I'm DREAMing of a Caribbean Christmas- Stacey's Holiday Cruise Review 12/10/1...

[sunbird21]

As soon as we settled in, I was debating where to go to get the first beverage, when a sweet looking gentleman named Martin approached. He introduced himself and said that he would be our server for the day. He took our initial drink order, returned with them in 5 minutes, and gave us menu and drink recommendations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first sip of my Miami Vice was pretty strong, as was my mom’s pina colada. I wanted to ensure good service, so I gave him a pretty decent beginning tip, to which his eyes lit up and he started calling us beautiful ladies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tip must have worked, because I’m not kidding, Martin made his rounds every 10 minutes on the dot for the next few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, after the first two hours, when I felt that I could respectably move on to my Malibu and Coke, he just appeared with a fresh one every 20 minutes. He did still show up every 10 asking what else we needed, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the first couple of hours, relaxing on the loungers reading and going into the ocean. There was a banjo player that walked by singing Christmas songs, a guy with two parrots, another guy with an iguana, a masseuse and a guy selling fish pedicures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fish pedicures, you might ask? Just wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At some point, we decided to venture into the food. My mom got her quesadillas, and I got nachos.

 

 

 

 

 

WOW- this food was AMAZING. My mom said it was the best meal she had all trip(sorry Carnival!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My nachos were fantastic as well, but what really wowed me was the guacamole. I’m not really a guacamole fan, I will take it if it’s there, but I don’t usually request it. However, Martin brought out two plates, and I tried a little bit at first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously, this was THE freshest, tastiest guacamole I had EVER eaten. I can’t even describe it-it almost didn’t taste like guacamole, if that makes sense, just this pure, fresh, light vegetably taste…

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, I piled it on after that. It’s a must try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were eating, a woman came by,selling sports bracelets, and my mom bought a Cavs bracelet for one of my nieces. The parrot guy came by, flirted a bit, so I took a pic with the birds, not intending on purchasing.However,the photo with the frame was only $20, and it was a rare case of where I actually liked the picture of me(it could have been the alcohol choosing at this point) so I got it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say, while there were a LOT of vendors, they weren’t really pushy. They kind of walked by quietly, held up their wares, and waited to see if you showed some interest before approaching. I liked that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around 1ish, we were starting to get fried, so we decided to leave around 2. I decided that it was now or never time, so I ventured off to the fish spa where there was a short line for the fish pedicure.

 

 

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[sunbird21]

So, for those not in the know, a fish pedicure is a Thai thing, I believe. It’s just like it sounds-you sit in a chair and immerse your feet in some warm water, much like a regular pedicure. Instead of massaging jets, you have about a few dozen little fish swimming around that nibble on the dead skin off of your feet.

 

 

 

 

 

Before you all ask who the hell in their right minds would have fish eat the dead skin off of your feet, let me remind you that there were about 10 chairs filled with a 30 minute wait. Both men and women were there.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, it’s supposed to leave your feet really smooth, and its protein for the fish, so it’s a win-win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw a few fellow roll call peeps that I had played CAH with, so we greeted each other and caught up. As we were chatting, one woman sat down and screamed so loudly and emphatically,it was almost pornographic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My fellow RC girl rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad, she’s just overreacting,” she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once my wait was over, after several reassurances that the fish “just felt like vibrations,” I was slowly dipping my fair footsies into the carnivorous tank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closing my eyes helped, and it did feel like vibrations-until I opened my eyes and saw the little fishies attached to every square inch of my feet.

 

 

 

 

 

I relaxed and as long as they didn’t venture into toe territory, it was tolerable.

 

 

https://vimeo.com/157915879

 

 

 

I survived my 15 minutes, and managed not to kill any fish in the process. Afterward, my feet did feel smooth, but I wouldn’t say it was the best pedicure ever. Maybe the fish were full by then.

