WE MISSED THE BOAT! A cruisin USA "LONG and LENGTHY" DESTINY Review

[nesheag101]

SEACATT 66 oops I was referring to the Dunns river Falls.

[nesheag101]

???????????

My bad.....I was referring to Dunns River Falls....

[kcroxyoursox]

Great review. Can't wait to hear about the tour!

[seacat66]

seacatt 66 oops i was referring to the dunns river falls.

 

my bad.....i was referring to dunns river falls....

 

 

thanks for the clarification!

[Molly BPOE]

Can't wait to hear about the tour, I have been thinking about doing it on Valor, but the price seems a little steep...so I am very interested in your experience.

[I Luv Crusin]

Love your review. I'm so glad you decided to post it!

[GlendaleCruiser]

While I don't doubt that Cruising USA's experience with Delta was terrible, it could of happened with any airline at all, not just Delta. For example, Delta has always been great for me, with the best prices, and it doesn't hurt that I get free checked bags because I have Skymiles Gold. However, I have had 2 instances with American that were similar to the writer's. So don't worry, everything will go fine, uneventful.

 

Maybe I'm just partial to Delta, but please, don't worry!!!:)

 

I had the same experience on American, too. Changed our flight times which cut down on our connection time going. Changed the time we left.

 

Coming home they delayed the flight and delays caused us to spend the night in Chicago instead of continuing to Phoenix. They could not help the delay problem, but if they had kept our return connections as they were, we still would have made the flight even with the delay.

[sunshinecruiser62]

I'm hangin' there with you all!! Great review!! I live in MI also, where is the bar you own? I'd love to buy you and Maryann a drink and chat with you guys!! I feel as though we're already friends!:)

[neverpar]

Awesome review and I'm lovin all the pics too..:D

[Cushing985]

You're a wonderful writer. I don't have a chance to read most of it tonight but will tomorrow and looking forward to it. One thing I did want to mention is the fact you all chose to fly in the day of the cruise and you were a bit paranoid concerning the reaction on this board. The reason you all flew out the day of departure is your business only so just ignore those who want to run your life. Delta also screwed my wife and me out of a day in Italy with their bumbling. Unlike you I can guarantee I will never fly with Delta again. So, looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip. Thanks!

[cruisin USA]

I'm back.......Sorry about the delay..

 

Captains Log Supplemental.....

 

I'm poised to finish it up...sigh It's been fun sharing with you all. Although I don't post here(often), I've learned many useful tips from CruiseCritic, and hope that I've paid back a little of all I've gotten here.

 

As I look back on the review I realize there's a million things I didn't mention...but that's not the kind of review I write. I don't want to bore you with pictures of the hotel room where I stayed the night before, or me going up the gang plank, my first steps into atrium...etc..ad nauseum, I think you get what I'm saying, I just wanted to bring you all along with us, spotlighting the highlights.

 

 

 

Before I continue, let's hear it for all those cute towel animals that appeared in the cabins after dinner each night.......Always brings a smile to our face, being suprised at what will show up next.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out that Face!

 

 

 

A GREAT Carnival touch!!

 

I'm going to post the entire last day tonight, and will be back tomorrow to finish it up....Enjoy

[cruisin USA]

"All Good Things......"

 

 

