REVIEW: Carnival Liberty - Western Caribbean - 4/5/14 thru 4/12/14

[pghsteelerfan]

When we got back to our cabin, we took turns getting showers and ready for dinner. They would be having the “Red Frog’s Caribbean Beach Party” up on Lido Deck 9 at 10:00PM. This was also when the drinks in Coconut Monkey Heads would be available. We have nine of them already. There are two that we don’t use, our first two from Carnival Miracle in 2006. Those are in one of the display cabinets I keep some of the glasses/cups from our cruises and the ship models in. That very first one that I got on Miracle is, and some of you are going to think this is crazy, the cutest Carnival Coconut Monkey I have seen. It stays where it is and does not get used. The other ones are used and we’ve let our friends use them. We had a problem with gnats one year when having a deck party with margaritas. The gnats were getting into the drinks. I went in and got the Coconut Monkey’s out, we poured the margaritas into the cups they come in, put the top back on…problem solved. Well, the problem of the gnats getting into our margaritas - they were still annoying as all heck. So now that our friends have seen these, two of them really wanted us to get them one while on this cruise. One of the guys asked us how much a week before our cruise and was going to give us the money right on the spot. We told him to keep the money and we'd just get it for him. We'd be drinking the drink that came in it anyway. We told him we'd probably would be able to get one, but there was always a chance that we couldn’t. Since we had some time to waste before dinner, we went up to Lido Deck 9 and noticed they already had the Coconut Monkey’s out on the bar. We went right over and asked if we could buy three of them, just the cup. They were able to do that and they actually cost about half the price than they would have with the drink. I also noticed that they had more of the Blue Iguana Tervis tumblers! Yesssss!!! There weren’t many out and I didn’t know if they had more stored away somewhere or not, but I wasn’t taking the chance of missing out again, so I got one of those too. We took those down to our cabin and went to the balcony for about 10 minutes before we went down to dinner.

We waited till 8:20PM and went down to dinner and got right in. We were the last ones to arrive this evening, but the others had just gotten there and were still getting seated. One of the assistant waiters came by to fill our water glasses and DH asked if he could have ice tea. A couple of the others asked again for cokes and right after that, the other assistant brought out the bread. Nicolai came out with our menus right after that and we got a chance to talk to him for a few minutes. We all looked at the menus and decided on what we were having for dinner. We talked more about our day until the dinner plates showed up.

Tonight I had the Caesar Salad for an appetizer, which gets another “A” from me; for the main I had Chicken Breast that was on the “From the Grill” section of the menu, which I give a “B”; and for the side I got the Fragrant Bismanti Pilaf again, which I give an “A”; and DH and I split the “Chicken Pastelitos” from the “Port of Call” section of the menu. Chicken Pastelitos are pastries that are filled with shredded, seasoned chicken breast. They were very good and we both give them an “A+”. Except for the Caesar Salad and the Chicken Patelitos, I just picked at my dinner tonight. Since I had the Guy Burger that afternoon, I wasn’t very hungry for dinner.

We spent dinner visiting with our table mates and I knew one of them also collected currency from places they visit. I asked if they were able to get any from Roatan and they forgot to. I let them know that I traded a $1.00 bill for a $10.00, a $5.00, a $2.00, and three $1.00 bills and asked if they’d like one of the extra $1.00 bills. It was a definite “yes”, so I let them know I didn’t have it on me but would be sure to bring it to dinner with me on Friday. This was Wednesday and Thursday was the other formal night, which we’d be skipping again.

Andi came around again with a tray of the cordial shot glasses. Tonight’s color was blue, which I had. I thanked Andi but told him I had the blue and would pass on it. That’s when he picked one up so I could really see the color and said it was a different color blue. It definitely was. It’s a blue/green color and I do not have one of those. He said it was a newer color. I told him I’d go ahead and get it. I don’t know what the drink was that came with it, but it was good. I asked Andi if they had any other newer colors and he thought they did on some of the other ships. I told him I’d love to have a red one and he said he believed that Carnival was going to be getting a red one. I hope they do. It would look really nice and after all, red is one of Carnival’s colors. The desert menus were brought out and one of our tablemates and I had our usual, sorbet. I think DH had the “Pie Alamode” and I’m pretty sure it was the cherry pie tonight. I forget what the others were doing tonight but there was no “Punchliner Comedy” tonight since the comedians we had, Happy Cole and Jason Blanchard, had gotten off Liberty in Belize and we’d be getting two others who would be boarding Liberty in Grand Cayman the next day. We told them we’d probably go up and check out the “Red Frog’s Caribbean Beach party” on the Lido Deck but we didn’t know if we’d be staying a while or not. I think some of them were going to call it an early night. We stayed and visited again, later than normal, and finally left the dining room between 10:15 and 10:30PM.

