A Getaway Review: A week in Paradise (with photos) [April 26-May 3]

[jerray07]

Alright everyone. I have to "step away" from Cruise Critic for a while. The first day of classes for summer semester is tomorrow and I have an assignment due I haven't started yet.

 

I still have one more day (Nassau) and some overall impressions/thoughts to post. I plan on having everything done by Wednesday morning. I'll be working on it some throughout the day and evening tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled.

 

I'm really enjoying all the feedback/questions/comments - keep them coming!

[Accessbowtie]

Alright everyone. I have to "step away" from Cruise Critic for a while. The first day of classes for summer semester is tomorrow and I have an assignment due I haven't started yet.

 

I still have one more day (Nassau) and some overall impressions/thoughts to post. I plan on having everything done by Wednesday morning. I'll be working on it some throughout the day and evening tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled.

 

I'm really enjoying all the feedback/questions/comments - keep them coming!

 

 

Thank you for taking the time and effort on writing this review. Easily one of the best reviews I have ever read anywhere.

[sabrina1981]

I'm 5'7" and they were shorter than what I would like, especially after a wash and dry, so I would say they would be fine for you, but they'd definitely cover your toes. It'd probably be the perfect length if you wore wedges or heels, though.

 

Thanks. I think I'm going to look for one with a wide waist band that can fold over. I'll check Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe. :)

[Jenjer]

This is a amazing review. WE leave in a few weeks and you are making me more and more excited.

 

Your pictures are beautiful the colors are breathtaking.

 

Thank You for taking the time to do this.

 

Did the milk bath help the burn?

 

Do they have any photo packages?

 

How were your spa passes? worth it or not? thinking about getting myself one while DH and kids attack the water slides?

[CruzinMel]

This has been one of the best reviews I've ever read - thank you so much for doing it!

 

Waiting for Wednesday,

Melanie

[Cruzn Bills Fan]

This has been one of the best reviews I've ever read - thank you so much for doing it!

 

Waiting for Wednesday,

Melanie

 

 

WEDNESDAY?!?!? I can't wait til Wednesday for the rest of this. :eek:

[Cruisegirl2004]

Thank you taking the time to write a review, and the pictures are awesome! I had so much fun reading about your trip.

 

Loved your maxi dresses and I just purchased mine from Forever21 - you should get the commission...:)

 

It sounds like you had a great trip!

 

Happy Anniversary!!

[creed1228]

This has BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL! Your diary rocks! Leaving this Saturday. Wondering if the $20 per day/ per person for Vibe is worth it??? Please advise. It seems as if everything we want to do or partake in... costs!!! This "reasonable" cruise is adding up and costing about double from what we thought!

[notthatpaulyd]

This has BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL! Your diary rocks! Leaving this Saturday. Wondering if the $20 per day/ per person for Vibe is worth it??? Please advise. It seems as if everything we want to do or partake in... costs!!! This "reasonable" cruise is adding up and costing about double from what we thought!

 

 

It's $79 pp for the week.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[hpecorari]

It seems as if everything we want to do or partake in... costs!!! This "reasonable" cruise is adding up and costing about double from what we thought!

 

Vib is an 'extra'. it's not necessary. There is plenty of space around the pool and on decks above the pool. Specialty restaurants are 'extra'. It's not necessary. What else is costing you extra that you're 'adding on'.?

 

Harriet

[jerray07]

Friday, May 2, 2014 - Nassau

 

We’ve been to Nassau before on the Carnival Ecstasy and was not at all impressed, so we didn’t even get off the ship for this port. We probably would in the future, but only to go to Atlantis.

 

We woke up around 8:30am to an announcement from the captain saying that we had arrived early (supposed to be noon-7pm). We looked out the balcony window and could see the flat Bahamian island. We watched us dock and took our time getting dressed and headed up to the buffet for breakfast.

 

Good morning, World!

 

View from our balcony

 

The buffet is perhaps the most frustrating part of the ship, especially at breakfast time. It’s the only place that is nearly always busy, and people don’t seem to get the hint that is not appropriate to block the narrow walkway to stop and chat with friends. Looking back, if we return to the Getaway, we will probably avoid the buffet around breakfast time. I've read in the forums elsewhere that Flamingo is a good place (less crowded) to grab a hearty breakfast, so I would suggest that.

