Last Sea Day…and then Home

Friday & Saturday, March 13-14

Our last sea day…one that could win the award for the laziest day…ever. In the morning it was the dreaded job of packing. After bumping into each other repeatedly, Bob could sense my frustration and left to go jog on the outdoor track. With TWO large bags, a rolling carry-on AND my backpack, finding space for all of my stuff wasn’t too much of a problem. 

By the time Bob returned, the majority of the packing task was completed and I was ready to eat. On sea days, brunch was offered in the Platinum Dining Room and that was where we headed. I was totally surprised when Bob (the healthy eater) ordered “Funny French Toast!” It comes coated in your choice of cereal and he chose Honey Nut Cheerios. I didn’t have my camera, but here is a photo that I found online…

 The French toast looked sickening sweet, but he liked it! I opted for poached eggs…something I like, but do NOT like to prepare.

A man and his adult son were seated next to us and we had such an enjoyable conversation that we ended up lingering long after we were finished eating! (We just happened to end up in line next to them at dinner that night and got to meet the rest of the family as well!)

The rest of the day was spent sitting in the shade on the upper deck watching the ocean go by. Not wanting to lose our prime spot, we grabbed lunch and sat in our lounge chairs while we ate. What bums we were! Oh...and we even snuck in a nap!

After our last meal in the dining room, we saw the show “Epic Rock.”  Out of all of the Playlist Productions during the cruise, this was the only one that we could really say we enjoyed…lots of energy and fun. Following the show, the performers…and cruise director, Dr. E, went to the atrium to meet and mingle with the guests.

Saturday morning I was up early. The ship was sailing back into Miami and I was anxious to check in for our flight on Southwest. With no advance seat assignments on Southwest, the earlier you check in, the earlier you can board and choose your seat. Being too cheap to pay for internet on the ship, I waited until I had cell service in Miami and could check in with the app on my iPhone. To get a decent signal on my phone I had to go up to the Lido deck…and realized it was still dark outside!

We had requested early debarkation and were given Zone 2 luggage tags, just as J & K had the week before. But…before the numbered zones were called to get off the ship, we had to wait for all of the passengers who had opted for “self-debarkation” and were handling their own bags. Not a choice for us when we had such a massive amount of luggage. Getting ON a cruise ship is so much more fun than getting OFF. 

Eventually we made it off the ship and luck was with us…our shuttle was waiting right outside the terminal. But…then the driver circled the port area for a half hour picking up passengers from the other ships docked in Miami. Eventually the van was at capacity and we left for Ft. Lauderdale.

On the way to the airport, the traffic in the opposite lane came to a dead standstill due to an accident. Cars were backed up for miles and it made me realize the danger of flying into one city and cruising out of another. Had that accident been in our lane most likely we would have missed our flight. A lesson to remember for the future.

I would like to say that our flight home was totally uneventful…but that would be a lie. As we were approaching Minneapolis, the pilot announced that the flaps on the wings were not working and in his words…”we are just going to fly around for awhile and see if we can troubleshoot the problem.” As the plane flew further and further past Minneapolis, you could feel the tension building in the plane.

Eventually the airport came into view and the pilot announced that we were going to “give it a try.” The landing was a little hard and the braking seemed extreme, but we made it down OK! The whole plane erupted into a cheer! 

We were home!

Turnaround Day in Miami

Saturday, March 7

The Glory was the last of five ships to arrive at the Port of Miami on Saturday morning as we ended week #1 of our cruise. 

Bob and I had breakfast in the buffet and then texted J & K to find they were still sitting in the casino waiting to debark. We sat with them and watched all of the sad faces of people who knew their vacation was over. It was hard not to be a little smug knowing we had another week ahead in our same little cabin.

The previous Saturday, the shuttle driver had given J & K instructions to get off the ship as early as possible to catch the return shuttle to the airport. That morning when we were being dropped off, there were several people who were VERY irate that had to wait for such a long time to get picked up. The shuttle driver said if they had just gotten off the ship before 9:30 that wouldn’t have happened.  