 

 

 

 

 

I returned to our loungers and found my mom was ready to go, so we collected our things, bid farewell to Martin, and headed out. As we were in the changing room, I heard someone screaming. I was finished and went outside and saw two women cussing each other out in the entry building, with one trying to slap the other. Some guy pulled them apart and took the slapper out the entrance, while the slapee cried out every name in the book at her as she walked away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that was our afternoon Christmas show,folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got a taxi easily, returned to the port village, and shopped a bit before collecting my mother’s purchases from the general store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was pretty toasty out then, so we headed back to the ship with about an hour to spare before sailaway.

 

 

 

 

 

Once on board, we ordered sandwiches from room service and alternated between sitting on the balcony to watch pier runners and watching the Cavs-Warriors game on TV. (We would have vetured to the bar on the Promenade deck, but it was way too smoky right besides the casino, which was no Bueno for my mom’s COPD).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Lebron continued to get slaughtered by Curry, we downgraded watching to an occasional glance while watching the pier runners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, once again, 4:30 came and went, as did 4:45, with heavy crowds sauntering back down the pier at a leisurely pace. My mom was baffled at how unconcerned people were for the actual return time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5pm came and went, and there were a few stragglers. As it seemed that it was dying out, we saw two college aged girls staggering slowly down the pier with an escort behind them. They stopped, twirled around, and laughed as they stumbled over each other, without a care in the world for the mammoth vessel of people waiting to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

The port escort kept waving them towards the ship, and at one point, one of the girls turned to the ship and waved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, there were multiple shouts of “Come ON!!” and “Get you’re a**** of the ship!!” coming from the surrounding balconies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally they made it to the gangway, and the poor souls who were waiting at the ropes(not sure what they are called…kind of sad, ten cruises in) frantically unleashed the Dream from the port, and we were backing up probably before those girls even hit the elevator inside.

 

 

 

 

 

With that, we watched the sailaway for a bit, checked on the game winding down, and got ready for Christmas dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[tbmrt]

Joining this thread...Love your style of writing

[sunbird21]

Tonight they had a special holiday menu, and it looked pretty good. Since we were on the early side, there was minimal wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Christmas menu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom had been salivating over the ham since she read the menu this morning, so that was her pick. I went for the turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The service was pretty quick tonight, which probably was good for them, since the dining room was filling up fast by the time we left.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked around a bit,stopping by Cherry on Top and the shops before my mom started not feeling well, so we returned to the cabin. She thought it was the combo of sun/alcohol/too much heavy food, so she decided to crash for the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was still early, so I ventured onto the Lido deck,where it was pretty quiet(everyone must have been eating) and relaxed on the practically empty Serenity deck, greeting people back home on the social media package. Of course, I posted my Caribbean Christmas pics, but it was hard to incite much jealousy when it had been 70 degrees the day before in New York City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw bits and pieces of the Grinch on the seaside theater below, and wanted to come back to watch Home Alone later, but for now it was time to head inside and watch the 8:30 comedy show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This comedian was HYSTERICAL- he was from Brooklyn, I think, but it was a blast, especially watching him pick on some child sitting in the front row by himself. He also heckled a newlywed in the back until he saw that it was a pretty beefed up guy, then he was apologizing all over the place. The guy was pretty good natured, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the show, I debated hanging out to watch the 9:45 adult one, but declined and instead head back up to the Lido deck to watch Home Alone.I declined the popcorn, as dinner was VERY filling, but did adopt a beverage from the Blue Iguana-I think it was called the blue iguana. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo L

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Alone has a special place in my heart as it was the first movie ever that I was allowed to see in the theater by myself-I think I was 11 at the time. For me, it’s a good holiday movie-funny and not too sappy, plus I love watching the travel aspect( the family almost missing their TA flight). What can I say, I’m weird like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was amazed I stayed awake throughout, but it was a sea day tomorrow, so hopefully I could sleep in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon my return to the cabin, my mom woke up for a few and told me that she declined Aubrey’s services but instead “told him to make you a towel animal because I knew you would be pissed off if he didn’t at least do that.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess my standards were making themselves known,LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, this was our Christmas creature. At least we got a Funtimes for the final day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that was Christmas 2015, peeps!

