Sunglasses and Umbrella Drinks

Temporary Hiatus

2012-01-01T19:23:00.000-06:00

It's with the heaviest of hearts that I even have to make this post...

Our dear, beloved grandma passed away peacefully last Friday morning. She was an extraordinary woman and her absence has left the largest of holes in our home, our lives and our hearts.

It's going to be a little while before I can get back to writing this (I'm just getting back to catching up on my work), but I promise, like always, it will get done if for no other reason, so my family and I can look back on the journeys and adventures we all shared and remember the best of times.

I hope all of you had wonderful holidays and have a prosperous new year, and I'm forever looking forward to the adventures 2012 will hold for all of us.

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 10)

2011-12-04T21:09:00.001-06:00

Warning: picture heavy!

We woke up at 6:30 am and started getting ready for our shoreexcursion. Super early for vacation, but we had a big day ahead of us and we needed to get an early start! We were up so early that we even got to see the sunrise up on deck (something I don't think we've ever done!).

We had a quick breakfast on Lido of pastries for me andan omelet for Stephanie. There were heavily long lines inside but shorter lines at the grill, which was surprising given how early it was. I guess we weren't the only ones rushing to our shore excursion. We actually raninto Mom as we were finishing our breakfast, but we had to run down to the Ivanhoe to get ourtender tickets. The Ivanhoe was packed. P-A-C-K-E-D. To the brim. Platinum status didn't really matter...we'd debark with our tour, which would take us on a tour of the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich (pronounched shue-nan-two-nick). I think the reason the theater was so packed was that EVERYONE takes tours in Belize. There's not really much to do at the port area (well, there used to be not much there when we last visited in 2005. This time, we discovered a few bars at the port, but still...nothing but shops and bars) and Belize isn't the safest port. It's not a place you want to tour on your own and though we tend to do our tours through the ship, if we were to make a list of ports of call where we'd feel comfortable taking a private tour or picking one up from a native at the pier, Belize would be towards the bottom of that list. Anyways. Our tour number was called around 8:30 and when we finally got onthe tender, Stephanie realized she lost her camera somewhere. It's always something, isn't it? Nothing we could do about it at that point. We certainly weren't going to turn back and miss our tour. I told her she should check in with the purser when we got back, but she was mega bummed she'd have to tour the Mayan ruins for the first time without a camera.

The tender ride was about 20 minutes and was VERY bumpy. Theypacked us in like sardines and I imagine if I were prone to sea sickness, I'd probably have felt it on this ride. It was certainly a far cry from the quick, calm tendering process we had in Grand Cayman.

We were quickly herded into a line for our tour when we got off the tender and ended up being the last people on our bus, leading to us being split up- Stephanie at the front of the busand me in the back next to the bathroom. By a man that kept coughing. For the twohour bus ride to Xunatunich. Sigh. Yech. Next time, we'll insist on being on the next bus (there were *many* busses running this tour, so it wouldn't have been a problem). Because let me tell you- being separated from Stephanie aside? You don't want to be next to the bathroom on a Belizean tour bus with a bunch of people who just stuffed themselves silly at breakfast for two and a half hours.

Our tour bus had three guides- Amalia, Jake and Carla- who were just absolutelyfantastic and kept the ride interesting with many facts about the areas we were driving through. I thought it was fascinating because I love seeing how other people in other cultures and countries live in their day-to-day lives. I think it's important that everyone get some perspective like that at some point in their travels and there's no more eye-opening place to do so than Belize. The country, as beautiful as it is in its countryside, is just so poor in so many areas. I've said this before, but nothing will make you so thankful for the life you have than a drive through some of these areas.

When we reached the site, we received a warning from our guides not to buy anything from the vendors outside the site because they'd hawk us, and as we left the bus, the guides gave us cold, bottled water to take with us. Ohhhh how we'd need this later! We took a hand-cranked boatacross the river (a minute or so ride), and what an experience that was! This little rickety hand-cranked raft carries cars and dozens of people and doesn't break! Boggles my mind!

