Sweet_Misery Posted October 29, 2007 #1 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Introduction This was my fifth cruise. I have previously cruised on the Spirit, Inspiration, Victory, and The Valor. My parents have been on the Paradise, Elation, and Monarch of the Seas. We flew from Salt Lake City to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday night and stayed at the Plantation Hotel. It was a dive. Don’t stay there. We rented a car at Alamo. Saturday Oct 20 We drove to Miami and dropped the car off at Alamo. We took the Alamo shuttle to the seaport where Carnival has built a new terminal in the past year. Since my mom has to be in wheelchair because she has Multiple Sclerosis, we got to the front of the line and were on board by 1:30 pm. We stayed in cabin 8278 on the Veranda deck, but we prefer the Rivera deck, because it doesn’t rock as much. We had the 6:15 dining time and were at table 173 in the London dining room. We sat with a couple from Texas, and a couple from Missouri. Our head waiter was Yudi, and he was very friendly. Each night he called us by our names and was very fast and helpful. This was the first dining room, where the lights only dimmed and didn’t blink. In the dining room I would recommend getting the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, the Creme Brulee, the Souffle, the Spaghetti Carbonara, The Caesar Salad, and the fruit chilled soups. After dinner, I went to watch TRIVIA: SOMETHING ABOUT NOTHING hosted by the social host Chris. After trivia, there was Latin DANCE CLASS to the song “Copacabana” taught by one of the male dancers. After that we watched GAME SHOW MANIA hosted by social hosts Chris and Amanda. Then we saw the WELCOME ABOARD SHOW, where we met the cruise director Brad Calabrese, the singers, the dancers, the Assistant cruise director Bonnie, and the other social hosts Paula and Murie. The comedian Mike Panzeca was hilarious. Sunday Oct 21 After breakfast on the Lido Deck, we went to TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE TALK hosted by Brad, since we had never been to Grand Turk before. THE NEWLYWED NOT SO NEWLYWED SHOW was quite interesting. For the first time in the five cruises I’ve been on, a same sex couple was chosen in the drawing for the newlyweds. This was the first formal night and a couple at our table had seen someone below them fishing off his balcony with a fishing pole and They had seen security go down to his room. LOL. The WONDERFUL WORLD is the better of the two shows. This was also the first night that we smelled the sewage smell that I have read about in the reviews. It's mostly in the Lounge and the decks surrounding the Lounge. Monday Oct 22 In the morning we went to MUSIC TRIVIA, SEA FUED, and IN THE BAG in the Club Rio Lounge, hosted by Chris and Bonnie. We were in SAN JUAN from 5 to 12, so we just got off the boat for a couple of hours and went shopping near the port. Since we were during the evening, the dining room was open seating from 5:30 to 8:30. We went to the Austin Powers DANCE CLASS taught by one of the female dancers. The show was Grammy nominated vocalist CECIL PARKER. Cecil sang a lot of Motown songs and was very good. He even sang all five parts for the Temptations song. Tuesday Oct 23 We arrived in ST THOMAS from 8 to 6, so we took a cab to Red Hook, and then took a ferry over to St. John. We sat on the beach while my dad snorkeled at Trunk Bay. When we got on the ferry to go back to ST. Thomas, it started pouring. If we had taken the tour through the ship it would have been 70 a piece, but we only paid 36 a piece on our own. Then we went shopping in Havensight. The NEW WAVE MAGIC show starring Kevin & Caruso was okay. I had seen some of their tricks before. Wednesday Oct 24 At the SHOPPING TALK for Grand Turk, Bruce seemed to giving the freebies to people in the fifth row in the middle, or the sides in the front. We all got a free Del Sol plastic ring on our way out. The LOVE & ROMANCE GAME was hosted by Amanda. The BATTLE OF THE SEXES was hosted by Chris. I skipped the HYPNOTIST SHOW, but my dad went and he said the one last year on the Valor was better. The ship was decorated for the M&M’s sponsored Halloween Deck Party and there were ghosts, pumpkins, black cats, and a castle background for pictures. The guests and crew had some interesting costumes, such as a towel animal, togas, Zorro, and a devil with cereal boxes around their neck on beads. Thursday Oct 25 We were in Grand Turk from 7 to 5:30. We signed up for the ISLAND BUS LOOP “THE GUANA” in Grand Turk, which took us to the Grand Turk Lighthouse and the Her Majesty’s Prison. It wasn’t worth the money. The bus comes by every fifteen minutes to pick you up, since the island is only 7 or 8 miles long. The bus driver said most of the resorts are on Provencales, but they are building two in Grand Turk. This was the second formal night. The show CENTURY CAFÉ was good, but not as good as the other one. Friday Oct 26 The DEBARKATION TALK with Brad was at 11 am and he told us his list of the top 10 funniest questions asked by guests. The social host Amanda was one of four employees of the month. At the CRAZY LIDO PARTY, Murie, Chris, and Amanda taught us the Cupid Shuffle, the Ketchup dance, and the Mississippi slide. They also had Carnival Color games. The LIAR’S CLUB was hosted by Bonnie. Amanda, Brad, and Chris were the panel. They brought up 4 guests at a time and had them determine which one was saying the real definition of not often heard words such as lavacan, fullfart, pudd, and erectarine. GAME SHOW MANIA II was hosted by Murie and Chris. CARNIVAL LEGENDS was better this year than last. Brad was Dolly Parton. Chris was Cher and Ashley, the karaoke host, was Sonny. They had guests playing Gloria Estefan, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Martin, Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, and Britney Spears. Saturday Oct 27 This Debarkation was the worst one I have ever experienced. We were number 30 group and had to wait till 11:10 am to get off the ship. We didn’t get out of the terminal until an hour later. Since our flight didn’t leave till the next morning, we were going to go to the Bayside Mall, but it costs 10 dollars to park as the minimum. So we drove to Ft. Lauderdale and went to the Sawgrass Mills Mall and went to Sonny’s BBQ for dinner. Overall Out of the five ships I have been on, I would have to rank this ship third. I have had better cruise directors and entertainment staff, but the waiters were better than some of the dining room staff I have had. I felt like I only saw the cruise director Brad four times in the whole week, and he was the funniest in the Liar's Club show and Debarkation talk. The social hosts were great though. I still think there is room for improvement in the debarkation aspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teanbean16 Posted October 29, 2007 #2 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to my cruise in March:) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megnolia Posted October 29, 2007 #3 Share Posted October 29, 2007 thanks for the review! I loved hearing about the activities and shows - great to hear that perspective! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duck512 Posted October 30, 2007 #4 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Thank you for the nice review. We will be sailing on her 12/1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet_Misery Posted November 1, 2007 Author #5 Share Posted November 1, 2007 If you want to see the photos from my triumph cruise go to http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=51358498&albumId=1497716 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nothomeonacruise Posted November 1, 2007 #6 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I'm writing down the dance lesson information :D I think the hypnotist sounds interesting, but I wouldn't volunteer for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyinMA Posted November 1, 2007 #7 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Thanks so much for your review. I agree that it was great to hear about all the activities as we participate ALOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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