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Thanks to the six pic limit, I have to include my Christmas creature here

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Day 9

 

 

 

It was the final sea day L

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did manage to sleep until about 8 this morning, which is a feat for me. My mom, well rested and feeling better, was already awake and reading on the balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it was out last full day, we had a final room service breakfast on our awesome balcony…waaahh!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three guesses as to where we head after that…

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way to Serenity, we passed by the dining room where I saw the remnants of the mornings Dr Seuss brunch. It looked really cute, and I would have liked to have tried it, but felt a bit weird without having a kid with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully Serenity wasn’t horribly crowded, and we managed to find two loungers on the upper deck in the sun. We remained here until noonish, when we headed down to the lanai lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to switch it up a bit and get loungers on Deck 5, to avoid some of the crowd and direct sun. We spent the next couple of hours here, eating the same lanai lunch as before.

 

 

 

 

 

I did go inside for Friends trivia at 1pm. In my line of work, I have a lot of “take home” charting to do, which is made less monotonous by having the TV on in the background. Late night charting + Nick at Nite Friends marathons= me feeling pretty confident about getting a Ship on a Stick.

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, I was a huge fan during the original run.

 

 

 

 

 

(Sidenote: I’m still hoping in this era of TV revivals that we get a Friends one. I mean, we got Full House and Gilmore Girls….)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, the trivia was pretty crowded, so I’m guessing this was a popular one. I did do pretty well, but missed out on 3 questions ( I never realized that Phoebe’s husband was anyone special!!). So, no SOAS, but it was fun.

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Upon my return to the Deck 5 loungers, my mom went inside to the coffee bar and got us a couple of milkshakes. They were pretty tasty! (I may have had Kahlua added in…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During this lounging duration, I realized that I needed to upgrade my internet package to purchase some more Kindle books. I had thought that I could pay the day-price for the medium package, but found out that that wasn’t the case.

 

 

 

 

If you want to upgrade during the cruise, you have to go at the same frequency as your original order. So, for example, if you buy a 24 hr pass on one, you can buy a 24 hour pass on another package, but if you chose the cruise long rate for one(as I did for the social media package) you have to upgrade to the cruise long rate of the other package you want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moral of the story…if you even THINK you might need the basic internet during the cruise, and you don’t want to pay by the day, just upgrade at the beginning.

 

 

 

 

 

3pm was approaching, and we decided to head to a final tea time in the Scarlett restaurant. Once we arrived, we were seated at a two top behind a VERY large table of tweens…unescorted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were about as well behaved as you would expect a large group of unsupervised, hormone rampant, over vacationed minors to act. I felt sorry for the servers who were trying to maintain some decorum by offering tea selections and pouring the water. The kids pawed through the tea boxes, threw them down at each other,spilled the tea pots on the table, and had an incredible case of the gimmees when it came to the pastry cart.

 

 

 

 

 

Another server brought a second cart over to us and another smaller table behind us, knowing that it would take a while to settle the large table. Unfortunately, as soon as one tween saw a different type of cake on our cart, he began shouting out to our server to “ bring that one over here,we want to try that!”

