Californiacruizers

On the trail back to the van there were guys selling libations:

My daughter really warmed up to our guide

If you are planning to visit the blue hole I recommend water shoes with thick soles.

I wore a bathing suit but it would have been more appropriate to have some shorts over it. I fell a few times and several of a guides rushed to help me up. One of them tried to brush the mud off my bottom trying to get the mud off(imagine someone brushing an old rug) for me it was a familial gesture not sexual at all. Another grabbed my arm and had me sit down in the water and "rub rub" the mud off.

The guide walked us back to London, our drive who was waiting by the van. I tipped the guide $50.00 since he went out of his way for my daughter.

Our next stop was a hole in the wall restaurant that I'd seen on the Travel Channel. Anthony Bourdain (rest his soul) featured Scotchies on his show many times. I actually chose this particular itinerary specifically for Scotchies.

Scotchies is rustic and not for the faint of heart. There are no food handling rules. Basically, you just say grace and dive right in.

I ordered one of everything. Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, Rice and peas, Ribs, Festival Bread, and tried a Red Stripe beer for the 1st time. I invited London our driver to sit and eat with us. He dug right in. We had a finger lickin good time. London was like a long lost cousin. He flirted with one of the waitress and it was very comical to say the least. Scotchies exceed my expectations in terms of taste and ambiance. My bill was $5,400 which was about $50.00 us dollars.

Our guide encouraged me to jump into several of the falls. He helped me walk over the slick rocks and I cannot thank him enough for his patience and his diligence in making me participate. I was fine with just watching everyone but he insisted and I obliged and am so glad I did.

Ellington was so brave:

We arrived to the Blue Hole having driven what seemed deepinto the Jamaican jungle. I though the blue hole was simply a blue swimming holethat we could wade in. Boy was I WRONG!!. Upon arrival a local guide walked upto our van and our diver explained he was going to stay with the car and ourbelongings and the guide would take us to the blue hole. My daughter was fittedwith a life vest and my son and I were asked if we could swim. I signed a fewwaivers and paid $15.00 per person to enter. Our guide then took us on a hikeinto the jungle on rocky wet pavement.

The terrain was very steep, uneven, slippery and rocky. I did not expect this as it was very hard tokeep my own balance and my daughters balance as well. This is not an excursionfor individual with mobility problems nor young kids. Once we arrived at our first waterfall theguide showed us how to jump into the falls and swim across to the nextlanding. My son had a great time. Mydaughter was not having it. The water was cold and rushing fast in places. It wastoo late to turn back. The guide had me come out to where he was and sit besidesthe water fall.

My son and I in the waterfall

My son in line to jump off the falls

We spent one of the best days of our lives in Ocho Rios. I researched activities and places to go in port.I booked Marvyn Gale Tours. I emailed Marvyn Gale telling him exactly what I wantedto do in Ocho Rios. I wanted to visitthe Blue Hole and have lunch as Scotchies. The total cost for a private driver totake us to those places for the day was only $120.00 usd. I paid a $20.00deposit online via paypal and my reservation was confirmed. Upon arrival we were asked our names by aport worker. That individual had a book with guest names and tour companies init. After our tour company arrived my name was called and I was led out of portarea along with several others to a bus. At this point I was honestly gettingnervous because I booked a private tour. I did not expect or desire to be on abus with 20 or so others for the day. The driver of the bus assured us all this the bus was only to take usout side of the port area. Once outside the port area he drove us to a parkinglot where there were several Marvyn Gale tour van waiting. All the vans wereclean and in good repair.

Our driver London was waiting for me with a sign and cold water.

We were loaded into his van and off we went.

I cannot say enough good about our experience here.

Our driver explained a lot of the historical points of interest and lots about the local culture.

Next Up Day 3 Ocho Rios

The show was in the Liquid Lounge. The kids and I were the 1stto line up. As we waited others joined in the line. We all waited patiently anddecently 20 minutes or so. When the door opened however people literally ran inas if they were going to miss out on something. So much for waiting in line aseveryone just poured in. The kids and Ifound seats. I sent my son back to the room to get my daughters small blanketthat we packed from home as it was freezing. As we waited for the show to starta group of young teenage boys perhaps age ranging from 13-16 spilled into the theatervery noisily they kept moving from row to row all the while very rambunctious. Iwas about to get up and say something when we made eye contact they got up andleft. My son was highly embarrassed. Theshow was uneventful. I will have to go back and look at the fun times to tellyou the name. Basically, the singers sung covers of classic songs such as WhitneyHouston’s “I will always love you”. I fell asleep right as the show started andwoke up at the end. My son said it was good show.

Liquid Lounge:

I'd also ordered my daughter chicken nuggets just in case she didn't like the lobster.

Following dinner we headed to see our 1st show.

1st elegant night Surf and Turf menu:

I had the fried oyster appetizer with pickled vegetables it was very delicious too bad they only gave me two.

I also had the Prime Rib and the Lobster. Both my son and daughter had the lobster.

The entrees were very good. However the sides were lacking. The risotto was overcooked and bland. The potato that was served with my prime ribs was too hard to eat. Just an observation nothing worth being upset over.

Day 2 was also our first formal night. I had reservations to theSteakhouse this night but was told by our waiter the night before that tonightwas going to be Surf and Turf nite. He suggested I move my steakhousereservation to another nite. One thingthat was very impressive is the fact that Carnival does not charge a fee tomove or cancel your reservation.

