jam19872016

Could you let me know if there was a rock band and a Latin band onboard?? Do you have a fun times? If so could you post a photo

I have the fun times for four out of five nights. I cannot get my camera to take a decent photo without zooming in so far that I would need to take about 10 pictures to get one set of fun times. I will try to get them scanned at the library next week. Last time it did not work though, so I can't guarantee it.

Upon reviewing the fun times, there was a Latin band "Duo Murano" that performed every night in the Havana bar from 9:30PM-12:45PM.

I am not sure about a rock band. There is not anything in the descriptions that would indicate the other acts are rock bands, but I cannot be sure.

He is no longer on the Sunshine, but if you ever find yourself on a ship with Chris the Flying Scotsman, check out his show in the main theatre. Best rock show you will ever see without paying to go to a concert.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back to finish up the review next week.

I watched a little TV then made my way out for the night. I spent a little time on Lido enjoying the nighttime sea air. I headed to the comedy show at 9 for a 9:30 show. I have, like you, read you have to be early to get a seat. This was true, but to be fair that has been the case every ship I have been on except the Sensation and honestly that comedian was not very good and it wasn't just not crowded, but actually almost completely empty.

I am in favor of keeping the comedy in a small venue, I used to frequent comedy clubs on land and they were always held in intimate venues. I know what I have to do if I want a seat. I don't like waiting so I just don't go very often but try at least once.

Tonight's comedian was Ronnie Bullard. If you are ever on a cruise with him, make sure you see his show no matter how early you have to line up. He was the best comedian I have seen on Carnival yet. Truly laugh out loud funny and yes he was vulgar, but it was done in a smart and funny way. Very highly recommended. He also seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

On a side note, as you may remember I thought I spotted David Schwimmer at a Friends trivia the day before. Today I saw the same person but up close. He walked right in front of me as I was sitting waiting for the show to begin. I am almost positive after seeing him that close, that this in fact WAS REALLY David Schwimmer. I cannot be certain, but does TMZ know where he was the week after Christmas, because I am pretty sure he was on a cruise on the Carnival Sunshine.

After the show I walked around a little and finally turned in a little after 11. Another fun day on the Carnival Sunshine, at least for one of us. :)

Between courses we were treated to another dinner show. We had a great seat for it tonight too! Like the night before, the pictures did not come out. I am not very good with my camera, and with all the movement it came out blurry. But I did get a couple shots that show just how beautifully decorated the dining room is.

After dinner we made our way back to the room. I took this picture of a towel snowman we both thought was cute that was on our steward's cart all week.

We walked into our room, and were a little disappointed to see that there was no cute towel animal tonight. Then we rounded the corner and saw this.

Haha, too cute up there on the pillow. My mom's favorite of the week.

Tonight we went to dinner the latest we went all week. It was between 6:30 and 6:45 and I was worried about having to wait. Even though we were almost in prime dinner time, there was still no wait at all to be seated.

There was no cranberry bread in the bread basket tonight. That is the kind of little thing most of us just shrug off, but is the kind of thing that if my mother had more cruises, she would be writing to John Heald about how this ruined her whole evening. Yes, cruising is not for my mother. Icing on the cake, right as my mother was complaining about the poor service, the waitress informs her the chef is able to accommodate her request (no calamari in her penne mariscos). Still she was fuming all night about the lack of cranberry bread. Sad.

Tonight for my starter I had the escargots and the shrimp cocktail. Both were very good.

For my main I had the salmon fillet. Always a favorite

M and my mom both HATE when I take food porn shots. But for some reason tonight, my mom actually said "take a picture of mine". So here it is, my mother's penne mariscos sans calamari. She couldn't finish it so she gave some to me, I have always been curious but unwilling to try this after reading bad reviews of it but it was very good and I will definitely order this next time

For dessert I had the cheesecake and the buttered popcorn pot de crème.

Huge fan of anything cheesecake.

