Carnival Dream 11/24/12

Last week we went on another cruise and headed to the western Caribbean. We stayed on the Carnival Dream one more week with Captain Antonio Marchetti, Chief Engineer Walter Ambrogini, Hotel Director Donato Becce, and Cruise Director Jaime Dee who in a meeting last week . Here is a journal about that week:

Day 1 Embarkation

When we got back on the ship, of course our new sail and sign cards didn’t work. They told us to come back at noon to get new cards issued which we did but then they told me to come back at 12:30. We went to the pasta bar for lunch and then I went to get in line to get assigned a table for dinner (they had us for any time dining which we didn’t want!) Then we sat on the serenity deck in the sun before going back to our cabin for an afternoon nap and football games. We went to dinner at the same table we had last week. Our table mates never joined us so maybe next week!

Day 2 At Sea

We had another relaxing day at sea. We sat on the deck for awhile to enjoy the fresh air and attended a detox and weight loss seminar which was just a sales pitch. For lunch we went to the Punchliner brunch where I had filet mignon and caramelized cheesecake along with my margarita. After lunch we walked around the ship and then sat out in the sun for a little while again and I worked on my socks. In the late afternoon we took another nap. At 7:30 we met with the captain and the senior officers for cocktail hour. I even got a picture with the captain! After dinner, we went to the show “Get Ready” which was pretty good.

Day 3 Cozumel

After breakfast in the dining room, we headed to Cozumel. We walked about 3.5 miles into town but the breeze was lovely and it wasn’t too hot. When we reached town we went into the grocery store to look around. When I was going to get in line to buy a diet pepsi and lifesavers, I had to ask if they took US Dollars which they did but I didn’t know which line to get in. A nun stopped to help me and took my arm to guide me into the right line. I guess she could tell I had no clue what I was doing. I also walked into a fabric store and found yarn for sale but I didn’t buy any. All of the yarn (mostly Red Heart) was behind the counter on shelves and well guarded. The tons of buttons were in a glass case and well guarded too. We spent the day shopping and had some beer at Ambar. We also saw Andreas in front of the jewelry store. He is an elderly man we met years ago who has had a bleeding ulcer. He looked healthier this time we saw him. He came to our table and brought some sapphires to show me. The one I liked was $450 but he would sell it to me for $200. Needless to say, I left Cozumel without them. We returned around 3pm and had lunch on the ship. Then it was time for a nap. The show was at 7pm before dinner for us and featured the active comedy of Thien Fu (juggler) who was pretty good!

Day 4 Belize

This port is our least favorite and you have to tender to get ashore so we stayed on the ship. We spent the day being lazy. We did walk laps around the ship in the morning. Then we sat out on the deck in different places in between eating. It was a fun day actually. We never did go down the slide because we just weren’t in the mood for it. I was able to finish my pair of socks and now am continuing to work on my leprosy bandage. I probably will get the one I’ve been working on finished this week now that it is the only project I’m working on. I am ready to get to work again on my sweater (which was left behind in the car) and I really miss my spinning. After dinner we went to the show Dancing in the Street which showed break dancing and acrobatics as well as singing and dancing.

Day 5 Honduras

We arrived in Roatan around 9am. It was overcast so we brought our rain coats. First we checked out the cab prices to town. It was going to cost us $30 per person round trip to go to West End which was a 25 minute ride so we decided we didn’t want to go there for $60. So we walked to Mahogany Beach. There were some people snorkeling but since rain was coming, we decided not to do that. While we were looking at the colorful fish in the water, it began to rain so we headed back to the ship for lunch. I enjoyed the pasta bar! After lunch we went back to the stateroom for a nap. Before dinner we walked laps around the ship for about an hour. There was no show after dinner so we had an early night.