Knowing that, J & K had requested luggage tags for early debarkation…and were given Zone #2. Even so, they waited and waited for the zones to be called but the self debarkation process (passengers who carried off their luggage themselves) dragged on for a very long time. The decks were being called one by one and towards the end, J & K checked with guest services and were given the go ahead to just get off, even though their zone had not been called. Shortly afterwards the regular debarkation did begin.

By then, it was time for Bob and I to go to the Amber Theater where we were to meet with the others doing back-to-back (b2b) cruises at 10:30. We were given our new Sail & Sign cards for the coming week as we entered. I would estimate about two dozen other b2b cruisers were there, along with quite a few crew members who were also waiting to leave the ship. (Including Ram, the magician, sitting right behind me!!)

After a short wait, all of the b2b cruisers had a group photo taken in the lobby (which they delivered to our cabin the next day) and then lead off the ship by one of the staff from guest services. We paraded past the immigration officials who took our customs form and then we walked right back up to the gangplank. At that point we had to wait for a few minutes until we were allowed to re-board. The terminal was full of new passengers waiting to get on the ship and I’m sure they were wondering why we were getting such special treatment!

As we entered the ship, we “dinged” in with the new S & S cards and then were each handed a glass of cold champagne…we felt like VIP’s! We went directly to the buffet and were the only ones there…except for the crew who were all eager to serve us! (So different from the previous week when there were long lines everywhere!) In our quest to discover different crew nationalities, we met one of the ship’s officers who was from Malta. Turns out he was head of all of the hotel operations on the ship and we had the most lovely conversation as he told us about his country.

After lunch we stopped by our cabin to grab my camera and while we were there a large fruit basket and a bottle of champagne was delivered along with a note thanking us for doing b2b cruises. And what a surprise when the delivery “boy” was I Komang, our waiter from the dining room! He was just as surprised to see us still on the ship!

The weather was much nicer than it had been the previous Saturday and I was able to get photos around the port that the rain had ruined the week before. While I was on the upper decks, I found a chair in the shade and took advantage of cell service to call our kids.

Around 4 p.m. (sail away time) Bob and I went to the secret deck at the front of deck 7. He was wearing a t-shirt with our hometown’s name and wouldn’t you know it…the guy standing next to him just happened to live 30 miles from us! Slowly, the ships began to turn around and head out to sea...but once again the Glory was late leaving Miami. As we waited a storm blew in.

 By the time the Glory sailed down the channel, the high rise buildings near the beach were nearly hidden by the rain. As the ship left the protection of the canal it was like entering the Bermuda Triangle! We hit the wall of water and the ship started to roll and pitch, being tossed around by the waves.

 Neither of us felt like getting dressed for dinner so we went to the buffet. Rather than attend the Welcome Aboard Show again, we listened to some of the live music around the ship and did a lot of people watching. The first week there had been very few children or college students, but there were a bunch of each onboard the second week. It was apparent that the passengers were definitely a spring break crowd. 

This video of the water sloshing out of the pool shows how much movement we were feeling on the ship. The overcrowded hot tub in the background also shows that the party was just getting started with the college students. I counted 22 people at one time in that tub and the drinking was going full force there...and throughout the ship.

Daylight savings time was scheduled to start that night, but since the ship was so late leaving Miami, the captain decided to wait and make the change the following night. 

Leaving on the Victory!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14 - Departure Day!

  

The seven of us went to the hotel restaurant Sunday morning with our “free” breakfast coupons in hand. I showed them to the hostess at the door and we were seated at two tables. We helped ourselves to the buffet…a nice selection, but nothing outstanding. After eating a waitress came by and presented me with a bill for around $65 for our table of five. I showed her the breakfast coupons we had and she told me that we were only supposed to have gotten a “continental” breakfast. I explained that I had shown the coupons to the hostess and nothing was said…and that the coupons were printed with “continental breakfast buffet”. She came back a short while later and said everything was taken care of…no charge for breakfast. Like I said…the food was OK, but not worth $13 per person in my book!