The popcorn thing? Well I relearned a valuable lesson tonight. Food is subjective. I love penne mariscos but read many reviews saying Carnival's version of it was bad so I never tried it. Turned out it was awesome. The buttered popcorn bla bla mouthful de too many words did not sound like something I would like but kept reading great reviews about how outstanding it was and well, I thought it was terrible. Always remember food reviews are highly subjective and go in with an open mind about items.

Today for lunch we decided to try out the pasta bar. The food was good but not very appetizing and we had to make a trip to the buffet for a little nibble to fill us up. I would like to try it at dinner on my trip with M, but there are so many other wonderful options at lunch that were more satisfying for a lunch time meal.

The extra lunch put us over the top and that coupled with not enough sleep meant I was now due for a nap. I had a good little nap until someone delivered a plate of cookies from the casino.

I was well rested so I was not annoyed by the disruption, but it was weird that they were in and out so fast that I do not think they were even aware we were in the room. Also, it seems I did not take a picture of my cookies but they at least did not go to waste this time as my mother ate most of them. I am always appreciative of the treats the casino sends me, but please can I have the strawberries they are just amazing :P

Once I got up I made my way to the casino. I had abandoned the idea of coming out ahead and charged some more money to my account. I played for a while without losing much money so I ended up cashing out most of what I charged. This would have been such a great trip for gambling as it was a slow burn on my account. True, the house always wins, but the house won slowly allowing me to play longer with less loss and that is all I ever hope for but the last two cruises have eaten my money fast not allowing for as much playing time.

I walked away for the day around 4:30 and did not return after this except for the slot tournament. All in all, I did not have a very big loss in the casino although when you factor in that I usually walk away with a free cruise offer, I probably came out about the same in the end.

While I was doing this, my mother went to the ladies pamper party which was being held at 4 in the Piano Bar. Except it had been moved to 5 in the spa. This is how it was advertised in the fun times:

"Join us for a fun, interactive & informative gathering! Complimentary makeovers to all ladies who attend and complimentary applications of collagen skin and eye treatments."

Sure, it is obviously a sales pitch for something, probably a years supply of the complimentary collagen skin treatment cream and to lure you in they offer you a makeover and make you feel all pretty and ready to buy something. What it actually was, was no makeover whatsoever, a dab of some cream to rub on your face, then a sales pitch for shoe insoles.

Most likely the same presentation given at the activity I see listed every cruise called "Seminar: Improve Walking and Posture" but with a bait and switch twist of a promised pamper party that does not exist. Shady sales tactic aside the product was working. Oh yea, she bought a pair that came with a $200 price tag. She was walking comfortably, she was taking the stairs both down and up, and was not experiencing any pain.

They also came with a money back guarantee. We may see if that guarantee is honored, because after being back home for a few days, they no longer provided relief from pain. I am not really sure what I can do here they are not affiliated with Carnival, and Carnival no doubt is aware they use high pressure sales tactics and low/no quality products. Best I could hope for is ruin his chance of making a sale when I go back in February, but really at that price tag how many does he sell? Maybe if I show up at all his seminars and accuse him of being a fraud? That is a lot of work for someone on a vacation.

Hopefully this will resolve itself, either they will work again and the pain is temporary, or he honors his money back guarantee.

Umm by the time I was far enough to get the whole sign in the shot, you can't really see my mom. I am going to have to hire a professional photographer lol.

I wasn't going to say anything (expect to you guys) but my mother pointed it out - the water is not very clear here. I have never noticed that before anywhere else in the Caribbean.

Sunshine on the walk back.

Hey! Nice aft!

Not the best day in port, which is okay for me as I don't really cruise for the ports. I think there are some things worth checking out upon a future visit. The fact this port gets such great reviews really highlights to me how different my expectations are than the general cruising market. I want to experience local culture and I wonder how many people even make it out of the "carefully designed to keep you trapped" cruise center?

Probably not a great day for my mother either, again I really dropped the ball picking good destinations that would be interesting to her.