 

Next we stayed on the upper decks to watch the Disney Dream test its lifeboats, and as the Carnival Sensation made its way to port. Chris got off the boat to get on WiFi, and stayed in the room and rested on the balcony.

 

Chris never left the little visitors area for his WiFi fix. He snapped this picture while there.

 

 

The Disney Dream testing life boats, and Carnival Sensation making it's way to the dock.

 

The Carnival Sensation

[jerray07]

Chris watched Man of Steel on the TV, and then we grabbed a quick lunch from Flamingo. By this time, I had fully converted Chris and he enjoyed the "sweet bananas" (fried plantains). By this time (around 4 pm), most of the ship seemed to have collectively said "screw Nassau" and had returned to the ship and into their favorite lounger by the pool. As our waiter had said the night before at Le Bistro, Nassau is kind of a disappointment once you've visited St. Thomas and St. Maarten that same week. This was the only port day that we left right on time, with no names called over the loud speaker.

 

We skipped dessert and opted to try Carlos bake shop. We got a white chocolate/caramel apple and a mini strawberry cheesecake. The apple was meh, but the cheesecake was amazing.

 

The cannoli looked AMAZING as well (bottom shelf)

 

 

 

[jerray07]

Forgot to mention that the coffee at Carlos is Lavazza!

 

We walked around the decks for a while. I did some reading in Vibe, and we returned to the room to relax some. We had a 6:45p reservation for La Cucina (Italian), but we arrived a little early (6:30p) to finish in time to make the farewell show. They seated us right away with no issues, I don't' even think they were fully booked. We had a lovely meal, though we weren't very hungry.

 

 

 

 

My bruschetta starter

 

My entree - Vegetable lasagna

 

La Cucina was possibly the most vegetarian-friendly specialty restaurant, as Italian usually is. A lot of pasta dishes do not feature meat. There were 3 or 4 options here for me.

 

Chris got - you guessed it - steak...

[jerray07]

La Cucina menu

 

We were fortunate enough to be seated at the waterfront, just in time to see the sun set and the sail away.

 

Chocolate tart dessert

 

We trekked to the theater for the Farewell show. Get there early. They have two shows and both are rather packed. It's a great show and worth attending. Definitely recommend.

 

 

The cruise director, Sinan, revealed during the show that he has a history in stand up comedy. He spent the first part of the show telling incredible and funny stories from his time working in the cruise industry. Then, members from Burn the Floor (a dance show) came out and did 2 numbers (and they came our later to a hilarious rendition of Beyonce's "Single Ladies"), and Sinan made a guest appearance in their bit as well ;). Next, the singers from Legally Blonde came and performed a few numbers (not from Legally Blonde). Sinan closed the show by calling a lot of crew members to stage so that we could be "introduced" to chief members of staff and to show our gratitude for all their hard work and dedication. It was quite an impressive send off. The captain was also present, as well as the restaurant manager, hotel director, head chef, and a few more. My room steward, Sadrick, was also present (he is on the left, holding a huge dog towel animal).

 

 

We returned to the room and we had our last towel animal waiting for us - a mouse in our coffee cup. We don't drink coffee, so it was never used, but I wondered what he made for people who used their one cup!

[jerray07]

I have a little more on day 7 - and then my overall reactions, but I have to dash! Have a 7:30p laser tag reservation! Be back with more soon!

 

- Jerie

[Linda the Book Lover]

The desserts!! Yummy even in the pictures.

[notthatpaulyd]

Forgot to mention that the coffee at Carlos is Lavazza!

 

 

 

We walked around the decks for a while. I did some reading in Vibe, and we returned to the room to relax some. We had a 6:45p reservation for La Cucina (Italian), but we arrived a little early (6:30p) to finish in time to make the farewell show. They seated us right away with no issues, I don't' even think they were fully booked. We had a lovely meal, though we weren't very hungry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My bruschetta starter

 

 

 

 

My entree - Vegetable lasagna

 

 

 

La Cucina was possibly the most vegetarian-friendly specialty restaurant, as Italian usually is. A lot of pasta dishes do not feature meat. There were 3 or 4 options here for me.

 

 

 

 

Chris got - you guessed it - steak...

 

I'm excited to eat on the waterfront. Was it "hard to get" a table there? Or was it more the norm than the exception?