 

 

 

 

 

Sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I am a kid person, really….but a week of 1400 of them was starting to get old. And it seemed that as the week progressed, once some parents realized that their offspring weren’t going to fall overboard, more and more were just turned loose to fend for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we finished our tea time and show, my mom wanted to go back to the cabin to start packing (NOOO!!!). I ventured back to Serenity for a bit,soaking up the last bit of sun that I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did return to the cabin and vegged for a while before getting ready for dinner. We walked around the shops one more time before heading in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At dinner tonight, we were seated in another section. We had had different servers each night,since we went at different times, obviously. Just ask my mom was asking who we had tonight, a guy turned around and said , “That’s me!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Me” was Alex, who ended up being the best server we had, and of course we didn’t find him until now! He was very funny, flirty, and chatty. He gave lengthy recommendations on the food, shows to see that night,asked us how our day was,etc. Now THIS is what I recalled Carnival servers to be!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meals were good-I don’t recall what they were,but here are photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, several days of heavy meals were catching up, so we weren’t able to finish, despite the dishes being good. Poor Alex was mollified, and continued to offer substitutes and such. It seemed incomprehensible that we were just full. With puppy dog eyes he asked, “But…you ladies ARE going to get dessert, right?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom kept refusing, so I decided to step up to the literal plate. I was having a hard time deciding between the soufflé and one last WCMC, so Alex said, “But you must have them both!”

 

 

 

 

 

And both I received. He even brought two ice creams and instructed me to try the WCMC with a bit of soufflé in the same bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, it was VERY good. And it came out during the “Leaving on a Funship” song, which is both sweet and a little depressing at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But even with this encouragement, a double dose of heavy dessert does not result in finishing both. I felt like I was beating a baby as we left it under his woeful gaze.

 

 

 

 

 

We made it just in time for the PG comedy show, who was a different comedian that the night before, but still funny. We had the vouchers for the last evening drink, so we redeemed them for our final cocktail of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this one was done, the guy from the previous night was doing his adult show, so we hung around. It started out to be funny, but it descended into some pretty obscene jokes towards the end, even for me.

 

 

 

 

 

With that, we returned to the cabin (which had not been visited AT ALL during the day by Aubrey…he had given up at this point) and finished packing. We left the luggage outside just before the 11pm cutoff, and crashed.

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Some more last evening photos....

 

 

 

Deck 5 port side

 

 

 

View from our (almost) aft balcony

 

 

 

 

Sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Day 10…It’s almost over

 

 

 

I don’t think we slept too well the night before, and it was a bumpy ride on the Mississippi. I woke up a few times and saw several lights out of the window, so I knew we were almost “home.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon the final wakeup, I saw that we were firmly parked by the bridge, where sadly, I identified the Dream in the early morning hours just a week ago.

 

 

 

 

 

We quickly got ready, headed up to the Lido buffet for a last breakfast, and it was a zoo, as it always is on the last morning.

 

 

 

 

 

I always say this about the debarkation morning of any cruise. Hanging around the ship is kind of a like the morning after a breakup- the magic is gone, and you just want to get away and get on with life after the good times. Everyone’s in a hurry to clean and turn the ship over for the new crowd, announcements are going off every 15 minutes for this group to leave, and you can only access a few parts of the ship. So, even though I didn’t want to the vacation to end, I was ready to leave and focus on the day in New Orleans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We collected our purses from the cabin, bid farewell to that beautiful balcony (or my mom dragged me outside as I was clinging to the railing screaming WHY???) and headed down toward the Lobby deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had about 10 minutes before our group was to be called, so we killed the last few minutes finding our professional pics that we hadn’t yet seen. My phone may have accidentally gone off and captured a few copies….

 

 

 

 

 

Before you yell at me at ripping the photo department off, let it be known that these were taken for documenting purposes only. We didn’t have these printed up anywhere, and we did purchase the ones we actually wanted to keep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as my phone grabbed the last one, our color was called. And with one last walk down the spiral stairs, and one last ping, we were expelled from the Dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And thrust into hell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, to be fair, we walked through a couple of hallways in the port terminal and found our bags before we go to actual hell. The gatekeepers had signs and were yelling out for us to exit through that room into the room on the right, and then go out into the hall where the customs line was.

