An Englishman's Honeymoon Cruise - Carnival Fascination Review

[pr1vatepiles]

None of the photos are working for me....

 

Hopefully they are working now. Set the album to public, please let me know though :) .

[pr1vatepiles]

So as I write, I'm again sat on the balcony overlooking the sea. Going to miss this view after today. Had an awesome amount of rain mid way into the night. I wanted to run out into it, but I was so comfy in bed and wasn't sure where I had put my pjs. Not sure the guests would have appreciated a mad Englishman running naked into the night :D .

 

For the moment though, I must pause this review. We were out on the catamaran tour yesterday and took a lot of photos and videos. Whilst I can easily get the pics up, I also want to get the videos in as well to do you all justice. As this is also our last day before boarding the ship, I doubt I will have regular WIFI access to get everything uploaded.

 

I will continue to write each day, however you will all have to wait until next week to read. Thanks for everyone's kind comments so far and please stick with me until I can upload everything in it's fully glory.

 

Just watching the ship approach Barbados on the tracking websites. To anyone on here who will on the ship as well, please say hello if you recognize me. Shouldn't be hard as the Yorkshire accent I have will be quite unique on the ship.

 

See you later!

 

Joe and Kitty x

[jbhcw]

Really enjoying your review...and will wait for the next installment...enjoy your cruise:)

[Morning glory]

Enjoy!! Looking forward to your return

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ABQrobin]

Photos working now...yeah!

[bellaa]

I'm on your cruise!

 

 

Make sure you join the roll call!

[sydney dog]

Can you tell me what time and which bar is open in the am...i like my bloody Mary's in the morning. We will be on her in September. Thanks!

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

[BettyPC]

Fun! Looking forward to reading about your further adventures!

[jimbri]

Great photos. Looking forward to rest of your review.

[pr1vatepiles]

Wow, hard to believe it's been a week now since we got home. Even harder to believe the amount of stuff that builds up whilst your out of the country. Apologies for taking so long to get back on here, life gets in the way. Photo's and videos are uploading as we speak, so prepare yourselves :D

[pr1vatepiles]

Tuesday 13thJune – Barbados Day 3 – A.K.A The Day Joe Trips Over The Ocean

 

 

Awoke at a slightly later time this morning. Well 06:00, but going in right direction with the time change at least. We woke to found water had been restored and DW wasted no time in getting in the shower. Little did we know then that this would be last time we would have running water (more on this later).

We ate again in Rachel’s, enjoying a full breakfast. Again, spoilt for choice and neither of us went hungry. We returned to the room to collect our bags and heading to reception for the mini bus that would take us to the dock. It was only 08:30 and it was already getting hot. Thank god that mini bus had strong working AC so no one suffered. Along the way our driver gave us information on the local sites as we drove by.

 

 

We had booked this catamaran trip through Virgin and it is ran by Tsunmi. They are based out on the dock, not far from where Carnival makes dock. We had read good things about this trip and were excited to get on-board. Our driver dropped us at the gift shop/check in point. We settled our outstanding balance. In return, we both received a free t-shirt and a 10% off voucher to spend in the shop when we got back. We headed onto the dock to where we found three catamarans docked and waiting for us. We climbed across to the one furthers away and were soon heading out up the coast. At this point we soon learnt we would be only a small group today. Whilst they normally carry around 50, our party was only 19. Excellent I thought, didn’t fancy a large crowd drinking all the rum punch before me!

 

 

After a thirty minute trip up the coast we drop anchor for our first stop with the turtles. One of the crew would head into the water first to lure the turtles over. Well it worked, and soon joined by a turtle.The food was also bringing the fishes to us. Never swim with so many fish before and enjoyed it thoroughly. After we all had our fill it was back on-board and we headed off to a reef. Here one of the crew took us out, giving us information on the various life that lives in these waters. I found it very informative. At this point we returned to the boat for lunch. The fish and chicken were well prepared and very tasty. Once we had all finished and given our stomachs time to rest, we were able to swim ashore to the beach. After a couple of brilliant dive bombs from the ship, me and DW made the short swim to shore. It was a lovely beach and good to see more of Barbados. It was at this point whilst posing for a picture I somehow tripped over the beach and fell backwards. There was an awesome picture but DW seems to have lost it (thankfully). Time seem to fly by and we were soon recalled back on-board for the return to port.

