Fascination review - 10/29-11/4

[skye02]

Glad to hear that your mom is doing better!

 

Good for you on making the most of your day in Key West. We really wanted to go to the southernmost tip spot for photos, but it was about 150 degrees and we just couldn't make it!

 

Keep the review coming!

[skye02]

Ruthie, I hope everything is ok with your mom.....

I keep checking back to see if you've added to your review!

[RuthieandTony]

Sorry for the delay in posting. Mom is better and (hopefully - good grief) getting discharged tomorow!!! But then I get to babysit her for a few days, so I will be without a computer until the weekend. So enjoy Halloween evening!

 

After we got back on the ship, we went back to our cabin to get cleaned up and relax. It didn't take long for my bad mood to fade away. A nice shower and a cat nap helped the process along considerably! Tony and I had planned to wear our costumes the entire evening. I didn't want to invest too much money in our costumes because we don't normally dress up for Halloween. After some searching, we decided on Tony being a magician and I was his magic bunny! Mom decided to be a tacky Vegas tourist. Joyce was a school teacher, which is her regular job, so she just went as herself!

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There were a lot of folks dressed up in costume. It was a lot of fun! At dinner, Boris kept calling Tony "Magic Man" and called me "Honey Bunny" (along with a cute little wink). Dinner that night was delicious, but for the life of me, I don't remember what we ate. But here comes my only food porn of the special holiday desserts.

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Right after dinner we attended the past guest party. This was the first time I remember the party being in between the early and late seating of dinner. We missed the beginning of the party, but did manage to snag a few free drinks and watch the video celebrating all of Carnival's fleet. The remainder of the evening was spent walking around the shops and photo gallery, watching the "Thriller" dance class, playing trivia (cannot manage to win) and enjoying the costume contest. It was a nice, easy going evening.

 

Up next . . . . why is it raining in paradise??

[Ladybug75]

Nice job on your review!

[CruiseHealing]

". . . . why is it raining in paradise??"

It happens.

[webecruizin]

RuthieandTony, I shared this Halloween sailing with you and its nice re-living it again through your review, although I am sorry to hear about your Key West experience:( Our worst day was the Bahama port, although we had been there a few times before, but it was my DBL and SIL's first cruise. we had always taken the reg taxi cabs to the beach or the Atlantis, but somehow we were "TALKED" into water taxis:mad: so we asked if it went right to the beach, mainly because my husband had injured his knee prior to the cruise and the less walking was needed, their reply was yes, yes it will take you right to the beach, WRONG. now if you were taking this water taxi to do some walking, shopping sightseeing then yes take it. but we had bought a round trip ticket for both of us as did my DBL and SIL, and I can't even begin to tell you how long this walk was, insane!!!! so when we finally reached the beach, a 30 min walk I might ad. the tide was really rough you could not even stand up in the ocean, not like our other visits. so after about 30 min we decided to head back to the ship, we ended up taking a reg taxi cab, which is right at the beach back. didnt want to have to do that LONG walk again. Cannot wait for the rest of the review, oh by the way the picture you posted by the beach chair with the little green/tourqoise towel clamps, I brought mine too,exact ones. and they are great to use.

[Roe95695]

Thanks for taking the time to continue this review with your mom health problems. I hope she is home from the hospital and recouping at home.. Best wishes..

[RuthieandTony]

Sorry for the extra long delay in completing this trip report. I appreciate everyone's patience, and I hope to get it wrapped up soon! Now, let's take a trip to Nassau.

 

There were no pre-made plans for Nassau (shocking, I know). I had an extremely difficult time finding a tour that would accomodate the scooter. Since Nassau does not have to comply with ADA laws, I could not get a guarantee that the scooter could get anywhere past Bay Street. So in the end, mom and Joyce decided to stay on the ship that day. Tony and I went through the Carnival sponsored tour list and decided on the Glass Bottom Boat Tour. It was in our price range, and something I have always wanted to do. We decided to sleep in late that morning, have a relaxing lunch and then head off the ship to meet the tour. And that plan actually happened! OMG!!!

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It was as we were waiting for the tour to gather, the clouds started rolling in. I channeled my little used powers of positive thinking/happy weather vibes and hoped that the clouds would just simply pass us by. Yeah, that was a crappy plan and it just started to rain. Little drippy rain at first and then great big gobs of rain. The tour was supposed to begin with a walk down the pier, through the shopping area and down the other pier to board the glass bottom boat. Our tour guide leader dude hijacked a shuttle bus that took us to the shopping area. We then walked the rest of the way - in the rain. Boy, was I looking pretty by the time we got there! Which is why there are no further pics of me on this day. But Tony appeared to be fine!

