BabyMoon Part Two: Days at Sea

For the record -- being pregnant has slowed me down tremendously.

I'm usually considered the energizer bunny which is why laid-back beach vacations haven't appealed to me in the past.

I would get bored.

As much as Brad doesn't like to admit it - he's a little bit like me too.

He likes being busy.

So, this trip was different for us and you know what?

WE LIKED IT!!

We had 2-days at sea, which meant we were on the boat all day long with no ports of call.

I really wasn't too worried about what we would do.

I was happy with working out, laying by the pool, eating, taking in some of the entertainment on the ship and most of all SLEEPING!

I will say this about Carnival though.

A lot of their daytime activities aboard the ship were/are ultra cheesy.

For instance - a hairy chest contest?

No thanks.

They did have cooking demonstrations and line dancing classes for people who weren't into the cheese but sadly we didn't participate in any of them.

We did take in a few of the art gallery shows they had on board though.

Other than that we spent our days basking in the sun.

As I mentioned in my last post, our stateroom was closest to the adult pool at the back of the boat.

There were 2 pools towards the front for kids and families.

Even so, the adult pool would get jam packed by lunch.

We chose to take a dip in and then head back to our chairs on the upper deck.

It was much cooler up there because of the breeze from the ship moving.

Around 3 o'clock or so we would head back to the room and I would nap and Brad would either do the same or watch a movie.

Then, we would get cleaned up and ready for our dinner.

We chose to do 'anytime dining' versus a set time for dinner each night.

We like to be flexible and generally got to dinner around 6 or 6:30pm.

They had two 'formal' nights on the boat and the rest were considered cruise casual.

We chose to look nice for every meal, but I was shocked at what some people considered 'cruise casual'.

I won't get into that - but will say that they didn't put too much effort into.

I understand that you're on vacation but there are several dining alternatives on the boat and if you wish to show up in your cargo shorts and Harley Davidson t-shirts then you might rethink eating in the 'dining' room.

Just Sayin..

This was one of our cruise casual nights.

The night after our hot day in Key West.

I was worn out!

Each night during dinner there was a 'show'.

This was a bit much for us too, but the kids really enjoyed it.

In this particular photo they had dancers.

Brad was going to get up and participate but decided to stay at the table and get his dance on.

HAHA!

We also chose to sit by ourselves each night for dinner instead of joining in with other groups.

We actually had to wait for 15 or 20-minutes a couple of nights to make this happen but to us it was important.

I think any other time we might have been all about meeting up with other couples and groups but this trip was really about us.

That, my friends..

I REALLY LIKED!

As for the food on the cruise?

Pretty good.

They had options for everyone.

I felt that the food in the dining room was a ton better than in some of the alternative dining areas though.

And, don't think that we didn't order dessert every single night.

If I can't have wine, I'm having dessert!!

After dinner we would generally take a walk around people watch.

In this picture it was Flag Day.

I thought this was a nice touch giving that there were people from various countries on board.

A few nights we even took in some of the shows.

The had a comedy club that was quite good and their main shows in the big ballroom?

FANTASTIC!

I'm pretty particular about this and these did NOT disappoint!!!

Their main singer, Kathleen Fehrle, is amazing!

I made a point to Google her when I got home.

Overall, the shows were really good.

The music, costuming choreography, and talent.

Their 'Ticket to Ride' Beatles tribute show was by far the best.

After all that I hate to say it but we were generally in bed by 10:30pm.

Our latest night was 11:45pm.

Sad?

Not really!

I LOVED it!

Another thing I did love about Carnival is that they made up your room twice a day.

Fresh towels, turn down service, maid service and each night our steward would create towel characters for us.

We really got a kick out of the 'cheese' factor of this too.

We even posed for pictures with them!!

LOL!

By this point in our trip we were getting use to 'cruising'.

The more people we talked to the more we started to realize cruising can really become addictive I guess?

People were on the 7th, 8th, even 9th cruises?

I'm not talking people in their 70's but couples with teenage kids in the 40's and 50's who said they go every year with different friends and families.

Of course, Carnival isn't the only choice when it comes to cruising.

There are a lot of different lines that appeal to a lot of different types of people.

Who knows, maybe we'll become 'cruisers'??

But, we know it will be a few years before we take another one.

Our next one might even be a Disney cruise!

Time will tell.....

Don't get bored yet friends..

Parts 3 and 4 will detail our ports of call.

Grand Cayman and Jamaica!!

Stay tuned for more!!