MITSUGIRLY decides to CONQUEST new ports-complete pictorial review

[mitsugirly]

It looks as if the storms have subsided a little today...so I'm going to attempt getting another day done with this review before I'm off to do some more painting.

 

DAY 2-SEA DAY-SUNDAY-EASTER

 

 

 

Since it's a sea day, I didn't bother to set the alarm. We slept in until 9am and the ship was rocking and rolling today. We got dressed and headed up to the buffet to check out our options.

 

I normally don't mind the scrambled eggs they have on the cruises (I know a lot of people complain about the "fake" eggs, but it has never really bothered me too much...unless they are runny and not cooked). However, this time they were really bad. Chunks of eggs and had a really weird texture/consistency. I approached the bacon police with my normal "keep it coming, keep it coming, is there a shortage of pigs on this ship?" The one thing that NCL can't get right is their biscuits. They are like hockey pucks! Thank goodness Carnival's isn't. They have mini-biscuits and they were pretty good. I tried the french toast, but I love the whipped cream that NCL has (sugary goodness), but Carnival didn't seem to have any and it just didn't taste right. I opted for bacon, biscuits and fruit for breakfast when it was all done and over with and didn't go back for seconds. (That's a first for me).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Thrilled2012]

 

 

LOL on the brain cells. This will be the first cruise that I didn't drink (well, we had 1 this time around and that was our "free" Carnival drink). That's the one thing I like about sailing with NCL and the free booze package.

 

 

I think your Zillion Gators stool stayed pretty cold when you weren't around. ;p It didn't like me this cruise...darnit.

 

 

Yea, I know the August cruise (and land vaca) is set in stone. But...I'm not opposed to doing it in 2018 for sure! Hopefully our Spring Break is in April again (since that's when that itinerary starts). If so...it's a definite for me! We will definitely find a fall cruise this year too, since you are flexible.

 

 

Teehee....I was just saying this to Samantha yesterday (*waves at Sam*, who I bet will eventually be reading this) that I love the added value of NCL's unlimited adult beverage perk. Since one drink per cruise (how in the world did you do that??!) is not an option for me, I have to factor in drinks to the cost of a cruise.

 

Michaela, and Xander too...now that he is starting kindergarten next year, always has the week after Easter off for spring break. So, for us, that will be the first week in April next year :D.

 

Bummer that Zillion Gators didn't treat you well. It was my 'go-to' when the other machines sucked up my $$ and I needed to get some $$ back in order to continue to donate more on other machines. But you found some other machines to be kind to you so that's great!

 

Woohoo for fall cruise!!

[mitsugirly]

Now some may say I'm crazy for thinking like this but...

 

I feel really bad for Sakari because every Spring break we are on a cruise. So...that means that she has missed out on "Easter" every year. No coloring Easter eggs, not being able to go to the Easter egg hunts and party, not having Easter dinner with the family, and not having the Easter bunny come that night. I just feel bad about it. Some would say...but she's on a cruise...what could be better?

 

In the past, Kolin has went out and got her an Easter basket so that when she returned home, it was set up and waiting for her as if Peter Cottontail had came to her house when she was on vacation.

 

This year I decided I would do something about it. I was going to find a way to let her color Easter eggs on the ship. I was on a hunt to try to find coloring tablets that only required water and no vinegar. I swear I thought I had found something like this years ago...but no luck this time. I was able to find the little containers for dying that came with the coloring tablets and figured that would be perfect (instead of using glasses). I purchased a little bottle and filled it with vinegar and hoped that my luggage wouldn't get flagged thinking I was smuggling booze in it. I was determined to make this happen!

 

That morning at breakfast, you can see in the picture on the previous post of our food, I grabbed 5 boiled eggs. I would like it to be known that it was a REALLY big task to find eggs that weren't broken or cracked. I managed to find 4 unbroken eggs and opted for the "least" broken one I could find as the 5th egg (there were 5 colors to be used, so figured I'd have her just do 1 of each color).