Some pictures around port.

Amber Cove

There were no real plans today we were just going to walk around the shops. I looked into some things to do, but again nothing really interested her. To make matter worse, I was very tired this morning and really dragging. In hindsight, some sort of caffeine boost was needed, but it did not happen and I was sorta dead today in port.

The locals were a little pushy which I do not like, but they were nowhere near as bad as I was worried they would be after my experience in La Romana last year. We stopped in most of the shops in the port area and mother bought a few things but I held on to my money. There was nothing I just had to have and I am growing a tolerance against the obligatory souvenir purchases.

I'm finally back. I do not have the fun times. I apologize it is just giving me such much trouble getting them scanned. I am looking at buying a handheld scanner so that perhaps I can get the next set scanned and hopefully some menus as well.

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Day 4: Amber Cove

Today we were in Amber Cove and this was my first time here so I was not familiar to the island like I was with Grand Turk. We arrived at 7:30 and my mother was very anxious to get off this ship. Not really in an excited way, just more in a "have to be first" way. Our sleep schedules just do not mesh lol.

I finally got up around 7 and made my way to the buffet. She loved the towel animals in the room so she got a huge thrill out this.

The towel animals had invaded the Lido deck. They did not happen often, but I loved the moments where she enjoyed the little things more frequent cruisers have just grown used to.

Thanks for the great review. We will be back on the Sunshine in two weeks and hope the casino gods are on our side for the cruise.

 

Cheers and happy cruising.

I hope so too because I will be on the ship again that week. Good luck to us both!

Great review. saw your pic on JH Facebook page too! We were first in the frog on Sunshine back in May and we really weren't that early. Just took a shot and bingo! But they said their camera was broken, so no pic.

 

Can I ask...how do you get the DOU card and how did you know you were so close to getting it? We spend a fair amount of time at the tables every cruise but have never gotten any sort of perk, either a DOU card or offer. Do you have to spend an exorbitant amount of time or money in there?

It is very easy when playing slots to track your progress as your points are always on display on your machine. For tables it is much more complicated.

I have seen it published that they use a formula of Average Bet * Hours Played and when that number equals 200 you will be awarded the DOU. So if you are wagering $10 a hand for 20 hours, you will earn the DOU card.

However on a recent cruise, my usual travel companion M was told by a pit boss that if she wagered $25 a hand for 12 hours she would qualify. 25 * 12 = 300 not the 200 that was posted on JH's page a while back. We kept track of her time played and sure enough it was about 12 hours of play before she was awarded her card.

Whether it is 200, 300, or some other mystery formula it is very open to human error. On the tables the pit boss records your play instead of a machine like on slots. I think in general, if you are not playing $20-25 a hand, they are not doing a good job of tracking you accurately because they have so many other things they are responsible for. A gentle and friendly occasional reminder may be in order. After a day or two once you have built a relationship with the pit boss, casually ask how close you are and they will tell you and this will also help them remember to track you accurately. Don't be a jerk about it or constantly ask, but just let them be aware you want to be rated properly

One thing I don't recommend is bumping your bet up out of your comfort zone to try and earn comps. M used to wager around $10 a hand but she now does $25. She earns her DOU on the second day now and gets treats in her room (that she does not eat) and gets free cruises but I see her way too stressed out about her losses. It should be about enjoying the game, not losing more than you can afford so that you get better treatment.

I am enjoying the review- Will be sailing on October on the Sunshine- BUT now I'm nervous about the ship rocking..... If it was a clear day and not many swells as your picture had shown, I may want to rethink sailing on the Sunshine in October when the oceans are a little rough? I need to research this more I think. Thanks for the review

I always want to be honest in my reviews. But I hate the thought of turning someone off from cruising this ship. I would not hesitate to book this ship again I just know to carry some motion sickness pills. In fact I think I will make that something I pack from now on, just in case. I had no problems once I took the medicine and it was other than that a wonderful cruise.