From the landing site, we were put in vans for the ride up to the ruins- a mile or so- andthen hiked up another 3,000 yards or so to the site. From there, Jake took usfrom site to site to explain each one. That was the thing about this tour- it was very much a guided tour and our guides were taking us from site to site to site. It's not a kind of tour where you're dropped off to explore at your leisure. That said... I ran off to take pictures (not too far from our guides, of course...just far enough ahead that I could get some unobstructed pictures before the rest of our group caught up). Most of these structures were from the Maya Classic Era (200-900 AD- thanks, Wikipedia) and all this history and culture...it's so special to experience. Really. If you do anything on a Western Caribbean cruise, visit a Mayan ruins site. Xunantunich, Tulum, Altun Ha, any of them. It's really something special.

And after a tour of the grounds? We got the opportunity (this was completely optional) to climb that big daddy of ruins at this site- El Castillo. I don't know how high El Castillo was then, but Wikipedia now tells me that El Castillo is the second tallest structure in Belize at 130 feet, or around 13 stories high. Pictures don't accurately convey this baby's height and it doesn't *sound* that tall (now, it boggles my mind more that I work on the 26th floor of my building, which is like *two* El Castillo's high), but when you're climbing it? Mannnnn. Stephanie didn't want to climb it at first, but I was intent on doing it and I don't think she wanted to be waiting for me on the bottom. Here's the thing- I really don't know my physical limitations (well, I know I won't be swinging on ropes anytime soon, but beyond that...). If you put a challenge in front of me, I'm going to do it, regardless of if I think I can or not. Stephanie is much more pragmatic than I. She knows that if she gets to the top and her leg hurts, she's still going to have to come back down. I climb up not thinking about how I'll feel and not thinking about coming back down. And, you know, Stephanie has a thing about heights whereas I only fear heights if I'm in an airplane. But she came with me and we climbed it together (some people did stay at the bottom, some people dropped off as we were climbing and I'd say about 40% of our tour went all the way to the top). This climb was no joke and was *incredibly* treacherous, and I'd even say dangerous at points. There are no handrails anywhere and the parts that are stairs instead of straight elevations are steep and slick. It'd be incredibly easy to fall off and harm yourself really bad if you weren't paying attention to where you were going and putting all your energy into what you're doing. But then...then we were at the top and it was *such* a proud moment. And I just sat there...staring off towards Guatemala and guzzling that (not so cold anymore) bottled water...and it was all worth it. And then I had to get down. Climbing up was one feat. Trying to navigate those steep, slick, rocky steps down? Yeah I thought I was going to die. I was legitimately considering sitting my ass down and scooting my way down because surely that would be safer. In the end, Stephanie had to hold my hand. The entire way down. Climb safely, kids. Always have a buddy. In the end, I'm *so* glad I did it, but I'm not sure it's anything I'd be quick to do again. The view is simply gorgeous, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. And scary. Xunantunich down. Up next? Tulum? Altun Ha? I want to see (and climb) them all. I'll just take some Advil first.

We made our way back to the drop off area, where there were bathrooms and a small shop (we were encouraged to peruse, but certainly not pressured). We were loaded back into the same rickety vans that drove us up to the site and left off back at that hand-cranked boat to take us back across the river, past the craft peddlers, and onto our air-conditioned tour bus.

Lunch was included in our tour, so after we left the site, it was a ~15 minute ride to therestaurant where they were serving our lunch. We had chicken, rice and beans, coleslaw, fried plantains and our choice of soft drinks. I normally stay away from meat and poultry with bones in it, but that climb made me *hungry* and in that moment, nothing tasted better. Really. This food was fantastic. I bought a few bottles ofhot sauce at the restaurant and tried the cashew wine (a local product), but it wasn't my kind of thing.

We headed back onto the bus for another 2+hours back to the port. Stephanie and I headed out to the bus as soon as we finished eating. Why? No same seats rule and we were intent on sitting together and towards the front this time. They asked us to fill out comment cards so they could improve the tour and these guides? They didn't even bring up tipping. That earned them an extra tip from us, but I think most people probably stiffed them. If you enjoy your tours, please tip your guides. It's how they make their livings and if you enjoyed your tour, chances are it was in large part thanks to them.

Did you know that there's a large Amish population in Belize? We didn't, either, until our guides told us and we came across them on our drive back!