We stopped by our cabin first, to change into some more comfortable clothes and to drop off my cordial shot glass. The first thing we noticed was our towel animal that Eduardo had left for us. This one wasn’t on the bed but hanging from the top of the dresser. This one was definitely a monkey.

We saw all kinds of monkeys today…the ones in Roatan, the Coconut Monkey Head cups and now our towel animal. The next edition of the “Fun Times” was waiting for us on the bed...

...and so were these:

I set the cordial shot glass next to the others, which I had on the dresser. We both changed quickly and first we went to the Promenade Bar, which was basically right below us, and got our usual (double Captain Morgan rum & cokes) from our favorite bartender. Right after we got those, we took the stairs up to Lido Deck 9 for the “beach party”.

Since it was close to 11:00PM at this time, we missed the “Deck Party Giveaways”, which started at 10:30PM. I think the “giveaways” are inflatable water toys because I saw some people dancing with them or wearing them in some way. I’d seen in other reviews that they pass out inflatable water toys at the deck party. I don’t know what else, if anything, is passed given out. The Red Frog rum bar looked pretty busy but I noticed they had the “flashing” plastic shot glasses all over the Blue Iguana Tequila bar. I wanted another one, so I went over and bought one of those. We’re not into dancing so we went and got a table over on the starboard side (right side) near the Red Frog Rum bar and just watched all of the action. There were several others over at tables just enjoying drinks and watching the fun. Right after we were seated, one of the bar waiters came over with a tray of drinks in Coconut Monkey’s, so I got another one with the drink but finished the Captain & coke first. I don’t know if it was the “Beachcomber” drink in the Monkey or not, but the “Beachcomber” was advertised in the “Fun Times” as a drink to get with a ceramic cup of choice. So now we’ll be bringing back four Coconut Monkey’s. One of our other friends may want one, so I’ll see when we see them next.

 

While we were sitting there, DH started smiling. OK, he sees something funny, probably someone else, I wasn’t going to look until he told me then I’d casually look that way. I then heard someone behind me ask if I’d like to do a shot and turned around. It was Andi, our dining room assistant who brings the cordial drinks around. I felt terrible because I didn’t recognize him at first but he did look very familiar. First of all, he changed clothes, and second of all, he was standing there with a tray full of Coconut Monkeys. Then he said he brought that shots around at dinner. I felt terrible that I didn’t realize it was him and told him so. I told him I just saw in downstairs, in the dining room, a short time ago. He told me he works everywhere and not just in the dining room. He’ll work in the dining room when it’s open and will at the other bars or as a bar waiter on the Lido Deck. That’s a long day but these guys and gals do it, with smiles on their faces. We talked to Andi for a minute or two then he had to move along and sell some Coconut Monkeys. We noticed it was emptying out at the tables where we were sitting and checked the time and it was a little after 11:30PM. There was still a large group of people on the deck still dancing but I’m sure some of them were just getting started.

Not much else for us to do up at the deck party, so DH went to the Red Frog rum bar and got a double Captain and coke there since I had just started on the drink in the Coconut Monkey, then we went back down to our cabin and finished the drinks on the balcony. While we were out there, we noticed we were in pretty choppy water again. When the drinks were finished, we took turns getting ready for bed and were probably in bed a little after midnight.

 

Before I forget, this is the Honduran money that I traded USA money for.

 

The fronts:

The backs:

The Honduran money I paid $2.00 USA money for:

[pghsteelerfan]

This wraps up our Cruise Day 5. The next installment will be our Cruise Day 6, Grand Cayman day, which I plan to get posted this weekend.

 

Edited May 23, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[bubbakirk43]

Really loving all the pictures ,Roatan is a beautiful place ,wanting to go back there again sometime in the near future.Great pics of the Liberty ,going on her end of september and really going to enjoy watching the Stillers in the EA sports bar.