Day 6 Costa Maya

It was raining when we arrived in Costa Maya but by the time we got off the ship at 8am, it had stopped. We walked around the shops in the port and decided to walk outside the port. We kept walking along this pretty roadway and before we knew it, we had walked about 3.5 miles to Mahajual (the little town we really like). The cab ride cost $3 there and $2 back to the ship. We got to one point in our walk where this sketchy guy got behind us and we walked faster to the intersection away from him. We also saw the military guys patrolling with their assault rifles. When we reached town, we walked along the shops and I saw a lady crocheting a baby blanket so I had to stop and talk to her. She moved there with her husband and 4 kids from Utah this past January. I bought some earrings from her and we talked about yarn. She says it is really hard to get any yarn here but when they come to the states, she stocks up on yarn. I told her that if we come back on a cruise, I will bring her some yarn. We stopped at the YaYa bar and had 5 beers for $10. After that we walked around because Don was feeling sick. I think the sun came out and got him overheated. We went back to the bar and sat in the shade so he could have another beer and he felt better. We found a cab and took it back to the ship. I went up to the pasta bar for lunch and then we sat out on the deck. Before you knew it, it was time for the ship to pull out. They kept calling 4 names and we eventually left at 2:30 instead of 2:00. I’m not sure those 4 people ever showed up. We watched from the covered deck as we pulled away from the dock and sat out on the deck for awhile when Don noticed an ugly cloud ahead of us. Just as we got ready to leave, we heard people screaming from the open decks as the rain began to pour down! We ended up going to our cabin for a nap before dinner.

Day 7 At Sea

We didn’t do much today. In the morning I went to a towel folding class and learned to make a dog and an elephant. We went to the Q & A talk by the cruise director to talk about how the crew’s life on a cruise ship is like. Then we went to the dining room for brunch and it was awful! We sat with 2 nice ladies who ordered their free cocktail and I ordered a diet coke. We never got them until after we were done eating and had to complain twice. I guess because I complained, I never got served my dessert. I also sat on the deck and watched podcasts while Don exercised. In the afternoon we went to the Marriage Show again and I enjoy that. After that I packed my suitcase and we watched TV while we waited for them to deliver the liquor that we bought. When I asked about 6pm, I was told they would deliver at 7pm. Then 7:30pm. At 8pm I checked with the cabin steward and there was no liquor. This meant we couldn’t pack Don’s suitcase. Don got angry because we hadn’t packed so we could put our suitcases in the hall before dinner. This meant that after dinner we had to miss the show so we could pack. Don was so upset that he could hardly eat dinner. When we got back to the room, the liquor was there and we packed but by then it was too late to go to the show so we went to bed.

Debarkation

We met in the Crimson Lounge at 7:15. By 7:20 we were escorted off the ship and got our luggage. A shuttle was waiting for us to take us back to the Hampton Inn. We were in our car on the road and headed for home by 8am.

Carnival Dream 11/17/12

Last week we went on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Here is a journal of the week:


Day 1 - Embarkation
We spent the night at the Hampton Inn in Cocoa Beach. For $125, we got a night in the hotel (king bed with sofa), free breakfast, free shuttle to and from the port, and free parking. It is a wonderful deal! When I woke up, it was pouring down rain but by the time we finished breakfast, the sun was out and the temperature was wonderful so we walked on the beach. At 10:30, we met in the lobby for the shuttle. When we arrived at the port, we went right in to check in and boarded the ship. By 11am, we were eating lunch on the Lido deck. We walked around and had fun reminiscing about the last time we were on the ship. Our cabin was 7228. Finally we had a bucket of beer and watched people. I tried to switch our dinner time to early seating but the ship is full and the Maître’d couldn’t change us so we had dinner at 8:15 in the Scarlet dining room (upper level – table 679). We are at a table for 4 and met a wonderful couple from Louisville, KY. They are about our age and we had so much in common. I’m kind of glad we didn’t change our dinner time now. We laughed most of the dinner. After dinner we walked along the promenade deck and Don bought 4 bottles of Stolichnaya vodka for $40. I tried to talk him into the Grey Goose (in memory of Kay) but he didn’t buy it…yet. Looking forward to our time on this ship because we are already having fun!

Day 2 - Nassau
After breakfast in the dining room, we decided to walk around Nassau. We had thought about staying on the ship because we had been there so many times, but decided we needed the exercise. We met up with this young couple from another ship who had never been there before and they asked us what they should see. When I told them to go see the Queen’s Staircase, they ended up going with us (safety in numbers I guess) and we enjoyed talking to them along the way. I think we walked about 5-6 miles all day (just guessing). I think we left behind a couple in this port because they kept calling their names and we left 15 minutes later than usual. Before dinner we took a little nap and then had formal night. We really are enjoying our table mates, Lori and Al. Al is from Palestine/Jordan area and Lori is from Kansas. It was interesting to hear Al talk about his culture and religion (Muslim) and how it relates to the Chinese culture. It was about 10pm when we finished dinner so we called it a day.