There were several cabs out front when we left the hotel around 10:30 or so, but no vans so we took two cabs. One of the drivers insisted that we could fit in his car and we did but it was VERY tight AND we had to hold some of our luggage that wouldn’t fit in the trunk. Luckily it isn’t a very long trip to the port. There is a lot of construction going on around the port and we entered the area differently than we did last summer. The cost of our cab was about $10. My sister, oldest son & wife were in the other cab and said their driver never turned on the meter and insisted the fare was $15…they didn’t know better so they paid it.

A porter was waiting to take our bags and immediately started giving us the speech about how he would be the one taking care of the luggage till we saw it again on the ship (which really isn’t true) and we should be giving him a tip. Nothing like a little blackmail to get a tip. 😒

  

Right inside the door of the terminal we entered one of several short lines to check in. My sister took care of getting her shipboard charges put on her own credit card at that time (she was to share a room with Bob and I.) After getting checked in, we went through the security check and entered the larger room that was set up with several roped off winding queues leading up to the main check-in desks ( this is where we checked in for our previous cruises.) The first section was full so we were directed to the front of the next set of lines. It was around 11 a.m. at that time. No one was working at these desks and people were just left standing with no explanation why. Off to the left of where we stood was a window that looked through to an escalator. There was a slow but steady stream of people coming down from the upper level the entire time we were there. Turns out they were passengers from the previous week still disembarking. 

Eventually a few Carnival employees started showing up but they just wandered about visiting with each other…no announcements were made explaining why we were all just standing there. One of the employees was standing near us (since we were in the front) and I asked her what was causing the hold up. She said that customs officials had not cleared the ship so no one was allowed to go upstairs to the main waiting room. As we were waiting, I turned around to see someone waving at me…it was Eric who I had met on the Roll Call board! We had exchanged pictures via email and he had recognized our family. We saw each other off and on throughout the week, but never did really find time to sit down and talk. Still it was sort of fun to meet someone I had corresponded with!

I think it was around 12:30 or a little later that they finally began letting people go past the main desks and go upstairs. The huge waiting room full of chairs was empty while we were left to stand for almost 2 hours! The line snaked through another long set of winding queues and eventually we got our pictures taken for the Sail & Sign cards and then we boarded the ship shortly after 1:00. I wanted to drop off our carry on bags before going to lunch, but the hallway to our cabin was blocked off so we headed up to the Lido deck and got something to eat.

After lunch we went to check out our cabins. I had booked two inside guarantee cabins for the kids and an ocean view cabin for Bob, my sister and I. A couple of months prior to the cruise I pretended to purchase gifts through Carnival.com and found our cabins had been assigned. The kids were upgraded to inside cabins on the Upper deck (6299 & 6303). The cabins were located between two other sets of inside cabins along a third hallway through the deck. Looking at the deck layout online, I realized that these cabins were more square-shaped than the normal cabins. I was worried that they might be smaller but actually the opposite was true. The layout was different from most cabins in that the closets were not right by the door, but on the side wall by the beds. The desk area was at the foot of the bed. The actual square footage may not have been different, but the room just felt bigger.

I had originally booked the ocean view cabin for the three of us since it is 220 square feet compared to an inside which is 185 square feet. Besides being larger, many of the ocean view cabins have convertible couches which we preferred over having an upper bunk. My guess is that once Carnival put the kids on the Upper deck, then they upgraded us to that deck as well. The bad news was that we were put into a cabin that was not designed to be a triple…the good news was that we had a balcony! Our cabin (6371) was just a short distance from the kids which was handy when coordinating plans throughout the week.