[pghsteelerfan]

Really loving all the pictures ,Roatan is a beautiful place ,wanting to go back there again sometime in the near future.Great pics of the Liberty ,going on her end of september and really going to enjoy watching the Stillers in the EA sports bar.

 

Roatan IS beautiful, we really loved the scenery. We also loved Liberty and I think yinz will love her too. I hope those Stillers have a great season this year. Last season was so frustrating, the stupid mistakes that cost them games they should have won. Hopefully they'll be on top of their game when you're watching in the EA sports bar.

 

Thank you about the pictures. I took SO many. LOL!!!

[bubbakirk43]

Roatan IS beautiful, we really loved the scenery. We also loved Liberty and I think yinz will love her too. I hope those Stillers have a great season this year. Last season was so frustrating, the stupid mistakes that cost them games they should have won. Hopefully they'll be on top of their game when you're watching in the EA sports bar.

 

Thank you about the pictures. I took SO many. LOL!!!

 

Well so far after the draft the team is looking good on paper they just need to take it over to the field.The expectations are high in the Burgh ,winning isn't everything ,it's the only thing .Hoping they will get back to the Super bowl and get number 7.Yeah they will be playing the buccaneers the weekend we are on the liberty so I think it will be a win.Thanks again for the great review.

[pghsteelerfan]

Well so far after the draft the team is looking good on paper they just need to take it over to the field.The expectations are high in the Burgh ,winning isn't everything ,it's the only thing .Hoping they will get back to the Super bowl and get number 7.Yeah they will be playing the buccaneers the weekend we are on the liberty so I think it will be a win.Thanks again for the great review.

 

A lot of us (Stiller fans) think they have a great draft, but as you said, on paper. So glad you said that, yes winning is the only thing! We got the six pack but I'd love to see 7. I was crushed in 1996 and again in 2011. Stupid mistakes cost them the game in 1996 (thank you Neil O'Donnel). As for 2011, I sure don't know who those imposters were, but they sure weren't the Stillers. LOL!!! I sure hope they beat Tampa when you're on Liberty (sorry Tampa fans). So glad you're enjoying the review. Not much progress on the next installment tonight, but hoping to get it up sometime this weekend.

Edited May 24, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[tiggerkaj]

Thanks for a wonderful review. I am loving all your pictures.

 

You mentioned about purchasing some ginger root pills. How did they work for you? I was considering getting some for a cruise I'm trying to schedule but wasn't sure how well they worked. I usually take other pills but sometimes it seems they make me tired (even the non drowsy type) so I was looking for an alternative. Thanks!

 

Can't wait to see more :D

[pghsteelerfan]

Thanks for a wonderful review. I am loving all your pictures.

 

You mentioned about purchasing some ginger root pills. How did they work for you? I was considering getting some for a cruise I'm trying to schedule but wasn't sure how well they worked. I usually take other pills but sometimes it seems they make me tired (even the non drowsy type) so I was looking for an alternative. Thanks!

 

Can't wait to see more :D

 

The ginger root pills worked for the first several days but I had my Dramamine (non-drowsy) for a back up...just in case. The non-drowsy Dramamine still makes me tired, main reason I tried the ginger, but I'd rather be tired than seasick. :) So glad I had the backup because we had some rougher water the last two days and the ginger did not help so I had to switch to the Dramamine. A half hour after I took that, I was fine. When we were on Valor last year (Southern Caribbean), the seas were pretty calm the whole time and I think I'd have been fine that whole cruise just using the ginger. If you're prone to motion sickness, I'd go ahead with the ginger since it did work for the most part, but would definitely recommend the Dramamine (or other) to have as a back up in case you hit rougher seas.

 

Thank you for following along. :)

[catty]

I love the pictures, the water is gorgeous. What do you think the temperature was that day in Roatan? How cold was the water?

[pghsteelerfan]

I love the pictures, the water is gorgeous. What do you think the temperature was that day in Roatan? How cold was the water?