7:45 came too early. We got up, got ready, and headed down to the library. There, we met Kelly(man) and Lisa. There was coffee and fruit juices and Danish. Just what we needed. I got a big glass of Orange juice and Mary Ann got coffee. The peeps started to file in. At one point, an elderly lady and what appeared to be her daughter came into the room. Kelly talked with them. I heard him explain that there would be lots of stairs, and there was only 1 point where an elevator would be available. They decided to pull out. Once we were all signed in. Kelly started to talk about what we were going to do on our tour. We were all issued VIP laminates that we had to wear during the entire tour. He reiterated about not having any cameras. He said that we were waiting for our security officer. Kelly was personable. He explained that he did all the employee training on the ship. He also mentioned that he had a real estate business in FLA. That he was had a dual Canada-U.S. citizenship. It was easy to tell from the get go, that he was a very personable guy. Security came. Did a slight metal detection on everyone a they left the library. We found out that there were 2 groups. We would be first, with Kelly as our guide. Lisa would follow with her group. I did a quick count of our group 15 peeps. We walked out the copper colored doors of the photo gallery and out onto a muster station hallway. We worked our way to the front of the ship. Kelly took us up front outside, on the crews recreation deck. Here was the bell. Kelly explained that there’s a bell on every ship. It went back to the days when there was a fog or nightfall, long before ships had radar or gps. There was also a ladder leading up to a point where you could do a “Titanic“.(Although officially I think the ladders there to take care/ringing of the bell). Kelly explained that they couldn’t let passengers do this, knowing how passengers can be. We all understood. He also said that usually there’s hot tubs up here on other ships. We see Kelly look up and wave. There’s a man on the bridge waving down. We then walk back toward the hallway we came out. The hall is lined with big barrel shaped objects. It’s here we learn that these are “life rafts” that will open up once they hit the water. The mystery of the 24 life rafts was solved!! We then go inside. Here, he explains before we go in, that this is the crews quarters, and that we should be quiet. We walked down through a couple of hallways of the crew quarters on our way to the crew lounge. “Nice” I thought as we filed in. Bar(locked up by a gate). Foosball, a few couches, a Big Screen TV. Kelly explained how they all watched the Olympic Hockey the week before. And some of the crew was mad at him because he was rooting for the Canadians. He said that they had Wii tournaments, and that he was good at the bowling. He also mentioned that although the crew had it’s own bar. They were required, by duty, not to be intoxicated. Makes sense to me, if there was an emergency. He said 2 was about the standard limit, and that the crew drinks cost about $1.00. Back through the dormitory like hallways, and to the backstage of the showroom. There, we were met by the dance captain. We were in a room with all the costumes. She explained that there was an identical dressing room across the hall for the men. She also had to add that due to space restrictions, some of the female dancers had to change there(with the men!). She said that she had been dancing since she was a little girl. She explained that it was her job to teach the routines of all the shows to the new people that would come in to replace the current troup. The way she explained it, she had people coming and going all the time. She said that Carnival was very accommodating about giving people time off, and letting them return when they were ready to come back. We were then led out onto the stage. The curtains were closed. Kelly opened them. Children were playing out in the lounge, and boy were they surprised to see us. The stage manager came out. He started talking about the stage. That it cost about 10 million for all the lights, and effects on this one ship. We saw metal stairways on each wing of the stage. You could tell that they would could together eventually. Kelly told us that if you work for Carnival for 10 years, you get some kind of retirement benefit. He also told us that although Carnival is considered to be an American company, it’s registered in the Bahamas for tax purposes. He also said that the crew gets paid in cash on payday, but also after prodding admitted that you could have your money directly deposited. We went back, backstage, and took a stairway 3 floors down. He mentioned that we were now under the water line. There was a long huge hallway that runs from the back of the ship to the front. First stop was the laundry. We walked into a room with some HUGE washing machines. The man in charge said that each machine could hold 400 lbs. of wash at a time. He then opened a door, and showed us the 4 cartridges that hold 100 lbs each. Next stop, the dryers. Huge dryers. The room was warm. The crew her was dressed informally in t shirts and shorts. We were then led to the folding rooms. These two rooms had enormous amounts of laundry in them. Stacked neatly, and totally up to the line on the wall that said “Don’t stack over this line”. We were given a demonstration on how they put the towels and linens into a machine and it comes out folded perfectly. Very interesting. Next up, and further down the hall, we saw a large work area. This is where your luggage is brought when you first come aboard. There were big piles, of what I thought were garbage, plastic wrapped in a corner. In another corner 2 guys were welding what looked like some lighting fixtures. He said that this is the biggest crew area of the ship, and that sometimes they had dances or parties for the crew there. Next up, the sewage station. It was a little ripe. He pointed to a door that people could go check it out if they wanted. 3 or 4 people did. Kelly didn’t. We didn’t either. We met the person in charge of ships supplies next. He went through a list of what the ship goes through. The numbers escape me, but it’s massive how much chicken, meat, fruit, and vegetables the ships stores. He did mention that they keep and extra 3 day supply of food on the ship in case of an emergency. He took us into the large coolers. The deeper we went the colder it got. First, in the refrigerated section were meats, and chicken. Farther back was the huge freezer room, which was piled high with all sorts of boxes. He also took us into the beer cooler…yeah!! He took a few questions. I wish I would have thought to ask him why we’ve always run out of limes for our Coronas on EVERY cruise we’ve ever been on. (It’s true, and Mary Ann and I now smuggle on a couple of limes each cruise…I hate Corona with lemon!!!).