Day 3 At Sea

When we weren’t sitting around relaxing, we were sleeping or eating! We did go to the cooking demonstration which I always enjoy. Then we went to the show before dinner and heard Jerome Dabney sing Motown. It was another delightful dinner talking and laughing with Al and Lori. I love learning about another culture and we learned about Muslim death and funerals. Also about how much responsibility the oldest male has if the father is dead. On the way out we met a couple from the UK (Sally and Graham) who lived in Greer but just moved to Tampa. After dinner we went to the comedy show and the comedian was John Wesley Austin who was good but I was up way past my bedtime and was quite tired.

Day 4 St. Thomas

At 11am, we arrived in St. Thomas. We did a shore excursion to St. John’s and Trunk Bay yesterday ($75 per person). Island time was 1 hr. ahead of ship’s time. This involved about a ½ mile walk to a boat and then a 40 min. boat ride to St. John’s. Then we got on a bus that took us to Trunk Bay. After a 15 minute orientation and rule talk, we had about 90 min. of snorkeling along the underwater trail. After about 30 min., Don had enough snorkeling so we bought a couple of beers and bags of chips. We left there about 3:30 and got back to the boat dock around 3:45 when it started to pour down rain. They made us wait until 4:45 before they left. We got back to St. Thomas about 5:30 (4:30 ship time) so we had 2 hours before we left but we were too tired to do anything else. Since we missed lunch, we were hungry and headed back to the ship. Dinner at night was a wonderful time and we laughed the whole time!

Day 5 St. Maarten

We spent yesterday at the beach and drank too much beer all day. We found the Caribbean Blend restaurant where we usually hang out. We rented 2 chairs, an umbrella, and 2 floats for $20. A bucket of 5 beers was $10. I didn’t realize that Corona had about an ounce more in the bottle than Carib. Heineken was sold in those small 7 oz. bottles so we avoided them. The water was rougher than usual so we didn’t spend too much time in the water. About 4pm, we were back on the ship. Dinner was another wonderful time and we laughed the entire time!

Day 6 At Sea-Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent most of the day being lazy and just hanging out. We did go to the Marriage game where 3 couples (newlyweds, a couple married 25 years, and a couple married 51 years) tried to answer questions and match each other. Most of the day was spent reading, knitting, and eating. They had turkey at Thanksgiving but Don said it wasn’t very good so I’m glad I ordered the filet mignon. After dinner we went to the show and right before the finale they had technical problems and lost power. It took a few minutes to reset everything and finish the show.

Day 7 At Sea

Most of the day was spent relaxing. I sat on the deck while Don went walking on the track. We went to the dining room around 10am for the Punchliner Brunch so we could use our free drink coupons. It was weird to drink margaritas at 10am (but it had to be 5:00 somewhere!).Don ordered the hen which he said was delicious and I ordered the filet mignon. I expected it to look like a breakfast steak but it was a huge thick piece of steak and it was delicious too! Later we went out to the deck again and enjoy the sun. I was able to finish the heels on my 2 socks and now working on the leg. In the afternoon we packed our suitcases and watched football on TV. We found one of our cabin stewards to ask him to take our luggage in the morning to the new cabin but he said he couldn’t because he was leaving the ship too in the morning. I asked about the other cabin steward and he told us that that guy left the ship in St. Thomas! Then he suggested we put our luggage outside the cabin so it can be taken off the ship and they would bring it back on but we knew that information was wrong. If the luggage was taken off the ship, we would probably never see them again! In the morning we will try to find the new cabin stewards for this cabin and see what we can work out. I finally decided to buy a new bracelet for $25. After dinner we checked to see if the liquor we bought arrived but it hadn’t so we had to track it down. Apparently they hold it until our cruise ends next week but they never told us. That was frustrating.