Appreciated the review. Thank you

Your welcome. I hope to be back at it this weekend.

I'm enjoying your review. We will be on the Sunshine February 11th!

Glad you're enjoying the review. I will be getting back on when you get off. I will wave at you :p:)

That's all for now. I may be missing for a couple weeks but I will be back once work slows down.

We looked at the fun times but there was nothing that she wanted to do and she was just going to stay in again tonight. Sadly this would be what she did every night. One of the great things I think about cruising is there is so many things to try and if it did not interest you, no big deal there is something else going on right around the corner. Unfortunately she would not try anything all week, and that makes me sad but you can't force someone to have a good time.

The CD Chris was putting on a one off show tonight called The Flying Scotsman. I decided to check it out since it was a show unique to this CD but I wasn't really sure what to expect. This show was absolutely amazing. He was an incredible performer and if you get a seat in the right spot, you will find out what he wears up his kilt! I have never watched one of their production shows start to finish, but this puts their playlist production shows to absolute shame. This is a must not miss show, and if you happen to be a fan of 80's rock this will for sure be something you will not want to miss. I repeat, DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW!

I was pretty pumped up after this and headed up to the mega deck party that was about to start on the Lido deck. I hung out here for a little while, and they put out some light snacks (chips and salsa sour cream etc) where the BI salsa bar is during the day. I tried a few of the different salsas and I enjoy spicy foods, so I got a little bit of the one with two peppers on the description and one with the three peppers.

I took a small bite of the one I thought was three peppers. It was pretty spicy and I decided it was too hot and I didn't like it. Then I took a bite of the one with two peppers. Instantly I knew something was wrong. I must have confused them and this was the one with three peppers. My whole face felt like it was on fire, I was crying and I had uncontrollable hiccups. I walked down a deck to try to get away from people because I was making quite a scene, and for whatever reason there was a group of people down here too. Quite embarrassing and seriously, that stuff should come with a hazard warning or something lol.

I needed to be going to bed but I was still pretty pumped up. I went to the casino and this is where things got ugly. I was pretty much even money which has never happened this far into a trip and I was trying to stay that way since I was not really using my drink card or had anyone joining me in the casino. I wanted to play for a few minutes though and looked for a machine that was calling me. The one that called me had a pretty nice jackpot so I sat down without paying attention to anything else. Rookie mistake. High jackpot, but high wager. I blew through a lot of money in just a matter of minutes, because once I started I thought I might as well see it through. I left defeated but I was ready for bed now and turned in around midnight.

This is the end of day three. It was a much better day for me and I am happy to report that the motion sickness medicine was working and would continue to work throughout the duration of my cruise.

The casino stays open when in Grand Turk so I made my way to the casino to pass some time while waiting on the Friends trivia to begin. I pretty much broke even this afternoon and ordered my only drink of the week on my DOU card. Kinda a waste, but at least I did not lose any money trying to get it. The drink mixed with the motion sickness medicine was making me drowsy.

At 4 it was time for the Friends trivia. I considered myself pretty knowlegable on the subject and thought I might have a change at winning a SOAS. While waiting for trivia to begin I saw something. Not something, but someone. I was not the only one staring, could it be? I am almost certain that joining us to play Friends trivia was David Schwimmer AKA Ross Geller. I heard someone else say "that is not fair" so I am not crazy, this guy is a dead ringer for David Schwimmer.

Well whoever he was, he did not win. But neither did I. Turns out I only thought I knew everything about Friends. I got 9 out of 20 and the winner answered all 20 questions correctly. Bummer.

I went back to the room for a little bit then we made our way down to dinner pretty early tonight. I don't remember YTD starting so early on other ships, but it began at 5:15 on the Sunshine. They had the menu posted now, and tonight's rare find was the braised rabbit. Not something I would eat, but my mom was really looking forward to it. Well the menu posted was inaccurate and now the rare find was oyster rockafeller. She was very disappointed. She allowed something so small to ruin her entire dinner experience and that really is sad.