 

 

Notice the lime next to the bottle opener

 

 

Would have sure liked to hear his answer. We thanked the food manager for his time, and proceeded to the other crew lounge. Another nice bar, but smaller. Kelly took us to the crew’s galley. “What a huge kitchen“, I thought to myself. Just for the crew!!! Then we went to the crew mess area. Kelly’s office was directly adjacent. It looked like a small classroom. Sometime during the tour, Kelly mentioned that the lowest class of worker on the ship was considered a “wiper”. I do know that part of his job was to teach the crew English. He said that that is the official language of Carnival, and it only made sense that everyone from the “wipers” to the captain would have to speak the same language. I did find the FRUIT PUNCH! In the crews mess!! Why they took it away from the passengers, I don’t know(yes I do, It was a GREAT mixer!!…hehe). I noticed a sign in Kelly office. It was the Carnival mission statement. It said something to the effect that “Our Mission is to provide our guests with a hassle free, worry free vacation” I like it! Enjoyed my glass of punch/nectar, went back out for another. Lisa’s party was coming in. I walked back into the classroom, and told Kelly that they’d caught up. He laughed, and then realized what I meant. Off we went. Next stop, the engine control room. We walked into this large room. Across the far wall, were what I assume were diagrams of the systems of the ship. Water pressure, Electrical systems.. Gauges of all sorts of things lining the entire wall. I saw what looked like a diagram of the engine, and generators. There was a long control panel with many knobs, and a couple of computer screens overseeing the wall. At the desk was a young Italian man in coveralls. He spoke in broken English, and was hard to understand. Someone asked about what happened with the ship when it had to be dry docked. He said we’d have to look at the official statement from Carnival(Everyone laughed). One of the screens, screensaver was a picture of the propeller of the ship when it was in dry dock 2 weeks previous. He talked about the ships systems. Again, He was hard to understand. He did bring up a computer screen for us all to check out of ships systems. I see a printer, it printing out one line at a time. A report of trouble in a ships system? Maybe. I did notice that the printers on this ship were ancient. I would say each of the 3 I saw on this tour(2 in the control room, 1 on the bridge) were 20 years old(dot matrix type). Guess they must have gotten a good deal..hehe. Lisa’s group catches up with us again. We continue into the galley. I thought the crew galley was huge. This was triple!!! Huge vats were cooking tonight’s Onion soup. The smell was heavenly as it wafted through the kitchen. There was a station where 2 cooks were preparing tonight’s shrimp cocktails and another appetizer. They were making them across 2 big tables about 50 at a time. We then walked through the “line”. This is where all the meals are made by the cooks, and put up in the window for the waiters to take. I could the various places on the line where the steaks came out. They were labeled “Medium Rare”, “Medium” and “Medium Well”( I guess you have to special order a rare or well). There were pictures all over of the various entrees of the day, so that every waiter knew exactly what it was supposed to look like before they take it out. We were led around the kitchen. There was an area by the office that had ALL the meals, and how they were supposed to look. We then saw where they were making desserts. We got to sample the carrot cake. Rich and Delicious!!! A quick pass by the huge dishwashing station, and through the revolving doors out into the dining room. I saw the staircase. I told Mary Ann this was the dining room we ate in last time. I spied our table as we walked through the dining room and out into the public coridors. Kelly took us down the elevators to Deck 0. Where we usually debark from. Through the hallway, and up 5 flights of stairs. It was here that a crew elevator was available. We took the stairs, and waited for the whole group to assemble Kelly led us through a corridor to the bridge. The captain was there, and shook everyone’s hand as they entered. After everyone was there, the captain announced in his Italian accent, that we would all take a picture before our tour. We got a group shot that was sent to our cabin later that night. Cool!! Picture with the captain on the Bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

The captain then started to explain the bridge to us. His English was much better, and we could understand him ok. I looked around. Nice. Carpeted room. Looking high above the water. There were control stations centered, and to the each side of the bridge. Above the bridge dead center was a information screen which displayed the ships heading and speed. 18 knots. I saw a couple of pairs of binoculars, right up front. A stuffed animal was looking out, hanging from one of the beams.(I thought that was a little weird)

 

 

Took this the day we went out the secret doors. Lookin up at the bridge.