Debarkation
I was up about 5am and watched us pull into Port Canaveral about 5:30. It was cool to watch the front cam on the TV and the port webcam on the internet to see us pull in. We went for breakfast in the dining room at 7am and had to meet our escort at 9:30am. I was a little stressed out about our luggage though so we went to our new cabin and found the steward to ask if we could bring our suitcases to the cabin. He called his supervisor and said that would be fine so once we got the luggage situated, we were happier. Then we sat in the lobby until after 10am before they finally escorted us off the ship. They didn’t seem to know what they were doing. We ended up at the end of the line at customs (and last time, we went right through in front of everyone). Then they brought us back to the ship.

Carnival Dream 12/11/10 (Week 2)

Here is another slight diversion from Education. This is about our past week on the Carnival Dream where we visited Cozumel (Mexico), Belize, Roatan (Honduras), and Costa Maya (Mexico).

For more pictures, click HERE.

Embarkation

We were back on the ship by 9:45. Jan and Mike from dinner were also staying on the ship so we visited with them until lunch time. Our cabin was ready about 10:30 so I ran down there and unpacked. Jan and Mike had seen a manatee the week before so we went to the back of the ship to look for manatees but we never found any. We rested in our cabin about an hour before the safety drill and it really felt nice not to be rushed or feel like we had to go and see everything. After the safety drill we went out to the deck to watch us pull out of the pier but it was so cold we finally went inside. By then it was time to get ready for dinner. We are sitting at the same table with the same dining room servers which are wonderful because we really like them. Mike and Jan are sitting with us again too. Our new dinner mates are Rocky and his wife Joyce and their sister in law, Wanda from Southwest Virginia. Then Bob and Dot and their son Mark are from central Florida.

Day 1 Sea Day

My whole day revolved around eating! I was up early and had an omelet made for me on the Lido deck. When Don joined me around 9am, we went to the dining room where I had a poached egg, sausage, and hash browns. After breakfast we sat out on the deck and listened to the music. By then it was lunch so we tried the salads on the Lido deck before I tried the slot tournament. After the tournament we went to the dining room for lunch. After lunch, it was time for my second try in the slot tournament and each time I seemed to do worse. We walked around the ship before deciding to take an afternoon nap and ended up watching Oliver Twist on TV. Before long, we dressed to meet Captain Quierolo before dinner. We have sailed with him and Pierre the hotel director a couple of times before. After dinner we walked around and had an early night. The ship was rocking pretty good all day and night which is unusual because it is such a big ship.

Day 2 Cozumel

We were supposed to go snorkeling today but it was cancelled because the water was too rough and the winds were too strong. I’m glad they watch out for safety that way. Plus it was kind of cool outside so I was glad we didn’t have to go snorkeling. Next time we are here though, we won’t book a shore excursion because when we walked the 3 miles into downtown, we saw the place we would have gone. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the ship so next time we will go there on our own. We had a really nice leisurely walk into town and stopped at their 2 department/grocery stores and looked for yarn but really didn’t see any. I guess in the tropics, they don’t knit very much. Then we visited our favorite bar which is called Ambar and saw the old man that remembered us too. His jewelry store moved down the street instead of across the street from the bar, but he came to see us and talk with us. After drinking a couple of beers (coronas were $1 each), and eating Mexican burritos (one plate for $6.50 was enough for 2 of us), we shopped some more. When I had to use the restroom, the only one we found was a pay toilet so we headed back to the bar and had 2 more beers. I figured if I had to pay, I might as well get a beer for it! By then we were tired of walking and headed back to the ship but we took a taxi ($7 total for both of us). We had time for about an hour rest until we had to get ready for dinner. When dinner started, we left Cozumel. After dinner we walked around the ship and watched a break dancing show before heading back to our cabin for the night.