 

We headed back to the room, looking like we had just robbed a chicken on the ship.

 

 

 

I set everything up, became a mad scientist measuring the right amount of vinegar versus water and gave her the tablets to dissolve. This little table in the room came in handy.

 

 

 

 

 

She was so excited to be coloring eggs. I was so excited that I was able to make this happen!

 

 

 

The finished product:

 

 

A few cracks later, but hey, she had managed to color Easter eggs on Easter after so many years. We were all happy.

 

[Thrilled2012]

Since most on cc knows our family...and especially Sakari, it didn't take long before we were spotted! Thrillednow2017 came over to confirm my identity. Thrilled and I had been talking before the cruise and her daughters Spring Break was the same time as Sakari's and low and behold, they both love to draw! We knew immediately that the girls would hit it off and she booked the same cruise. I'm so happy she did. She's amazing and we really got to know each other on the cruise and hopefully will have many other cruises together.

 

We talked for awhile and the dancing died down and I knew I had to get back to unpacking and get dressed for dinner. At this point we were all starving and the bunny food had worn off.

 

 

 

 

Awww :*...rightbackatcha! Definitely, more cruises to come together. It was so funny at first because I felt like a "stalker" because I knew so much about you and your family from your reviews but you didn't know so much about us. Now I think you know my whole life story....more than you bargained for lol, so all is good.

 

Yeah, dinners at the MDR were quite drawn out (at least for YTD). But I learned that if you go between 9-9:30 then there was no wait and service was quick (never more than an hour bc they wanted to get out of there just as much as we did). I wasn't fond of the buffet either which is why we did the MDR. Michaela ordered the same thing Every. Single. Night. Grilled salmon. We encountered the same problem that Sam had with ordering his quesadilla. On the second elegant night they had teriyaki salmon on the menu so they took the plain grilled salmon off of the Everyday Menu that night. Asked for the teriyaki salmon without the teriyaki sauce and they said "no" at first and then said they could do it but it would take at least a 1/2 hour. Ummm, no thank you. It actually turned out well because she was forced to finally order something different and had a filet mignon instead and ate it all. I swear that child was gonna turn into a guys burger, a soft served ice cream cone or a salmon filet so I was happy for some variety in her diet!

[HeyJut]

Thanks for your newest review! I love reading your reviews because of the way you include personal details about your family and your life. It's almost reading a series of novellas. I am a retired RN and was excited for you when you became a nurse and I enjoy following the growth of your family. Your frank and honest opinion are great.

 

Janice

 

I feel the same way. Am also a retired RN (1 1/2 years now) and lived in Santee 30+ yrs ago then to Connecticut, and now retired in NC.

 

Kim, thanks so much for your fabulous reviews. I hate when they are done. I have read all of your others.

Was on a Conquest cruise last year. Just got off the Sunshine this week and am going to try Royal later this year on Harmony. I hope you had a great time but know you always will make it great no matter what.

Ellen

[mitsugirly]

We headed out to the shops to see what they offered. I did manage to find a really nice white and black diamond ring that caught my eye and would be stunning with my current collection. The hubby tried to talk me into it...and of course so did the sales rep. But, I still had the break-in of the shop from the night before on my mind. I just couldn't make such a big purchase at this time knowing that we have no idea what we were facing when we came home. I decided to "sleep on it"...during the entire week...which eventually turned in to keeping myself from going back in there for fear of folding and getting the ring.

 

I always buy a "ship" tee shirt and found that they had limited sizes for "fluffy" people in the style that I wanted. I did end up eventually finding something, just not the color I was pursuing. Their "sale" consisted of 1 tee for $20 or 2 tees for $20! Um ok. There really wasn't anything more I wanted, so I opted for Sakari a shirt. She could always use an extra tee to cover up when swimming to keep the burn away. (It's just always a battle to get her to wear it).