They cut it close getting us back to the ship, though. Back on board was 4:15 and we got back tothe pier at 4:00. We nearly ran through the port area only to find a line ~300people deep (at least) for the tender. When we'd asked the purser, they said our platinum status would allow us to bypass the lines from the ship AND to the ship, but when we tried to get platinum tendering, we were only told to get in line with everyone else. So much for platinum appreciation. We got on a tender around 4:45 and were backon board around 5:00 pm. We found Mom who was totally freaked out that we weregoing to be left. I wish there was a way for groups separated on tours tocontact each other (besides international calling via cell phones) because this is the second time this has happened (the first time being the year before when we were late coming back from a tour in Costa Rica).

This evening was our second formal night, so when we got back to the room, we found petit fours waiting in our room. Stephanie showered and got ready and Mom took me upstairs for a snackand ice cream to cool off. I took a quick and hugely refreshing showerwhen we got back and got ready for formal night, but the entire process was so rushed because we had gotten back so late.

Dinner tonight was tasty but disappointing. The pastastarter sizes are incredibly shrinking. My chateaubriand was overcooked anddried out but that bearnaise sauce? Still ever delcious. Stephanie says she's "all beefed out." She's always been more of a chicken girl anyways.

Baked Eggplant with Mozzarella Cheese (served on Romesco sauce and green pea fondue)

Penne Siciliana - Starter Portion (durum wheat pasta tossed with a sauce of eggplant, zucchini, plum tomatoes, cream, Pecorino cheese and Italian herbs)

Chilled Creamy Bing Cherry Soup

Green Bean and Roma Tomatoes (garnished with tender greens, tossed in vinaigrette dressing)

Grilled Flat Iron Steak from American Choice Beef (served with vegetables of the day and red bliss potatoes)

Chateaubriand with Sauce Bearnaise (sliced, grilled beef shoulder tender)

Amaretto Cake (almond flavored chocolate cake)

Baked Alaska (vanilla sponge with assorted ice cream and baked with meringue

After dinner, we headed to see tonight’s show, Far From Over, was better than the first one, but notsee-this-twice good. The pre-show was better than the actual show. No real wowfactor. Good, not great show. I really think I just have unrealistic expectations that each show will be like Ticket to Ride or Rock Down Broadway (still on a two-person cruisade to bring this back!).

After the show, we changed and went to watch Toy Story III on the big screen(where we discovered the popcorn was free). I grabbed some pizza and munched while watching, and then we wentback to the room to watch Nancy Grace before falling asleep. I was exhausted (and mega sore from that climb at the ruins), but we only had one more port left and I was fully intent on enjoying it.

Today's Lido dinner menu (we were out in Belize during lunch- sorry!):

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 9)

2011-12-03T20:48:00.001-06:00

I woke up around 10ish. Stephanie and Mom went walking on thetrack and woke me up with chocolate milk. They know me well. There was carpet being layed in the hallwayoutside our room and it smelled like turpentine, but I suppose it's nice that the ship is constantly being renovated and fixed. Anyways. We all went to breakfast at Rosie’s and they had these BLT quiches that Stephanie, to this day, does not stop talking about. We saw them a few weeks ago on the Dream, too, so they definitely aren't exclusive to the Valor. And here's a tip I've probably shared before but I'll share again: if you're not an omelet person (like me), but you don't want powdered scrambled eggs, they'll make you eggs nearly any way you want them. Scrambled? Over easy? No problem. Cool, huh?

After breakfast, Mom and grandma went...somewhere to do something on the ship...and Stephanie and I went out into Cozumel, where we'd already been docked for hours. The beauty of visiting ports you've been to numerous times before? Familiarity eventually leads to lackadaisical days where you can sleep in and then go out to leisurely explore. So Stephanie and I went commando into Cozumel. Not literally commando. You know. As in no plans, just play it by ear commando because at this point, it’s mostly all beenthere/done that for us. We were docked with the Grand Princess, Carnival Elation andImagination (which was at the other pier).

We did a little shopping and then we headed to the coffee shop on the pier. Why? FREE WI-FI. I grabbed a white chocolatemocha ($4) and they say one drink gets you one hour of wi-fi...but it's really unlimited once you have that password. So I checked in on the news and with my friends. If you have an iPhone, a program like TextFree runs on wi-fi and also has dialing capabilities, so you can make phone calls on wi-fi. Probably cheaper than calling home any other way. Snaps for free wi-fi and surprisingly good white chocolate mocha's.