 

 

 

 

 

The only problem was, the room on the right was full of people claiming THEIR luggage and both rooms trying to condense into a haphazard line that was supposed to merge with the VERY LONG line already in the hall. There was NO entry point for rooms 1 and 2 to join the hallway line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A security guard stood there staring at what had to be 100+ of us trying to get into this line without any intervention. Finally, another guard came up, stared at us, and said “You folks have to go back through the other room and get in line at the end of the hall at the other exit.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

***??!!!??

 

 

 

 

 

Several people started complaining and pointing out the VERY LARGE SIGNS that directed the crowd to THIS particular exit. Others pointed out that they had been waiting in the messy line for over a half an hour already. The guy just shrugged. “Well, if you want to go home, that’s what you have to do,” he retorted,and proceeded TO PULL OUT HIS PHONE and start playing on it. He and the female guard started gossiping, and the crowd turned mutinous, and several people were cussing him out. He didn’t even look up from his phone as he replied that we could either go in the direction we were told, or he would get security “to detain anyone who felt the need to harass a CBP officer.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furiously, my mom , myself, and a few hundred other irritated passengers hauled several stuffed bags,luggage, etc into a room where dozens are were trying to get INTO, since they were, you know, following the signs.

 

 

 

For my own mental health, I think I blanked out the next 45 minutes of trying to navigate the crowd and line. When we finally made it up to the customs agent, he let my mom through quickly, but asked me a few more questions(what was my line of work? Did I like to travel?) before letting me exit.

 

 

 

Outside, it was a cluster as well, since people were getting shuttles, taxis and new passengers were already arriving. Somehow, a taxi driver spotted us quickly and ushered us in, and we were back at the Embassy Suites about 15 minutes later, safe and sound.

 

 

 

Inside ES, there was another crowd of people dropping luggage off and others checking out. I’m going to go ahead and call this hotel as a pre/post cruise hotspot. Don’t get me wrong-I loved the hotel and its amenities, but be prepared for crowds. Consider yourself warned.

 

 

 

We got lucky here again and found a porter to store our bags quickly, and he took down my number for the front desk to call when our room would be ready.

 

 

 

With that, we ventured back out towards the French Quarter.

 

 

 

On our way, we took a detour and took the St Charles streetcar into the Garden District,past Loyola, where I attended for a short time, and got off at the end of the line. We saw a cute little burger place on Carrollton called O’Henry’s that had one of the French awning balconies, so we stopped there for an early lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we took the streetcar back to the Quarter, and walked around, doing a little browsing/souvenir shopping. We definitely were not hungry, and not in need of alcohol in any way shape or form…but somehow we ended up at Pat O’Briens with a noon-ish drink.

 

 

 

 

 

It was when I tried the infamous Hurricane that I realized that Carnival’s drinks MAY have been watered down. I had only a few sips before I was seeing double.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was pretty windy that day, and we watched a few tables actually lose their umbrellas. One came down and bopped a guy on the head(he was fine), which caused a stir from the staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halfway through the drink, I knew that I could NOT finish it, so we got ready to go-but the staff insisted I take it with me. Oh silly me-the drink was so strong that I forgot we were in the mecca of open containers. I only walked down these streets every Friday night as an innocent 18 year old with drink in hand!

 

 

 

 

 

So we continued our exploring, and I continued my drinking. I finally finished it as we headed back to ES around 3, figuring that the room was likely ready, even if they hadn’t called.

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Upon our return, my mom collapsed in the lobby chairs while I went to see about check in. I was greeted with a sweetheart at the front desk who informed me that “if (I) wasn’t called, then the room isn’t ready.”

 

 

 

 

 

I pointed out that it was nearly 4pm at this point, and was met with a blank stare. I returned to the lobby and presented the news to my mom, and was met with an angry stare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not kidding, I JUST sat in a chair when my phone rang, with a chipper guy saying “Hi, this is embassy Suites…your room is ready!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

I clarified with the guy that I had just been banished from the front desk 30 seconds earlier, and he replied that “It may not have been ready then, but it is now.”

