LIVE - Sometimes - Carnival Celebration 6/9 - 6/15

[Host CMLA]

5 hours ago, vswan said:

I was married to a plumber with more than 40 years experience, a master plumbers license and a foreman of many jobs. Neither of us could figure it out and had to ask the room steward how to work the shower on one of our cruises.

 

See.  Not just me.  😉 

[Host CMLA]

4 hours ago, wrcjr98 said:

Tell Zoe that you need your hair appliances to work!!

 

Right?  I hadn't thought of that.  I'm getting Zoe on this tomorrow.  

[Host CMLA]

4 hours ago, pe4all said:

If my hair straightening iron with comb wouldn't work I wouldn't leave the cabin.  Otherwise small children would scream and hide and other people would faint looking at my hair!

 

This is almost the stance I took.  Oddly at 5 this afternoon my flat iron suddenly worked.  I'm not gonna ask why or think about it a moment longer.  It worked.  I was able to do hair for the evening.  I'm taking it as a win.  🙂 

[Host CMLA]

The kid and I decided to grab an early dinner at Bonzai.  No reservation.  Walked up and got a table at 545 pm.  It was really good!  These rolls were the best I've ever had at Bonsai.  I will say that going to many of the specialty restaurants used to feel like a great deal.  The prices were much less than what you'd experience shoreside at a restaurant.  That doesn't feel the same now.  I had two rolls and a small plate and my son had two rolls, soup and edamame and it was over $60.  It felt like a lot for what we got even though it was good.  I know they gotta make money and the economy is tough but it irked me a bit and made me think I probably won't do any other specialty dining this week.  My cruise fare already includes food that I like.  Why spend more?  Pictures attached.

 

After dinner we went to the 7 pm PG comedy show in the Limelight Lounge.  I don't remember the guy's name.  Cee Jay maybe?  It was indeed a clean show with most of the content focusing on kids and how fortunate they are to be cruising and what it was like for him growing up etc.  It was worth the time to go.  Picture of me and my son attached.

 

I went to the casino after that.  Again, I'm no quitter.  I went back to my favorite Checkered Flag Dollar Storm machine and hit myself a $1400 jackpot.  I'll apply it to the account in a day or two to help with the bottom line.  Always carry your photo ID with you if you're a gambler.  If you win a jackpot you need to show it.  

 

The room steward left a dog on the bed.  I left three dogs at home that won't stay off my bed.

 

Lastly, I brought a case of Community Espresso Cream drinks in my luggage.  I can never remember how I can bring things onboard, what I have to show, etc. I brought 16 of these bottles in my luggage and they arrived in the room with my luggage.  I like coffee as soon as I wake up and the walk is entirely too far for me to go get coffee right after I wake up.  This holds me over.  Picture attached.  

 

It's about 1015 pm.  My son and I are talking about going to the Pig & Anchor at 11 PM for the late night snacks.  Oh, I meant to mention this yesterday.  The did show the NBA finals in the Pig & Anchor last night.  My team was out in the first round but I do like Luka and Kyrie and Jayson Tatum does remind me of Jake from State Farm so I'll watch if it's available.  I'll try and remember to watch on Wednesday.  

[lazydayz]

Have you checked out Loft 19 yet?  

[Host CMLA]

22 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

Have you checked out Loft 19 yet?  

That’s our Tuesday plan when everyone else gets off the ship. 

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, Host CMLA said:

The kid and I decided to grab an early dinner at Bonzai.  No reservation.  Walked up and got a table at 545 pm.  It was really good!  These rolls were the best I've ever had at Bonsai.  I will say that going to many of the specialty restaurants used to feel like a great deal.  The prices were much less than what you'd experience shoreside at a restaurant.  That doesn't feel the same now.  I had two rolls and a small plate and my son had two rolls, soup and edamame and it was over $60.  It felt like a lot for what we got even though it was good.  I know they gotta make money and the economy is tough but it irked me a bit and made me think I probably won't do any other specialty dining this week.  My cruise fare already includes food that I like.  Why spend more?  Pictures attached.