We also bought Sakari her ship ornament. She collects these for every ship she goes on and at Christmas time, she has her own tree in her room and she decorates it with the ships.

 

 

 

Her current collection:

 

 

If I haven't missed any cruises, this makes her 16th cruise according to her "ships".

 

We headed to the main pool to see how crowded it was (since my little fish was having a bit of water withdrawal) and discovered that it really wasn't too crowded. Sakari ALSO discovered that there was something blue laying on the side of the pool. It looked familiar to her. She screamed with joy! "THERE'S ANOTHER MERMAID ON THIS SHIP MOMMY!!!!" Yes, yes it was true. We had another mermaid cruising with us and she had one of the same fins that Sakari had (however we didn't bring that one this cruise because she managed to get 4 new ones from her brothers and sister for Christmas and brought those instead). At that point she was jumping up and down and said "See, I told you that mermaids can swim here on the ship". I had never let her do it before and made her wait until she was at the beach in port. But it looks like she was about to morph into a mermaid this time around with a friend. I'm pretty sure she grabbed my hand and pulled me like a dog on a leash back to the room.

 

After wobbling back to the room, like we had been drinking (d/t the rocking of the ship), we put our purchases up, put the bathing suits on and headed to the pool. There wasn't any lounge chairs, of course, so we opted to sit along the side.

 

She immediately morphed into a mermaid (Nemo this time) and off she went.

 

 

 

A short video of her swimming:

 

HGbJ8CM73cE

They started having a "mixology" (???) contest on the pool deck and they had someone there recording the whole thing with his huge t.v. camera. In the past, we know that when they do this, it usually gets put on the t.v.'s in our rooms and Sakari must have remembered this. She wanted to be a star. She wanted to be recognized. She moved around from place to place trying to get her small minute of fame on t.v. She was totally cracking me up. .

 

Although Sakari is an excellent swimmer now, I still keep a very watchful eye on her. It's not that I don't trust her abilities, I don't trust those around her. I watched 2 couples with a go-pro that were filming and having a good time. Nothing wrong with that. What was wrong with it was the "way" they were having a good time filming. He was jumping into the pool backwards, really high, while the girls filmed. Not paying any attention to see if any kids or people were in the area he was jumping in before doing it. They started a segment where he stood on the edge of the pool and did the Lipton Iced Tea plunge into the pool. I don't know how many times I watched him do things like this and never once seen him look back to make sure there wasn't anyone behind him before doing it. It made me nervous. He was an adult. He should know better. He came really close to hitting a child behind him once. This is how accidents happen, people get hurt, and drownings could possibly occur. Just too many people in these small pools not paying attention. My heart was pounding and I decided to get Sakari out and it was lunch time.

 

We decided to head to Guys because at this point, I truly felt like I hadn't ate in days and hadn't had any actual "good" food since being at home. I knew this was a sure thing and off we went.

 

I opted for the Pig Patty, because one can never have enough bacon right?

 

 

 

After lunch, it was time to head back to the room to get ready for more activities around the ship and off we staggered to the room.

[stunned]

Now some may say I'm crazy for thinking like this but...

 

 

 

She was so excited to be coloring eggs. I was so excited that I was able to make this happen!

 

 

A few cracks later, but hey, she had managed to color Easter eggs on Easter.

 

This is so thoughtful and sweet and a wonderful memory made.

[mitsugirly]

When we returned to our room, we found this...

Well that is odd. It's not even night and we have our towel animal? Sakari was excited to see a stingray and it was as if the room steward knew our plans for tomorrow (more on that later).

Sakari hopped (since it was Easter and all) in the shower and when she got out, she told me "come look at this mommy". She had wrote "I love mom and dad <3 Sakari. Aww, she's so loving and kind.

I knew that they always have some type of Easter "hunt" and read that they were having a "Golden Egg Hunt" and you could pick up the papers at the Cafe Fans Coffee shop on Deck 5 outside the casino area. We staggered out to the Cafe Fans to get our paper. Instructions said there were 12 Golden Eggs hidden around the ship. You had to find them all and write the location on the paper and put it in the box located at Cafe Fans. We were off to find the eggs with the first being at Cafe Fans in their display cabinet with the cakes.

