Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Cruise Chronicles, Part 2

So, when last we left off, we had turned in for the night. Friday morning we woke up, and had breakfast in the Coconut Grove Grill where we sat with an ocean view. We ate eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit and I had hot tea.



After breakfast we walked around, took photos and took in the ship. Little Man loved looking at the waves. One of the neat things about the Fantasy line of Carnival cruise ships is that each one has a theme (and you know how much I love a theme). The Fascination's theme is Hollywood. So there were neat things to see like the Tara Library (very cool for me as a fan of Gone With the Wind), the Diamonds are Forever nightclub, and the Passage to India Lounge, for example. After looking around we headed back to our stateroom and consulted our Carnival Capers for the day. Every night on the ship a Carnival Caper for the next day is left on the bed after it is turned down. It lists all activities for the next day, dining options, port information (if applicable), child care information, shopping information, and lots more. On Friday, Hubby went to a golf clinic for an hour, Little Man went to Camp Carnival, and I went to the gym and enjoyed an ocean view workout.






We took a photograph of the lady in green down by the stairs with her
and her boyfriend on each of their three cameras.




Camp Carnival was one of Little Man's favorite parts of the trip. After registering the first day, the staff gives you a pager for the rest of the cruise and an itinerary of all the activities so you can plan. You drop-in whenever you like and pick up when you like. They have A-B-Seas time when they read books for their nightly themes, crafts, snacks, movies, and the staff is really fun and friendly. They remembered Little Man Friday morning after having only spent an hour with him the night before. And for older kids they have a nightclub just for them, a computer lab, and a whole separate wing. Plus, the toys were great.
After picking Little Man up from Camp Carnival an hour later we all headed to the pool, which was fun since the sun was shining bright and the pool was saltwater and Little Man thought it tasted like potato chips :) Then we went to eat lunch where we ate outside with the sea air. I had chicken strips, fries, part of a burger and lemonade. After our bellies were full we went back to the room and changed, and then all laid down for a nap.
I got up and headed for a massage about an hour later and afterwards headed back to the room to start getting ready for Formal Night. We dressed and then took Little Man to Camp Carnival where he had dinner with his friends and an evening of undersea fun. We headed to the Captain's Welcome Reception where free drinks and hors d'oeuvres were passed and the Captain was introduced along with the other executive officers onboard. About half an hour later we went to our dining room to wait to enter for dinner. There are 2 dining rooms on the Fascination...the Imagination and the Sensation. Each has two seating times, 5:45 and 8:15. We chose the earlier seating time. Each day you have the same table and the same waiters. The waiters try to get you to order lots. For formal night I ordered a Black Tiger shrimp cocktail appetizer that arrived looking like a little garden with lettuce, cocktail sauce, a lemon wedge and carrot shavings. Hubby ordered that and some stuffed mushrooms that I tried one of too. For dinner we both ordered the lobster tail and shrimp entree accompanied by porcini mushroom risotto. Our table companions, from Texas, told us that on one of their first cruises they went with a neighbor friend who ordered 5 lobster dinners. She ate three at the table and saved the other 2 for breakfast the next morning (Blech...remember the rooms don't have fridges or microwaves). Our table mates weren't dressed for Formal Night (you are asked to dress in formal wear, but not required), but they were friendly and funny. And they liked to eat, which is always nice, I didn't have to feel bad when I helped Hubby eat the risotto from his second lobster dinner :) Yes, that's right, both the gentleman from the other family and Hubby both ordered another. After we finished our entrees we had coffee and molten chocolate cake with a little pot of vanilla ice cream on the side...yummy!

After dinner, we needed to walk off our food a little bit so we had our photograph taken, and then headed to the casino. We watched a woman have a complete meltdown at the roulette wheel after she lost her money, her husband wouldn't give her anymore and she didn't have any change to buy anymore chips. She yelled at the dealer and then was herded away by her embarrassed spouse. I sat down, apologized beforehand for not being an exciting player, and the others at the table who were still in shock over her behavior said she had just lost over $200. While Hubby watched, I bought $20 in $1 chips and played roulette. While I was up by about $15 at one point I walked away with $2 more than I had started with, and that was fine with me. We headed back to the room to change, since we had checked on Little Man and he wasn't ready to leave, and then went back to get him. He was happy when he got back to the room and there was a new towel animal, a cookie, and more candy. And so we turned in for the night very tired, but all of us with smiles on our faces.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have remembered everything in great detail and I feel as though I was there with you. I think Carnival is the best of all the cruise lines and I love that Tara Library!

It's so good that they have the camp for the kids as that gives you and hubby a bit of time to yourselves. How great this cruise sounds. So glad you had fun and the photo's were great. Especially of you and hubby.

Anonymous said...

my,my...what a nice looking couple! Its great that you had something to get all dressed up for..and your shoes..too cute! The pictures make that ocean look absolutely divine..I always was a sucker for an ocean view. The food makes it sound like a little bit of heaven. Glad to hear Little Man had plenty to keep him entertained as well. Looking forward to the next installment!
Love,as always, Mom