 

Great review.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[jennyprovo]

Great review. Makes me excited for our time on her in December.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[DCP]

I have to agree, one of the BEST reviews I have read so far! We don't have kiddos, so not having that kind of info to read around makes it AWESOME! It is really getting me into the cruise mode for our Dec. Getaway! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!:)

[jerray07]

I'm excited to eat on the waterfront. Was it "hard to get" a table there? Or was it more the norm than the exception?

 

Great review.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

No! For some inexplicable reason, it was actually easier to get a table on the waterfront! :)

[maja651]

Loving your review! Thanks for taking the time to write it! Soon it will be my turn! :)

Edited May 7, 2014 by maja651

[Medtech2]

Thanks. I think I'm going to look for one with a wide waist band that can fold over. I'll check Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe. :)

Do you have a Belks in Memphis? They have a ton of Maxi's in the Petite section...

[jerray07]

Chris turned in for the night, while I went up to the photo gallery and redeemed my photos from the Deal or No Deal game. Here's what I purchased (some of these you may have seen before):

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jerray07]

Afterward, I tried my hand at the slot machines one more time. I would sit down at one (started at Wheel of Fortune), and set a limit on how much I would spend. If I ever made over a few bucks in return, I'd stop there. I was in the casino for a total of ten minutes. The second machine I tried, on my second spin, I won $23. I figured that was about as good as I would do, so I left.

 

Before heading back to the room to pack, I stopped by the Grammy experience. I had been meaning to go since we sailed, and this was the first time I walked by and the doors were open. Sugar Blue was the artist on our ship, and while I walked around (there were only about 3 passengers in the room) he and his guitar player were practicing or doing sound check or something. I couldn't stick around to hear him play, but oh boy did he sound great. Truly amazing talent.

 

Here are some pictures from the "museum" (quotations because it's not very large, but some of the items they hold are pretty impressive):

 

 

Guitars of Foster the People

 

Props from Muse Grammy performance

 

Jackson Five album costumes

 

From an OK Go Grammy performance

 

B.B. King's Guitar

Edited May 7, 2014 by jerray07

[jerray07]

Whitney Houston's dress - Slightly disappointing to see some of the "jewels" were so obviously hot glued onto the dress.

 

Chris and I chose to set our luggage out with the tags, so I had to return to the room to pack, as badly as I hated to. It was such an amazing vacation - possibly the best I ever had, and I was sad to see it come to an end. But all good things must, and it was time to let a new set of smiling and excited faces to explore the ship, and hopefully to get as much enjoyment out of it as I did.

 

The Next Morning - Miami

 

We had blue tags, which represent the latest time you can leave in the morning (9:30am). We woke up around 5:30am. We forgot to close the curtain to the balcony, and Miami's approaching lights woke us up. Our flight, however, wasn't until 7pm, so it was a long waiting game for us to look forward to. It's fair to say we really dragged our feet this morning.

 

Pilot boat at 5:30am

 

We went to O'Sheehans for a nice breakfast. Omelets, hash browns, and french toast. Disembarkation is also on deck 7, so it was quite crowded. Breakfast was closed at 9am, and we waited around for our color to be called.

 

We took a QLS shuttle (prebooked and paid for) from the port to FLL airport. Our driver was excellent at communicating with us - he and his office started calling to confirm and tell us where to meet by 9am. We shared a van with a large family from Canada, and I felt quite sorry for the driver when we dropped them off and the family of 6 handed him a $5 tip. Jesus, I mean, this guy just drove you 45 minutes freezing his butt off to please you Canadians because you complained that it was hot (ummm, it's almost summer time in Florida, hello?), and the best you can do is less than a buck per person?

 

Chris and I are both pretty generous tippers. Having worked in the service industry before, we understand what it's like out there. We made sure to give him a good tip when he dropped us off a minute later at our terminal.

 

Check in and security were a breeze. I recognized the face behind me in security, but didn't say anything because I wasn't sure. When we got to our gate and he was there, I got a better look at him and knew - Dennis Rodman was feet from us. We didn't say or do anything, but a few others in our gate started to notice and try to secretly take pictures of him. Finally, two girls next to us got the gusto to ask for a picture with him. He seemed pretty upset that his cover was blown, and was obviously not in the mood to interact. He took the picture (although obviously not caring too) and then hastily made his way to board his plane to Toronto.

 

And that about wraps things up. We waited in our gate for the next 8-9 hours until it was time to board. I worked some on this blog, and did a little reading, while Chris caught up on work emails. We finally arrived home in Chicago a little after 10pm.

 

Still to come: An overall review of the ship and its' services.