My DEEPEST apologies that I took a cruise and did not even review it. I fell into the hole that we called life and got lost in, sorry, more important things. I have two beautiful nephews that came into our life right and will adopted this weekend (after two years)!!! We had several little ones in and our of our lives b/c my brother does foster care. And of course we now have a baby girl that will hopefully be more permanent. I have plenty going on at work, including and extra "job." We lost my grandmother (dad) last year and my grandfather (mom) was in a wreck that left him in the hospital and nursing home for almost a year. On top of all of that, I BOUGHT A HOUSE! It has been a long time coming and I vowed I would NOT live with my parents by the time I turned 30 and I met my goal two months in advance of that, lol.
You can imagine what a mortgage has done to that expendable income for cruises and clothes, sooooooo I think I was a little bit depressed about knowing that I would not be able to take a cruise this year (I usually do one a year). Which is why I didn't really want to relive this last one in a review. I did manage to book a cruise last year though. About January (2013) my friend and I booked a cruise slated for November 2014. So we had two years to get it all paid off and saved for. We both moved out of the parents this year and though she rents, its still costs to live. We officially hit the 1 year mark this November 2nd, so I thought I would start posting for that cruise and Pre-cruise information. HOWEVER, I didn't feel right about posting a new cruise when I didn't finish the last. SOOOOOOO. Hold onto your panties.........I'm going to try to make this useful and fast.
Re-cap:
I booked this trip a year in advance with some friends of mine that had never cruised before, but were eager to try it after all my obsessing. I let them do more choosing as it was their first trip and I wanted them to feel comfortable. We chose the Liberty (I had been on previously, but she had a refurb since), 7 days out of Miami to Cozumel, Belize, and Grand Caymans. I had been to all of these before, Cozumel being my favorite. They booked a suite at about $879 a piece or so. Let's just say they will probably NEVER get a suite for that price again. I booked a aft wrap for about $789 (or so, can't remember exactly) and had the room to myself, so I paid pretty much 200%. It was still a great price. I also booked Faster to the Fun through Carnival. It was a new program then and so I think the benefit of the doubt was definitely needed when using it.
Ummm, I think I might just jump in here b/c I could probably re-cap the whole review.
I think all my pre-work (hotel info. and so forth is on previous post, so just go back to see those)
Hotel:
I always fly in the day before. Its like a rule for me, so I wouldn't let them have it any other way either. We all flew together out of Greensboro for about $225 RT. My friend chose the hotel b/c they had a membership and got better rates and upgrades. It was was an easy ride to the hotel room from the airport and we had a decent room. For just one night, a simple room is enough. We just ate in the hotel as traveling is exhausting and we were hungry. The waitress was super nice. I really wish I could remember her name, but we did send a letter to the hotel about her great service, if that tells you anything. The food in the sports bar was probably reasonable for downtown Miami and the buffet style they served in the restaurant beside it was delicious. We had lunch at the bar and dinner at the restaurant and breakfast the next morning at the little cafe. They are all within feet of each other, so no big deal.
Transport:
We caught a taxi that morning from the hotel. There were three of us with one big bag each and at least one small bag each. I've never had a problem with taxis before, but the door man insisted we needed a van for all our luggage, which meant we had to wait a little longer for a taxi. Lucky we were ready a bit early and decided to get a headstart. Our plan was to be at port by 10:30 because of my FTTF status. We did a a van eventually (the crowd outside the hotel was just getting worse by then) and off we went. I don't remember the cost, but it wasn't that much b/c we were just around the bin from the port.
The Port:
We pulled up and our taxi driver was going to let us off when I looked up and realized that we were in front of the Destiny and told him we needed the Liberty. He looked for himself and seemed confused, but just drove forward to the next terminal and there she was. I think this is where we hit most of our embark snares at. Come to find out that the Destiny was in the Liberty's parking spot. I think it threw the land crew and a lot of others off guard. I mean, they are two different kind of ships. In any case, we were there early enough many passengers were still debarking and we had a really hard time finding the main entrance. I had been to Miami before, but I think the other terminal was where I had been and this one was different (I think the new one). It took us wondering for just a bit and asking for help before we found the doors to enter. Here is the kicker. They had the VIP entrance and the regular entrance. However there were bright signs pointing to each entrance, but the doors to the VIP entrance were closed and the lights were dimmed, so we thought maybe they weren't there yet. The other line was practically empty, so we went there anyway. When we went in, we saw the VIP lady sitting down at the table, to the side, in very dim light. Wouldn't have known anyone was there. Didn't really matter, but they could re-think that a bit.
