Two GAPearl reviews in one! Imagination 3 day 11/15 & Sensation 3 day 12/12- PLATINUM

[cruisinsly]

Patiently waiting!! lol Great start so far.

[purplemusik]

I couldn't believe my eyes and immediately subscribed! So happy to be reading another review! I told you last time, you need to hurry up and go on the Dream before my Feb cruise!

 

LOL @ the blind towel animal!

[teetee6263]

Yayyy this is just what I was waiting for :). I couldn't sleep last night & was up at 2am looking for this!!! OK, now lt me get started reading.

TeeTee

[atinys]

Who has more fun than this girl ^^^? Is anyone else living vicariously through Kim? Lol

 

yep I am too. :)

[jackdis]

Sooooo excited to see this! We were just on the Sensation for Thanksgiving and have also been on the Imagination. Can't wait to read it! I feel like you are an old friend....not OLD, but longtime....OK, not longtime.....LOL...you know what I mean!!! Close friend! =)

[cjdixon4]

Thanks for reading! Happy holidays to you as well. :)

 

 

 

Hahahaha :D

 

 

 

Glad you found me again! Next post will much later tonight. I have to go play sky goddess soon. lol

 

You, my friend, are divine. Thank you for the start of your Imagination review. I'll be sailing her in 40 days, and I just kind of want to see what's fun to do, eat, see on the ship. Great job so far, Sky Goddess! :D

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Great review so far! You look like you're having a really fun time. I've been on both of these ships, only on their 4-day cruises. I've met some fun, outgoing people on them too. Looking forward to more posts.

Edited December 18, 2013 by LandlockedCruiser01

[Bobbicat]

Kim, I love your reviews so much and would love to cruise with you. You seriously need to find a way to make money at this!!

[SteelerCruiser]

Thursday, 11/14

Ft. Lauderdale

 

I took an early flight down to Ft. Lauderdale so I could have some beach time before the cruise. I landed at 9:15 am and picked up my rental car from Alamo. It was $30 total and I got upgraded to a midsize. I picked out a good looking red Chrysler 300.

 

Hey there,

 

Enjoying your review. I wanted to inquire how you got such a great deal on your rental car? I believe you did what we are looking at doing in May. We are looking to pick up at FLL and return in Miami as we are flying into Ft Lauderdale and Cruising out of Miami. Any info you can share is greatly appreciated!

[Bostonjetset]

Thanks for the great review! Can't wait to read the rest. :D

[Delta Dear]

Hey Kim, You know how I love your reviews. I should have clicked on Amazon first to do some Christmas shopping, but instead I came to CC. Off to your usual great start. I better shop before you add more.

[alreadypacked]

Yay, another GAPearl review!! Love to read your fabulously detailed accounts--keep it coming!!:)

[MsTee]

Hi Kim! Loving your review (then again I love all your reviews) ;). On the side note, Candy Yum Yum is great! Looking forward to read the rest of your B2B adventure.

[toddsmom]

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love your reviews!!!!!!!!!! :)

[gapearl]

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Saturday, 11/16

Day 2- Nassau

 

I set my alarm early for 8 am so I could get up and go to the gym. Funny thing is I didn't get up and out of bed until 9:30 am though. I got in an easy 3 miles on the treadmill plus 15 minutes of some strength training. We docked in Nassau at 10 am, so I had a great view of the port as I was working out. The gym had new Life Fitness equipment, but it still seemed small. I grabbed a quick bite to eat from the lido and headed back to my room to shower and change into my suit and was off the ship around noon.

 

Believe it or not, this was my 10th cruise but my first time coming to Nassau. Kind of crazy when you think about it, being that so many ships and itineraries have stops here. Five ships were in port today- Carnival Imagination, Fantasy, Ecstacy, Enchantment of the Seas, and I think the NCL something.

 

Atlantis Resort.

 

 

 

The bridge you see is the Michael Jackson suite. It rents for $25,000 a night. I booked it for 3 weeks, lol.

 

 

A couple of sister ships in port.

 

 

Where you walk when you leave the ship.

 

 

[gapearl]

Here comes the Enchantment OTS, backing that aft up into her parking space.