 

After dinner we went to the 7 pm PG comedy show in the Limelight Lounge.  I don't remember the guy's name.  Cee Jay maybe?  It was indeed a clean show with most of the content focusing on kids and how fortunate they are to be cruising and what it was like for him growing up etc.  It was worth the time to go.  Picture of me and my son attached.

 

I went to the casino after that.  Again, I'm no quitter.  I went back to my favorite Checkered Flag Dollar Storm machine and hit myself a $1400 jackpot.  I'll apply it to the account in a day or two to help with the bottom line.  Always carry your photo ID with you if you're a gambler.  If you win a jackpot you need to show it.  

 

The room steward left a dog on the bed.  I left three dogs at home that won't stay off my bed.

 

Lastly, I brought a case of Community Espresso Cream drinks in my luggage.  I can never remember how I can bring things onboard, what I have to show, etc. I brought 16 of these bottles in my luggage and they arrived in the room with my luggage.  I like coffee as soon as I wake up and the walk is entirely too far for me to go get coffee right after I wake up.  This holds me over.  Picture attached.  

 

It's about 1015 pm.  My son and I are talking about going to the Pig & Anchor at 11 PM for the late night snacks.  Oh, I meant to mention this yesterday.  The did show the NBA finals in the Pig & Anchor last night.  My team was out in the first round but I do like Luka and Kyrie and Jayson Tatum does remind me of Jake from State Farm so I'll watch if it's available.  I'll try and remember to watch on Wednesday.  

Wait….people actually WIN at casino’s?????😮  When did this start?

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, Host CMLA said:

That’s our Tuesday plan when everyone else gets off the ship. 

Do it.

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, Host CMLA said:

 

This is almost the stance I took.  Oddly at 5 this afternoon my flat iron suddenly worked.  I'm not gonna ask why or think about it a moment longer.  It worked.  I was able to do hair for the evening.  I'm taking it as a win.  🙂 

See, I told you!!!

[Frank12]

15 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I have walked by that many many times and never knew it was interactive.  Huh.🤔

Same!

[Host CMLA]

2 hours ago, Frank12 said:

Same!

 

If you look at the bottom of my photo, there are icons that say different things.  Each of those is something different you can click on and learn about Carnival, their ships, their destinations, the crew, international foods, etc.  You could probably spend hours looking through all of it and then add your own stuff to the map.  It is very cool.  

 

It will also show you in real time where every Carnival ship is that day.  

 

[Host CMLA]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Wait….people actually WIN at casino’s?????😮  When did this start?

 

It's a new activity but it doesn't come cheap!  First you have to give them about 5X the amount that you want to win.  That might be a conservative amount.  You do get a few hours of entertainment chasing that small pittance of return on your money but you're dedicated.  Finally when you do win something barely above the $1200 thresh hold, they make you fill out a tax form so you can pay taxes on your own money that you just gave the machine.  

 

If you're fortunate enough to have a couple of wins throughout the year, that tax bill can add up so then you want to itemize which means keeping track of any money you took from your bank to gamble on dates that coincide with your trip etc.  You have to go on the Carnival website at the beginning of the year and get a win/loss statement for each ship you won something on.  

 

😉 

[LatinaInTexas]

12 hours ago, Host CMLA said:

The kid and I decided to grab an early dinner at Bonzai.  No reservation.  Walked up and got a table at 545 pm.  It was really good!  These rolls were the best I've ever had at Bonsai.  I will say that going to many of the specialty restaurants used to feel like a great deal.  The prices were much less than what you'd experience shoreside at a restaurant.  That doesn't feel the same now.  I had two rolls and a small plate and my son had two rolls, soup and edamame and it was over $60.  It felt like a lot for what we got even though it was good.  I know they gotta make money and the economy is tough but it irked me a bit and made me think I probably won't do any other specialty dining this week.  My cruise fare already includes food that I like.  Why spend more?  Pictures attached.

 

After dinner we went to the 7 pm PG comedy show in the Limelight Lounge.  I don't remember the guy's name.  Cee Jay maybe?  It was indeed a clean show with most of the content focusing on kids and how fortunate they are to be cruising and what it was like for him growing up etc.  It was worth the time to go.  Picture of me and my son attached.