For my starter I got the oysters rockefeller and the chicken patties off the port of call menu for Grand Turk.

Both were very good.

For my entrée, I ordered seared tilapia.

For dessert I had the passion fruit flan and the WCMC with two ice creams AKA Mickey Mouse. My waiter even called it Mickey Mouse, wish M was here for that as she thought I was crazy for calling it that and said Mickey has black ears not white.

The flan was okay, I just don't think it is something I like. The WCMC was great as always, but the chef did not get the consistency right this cruise. It was always a little overcooked. Still delicious, just not melting.

Right as we were finishing our meal, it was time for the dinner show. I think they are cute and like watching them. My mother LOVED the dinner shows and really got a kick out of them. Tonight they sang Happy.

After dinner, my mom had a frog in her bed.

Back onboard I stopped at the Blue Iguana for a burrito. I saw on a video on John Heald's page that they now serve taco bowls. I was super excited as I love taco salads and can not find a real good one outside of a local restaurant by my house that I have not gone back to for many years because they had too many issues with ummmm sanitation. I guess it has not been expanded fleet wide yet as no taco salads here, but it is something I hope they roll out with soon. By February would be nice :)

Walked around the atrium and admired the decorations, very cool that they left them up.

Gingerbread village, accompanied with a sign not in the shot informing guests not to eat it lol.

The Menorah. The picture did not come out, but I felt it was important to include it anyway. Looks like it bursted into flames.

The Christmas tree.

I went to the dining room to see tonight's menu. They did not have it posted but they did have this.

I don't know how well it is enforced as I had YTD but I did not know that it had been expanded to Sunshine yet. I think this is a positive change.

Even though this was my third time here, this is the first time I turned right instead of left. There is a much quieter beach area over here which is where I got my pictures of the ship from.

Beach to the right.

One of the shops we stopped at was Diamond International. They handed her a flyer advertising free charms. Apparently you can collect a different charm at each port. Guess who now is in charge of collecting these when he goes on cruises? M does not know it yet, but she has to get one also as she is collecting two sets. I am not sure how I feel about this task lol.

Once we were done in the port area shops, we caught a taxi van downtown for $5pp each way. It was a short ride and then we checked out the shops downtown. We walked around for a little while, but she did not really find anything that interested her and we soon made our way back onto the ship.

Grand Turk as I said before was a fail on my part. It is not really a port for anybody not interested in a beach day. I love doing tours of islands and if I have done a excursion, that is what I have always opted for but this is not a place with much of an interesting history. There is an old lighthouse and some astronaut landed "nearby" but there is not much else to see out of the tourist area. That is not my thing, and it certainly was not my mother's thing. I am ok with this port as I don't cruise for the ports, but my mom does and I let her down with this one. She did get a thrill out of the roaming donkey's though! Sadly I did not get a picture of them this time, but I did on a previous visit she will not know the difference I am sure if I get her a copy of those.

Before getting back onboard, we made a pit stop for some nausea medicine for this old rookie who gets sea sick (you know I still have not told my coworkers that I got sea sick, although I did tell M). We were directed into a store that was located behind a door that said "Crew Only". I am not sure if we were supposed to be here, but this was where we were pointed to and nobody told us to leave.

Some various shots of ships in port.

Day Three: Grand Turk

I was still feeling a little off this morning, but well enough to try to eat a little.

I tried the Havana Bar again for just a small nibble for breakfast. I still wasn't crazy about the food there, food is of course subjective but I usually find myself liking foods that others complain about, not the other way around. I remembered they had fresh squeezed OJ here and ordered a glass. It was ok, better than OJ you buy at the store, but honestly far below what I am used to when I order fresh back home. Maybe it is like when someone from Italy complains about Cuccina del Capitano, but for goodness sakes the ship gets its supply in Florida lol.

