zuider (it rhymes with cider) dam #6

[super_grover]

At sea day: fun times. Hung around. Read books. Note: if you are low on books there is a paperback exchange in the library but the best place to buy novels and such is probably the bookstore at havensite, St. Thomas.

Formal dinner was excellent. The night we discovered the 1130 buffet in the lido. yikes. Went to the "life at sea" talk, really interesting acutally. Dane took lots of questions and talked about life as a crew member.

 

Nausau, Bahamas. Went to the vista for breakfast as we didnt dock until about noon. It was nice, lots of variety, nice to not have to fight the lines at the lido.

Went to the backstage tour of the theatre, very impressive.

Naussau: go out to the promenade deck to watch the docking, you can see the atlantis resort as you pull in. Pretty neat. I took my driver's licence (nova scotia) as ID along with my ship card and had no problems. You walk off the dock and through a sort of quasi-tourism mall thing into the town. Some of the family took a cab to atlantis where they pretended to be guests but apperently security is pretty tight. Personally, I went shopping. There is a scotia bank that gives out USD and bahamian dollars about a block from the port. There are 2 ATMs but only one gives USD.

Walked down to the straw market. They mostly have 3 kinds of things. 1)tacky overproced souvineer stuff. aka.shot glasses, snow globes, magnets, etc.

2) straw bags with cartoon and disney characters embroidered onto them. I am not sure how much they cost as I was looking for on with grover on it and had no luck :(

3) knock off handbags. Ever been to canal street? Bangkok? its like that. Smells bad. small aisles. not good for people who are clostrophobic/germphobic/small children in large strolers. fantastic for a 21 year old girl with a thing for purses and money from the casino burning a hold in her pocket.

Remember to bargin with all that is within you. I knocked a "Kate Spade" purse down from 50$ to 25$ by walking away once, coming back and telling the vendor that she had told me a lower price 10 minutes ago. The hardest part is finding the stall again once you leave. If you find something you really really want, walk around and see if someone else has it, that way you can claim you can get it cheaper somewhere else in the market. Only one stall had the bag I wanted so I got it.

Note for those craving a sub, there is a subway. "lunch meat" is called an "assorted" sub, fyi.

internet to be had: walk down the main streeet and look for the signs for the inside malls. I found one where you could buy an hour of time which you could use throughout the day in increments.

Bought fake oaklay sunglasses for 20 usd from an acutal store as I lost my other ones somewhere in Tortola (maybe)

went up to the lido to watch the 8pm sailaway, amazing!

 

note: we had the 615 seating which we liked. If we wanted to go to the "early" show then we usually sent some of the group ahead to save seats while the others went to their cabin for a bit of a relax. seats for groups are hard to come by if you dont pretty much go straight there after dinner.

 

Pretty sure this was lobster night. yum. only had 2 but most of the family had 2 ontop of the pene which they said was amazing.

 

by far the best dessert of the cruise was the chocolate truffle. not to be missed. :D

 

more tomorrow probably.

[Oceanwench]

Saving seats? Tsk tsk!!!

 

Kate Spade purse: Did you happen to notice that the little KS tag on the outside is glued on, not stitched? You can peel it off easily -- at least the ones I saw.

[super_grover]

Note the heavy use of quotes for the "kate spade"....lol. its totally fake.

I was under the impression that the theatre was just like a movie...if there were people coming you could save seats, deck chairs I totally understand. It was more so we could sit together as a group :)

[dakrewser]

Note the heavy use of quotes for the "kate spade"....lol. its totally fake.

I was under the impression that the theatre was just like a movie...if there were people coming you could save seats, deck chairs I totally understand. It was more so we could sit together as a group :)

 

It's sort of considered tacky for one person to try to hold more than one other seat. But if half your group went, then it most likely wasn't a problem. Well, SOME people might complain. So I've heard.

 

I want to know more about the casino money burning a hole in your pocket - what do you play, how do you win?:)

[super_grover]

I was a very serious player of the "put 1000 quarters in to push the pile of quarters off the ledge" game.

Technically I suppose my "casino money" was a share of the 100 clams daddy won at blackjack. lol.

We're canadian, that's alot of dough up here.

[Oceanwench]

Note the heavy use of quotes for the "kate spade"....lol. its totally fake.

I was under the impression that the theatre was just like a movie...if there were people coming you could save seats, deck chairs I totally understand. It was more so we could sit together as a group :)

 

I noticed the heavy quotes and understood you purchased a fake KAte Spade purse.

My point is, the real KS purses have her label stitched on the outside. The fake ones have a glued on label that is easily removed ... or washed off in the next rainstorm.

Without the label, that fake purse would be just a regular purse!

[super_grover]

It's glued...I managed to use that as a bargaining chip ;)

Gonna sew it on myself (um..well, I will sew it on the purse, by my own hand :p ) just as soon as the papers let up.

"30$! no way! your labels aren't even sewed on!" hehehe

[FoxyTerrier]

It's glued...I managed to use that as a bargaining chip ;)

Gonna sew it on myself (um..well, I will sew it on the purse, by my own hand :p ) just as soon as the papers let up.

"30$! no way! your labels aren't even sewed on!" hehehe

 

Just don't lose it - mine came off and I didn't even know it was glued on. I did find it though...

[Oceanwench]

Better make those stitches tiny and even!!!

[FCOWHER]

Great review. I hope you dont let the other posts busting your chops over saving seats and purse stickers prevent you from finishing your review. Joe V.

 

 

Serenade of the Seas 12/31/05

Zuiderdam 4/23/05

RCI - 2 times

Princess - 3 times

QE2 - 1 time

Royal Majesty - 1 time

Carnival - 1 time

[Oceanwench]

Joe, I am sure he took my comments in the way I meant them ... Supergrover seems to have a delightful sense of humor.

 

Perhaps some of us need to post disclaimers nowadays, as quite often postings are misinterpreted.

[FCOWHER]

Wench, Grover is a "she" not a "he". Obviously stickers and stiches are more important to you than people's genders. I dont think there are too many fellas interested in buying knock off purses. Great review Miss SuperGrover, please keep it coming. Joe V.

 

 

 

Serenade of the Seas 12/31/05

Zuiderdam 4/23/05

RCI - 2 times

Princess - 3 times

QE2 - 1 time

Royal Majesty - 1 time

Carnival - 1 time

[super_grover]

burried in papers this weekend, more to come next week.

[annbanan]

I had bought a Kate Spade two years ago on Canal St. in NY and after reading your review I looked at mine and the label is peeling off. It was glued on.

I would of never known to look. Thanks for the info.

[super_grover]

I seek to educate smart shoppers everywhere :)

Apperently canal street as well as Bangkok ( my former favories for knock offs) are being more tightly controlled than ever.

Naussau might have to be bumped up the list :)