Security was a breeze and there were NO lines. In my excitement I think I tore off from my new cruising friends (I apologized later for just leaving them with no instructions, lol.) and went straight to my FTTF line. I stepped right up to the counter..........bing, bang, boom. DONE. They said to go to the lounge down the hall. Now there was a lounge that she pointed to right beside the check in, but I thought that was for VIP and P/D. After all the stink that P/D people made about the FTTF program, I didn't want to be found sitting in their section. So I set off down the hallway and asked the lady standing down there where to go. She pointed me down further. I found myself in a lounge with quite a few people, with various zone cards (mine saying priority). Though I found some roll call members (from Cruise Critic) there too and figured I was in the right place, though none of us really knew because it was all new. We sat for a long time, talking (knowing that they don't really start loading until about 11:30). About 11:30 some crew brought a big group around the corner (VIPs b/c my friends were in the group) and took them up the elevators. The whole room of people stood up and migrated to the stairs like we were in middle school. The two crew members were having a hard time dealing with it. We could see people waving their zone cards and they were trying to make an announcement, but they had no system to announce with and it was impossible to hear. Some of my roll call members and us just started pushing the front of the line and finally showed them our card with priority on it and they let us up (may I say that was after they let a bunch of "airport" cards up-there was another new program where you can do your full check in at the MIA airport, but I didn't think priority boarding was a part of the deal as they did not pay extra for that check in.) The line started backing up and we saw another line coming from the masses of lines below us at the main check in. My roll call members tried to ask crew about the situation and that we were supposed to get priority boarding. They told us we would get on before the other line. But as far as we saw, they were letting a few people through from each line at a time. We were then told they were also priority passengers, but they had just checked in. I'm not sure if that was true or not, but it certainly made one of the benefits of the FTTF............pointless.
As we got closer to the door, my phone rang, my friends were already up at Guy's Burgers enjoying a drink and a meal and were waiting for me as I was still about 15 people in line waiting to step on the ship. When we finally got up to the security photo and first 'DING,' we found out that one of their machines had gone down and they were working off of one check in system. Like I said above, some benefit of the doubt needs to be given, but still. I decided that I had been waiting with my bag on my shoulder long enough, so I tested another benefit of the FTTF, which was immediate access to your stateroom. I made my way back to the aft and down to my room, which was indeed ready and my luggage already there, outside (another benefit of FTTF, express luggage to your stateroom). I pulled everything in and then went upstairs to meet my friends, who were pretty much done eating by the time I got up there around 12:30ish. But what does it really matter, you are on vacation!!!
After that, we decided to see if their suite was ready (though not a perk of a suite), if it wasn't we could just drop their bags off in my room. No one questioned why we were down the hall or if we had the FTTF sticker on our cards. We walked to their room and it was indeed ready so they went in to check it out. They were impressed with the suite and excited about their week on the ship. I think we decided to go up to the spa to do the tour and look around and then took a trip around the ship to help them learn where they were going. I won't go into detail about much over the next few days of the trip b/c.........details are no longer a part of those memories, but I can give you a run down.
Of course Muster drill was done and it is still outside on the Liberty. We had decided to unpack after muster drill and then meet up after for whatever was next. I think dinner was next and we went earlier than I have ever on a cruise b/c we had ATD. If was nice though. We got there around 6:30pm and we didn't have to wait to be seated. Though we had started sailing and my friends were a little icky from the boat moving, so it was a quite dinner with smart choices so they didn't get sick. We were all exhausted though we did check out the casino and a few bars before heading to bed.
I of course, enjoyed my aft wrap balcony for a while before heading to bed.
Now let me say that we were not only missing the presidential election ( I did absent ballot), but it was daylights savings too. They reminded us all day that they time will change. I KNEW the time would change. However, when I woke up at about 6 something they next morning, I had NOT changed my watch and didn't think about it. I was excited to get up and catch the sunrise off my balcony. I waited and waited...........surely the Funtimes wasn't wrong about the sunrise? I had also ordered breakfast for about 7am. Well, as the sun was slowly rising and it was getting closer to 7am and no room service, I was kinda worried and hungry. I went upstairs to find the buffets not open yet and no one out. So I went back downstairs and laid around wondering what was going on. I know what you are saying, How many things have to clue you in before you get it??? Well, I realized what was happening about the time I had finally grabbed breakfast from the buffet, since my room service never came (it probably did, but I was probably out trying to figure out why nothing was on schedule), and was sitting in a lounger on Serenity deck with no one else. Yep.............that is when my mind finally clicked and realized I was about an hour ahead of schedule the whole morning. It was probably why my friends didn't answer their phone either, that or they had no clue what that noise was. I decided, since I was there and I had a chair, I was going to soak up some sun. I stayed for about an hour or more then got up and gladly gave my chair and the one next to it (wasn't my fault no one wanted to lay next to me) to a nice couple looking. I went in search of my friends and finally just went by their room and knocked.
