My amazing vacation review! 11/7-11/18

[F27TW]

Tee Hee!! I think I'm just gonna email you the rest of my review! I'm pretty sure you're the only one left reading it!

 

 

No Way! Your review is awesome and so are all the pics you're putting in. Its alotta work doing a review and the whole pix routine .. it's appreciated !

But i know what you mean .. I posted one this past March and put alotta work into it ... and i didn't get as much response as i thought i would either.

BTW .. here it is in case u wanna have a look!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1612903&highlight=f27tw

And keep yours comin too, SISTA GIRL!!

[SoCalKJ]

It was a little bit of a race back to the ship: when your excursion is done at 4:00 and you need to be back at the ship by 4:30. Traffic was a little nuts (Nassau is a little different regarding speed limits and overall traffic etiquette), and we were a little tiny bit nervous about getting back in time. Fortunately, we were on the ship with about 5 minutes to spare.

 

The rest of the evening was met with a great meal in the MDR, a little casino action and the talent show. I (along with a Rod Stewart impersonator, an Elvis impersonator, a Neil Diamond impersonator and a few other singers) participated in the onboard talent show. What an exciting opportunity to sing Mariah Carey with the live show band - - it was exhilarating and any chance to share my gift of music is an honor and a privilege. That netted another ship on a stick and a bottle of bubbly (that we ended up giving to our friend that we visited on the 3rd leg of our vacation). Later on that evening, the lead singer of the Casinos, Ken Brady (best known for their hit "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye") made a point to find me on the ship and compliment my performance. What an honor to have a real legit musician make that effort. I’m still thrilled!

 

Me and Ken Brady of The Casinos. This was actually the last night during Karaoke...he was a little...well, liquored!

 

Ken and Richie Merritt (lead singer of The Marcels, best known for the hit "Blue Moon") were hired to entertain a private party onboard hosted by a group of senior ladies from Florida. I didn’t see Richie around the ship, but Ken was everywhere!

 

Anyway, after the talent show, we headed back to the casino to lose some more money. When we got back to our room, the casino had sent us a gift to say thanks for our patronage thus far and another lovely animal was waiting for our return. All in all, a pretty fun-filled day!

 

 

I must mention that the Ecstasy’s Maitre D, Joseph, was wonderful. First time in 7 cruises that ANY Maitre D has ever been visible…and not just the last night with gratuity envelopes in hand. He went from table to table every night, was entertaining and funny and addressed us even outside of the MDR. We just started saying "It’s SHOWTIME!" everytime we saw him.

 

Also, our waiter (think his name was Martin from Peru) was TOPS! Our waiter from the first night was really rude…can’t even remember his name, but when we requested multiple starters to share, he barked at us that we couldn’t share items because they wouldn’t fit on the table and had kind of an attitude that he couldn’t be bothered with us. So, the remaining nights, we were seated on the other side of the dining room and had Martin each time. He was funny, gracious, genuinely interested in our requests and how to fill them…class act. He addressed us by our first names outside of the MDR and even in HMC when we went through the lunch buffet on the island. It was really impressive.

 

I apologize that I didn’t take pictures of food. Most of you know what you like, what it looks like and what it tastes like. Since I’m already extremely long-winded, I thought it’d be best that I save the culinary dialogue.

　

　

　

　

　

[SoCalKJ]

What can I say: breathtaking. Of course, it was a bit windy and it took quite a while for the ship to actually secure an area to begin tendering. I was also under the wrong impression that if you book a cabana or you have VIP boarding, you get priority tendering. WRONG. I think we were like tender number 17 or something ridiculous.

 

Anyhoo…by the time we actually got to our cabana it was about 10:30. We immediately tore into the snacks and then raced off to do some serious snorkeling! I don’t really need to say much…I’ll let the photos do the talking.

 

Self portrait while waiting for us to hit the tender...

 

 

[SoCalKJ]

The sign I've seen posted here a million times.

 

Of course I had to post one of me in front of it...LOL!

 

Scotty prefers colder climates...but even HE fell in love with HMC. How can you not?!

 

A little iPhone photo. I swear I could sell this picture as an official Carnival HMC photo.

Our home away from home away from home. Nobody even dared to try to take/use/borrow/step on...anything near our cabana. I'd say #11 was a good choice.

 

They kinda skimped on ranch and guacamole. Otherwise, it was a pretty sweet spread.

[SoCalKJ]

We had never snorkeled before this trip...we can't get enough of it at this point...we literally spent 2-3 hours in the water doing just that!