I had requested the 6:15 dinner time which we had found to be convenient on our past cruises…instead we were assigned to eat at 5:45. I was ready to go talk to the maitre‘d to request a change but decided to first check out the location of our table in the Pacific Dining Room. Turns out we had a round table in the corner at the rear of the ship surrounded by floor to ceiling windows…to me this was ideal so I didn’t even attempt to change. Had we been given the 6:15 time, we would have eaten in the Atlantic Dining room which I didn’t think was as pretty…nor did it have the views that we did.

The kids had taken off on their own and my sister had gone back to the cabin so Bob and I went to the spa tour…something we had never done on previous cruises. They had several passengers serving as “models” for the various services that were offered…not sure I would want that job though. Most were gooped up with all sorts of stuff and just left to lay on a table while people paraded through gawking at them. The tour did give Bob a chance to check out the gym and shower area which he used throughout the week.

We had left the kids with instructions to make sure they showed up at the muster drill on time. When the alarm sounded, I didn’t see them, but they assured me later that they had been there. They had tried to take a nap, but the “rude alarms” kept waking them up. The drill was hot and awful as usual, but we survived. The kids said there was a toddler near them. He was fussing cause the life jacket had his head all scrunched up and about then someone bumped into him and knocked him flat. They had to endure his screams for the rest of the drill (can you blame him though?)

I finally caught up to the kids after the drill and told them I had a “secret” place for us to go for the sail away. We all walked to the front of the ship on our deck (Deck 6) and we went out an unmarked door that led to an open deck at the very front. No one else was there…it was like being on our own private cruise ship as we sailed out of Miami!

By dinner time the kids had received all of their luggage and we didn’t have any yet! I had packed an outfit in my carry-on bag, but Bob went to dinner in his shorts. The two younger sons were late for dinner cause they got lost on the ship…they had wandered around for over a half an hour trying to find the dining room! It was very confusing because you couldn’t go from front to back on decks 3 or 4 and they couldn’t figure out how to get to the dining room! Eventually they learned to go all the way to the rear of the ship and take the elevators down to deck 3…but not before they were late several other nights.

Our waiters for the week were Babelito from the Philippines and Barbara from Hungary…both were excellent. All three boys are big eaters (especially youngest who is actually the “biggest” of the 3 kids) but Babelito never even flinched when they ordered several different entrees each night. The kids called him “Fun Bobby”. (Note: Five years later we ran into Babelito on our 2nd family cruise on the Carnival Legend in 2010!) We got a kick out of another waiter at a table next to ours. He was always singing happy birthday to someone, but would do it at the top of his lungs and out of tune. Barbara said he did it because he was old and wanted attention! 

After dinner we went back to our cabin to finally find our luggage…and see a beautiful sunset. We have never had a balcony cabin before and now I realize what we had been missing!

Our oldest son is a musician and loves to perform so we all headed to the Adriatic Lounge for karaoke. All three boys and Bob ended up taking their turns at the mike…how funny! I appreciated the fact that the lounge was smoke free. The “Welcome Aboard show was held at 10:30 and we left in time to see that.

Earlier in the evening we had met our room steward, Maila who seemed surprised that we had three people in our cabin. She said she could bring in a cot or since sister is fairly short she could try sleeping on the couch (which was really more the size of a love seat). When we got back to the cabin, Maila had the arms of the couch removed and it was made up with sheets and a blanket. Sister tried sleeping on it, but even though she is only 5 feet tall…it was still too short.

Although the sleeping arrangement was less than perfect, there was enough storage in the cabin for the three of us…lots of drawers and two closets. The luggage fit under the bed. Having the balcony also gave us a little separate space when we started to feel too much togetherness!

Family Cruise!

This cruise report was originally posted on the Cruise Critic website forums (without photos.)