 

 

 

 

 

Whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

So I returned to the desk, approached the other woman working, and before I opened my mouth, my friend from 5 minutes ago bolted over. “I told you that your room is NOT ready!”

 

 

 

 

 

I explained to the pair about the call I received. The first agent continued to insist that I was in the wrong, so I hit redial. I got the guy back on the phone, who was starting to get annoyed at my questioning the veracity of his earlier statement. So, I handed my phone to the sweetheart behind the desk, and they squawked at each other for a minute before she handed me my phone and stomped over to the computer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wordlessly, she handed me my keys.

 

 

 

 

 

“What, no water?” I muttered as I walked away. She heard me and sighed loudly.

 

 

 

 

 

“Ma’am, if you REALLY want the water, here,” she snapped, and flung a bag with two bottled waters at me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, have a nice day to you ,too.

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, my mom witnessed this show and decided to seek a porter on her own to retrieve our luggage, so it was ready and waiting by the time I was finished.

 

 

 

 

 

With that, we ventured upstairs-I think we were on the 14th floor this time. We still had a view of the port, so as we got settled, I sadly watched the Dream sound her horn and sailaway with the New Years cruisers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, we were tired and full, and it was getting cooler outside, so other than a quick venture down to the managers reception later-had to take advantage of what we could-we skipped dinner and just relaxed in the room watching TV. I was starting to get a pretty good cold, so between that, post cruise fatigue, and two early morning flights home, we went to bed early.

 

 

 

 

 

Two quick notes for those who have followed since the beginning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember our taxi driver from the first day that offered to drive us back to MSY for our return? He did text me that afternoon, and we confirmed a 5:30 pickup for the next morning. There’s a reason why I mention this….

 

 

 

 

 

Recall that I am a panicky flyer. We were getting word that NOLA was under a hurricane ewatch that evening….

 

 

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[sunbird21]

DAY 11….Now it’s really over

 

 

 

It was a VERY windy and rainy night-being sick and pre-flight anxious didn’t make it a restful night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around 4am I got a text from our taxi driver, asking if we could be ready to go “before 5” since the roads were slick and it was raining hard, so morning came waaayyy too early, even for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither of us were especially cheery as we got ready,and as we watched the hurricane watch turn into a warning, my panic multiplied exponentially. I’m certain I was on my mom’s nerves-well, she actually told me so, LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as we were ready, we headed downstairs,and I called the driver who said he was about 15 minutes away. The lobby was empty and I was able to check out quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stood inside the entrance,waiting for the driver, as I kept frantically calling United and checking the app in hopes that my flight was not seriously going to take off during this storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 minutes came and went, and another driver was perched outside, offering to take us. I declined, stating that we had a ride arranged. He shook his head and stated that we should take what we could get in this rain. I politely declined again, and he drove off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another 10 minutes passed, and that driver returned, sititng in front of the entrance. He asked again if he could take us. Since it was getting later, I told him that I was going to check on the ETA from our original driver.

 

 

 

I placed the call, and he answered. “Hello?”

 

 

 

I greeted him and said that we were downstairs and inquired on his ETA.

 

 

 

“Oh…” he paused. “Well, actually, I forgot what hotel you were at and picked up another couple, so I’m heading to the airport now,” he said.

 

 

 

Stop the clock.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m seeing red.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Are you KIDDING me???” I screamed. “YOU texted me yesterday and this morning to confirm our pickup at the Embassy Suites Convention Center!!! You were reminded TWICE in the last 24 hours!!!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pause. “Well, what can I say? I’m sorry.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not entirely proud of this moment, but remember that I am sick at this point, tired, and very very anxious about flying in a hurricane, plus livid at being woken up earlier because this jack#$^#^ called me asking me to be ready for an earlier pickup.