 

I'm not sure of the exact temperature of water, but in Cozumel it was hot & humid (probably mid-80's air temp) but the water was refreshing and we didn't get a "chill" at all when we went in. We even spent time in the water there and never got cold. In Roatan, it was hot and humid, probably mid-80's (air temps). As for the water, I waded in up to my knees, down at the one end of the beach (to the far left, where it appeared a little calmer) and it seemed to be the same, temperature wise, as Cozumel. It was nice and I never got a chill and it would have been great for a swim. Our loungers were under the palm trees and in the shade in Roatan and there were stiff winds from the west, causing it to feel cooler and that was one reason we didn't go in the water for a swim. The water was also pretty rough there and even though we are both pretty strong swimmers, the rough water was the other reason we decided against going in. Apparently the rougher water we had is not the "norm" since we were on the west coast of Cozumel and Roatan, where the water is normally calmer.

[tiggerkaj]

The non-drowsy Dramamine still makes me tired, main reason I tried the ginger, but I'd rather be tired than seasick. :)

 

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that gets tired with the non drowsy Dramamine. You have a good point! Guess I should think that way but hate being tired when I'm supposed to be living it up (but your right, that's better than the seasick part). I usually take a Dramamine the first day and try my best not to take anymore but it really just depends on how rough it gets. I'll check the ginger pills and see how those work. Thanks!

[Shaded Lady]

I'm a pretty good sailor, rarely get seasick, but if it gets particularly rough, ginger pills will take care of it for me. Only once have I ever had to use non-drowsy Dramamine, and that was when we were chasing a hurricane. I was able to take it in the evening and by the time it kicked in, it was bedtime so no issue with being drowsy.

 

But I sailed with a few friends and one gets seasick in the bath tub! I kept giving her the ginger and she never had an issue... one evening she had to take the non-drowsy Dramamine but other than that the ginger worked, just like PGSteelerFan says... I'm a convert now!

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that gets tired with the non drowsy Dramamine. You have a good point! Guess I should think that way but hate being tired when I'm supposed to be living it up (but your right, that's better than the seasick part). I usually take a Dramamine the first day and try my best not to take anymore but it really just depends on how rough it gets. I'll check the ginger pills and see how those work. Thanks!

 

No, you're definitely not the only one. :D

 

I'm a pretty good sailor, rarely get seasick, but if it gets particularly rough, ginger pills will take care of it for me. Only once have I ever had to use non-drowsy Dramamine, and that was when we were chasing a hurricane. I was able to take it in the evening and by the time it kicked in, it was bedtime so no issue with being drowsy.

 

But I sailed with a few friends and one gets seasick in the bath tub! I kept giving her the ginger and she never had an issue... one evening she had to take the non-drowsy Dramamine but other than that the ginger worked, just like PGSteelerFan says... I'm a convert now!

 

I am a ginger convert now but will always keep the Dramamine non-drowsy as a back up. I ended up needing it this cruise and am getting ready to post that part. :) If we were in that situation (chasing a hurricane), I don't think there's anything that would work for me. LOL!!! That's the main reason we usually book during the spring months and we prefer May since the weather has been a little better on our May cruises.

Edited May 26, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[pghsteelerfan]

Day 6 – Thursday, April 10, 2014 (Georgetown, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands)

[pghsteelerfan]

Today's edition of the "Fun Times"

 

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

Since we weren’t scheduled to be in Grand Cayman until 10:00AM, we set the alarm for 7:30AM to sleep in a bit. When the alarm went off, I got up and got ready then I went up to Lido Deck 9 to get my morning coffee to bring back down to have on our balcony when DH was getting ready. When I was getting my coffee, there were a lot of others getting breakfast but it didn’t appear to be packed and the buffet lines appeared to be moving. I got my coffee and went back down to our cabin, where DH was out on the balcony getting video. I got a few pictures while we were out there but there was no sign of Grand Cayman yet, but it was only about 8:30AM. We both noticed that it was very windy and the water was quite choppy this morning.

A few pictures from our balcony that morning:

I know from other reviews here on CC and have seen it mentioned in the “Ports of Call” boards for Grand Cayman that it does seem to be missed a lot due to weather conditions making it too dangerous to tender from the ship to the island. But we were still a distance away and we were both hopeful that once we got close to Grand Cayman, we’d be in smoother water.