 

P.S. I'm not vain. Seriously.

 

Our growing collection of shells and sand dollars. Sadly, not one of the sand dollars (total of 11!) survived the trip back to California. Actually, 7/8 of one made it and then Scotty broke it on the dining room table a few days later. GRRRRR!

 

Our new friend to greet us after a long amazingly beautiful HMC day.

 

It should come as no surprise that we are madly in love with HMC. We WILL do another cruise that includes this stop. Cabana...yes. Wonderful day!

[SoCalKJ]

No Way! Your review is awesome and so are all the pics you're putting in. Its alotta work doing a review and the whole pix routine .. it's appreciated !

 

But i know what you mean .. I posted one this past March and put alotta work into it ... and i didn't get as much response as i thought i would either.

 

BTW .. here it is in case u wanna have a look!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1612903&highlight=f27tw

 

And keep yours comin too, SISTA GIRL!!

 

I started reading yours. Holy crap! From just that center concourse area...sheesh! She's a huge ship!!

 

I love your writing..and I can totally hear your inflections as I'm reading. The only thing missing are "2 snaps" (in classic "In Living Color" Men On....fashion!) :D

[SoCalKJ]

(a.k.a. last day/day of depression/unwelcomed disembarking information day)

 

Let’s be honest: this day sucked. Truly sucked. Any last day of ANY cruise has to suck more than the day you actually disembark at the end. Why? Because all you can think is, "Dang! Tomorrow we leave." (I use other words, but I don’t want to get in trouble here!) Okay, well, at least that’s how I think. So…I was REALLY determined to enjoy this day at all costs! (oops…well…it did cost. I’ll say that.)

 

Anyway, we combed through the Fun Times and mapped out one helluva last day at sea. We did the Motown Trivia…didn’t win but had a respectable score. We blew some more money in the casino. We went to Tea Time…Scotty hates tea, but loves dessert. It was worth it! Some good eats. (Ok…I’m not gonna rush out and buy a cucumber and some white bread anytime soon, but hell…everything was splendid, in the moment.)

 

Dangit! The Isley Brothers actually sing "I Hear A Symphony" too. Why did I think it was Marvin Gaye?!

 

Sugar coma in 5, 4, 3, 2, ....

 

This is the "WTH am I doing here-dang this chocolate cake is good" mash-up face.

 

Taking my Tea Time seriously!

 

MORE TO COME...

[PathfinderEss]

Great review, thanks for sharing.

[SoCalKJ]

Scotty went to hang in the room and I decided to go hang in the pool and enjoy the atmosphere. This included the ice-carving exhibit (does the guy only do Native American sculptures?) and the hairy chest competition. I’ve actually NEVER watched it live…it’s usually something that survives on our television for about 10 seconds before we change the channel. This time, however, was an exception: my new rock star friend, Ken Brady was a contestant and won! It was actually hilarious to watch. When the contestants had to make Tarzan-esque howls and his sounded more like Jane, that was the highlight of the whole competition!

 

Okay...I kinda already knew to expect the final result...based on the reviews here already.

 

Not the greatest angle. Sorry.

 

Just chillin' before the next activity.

 

Anyway, we enjoyed one final dinner in the MDR and then proceeded to play a little more in the casino. I should probably confess that we aren’t moderate gamblers. We REALLY like to play…the worst thing Carnival could do for people like us was to allow us to just charge whatever to our S&S account: because we sho’ nuff did….over and over and over again.

 

Okay, well…it’s only money, right?

 

Having said that, and kinda getting tired of the same old losing pattern, I decided to sign up for the blackjack tournament. 20 bucks a pop. First preliminary round, I busted out. Signed up again….busted out again. Third time’s the charm: not only did I qualify, I had the top score going into the Final Round!! This meant I got first choice in where to sit at the table. I picked right next to first base and was the ONLY female at the final table. Without going into detail, I’ll just post the result.

 

YAY!!!!!! (Plus $500!!)

 

What I will say is that the prize didn’t QUITE assist in the overall dent in our S&S account, but aren’t bragging rights priceless, anyway?

　

Anyway, after all that, we played a little more, actually won back a good chunk on the BJ tables before they shut down the casino for the evening (only to give it all to Hard Rock Tampa Bay later).

 

We grazed a bit, walked around and tried not to slide into the end-of cruise depression. We got our luggage packed and set outside the stateroom, enjoyed one last animal and a fun pic with Ranil.