The kids and I dressed for our first formal nite and left a bitearly for photos. I didn’t like my outfit however my legs were aching from wearingheels the night before and all the walking from day one and two. So, I optedfor something that I could pair with a short heel or wedge sandal. I ended up looking like a large bag of cottoncandy lol.

Prior to the slot pull I ran to the Kids club and checked my daughter out so that my son could take her to lunch which I went to the slot pull. Once the slot pull was over I met the kids in the room and changed for the water park.

I've read many many posts over the years about chair hogs. This is a mid-day pic of the pool area on our 1st sea day. As you can see there were plenty of loungers near the pool.

We spent a few hours at the pool and waterpark

My daughter the only one in the pool

I actually rode on the orange water slide. I darn near had a heart attack walking up the stairs to the entrance of the ride while carrying the tube. I am not an active person so people that are in fit and active should have no problem walking up all the stairs. The slide was fun and my kids were surprised that I actually stepped out of my box and enjoyed the ride.

Someone from our group organized a slot pull for 1pm this afternoon. I think there were over 100 participants in all. We all wore our custom shirts to the slot pull. We each arrived to the casino with $15.00 in cash. The organizer picked a machine and call us up one at a time checking our names off of a pre-printed list as we each got three pulls. Once everyone pulled we cashed out at the end, each receiving $10.00 back. It was fun seeing all the people who we counted down with. Some folks had funny rituals before they pulled the slot lever. You can see a few of the shirt in the picture.

Havana Pool Area

Havana Area

The Havana area was really impressive. This area was also empty. For those of you who fear larger ships due to the crowd, I highly encourage your to give it a shot. As you can tell from my pictures the ship was not crowded at all.

Limelight Lounge

There was a lecture on feet that I popped into

Many complain that the seating in Limelight is poorly laid out. It reminds me of all the comedy clubs in Hollywood. They all have this same layout with the pillars in the middle.

SkyBox Sports Bar:

My son playing a game in the sports bar. The place was a ghost town:

There was only one other person in the sports bar

All Hail the GOAT

Casino:

The Fun Shop:

Cherry on Top continued:

After brunch my son and I dropped Ellington off at the kids club.I wanted to take pictures of the ship. I tried to encourage my son to findsomething to do but he insisted on hanging out with me.

I walked around taking pictures of the ship.

Cherry on Top

I also ordered a side of bacon and eggs . The bacon was crispy just the way it ought to be.

The restaurant was not crowded at all. Again for the ship to have been sold out it never felt that way.

Sea Day Brunch Continued:

I ordered the steak and eggs. The steak was so small you had to have a magnifying glass to see it.

Langston had the pancakes

I ordered Al Carte for Ellington since I knew she wouldn't eat a huge portion. She has eggs and sausage.

Day 2 Sea Day:

We woke up dressed by8:30am. I wanted to try the sea day brunch vs. having to maneuver the buffetwith a 5 year old who is clumsy as all get out.

My daughter's front tooth that was hanging crookedly in the take of picture had finally fallen out hallelujah! I was so sick of that one hanging tooth. For weeks she looked like she'd chewed on a bag of rocks.

Our FB group also has shirts made for this sailing. Here is mine in the picture. The shirts were $15.00 and even had your name on it. I selected the coral color.

After the tour of the kids club we headedback to our room to shower and get dressed for dinner. Each night thekids and I dressed up for dinner. I dress up daily for work and the kids dressup often when we go out to dinner and for school mass. I think I havemore dress clothing than casual wear.

Since we had yourtime dining my goal was to eat early enough to attend a show later thatevening. Once we were dressed we headed to Horizon's one of the maindining rooms, located on deck 3 aft. We were told by a woman standingbehind the desk that we needed to go up deck 5 to check in for dinner, oncechecked in we would then need to return to the Horizon’s on deck 3 to be seatedfor dinner. All three of us made the hike back up to deck 5. The YTDcheck in area was located adjacent to the counter of the ShakeSpot. We checked in and headed back down stairs. If you are wearinghigh heels as I was beware. I never understood why we had to go up to deck 5 each night to check in for YTD.

Here are the menus from the Horizons MDR fromour first evening on board.

The tables were really close to each other. We go some really cold stares from a woman that clearly did not want us sitting next to her. My children we quiet and well behaved. Yet she kept clearing her throat and rolling her eyes the entire time. My son was uncomfortable and wanted to leave. I said to him loud enough for her to hear that we had just as much of a right to be there as she did. Our waiter was very professional and warm. I put in our entire order at once so that dinner service would move along quickly. This is something that I also do at home when dining out with my 5 year old.

Ellington was actually so tired that she fell asleep after a few bites of food. I let her sleep at the table while my son and I finished up dinner and dessert.

I have pictures of the food that I cannot seem to upload.

I had the skirt steak, my daughter had a pizza that was very large for a kids portion, and my son had chicken. Everything was tasty. I also had the warm chocolate cake for the 1st time. It was just as good as everyone claims it is.

We headed back to our room. It was only 8:30 or so and my daughter and I were in for the night. So much for the show that I wanted to see. I called myself resting for a few moments, only to wake up and find that it was now day two.

One of the only pictures I can find from the sail away meet and greet. Not the best picture as my son likes to catch me off guard.