We enjoyed the balcony while I had my coffee and when I was finished we went up to Lido Deck 9 for breakfast at around 8:45AM. DH asked where I wanted to eat, the buffet or the Blue Iguana Cantina. This morning I was not hungry at all, so I told DH that I’d go through the regular buffet and just get cereal. There was somewhat of a line but it seemed to move. Even after I got my box of cereal and milk, I stayed in line with DH just to see if anything else looked particularly good. Again, it was the same ole, same ole. DH got the scrambled eggs, potatoes, a couple of sausages and next up was the bacon. There was a hold up at the bacon this morning where the line stopped moving. The bacon servers, also known as the “bacon police”, dish out the bacon with tongs. I’ve always felt they give generous portions and if you want more, they are more than happy to give you more. There was one man in line who only had an empty plate who wanted bacon. The gal serving the bacon gave him the typical portion but he said he wanted more, a lot more and told her to fill the plate. She filled the plate for him but he wanted even more and told her to “pile it on the plate” because he was getting bacon for his “family of seven” who were apparently already seated. She piled that plate high with bacon for him with no questions asked. Once this guy got his heaping plate of bacon, the line started moving again and DH got his shortly after that. Next stop was over to the pastries. They have the cinnamon ones, so I took one of them. We went over and got a table after that and again, had no problem finding one. DH went and got us both some orange juice and while I was waiting for him at the table, I got a couple of pictures of “Guy’s Burger Joint” because I’d forgotten to earlier. We had our breakfast then went back down to the cabin after that to start getting ready for our day in Grand Cayman. It was about 9:30AM, so there was no rush.

Guy's Burger Joint:

We didn’t have any scheduled excursions and were just going to spend the day at Seven Mile Beach. On our Carnival Miracle cruise in March 2006, we had a stop in Grand Cayman and booked the “Stingray City” excursion through Carnival. We really enjoyed that and I’d highly recommend it. The stingrays are just beautiful and we really enjoyed our day with them. We were hoping to get to Seven Mile Beach that afternoon when our tour was done, but it took longer getting back, due to traffic, so we just spent time at the cruise center before taking the tender back to Miracle. This time we wanted to go to Seven Mile Beach because one, we’d never been there and two, others we know who have been there highly recommended it. We were originally planning on taking a taxi, which I saw was about $5.00 per person, each way. Not bad. After doing some research on the Port of Call boards under “Grand Cayman”, I noticed that there was a bus terminal right in Georgetown that is easy to walk to that had a regular route to Seven Mile Beach for $2.50, per person, each way. Better yet. Since we didn’t have much time to plan, I wasn’t able to find out exactly where the bus station was but read other posts that mentioned asking someone who could point you in the right direction. The busses themselves aren’t regular large city busses. They are shuttle busses or large vans that have large, round transit stickers on the front. So, our plans were to look for/get directions to the bus station and if we still couldn’t find it, then we’d grab a taxi. When researching the easiest way to Seven Mile Beach, we also found there were different areas of Seven Mile Beach…decisions, decisions. We finally decided for Calico Jack’s/public beach. When researching, we were also looking for pictures that others posted on a few other travel websites and we liked what we saw in the pictures, so that’s where we planned to spend our day.

[pghsteelerfan]

Since we weren’t scheduled to arrive until 10:00AM and didn’t have an excursion scheduled, we decided we’d wait till 10:30AM before we’d head down to the tender to let the lines thin out some. Since we had about an hour to waste, I got what I’d need for the day. I made up my mind after hauling around the snorkel fins and beach bag yesterday that I’d just take my mask and snorkel, which easily fit in my beach bag, and leave the fins behind so I could have a free hand. I made sure that all my cameras had charged batteries and enough memory on the memory cards and was set there. DH had the TV on, an as usual, was flipping through the channels. I don’t even bother paying attention to the TV when he’s doing that because if something does catch my interest, he changes the channel. I decided to tune out the TV and straighten things out in the cabin a little. I forget exactly what time it was, but it was about 9:35 – 9:40AM, when we heard the “announcement chimes”. Uh oh, I think I know what this is. As I mentioned earlier, it seems Grand Cayman is one of the ports that is missed if the weather isn’t optional and today it wasn’t. The water was rough and the winds were fairly strong. I actually tried to make a bet with DH for some $$$ on what this announcement was but he wasn’t willing to bet me on this because he was expecting the same thing. We were both right. It was our ship’s captain, Captain Guiseppe Guisa, letting us know he needed a minute of our time for some information regarding a change to our scheduled itinerary. To sum it up, our call in Grand Cayman would be cancelled. Captain Guisa said that there were nine foot sea swells and 36MPH winds coming from the north/northeast that would make tendering unsafe, so the local authorities closed the port of Georgtown. Captain Guisa said that they proceeded to Spott’s Bay, which is an alternative location for tendering in Grand Cayman, but the conditions there were the same and tendering was also closed there. There were no other port alternatives so we were going to have an additional “Fun Day at Sea” and proceed toward Miami. Our captain also mentioned that they would be refunding the $21.84 USD (taxes, fees, and port expenses for Grand Cayman) for each passenger to our Sail & Sign accounts. For anyone who had purchased excursions, those amounts would also be refunded to the Sail & Sign accounts. We were told that they were in the process of printing an updated “Fun Times” with added activities that would be delivered to each cabin later in the day. Within 10 minutes of the announcement, a sheet of paper was slipped under the door of our cabin. It was a written version of our captain’s announcement.