 

Too cute!

 

Ranil - our most fav steward ever!

 

Anyway, that pretty much covers the Sea Day.

 

The next day was relatively uneventful. We exited our room, went to our designated waiting area for our Zone and begrudgingly tossed back some Lido breakfast while we waited. Before we knew it, we were disembarking and off.

 

Other than having to surrender my oranges at Customs that were left over from our Cabana/fruit basket (REALLY?! They came from Florida and came BACK to Florida and now I can't have 'em IN Florida?!?! WHATEVER!), it was smooth sailing....

 

...and we were off on our 3rd leg of the trip.

 

That's about it, folks. Thanks so much for your patience! Happy Holidays.

[cruzgal11]

Awesome review & pictures!! My bf & I are going on the Miracle in February, thanks for posting info about your shore excursion in the Bahamas!! I think that is who we are going to use for the basic package..no parasailing for me...lol

 

How is your Bassett hound?? I have you too. They are the best, most lovable dogs!!!!

[silvercrikhix]

Toooo funny! Love your review! More, more, more please!

Yeah, I LOVE exclamation points :D

Seriously, or not ;), excellent review!

You are hilarious, honest and write a fun commentary!

You have had over 5,700 viewers so you're being followed more than ya think!

And your welcome, gotcha to page 4......

Edited December 12, 2012 by silvercrikhix

[SoCalKJ]

Thanks all! Most people zip out these amazing reviews in (what seems like) no time, and about halfway through, I'm scratching my head going, "WTH did I get myself into?!?!"

 

Thanks for reading!

[SoCalKJ]

Awesome review & pictures!! My bf & I are going on the Miracle in February, thanks for posting info about your shore excursion in the Bahamas!! I think that is who we are going to use for the basic package..no parasailing for me...lol

 

How is your Bassett hound?? I have you too. They are the best, most lovable dogs!!!!

 

Rupert is a wonderful dog! He turned 9 when we were on this vacation. We got him when he was 11 weeks old.

 

Funny story: when asking Scotty what kind of dog he wanted (since this was his first ever~~I've had many dogs), he said he always wanted a Basset Hound. I said, "A Basset Hound?!? I can't run on the beach with a Basset Hound!" He then asked me, "Since when do you run on the beach?"

 

[mavvie]

Thanks for the great review and pics. One of the more entertaining I have read here at CC. Hopefully HMC will be on the itinerary of one of our future cruises. It looks b e a utiful.

[pcrum]

Great review. Are you going to write about the 3rd leg of the trip?? You have such a great writing style, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to hear about it!!

[SoCalKJ]

Great review. Are you going to write about the 3rd leg of the trip?? You have such a great writing style, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to hear about it!!

 

Thank you so much for the kind words...I'm truly flattered. I suppose I could add a little from the 3rd leg. It was kinda fun.

 

I'll throw in a sneak preview photo of me and my new friend, Sergio: a little alligator buddy we met later on the day we disembarked...the 3rd leg began where the Carnival left off. Now, granted an air boat tour ain't the same as the Carnival Ecstasy boat tour, but it did have it's nifty highlights!

 

Oh sure, he certainly looks like a frog from this angle, but he really is a young alligator!

 

More to come....

[SoCalKJ]

We rented a car at Canaveral and proceeded to make our way to the west coast of Florida. We have a friend that moved to Holiday, FL earlier this year and we planned to spend the last few days in that area.

 

Side note: don't try to research the merits of the Sun Pass. Just have your rental car company activate the darn thing! It's gonna cost about 8 bucks (roughly) a day, but...genius here decided to just have a stash of cash ready to go through the few cash tolls I anticipated. BUT...WTH do you do when you realize you're coming up on a cashless toll and your butt ain't activated?!?

 

So...I called the rental car company after about 7 bucks in quarters and what seemed like a million more tolls ahead and they said to just go through all the Sun Pass lanes and when I turn in the car at the end of the rental, tell the person checking me out to "opt in" and I'll be covered from all the "violations."

 

What a PITA!

 

So finally we got that mess covered and we were off to Wild Willy's! Some wild turkey in the road slowed us down a bit, but we eventually made it!

So rude!

 

 

 

Yep...air boat and flip flops! Don't hate!

 

...and away we go in the ol Everglades!

[SoCalKJ]

Some more photos from the air boat tour:

Wanna pet him?

 

Scotty's favorite excursion, hands down.