I knew that the Easter "party" was going to be in Henri's at 4:30 (I believe it was) and we had to hurry. We raced around the ship, in and out all of the venues, finding the golden eggs. However, we were unable to find them all. We were missing two. We finally gave up and headed to the party.

There was a huge line to get into the party at Henri's and one of Sakari's kids club instructors approached her and ask where her candy was. We told her we were unable to find all of the golden eggs and gave up. She then informed us there was another hunt going on (one just like the one she did on the Pride for Easter where you go around to different stations and get a sticker when you found it and a piece of candy). Oops. I had missed those details. She told Sakari to follow her and she provided her with a bag and started giving her handfuls of candy. More than any "hunt" provided in the past on ships. She was super excited now. Actually getting the candy without doing the hunt...that's what I'm talking about! I had walked enough already looking for the golden eggs. The party was starting, complete with a cake.

The last time they had fruits and other things to snack on. This time, only the cake. I guess the budget didn't allow for "extras" this time around because the candy took all the money. Man there was a lot of teeth rotting candy being passed out!

[mitsugirly]

The kids danced and had a good time. Sakari would pop up every so often to let us know she was having a blast.

 

 

They had a "dance-off" where Thrilled's son won for the "little man" contest and got a ship on a stick.

 

_ZExJwWdNrQ

After the party, Sakari would display all of her candy for me to take a picture and show Kendra back home.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

At this point, I think Sakari had had enough fun involving her parents watching over her and begged to go to the kids club. I let her know that this is Carnival and they had "dinner" with the kids on this ship and she was welcome to go if she wanted, but there was no playing at this time. I absolutely LOVE that they have this included in the program. They offer the kids "child" food that most love and at least I'm able to make sure she gets something she'll like at least once a day with them. She also enjoys eating with her friends instead of us every day.

 

Off she went to eat dinner, which is located on deck 10, above the buffet area, and at the BBQ place.

 

We headed to the casino to donate some money. I like that Carnival gives you this springy contraption to put your card on it for the slots. Without it, I would probably walk away and forget my card in the slot machines 99% of the time. I did notice this time around that our cards already had holes punched in them. Nice!

 

 

After playing at the casino for awhile, we managed to walk out still ahead and still playing on our original $20 donation from yesterday. Not too shabby!

 

When we didn't feel like playing anymore, we went up to the kids club to see if Sakari wanted to leave. She said she wanted to stay and back out we went.

 

I started hearing this noise. It was a growling type of noise. Was there a monster on this ship of some sort? No wait, that's just my belly. We haven't ate since Guys earlier. Oops. I guess it was time for dinner. It was too late for the MDR and when we got to the buffet, it was closed as well. Well darn! Pizza time it is then.

 

By the time we were done eating, it was time to pick up Sakari. When we staggered to the door, we noticed a child having a bit of a problem keeping his guts inside (vomiting if you didn't figure that out). Then other kids, unknown to them, started stepping in it when walking. Oh what a mess. I yelled at Sakari right before she became the next victim to step in it. I guess the rocking of the ship was getting to some at this point.

 

We headed out and I get the "What's for dinner" from Sakari. Well, I guess we are heading back to the pizza place again so that she can eat.

 

We returned "home" and Sakari spotted this egg in our room. It was a plastic egg. It was filled with money. Hmmm...where did this mysterious egg come from?

 

 

Then she spotted another...then another. Mr Bunny had came!

 

 

 

Then she noticed her colored eggs were missing. Did he hide those as well? Yep, he sure did.

 

Mr Bunny had also brought her a small Easter basket. She was super excited. She had a total of 10 plastic eggs, her 5 colored eggs, and several plastic eggs given to her from the party earlier today. Not bad for a small room. Mr Bunny did good!

