Our last day at sea was fun. We goofed off mostly, eating too much, packing, playing. The kids did go to Camp a couple of times. Simon actually went for a very short time so that Eric and I could have some alone time. Honestly, by this point, we knew vacation was pretty much done, and we were ready to be on our way home the next day.
Disembarkation was a breeze. We carried off our own luggage so that we didn't have to worry about waiting for our deck to be called or have to search for it in the warehouse. (And it truly was a warehouse of luggage. I wished I had a picture!)
We did arrange for room service the night before, so we had a bite to eat (the last day of chocolate muffins for the boys), and were out of our room by 8:30. We weren't supposed to get into port until 9, but we were there by 8ish. We waited in one of the lounge areas (right outside the Starry Lounge), and by 9:30 they were calling us to self-disembark (it was called by decks). Lots of walking to get off the ship. Down ramps. So much faster then embarkation! Customs consisted of a dog walking past us (the people in front of us had FOOD in their bags and the dog paid close attention to them. They did get pulled aside.), and a desk where a guy looked at us and said, "Welcome back." That was it. Didn't even check passports. From the moment we stepped off the ship until we got into our van? 10 minutes. SO EASY!
And that was our vacation. I desperately want to go again. They kids keep asking to go again. Eric says "No." I think he expected the boys (okay, Simon) to want to be in Camp more. But for the 1st time away from us? I think Simon did quite well.
Will we go on another cruise? If I have anything to say about it, YES!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Day 6-- Freeport
I was prepared for Freeport. Everything that I had read about the port said that it was boring, ugly, and expensive. Unless you did an excursion, then it was fun, ugly, and expensive. Either way, what we saw of Freeport was as follows.
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| Coming in to port. See that black dot on the beach on the left? A tire. |
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| Completely awesome ship with sails that was in port while we were there. |
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| As the Captain is docking us, this is the view from our balcony |
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| Container ship. Pretty neat to see those. We passed this one on Saturday headed back to Baltimore |
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| Hey another ship! |
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| What? Rowboats for their lifeboats? |
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| Good ol' Bahamas Celebration |
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| View from the other side of the ship (starboard) |
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| It's a Celebrity ship in drydock! |
We did end up going ashore just to the port area while the kids were (Simon not happily) in camp. Max's allergies were acting up, and while we did bring some Benedryl for him, I knew it wasn't enough for the remaining time on board. So we went to find something to help him breathe. Alas, the teeny drugstore in port only had cold meds. But I knew the dosing for his size, so we did end up buying it and using it to supplement the Benedryl.
The port area is loud, crowded, and pretty much a waste of time. The store are all ridiculously over-priced even for a port town. A sun dress (in every shop I looked in) was priced $30+. I could get one cheaper on the ship. That didn't smell of patchouli. (if it was anything other than patchouli, I don't want to know!)
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| Our ship at dock |
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| Coconuts! |
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| What ho?! Another Carnival ship! Who is this? |
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| Simon is thrilled to see the whale tail on another ship! |
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| We watched it back all the way in. It's quite impressive how they dock these big things. |
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| It's the Fascination! |
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| They had a medical emergency. No idea what happened |
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| As we were sailing away, I finally saw the sign! |
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| Bye bye Fascination! |
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| Looks better as you are sailing away. |
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| We saw this ship entering Baltimore port as we were leaving, and now again as we were leaving Freeport. I thought MSC had better ships than that.... lol |
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Day 5-- Half Moon Cay
Much like Grand Turk, this post will be mostly pictures. I cannot describe paradise adequately with mere words. However, I'll give you the rundown:
It's a tender port, meaning that you have to wait your turn to get off the ship. Such a complete pain in the butt. Especially since we were slow moving and did not get on the 1st tender like we had intended since we had a cabana. However, we were on tender #4. Which we only had to wait 20 minutes in the Taj Mahal lounge. Surrounded by people that were already drunk. That was lovely.
But we were on the island by 9:30 or so. We got a short ride on an open air bus (just for the cabana people in the morning, open for everyone else after 11, I believe) which took us to #1. Now, everything that I had read about the cabanas said that you did NOT want #1-5. Too close to bars, etc. However, we found it to be perfectly located. Neither of the bars (we were between 2) were very loud. It was nice to have a little music. And we were far enough down the beach that the crowds were not bad at all.
The cabana. Oh heaven. It was worth every single penny. And then some. Stocked with soda, water, fresh fruit, chips, salsa, guacamole, veggies and dip. A table with 4 chairs, a fridge, an ice chest full of ice. 2 lounge chairs, a (cold!) shower, and misting fan (which was broken, but someone came and fixed it right away). Also with 4 floating mats, and snorkel gear (which we did not use). We were at a spot where people were constantly cutting through the "porch" area, but I didn't care. People were quiet for the most part.
Water temp was chilly in the morning, but warmed up. We saw lots of fish. The boys truly loved HMC, and I would be happy to spend a week right there.
Now, the pictures!
It's a tender port, meaning that you have to wait your turn to get off the ship. Such a complete pain in the butt. Especially since we were slow moving and did not get on the 1st tender like we had intended since we had a cabana. However, we were on tender #4. Which we only had to wait 20 minutes in the Taj Mahal lounge. Surrounded by people that were already drunk. That was lovely.
But we were on the island by 9:30 or so. We got a short ride on an open air bus (just for the cabana people in the morning, open for everyone else after 11, I believe) which took us to #1. Now, everything that I had read about the cabanas said that you did NOT want #1-5. Too close to bars, etc. However, we found it to be perfectly located. Neither of the bars (we were between 2) were very loud. It was nice to have a little music. And we were far enough down the beach that the crowds were not bad at all.
The cabana. Oh heaven. It was worth every single penny. And then some. Stocked with soda, water, fresh fruit, chips, salsa, guacamole, veggies and dip. A table with 4 chairs, a fridge, an ice chest full of ice. 2 lounge chairs, a (cold!) shower, and misting fan (which was broken, but someone came and fixed it right away). Also with 4 floating mats, and snorkel gear (which we did not use). We were at a spot where people were constantly cutting through the "porch" area, but I didn't care. People were quiet for the most part.
Water temp was chilly in the morning, but warmed up. We saw lots of fish. The boys truly loved HMC, and I would be happy to spend a week right there.
Now, the pictures!
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| Got up a little late for sunrise... |
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| Simon sleeping in |
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| Can you see the footprints? From spray sunscreen, even after they cleaned the balcony, they were still there... |
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| 1st view of Half Moon Cay! |
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| Captain Morgan's Bar |
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| Can you see the cabanas? |
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| On the tender |
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| Add caption |
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| Our cabana #1 |
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| Always trying to fill up the ocean.... |
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| Simon fell asleep on the walk from the ocean to the cabana. |
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| My view while Simon slept. I had a monkey head drink while he was passed out. Love those roving bar waiters! |
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| Max having a snack and a rest |
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| Beach is exhausting! |
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| Ninja rabbit?! |
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| It was windy and chilly! |
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| The moon |
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