought process "look". LOL

 

 

[Honeytea31]

Hello Kim!!! loving every bit of your review so far. I also see your daughter collection of ships:D:D:D.

[mitsugirly]

The waiter was nice enough to take a picture of us together so at least we could prove we were there at the same time that night.

 

 

 

We started out with some yummy rolls.

 

 

We really weren't too hungry and decided that we were just going to eat light tonight. The hubs ordered the onion soup and a salad from the starter (as his entire meal) and I ordered the grilled shrimp from the main menu. We ask that everything be brought out together since we were making this our entire meal and wanted to eat together at the same time.

 

However, the onion soup came out first...like a starter and I got nuttin! We both looked at each other like "obviously the people on this particular ship can't 1) count chicken wings and 2) can't bring everything out together as we asked. Sigh. He just sat there. I told him to go ahead and eat and I would be fine. He wanted to wait until my meal arrived, but he still had his salad to come and we would eat together at that time.

 

He said the soup was pretty good, which was apparent by him slurping up the entire thing.

 

 

 

My grilled shrimp came out and it was yummy. I'm not sure what type of sauce they use on this but it is wonderful!!! I just wish they gave you more of it.

 

 

 

The hubby had his salad brought out at the same time my shrimp was...so all was good.

 

 

Everything tasted fabulous and our bellies were full. EXCEPT...I knew I had to have that cheesecake that was on the menu of course.

 

 

As always, never a let down. YUM!

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We decided to hang out a little in the atrium and listen to Jose and Pati for a bit. It was 70's night and they are a fabulous duo.

 

 

We headed back to the photo shop to see about having my other battery charged (since I do have 2 cameras) and the guy there seemed a little "put out" over me asking him to charge my battery. He made the comment "We are doing you a favor by charging your battery". Um ok, yes, yes you are. You don't even begin to know how big of a favor you are doing me...and the entire world on cc. Just saying... However, he started fumbling around with his words and then said "we already have someone's battery on charge for them at the moment. You'll have to come back tomorrow and try again". YIKES! It made me very nervous the way he said it. He informed me that they would be open at 9am and I could try then but he couldn't promise anything. Sigh. I walked away in distraught again knowing that this would be our first day in Bermuda and I was heading to the beaches. I just couldn't go without my batteries charged. That's when I take the most pictures!!!!! I wanna cry again. sniff sniff. The hubs does everything he can to console me but he knows how I am with my pictures.

 

We picked up Sakari from the kids club and no matter how down I am, she can always bring a smile to my face and comfort me.

 

I guess they had a fashion show tonight and the kids made their own costumes. She was mighty proud of her eyeball, feather, trash bag, plastic wrap, colored tape contraption complete with a set of wings, head band and fairy wand. (I would give anything to get inside her brain for 1 day).

 

 

Ok, so she claimed she was a butterfly princess. I guess that makes sense???? Yea, we'll roll with that.

 

We swung by the buffet and Sakari filled up on pizza for dinner that night. We managed to see Kendra for the first time today and she said she was in the room all day sleeping because she had a really bad headache. I informed her of the activities planned for Bermuda tomorrow, told her the time she needed to be up, the time she needed to have breakfast done, she better be packed, and where we were going in case she wasn't ready and I was forced to leave without her (don't think I won't!)

 

We returned to the room to find our towel animal. However, it just wasn't complete with the yellow circle eyes. Sakari started peeling off her "eyeballs" from her costume (there were about 10 of them) and put them on the towel animal. Now it was complete.

 

 

 

The room steward would continue to use the "eyeball" collection during the rest of the cruise for the towel animals. Sakari would get a kick out of it.

 

Now I thought that some time ago they said they were doing away with the mint chocolates at night? Or is that Carnival? Maybe I'm confused. But we got them every night. Sakari loves these.