Day 3 Belize

Belize is our least favorite port and if we can avoid this port we will. Of course it is the fifth time we have been here so we sometimes have to be here whether we like it or not. We had to tender into Belize and it takes about a 15 minute boat ride because the ship anchors about 6 miles out from Belize. The only reason we got off the ship was so I could take a picture of Kaeli’s picture in Belize. We walked around the port shops and some of the stuff was higher than the prices on the ship. I noticed that in Cozumel too. Once we tried to walk out of the port area but the people started harassing us as soon as we stepped out. When Don told this guy about 5 times, “no thank you” and the guy kept harassing him, we decided to turn around and go back in the port. Then I saw a wood carver and I wanted to take a picture of him but didn’t want to interrupt him while he was in the middle of carving. He looked up and then I asked if I could take a picture and he started accusing me of taking one before asking and then wanted to argue with me. I just thought he was plain rude! So, I never took a picture and by then, I didn’t even want one. We decided it was time to return to the ship and I never spent a penny in Belize! When we got back, it was time for lunch and then we walked 4 miles around the track before going to the coed sauna. By then it was just enough time to relax before getting ready for dinner. After dinner we watched the movie The Clash of the Titans.

Day 4 Roatan, Honduras

We had a wonderful day in Roatan! At first, it was really cold. After breakfast we walked outside to watch us pull in the port around 9:15am but it was so cold that we put on long pants and a jacket. It was disheartening because we had paid for shore excursion to the Tabyana Beach. When we got ready to get off the ship though, it had warmed up and the wind died down so we went back to our cabin and changed back into shorts. Our ship docked at Mahogany Bay which is different than the last time we came because last time we docked in the town. Mahogany Beach was right within walking distance of the ship so I was sorry I paid $37 per person for Tabyana Beach. When we got off the ship we boarded a bus that took us on a 45 minute drive to the beach and it was a very nice ride. We drove through town and around the island so it was like getting a tour in addition to the beach. The beach was nice and we got lounge chairs which was included in our tour. We sat and enjoyed the beach and then decided to walk down the beach. On our walk, I looked down and saw something that had just washed up in the wave and was wiggling. It was a tiny seahorse! Don picked it up and showed children around us and other adults before putting it back in the water and saving its life. After that we ended up getting a “bucket” of beer (which was really a bag of ice and 6 local beers in the ice) for $20. Later when I got hungry, I bought 2 hotdogs for us at $3 each. We also bought another “bucket” and since they ended up running out of bags, they brought the 6 beers to us in ice but it was in the vegetable drawer of a refrigerator! About 3pm, we headed back to the ship and had time to explore Mahogany Beach. It seemed really nice and would not have cost us anything except chair rentals so next time, we will head to this beach. Some people paid for the chair lift but it was an easy walking distance for us over the bridge. We got back in time to get ready for dinner and then after dinner, we went to the magic show with Mike and Jan. The magic show was terrific and we all enjoyed it. Mike and Jan went to it last week and we didn’t but since they said it was so good, we wanted to see it. It was truly a wonderful day!

Day 5 Costa Maya

We arrived in Costa Maya at 7am but we didn’t get off the ship until 9:30. We decided to walk around the port shops before taking a cab to Mahahual. It was $3 per person on the way there but $2 per person for the ride back. The wind was really blowing hard enough that I put on a long shirt t-shirt. We walked up and down the small fishing village about twice before Don got up enough nerve to get a back massage. It was $20 for an hour and he said it was wonderful. I sat beside them and got a lot of knitting done. After the message we stopped at one place and had a couple of beers (Corona for $2 each) before returning to the ship. When we got back to the ship we had lunch and showered and by then we could watch the ship pull out of the port. We ended up on the Serenity deck (adults only and really nice cushioned lounge chairs) where Mike and Jan were. We spent the whole time visiting until it was time to get ready for the past guest party but we ended up skipping it because I went last week and it is the same thing every ship. Dinner was really nice but I’m kind of getting tired of all this rich food and I’m to the point that I’m not eating everything on my plate (which is actually a good thing since I gained so much weight). We skipped the show since we saw it last week and watched TV in our cabin. It was a better day than I expected because I’m not really fond of Costa Maya but I’m glad Don finally got the massage that he has talked about getting for years when we come here. The only bad thing that happened was that Don got hives on his back again and we think it may have come from the pressure of the massage. I hope they are gone in the morning.