 

 

 

 

 

I proceeded to call him several names, drop a few F bombs, and promise to annihilate him online with bad reviews. It make have taken me several weeks longer than I anticipated, but here it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hung up on him after unleashing my fury, and looked up to find the other taxi driver laughing hysterically. Wordlessly, he got out and helped us load our luggage into his van and headed for the airport

 

 

 

 

 

“Yeah, I knew that dude was screwin’ you over. I knew he was going to bail, that’s why I headed back, I hate to see such nice ladies stranded on a morning like this when you gotta get to the airport,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was still foaming at the mouth about the driver bailing, but was thankful the other guy was there. I forgot to add, our taxi driver from the day before had also offered to pick us up that morning, but we declined because we had made arrangements with THIS POS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In any case, the current driver was friendly, chatting and trying to reassure me about our flights. When he asked where we were from, and I said NYC, he laughed harder. “I knew it, the way you were going at the dude on the phone..I said to myself, that’s a New Yawka,” he drawled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awww…only two years in, and I’m starting to get the label?? I feel proud J

 

 

 

 

Anyway, we made it to the airport in about 25 minutes,despite the rain, and checked in at our respective airlines( United, me, American, her). I kept frantically watching the Departures board, but no delays announced, although the rain was letting up a little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we passed security, I downed a healthy dose of my anxiety meds-I wasn’t taking ANY chances. However, for those who would like to know, there IS a bar open at 6am in MSY.

 

 

 

 

I guess the weather let up, and as the meds were kicking in and I was in lala land, my flight was boarding, so I bid my mom adieu and got on the plane without protest. Thankfully, it was a smooth flight home( or I finally took the right dose).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon landing at EWR, I managed to contact a Carmel driver who arrived within 10 minutes of my call-very nice to skip the taxi line(which I know can be nearly $100). There was a bit of difficulty with communication once I got in regarding my prepayment on the app.For some reason they couldn’t pull up the reservation, and they couldn’t swipe the car or take the number over the phone. We hassled for a minute before the dispatcher realized that she put the reservation number in wrong…sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I may have finished my Xanax nap in the car, and arrived safely home to 40 degree weather and my cats still breathing.

 

 

 

And that my friends, is the end for now!!!!! Once again, I apologize for the delay in posting these final segments, but if I have restored your good faith, I invite you to come along with me on my next adventure in 56 days!!

 

 

 

Sadly, due to my move, and planning an Alaskan adventure this fall, I had to forgo trying the Vista in Europe. Instead, I will take on the Conquest and the southern Caribbean in a semi solo-semi friend getaway, featuring some return characters from my NCL Breakaway review!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you again to all that have read this and returned to finish it, and any feedback welcome! Keep cruising!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mickev99]

Sorry to hear that your room steward never redeemed himself. But happy to see a review of your last few days. On another note, mitsugirly took a last minute cruise and just started a review on the NCL boards!!

[sunbird21]

Sorry to hear that your room steward never redeemed himself. But happy to see a review of your last few days. On another note, mitsugirly took a last minute cruise and just started a review on the NCL boards!!

 

What?? I thought she was doing the Breeze next!!! (Stacey scampers off to read Thanks for the update!!

 

Hope you enjoy the rest, and all is well with your dad!!!

 

Stacey

[mickev99]

You are so sweet to remember about my dad. He is doing much better, still drinking caffeine and eating badly, but the man seems to be invincible when it comes to that kind of stuff. I just spent a week with my parents in February and heading back in April for spring break with the kiddos. They live on the beach in Florida, so why not?? LOL.

[sunbird21]

Almost forgot.... Here are the Funtkmes for last sea day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pghsteelerfan]

I just finished reading the rest of your review and loved it! I love your style and humor and you had me laughing more than once. I know exactly what you mean about the Pat O'Brien's Hurricanes! We were in New Orleans for a week a while back and spent some time at Pat O'Brien's and we've still got our glasses. I remember following along on your Valor review and sorry that life took some unfortunate turns, so I totally understand. We were on Valor (same itinerary out of San Juan) in May 2013 and just did it again on Liberty last September.