 

 

After the excitement of the egg hunt, getting all sugared up from the candy, and talking to my son more on the shop robbery details, I packed our bags for the port tomorrow and we all headed to bed.

 

 

END OF DAY 2

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Wait...which drink powder includes caffeine? I need one with caffeine.

 

 

Yeah.... the first night dining room service is always SLOW and waiters seem to be chickens with their heads cut off. Its always better after that, at least in all 7 of our cruises. That first night though...bad.

 

Thanks for the info. I will keep this in mind next time.

 

 

Teehee....I was just saying this to Samantha yesterday (*waves at Sam*, who I bet will eventually be reading this) that I love the added value of NCL's unlimited adult beverage perk. Since one drink per cruise (how in the world did you do that??!) is not an option for me, I have to factor in drinks to the cost of a cruise.

 

Michaela, and Xander too...now that he is starting kindergarten next year, always has the week after Easter off for spring break. So, for us, that will be the first week in April next year .

 

Bummer that Zillion Gators didn't treat you well. It was my 'go-to' when the other machines sucked up my $$ and I needed to get some $$ back in order to continue to donate more on other machines. But you found some other machines to be kind to you so that's great!

 

Woohoo for fall cruise!!

 

Oh, so you already know when Spring break is for next year? I wonder if they have our schedule up yet. I'll have to check.

 

 

Awww ...rightbackatcha! Definitely, more cruises to come together. It was so funny at first because I felt like a "stalker" because I knew so much about you and your family from your reviews but you didn't know so much about us. Now I think you know my whole life story....more than you bargained for lol, so all is good.

 

Yeah, dinners at the MDR were quite drawn out (at least for YTD). But I learned that if you go between 9-9:30 then there was no wait and service was quick (never more than an hour bc they wanted to get out of there just as much as we did). I wasn't fond of the buffet either which is why we did the MDR. Michaela ordered the same thing Every. Single. Night. Grilled salmon. We encountered the same problem that Sam had with ordering his quesadilla. On the second elegant night they had teriyaki salmon on the menu so they took the plain grilled salmon off of the Everyday Menu that night. Asked for the teriyaki salmon without the teriyaki sauce and they said "no" at first and then said they could do it but it would take at least a 1/2 hour. Ummm, no thank you. It actually turned out well because she was forced to finally order something different and had a filet mignon instead and ate it all. I swear that child was gonna turn into a guys burger, a soft served ice cream cone or a salmon filet so I was happy for some variety in her diet!

 

Great tip on when to go to the MDR. I guess that makes sense with them wanting to get out of there.

 

 

Michaela ordering the same thing every night sounds like how things went for us as well. Sakari and her cereal every morning, then our pizza every night (not by choice).

 

 

 

Kim, thanks so much for your fabulous reviews. I hate when they are done. I have read all of your others.

Was on a Conquest cruise last year. Just got off the Sunshine this week and am going to try Royal later this year on Harmony. I hope you had a great time but know you always will make it great no matter what.

Ellen

 

Thanks so much for your comments. I appreciate it and glad you enjoy the reviews.

 

 

This is so thoughtful and sweet and a wonderful memory made.

 

Thank you. I just knew I had to do something.

[pghsteelerfan]

 

This area is in the front where the kids club is. So, it wouldn't be (or have been a part) for serenity. It was just an odd place and there's really nothing around there so it's weird that they have anything there at all.

 

 

6 PORTS AND NO SEA DAY???? Seriously? Wow! Hmm....I may consider that for 2018 Spring Break (on a side note~this just may kill me...lol). I haven't checked sailing for any cruises. I wanted to get this one done and decided after I get back on the next. I can only function with one thing at a time these days. Just too much going on. ;p

 

 

Yep, Serenity in the front right were the kids club is. :eek: At least that's the set up on Carnival Liberty. Attaching link to Liberty's Deck 12 (Serenity on the outside deck where Camp Ocean is). That was the *joke* between a few of us on Liberty with having Serenity and the kids' club both in the same area. :D They were both at the front of the ship.