 

 

I packed our bags for the following beach day and Sakari was busy messing with my snorkel. She has been snorkeling with us since she was 3 years old. However, she refuses to use a snorkel or a mask. She only likes her speedo goggles (which of course doesn't cover the nose, so you can't use a snorkel with them). She is VERY VERY VERY good at holding her breath. Like seriously good. Last November her and Kolin (my youngest son who is 20) had competitions on the cruise to see who could hold their breath the longest and she won every single time. She's that good. So, snorkeling to her is holding her breath and staying under forever. She sometimes freaks me out doing this though and I'll pull her up and she'll tell me to "Stop, I'm fine." LOL

 

Anyhow, back on track. She was putting my snorkel in her mouth and asking me if it was in the right way. Yep. She pulls the snorkel out of her mouth and out comes her tooth. LOL Now how is the tooth fairy supposed to know you are all the way out here in the middle of the ocean? You are going to make her wings too tired to fly back. You better hope there are other kids on the ship that lost teeth tonight so she'll have enough time to rest before flying back across the ocean. (Yes, she bought this story).

 

 

We headed off to bed around 12 midnight after watching a little tv. Sakari was out quick. She was giving the tooth fairy all the time in the world to make it there tonight.

 

[mitsugirly]

Oh you HAVE to cruise Alaska. I HATE the cold, too. Shoot, I've lived in the desert southwest for almost 30 years, that's how much I HATE the cold. But we've done 3 Alaskan cruises and absolutely loved it. It's true that you won't want so much pool time, since it is chilly. But it's not THAT cold. The very edges of the cruising season are the chilliest, but even September isn't as cold as winter in Ohio. ;-) There is so much to do and see, you MUST do it.

 

I know I know. I will do it some day I'm sure. I have been pondering this idea for a few years now. I just need to do my research to find out what all there is to do and start planning and get it done. I'm also trying to convince the hubby to do it. He's not too fond of going to the cold either. LOL

 

Woohoo! Thank you for doing another review. In general I love your reviews because you do a wonderful job of showing what the experience will be like for a child. My daughter is a year younger than Sakari so your kid friendly insight is greatly appreciated.

 

Specifically I've been looking forward to this review because I am trying to decide between the Dawn and Breakaway for our own Bermuda trip.

 

You are very welcome and thank you for the comments. I really appreciate them. You have to remember though, Sakari is not your "normal" child. She is a daredevil and will do anything that we do. A lot of children are more timid than her so the term "age appropriate" is thrown out the door with the activities we do with her. LOL

 

IMO, I would do the Breakaway if this is an option for you. I try to get in as many cruises that I can in a year so we went with the cheaper route (the Dawn). But if you have a choice, definitely go with the BA. Newer ship. Nicer ship. More to do AND they get there on a Wednesday (which things are open later on a Wed). With the Dawn, them arriving on a Sunday is a hindrance because there's no ferry to St George on a Sunday and the buses out of the dockyard (#7 & #8) stop running extremely early on a Sunday which sucks because the Dawn don't even get into port until 11am to begin with.

[mitsugirly]

Hello Kim!!! loving every bit of your review so far. I also see your daughter collection of ships:D:D:D.

 

I know, the collection is growing and she loves them. Aren't the people here on cc the greatest?!? :D ;)

[mitsugirly]

Ok, that's enough for me tonight. Day 2 is finished and up next is what everyone has been waiting for....

 

 

BERMUDA!!! :D

(It will take some time to get it going. I have tons of pictures...well, as "tons" as it gets with my battery situation). :o

[Msmojo66]

Hi Kim,

 

Loving your newest review!!! Keep them coming for those of us who can't get away like you do!!!

 

I did want to say thank you to you!! You had responded to a question I had posted for our cruise on the Jewel to Alaska. It was regarding cruising with kids and evening outings and white hot party. My daughter is 7 and had an absolute blast!! She never wanted to leave kids club. I was so proud of her, as she is usually very shy, but loved it there!!! One night, after the most amazing day in Juneau whale watching and Sawyer Glacier, having a late dinner and realized kids club had already started, I had to leave dinner to take her, she was done eating!! LOL. And she and I had a blast at the White Hot Party!!! Found a great table and had some drinks and danced up a storm!! Totally trying to figure out our 2nd cruise and hoping my job will allow what I hope is to become our new travel future!!! One more comment..I had planned on a review and now you just make me look worse..we cruised Alaska in May and haven't even started it yet!!!