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The tour consisted of about a 30 minute boat ride, then we decended the stairs to view the fishies for another 30 minutes and then the ride back. While on the boat, we were offered a free cup of rum punch or fruit punch and the option to buy additional beverages. The tour guide (not random dude who took us to the boat) was very knowledgeable about everything we saw. This was, a very nice tour and I would recommend it. The only drawback was the glass bottom of the boat gave everything a greenish haze in the pics. We saw lots of amazing sea-life, but my pics are just so-so.

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More Nassau in the next post.

[RuthieandTony]

Two posts in one night! Yup, I'm just that awesome! Hehehe!

 

After the tour was over the rain also ended. It wasn't nice and sunny as I had hoped, but we were no longer dodging raindrops. Our next destination - Senor Frogs. I had been there before, and I was excited to share all the fun with Tony. What I hadn't remembered was the OMG crazy prices of just about everything on the menu! Wow - that was a shock to the system. We shared a drink and a burger and I had a soft drink. After tip, it was about $30. Now I realize we were paying for the crazy loud music and atmosphere, but wow-za, that was alot of money. We had fun though. A definite must see, even if you aren't a drinker. Our next and final stop was the straw market. The old building of the straw market is still in disrepair due to previous storms/hurricanes, so all of the vendors are under tents lining the streets. It is very crowded (even more so than the old building) but I enjoy a good flea market and bartering for fake purses, so off we went. In the end, I got two pairs of earrings, a fake Louis Vatton wallet and a fake Coach purse. I said "no, thank you" to the 100 people who offered to braid my hair, take me in their taxi and just general offers of, well, inappropriate things. We then took the very long walk down the pier and back to the ship.

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That evening was uneventful. A yummy dinner flirting with Boris (yes, I enjoyed that a lot) and the four of us watched kereoke. We saw that regular kereoke and Superstars Live. I enjoyed Superstars Live very much. The band is extremely talented and there were good singers on the ship. We turned in early that night, looking forward to our last day at sea and hopefully good weather.

 

Up next, how I became an accomplice to chair hogs.

[skye02]

I always enjoy a good chair hog story!

[RuthieandTony]

Ahhh, last sea day. Don't you just love a day where you can just chill out, relax, listen to music and read a book that has nothing to do with your life?? Yup, that was my plan. But lets back up a bit to the drive down to Jacksonville. At some point during the drive, I was telling mom and Joyce about chair hogs - what they were, why they are disliked and that there is a "rule" about not claiming a chair for more than 30 minutes. It was just conversation to pass the time. I never imagined that I would be an accomplice to the hogging.

 

Fast foward to sea day. Mom and Joyce knocked on our door at about 9:00. They were on their way to breakfast at the Coconut Grill and wanted to know if we were joining. I'm sure that everyone on the ship could hear Tony snoring, so I told them that I would be up there shortly. I met up with them about 30 minutes later, got my breakfast and began chatting with the girls about the plan for the day. After a few minutes, I realized that they didn't have anything with them - suntan lotion (the sun graced us that day), books, towels - just nothing. So, being the naive girl that I am, I asked where their stuff was. Mom was very quick to pipe up that they got three chairs in a row right by the pool and hot tub, so they decided to be chair hogs and "marked their territory". Good grief - we were going to be banned from Carnival Cruise Lines! At this point, I'm thinking that an hour or longer had passed and either the stuff was still there, or - at worst - confiscated. I told mom and Joyce that I was maintaining my innocence in this entire situation, completely throwing them under the bus if necessary. We finished our breakfast . . . . to find . . . . everything right where they left it. Three perfectly saved chairs. Only those two!!

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Yeah, they were pretty proud of themselves. And well, kudos to them. The chairs were great and the weather was even better. The next few hours were spent just enjoying the bright blue skies. I went back and forth between the chair and the pool. Rip Van Winkle finally rose from his slumber and eventually joined us. This was one of the highlights of the trip so far.

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After we had enough sun, mom and I entered the slot tournament. We had free entry due to being platinum. And guess what?? We did horrible!!!!! But it was fun and we didn't have to pay for it, so all is good. Our next stop was the dining room for lunch. It was nice to have a lunch time meal in the dining room, but I missed Boris and Dorian. I can also tell that for next time, I'm going to have to write down what I ate, because after elegant night, I don't remember what I ate. Sorry about that - but everything was delicious! We then went to the Love and Marriage show. What a hoot! I've seen it numerous times, and the couples that are chosen just make the show. After the show, I donated $$$$ to the Bingo Gods. And guess what??? We did horrible!!! Again!!! When will I learn? At that point, Tony and I went back to the cabin to get the packing together and get cleaned up a bit before dinner. Isn't it amazing how quickly and disorganized the dirty clothes go back into the suitcase?? Our last dinner with Boris and Dorian was, of course, delicious.