 

I went to the casino after that.  Again, I'm no quitter.  I went back to my favorite Checkered Flag Dollar Storm machine and hit myself a $1400 jackpot.  I'll apply it to the account in a day or two to help with the bottom line.  Always carry your photo ID with you if you're a gambler.  If you win a jackpot you need to show it.  

 

The room steward left a dog on the bed.  I left three dogs at home that won't stay off my bed.

 

Lastly, I brought a case of Community Espresso Cream drinks in my luggage.  I can never remember how I can bring things onboard, what I have to show, etc. I brought 16 of these bottles in my luggage and they arrived in the room with my luggage.  I like coffee as soon as I wake up and the walk is entirely too far for me to go get coffee right after I wake up.  This holds me over.  Picture attached.  

 

It's about 1015 pm.  My son and I are talking about going to the Pig & Anchor at 11 PM for the late night snacks.  Oh, I meant to mention this yesterday.  The did show the NBA finals in the Pig & Anchor last night.  My team was out in the first round but I do like Luka and Kyrie and Jayson Tatum does remind me of Jake from State Farm so I'll watch if it's available.  I'll try and remember to watch on Wednesday.  

Good advice about carrying ID in the casino. Last trip I won a jackpot and when she asked for my ID I realized I had left it in my excursion bag from earlier. 

She said she would wait while I ran to get it. I got flustered and turned about and ended up all the way to the other end of the ship before I realized my mistake and had to backtrack all the way to the other end and then all the way back to the casino.

 

[Knights on the Beach]

 

5 minutes ago, Host CMLA said:

 

It's a new activity but it doesn't come cheap!  First you have to give them about 5X the amount that you want to win.  That might be a conservative amount.  You do get a few hours of entertainment chasing that small pittance of return on your money but you're dedicated.  Finally when you do win something barely above the $1200 thresh hold, they make you fill out a tax form so you can pay taxes on your own money that you just gave the machine.  

 

If you're fortunate enough to have a couple of wins throughout the year, that tax bill can add up so then you want to itemize which means keeping track of any money you took from your bank to gamble on dates that coincide with your trip etc.  You have to go on the Carnival website at the beginning of the year and get a win/loss statement for each ship you won something on.  

 

😉

 

Thank you for putting this into perspective! I think we'll just continue paying much higher non-casino rates so we know exactly what the real cost is for our cruises. 🤑 😂

[Host CMLA]

9 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Good advice about carrying ID in the casino. Last trip I won a jackpot and when she asked for my ID I realized I had left it in my excursion bag from earlier. 

She said she would wait while I ran to get it. I got flustered and turned about and ended up all the way to the other end of the ship before I realized my mistake and had to backtrack all the way to the other end and then all the way back to the casino.

 

 

Ack!  For me the guy gave me the slip and told me I could go anytime before the end of my cruise to the casino cashier to get the cash.  I would not want to be running back to my room which is why I usually carry my ID.  Good advice to remember.  

[Host CMLA]

We did decide to go to the Pig & Anchor last night for late night snacks.  A lot of people had that same idea.  They were showing game two of the Stanley Cup finals in the Heroes bar area so there was loudness coming from that. There was a band playing in another corner.  Loudness coming from that.  Let's all agree that it was a loud area.  We grabbed a hot dog and coleslaw then came back to the room.  I imagine that part of the ship would be great to hang out with friends and other sports fans.  I'm planning to go for game 3 of the NBA finals tomorrow.  That's a tentative plan.  A lot can happen between now and then.  

 

Grand Turk today.  I had every intention of getting up at 930 and making it to breakfast at the buffet.  Best laid plans.  I hit snooze til 1020 am then didn't muster up the motivation to leave the room.  It was 1120 am before my son and I left the room.  Would it surprise you to know that the only place open for food between 11 and Noon today was Big Chicken, Swirls and Miami Slice for pizza.  That waws ok for us but if you were looking for food between 11 and noon, Big Chicken, ice cream and pizza were your choices.  I grabbed the chicken strips with fries.  I gave the fries another try as many recommended and I'm not getting it.  I don't care for them that much.  They're dry and they weren't fresh.  I'll go back for the strips and get the fries by default and maybe they'll be better but I've been twice and the fries weren't good.  Also, for the second time I asked if they had dark meat, which the menu advertises, and again I was told it would be 20 minutes.  At some point the menu that's advertised should be what's available.  I shouldn't have to go at a busier time when everything is moving fast.  I should be able to get the menu items listed.  

 

For dessert we hit the gelato stand for tiramisu.  It was OK.  Not a strong flavor but OK.  After lunch it was Loft 19 time.  It was empty except for 3 or 4 other people.  I sat in the hot tub and had a few drinks.  My son joined me for a while.  Someone brought around ice cold washcloths every so often. There was someone bringing around frozen fruit and popsicles.  Nice touches.   We came back to the room around 230.  I used the time to get ready for the day.  My son went to Club O2 for a sand art activity.  He had fun and there were about 12 other kids there.  My son is anxious about being around strangers.  I'm not going to be political with this.  I'm just saying that when they sent kids home in 2020, it affected kids at different ages in different ways.  My son was 12 and just started middle school where kids learn so much about social cues and building relationships with peers and exercising independence that they didn't have in elementary school. We have a whole group of kids 15 to 17 that never had those socialization years and some kids didn't do great with it.  Unfortunately my son didn't do well.  For him to go to the club and participate in something with strangers is a big deal for him.  At home he only does stuff with his set group of friends that he's comfortable with.  I'm proud of him for getting out of his comfort zone.  

 

As I said, I got ready for the day and my flat iron worked when I wanted to use it.  One of my other hair appliances still doesn't work and that's OK.  It's not the main thing I use.  I can live with it.  It seems to be a complete time of day issue when power might not have as much demand as it did yesterday morning.  I'm attaching a picture of frizzy curly hair to show the situation I'm working with and how critical the flat iron is.  IYKYK

 

At 4 PM I was going to go to the Military Gathering in the Grand Spectrum but I didn't get myself together in time.  I'm a veteran of the United States Navy and I'm a Gulf War veteran.  If there's another gathering later in the week, I'll try to make it.  

 

The last photo I've included is the door handle of the pocket doors in the Excel corner forward suite.  I'm not sure where else you would encounter this type of door handle.  Ladies, this is not manicure friendly.  If you have nails, you need to carefully twist this thing to open these doors.  Thankfully I haven't broken a nail yet but when I do, I will curse this door handle.  

 

We're having ChiBang at 545 then hitting the Family Feud show at 745 PM.  That's the most planning I can stand right now.  😉  My crochet stuff has not left the bag yet.  

[vswan]

For someone with stick straight hair with hardly any body, I would be happy to have those wonderful natural curls. I can curl mine, even using product, and within an hour it's stick straight again.

[lazydayz]

3 minutes ago, vswan said:

For someone with stick straight hair with hardly any body, I would be happy to have those wonderful natural curls. I can curl mine, even using product, and within an hour it's stick straight again.

 

Agreed.  I love her hair! 

[Host CMLA]

6 hours ago, vswan said:

For someone with stick straight hair with hardly any body, I would be happy to have those wonderful natural curls. I can curl mine, even using product, and within an hour it's stick straight again.

 

6 hours ago, lazydayz said:

 

Agreed.  I love her hair! 

 

Aww you're nice.  Isn't that how it always goes?  You want what you don't have.  This curly hair has been a frizzy mess my whole life.  

[Host CMLA]

ChiBang for dinner.  First of all, this is a high demand restaurant.  High high demand.  They open at 530 and there were a good 100 people in line with a table requested through the app.  It's a big place and everyone waiting was seated within about 15 minutes.  I don't know if this is how it is for every stateroom or we got a perk for the suite we have or because my son and I are both Platinum but for us our first visit to ChiBang is complimentary and any other visits are $8.  For the $8 you get an appetizer, main, side and dessert.  Because apparently I'm high maintenance I ordered something not included in the free or the $8 category.  I wanted the lobster.  My dinner was pork belly appetizer, lobster main, hakkah noodle side and brownie thing with some kind of ice cream on the side for dessert.    The pork belly, excellent.  Noodles great.  Lobster...holy spicy Batman.  It was way way too spicy for me.  I told the wait person that I don't do spicy and he said it's not really spicy so I went with it.  His idea of spicy and mine are different.  They remade it with zero spice and it was pretty outstanding.  The lobster dish was $23.  For dessert was the chocolate brownie thing or whatever it was called.  I don't remember the name because it was completely forgettable.  I should have read the other options. It was at best elementary school cafeteria quality.  Big thumbs down and I don't usually rag on something if I don't like it.  This, though, not good at all.  That's me.  Your mileage may vary.  

 

After dinner the Grand Spectrum was opening for the first Family Feud show.  For the love of Pete...why do some people send one person to save 8 seats?  I find it kind of rude.  You save one seat, ok.  Two, alright, let's not be greedy but OK.  Three is getting into obnoxious territory where those that showed up 30 minutes ahead of the show for the good seat can't have it because one person saved 8 seats for the rest of their party that saunters in 2 minutes before the show starts.  Again, that's how I feel about it.  I don't make the rules so you do you.  I'll do me.  I still think it's not good vacation form.  

 

We enjoyed the show.  Good clean fun.  Lots of audience encouragement.  We enjoyed it so much that we went to the second show a bit later with two new families.  Another great show.  

 

After the show I went to the casino to test my luck again.  I was successful.  I got myself another handpay.  Let's not talk about the money it took to get to the handpay.  I have almost 9000 points on my card.  I don't actually know how much money I have to gamble to get 1 point.  At a land casino I go to I have to bet $5 to get one point in the loyalty club.  It seems like much less on the ship.  Maybe $2 for a point?  Heck, it could be $1 for a point.  Whatever it is, I'm on track for the level of play I usually do so the casino offers should keep coming.  

 

I was back in the room by midnight feeling something I can't recall ever feeling on a cruise. I'm hungry.  What?  Yes.  Hungry.  There isn't much available right now or I'm not willing to walk to wherever there is food so I'll wait til tomorrow.  Amber Cove tomorrow.  No plans.  My son wants to try one of the pools at the back of the ship that's an infinity pool.  Speaking of pools, one of the wait staff told me that all the pools are fresh water.  Who knew?  

[jimbo5544]

19 hours ago, Host CMLA said:

 

It's a new activity but it doesn't come cheap!  First you have to give them about 5X the amount that you want to win.  That might be a conservative amount.  You do get a few hours of entertainment chasing that small pittance of return on your money but you're dedicated.  Finally when you do win something barely above the $1200 thresh hold, they make you fill out a tax form so you can pay taxes on your own money that you just gave the machine.  

 

If you're fortunate enough to have a couple of wins throughout the year, that tax bill can add up so then you want to itemize which means keeping track of any money you took from your bank to gamble on dates that coincide with your trip etc.  You have to go on the Carnival website at the beginning of the year and get a win/loss statement for each ship you won something on.  

 

😉

Sounds like fun….

[KarmaCruisers]

That Singapore Chili Lobster is the best dish I’ve had on ANY cruise ship..it was GOOOOD! (And not spicy at all! But then again my California spice tolerance is probably much higher than a Midwest spice tolerance)

[Host CMLA]

3 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

That Singapore Chili Lobster is the best dish I’ve had on ANY cruise ship..it was GOOOOD! (And not spicy at all! But then again my California spice tolerance is probably much higher than a Midwest spice tolerance)

 

I'm a Louisiana girl originally.  Way way down south but I do not have the tolerance for spicy anything.  I find Taco Bell mild sauce to be spicy.  My mouth was on fire after one bite of that lobster.  Holy cow!  When it was remade with no spice then it was perfect for me.  Definitely one of the top dishes I've ever had too.  You people with your spicy tolerance levels rubbing it in to us lightweights. 😉 

[Host CMLA]

This was quite possibly the least productive day of my life including the time when I was an infant and I did nothing.  I went to bed last night at about 2 AM and set my alarm for 830.  That's a good amount of sleep for me.  The ship had a different idea.  At about 630ish we were arriving to Amber Cove and we back up into the space which meant about 15 minutes of reverse thruster things and the entire ship shuddered like an earthquake.  The higher up you are, worse it is.  It startled me awake.  I was up!  I spent the next 4 hours checking emails, looking at Pinterest, drinking ice coffee, filing my nails, etc.  I did manage to get dressed and head down to the buffet at 1030 to have some Frosted Flakes which is a rare treat for me that I only do on cruises.  

 

Back to the room at about 1115.  Lounging on the bed.  Streaming murder shows while looking out the balcony doors at the water.  By 115 PM it was naptime.  Set the alarm and got a solid hour of sleep.  Now it's after 2 pm.  All I've done is have a meal.  I feel like I should be ashamed of how I spent the day, wasting an entire vacation day, but I did what I wanted to do and it felt great.

 

I took a shower and got ready.  My hair flat iron worked perfect.  Again, I'm not questioning it.  It worked.  We made a reservation with Zoe for Cucina, the Italian place, for 6 PM.  Zoe must be the gatekeeper for good things.  Every reservation she's made for us has gotten us the best view of the water.  She has pull.  

 

For dinner I had the Fritto something.  Fritto Misto?  It was calamari, shrimp, veggies fried with a sauce.  I got the spaghetti carbonara and for dessert the frozen lemon torte.  It was all very good.  Zoe stopped by to visit as we were having dessert.  I was so blown away by the lemon dessert.  Zoe had them bring another one for me.  It is a very small dessert so I didn't feel bad.  While at dinner I got a notification on the Hub app that we could register when we wanted to disembark.  We always self disembark taking all of our luggage with us.  Being Platinum that usually puts us some of the first to leave the ship.   I chose the 750 to 810 am slot which is the first time available.  We have a flight out of Miami at 11 AM.  I probably could choose a later time but on debarkation day, especially with a flight before noon, I'd rather be off the ship with all our stuff and at the airport with time to spare rather than being later.  

 

Y'all I am terrible about remembering the names of things.  We went to the show that was something about age difference.  They choose 4 teams of 2, one older person and one kid.  This was all moms and dads and their kids.  It's set up like the marriage game on TV used to be.  they first ask the kids a question and the parent has to guess their answer.  Then they ask the parents questions and the kids have to guess the answer.  As a rule I don't usually enjoy the shows with kid volunteers but for the first time I could not stand the cast member facilitating the show.  I don't know her name but nails on a chalkboard would have been a welcome change.  I had to leave.  I couldn't take it.  

 

I hit the casino.  It's no secret, that's my usual cruise activity.  It's how I like to spend my time and I'm lucky.  A lot of the time I'm lucky.  I spent about 3 hours in the casino.  I have over 12000 points on my card.  While I was playing Jayvee came by and said he'd like to treat me and my son to dinner at Rudi's Seagrill with a bottle of wine if I wanted it and he also gave me a $50 voucher to use at the Seafood Shack.  Nice perks if you're a gambler.  I did have another hand pay for just over $1500 on a Bull Blitz machine.  That was fun.  

 

We hit up the late night snacks at Pig & Anchor.  I'm not sure if it's usually a mad house in this area of the ship but the two times we've been, there have been sporting events in progress or finishing up and all the tables were full of plates and glasses.  We couldn't get a clean space in the whole area and people are messy.  I don't know how they live at home but on this ship, they leave everything a mess.  

 

Sea day tomorrow.  Maybe I'll be more productive.  Maybe not.  I'm OK if I'm not.  I do want to go to Pixels and buy one digital photo.  I tried buying it on the Hub but you have to go to Pixels for digital downloads.  We also need to pick up our Platinum loyalty gift and ship pin.  I may run through the shops and see if there's anything I can't live without.  I do have a weakness for perfume.  

 

That's it for today y'all.  Paint drying is probably more exciting than my day.  😉 

[jimbo5544]

On 6/11/2024 at 10:45 AM, LatinaInTexas said:

Good advice about carrying ID in the casino. Last trip I won a jackpot and when she asked for my ID I realized I had left it in my excursion bag from earlier. 

She said she would wait while I ran to get it. I got flustered and turned about and ended up all the way to the other end of the ship before I realized my mistake and had to backtrack all the way to the other end and then all the way back to the casino.

 

Never have had that problem….the needing of an ID for winnings.