 

Michelle

[perfect match]

Thanks for sharing. I thought you pass by the statue of liberty on this cruise. :confused: I don't think I seen it in the video or did I miss

 

Kim, have you watched the BA on the NY webcams? There are two of them. Portny webcam is located across the river from where the NCL ships dock, and ny harbor webcam is located where you will see the ships pass the Statue of Liberty. The views are amazing!

 

I am looking forward to Bermuda tomorrow! :D

[dltvermont]

A little late to the party here just starting but looking forward to following along. Our first ever cruise was aboard the Dawn in 2014 so even though she's older, smaller and some say she's a little rough around the edges, she holds a special place in our hearts and was a beautiful ship to us!!

[lolavix]

I'm loving your recap as well! I have enjoyed all of them, but this one I was particularly looking forward to as it's the one cruise that I've been on. I can't wait to see your Bermuda photos as well. :)

 

I wouldn't normally do this, but I have noticed a lot of talk about cameras from the other commenters (as well as you...and boy, I am so empathetic regarding your charger situation, and I hope the photo people continue to be helpful!) If you recall from my review, my Olympus Tough (TG-850) stopped functioning correctly in Bermuda. After we used it once underwater, it stopped allowing us to adjust the functions and review the photos. All we could do is take photos, and I am grateful for those, but it was frustrating. Olympus knew that there was a problem, and after our cruise, I had it repaired by them under the warranty.

 

Since getting the repaired camera back, I had used the camera a few times but never underwater, and it seemed OK up until now. My husband had it tucked in his bathing suit pocket while he went down a water slide at a water park this past Saturday. A few minutes later, I go to use it and it starts not working again...this time, I can't take pictures. I can only look at the last one I took. :mad: A few minutes later, the camera won't even turn on. I didn't think it was the battery, as I had just charged it in the morning. When we got home, I tried charging the battery again but nothing happened.

 

I know that it's probably just a bad run of serial numbers, but I figured I'd mention it here so people can be aware since so much talk a few pages back was about your camera. There are more than a few reviewers on Amazon who have mentioned this issue, though. Your 830 is probably unavailable as new at this point, so they might think that the 850 is a good replacement. I would be REALLY hesitant to purchase an 850, or probably any other Olympus camera going forward. The camera I have probably has taken only about 1000 photos on it, so it's still essentially "new". (The EXIF data does not have shutter counts embedded into it, so I can't check, but I know I've used it a minimal number of times.) I think there is an 860 available. I would be particularly cautious with refurbished or new 850s. I have been happy with the photos I've taken with the 850, but I want a waterproof camera and not one that dies when it is briefly submerged in water.

 

(To Olympus' credit, they are allowing me to send my camera back in for them to repair again under warranty, even though the warranty is expired. Probably because they know that the serial number of my camera is in the bad run of cameras, but I'm not sure it's really ever going to be a fix.)

 

Looking forward to the next installment. You're finally in Bermuda!! :)

Edited June 17, 2015 by lolavix

[Laszlo]

Hey Kim

Go to the link below for better pictures of the NYC skyline, it shows both sides this time lol. Its a slide show I put together after our first cruise in 2011. The skyline has changed a little but you get the idea of what you can see cruising down the river

 

https://vimeo.com/130973324

Edited June 17, 2015 by Laszlo

[gail-s]

Mitsugirly, I'm dying to hear how your jetski/boat rental went. DH wants to rent a boat when we're there. (I should really get on that, I think we're going to be out of luck)

 

Also, just an idea, when we travel with the school I keep a blog on Shutterfly for the parents. It's free and it allows me to upload my pictures to the site and share them. You can configure the blog however you want. I do an entry each day to tell them about the trip and what we're doing and they get to see their kids. I love Shutterfly because they don't charge me an arm and leg for the web services.

[jenseib]

Loving the ship review. I would've done the same thing and looked for a new camera for the charger. I once left a charger in a room at Disney World when changing hotels and they couldn't find it...well they did a day later, but I needed a charger NOW, so I spent like $80 on a the only charger I could find in the area. I hated spending that money....but I need my batteries charged!!!