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Isn't he just a cutie pie?? We thanked them over and over for being such kind and gracious staff. I was excited that evening to see the show "Far From Over". I'm a child of the 80's. Big hair, rock bands, great movies and even greater music. This was my element. The Fun Times recommended to get there early, and I'm glad that we did because the place filled up quickly. They played 80's music and had 80's trivia prior to the show. So much fun and the show was fantastic. It was a great way to end the day.

 

Up next - pouty faces and will we ever get home??

[RuthieandTony]

Is there much anything more depressing than the day your vacation is over?? Well, I'm sure there are many more depressing things, but lets not go there. Today we have to go home. There is no longer a "debarkation talk" like in previous trips. Now it is a continuous loop on one of the TV channels giving you instructions on what to do to get off the ship. There were also printed instructions in our room. We did the option of setting out our luggage the night before, and because we are VIP's, we would be the first off the ship after the self assist folks. The handy-dandy documentation told us to be in the Puttin' on the Ritz lounge and 8:45. We decided to have breakfast in the dining room for one last opportunity for pampering. It was delicious, as was all the food that we had that week. We decided to express exactly how we were feeling about leaving the ship.

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After breakfast, we made our way to the lounge. It was then that we realized that we were significantly delayed. Apparently there were high tides and the ship could not clear the bridge at the designated time. By the time we cleared the bridge and got docked, I think we were at least 1 hour behind. The ship still had to clear customs and all that technical stuff. And that made things even more behind. Now remember, we had a 13 hour drive ahead of us. I was ready to go. But we just had to sit and wait. Tony was using his time wisely.

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We finally got out of the lounge and headed to deck three at about 10:00. Now poor mom gets totally freaked out when she has to go down the gangway. The very nice Carnival employees helped me get her off the ship. At one point she was supposed to be driving the scooter when she said "MY EYES ARE CLOSED!". I navigated the scooter the rest of the way down the gangway. Oh mom. Then we were guided into the warehouse to claim our luggage. We were all walking at a fairly quick pace and Joyce uses a cane. She tripped over a little bump getting into the warehouse and down she went. Many thanks to the people who helped get her back on her feet. She was not injured and employees from JaxPort came over to see if she needed anything. They also escorted us over to our luggage, through customs and out the door. They were very concerned and I'm sure if she was hurt, they would have appropriately seen to her needs. Once outside, we walked over to the designated area. The Park and Go folks had to call and have the accessible van sent over. It unfortunately took about 30 minutes for the accessible van to get there. If you were the other folks waiting for your ride, they were coming very consistently. I'm not sure why the wait, but we had waited for everything else that morning, so what was one more thing! The van got there and we loaded up and were taken to our vehicle. By the time we got on the road it was noon. Sigh. And by the time we got home it was about 1:30 AM. Double sigh. We left Florida with warm sunshine and returned to Kentucky to cold, dreary rain.

 

Up next - final thoughts, things I forgot the first time and random musings.

[RuthieandTony]

My last installment! I'm not sure whether to put in a sad face or happy face. I didn't expect me to take so long to write this, and I appreciate all the comments and views. I hope in the process of reading the review you have gained good information, had at least one chuckle and enjoyed the pictures (even if they were ginormous!). This was a really good cruise. The price was excellent and the different ports were ones I had enjoyed in the past. Things that didn't go well - weather, Key West, weather - were just one of those things that happens. I think we made the best of those situations as they came along. After all, we were on vacation. And that's better than work!!!

 

I haven't mentioned much about our VIP/Platinum perks. We got the priority boarding and debarkation, a couple of plates of yumminess delivered to our cabin, personalized stationary and our gift was a Carnival insulated cooler. I've previously gotten picture frames and a thermos. I really like the insulated bag and I have been using it for taking my lunch to work every day. There is also a special VIP line at the Guest Services desk. I have been very loyal to Carnival over the years and will continue to do so. I appreciate that they do little things to honor that loyalty.

 

And now we're home and back to reality. Mom is feeling much better (thank you again for all the well wishes). Tony and I are ready to book another cruise, but I think we are doing a full family grand gathering at Disney World this year. And unless I win the lottery, I cannot do two big vacations in one year! So I think it will be 2013 before we head back to the ocean. We have been talking about sailing out of New Orleans. It is such a great city! Anyway, we shall see. If there are any questions that I haven't addressed, please feel free to ask. Thanks again for reading. Happy sailing everyone! :D

[durangokid]

"At one point she was supposed to be driving the scooter when she said "MY EYES ARE CLOSED!".

 

Yep, I remember glancing over as we were debarking as I heard her say those words. I really felt sorry for her having to negotiate that ramp and glad she made it okay!

 

Loved the review and pictures.

 

Mary in NC

[ohitssunshine]

Thanks for the review! The Fascination was our first cruise and we fell in love! We are going to see her again in February and cannot wait!