I went to the buffet for a little more to eat, happy that my stomach was cooperating now that we were moving slow as we approached land.

The Splendor from the Lido deck of Sunshine.

I sailed on her once last year, and have another trip on her booked. A very unique looking ship inside and I will be sad to see her go.

This is my third time in Grand Turk and it is the first port of call I have visited three times. I had a little lay of the land having been here and was able to guide my mother around a little.

We had no real plans, just check out the shops in the port area and then head downtown and check out those shops as well.

They had some nice cacti, ummm cactuses, ummm a cactus and another cactus along the path into the visitor center. My mom is really into cactus and thought those were pretty, I never would have spotted them.

I was getting hungry and brunch was almost over. Mother was not so I gave up on brunch for today, there would be another chance at the end of the trip. I went to the buffet and it was slim pickens. I do wish Carnival would do better on their buffets. As I have said before, I know the buffet will never be fine dining, but why can't it be up to par with Golden Corral? As I was eating, my mom decided that now she was hungry and got something to eat. Seriously?

Lunch was pretty unsatisfying and I remembered all the recommendations to try the snacks in the Havana Bar. Nothing was too appealing here either and was honestly a bit of a let down, at least I knew the buffet probably would not be great.

After lunch I went back to the casino to play in the slot tournament. The first time I played I came in first and won $500. Beginner's luck I guess as I have not even made the finals since. Today would be no exception, I think I had the lowest score of all 8 people playing in the round with me.

I was feeling pretty crappy and went up to the room for a nap. I would spend the entire rest of the afternoon in bed. This is where the crazy thoughts popped into my head about cruising, I was feeling pretty miserable. I was uncomfortable from laying in bed all afternoon, but every time I stood up I felt sick so I just laid in bed.

I forced myself up for dinner. Tonight was elegant night and I was pretty upset that I forgot to pack my dress shirt (left it hanging up instead of packing it when I packed the rest of my stuff). I had another shirt that technically met the parameters of elegant night that I have gotten away with wearing before, but honestly this was a more upscale crowd than my last few cruises and I have a feeling I would have really stuck out even if I was allowed in so I decided to forge the MDR tonight and eat on Lido instead.

We were walking down the hallway on the way to eat when it hit me. That moment when you don't feel sick anymore. No, you know that no matter how much you want to fight it, you ARE going to be sick. I will spare the graphic details, but I am grateful my steward was not in the room yet as I had but seconds to spare. I have been in rough seas (nothing crazy but rough) before and never been sea sick in eight cruises. I can no longer say that. Bummer.

Forgetting to pack my dress shirt was no big deal now, there was no way I was going to the dining room. I met my mom by the elevators where she was waiting for me. I was feeling better now, like you usually do after you.... well I felt better now.

She asked if I was going to eat anything and I told her maybe, depending on how I felt when I saw the food. When I saw her plate, it looked way too unappetizing to try to eat anything. I ended up getting a cup of ice and eating the ice chips. She went for a slice of pizza but they gave her a whole pie since they had to make it special for her (mushroom and pepperoni, the same kind I usually order). She offered me half and I said I would take it back and eat it later when I felt better. I did eat one mushroom. That was a mistake.

Even dining on Lido, there were groups of people dressed up. Wow, I certainly would have stuck out in the MDR if this is how they dress to eat at a buffet.

I made a dash to the room again, for the same reason as before and then called it an early night. I never did end up eating the pizza. My mom thought the pizza was terrible. I didn't used to like it because I don't like thin crust, but have come to enjoy it since it is the only option at night.

Tonight's towel animal.

This wraps up day 2 on the Carnival Sunshine. It was a pretty lousy day, but it is all uphill from here.

I laid in bed drifting in and out of sleep. I got up probably around 9 and mother was back. I love brunch, it is my favorite meal on Carnival but she had just eaten now that the buffet was open. I decided to eat on Lido and we would catch brunch later on today instead.