 

 

The captain left us, and one of his officers took us and explained some of the instrument panels. He showed us the radio station. There were 2 sets of radios. One was a satellite system that they could talk across the world with, and a regular radio(on channel 13) that they could use for short range talk between ships. He took us over to one of the wings. There was a station with 2 computer monitors showing all sorts of ships information on one, with a map showing the ships location and heading on the other. As the officer is explaining the set up I look on the back wall of instruments. One of the lights is flashing, and the LED says Fire. It’s located in a bathroom. Nobody’s doing anything about it. (I guess they must know that someone’s smoking). A few questions were asked, and then we headed off. We ended up at the piano bar, where Kelly took our VIP badges back, but gave us hats, pens, lanyards, and a small pamphlet of ships basic info. On the back of the pamphlet?........ The recipe for warm chocolate melting cake. And since you’ve had the stamina to read through this review…….I’m going to share it with you right here……

 

　

Warm Chocalate Melting Cake

(Yield: 4 Servings)

 

Ingredients:

 

 

6 0z Dark Chocolate

6 oz Butter

4 Eggs

6 oz Sugar

2 oz. Flour

 

 

 

Method:

-Melt the Chocolate and butter

-Mix the eggs and sugar and whisk for a few minutes, add the flour

-Add the egg mix to the melted chocolate and mix

-Pour the mix in a greased mold

-Bake directly in the oven at 390 F for 14 minutes

 

 

Note: Make sure that the eggs are at room temperature and chocolate is warm enough while making the mixture.

 

　

　

　

Haven’t had a chance to make it since we’ve gotten back. I’ll make it eventually. Kelly told us that we’d all missed the debarkation talk, and we should all see it on our tv’s. It was 11:30 am. The tour lasted over 2 ½ hours!! The time did fly.

 

 

to be continued.......

[Eeyoregon]

OP: I am new to Carnival and would LOVE to do this behind the scenes tour. Where do you sign up? When? Cost?

 

Thanks so much for your review.

 

Gina

[cruisin USA]

We went up to the lido for lunch. Hit the room for a short nap, and spent the rest of the day strolling the ship, stopping from time to time, at the bar, or at the casino. It was cool and windy outside. We stayed inside for the most part. Headed back to the room, and went on the balcony. I could tell we were heading due west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended up going to see the show at the Palladium which was a French review.. I ALWAYS enjoy the shows Carnival puts on in the main showroom. We recognized the dance captain, although she was in her showgirl outfits. Turned out she was really good. The show was fabulous, and again, time flew by……….After the show, it was time to get ready for dinner. Tonight, the dining room was packed. It saddened me us to think that this was the last of our 7(should have been 9) dinners here. It seemed so long ago that the kid’s were with us on the lower floor. Dinner tonight? Had to have that French Onion Soup I smelled earlier. Shrimp cocktail, Salad, Fruit Plate, and the Short Ribs again…Yum!! Warm Chocolate melting cake one last time!!!…sigh Again the waiters assembled and sang the sentimental “Leavin on a Jetplane” song parody, with the same waiter yelling out “Please don‘t go“ in the middle again. Same reaction. I’m sure we all wished we could stay. Again, Desmond said we couldn’t leave on that sentimental note. They started another happy song. One of the passengers got up on one of the tables the waiters were standing on for the “Low” dance. Desmond quickly got him off. Another one of the passengers scooped up his small waiter in a big hug. All were laughing, but it was clear that these 2 had developed a friendship this cruise. The music subsided. Dinner was over. We both thanked(and tipped) our waiter. We were off on the last night of the ship. We walked around. The ship was abuzz with people enjoying their last night. Getting their last minute photos taken. The bars and casinos were pretty full early. We ended up going down to the Onyx bar. This bar is a little out of the way, and we’d only passed through it a couple of times. It was adjacent to the internet café. Voodoo was playing. There were only about 10 others in the bar. This band was good. We hadn’t seen even one set of theirs yet even though they’d been on both cruises. Around 12:15 they stopped playing. They were hanging out in the lounge, like they were going to do another set. “Funtimes” said they’d be playing till 1 am. We sat around. Some people came in, but most left. Then around 12:35 we see the band start packing up there stuff. I guess there has to be so many people in the crowd for them to continue. It’d been a long day. We turned in. I thought about 1 more run at the casino, but decided to quit while I was(slightly) ahead. Got back to the room. Our bill was there. $325 for all our drinks through the 4 days, plus pictures, plus souveniers, and our behind the scenes tour. Not bad at all. We hung out on our balcony for one last time, and went to bed. We were awakened by Gary’s voice announcing that they were going to begin disembarkation They were taking numbers 1-5. We were 15. Within 20 minutes they were calling our number. Pretty fast. We still went down and had breakfast on the lido deck(our tradition). After a quick breakfast, we headed down to the gang plank. They entered our sail and sign card one last time, to show our final disembarkment. Down to the luggage area to grab our bags, and right through customs. We went to the transfer busses to take us to Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived there early, but just sat out in the sun, till it was time to check our bags. Got on the plane at 2:30 and ended up in Detroit a little after 6:00. Got our bags, and went back through the area where they couldn’t get our baggage checked on the first day(now almost empty). It seemed like such a long time ago. We’d been through a lot on this trip. Got to the car, and got home by 8pm. I dropped Mary Ann off, and headed straight to work.

