Down and Dirty

1st time cruiser, I had a really brilliant review I was perhaps a 3rd of the way through writing, with tons of neat little comments and notes.  Then it disappeared and said "hey, dude, you need to activate your account first."  So now I'm going down and dirty and canning the prose.

Waited too late to book parking so missed on on Galveston Park N Cruise which was highly recommended.  Went to Lighthouse parking, they were fine, no issues.

Embarkation was a snap due to priority status afforded by booking a suite (we booked a suite as we traveled with our Special Needs/Down Syndrome child and figured we might need extra room.)  RM was ready when we went up at 2pm and dropped off our carry on's (after having a couple fruity drinks with umbrellas on Deck 3/Atrium bar.  Excellent.

Mustered on Deck 4 Sapphire Dining Rm.  Easy Breezy.

Sail away for us rookies was an awesome event.  Getting drink at Blue Iquana or Red Frogs on Deck 10 was no issue.  Excellent drinks, fast service. May be a novice at cruising, but not at getting drinks.  Over next few days, I timed the waiters that would come around on Deck 11, every time we ordered, we had our drinks back in 10-14 minutes every time.  

Had room service 1st night in order to just chill, get some rest.  Excellent chicken tenders, Firecracker (fried) shrimp, and a Reuben. Yes indeed.

Had continental breakfast for starters 5 out of 7 days, so they'd bring coffee, yogurt, croissants, bagels, cream cheese and some fruit or melon.  Croissants were light, flaky, bagels were just right and not heavy as paper weights.

Sea Day Brunch in Blush isn't to be missed.  Steak and Eggs, Smoked Salmon, Cheddar Cheesy grits.. yes indeed...  Also ordered hash browns and rec'd 2 little round deep fried versions, whatever (we didn't let them go to waste)

Guys Burgers are really all that.  Never had to wait (but didn't go at the super peak of rush hour either).  Of course, they cook like a 100 at a time.. Condiments were always full for us.  

We only had short waits at the pizza joint to (in fact, most times, we just cruised by and grabbed a few plates of cheese and or pepperoni.  Super thin crust.  Nice.

I ate at Bonsai twice, would likely skip next go round.

Saw a few long lines at buffets but wow, what choices.  All the folks talking about lack of choices and blah blah blah.. believe them at your own peril.

Ate 3 times in Sapphire MDR, excellent service, tasty food, if you really like something (like the fried oysters which were out of this world) better order a bunch of it, as they are apparently a for profit business.

Folks are sure right about the casino being smoky, but that didn't stop me from spending time there.  It's easier to get drinks in the casino by going to the bar, unless you can make a connection with a waiter/waitress.. A few times, one of the guys from our MDR team was hustling drinks in the casino, Marco, he got me drinks in a pretty good hurry.

We really enjoyed some of the DJ work, the Violin Trio, and even the hokey Country Duo.  We skipped shows.

The suite, 7279 was very nice with plenty of room, our Cabin Steward, Carlos, took care of us very well.

We were right by the elevators and never heard much.  Elevators got busy at various crunch times.

There were 2 times we needed to go to Customer Service.  I noticed some long lines a few times, so I had this idea, I wouldn't get in the long lines, I would keep my eye our for shorter ones.  This brilliant plan worked.  Excellent customer service on each occasion.

We never encountered a single crew member who wasn't outgoing, friendly, and in full Customer Service mode.

Carnival would be well served to enforce a few rules here and there, judging by the full body tatted up no shirt wearing dude who was sitting at the Casino bar at prime time around 7PM one night.  Yes, I got that sweet boys picture for proof.

If you've read a few comments about sewage smell here and there, yes, it's a thing.  Basically it is venting issues that arise in the plumbing world (sewage gas has to go somewhere, and sometimes not where it is supposed to). I imagine the number one maintenance issue on the ship is plumbing, usually you walked through an area and hopefully passed through quickly.   Interestingly, when the smell was present in a hallway or area, I did not hear people whining and moaning about it, guess I was lucky.  The maintenance guys are fairly prompt too.  Like when I accidentally flushed a wash cloth down the toilet, they showed up quick to avert whatever disaster I was close to causing.  

The ship was rocking and rolling much of the time, fortunately, we kind of liked it.  Rougher seas, some high winds, plus those folks keep their foot on the pedal pretty good.

We did Nachi Cocum in Cozumel and it was very nice.  We did Little French Key in Roatan, and the reviews are true.  Go snorkeling.  (Skipped excursions in Belize)

If we didn't have priority embark/disembark, we definitely would have done Faster to the Fun.  No question.

Also, please note, I did in fact meet.. a very special... Diamond Guy!  You should have seen the glowing aura around him.

Booking our next cruise soon, again on the breeze.