Stephanie and I walked around for a bit...shopping and just kind of hanging around. We bought some vanilla at Los CincoSoles because we have to buy vanilla every time we're by Los Cinco Soles (it's cheap for pure vanilla and it's fantastic. And when we were all shopped out, we headed to Fat Tuesday’s for drinks.

After we got our cerveza on, Stephanie went back to theship and I stayed on the pier and waited for Mom, who wanted to do a little shopping. I saw our room steward, Three, who was just always super nice...and told me not tojump in the ocean. Wasn't in the plans, friend.

Mom and I did a little bit of shopping, checking in in some jewelry stores, the pharmacy and grabbing another bottle of vanilla. The sun was, like, mega direct and I was burning pretty fast, so we went backto the ship around 2:45.

I met up with Stephanie at Serenity and we went to lunchon Lido before going swimming. Every couple days, they'll have cupcakes at the dessert station. They aren't Crumbs or Magnolia gourmet cupcakes, but they are super, super good. And they had tiramisu cups. Always a yum.

After swimming, we went to check the dinner menu for tonight and we didn’t likeit, so Mom went up to the supper club to make reservations. They were able toaccommodate us on such short notice rather easily, despite a busy restauranttonight. Maybe being platinum helped? Anyways, we got ready early and went outside to watch the sailaway andsunset before taking grandma back to the room for her nap and heading to dinner.

The supper club tonight was excellent. They find ways to outdothemselves every time. Service was spectacular and food was superb. The amuse bouchewas a spiced chilled tomato soup, which was like a viscous, tasty ketchup. The beefcarpaccio was fantastic, but could have used some olive oil (which they normally offer, but didn't for whatever reason. I didn't bother asking). The French onion soup was thebest soup I’ve ever had. Incredibly tasty, hint of sweetness, very velvety andrich. The filet, though, was a bit dry and overdone on the outside. I surrendered to thedessert. I couldn’t palate the banana one and I just had to throw in the towel. You win, chocolate sampler. You win.

The meat presentation tray

Spiced Tomato Soup Amuse Bouche

Another Amuse Bouche

Brioche and Spread Tray

Beef Carpaccio (Sliced raw beef tenderloin with shaved Parmesan cheese and marinated Mache lettuce

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Black tiger shrimp with American cocktail sauce)

Selection of International Cheeses

Baked Onion Soup

Sliced, Sun-Ripened Beef Steak Tomato (with gorgonzola crumbles)

Classic Caesar Salad (hearts of romaine lettuce, traditionally prepared)

Broiled Filet Mignon (9oz. for the true gourmet)

Bearnaise sauce

Surf and Turf (seared lobster tail and grilled filet mignon)

Broiled New York Strip Loin Steak (14oz. of the favorite cut for steak connoisseurs)

Cappuccino

Selection of Homemade Sherbets

Cheesecake with Hazelnut Biscuit

Chocolate Cake with Bitter Chocolate Pate

We went back to the room to change after dinner because my shoes were killing me and I was already barefoot. Someone came in to fix our shower, which Iguess was broken (which I didn’t notice when I showered today, but snaps for proactivity) and then Stephanie and I watched ModernFamily for awhile. The ship is rocking really hard. Like...drawers are moving kind of hard.I don’t remember waves like this in a long time. Stephanie wanted to see Quest,so we went to the Ivanhoe only to realize it was being heldin the Eagle Lounge. By the time we got there, it was finishing up.

We stayed fora bit of Superstar Live, which is so fun and somewhat innovative, and even has a differentdrink menu for that lounge/event. We went upstairs to watch movie on big screen abit and then went back to the room to get ready for tomorrow. This trip wore me out. Exhaustion to the max. It made for restful sleep.