 

 

Hope the painting and remodeling are coming along nicely. I hear ya about only functioning with one thing at a time.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/carnival-liberty-deck-plans/dp/?shipID=360&deck=12

[Kiwifromkiev]

Where is this land of Kiwis? Never heard of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the awesome comments. :

 

 

Land of Kiwis is New Zealand :) we grow kiwis, New Zealanders are called Kiwis (slang) and we are the only place in the world where Kiwi the bird can be found. We are surrounded by water, plenty of stunning beaches (albeit cooler water than in Caribbean) so maybe you should put New Zealand as an idea for one of your future cruises :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tandemcruzr]

Really enjoying your report and pictures. Earlier you posted what cameras you are using. I have a question about several of your photos where what should be vertical is curved and the same for what should be horizontal is curved.

 

Is this a camera setting or an add on lens? I have a an Olympus TG3.

 

Thanks again for taking us along. :)

[elruth]

So enjoying your posts! Sakari is really growing up. She seems as she grows, she now is looking a bit like a lovely combo of you and your "hubs". I used to think she was a "Mini-me" of you. I hope you didn't suffer a huge financial loss with the robbery of your business. Hopefully you have good insurance?

[mitsugirly]

Yep, Serenity in the front right were the kids club is. At least that's the set up on Carnival Liberty. Attaching link to Liberty's Deck 12 (Serenity on the outside deck where Camp Ocean is). That was the *joke* between a few of us on Liberty with having Serenity and the kids' club both in the same area. They were both at the front of the ship.

 

 

Hope the painting and remodeling are coming along nicely. I hear ya about only functioning with one thing at a time.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/carnival-liberty-deck-plans/dp/?shipID=360&deck=12

 

That sounds crazy to have it up there with the kids. :o

 

Land of Kiwis is New Zealand :) we grow kiwis, New Zealanders are called Kiwis (slang) and we are the only place in the world where Kiwi the bird can be found. We are surrounded by water, plenty of stunning beaches (albeit cooler water than in Caribbean) so maybe you should put New Zealand as an idea for one of your future cruises :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Oh ok. That sounds neat. I have never checked out other places that the ships go to and didn't realize they go there.

 

 

 

Really enjoying your report and pictures. Earlier you posted what cameras you are using. I have a question about several of your photos where what should be vertical is curved and the same for what should be horizontal is curved.

 

Is this a camera setting or an add on lens? I have a an Olympus TG3.

 

Thanks again for taking us along. :)

 

I use a fisheye on my camera. I purchased it at the same time I purchased the camera and love it. The only issue I have with it is when snorkeling it makes the pictures darker than usual and I have to adjust the brightness. :)

 

 

So enjoying your posts! Sakari is really growing up. She seems as she grows, she now is looking a bit like a lovely combo of you and your "hubs". I used to think she was a "Mini-me" of you. I hope you didn't suffer a huge financial loss with the robbery of your business. Hopefully you have good insurance?

 

Yes she is really getting big and growing up fast.

 

 

Yes, we have excellent insurance and he messaged his agent the following day about it. Oh course his answer was "enjoy your vacation and don't worry about it...we will be here when you return". :)

[mitsugirly]

DAY 3: GRAND TURK 7-2pm

 

So, today is Sakari's 9th birthday. As I said before, we didn't tell her that her birthday fell at the time of the cruise. We hadn't mentioned it to her yet....

 

This was going to be a short port day (hate those) and we have been here twice already. It's such a small little island and I knew I wanted something new to do here. After researching, I found that there are tours that will take you to a little remote island called "Gibbs Caye" and it's known for having stingrays that swim right up to the beach. Although we have swam with the stingrays at the sandbar in Grand Cayman a few times, and also encountered stingrays while snorkeling from the beach at other places, this seemed like the best options to do something "different" other than just a beach. So, I started my research to see which company provided these services.

