Welcome to St. Maarten! 11-24-15

It is a beautiful morning and it feels good to be warm.  We all decided to get off and go have a look around the port area to let the kids shop for souvenirs.  Our excursion is not until 12:30.  After taking photos and letting the kids buy their souvenirs, we were all soaked from perspiration.  We head back to the ship to change, have lunch and head to the pier to meet our tour.  I had gone to lido looking for a piece of pizza and apparently everyone else did too because they were out.  The kids were told to finish lunch and go meet their own family in their own cabin.  We go back and get our things together and tickets and we are missing Chris.  He also has left his phone in the cabin so we can't text him.  Teresa assumes he is with Kevin and we head out to the pier.  We arrive on the pier and find our tour group when the Kramer's get off the ship and Chris is not with them!  Now we are down to just a few minutes before the tour leaves.  Kevin says he left Chris on Lido going to the deli for a sandwich.  Hmmmmm.  We had just finished eating and he was getting a sandwich?  Bryan and Teresa run back to the ship and take the stairs two at a time.  Teresa tells Bryan if he doesn't see him to go back outside and go on the tour.  Teresa goes to the cabin.  Larry our cabin steward says Chris was there but had just left.  Teresa says she is running down the hall calling his name.  She finds him carrying a plate with two cupcakes just meandering down the hall.  All of us outside are anxiously watching the gangway for them and the girls are saying that he won't get in trouble with Teresa because he is her favorite.  We all laugh and agree.  At the very last minute she comes off the gangway with Chris with her finger pointing and her mouth going.  After they get his tickets and waivers taken care of she takes him aside again and was letting him have it until he finally said "will you please stop yelling at me"?  The group started walking to the pier where the catamaran was and the kids are behind us.  Teresa never uses fowl language with the kids...ever.  She said when she found him she asked him what the *&%# were you thinking and what did he think she meant by go back to the cabin?  Then she said she told him to run because if they missed this tour she had spent $80 each for, he was going to be in even more trouble.  Now is when the picture of this whole event gets funny.  She said he started running with the plate with the cupcakes on it!  She said she turned and yelled at him to put the plate down...on the floor...anywhere and run!  We were all dying laughing as we could all picture him doing that...he doesn't want to give up on the cupcakes!

The catamaran was wonderful and everyone enjoyed the afternoon.  It was fun and relaxing.  We had done this tour before.  They take you to snorkel first (no Shrekie I didn't snorkel) since you can't drink alcohol before the snorkel.  Then they serve rum punch and we headed to watch the planes land over the famous Maho airport beach.  We didn't see any big jets land but did see several take off.  After watching that I have decided never to fly into St. Maarten.  You will see one photo where I caught the plane going straight up to avoid the mountain...yikes!  We then went to a beach where everyone could swim or float on a noodle and then back to where we started with dancing on the deck that everyone enjoyed.  As we walked back to the ship, the sun was starting to set and the Adventure of the Seas that was docked next to us on the starboard side was already leaving.  It was us and the Disney Fantasy still there.  I got some great photos of the full moon from the balcony as we were leaving.

We had an enjoyable dinner and the boys all went to the Red Frog Pub to play the games while the girls went to the Mardi Gras party in the atrium.  They came back with lots of beads then went to meet the boys to play games in the pub.  They have the ring game, foosball and shuffleboard.  They loved playing back there or at least the boys did.  I went to bed since it was a long, hot day and we were in San Juan tomorrow.  I went back to the cabin and straightened up things and got things ready for the morning.  Day 3 is now in the books.

So far we have lost a car, a cell phone and a child....what could be next?  Oh and while on the tour Teresa made some reference to Chris about not following orders and he said "mom, I thought we had moved past that"...the end.

Pat

These wind things were really cool...but nobody there to sell them!

Chris is still breathing!



Paige and Samantha

Lindsay, Sam and Paige

Airport beach

I don't think so....

 

 

Oh no..we are starting to head north

Ring Game

The Kramer's made these stick people of Susan and Kevin
Susan is seen here having wine with Bryan

and...playing shuffleboard in the Red Frog Pub

The mouse ship as we were leaving...