Day 6 At Sea

Today we had a day at sea and didn’t do anything special. Don got up for breakfast and then went back to bed while I sat out on the deck and enjoyed the sunshine while I knit. Unfortunately the pressure of the massage caused his hives to appear on his back and shoulders so I think he was miserable. By the time he got up, he was better and it was time for lunch so we went to the dining room where I met curriculum specialist. I love meeting new people and finding those in education! After lunch we packed which really didn’t take long at all and then we both entered the slot tournament. But neither of us got into the finals. So, we went to the coed sauna again and just relaxed most of the day. Dinner was sad because it was the last night. We really enjoyed our dinner mates and servers. We gave our cabin steward (Bong) a box of SC tea as a thank you gift. After dinner we came back to the cabin and put our suitcases out in the hall and then watched the movie How to Train A Dragon.

Debarkation

First of all, we will never ever (I hope) book a cabin on the back of the ship on the 1^st floor ever again! As they prepared for the arrival to the port, the noise was terrible and we were up most of the night. Throughout the trip, it was pretty noisy. It was so noisy that we had a hard time hearing the TV. Of course, when you book it last minute, you get what is left but next time, we will probably leave this alone. We will try to stay in the middle or the front. We went to breakfast by 6am and then went to the Crimson Lounge where we were told to meet. Since we were Platinum members, we were allowed to leave right after the self assist people so by 7am, we were off the ship. I like claiming my luggage because it is like the airport conveyer belts so we quickly got our luggage and was on our shuttle to the hotel by 7:30. Our car awaited us at the Hampton Inn safe and sound. We really had a great deal by staying there because our room was $119 and the ride to and from the ship was free plus it included free 2 weeks of parking. We saved a lot of money doing that!

This week was a lovely week and for I’m glad the weather was sunnier than the previous week. I think we will try smaller ships from now on though because the lines were too long on the Lido deck at lunches and sometimes it was hard to find a table. The smaller ships seem more personal too. We hope in the future to try some Celebrity and Princess ships. I think we would also like to sail on the Carnival Legend which is one we haven’t done yet.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Pictures by Pat Hensley

Carnival Dream 12/4/10

(Here is a short break from education!)

Last week we cruised on the Carnival Dream. We went to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. Here is my journal about our week on the ship. To see more pictures, click here.

Embarkation

We left on the Carnival Dream today. Embarkation went very smoothly. We arrived at the port by 10:30 on the shuttle and left our car behind at the Hampton Inn. I only hope that it is still there when we return. We were on the ship by 11am and eating lunch. While waiting for our cabin to open, we stopped for a bucket of bear (4 for $21.54). Our muster drill station was in the Encore Lounge and we didn’t need our life jackets but it was really hot in the lounge. After the drill we went up to the Lido Aft Bar but I didn’t see any of my cruise critic friends and we just watched our ship leave out of the Florida. It is always fascinating to watch us pull out of the port as the sun is setting.

Dinner was at 6 and we sat with 2 other very nice couples. Mike and Jan are from Minnesota and Don and Melissa are from the Villages in Florida (but originally from TN- Nashville area). After dinner we walked around the ship and enjoyed the music.

I am surprised how run down this fairly new ship looks already and the service has really gone downhill. We had always loved cruising on Carnival but now we are rethinking this. I think because the economy is down that they have had so many cutbacks that it is affecting the running of the ship. As a Platinum guest, I should be treated special when I am in line for things but basically I’m ignored and treated like any other guest. The stationery that they give Platinum guests used to be nice shiny paper and now it is cheap regular paper. Our cabin steward never did turn down our bed last night which is the first time that has ever happened. As we walked around the ship we saw lots of rust and disrepair. I’m wondering if we will see more ship breakdowns in the future. We are hoping we will not be sorry we booked this ship as a back to back because now we feel stuck on this ship where the service is not very good and it is looking in rough shape.