 

 

Ironically, I could have ended up here, on this day, on this Enchantment sailing. This time last year, some friends from church suggested I put together an end of the year trip for 2013. Sweet! I can do that! It would be a first cruise for most, and they all have 9-5 jobs, so I was looking for something around the 4 day range. It came down to the Enchantment and Sensation, and I ultimately decided the Enchantment had a better itinerary (Nassau and Coco Cay vs. Nassau and Freeport), was a better ship, and the price was the same. Unfortunately the trip never happened. Better luck next year.

 

The welcome center.

 

 

 

I wanted to visit here at some point, but didn't get to on either cruise.

 

 

 

The famous straw market.

 

 

[gapearl]

More of Nassau. Here's the lighthouse.

 

 

 

Conch shells and starfish for sale.

 

 

 

The big tourist trap.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I knew all I wanted to do was go to the beach and not spend any money, but which beach? I did a lot of beach research. Junkanoo Beach seemed like the closest and easiest to get to. Cable Beach was also a possibility. I worked a flight to Nassau about two weeks before the cruise. I asked some of the airport workers, a group of 7 or 8, which beach was better Junkanoo or Cable, and in unison they all said Cable Beach. Now I was really torn. The firefighters were going to Cabbage Beach, so I had to add it to the list too. haha Ultimately I didn't make my decision until I walked off the ship and decided on Junkanoo because it was right by the Fish Fry area, and I wanted to grab some lunch.

 

When you leave the ship and welcome center, make a right and follow the yellow brick road. Ok so there is no yellow brick road, so just follow the signs, like at the airport. lol It's a quick 10 minute walk.

 

 

Bahamas flag proudly flying.

 

 

Keep walking!

 

 

Just a little bit further, almost there.

 

 

You will know you have arrived at Junkanoo Beach when you see the beach and the Junkanoo Beach sign. lol

 

 

[gapearl]

I arrived at Junkanoo and saw there were places there that had food for sale, so I didn't bother continuing on to the Fish Fry area. I stopped at this little tiki hut that seemed to be a lively place. A really nice guy named Prince was my server and bartender. He took great care of me. I settled in at the bar and ordered a plate of jerk chicken and fries and a rum punch. Prince asked if I wanted a small or large rum punch. Is that a rhetorical question? It took a while for my food to arrive. They were definitely on island time. But when it did come, boy was it good!

 

Arrival at the tiki hut. They have free internet here, a big plus.

 

 

 

Drink menu.

 

 

Lunch.

 

 

Not much rum punch left.

 

 

My view while having lunch. Life is good.

 

[gapearl]

As I ate and drank, I chatted with a guy sitting next to me. He was a crew member from one of the other ships. It was his first contract and he's only been on board about two months. He told me he was from Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and worked at Coco Bongo's before he began working for Carnival. Get the.....outta here! I was planning to go to Cancun for my birthday in June and all I wanted to do was go to Coco Bongo's to celebrate my night. However, I didn't go to Cancun since the weather forecast was calling for rain all week. I ended up going to Punta Cana, DR instead, where it was nice and sunny and hot all three days I was there. Anyways, he said he was going to go back and work there during his vacation from the ship in the spring. We became Facebook friends and he's going to let me know when he's headed back to Mexico so I can come down for a day or two to hang out. This is an epic girls trip waiting to happen. :D

 

By now my food and rum punch were gone. My new friend had ordered another beer, and I wanted another drink. I looked at the drink menu and noticed something called the kick my a--. What's in it? Oh man, that sounds like a bad idea. I'll take one, please. All total, my food and drinks were $18, and I left Prince a nice tip. We took our drinks down to the beach, and he introduced me to some more crew from his ship. The next couple of hours were spent kicking it and listening to music on our phones. The KMA eventually started to do just that, and I dozed off for a few minutes. I woke as they were getting ready to head back to their ship around 3 or 4ish. They left and I stayed on the beach a little while longer.

 

Great view of all the ships from Junkanoo Beach.

 

 

 

The lighthouse again with a few models.

 

 

Not too crowded and a great place to spend the day.