 

Monday, Sea Day 11-23-15

Chris hits the floor in the morning now checking his phone to see if Kevin is up.  He takes off and goes to breakfast with the boys and the rest of us get dressed.  Teresa and Pat are at the gym early each morning and I ignore them because I am averaging about 14,000 steps on my Fitbit.  Teresa joins us for brunch this morning and we can see the kids from where we are seated and Samantha is sitting by herself. 

Everyone has their own agenda today.  Lindsay and I went to the Secret Dance Class with Jaime.  I tried but dropped out and watched.  My brain doesn't work that fast anymore.  Lindsay had fun and it will be a flash dance at the lido deck party tonight so she is excited.  The other adults are at the Serenity Deck trying to stay away from kids.  Sam, Lindsay and I went to the Murder Mystery game after lunch and it was cute.  They must gather clues from staff and in different places on the ship to figure out who committed the murder.  I didn't see Chris all day until it was time to get ready for dinner.

We went to the show tonight but the boys went to the comedy club show and loved it.  We all met at the dining room and Teresa brought her bottle of wine to dinner.  Oh and going back, my friend Alis Wah whom we met on this very ship when it was the Destiny in 1998, sent me a bottle of champagne and a box of delicious cookies from Cherry on Top which is the sweet shop on board the ship.  She is currently on the Carnival Paradise.

We all enjoyed dinner and wine and desert.  The boys all took off after eating and Teresa, Pat, Lindsay and I  went to Lido for the deck party.  Sam and Paige eventually came up there too.  It was so windy up on deck 10 where I went to take some photos, I thought I would get blown over.  It was hard to hang onto the rail and take photos too.  The kids had a great time and I left them up there with mom.   I went back to the cabin to get ready for our first port tomorrow.  Day 3 is complete.

Serenity Deck

Clowning in the Liquid Lounge

Susu and Kevin join us for dinner!

 

Jaime leading the flash dance

 

Sunday, Sea Day 11-22-15

It was every man for himself this morning.  Teresa and Pat went to the gym and the Kramer's were up and had breakfast before we were ready.  Carnival has a new thing on sea days.  Brunch is served in the main dining room from 8 AM until 1 PM.  The menu has everything from your typical breakfast fare to steak or bacon mac and cheese.  The kids and I went to brunch.  Paige had French toast coated in Frosted Flakes...it sounds sickening sweet but was actually quite good.  Lindsay had a bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, tomato, onion and capers and it was also delicious and I had the eggs benedict which was cooked perfectly.  I can't remember what Chris had and that could be because it was gone before I had a chance to see it.  We prefer breakfast in the dining room since you are served instead of doing the buffet and having to juggle your food and find a table. 

We climbed the stairs from deck 3 to deck 7 where our cabin was.  This cruise I was determined to help preserve my weight loss and take the stairs as often as physically possible or as long as the knees would hold out.  Our cabin was in a great location on the starboard side just off of the aft elevators and stairs.  Two decks up was lido and two down was the main promenade area with the bars, casino, shops, etc.

We all purchased the new Carnival Hub app for $5 for the entire cruise you could text anyone else on the ship that also had purchased it which was a great way for us to find each other.  It only worked with the kids when they took their phones with them.  This app works in airplane mode so no charges from your own carrier...very nice.  It also had the daily activities on it so you could look for something to do and if you flagged it, it would notify you when it was time to go there...very cool.  It also had your account information on there so I could keep track of what the kids were spending since I gave them charging privileges this time.  It would tell you what time you had to be back on board on port days and what the ship's time was.  It was very impressive for $5 (well $20 for me and the kids) and we used it a lot.

The kids took off after meeting up with the Kramer's kids, Teresa and Pat went to the pool Serenity area which is adults only and very much quieter than the main pool with screaming kids.  I tried to clean up the clothes in the cabin and went and pressed their formal clothes for tonight.  I met up with the adults around lunch.  We all had Guy's Burgers again and a cocktail although Daina and Bryan were way ahead of us in the cocktail category.  The other gown ups went to play bingo and/or trivia and enjoyed more cocktails.  I went to the slot tournament but didn't even get enough points to get on the board...bummer!  I played for awhile but didn't manage anything but did have a notice in my room about free drinks.  I took it to the casino desk and they gave me a card and it was free drinks for me while gambling...very nice except I was only in there a couple times the whole cruise.  Now that I don't smoke, it was icky to be in there and you had to walk through the middle of it to get from the back of the ship to the atrium.  The kids walked through it all the time to get to the video arcade as well as the shops. Ran into the adults and it appears that Daina has lost her cell phone.  That tends to sober one up very quickly.  I told her not to worry that someone would turn it in to Guest Services and lo and behold that is what happened.  Geez, in two days we have lost a car and a cell phone...what would be next?