Like I said, after that, I have no clue what we did........I'm just going to skip around to the things I remember, in not particular order, lol.
The next best memory I have is Cozumel. I had told them that they had no choice here, as we were going to Mr. Sanchos. I had never been to Mr. Sanchos before, but I had been to other beach resorts in Cozumel and Mr. Sanchos came with great reviews. For $50pp (pay $5 deposit and the rest in CASH when you arrive) you get all you can eat and drink. You get a swim up bar (hints a pool), bathroom facilities, umbrella seating and cabanas (first come first serve). It was a great place and I plan on going back there for this up coming cruise. We tried to get through every drink on the menu, but they made them really strong and I'm not sure I got through about three before I was 2 sheets in. It was just a restful day. We swam a bit, laid in the shade with a nice breeze, drank and ate good food. My friends REALLY enjoyed that place and still talk about it.
Belize is another story. I had been there before, but unless you book some kind of excursion.........its nothing much to do there, plus it is a tender port. NOW, I thought I had this tender thing covered because I had the FTTF and it gave me priority tender. It was supposed to be as easy as, walking to the Guest Service desk and letting them know we wanted to get on a tender. They were then supposed to take us down on a designated elevator and put us at the front of the line for the next tender. However..........this is not what happened. We were up and ready while the first tenders were still coming out to the boat. We had booked a non-Carnival excursion, cave tubing. I was excited and nervous about this. I have never done anything adventurous on my cruises, just relaxing and I thought this was my chance. It was soooo cheap through this one group and it had great reviews. The only thing was the tender rides took a while to get there and we had a long excursion and needed all the time we could get. That is why we were up and ready to go way before schedule. My roll call friends and I were booked on this excursion together and we all had either P/D status or FTTF. So we all met downstairs at GS and waited..........and waited.......and waited. They kept telling us they would come get us. We saw people from the theatre (where the excursions and tender ticket people wait) going down. Then they came and took one group, but not all. Then they came back for the rest of us and took us down. It was already 9am, the time we were supposed to be meeting our excursion. My friends were very nervous about not making it back to the ship on time with still have a 20 min. tender ride to shore. So, it was best that we stayed on the ship. In all, it was the best idea, even though our friends said they went and had a great time and were back with time to spare (just in case you were wondering). However, with the fear of missing the ship and all other elements, I know we made the right decision. How much fun would we have had worrying the whole time? Nope, We got back up the stairs, went to grab our swim suits, grabbed a few drinks, hung out on a nearly empty ship. Went down the slides like 10x and napped a bit. It still was a good day.
Grand Cayman, Hmm. Well the tender worked better for us that day. Not for everyone else. We had encountered a small raft off the coast of Grand Caymans. Yep, you guessed it, Cubans. I make no judgements and the laws of the seas say you must help and so we did. As you can guess, this made us late to shore and the current caused us to dock on the other side of the island. There were so angry passengers to say the least. But this time when I walked down for my priority tender, it was a short 5 min. wait and she took us straight down and plopped us right in front of the line of VERY angry people. The poor staff member was trying to deal with it. When the CD ask for a few more people, I smiled at the Staff member and showed him my card. As we had made polite conversation with him while he was getting yelled at, he smiled back and let us go down first. The angry crowd joined us shortly and had a few not so nice words for the CD. Some people, don't realize they are on vacation.
GC is not the most exciting place or so I have found and since we had no plan.......it was more about looking around and then getting back on the ship. One of my friends wanted to go see Hell, but since we were on the other side of the island it was a longer trip there and we had waited a while to get off the ship, plus a longer ride back to port.
I TOTALLY FORGOT, We went to Roatan too, lol.
