15 of our 20 years together on Carnival! Ecstasy 2001.

[clhayes]

It's been an amazing journey, both my partnership and our Carnival Cruises. I'm from Long Beach, CA and my partner Gary is from Brainerd, MN. We met in 1996 while he was serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. We now reside in Dallas, TX.

 

I found myself out in the Man Cave today with nothing to do, so I picked up the iPad and glanced at CC, as I often do. I read through several posts, reviews, complaints, questions, answers, etc. and looked up. You see, our man cave is where we house all of our Carnival memorabilia. As I looked closer at the items and pictures, I was flooded with wonderful memories of laughter, people, family (now & gone), smiling faces...does anyone else have a photographic memory like I do? LOL

 

I thought to myself that it might be cool to share with you. As you can see, I reply a lot on CC, but have rarely started a new topic. So what did I want share? Simply and especially to those new to Carnival, I have experienced the good and the bad, but the great memories is what keeps us coming back. Those memories, we created. Not for one moment do I look back at the long line that it took to get into the terminal or on the ship, I was a blue card too at one time! My food was cold, or just yuck that night, my stateroom wasn't ready, my bed wasn't put together as requested, smoking sections, etc. Nope. When I get home and acclimate back into reality, in which the depression sets in…I think about what a great time I had, the people we met, and the fun we will have on our next Carnival Cruise. Just thought I'd share some of our collection, hope it brings back some fun memories for you! Sailing April 16 2016 Conquest!

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Safe travels, happy sailing, great memories!

 

Christopher & Gary

[LaCal]

Thanks for sharing....and your right it's all about the fun, good times, new friends, places and memories we have made that make cruising so much fun......I read all the complaints on these boards and most times wonder if I was even on the same cruise as some lol. Thanks Again

[clhayes]

Thanks for sharing....and your right it's all about the fun, good times, new friends, places and memories we have made that make cruising so much fun......I read all the complaints on these boards and most times wonder if I was even on the same cruise as some lol. Thanks Again

 

 

LaCal - glad you liked it! Carnival has truly been a great choice! Have a great rest of the weekend.

[CJHAN]

This is an awesome post thanks for sharing.

[maxwell'sparents]

Great post! We're right there with you. Here is a photo of the "art" in our living room aka photo collages made up of pictures from each of our cruises.

[clhayes]

Great post! We're right there with you. Here is a photo of the "art" in our living room aka photo collages made up of pictures from each of our cruises.

 

 

Oh WOW! What an excellent idea!

[clhayes]

This is an awesome post thanks for sharing.

 

 

Cjhan- Thanks!

[Club Disney Chandler]

Thanks for the post, it made my night! My wife has been putting a scrapbook page together for each of our family trips since our kids were 3&4, they're almost 15&16 now. It's great to be able to go into our guest room and reminisce whenever we need a little pick me up. Here's a pic of a couple walls, btw me may have a Disney addiction., most of the pics are from Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line. Our page from our first Carnival, (Vista), cruise will go up this June! I can hardly wait.

[clhayes]

Our page from our first Carnival, (Vista), cruise will go up this June! I can hardly wait.

[ATTACH]376782[/ATTACH]

 

 

ClubDisneyChandler - Congrats on your first Carnival cruise and on the new Vista! Hope you come back and write a review. I've looked at the ship details and it looks amazing!

Edited February 16, 2016 by clhayes

[pghsteelerfan]

Your post is EXACTLY how we feel. Every vacation, cruise or land, will have it's "bumps in the road", but those are minor and we don't let them make or break our trip. I had to laugh at your comment about the line to get in the terminal/on the ship. On our most recent cruise on Liberty (southern Caribbean out of San Juan) this past September, we were through the line for check-in in no time, but that was one of those days that boarding was delayed. We pulled up seats on the floor in front of security with some others we'd gotten to "know" through our "social media" roll call. We were there for an hour and a half before we could start boarding. Were we upset about it? Not one bit! We were having fun and the anticipation of getting on Liberty and going on a cruise on my favorite itinerary was really building like a little kid on Christmas Eve.

 

We have enjoyed every one of our cruises and looking forward to the next time we cruise again and even though we have none currently scheduled, there will be more. I enjoyed your pictures of your cruise memorabilia. We collect the same memorabilia and I'd love, love, love to have a "cruise display room" if we ever finish off our basement. I love your idea of keeping them organized by cruise. Thanks for an enjoyable post and for sharing your pictures.

Edited February 16, 2016 by pghsteelerfan
Grammar...oops!!!

[GalFitness19]

This is when I wish there was a "like" button on CC! [emoji106]🏼