 

 

Now I must say how brilliant all the crew were. From the moment, we stepped on board they had us laughing. They provided us with lots of information as we traveled long and kept us laughing the entire time. The on-board bar had a good selection and the crew were always checking if there was anything we needed. Couldn’t thank them enough and would thoroughly recommend this trip to anyone. When back on land, we bought a couple of gifts before heading into the waiting minibus outside.

 

 

As we were both pretty worn out from the swimming we headed straight to the room. Sadly, they were in the middle of cleaning, so were“forced” to spend some time in the bar, not that I complained much.Once we made it back to the room, we enjoyed some relaxation time watching episodes of the Simpsons on my surface. We had made reservation for Rachel’s for dinner so had a few hours to spare until the reservations at 20:30. Now we get back to the water issue. Around 18:00 when I dragged myself off the sofa, I quickly learnt all the water was out, again. I rang reception who explained whilst the pipe had been repaired, pressure still wasn’t what is should be and some rooms were out. We were offered use of the hospitality suite that was apparently still working. No matter we thought, and off we headed up to reception for the keys. On the way up to reception, we noticed a lot of people coming back down all loaded with towels. Seemed late for such a large party to be returning. Very curious I thought as we entered reception. We soon learnt the reason why. Hotel now had no rooms with running water and they were ferrying people to a nearby hotel which did have working showers. I saw a lot of very upset people, with one chap saying he would be back tomorrow to look at options for getting transferred to a new hotel. Part of me feels bad for the staff, it’s an issue out of their hands, but one they are paying for. The other hotel was only 15 minutes away and it was good to get a proper wash. We made it back in plenty of time for our dinner reservations. DW had a veggie burger for her main and me the rack of lamb. Everything was perfect and we had no issues with the food at all. We returned to the room to pack our belongings. It’s amazing how quickly our things had moved in three days.

 

And so, ends our time in Barbados, tomorrow we finally head for the ship!

 

 

(lovely fountain near reception of the hotel, should have had a wash in this ha ha)

 

 

(first of several hundred pictures of the two of us DW tells me where needed. Excuse the shades, without them I squint a lot and look like a massive idiot in the sun)

 

 

(Kitty posing with the welcome aboard drink, mimosa I think it was)

 

 

(First of many that day, sporting yellow shorts today)

 

 

(eager to get underway)

 

 

(and off we go!)

Edited June 29, 2017 by pr1vatepiles

[pr1vatepiles]

(tankers waiting for their spot in dock maybe?)

 

(main sail goes up as we leave the marina and we head along the coast)

 

(nice and calm)

 

(turtle!)

 

(tried doing this style shot all holiday, with mixed results)

 

(sorry can't remember names of the fish)

Edited June 29, 2017 by pr1vatepiles

[pr1vatepiles]

(more fish)

 

(never swam with this many fish, very friendly, though that was probably the food being dropped for them)

 

 

(gave up on the snorkel and made do with my own googles)

 

(made a friend)

 

(enjoying the lovely water)

[pr1vatepiles]

(from the second stop with the beach)

 

(plenty of company)

 

(could have stayed here all day)

 

(dove down as deep as I could to snap pics)

 

(deepest I've ever swam in)

 

(certainly miss this place now, sat on sofa in a very rainy England)

[pr1vatepiles]

(chilling)

 

(bring me more drink)

 

(after I'd fallen over)

 

(free top!)

 

(beach at hotel)

 

[pr1vatepiles]

(DW food)

 

(mine!)

 

Still working on the video's from this day, the program that came with the camera isn't the most intuitive. More in a day or so, back at work tomorrow :(

[jbhcw]

Great review and wonderful pictures:)

[watermelonqueen99]

Loving your review!

[whengingersnaps]

We are going on this cruise, but out of Puerto Rico, the first week of November to celebrate my 60th birthday! Can't wait to read the wrest of your review!