After enjoying our two cruises on the Carnival Paradise we realized we had been bitten (quite badly) by the cruise bug!  After many not-so-subtle hints from the kids, we decided cruise #3 would be with the whole family. This crew included the two of us (both within weeks of turning 50 years old!); our oldest son (24) and his wife (21); our middle son (21) and the baby...our 17 year old son. Also traveling with us would be my sister from St. Louis (40+). The cruise took place the week of August 14th to 21st, 2005 to the western Caribbean on the Carnival Victory.

On August 12th we (Bob, myself and two younger sons who were living at home) drove the 3 ½ hours to Minneapolis where we met up with our oldest son and his wife. I had booked a night at the Microtel Inn & Suites in Eagan that offered a park 'n fly package enabling us to leave our cars there for the week.

On Saturday morning our group took the hotel shuttle to the Minneapolis airport for our non-stop flight on Northwest Airlines to Miami. Although my sister lives in St. Louis, she actually booked a flight to Miami that connected in Minneapolis which put us all on the same flight. Sounds weird, but it worked. It was one of the cheapest options for her and kept her from traveling alone. After waiting in very long lines in the airport, we met up with her at the gate.

Bob (the pack mule) attempting to get too much luggage up the escalator!

The youngest son had been dating the high school exchange student from Brazil all summer and as luck would have it, she was also at the airport. Her flight from the previous night had been cancelled so #3 son got one last chance to see her before she took off for South America! A special time for them both!

A short flight later and we were in Miami!!

After arriving in Miami, the 7 of us took two cabs to the Holiday Inn Port of Miami...one car taxi and one van taxi. With all of our luggage it was still a tight fit. Cost for each cab was around $21 before tip. I had booked the “Sail Away Package” at the HI that was to include free breakfast and a choice of a sightseeing cruise on Biscayne Bay or drinks at Bayside Marketplace for two people per room. The cost of the package was $99/room. The website said that additional people were $15 each, but after making several calls ahead of time, I was assured that the $99 room cost was for up to 4 people.

When we checked in we were given the coupons good for the options mentioned above…but only two per room. I inquired about purchasing additional coupons for $15 per person, but the people working the desk were clueless. Eventually they called out a supervisor (who also knew nothing.) I had printed out the hotel web page that mentioned that additional people were $15 so she said they would honor it. The sightseeing cruise alone would have cost $13 per person so I figured $15 for the cruise AND breakfast wasn’t too bad. She printed out the extra 3 coupons that we needed and said she would put the $45 charge on my credit card. (Note: The extra charges never did show up on my credit card.) Had I booked the room without the Sail Away Package, it would have cost over $100 so it turned out to be a good deal.  Our rooms were side by side on the 7th floor overlooking the Port of Miami with a great view of the cruise ships docked there. The four “kids” were in one room and Bob, my sister and I in the other. The Holiday Inn is directly across the street from Bayside Marketplace…an outdoor shopping complex with various shops and restaurants. 

View from our hotel window.

Dark clouds were forming so we decided to first have some dinner and then check about the cruise on the Island Queen later on. There is a food court on the upper level at Bayside that has many, many different ethnic food offerings. After wandering around the whole food court (and getting many samples along the way) we all chose different types of food and sat on the outdoor patio to eat. By the time we shopped our way back to where the Island Queen boat was docked, it was nearly 8:00.   

It never did rain, and in hindsight we would have been much better off taking an earlier cruise. Apparently the evening cruises are booked more as “party cruises” and the music was blaring so loud that we all came home with headaches! The music was turned off temporarily while we cruised past the million dollar homes and the guide told us all about who lived where. Unfortunately by then it was so dark that we couldn’t really see any of the homes. (Oldest son said the cruise made him feel like a stalker…)   

This is about all we could see of the mansions along the waterfront.

Bridge over Biscayne Bay in Miami

Back at the hotel we could hear (plain and clear) an outdoor rap concert that was going on across the street in a grassy area by Bayside. The kids decided to go over and check it out while the old folks went to bed. They didn’t pay to get “inside” to see the concert but said it was Jay Z and Kanye West. An advantage to staying at the HI is the closeness to Bayside, but that’s also a disadvantage. The rap music and huge amount of traffic following the concert made it really hard to get to sleep. Also during the night I was awakened by the people in the next room who obviously had a little too much to drink. Finally at 4:30 a.m. I called the desk to complain and eventually someone came to quiet them down.