 

These air boats can fly! Lemme tell ya! I think, however, I was more impressed by the scenery and the wildlife! So much for just thinking it was gonna be mud and alligators!

 

Fun fact: a female alligator can lay up to 50 eggs at once. Once laid, it takes 45 days for those babies to hatch. They're born with 80 sharper-than-Ginsu knives!

 

Okay more random photos:

 

Speaking of wild turkeys: how did THIS get in there?!

 

Yep, it's the one thing my mother kept for Thanksgiving! This is circa 1977!

 

Continuing with the real wildlife...

 

 

(We saw 4 Bald Eagles!!...you probably won't with these photos! Sorry!)

 

 

 

 

 

I swear, there's an eagle!!

[SoCalKJ]

I meant to say sharper-than-Ginsu-knives FOR TEETH!!!

 

Jeez! Can you see an alligator born with 80 Ginsu knives?

Edited December 13, 2012 by SoCalKJ

[SoCalKJ]

The tour is only an hour long and at less than $35/person, it's TOTALLY worth it!

 

At one point, we spotted an alligator capture a duck and then race off with it! I tried to get video of it, but eventually the alligator decided to go underwater and stay until he could be sure we were gonna leave him alone. They can stay underwater (evidently) for hours. Well, fine!

 

More photos of air boat tour stuff:

 

Scotty and Sergio.

 

Sergio and me.

 

I know he looks like a frog, but trust: he ain't NO FROG!

 

Wild Willy's has a deal with a local alligator farm: once Sergio gets too big and too aggressive and basically sick of snot-nosed, over-eager, touchy-feely humans like us, they take him back and trade-in for a new baby for the next few months.

 

 

We finally bid adieu to Captain Bud, Sergio and basically everyone inhabiting the trailer park (seriously) and were off towards Tampa...

 

[SoCalKJ]

Scotty loves to fish. We have a little pontoon boat at the local lake here and any chance he gets to, he'll be fishing. So...the thought of our friend having a channel in his backyard for anytime fishing was enough for Scotty to agree to this entire vacation!!

 

Must be nice, right?!?

 

Of course, I was gonna get in on the action...

 

And who d'ya suppose caught the first fish?!?

 

Suckas! Hee Hee!

 

The channel is definitely not something to swim in...no matter how cute the turtles are...

 

The white thing is a buoy...the black thing is a turtle peeking out...there are tons!

 

"Why no swimming?," you ask?

 

Look closely in the distance...that thar is a 'gator just mosey-in about the channel.

 

More to come...

[JLC@SD]

Great review and great photos. Thanks for sharing them.

[SoCalKJ]

Some more fishing photos...

 

We pretty much have a great time no matter what.

 

This scary thing is a Gar. Scotty caught one and then I did later.

 

Getting the hook out...look at those FREAKIN' TEETH!!

 

An aggressive mamma jama!

 

We also did a little sightseeing around the area. Tarpon Springs is home of the sponge mines, so you can basically buy your shammies and other sponges from there...for bragging rights, really.

 

Also... Who doesn't, nowadays?

 

More to come.

[SoCalKJ]

Great review and great photos. Thanks for sharing them.

 

Thank you!

[SoCalKJ]

I went to High School in Albuquerque, NM...and in the 80's while there, the greatest and best pizza was Godfather's. I'm kinda hungry right now, so I'm gonna have to refrain from over-the-topic culinary specifics because not only will my stomach start growling, I'll start crying from continued withdrawals.

 

Anyhoo...having moved around a lot and not having it or being able to find it ANYWHERE since 1989, imagine my eye-gasm when I happened upon this 3 blocks away from my friend's house:

Granted, it was inside a gas station mart attached to a Quiznos, but who cares.

 

Classic combo, please and thank you!

 

We also spent some time in Clearwater which is a really beautiful area also. We had lunch at a great beach grill and enjoyed some different sights.

 

People were playing volleyball and enjoying the beach behind us. The sand was reminiscent of the sand in HMC.

 

The coolest rentals EVER!

 

Anyway, that's the end of the pics. We spent the last couple days sightseeing, fishing, eating and then on the way back to the airport, we stopped at Hard Rock Tampa Bay and dumped a few bills before we deemed our vacation over.

 

It was an amazing vacation all around. There are things I would definitely do differently and some things I would repeat. All in all, though, I feel enormously and indescribably blessed to have my best friend to enjoy this life with.

 

Thank you all for taking the trip with me and I look forward to any additional comments and/or questions.

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

 

Robin and Scotty