The ship was still rocking pretty bad and I figured we must be caught in the storm of the century. I can't wait to get a picture of the huge swells we must be caught in for the ship to be jumping around like this.

Pictures of the "storm of the century"

Yep, this was when I realized why my stomach was upset. I have never been on a ship like this, the water was perfectly fine and this ship felt like we were caught in a tropical depression. I am not sure what caused this, if it was in fact that it was too top heavy as I have read about or what but this ship is truly not designed for comfortable ocean cruising. I would be scared to be on this ship in a truly bad storm. Again, happy ending to this story, please don't stop reading now with your mind made up against booking the Sunshine.

I ended up getting a burrito from the Blue Iguana for breakfast. Always a favorite for me! My mom ended up getting one too, even though she said she was not ready to eat. This filled her up and we ended up missing brunch because she could not eat again after this.

I went down to the casino and played some more. My mom came with me and watched. I was doing pretty good and before long I had earned my drink on us card.

I was not doing good and was still not feeling good, so I did not play anymore for now though usually I would go ahead and order a drink now that they were free (just pay the tip).

I went with my mom while she went shopping at the different shops. She loves to shop but it is torture for me. I sucked it up since I am sure she did not enjoy watching me gamble. No guy likes to go shopping with a woman. When a guy goes shopping, they go in, get what they need and get out. Woman take forrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrevvvvvver to find just the thing they need in all the perfect specifications. My mother takes it a step further, she will go through all the normal steps of finding just the right item, then talk herself into and out of buying it a half dozen or more times. And then 9 times out of 10, leave empty handed.

Window shopping is great, I do it all the time for cruises so I get it now - sorta. The difference I think is, I cannot afford nor get the time off for all the cruises that I look at so window shopping is a nice consolation. But for the items in the Fun Shops? :rolleyes: Either way I want her to have a good time, so I tagged along and did not complain. I am never good at the "what do you think of this one" question though. I don't think anything. M does not find me helpful either when we go shopping lol.

I'm running a little behind getting the next installment posted. I don't have the fun times scanned yet as work used the magic words on me this week. "Unlimited overtime". This is where I pay for my cruises so please bear with me. I'm gonna post a little bit tonight but the fun times are not ready.

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Day 2: "Fun" Day At Sea

This is where things take a turn for the worse. I will be honest, if I was a first time cruiser, I would be a last time cruiser after today. Sigh. Even with experience, I was thinking some crazy thoughts like how will I spend my future vacations after this? Don't worry, this story has a happy ending but there are dark times ahead. If you need only happy stories, please skip to day 3.

Room service was very prompt with a 5AM delivery. My mom of course was up by 4. I drifted in and out of sleep from then on as my mother is one of those who has to converse with herself about nothing in particular, she cannot just sit quietly in a room so others can sleep. She was having trouble walking because of the motion of the ship, I just smiled as these things just never really bother me and the rocking was making it so easy to keep falling back asleep. I was in heaven.

After she ate, she made her way to the library so that I could try to get some rest. I had to get up to use the bathroom, wow this ship was really rocking. I stumbled back into bed relieved to be rocked back to sleep. But it was not working anymore, instead my stomach didn't feel so good. I didn't eat last night because I had such a large dinner. I usually eat again anyway before bed, but a usual bedtime is between 3-5am not 11.

Nothing was open yet except continental breakfast and pizza but I really needed to eat something to settle my stomach I was so hungry. I went for pizza, but the guy said the oven was down for "technical problems". I'll be honest, I did not believe him I thought it was just shut down for cleaning or something but had to say that since it was advertised as 24 hours. It really was broken and not back on until later that night.

Nothing hot, so just some muffins and fruit for me even though I was starving! The few people who were up were all commenting how bad the ship was rocking. I hoped this would ease the hunger pains until some real food was served. It did not and I had yet to connect my stomach issues to anything but hunger. The motion of the ship has never bothered me before so I did not put it together right away (or maybe I did not want to admit they were related).