Good Bye Paradise!

Sunday, June 20 – Back to Miami

After the confusion with the clocks on Friday night, I never did get around to turning back the one I had by the bed. When I awoke on Sunday morning I “thought” it was around 6:30 a.m. which meant I could just lay there for another hour before I had to get up and face going home. I debated about looking out the window to see if we truly were in Miami but nixed that idea. The sound of the anchor being lowered several hours earlier was enough to confirm that fact. I was just drifting back to sleep when the phone rang with our wake-up call. That was when reality hit…it was really an hour later and it “was” time to get up!

Kent and Laurel joined us for breakfast in the Paris restaurant. As we sat there talking we all agreed we had a fantastic week. A cruise is a great vacation regardless but we decided it was even more fun when you share it with friends.

We made one last stop in the cabin to grab what luggage we had left. The flying fish was still laying in the porthole window in Kent and Laurel’s room just waiting on the new passengers to board and join him for another cruise!

The four of us went to the casino to wait our turn to debark. Finally a little after 9:30 our color was the last to be called and we got off the ship. Luckily our luggage was in the correct section and it didn’t take long to find it all. Once outside the terminal we assumed we would need two cabs to get to the airport (too much luggage for all four of us to fit in one together.) A cab driver approached us and said he had a van and could take us all. It was a “very” tight fit, but he eventually crammed all of the suitcases into the vehicle and off we went.

Kent and Laurel were on a different airline for their flight back to Nashville so we said our good-byes on the sidewalk outside the airport. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:30 which gave us plenty of time…in fact it was a long boring wait. I had debated about trying to bring some room service sandwiches off the ship to eat while waiting but was scared I would get in trouble going through customs. We opted for Pizza Hut inside the airport, but it just wasn’t the same as the Paradise pizza!! I chuckled when I overheard a couple sitting next to us in the airport…they had also just gotten off the Paradise and he was already missing the ice cream machine!!

Good-bye Miami.

Our flight was on-time and other than waiting an extremely long time to pick up our luggage when we arrived back in Minneapolis, all went well. After a quick call to the hotel, the shuttle from the Wyndham was there in no time to get us and return us to our car. Driving home from Minneapolis took just about the same time as it did to fly all of the way from Miami…a long day.

Doing two cruises on the smoke-free Paradise has probably spoiled us. I think we will cruise again in the future, but Bob and Kent are already talking about the possibility of doing a week somewhere that they could scuba dive. I’m sure we will be looking into all-inclusive resorts. Bob and I are also Disney fans and it’s been four years since we were at Disney World…I’m thinking maybe a trip to see “the Mouse” might be a possibility too! Who knows!

Carnival Paradise - Embarkation Day!

Sunday, June 13th – Embarkation Day

Bob, Kent & Laurel walked across the street to a Burger King to get breakfast. Knowing how much food I would be consuming in the following week, I opted for a granola bar and cup of coffee in the room. The three came back talking about some guy who had “appeared out of no where” wanting money from them. Laurel was sure they were close to being mugged, but nothing came of it, thank goodness!

  

I was anxious to see my “Paradise” so as soon as the rest of the crew returned from breakfast we all headed up to the 21st floor once again for a view of the port. Besides the Paradise there was also a Royal Caribbean ship in port, but that was it. 

At 11:00 a.m. we gathered our stuff and went downstairs to get a cab to the port. Once again the bellhop suggested we use the hotel shuttle. I don’t think we really saved any money since it was $4/per person but it did enable the four of us to travel together. There was no way we would have fit into a regular cab with all of our luggage!