Today's Lido lunch menu

Today's Lido dinner menu

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 8)

2011-11-30T21:38:00.001-06:00

I woke up on my own around 6:00 am, but I went back to sleepand Stephanie woke me up around 7:00am. We thought that would be enoughtime to get ready, grab breakfast, get a tender and get to our excursion with plenty of time to spare…but it wasn’t. We literally ran to Rosie’s, grabbed boxes of cereal andcroissants, ran to say goodbye to Mom and grandma and headed down to the purser to check on Platinum tendering. Theytold us since they’d been tendering for awhile, we wouldn’t need it, but therewere some lines when we got down to deck zero. The tenders were extremely rocky, but the ride only lastedthree or four minutes (despite them telling us ~15). We were anchored alongwith the Norwegian Dawn, the Disney Magic and the Carnival Legend.

This was our second time in Grand Cayman (our first time being on our first trip on the Miracle in 2005) and our initialimpression of Grand Cayman was that it was…different…somewhat less nice than we remembered...but we came to realize the tenders had broughtus to a different area than we were left at six years ago and our minds were readjusting.

Our tour, the Best of Cayman Island tour, met up at the pier at 8:30 am. We'd taken this tour the first time we'd been in Grand Cayman and it was a really nice and fun way to see the island, and since I didn't have my good camera then, I wanted to go back and photograph certain spots. Otherwise, we'd probably have just ended up going to a beach (which we'd be doing in Honduras) or drinking at Senor Frogs (which we seemingly do...everywhere. Used to, anyways). We met up with our tour and led on to bus 10 with Wilbur.The tour this time wasn’t nearly as nice as it was the first time. They didn’tgive us a stop at 7 Mile Beach to take pictures (like we did the first time we took this tour), the turtle farm was self-touring instead of guided and we onlyhad 20 minutes in Hell (which was barely enough time to buy postcards and postage to send postcards to my friends, check out the souvenir shop and see the rock formations). Wilbur didn’t really talk much. He gave us some infoand told a few jokes, but it was mostly quiet. The Tortuga rum factory hadexcellent samples and prices (we had an 11% off coupon from a coupon book they handed out at the pier. I always grab these as souvenirs, but they often have very usable coupons in them!) and had a little zoo of exotictype animals. Then Wilbur showed us the “real” Grand Cayman…and while I usually lovethese kinds of things and seeing how people really live in other places, I like it when it’s something I sign up for so I canprepare for it instead of being led to a deserted dirt road and wondering if someone isgoing to jump out and rob me. Stephanie didn’t care for the tour. It was kindof a waste of $55 for being something we've already done. I'd still highly recommend it to someone who's never been to Hell or seen the island because you will see a good portion of it. And if you go to Hell, don't forget to send a postcard to yourself while you're sending them to your family and friends. There's nothing quite like getting mail postmarked from Hell- even if you're sending it to yourself!

Cayman Turtle Farm

Hell

The Tortuga Rum Factory

We went back to the ship, but it was too early for lunch. Iwas famished, so we met up with Mom and grandma and grabbed a sandwich from the deli (the onlystation open) and Dewey found us and we chatted for awhile. Then Mom and I wentto catch a tender to go shopping and Stephanie stayed on the boat to hang out on deck with grandma.

We stayed out for about an hour walking around and looking in shops, butnothing really caught our eyes. There’s only so many shot glasses and teeshirts you can collect and these prices weren’t that great. I think the shopping in Grand Cayman is massively overrated- the shopping is much better in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Even the liquor prices (which are supposed to be amongst the best in Grand Cayman) weren't all that competitive compared to other Caribbean islands. Stephanie had uspick up an extra rum cake for her (we tasted them at the rum factory and they were *fantastic* and fresh, so we picked up a couple, but she wanted one more) and we headed back onto a tender.

We went back to the rooms and I met up with Stephanie tograb lunch at Rosie's. I’m growing tired of these offerings (there's less options now with norotisserie line because they decided to make two lines for Taste of Nations. Farewell, Rotisserie) so I had the Mongolian wok (which was good) with some chicken fingers(always good). And Tiramisu Cheesecake, which is the best dessert you will ever find on a casual dining restaurant on the seas. Legit.

Stephanie went to grab somechairs poolside (none by the adults-only pool, so we got them near the main pool) and Ichanged into my swimsuit and we swam for about an hour. I fell asleep while wewere drying off and laying out, but Stephanie sprayed me with sunscreen so I wouldn't burn. She looks out for me like that. We gotwent back to the room, took showers and did our hair and then headed back outside for sailaway. The Disney Magic? Has thecoolest horn ever- it plays When You Wish Upon a Star!