I hope that in some way, I took you along with us on this trip. Some people would be sour after all the things we went through, On our first cruise we met a couple at dinner named Irv an Sherry. On the first night Irv was complaining left and right. The soup was too cold, or the salad was too salty. Really a sour puss. When he started it again the second night I turned to him and said “Irv, You can go through life sadly disappointed or happily surprised. Which one are you?”. I know which I am, and on ANY cruise EVERYONE should be ready to turn those lemons into lemon drops…hehe

 

 

A final note? I’d like to leave you all with my favorite cruise toast. A toast to you all..

 

　

(Raises Glass to All Who Made It Through the Review)

 

 

"You Can Get Just as Drunk on Water",

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"As You Can on Land!"

 

 

 

This is your humble and lovable reporter from the road signing off.

 

　

Gary aka cruising USA

 

p.s. Did we learn our lesson? I guess not cause we're booked in the same cabin, next year, the day after Superbowl(Feb 7th), and we're still flying in that same day. If you're on the cruise be sure to come up and introduce yourself. You might get mention in a LNL review. And if I end up "falling" off the ship......It was DELTA!

 

 

 

 

[FrogFritter]

I really enjoyed reading your review. I am so glad you guys had such a wonderful time after the rocky start. I hope your good attitude is infectious!

[Shake-n-Bake]

Wonderful review. I enjoyed it all.:D

[CanWeGoYet?]

Thank you for that wonderful review! And for solving the mystery of the life boats. Were the life rafts that opened when they hit the water just for crew?

 

And the WCMC, smart man, sounds like you had that every night for dessert. I may do the same next time I cruise carnival.

[Dallas Downtowner]

You're an amazing person with a "glass half-full" attitude on life. Thanks so much for taking all of us along on your adventure. I felt like I was there with you guys and remember why I like Carnival so much. Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!

[Molly BPOE]

BRAVO! BRAVO!

Thanks again for the great review! Enjoyed every word!

[copper6606]

Thanks so much for your GREAT review! I look forward to your next one!;)

Would you mind telling us what the Cost of the behind the scenes tours was?

 

Thanks so much and Happy Cruising to you and your family!:D

[Grace1107]

Enjoyed your review!! Thanks for sharing!!

[rokinrobin105]

thank you it was great. I'm a little sad its over LOL

[Ggrrrr]

Amazing review! Thanks for sharing!!!

[WestTxCruiser]

Thank You so much for doing the review, it was GREAT!!! :)

[CorvetteLady]

That was the best review of the behind the scenes tour I have ever read. The whole review was wonderful, thanks for taking the time to write it and share it!