 

 

[gapearl]

Random sidebar here. Junkanoo beach has restrooms, and there's a lady that sits there doing nothing with a tip jar. What am I tipping you for? It's not like this is PURE Nightclub in Vegas and you're the bathroom attendant offering me mints and hairspray. Just saying. :rolleyes:

 

Anyways, I went back to the bar (bad idea!) and ordered another KMA. Prince wasn't around, and another girl made my drink for me. It wasn't as good as the one he made, but I sipped it anyways. I had a good time talking with some local people. I met a man they called the inspector who loves to dance. I met another guy that told me all about the national art gallery up the street where he worked and who's brother was the reggae singer playing on the radio. I met a lady from Wisconsin who told me her family story. She married a local Bahamian man a year ago and her family completely cut her off because she married a black man (she was white) and he was 15 years younger. It's a shame that people can still be so close minded like that these days. This is why I avoid touristy places like Senor Frogs and go to the local places. I love having interactions like these.

 

 

 

While this lady and I were talking, Prince magically reappeared. I was like PRINCE!!!!!! This drink isn't as good as yours was. Can you hook me up please? Prince was like I got you! It went all downhill from there.

 

I started to feel..... some kind of way. I finished my KMA drink and stayed at the bar a little bit longer. The walk back to the ship was a long, difficult 10 minutes. Somehow I managed to make my way through the straw market for a few souvenirs. Don't ask me how much I paid for anything. I also found a duty free store that sold Tortuga rum. It's made in the Cayman Islands and you can't buy it anywhere in the US, so I bought a five pack of assorted 1 liter bottles for $25.

 

Go back the way you came and follow the signs.

 

 

 

I think it's safe to say I was all the way gone by the time I made it back to the ship. After an unpleasant visit with the porcelain throne, I crashed. Hard.

 

Tonight was our elegant night at dinner.

 

How was the food? I don't know.

 

Do you have a picture of you in your dress? Nope.

 

Was lobster on the menu? *shrugs shoulders*

 

Did the waiters sing or dance? Good question.

 

I was passed the hell out until 10:34 pm. The KMA did, indeed, KMA.

 

Nassau-1, Kim-0

 

I was hungry and ordered a grilled cheese and some dessert from room service. I really needed something in my stomach. After I showered and was getting dressed, I looked in my bags at my purchases from the straw market. When did I buy these two magnets?

 

Nassau-2, Kim-0 :o

[gapearl]

There was a deck party tonight, but I missed it. Matt said he and his brother went, but there weren't a lot of people that came. We were staying in port overnight until 7 am, and a lot of people went out to enjoy the local nightlife. There was a club right across the street from the ship called Bambu. I got wind of this club a week before the cruise and one of my dinner mates had mentioned it the night before, so I was excited to go check it out. I left the ship around 11:30 pm. I ended up walking to Bambu with a few of the firefighters and a group of four girls since we all left the ship at the same time. The club is maybe a block outside of the secured ship area, literally less than 5 minutes from the ship, so if I was walking alone, I wouldn't have felt unsafe. There was plenty of security out and the area was well lit.

 

 

 

The club was upstairs, just past the Harley Davidson store. Someone handed us a few flyers on the way, so we didn't have to pay a cover to get in. The club was small, and packed! The firefighters were like they've got to be way over capacity, lol. I went to the bar and ordered a $5 bottle of water, since I obviously needed nothing else to drink tonight. The DJ was awesome! He played a wide range of music and kept the crowd moving and full of energy. There was a mix of the ship's passengers, crew, and locals, all dancing and having a good time together. Bambu doesn't close until 4 am, but I left at 3 am when my feet couldn't take my 4" heels any longer. One of the firefighters came with me. We walked out together and went straight up to the lido for some pizza. Lots of other people had the same idea and the pizza place was very busy. After a couple slices and some lemonade, I called it a night, ahem, morning, just after 4 am.

 

Inside Club Bambu.

 

 

 

This was probably one of the top 5 most fun nights I've ever had on a cruise.

 

Nassau-2, Kim-1 :D

 

Up next: A bad case of deja vu.

 

I'm sure I'm the only person on the east coast awake right now. I'll be back in the morning before playing sky goddess again to respond to the comments. :)

[Keith1010]

I am enjoying your photos.

 

Keith

[mephistoles]

LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews! I need to get back to work now :rolleyes: but I just had to read this. Looking forward to more.