The trip to the port was a breeze, especially when compared to our last cruise when the traffic was horrendous!! As we were getting the luggage unloaded from the shuttle I was shocked to see that no one else was around! It sort of gave me a weird feeling like maybe I had gotten my days mixed up or something! But no…there was the Paradise sitting there in all of her glory just waiting on us to board. The porter looked up our cabin numbers on the manifest and even though we had booked "guaranteed cabins" it was no surprise when he said we had cabins R6 and R8. On the back of the Sail & Sign page of our documents was a long code number. The first few digits was our booking number and it was followed by the cabin number. Thanks to the advice of fellow Cruise Critic members, I was able to “break” the code! The porter gave us brown “Forward Riviera” luggage tags to replace the gray TBA tags that we were using.

Heading into the terminal, we sent our carry-on luggage through the x-ray machine and then walked right up to the desk where agents were waiting to check our documents. This took all of maybe 3 minutes and then we were sent upstairs where again we walked right up to the desk and were given our Sail and Sign cards. Immediately I checked to see what dinner time we had been assigned to. Yeah!! We would be eating at 6:15 p.m. in the Elation Dining Room…just what I had requested. A quick check of Kent and Laurel’s cards showed that they would be sharing our table so all was well.

One large room was already filled with waiting cruisers and we were directed to a second room of chairs. We settled in expecting a long wait but soon a staff member came and started dismissing us by rows. First we had a picture taken for the Sail and Sign card and then onto the obligatory “welcome aboard” picture. I looked at my watch and we were walking onboard the ship at 11:50…not bad considering we had left our hotel less than an hour ago!

Kent, Laurel & Bob

It was fun to see Kent and Laurel’s reaction as they entered the impressive atrium of the Paradise…they seemed to be in awe of it all! 

Paradise Atrium 

Glass elevators in atrium.

The information we had been handed requested that we wait until after 1:30 to go to our cabins, but we hoped that maybe we could just drop off our carry-ons before heading to lunch. Having been in the forward part of the ship on our last cruise, it was easy to find the cabins although I was a bit surprised to find out how far forward we really were! It was quite a hike from the elevators through the zig-zagging hallway at the front of the ship! Our cabins were the third and fourth from the very front.

Our cabin steward, Yusef, was just finishing up the cabins when we arrived and said it would be fine to drop off our stuff. This was my first glimpse of a porthole cabin and I was surprised at the large “ledge” that was under the two portholes. This area was probably 3’ by 4’ and was easily large enough to sit in. 

Kent and Laurel had an even bigger surprise in their cabin…a flying fish had landed in their porthole and died! He remained with them for the entire cruise. We joked that some night he might end up being the “catch of the day” for dinner!

We wandered around the ship a bit and eventually ended up in the Paris dining room for lunch. Kent made it through the buffet line but the rest of us headed to the back of the dining room for pizza. It was still as good as I remembered and I enjoyed every bite! Besides the pizza, I also got some Caesar salad from the “pizza man”. He prepared it while I waited and it was fresh and tasted wonderful!

The rest of the afternoon we gave Kent and Laurel a tour of the ship and Bob and Kent managed to get in a quick game of shuffleboard while we were on the sports deck. 

I was curious where our table was in the dining room but when we went to investigate, we were told that they were still in the process of putting numbers on the table. The gal we talked to assured us that we would be sharing a table for 8 by the window and that was good enough for me. We had requested seating at a larger table, but I didn’t want to be at one of the round center tables…I wanted to be by the window! I was looking forward to an ocean view while we ate!

Before we knew it, it was time to don our life jackets and take part in the muster drill. I could feel the sweat dripping down my back as they pushed us closer and closer together on deck, but at least the process didn’t last too long. Knowing the ship would be pulling out shortly, Laurel and I conned Bob and Kent into taking the life jackets back to the cabin while we found a good spot for “sail away”.