The letter that was delivered to our cabin regarding our stop in Grand Cayman being cancelled:

 

Yes, “Mother Nature” dealt us a bad hand but overall, we have been very fortunate on all of our past cruises with mostly good weather and calmer seas. We have been on five prior cruises without ever missing a port, this was the first time for us. We did come close to missing Grand Turk when on Glory in May 2010 because high winds made docking difficult. When the captain was docking, it took three tries but they were able to dock on that third try so we made it to Grand Turk. It was announced that they try three times and if they can’t get it on the third attempt, the port is “missed”. It was bound to happen to us sooner or later, right? I had also done research before our cruise to find out who (other ships) would be with us in each port. Carnival Magic was scheduled to be in Grand Cayman too, so we weren’t the only ones missing Grand Cayman that day. When a port is cancelled like this, there is no one to blame except “Mother Nature”, it is not the fault of the captain or the cruise line. They are putting our safety first and we realize and appreciate that. It is better to be safe than sorry. So now what? What can we do? We’ve got two choices: we can sit around and let it ruin or cruise or we can find something to do. Heck with moping around…that’s too boring. We’ll find something else to do. First things first, we were able to see Grand Cayman so we our first plan of action was going out on the balcony with our cameras to get pictures of Grand Cayman as we sailed past. It was about 9:45AM and we It was the southern part of the island we could see first so I’m pretty sure that’s where Spott’s Bay is. That would make sense since our captain proceeded to Spotts Bay instead of Georgetown.

A few pictures of Grand Cayman in the distance. This is the southern coast:

We were very fortunate to have a balcony on the right (starboard) side of the cabin since we were going to have excellent views of Grand Cayman as we passed. If we had a cabin on the other side, we most likely would have gone up to Panorama Deck 10 to try for pictures, but it would have been very windy and it was spitting rain, so conditions for picture taking up there wouldn’t be the best. At least we had some protection from the wind and rain from our balcony. As we got closer to Grand Cayman, we used the zoom on the cameras and could see exactly how rough the water was. From the ship, it looks very choppy and you will not see nine foot, breaking waves from the ship, but we were definitely able to see the waves crashing into Grand Cayman.

[pghsteelerfan]

Another picture of the southwestern part of Grand Cayman:

 

 

As we headed north, we were able to see Georgetown and the area where the island’s tender docks were. Oh yeah, those waves were literally crashing into that area. There was no way tendering could have been safely done that day. It appeared that the waves were even crashing over the barrier walls along the shore, so I’m sure that whole area was soaked. We were able to get pictures of that, but they appear grainy because I used the highest zoom for these. But dang, what a difference from last time we were in Grand Cayman in 2006 and actually made it. The water was very calm that day and I remember the many different shades of blue and just how pretty it was. It was totally different from what we were seeing today.