 

When contacting BOHIO, I was a little put off by their responses when asking questions. In the end, they told me there was a minimum of $450.00 to go!!! Say what??? THEN they told me "

We could not offer you a Gibbs Cay Excursion at this time as it is always subject to weather and availability . If you would like to contact us

closer to your arrival date, we could check for availability for this trip."

Wait, what? Seriously? If they tell this to everyone inquiring about this trip, how do they gather enough people to do it? I would also be responsible for catching and paying for a cab to get to their facility. For a planner like me, I have to know exactly what I'm doing and can't wait until I get there to figure it out. Well, they lost my business.

 

Someone on the boards suggested Grand Turk Diving and stated that they meet you right on the beach, down from the cruise port. So, I contacted them. They had excellent communication and the cost was $88/pp. We made a 50% deposit and the rest was paid after the tour. So, I booked.

 

They did say this tour offered 2 snorkeling stops at "the wall" and then on to Gibbs. Honestly, I only wanted the Gibbs Caye portion, but they said it was all included in the price, unless I wanted to do a private tour. I really don't care for snorkeling from a boat for some reason. When I snorkel, I would much rather do it from the beach. There's also something about a wall or "drop off" that kinda freaks me out. So, I wasn't too thrilled about this portion of the tour...especially with Sakari, who thinks she can do anything and I battle with her to use a life jacket.

 

 

 

I set the alarm and headed for the shower that morning. When I got out, I had a message for Sakari to break the news to her.

 

 

She was so excited! She finally gets a birthday cruise!! The joy in her face was just priceless. Then I told her "guess what we are doing for your birthday other than going to the beach? STINGRAYS!!" Super happy child here I tell ya.

 

The kids club had sent her this:

 

 

Although I am super confused about the "Celebrate with cake, candles and a whole lot of fun" because they didn't do anything with her like this???

 

It was still kinda dark outside...I mean it is still very early in the morning.

 

 

We headed for breakfast and I had my "normal" breakfast.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

After breakfast, we bumped into Thrilled and munchkins and Sakari took a pic of her new friend she just adores.

 

 

We were off the ship by 7:15 and headed to our assigned location for pick up.

 

 

The paparazzi swarmed us "Mitsugirly, mitsugirly, can we get a picture of you?"

 

 

Even the towel animals wanted a picture

 

 

 

It looked to me like they have cleared off a little more on this side of the beach? Or have I just not noticed it before?

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

I don't remember them having clam shells there either last time.

 

 

 

 

The hubbs decided he had to "potty" and we headed for the restrooms. Just like a kid sometimes, don't go before you leave the ship. LOL So I took this opportunity to take a few pictures before it got too crowded in port.

 

 

 

The birthday girl

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Then we headed out to the beach.

 

 

 

I always love the great pics you can get of the ship from the beach here.

 

 

 

 

 

As we walked down the beach, our instructions said they would be on the beach at 8:15am, walk down the beach, past the flow riders, and past the Santa Maria Casino. We were told to look for the boat that said GT Diving and it would have a red bimini top.

 

As we walked, nothing fit that description so we decided to sit down at some lounge chairs they were putting out. I told the hubby you had to pay for them, but he sat down anyhow. They did not say anything but I did ask if they sold pop and decided to contribute something to them. Their pop was $2.00 each and they also gave us cups with ice as well.

 

Of course Sakari couldn't wait to get in the water and off she went.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We started talking to the staff there and they said that GTD usually parked on down and pointed down the beach. We decided to go ahead and walk a little bit more because we seen a lot of boats on down by Jack's Shack.

 

After waiting there for some time, and no boat coming that fit the description they gave us, I started to get worried. 8:15am and come and gone and it was already 8:30am. I tried to email them several times with no luck.

 

We spoke to someone else on the beach, who said that they usually dock (and pointed) back the other way again.

