A breeze of a Journey that was full of firsts

[JaniceB]

Wow sunset was amazing. 

[jimbo5544]

23 hours ago, searoses said:

Those are some gorgeous sunset photos from my second favorite island...been lucky enough to do several land vacations after visiting on a cruise...

Thanks, it was pretty special, almost missed dinner because of it.

[jimbo5544]

14 hours ago, fyree39 said:

Jim, do you remember what the other ship was that was docked with you in Granada?  I thought at first it might be a HAL ship, but now I'm not sure.

Hmmmm, I do not but will ask others that were on the cruise.  Looking at it makes me think it is a HAL ship but .....

[jimbo5544]

11 hours ago, heffy2 said:

Beautiful pictures, thanks so much!

My pleasure

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, fyree39 said:

Jim, another question, if I may. On the snorkeling excursion, were there any raw beginners?  I snorkeled as a kid living in Coral Gables, but my husband has never done this.  He is not a "swimmer" and more of a land lubber. Do these excursions help the beginners feel comfortable in the water?  Are there any flotation devices for beginners to make them feel safer and more secure?

Feel free to ask at any time, they have an inflatable vest that you can blow into so that you feel comfortable.  Our experience has been that people have the most issue with the mouthpiece and breathing thru it in the water.  THey have new full face masks which eliminate this as an issue.

[jimbo5544]

Sorry I have been busy, much more coming today.

[Hogladyrider]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

Sorry I have been busy, much more coming today.

I'm busier now in retirement than ever, isn't it amazing, but a wonderful life for sure!

Susan

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

I'm busier now in retirement than ever, isn't it amazing, but a wonderful life for sure!

Susan

I don't know if I am busier, but it is def busier then I thought it would be (which is a good thing).

[jimbo5544]

So this was day 8 which would the end of an 8  day cruise, but we had another week to go.  This is another great reason to take a Journey cruise.  This was a sea day and had several unique events, this was the "throwback day" portion of the cruise.  Something they do on a Journey cruise to capture the "old" way (or original) of what cruising was all about.  There were several components to this.  The daytime activities were full of things that used to happen back then.  Things like horse racing, hairy mens chest contest sand pool day things like that.  It was also the 2nd of three Casual Elegant nights, a true meet the captain and senior staff in the main show room and free cocktails (pictures coming).  

[jimbo5544]

This was also Veterans Day.  The did an informal get together earlier in the day, replaced the journeys banner that hung in the main atrium with a large American flag, and a more formal recognition for Vets in the main show room later in the day.  It may be due to it being a Journey's cruise, but there was a lot, and I mean a LOT of vets on this sailing.  Here is a pic they did when all were invited up on the stage to be recognized.

Nice job by Carnival, and kudos and thanks to all those who sacrificed for our country and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice and were not there, but certainly in spirit.

 

[jimbo5544]

Here is the flag hanging in the atrium, the next day the Journey banner was back.  Thought I had an earlier pic abut have one later in a short video I did.

[jimbo5544]

The band Six O'clock Dock (they were excellent) played during the Captain event and the senior staff went on stage to be recognized.

[jimbo5544]

Also playing with them was the brass trio that was playing around the ship.  They played later together in Oceans Plaza and it was packed with people enjoying it.

[jimbo5544]

Before dinner I got a couple more sunset pics.....

 

 

[jimbo5544]

[jimbo5544]

Another throwback was the midnight buffet.  It was open for viewing at either 11:00 pm or 11:15 I am not sure and then for devouring at 11:45 (I think).  This was done in the aft Lido area and must represent many hundreds of hours of prep time.  Here are some pics

[jimbo5544]

......and some more

 

 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, fyree39 said:

That buffet looks amazing!  We never go. We're always in bed by then. #earlybirds

LOL, we had to work at staying up for it.

[jimbo5544]

[jimbo5544]

I did find a pic of the Journey banner hanging.....out of place but wanted to post it before I forgot. They were doing a ballon drop...again from later on and out of place but you can see the banner. 

[jimbo5544]

It was a really full day, and I def enjoyed the throw back.  Next up: St Maarten, an island, two countries, and deeply trying to recover from being absolutely walloped by hurricanes.  We were very interested to see how they were doing.

Edited December 8, 2018 by jimbo5544

[Hogladyrider]

Hours and hours of work providing beautifully detailed pieces made out of food.......ah I remember the midnight buffet days from my younger years cruising.  It was definitely nice to have this lovely display.  I for one truly appreciate all the hard work the crew put in every day!

[jimbo5544]

4 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Hours and hours of work providing beautifully detailed pieces made out of food.......ah I remember the midnight buffet days from my younger years cruising.  It was definitely nice to have this lovely display.  I for one truly appreciate all the hard work the crew put in every day!

Felt the exact same thing as we walked around admiring that night.

 

[jimbo5544]

18 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Hours and hours of work providing beautifully detailed pieces made out of food.......ah I remember the midnight buffet days from my younger years cruising.  It was definitely nice to have this lovely display.  I for one truly appreciate all the hard work the crew put in every day!

So the next morning was St Maarten, as we pulled in I was interested to see exactly how this island was doing since the hurricane(s) from last year   The French side was hit harder and we had no plans of going there.  As a matter of fact, we had been to this island many times including a could of land trips.  Our plan was to get off and with walk to the downtown area or pay for the water shuttle.

 

When we got off the ship it was hot and muggy (the hottest we had of the entire cruise) so we opted for the water shuttle.  From the distance the downtown area looked fine, up close they still have a long way to go, but they have the right spirit.

 

[jimbo5544]