Day 1 Nassau

It was a really nice day. I was on the Lido deck and played on my computer before going back to the cabin to get my knitting and book. About 8am, Don joined me but I had already had an everything omelet. At 9am, we decided to go eat in the dining room so I had a second breakfast of French Toast (thank goodness it was a very small portion). I am trying to use the stairs in order to burn these extra calories I’m consuming but I’m not sure it is helping. I do know my calves are really sore and they say no pain no gain, so it must be helping! After breakfast we walked around the track and then used the coed sauna before finally laying under an umbrella until lunch time. After lunch we sat around the pool under an umbrella again so I did get some knitting done. We also went to a trivia game and walked around the ship. The Captain’s celebration was at 5pm and we met the Captain. We have sailed with him and the hotel director Pierre before. At dinner another new couple, Bruce and Pat joined us. We really have a great mix at dinner. We went to the “Get Ready” show after dinner and I was pleasantly surprised because it was better than I expected. We have been to so many shows that were the same thing but this one was different. The sets were different than we had seen and the dancers and singers were really good in this show. We will probably go to more after seeing this. Then we walked around the deck after the show but it was pretty windy so we ended up back in our room for the night.

Day 2 Sea Day

Another day in Paradise. Today we went to the Chef’s cooking demo which included big sample of the mushroom cappuccino, spinach salad with mushrooms, a chicken dish, and tiramisu. I also entered the slot tournament but didn’t even get a huge score. During the day the top of my right foot became so painful that I could hardly walk on it. At first I thought I might have a stress fracture but later when my left toes started cramping, I hoped it was just cramping. In the afternoon we went to the sauna and then I elevated my foot and took some aspirin so by dinner time, it was feeling much better. At dinner there were just four of us (Mike and Jan from Minnesota) and we had a nice evening. It ended with the juggling show in the encore theater which was very entertaining.

Day 3 St. Thomas

It was a relaxing day. Since it was overcast and showery, we did not go to the beach or snorkel. Instead, we walked around the mall right near the ship and then came back to the ship for lunch. After lunch we walked around the shops some more and found a cute bar that had a bucket of beers for $10 so we had a couple of buckets before coming back to the ship for dinner. The show was called Dancing in the Street which involved break dancing and some acrobatics which I enjoyed.

Day 4 St. Maarten

Since it was still overcast and showery, we didn’t go to the beach like we usually do. We decided to take a tour around the island. Near the ships were lots of taxis and the posted rates were $90 for 1-2 people so we asked a cab driver to take us. He tried to talk us into going with a bigger crowd for less money but we didn’t want other people with us so he tried to find someone else to do it. Don and I both got a bad feeling about this like we would be ripped off so we told him to forget about it. So, we took the water taxi into town ($6 all day long) and found a cab driver (Ramona) who took us on a private tour for $80. We had a wonderful time and she said she even preferred private tours because they were easier. After the tour we found our favorite bar on the beach called Caribbean Blend and had a bucket of coronas for $12. While we were there, Mike and Jan came by and joined us for a little while. Then we walked around town before coming back for a couple of beers. We ended up having the last 2 coronas they had. Then we took the water taxi back to the ship and met up with Don and Melissa. At 5pm, we got back on the ship and it was already dark. I think that is the latest we have ever returned to a ship because when we went out to look where we were after our showers, we were already moving away from the dock. We didn’t go to the show because I was exhausted so we had an early night.

Day 5 At Sea

We had a relaxing day and really didn’t do much at all. I entered the slot tournament again but had another really low score. I did get to finish knitting my second sock and I was really happy about that. Dinner was really nice again and it was formal night. We also had our laundry done today.

Day 6 At Sea

Today was the last full day on the ship. We went to the sauna again and that was nice. It was nice that it was coed and Don and I could go in together because I don’t like being alone in there by myself. The ship was really rocking today. In fact, for the first time, I saw barf bags available at each elevator. We packed our bags pretty early in the day and it was fast and easy because we know we will just be switching cabins. We didn’t even have to put our luggage outside of our cabin because our cabin steward would be coming in the morning to move them to our new cabin. After dinner, we stood around and had a nice visit with Bruce and Pat (from Maryland).

Day 7 Debarkation

We were up around 6am to gather our last stuff together and the cabin steward arrived at 6:30am to move our luggage. Then we spent most of the morning on the Lido deck waiting until 9:30 when we would meet the group of back to back cruisers and find out what we needed to do. At that time, Winston (a crew member) took us off the ship as a group and through customs. Then we went back up the escalator and back on the ship. This process took about 5 minutes.

All in all it was a nice cruise and turned out to be much better than it started which is a relief. It makes us not so anxious about the next week.

crossposted on The Life of Loonyhiker by Pat Hensley

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).