By the time the guys got back, Laurel and I were at the extreme front of the ship on the sports deck. What a wonderful feeling to be headed out to sea knowing that the week-long cruise stretched out before us. Laurel even spotted two dolphins swimming alongside the ship as we cruised towards the open water.

As Miami slipped away into the horizon, we headed down to our cabins. The stewards were in the process of delivering the luggage and it wasn’t long until all of our bags were safely in our possession. The great thing about a cruise is that you unpack once for the whole week. The cabins on the Paradise have plenty of storage and it’s easy to find a spot to put everything. There are two closets…one is open with a shelf at the top. The other closet has double doors…one side is designed for hanging clothes and the other side has shelves. This is also where the safe is located. The safe is not very large, but we had no trouble fitting our travel documents, my purse and the digital camera inside. Any card with a magnetic strip can be used to lock the safe. I brought along an old Wal-Mart gift card and it worked fine.

I knew “outside cabins” were supplied with bathrobes on the Paradise, but I wasn’t totally sure if the porthole cabins were considered “outside”. They must be since there were two terry cloth robes hanging in the closet. I guess getting the robes wasn’t as big a deal as I thought. Bob never had his on once and I rarely wore mine. The robes were very heavy and were just too hot to wear, especially when I was running my hairdryer.

I had brought along a small hanging shoe holder that I bought at the Dollar Tree and hung this by the desk. It had a coat hanger type thing at the top and I just slipped this through the grate on the light above. The individual pockets were great for storing stuff like hair products, suntan lotion, sunglasses, etc. The desk itself had several drawers for additional storage.

A bowl of sample sized products was sitting on the sink in the bathroom. It contained things like hair conditioner, disposable razors, Rolaids, Listerine breath strips, toothpaste, etc. Since our last cruise on the Paradise, soap dispensers had been installed in the shower…one was for body wash and the other for shampoo. Small bars of Levor 2000 soap were also provided by the sink. The shower was actually just one end of the bathroom. There was a shower curtain and a small metal strip on the floor to keep the water from overflowing. 

Toilets on a cruise ship are unlike anything I have ever seen before. It is not a chemical toilet like on an airplane. The suction toilet flushes with such force that you definitely don’t want to be sitting on it when you push the button! 

Once unpacked, it was time to head up to the Elation dining room for dinner. Our table was located on the port (left) side of the ship and was near the back of the dining room. Our tablemates were a couple from Kentucky and their 16 year old son and also the wife’s sister who was from Minneapolis. As we talked we discovered that the sister had been on the same flight as us from Minneapolis to Miami. Throughout the week we constantly made an effort to engage them in conversation but all that ever developed was small talk about the day’s activities. Usually they just talked among themselves. I was glad that we were traveling with Kent and Laurel. We had a great time at dinner each night!

Our headwaiter was Chiranjeev from India and assistant waiter, Roberto, was from the Philippines. They made sure to learn our first names that night and called us by name from then on.

Following dinner we explored a bit more and then went to karaoke which was held in the Leonardo Lounge. They were just getting started and Jenny, the girl running the show, was having trouble getting people to sign up to perform. Eventually things got underway and we stuck around to hear several of the singers (who were actually pretty good!) 

The Welcome Aboard show was scheduled for 10:30 so our next stop was the Normandie Lounge. Cruise director, Jeff Bronson, chose several participants from the audience and did humorous interviews with them. Not great entertainment, but not bad. Kent and Laurel learned quickly what we had learned from our previous cruise on the Paradise…there are very few good seats in the Normandie Lounge. We decided to make sure we got there early the next night to get good seats for the first musical production show. None of us wanted to watch around a pole or other obstruction.

Afterwards we checked out the midnight buffet in the Paris Restaurant on the Lido deck but ended up just grabbing a slice of pizza instead. The day ended on the outdoor eating area at the rear of the ship with us enjoying the good food, good friends and a beautiful night at sea! Before going to bed we followed the instructions in the Carnival Caper and set our watches back one hour. We were now on Central Daylight Time just like at home!