 

I could not believe that taxi driver stood you up and I think I'd have been saying the same things to him...and I've never lived in NY! LOL!!! Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your Dream cruise and I'm looking forward to your next one.

[Bigorange&crimsoncruiser]

Glad you are back, we are just off the Dream .

[sunbird21]

Glad you are back, we are just off the Dream .

 

Yay!! I hope that you enjoyed- I apologize again for not completing in time, but hopefully you were able to pull some info from the review still:

[sunbird21]

I just finished reading the rest of your review and loved it! I love your style and humor and you had me laughing more than once. I know exactly what you mean about the Pat O'Brien's Hurricanes! We were in New Orleans for a week a while back and spent some time at Pat O'Brien's and we've still got our glasses. I remember following along on your Valor review and sorry that life took some unfortunate turns, so I totally understand. We were on Valor (same itinerary out of San Juan) in May 2013 and just did it again on Liberty last September.

 

I could not believe that taxi driver stood you up and I think I'd have been saying the same things to him...and I've never lived in NY! LOL!!! Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your Dream cruise and I'm looking forward to your next one.

 

Thank you!!! Ugh, I know I have to finish the Valor review, I actually have a bit more done but everytime I go back to do it I get sidetracked...and then other cruises happened...I think I am jinxed on the Carnival reviews, b/c I have finished the NCL ones a lot faster ....but I will try to do better with the Conquest review:) I did love that cruise though, and was strongly considering it for next month on the Fascination, but that would've been my third run on that ship, and I have yet to experience the 2.0 upgrades. So, the Conquest won along with the Aruba/Curacao itinerary:)

 

Yes, the taxi driver was a complete joke...he actually text me while I was boarding the plane to tell me that he "still wished me well even though I used horrible language at him for making an honest mistake." Yeah, whatever.

 

Anyhow, I did enjoy your previous reviews as well, and your Valor review was a great help in planning that trip, so a much belated thank you for that!

 

Stacey

[sunbird21]

I'm still around and I have been practicing my patience skills while you've been gone :D

 

I hope life is a little less complicated now and I'm looking forward to the rest of your review :)

 

Thank you, and I hope it was worth your patience!!! ;)

 

Stacey

[sunbird21]

Joining this thread...Love your style of writing

 

Thank you!!!!

[sunbird21]

You are so sweet to remember about my dad. He is doing much better, still drinking caffeine and eating badly, but the man seems to be invincible when it comes to that kind of stuff. I just spent a week with my parents in February and heading back in April for spring break with the kiddos. They live on the beach in Florida, so why not?? LOL.

 

No problem, glad he is doing better!! Medical things tend to stick with me, it's an occupational hazard. CHF is so rampant-just look at the news about Nancy Reagan today. I wish our society did a better job of trying to educate on health prevention.

Stacey

 

Enjoy your extra breaks to Florida, and here's hoping you get another cruise break soon!

[sunbird21]

The first thing I thought was who could sleep on a plane! Not Petrified Penny , strange how cruising settles

me, flying makes me a freak show.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, I don't think it would work for me, either, which would be $10K + down the drain

 

I'm really enjoying your review so far. I hate that you had a bad experience with some things though.

 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

Thank you!!! It wasn't enough to deter me from cruising again, hence my signature LOL. No vacation is 100% great. I do hope that after two poor stateroom stewards that my luck turns around, though, b/c I know how good they CAN be.

[JimAOk1945]

I enjoyed reading your review. A Christmas cruise is a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday. I see your going on the Conquest soon. It's a great ship. We cruised on her twice. I look forward to reading your next review.

[DanishJourney]

Thank you, and I hope it was worth your patience!!! ;)

 

Stacey

 

It sure was! Fantastic review :)

 

Also it took me back to a very hot spring day in 1994 where I was sitting at O'Brian's sipping Hurricanes- they are soooooo good :D