 

Now I have a question about buying cigarettes. They hold the cartons till you get off the ship correct? Can you buy single packs to smoke while on board? My husband NEVER brings cigarettes on vacation and buys them by the pack and many times he is stuck paying high prices or not getting his brand. It doesn't matter how many times I tell him to bring them along, he just assumes everywhere has them.

 

Sorry to interrupt your review, Kim.

 

Soaring falcon, I have the Fuji XP 50 and 80. Long story of why I have both (had to buy one on a ship after my canon took on water) but I do not like either. I bought the Canon D20 because I did not like the XP 50's photos and now am planning to buy an Olympus tough before our next cruise because I am not happy with the 80 either. I agree, the photos and grainy and blue/green. The Canon had a nice red filter to correct that greenish color but they take on water easy. Looking at Kim's photos in past reviews, the Tough takes much nicer pictures than the Canon or the Fuji!

 

Back to the review...Lauri

 

I have a fuji too and I get GREEN water. I have tried editing them in photoshop but I can't get them right..if I take out the green the fish have no color as well. I am looking at this olympus now too. I don't have snorkeling this year, but most likely early next year!

[Swells1]

I'm skipping ahead to post this, and I'll go back to find this has already been said!

Camera charger- I'm not saying you'll ever forget yours again,:p but...if you do, try asking a senior housekeeper if there is one in lost and found. I work in a hotel. We are only two years old and we don't particularly cater to leisure travelers- almost exclusively business- and we still have a whole basket of computer and camera chargers.

Pool towels- As luck would have it, my executive housekeeper was walking by when I was reading this, and I asked her about it. She said yellow spots happen to pool towels when they are accidentally washed with bath towels in bleach.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

mitsugirly ~ so happy to have returned from my land vacation to Prague & England & to see you've started your Dawn to Bermuda review.:D

 

I've spent 28 days on Dawn on 2 cruises & haven't noticed a lot of the things you've posted.:o

I've also booked Sun & Sky for next year thanks in part to you.

 

Living in a cold spot too I had no desire to go to Alaska either but now have done it twice. It wasn't that cold in either May or late August when I went. The scenery is amazing & you'd definitely need your charger for that trip!:p

 

Waiting to see how you enjoyed Bermuda. I went on the Breakaway inaugural there after reading Radio's reviews of Bermuda, a place I was never that interested in seeing but did enjoy it a lot..

 

Carry on with your amazing as always report.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[mitsugirly]

Hi Kim,

 

Loving your newest review!!! Keep them coming for those of us who can't get away like you do!!!

 

I did want to say thank you to you!! You had responded to a question I had posted for our cruise on the Jewel to Alaska. It was regarding cruising with kids and evening outings and white hot party. My daughter is 7 and had an absolute blast!! She never wanted to leave kids club. I was so proud of her, as she is usually very shy, but loved it there!!! One night, after the most amazing day in Juneau whale watching and Sawyer Glacier, having a late dinner and realized kids club had already started, I had to leave dinner to take her, she was done eating!! LOL. And she and I had a blast at the White Hot Party!!! Found a great table and had some drinks and danced up a storm!! Totally trying to figure out our 2nd cruise and hoping my job will allow what I hope is to become our new travel future!!! One more comment..I had planned on a review and now you just make me look worse..we cruised Alaska in May and haven't even started it yet!!!

 

Michelle

 

Aww you are very welcome and I'm glad any time I can help. I try to give back to the community the same way they have given to me so many times. Glad you enjoy the reviews.

 

It's awesome to hear that your little one enjoyed the kids club. They truly are an amazing bunch of people.

 

When you get that review done, come back here and post a link. I would love to read it! :)

 

Kim, have you watched the BA on the NY webcams? There are two of them. Portny webcam is located across the river from where the NCL ships dock, and ny harbor webcam is located where you will see the ships pass the Statue of Liberty. The views are amazing!

 

I am looking forward to Bermuda tomorrow! :D

 

I haven't. I normally don't watch the webcams unless it's a ship that I have booked and then my complete stalker mode comes out. :D