 

I was tired of walking, I was confused, it was now sprinkling. Ok, let's head back down the way we originally came and wait. If no boat by 9am, I'm calling this a bust and we'll just find a spot on the beach to stay for the day.

 

 

Along came a friend for Sakari:

 

 

 

 

Boats everywhere...just not ours.

 

 

(When you use the miniature feature on the camera, the one that makes things look like a tilt shift picture with the blur at the top or bottom, it always enhances the picture and colors...although the skies had a lot of clouds and it sprinkled off and on that morning, it was not storming as it appears in the picture above.)

 

[mitsugirly]

As we walked back down the beach, we stopped at a different location and of course the hubby sat down once again. This time the lady wasn't so friendly and wanted money for the chair. About that time, we started to see 2 boats with red bimini tops. Was it them? Did they finally show up? We got up and immediately a man told us "Don't pay any attention to her, you can sit here for free" but...our boat had finally arrived and it was now 8:45am.

 

There was another family of 9 people that had also been waiting for this tour, but I guess they weren't as enthusiastic about looking for the boat and made the smart move to stay put where they were instead of pacing the beach like we did looking for the boat.

 

There were 2 boats and the family immediately jumped in one and we took the other. That meant we were getting our own private boat! Works for me!

 

 

 

We pulled out a little and went over our equipment and what was going to happen and then pulled out for our first snorkeling spot.

 

 

We pulled right around to the other side of the ship and they killed the engines. I guess this is it. I really didn't see much coral (black areas under us). We were told this was the spot and geared up. Of course I was battling it out with Sakari to put her life jacket on. She just does not like to wear them and our guide made the mistake of saying "it's optional". In the end, I won with the "well, you won't go then."

 

I went in first and then Sakari.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

One of the main reasons I really don't care for snorkeling by boat is the distance from the top of the water to the bottom. When you are on the top, it's really hard to see all the way down and it's very hard to get nice pictures. The further up you are, the bluer the pictures are and they are not clear. I like being up close and getting shots so that you can see what you are taking pictures of and this was just frustrating. There really wasn't much to see and I was battling Sakari and trying to keep her close to me without swimming off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's just not my idea of a good snorkeling experience.

 

I don't know what my issue was with my finger in the way of the pictures. It just kept happening.

 

 

At some point, I lost track of the hubby and it was just Sakari and I. She kept going away from me and it wasn't a good experience. I motioned her to come back and then somehow we ended up around the back of the boat where the rope was. I seen her holding on to it and struggling. The life jacket was coming up above her head and she couldn't see. I also don't like these snorkeling vest that you blow up. They are uncomfortable, go over your face, the strap hurts your "privates" and you are constantly pulling them down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinpsychRN]

It's a beautiful ship, very different from other Carnival ships. Love the glass.

 

I distinctly remember you saying you each had a row on the plane and there was a pic of hubby but now I can't find it anywhere. Am I dreaming?

[mitsugirly]

The water was a little choppy and Sakari was still holding on to the rope and struggling with her life jacket above her face. She said she wanted to go back. She kept holding the line and I pushed her along the way and tried to pull the jacket down so that she could see.

 

Our guide ask us if she was ok and I told him I was taking her back to the boat.

 

 

 

Once we were back on the boat and the others returned, the hubby informed me that we were "in the wrong area" and he had headed to the wall with the other group and it was beautiful. Well, I didn't exactly know "where" we were supposed to go or "where" this wall was and I was busy following Sakari to make sure she was safe. Of course he didn't have a camera on him...sigh

 

Our guide said there was another wall snorkeling spot they usually go to but it was entirely up to us what we wanted to do. I informed him that when I originally inquired about this tour that I really only booked it for the Gibbs Caye island. If we could skip the other snorkeling, that would be great. He said he was at our disposal and we could do whatever we wanted.

 

We all agreed we were Gibbs Caye bound then.

 

 

 

 

I think he could see the frustration in my face and decided to cheer me up and told me I was going to take us there!