I'll let some pictures do the "talking" here. These are all of Georgetown, Grand Cayman and the tendering area:

[pghsteelerfan]

More pictures of Georgetown, Grand Cayman, as we passed by:

 

 

 

Check this out...I think this may be right near the tender area but not sure since we didn't make it in. I had to really use the zoom here:

 

[pghsteelerfan]

More pictures as we passed Georgetown, Grand Cayman:

 

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

More of Georgetown, Grand Cayman, as we passed on by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

As we continued north and passing Seven Mile Beach, the water also looked very rough there. Even if we did somehow get onto Grand Cayman, I doubt we’d have gone snorkeling or even in the water except for wading. I got pictures of Seven Mile Beach from the ship and also got a few pictures of the area that I’m guessing was the public beach near Calico Jack’s. At about 10:15AM, we were passing Grand Cayman’s very northern part, so it was “Hello Grand Cayman, Goodbye Grand Cayman…we hope we can get back and actually spend a day sometime!” I mentioned Carnival Magic was scheduled to be in Grand Cayman that day but we never did see her. I read another review that someone on that Magic cruise did and they arrived two hours earlier, so that’s why we never saw Carnival Magic.

Pictures of the Seven Mile Beach area as we sailed by:

 

 

 

I'm not certain, but I think this may have been the area (Public Beach by Calico Jack's) where we had planned to spend some of our day. Maybe next time:

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

More of sailing past Grand Cayman:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

OK, so now what? First of all, I’m starting to feel funky. I had been taking the ginger root pills either twice or three times a day. On sea days, I take two in the morning when I get up, two mid-afternoon and two before bed. On port days, I’ll take two of them when we return to the ship when we stop at our cabin to drop off our stuff and again two before I go to bed. I remembered to take them the two times yesterday. With the water I chugged in the cabin right after returning from Roatan, I took two of the ginger root pills with that and again before we went to bed. I also took two when I got up this morning, but I’m really feeling funky. DH wanted to go find something to do around the ship and I told him I needed a few minutes and told him why. He asked me was if I had a hangover. No I did not have a hangover. Yes, we had drinks the day before but I just like the other days, we didn’t overdo it. He mentioned the Captain and coke and the drink in the Coconut Monkey the night before, but I reminded him that was two drinks and that he’d had two drinks. No, this was not a hangover. I didn’t have a headache. I don’t feel like I’m going to get sick…yet. This is the same feeling I would get when I’d go on one of the spinning rides at Kennywood Park. Others from the Pittsburgh area know (or should know) what Kennywood Park is. For those of you not from or familiar with the Pittsburgh area, it’s a great amusement park just outside Pittsburgh which still has some awesome wooden roller coasters. It’s not Busch Gardens or Cedar Point, but I love it. Our school picnics were always there and my mom’s company picnic (before she retired) was always there, so we’d try to go up for that. I just can’t go on the spinning rides but can at least ride the rollercoasters. DH asked if I took the ginger that morning and I let him know I did when I got up. I didn’t want to do this because I don’t like being tired, but I was going to have to bite the bullet and take the non-drowsy Dramamine. It’s supposed to be non-Drowsy, but it still makes me tired. Oh well, it’s easy enough to find caffeine on a cruise ship.

We decided to take a walk around the ship and try for pictures of some of the places we couldn’t get pictures of on our “Tour or Liberty” on our first Sea Day. DH was going getting some of his stuff organized so he’d need a couple of minutes. No new version of the “Fun Times” had been delivered yet. When I was straightening up my stuff in the cabin before the announcement, part of that was lining my cool Carnival drink cups up along the top of the dresser, the narrow section not under the mirror. Cups are now all lined up so everybody say "Cheese!".

After that I put the Coconut Monkey cups that we got for our friends up on the TV and set the cordial shot glasses between them. Of course the station we had on was the live webcam from the front of the ship.

As mentioned earlier, at the end of the review I’ll post pictures of each of the Carnival Cups in addition to two of the ceramic cups that are available at the Red Frog Rum Bar and the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar. I also have pictures of the drink menus for both bars that I’ll also include.

Now that DH is ready, we left the cabin and walked to the front of the ship then down to Atlantic Deck 4 and went to the Venetian Palace, which was closed for some kind of rehearsal the first time we tried for pictures. This time it was open and we got several pictures there, from the Atlantic Deck 4 level then we walked down the stairs to Lobby Deck 3. On Lobby Deck 3, right outside the entrance to the Venetian Palace, I loved the decorations on the doors. There were some “Jokers”, like on decks of cards.

The Venetian Palace from the Atlantic Deck 4 level:

[pghsteelerfan]

More Venetian Palace:

 

The large, colorful light above the Venetian Palace:

 

 

The door decoration on Lobby Deck 3 at the Venetian Palace entrance: