Trip Report, Carnival Spirit 1/18/06

[FeliciaLee]

Well, we're back from another fantastic cruise. This one was probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite cruise ever. There were some little things that made it special. I'll get to them later.

 

On this cruise there was a large group of Japanese people. Like they flew in especially for the cruise. One of them was a Japanese Elvis. He was one table over from us at dinner, so we had to hold back laughter every night, as he dressed like Elvis for seemingly no occasion whatsoever.

 

 

The Japanese group somehow got the idea that Gary was a celebrity. I guess they figured anyone that big, in California, must be in the movies or something. Poor Gary had to have a billion pictures taken with these people. They all wanted his photo. One of the waiters said: "Gary is going to be on every refrigerator in Japan!"

 

They would stand up on chairs, have Gary get down on his knees, etc, all in the attempt to show that he was taller than them even with those advantages.

 

On this cruise, we were upgraded to a huge cabin. It was the largest cabin we've ever had, extra long, and could hold a full-sized couch. We had so much extra room. We had balcony doors, but they didn't lead to a balcony. Instead, they just looked out upon the tenders. I loved the cabin. I would take this class of cabin any day!

 

Since Glenn's 40th birthday is coming up (Feb 6th), I had Gary go buy all of those doom and gloom milestone birthday favors. We don't have a party store in Kingman, but Gary found one right in his town in Calilfornia. While Glenn was walking around Acapulco, Gary did the hand-off, and I hastily decorated the entire cabin. I even blew up some of those black "40" balloons.

 

Glenn entered the cabin a couple of hours later. At first he thought he was in the wrong cabin, and backed out! Then he looked at the cabin number again, came back in and started going, "Ooooh, oh, oh!" He thought it was a fun, little gag, and went around reading all of the signs. We even packed them up to take them home, so that I can hang them up here and hold it over his head that he is 40 for the next year or so! Poor Glenn.

 

On this cruise, Tanya and Jordan went with us. I thought Tanya would never commit. In the end, though, she came. Of course, we barely saw them throughout the entire cruise. They decided to try the supper club one night, and were never seen again. Yes, they loved the supper club that much, and especially the singer up there, who kept them entertained.

On the first day of the cruise, I saw a familiar face. Unfortunately, this segues into an illustration of just how bad my memory has gotten due to chemo brain and anemia. I doubted my own mind, and brushed the familiarity away. I figured I'd point him out to Glenn later and make sure I wasn't seeing things before I approached him. So the next day, I saw the face at breakfast and asked Glenn if he was who I thought he was.

 

Unfortunately, Glenn thought I was saying "Tanya," and said no. Towards the end of the cruise, I could no longer hold myself back. I'm not shy in the least, so I have no idea why I was so hesitant to trust my memory in the first place. I just went up to him and said, "Hi! Tomer, right?" Or something like that. Of course he was Tomer. And I vaguely remember playing Stud at Bellagio with his wife, too, although I didn't know they were married at the time.

 

Tomer said I looked much different since I'd let my hair grow out. He said he didn't even recognize me at first, so used to seeing me with a military cut. For the rest of the few remaining days of the cruise, we had a few encounters. Turns out he and his wife love cruising. Who would have thought?

 

And that brings me to the one, real poker experience I had on the cruise. Longtime readers might remember that the Spirit installed Poker Pro machines on our last cruise (12/9/06). Well, we played a couple of times, but like I said back then, the machines are boring, and get old fast.

 

Carnival Spirit has arts & crafts instructors on the Spirit. Not the cheesy paper crafts that the crew does, but real projects, made out of decent materials. So I did those every day. Tanya came with me once, but cannot concentrate on something for long, so never came again. Glenn, Gary and Jordan completely refused, although there were tons of men there.

 

One of the things we loved about our last Spirit cruise was our server Marina. We were so crazy about her, that is why we wanted to come back. And we wanted to have her as our server. But unfortunately, she was in charge of a large group of Japanese tourists, who had their own menus and everything. Since she is such a strong, lead server, they put her in charge of this group, knowing she could pull it off, even though she doesn't speak Japanese. So we were stuck about three tables away. This didn't deter us from chatting with Marina every chance we got, and she even helped me with a high iron diet.

 

I forgot all about asking the Maitre'd for pate every night. Finally we straightened it out, and they took my spreadsheet of high iron foods, and prepared a special meal for me every night (they had no pate onboard). I was just astounded. I never ask crew to go that far out for me! I figure they work hard enough as it is. I made sure to tip them, as Maitre'd's are exempt of the tips that Carnival takes out on the credit card, and I wanted to make sure Marina got something extra from me, too.

 

Oh, and I am scheduled on the Spirit twice more this month. Glenn is going to go to NC to help take care of his bed bound mother for a week. She had surgery on her foot a couple of months ago, but botched it by trying to do too much. So they had to operate again. This time she is forced to be completely bed bound. So Glenn, his sister and some of their friends are taking turns taking care of her. He is going out on the 10th, so I just decided to cruise by myself on the 11th. Then on the 19th all of us (Glenn, Gary and me) are going together. So I can just stay on the ship. I know that the crew will take care of me, and I feel completely safe on the Spirit, since I know so many people. I have already e-mailed Marina to let her know I'm coming. Carnival was even able to assign me to the same cabin for both cruises, so that I don't have to pack back up, then move and unpack again. And the rates I got were just outstanding. For both Glenn and me, we only paid $500 to Carnival (of course we had to pay the port charges, taxes and fees, but still). This is an 8-night cruise!!! The cruise of the 11th was almost sold out, so I had to pay more. Plus the premium for solo cruising. I paid a little over $400 to Carnival, the rest in fees. Still outstanding, imo.

 

Yes, I danced some with the crew this time. So much for the doctor saying I wouldn't survive the cruise, huh? And that I was DYING, blah, blah, blah. Bunch o' quacks!

 

So until the next installment, here ya go, and I hope you enjoyed!

[FeliciaLee]

The first time Glenn, Gary and I travelled on the Spirit, I wasn't crazy about it. Since then they have revamped their service department, put in all new beds and have new menus.

 

Although I didn't have fun the first time we went, there was one gorgeous assistant Maitre'd named Boris, from Croatia, who had a good sense of humor and carried himself so well. I kept telling everyone he was my boyfriend. Gary used to kid him about being "tiny." Boris is 6'4" and built very well. But next to Gary he is still smaller. Sometimes Gary would pick him up or push into him. Boris was obviously not used to this, always being the biggest guy onboard. But since Boris has such a great personality, he just rolled with it. Sort of like he just rolled with me always calling him my boyfriend.

 

Finally, on this last cruise, I finally got a pic of him. I also got to meet his girlfriend, who is from Poland and working in the supper club.

 

 

Gary says I'm not in her league. Really? Never would have guessed that one, myself ;)

 

Trisna was our co-server, and very friendly. She made me dance every night, and loved Gary. Towards the end of the cruise Gary picked her up and we took a pic.

 

 

Although we didn't see much of Tanya and Jordan once they decided they preferred the supper club, they still came down and sat with us almost every night. They don't prefer to eat early, so they would just sit and chat with us for an hour or so, nibbling on some bread and maybe salad.

 

We had such a great time. I wish I had a million more pics, but I'm just not a picture taker.

 

If you have any questions about the Spirit or the back-to-back process that I'm about to take on the 11th, please feel free to post in this thread.

 

Bon Voyage,

 

Felicia :)

 

[caribbean dreams]

WOW! that was probably one of the best written reviews that i have ever read.

I am glad you had a great time.

My DH is also BIG, when he was in China is got alot of attention, being so much larger that the oriental people.

We live in California and have never been on a Mexico cruise, we always like the iteneraries better on the east coast, we may have to try this someday, it sure would save quite a bit on airfare.

 

Thanks for the great post.

[NeptunesGoddess]

Enjoyed your writing and the pictures very much. It looks like you had a great time. I would be very interested in hearing about your back to back and that whole process. Thanks for sharing!

[FeliciaLee]

Aw, thanks.

 

You are really missing out! There are some great cruises out of Long Beach and San Diego. Not only that, but Amtrak is so easy! At most of the stations, you can park your car, safely and free, for the duration of the cruise (this saves on parking at the pier).

 

Part of my excitement, building up to the cruise, is my train trip just prior. The train rolls into the station right in front of the cruise ships, and I walk to the pier as the ship gets bigger and bigger in my sights, matching my excitement for the upcoming cruise. It is a great experience.

 

Sometimes there is more to a great cruise than a perfect itinerary. The cruises are so cheap out of the socal ports, and so very fun.

 

Come join us!

[truecruiser]

very nice review. so glad you had a great time and are feeling well.