We got back to start getting ready for dinner since it was formal night.  It takes awhile for 4 of us to get showered and dressed in limited space.  I got the girls dressed and they went across the hall and mom fixed their hair.  Chris usually loves being dressed up but since the Kramer boys weren't wearing suits he wasn't too happy about it. My first hint that having friends on board was going to change the dynamics of the cruise with Chris.  The kids all dressed and out and the girls went to go get their photos taken...they love doing this when they cruise and usually Chris will join in.  He was off with the boys and wasn't interested.  We did all get together in the atrium area to try to get some group photos and Chris was not smiling and generally not happy.  Needless to say the group photos did not turn out well and the ones with Chris and the girls either but the girls had great ones taken.

We had a wonderful dinner with almost all of us getting lobster and some more than one.  It was fun and the wine was good, the warm chocolate melting cake even better!  After dinner we went and changed into more comfortable clothes.  Chris went off with Kevin and Lindsay and Samantha went off together while Paige, Pat, Teresa and I went to the Alchemy bar area to listen to Deja Vu.  We had a great time there.

We text the kids and tell them to be back at 11:30PM and they all showed up on time...amazing!  Day 2 is now in the books.

Embarkation Day

Teresa went to run on the beach and Pat went to the gym.  I went with the kids while they ate and I got coffee.  It is very overcast and threatening rain this morning.  We can see the ship from our hotel room so the kids are excited.  There are four ships here today...The Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Valor, Disney Fantasy and NCL Spirit.  I am trying to get the kids dressed and repacking when Teresa calls my cell and says she has "lost her car" and she needs me to find Bryan to come get her so they can go look for it.  This is our first of what would be many of the week's laughable (albeit later) events.  They were back in a short period of time and they located where she left the car quickly.

Now it is raining rather hard and we are trying to wait it out so that we can load up the luggage and head to the port.  We finally get it all done and head to the port but although we can see the ship, we can't seem to get there from where we are.  While trying to find the correct road we find the Ghostbuster hearse parked in front of a warehouse building in the port.  Teresa makes a U Turn and we go back to see it.  The thing is unlocked too and we all had fun checking it out and taking photos.



Who ya gonna call?

 

Our first group photo on the ship

 


We are on the ship!
 

 




Serious energy Jaime!

Rain, rain go away...
 

Alchemy Bar and our Martini Tasting

He never spilled a drop!

They were all yummy except the Manhatten....ugh
 

Our first towel animal
 

We manage to get on the right road and dropped the luggage and then head inside.  The kids and I are in one cabin and are in a different area for boarding because I am a Platinum cruiser with Carnival.  This affords us the opportunity to board the ship first.  This port is very efficient anyway and there was not a huge delay for the others in boarding after us and soon we were all together checking things out.  The kids were off and running and the adults settled into the Red Frog Bar on Lido and all of us had our first Guy's Burger....and they are delicious!  Soon it was time for sail away and the party began with Jaime, the CD leading the dancing.  I know Jaime since she was on the 31 day cruise I did on the Carnival Splendor around South America in 2009.  She has enough enthusiasm for the entire ship.  It started to rain as we were heading out of the port and got very windy as well. 

We all went to our cabins shortly thereafter and started unpacking luggage and getting things settled before it was time for dinner.  We are all assigned to the same dining table on second seating so that makes the kids very happy.  Great food the first night and everyone enjoyed it and the warm chocolate melting cake was awesome!  We all went in different directions after dinner with Teresa, Pat, Paige and I finding a band playing called Deja Vu.  They were great and lots of fun so we tended to migrate to where they were playing the balance of the cruise.

The day ended with everyone excited that we are finally beginning this adventure.  We are doing some serious moving with the wind and it made for great sleeping.  Cruise Day 1 is in the books.