I knew Roatan didn't have much to offer other than the beach or an excursion. I tried to talk my friends into booking a spa excursion, but as it happens, money is tight. So instead we got off the ship (to lots of clouds, but doesn't it always seem like rain in Roatan?) and took a walk to the beach and back around through the natural trail on the side. the sky was darker and it began to sprinkle, so we decided to go over to Fat Tuesdays and have a drink. About the time we ordered, it began to pour. Since we had plenty of time and the port was right there, I told my friends to just sit back, enjoy the drink and not get stuck in the crowds. And we did. In fact, the rain brought more people and more fun. We drank our tube of............well.........it was strong and we each were feeling the sensation. As we were hungry, we decided to get back to the ship for some lunch. We amused a few people as we walked through to the ship and were on board and in line for pizza before we knew it. I'm sure this is a pointless story for many, but pizza really hit the spot that day. We got two slices each and sat down and they were gone in a few moments. We all stared down at our empty plates with sad faces and returned to the pizza place for more pizza. We again entertained a few people with our silliness. Then it was time to sleep it off and catch an afternoon nap. After all, what is vacation without a nap!
We never seem to make it to the shows, though truly, I had seen most of them. The comedy shows were another story though. We tried to make all of those. My friends were lucky to have me with them as I knew the protocol of getting there 30 min. early for seating. I was right! though, when getting close to the beginning of the show, you had lot of people trying to come in from the piano bar and cut in line. This didn't happen on the Dream because there is a straight hallway and no side entrances like the Liberty. So, just remember, you are on vacation, don't sweat it. I knew I was close enough that I would get a seat. Had they all piled in front and I was left standing room only........perhaps I would have needed a shot of jack. LOL.
Food.
Well, we ate a lot at Guy's Burgers. I know there are mixed reviews about it, but I thought it was always a good place to eat. We also tried the Burrito bar for breakfast one morning and it was also super good. MDR was also yummy and my friends enjoyed the variety of food. We even pre-ordered the Indian dish for the next night and shared it. It was plenty for all of us to share and we had even ordered regular menu food. The one night we had the pumpkin soup, my friend fell in love with it and she asked if it would be available again. I told her, they don't usually have it again, but I could ask the front if we might ask for it again. Sure enough, the last night of the cruise, they had special ordered our soup and had it for all of us! Now, this is way beyond! Some of you might not think so, but let . me. tell . you. I made this soup last night (honest to GOD) as I was doing a dry run for Thanksgiving (I'm bringing it) and the cooking time alone is 1 hour 45 mins. That is not prep time, which would probably make it a full 2 hours or more. Sooooooo, with all the food they already have to prepare and this special order........it was a big deal. If we had regular waiters, I would have tipped them big time. I don't think I will be asking for anything like that again. I feel kinda bad for it now.
My friends often times had to retire early because they were a little disturbed my the movement. But we did have fun in the night clubs, casino, bingo, comedy and other aspects. I actually think I should have spent more time by the pool, lol.
Debark was a breeze as they had VIP and I had FTTF. As a seasoned cruiser I also knew how to handle debark. Though you don't want to crawl out of bed early on your last day of vacation, you should get up in enough time to get ready, final pack and check your room and get to breakfast. Now, they ask that you vacate your room by 8:30am and I like to try my best to do this as I know these room stewards have a difficult job. So, make sure you are up in enough time to do all of that and be out of your room by 8:30am. My other tip is, go to the MDR for breakfast!!! DON'T FIGHT THE MASSES. There is next to no one in the MDR for Breakfast on debark day. Most people are in such a hurry. Don't be or plan so you aren't. We had a nice, quiet, fairly quick breakfast in the MDR that morning and once we were done, they were calling our zone. We went to grab out bags and headed down to check out. Easy breezy.
It was a bit hard because our flight actually didn't leave until around 6pm that evening. We were tired and didn't want to hang out at the airport all day. We had asked the hotel if it was okay if we came back after the cruise and waited in their lobby (of course we would eat there too, so we were paying customers) and if we could check out luggage at the front while we waited. The main manager had no problem with it. However, when we approached when we came back.........the desk clerk and baggage guy were both rude about it. They did check our bags for us, but it was not a nice situation, which also got a letter to the hotel. Lucky we had our great waitress for lunch again and she was so nice to let us hang out and watch some football games on the tvs in the bar until we had to leave. I think I almost dozed off a few times.
I'm sure I'm leaving all sorts out. If you have a question, I'm sure I would know the answer, but probably just didn't address it here. Please leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out.
Okay, here are random pictures...........
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