We went to Serenity after we hit up one side of theboat and it was chairhog hangout. A group of four people claimed a couch andchairs that would seat more than 10...with a single cup. Literally. "Saved" an entire couch + chairs...with a cup. When Stephanie went tosit down, they came running over and then told her in all seriousness that theycould only spare one chair for her. They weren't even using the couches- they hadlounge chairs by the railing. Carnival really needs to do something here because the Serenity deck? Not a private cabana. I really just...I can't even.

Stephanie, Mom and grandma went down to past guest party firstbecause they were ready and I met up with them a few minutes before the doorsopened. The lines were ridiculous. Really. It's like a cattle call 15 minutes before the party even starts. And yet...everyone rushes to the main floor of the show lounge while the upper level has it's own dedicated staff of drink and snack servers and no one ever goes up there! This time, it was much easier to get drinks (yellowbirds yummy, bluemargaritas not so much) and hors doerves. Went to take pics outside afterwardsand then Mom took grandma to take a nap and we went to dinner.

Dinner was okay. The pacing was awful (the entire meal took over two hours)and the food was just so/so. This would normally be our supper club night but there was someconfusion with the menus (the wrong one was posted outside the dining room when we checked earlier in the day). Mom even skipped dessert because it was taking so long. Back to the food, though? Nothing bad. Nothing overwhelmingly amazing. Just...the usual.

French Onion Soup (baked with a slice of homemade bread, freshly grated Gruyere and parmesan cheese)

Black Bean Soup (served with steamed rice and a touch of sour cream)

Smoked Chicken Quesadilla (mild guacamole, tomato, cilantro salsa and sour cream served with flour tortilla on a bed of field greens)

Black Tiger Shrimp Cocktail

I don't remember what this was...it's a spa appetizer...a timbale of something. Stephanie didn't care for it

Prosciutto Ruffles (thinly sliced Italian ham and sweet melons)

Braised Style Short Ribs from Aged Premium American Beef (sesame eggplant and fried rice)

Slowly Roasted Center Cut Pork Loin, with Island Spices and Herbs (fried rice and crisp garlic seasoned green beans)

Grilled Flat Iron Steak from USDA Choice Beef (served with steamed vegetables of the day)

Strawberry Cheesecake (a classic cheesecake topped with strawberries)

We went back to the room to watch TV and relax and room service had delivered the replacement for the canapes plate (Mom had gotten her plate of canapes earlier that day). I think I wrote in a previous entry that Stephanie had called room service (per the Purser's instructions) and told them neither of us eat seafood, so when they delivered these, if they could replace the seafood canapes, we'd much appreciate it. Delivered to us was this completely lovely sweetsplate, withtruffles, dipped strawberries and the baklava Stephanie had been craving for awhile.

The normal canapes plate delivered to Platinum cruisers

The plate they put together for Stephanie and I

At 8:30, we went down to In the Bag (a kind of trivia game...we came in second), whichgot a little rowdy. Afterwards, we went to Lido for snacks and tea when grandma had her dinner, and thenwe all went browsing in the shops. But on a side note- while we were up on Lido with grandma? Tongs are there for a reason. When you're dining with your children, allowing them to stick their hands in the food trays to grab food with their hands instead of using the tongs? Yeah, that's not cool. I type this as I sit here *still* coughing from a respiratory bug I picked up onboard three weeks ago. Hygiene and manners: learn it, live it, love it. Really, though. Please use the tongs. I implore you. I'm massively squicked out when I see people use their hands to grab food. Food too hard to grab? Poke and slide, baby. There's never a good excuse to grab food with your hands.

After that? Everything was a blur. I changed into my comfy clothes and sat down with Nancy Grace, and thenext thing I knew, I was dozing in and out. I’m told I was exhausted and cranky. Mostlyexhausted. I wanted to go watch Iron Man 2 on the big screen, but I need to goto sleep before I started throwing things. We grabbed food from the late nightgrill, watched more Nancy Grace (can't stop, won't stop!), and went to sleep. One of these nights on some cruise at some point, I'll find a way to stay awake long enough to make my way back to my rightful place- bellied up at the piano bar.

Today's Lido lunch menu:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 7)

2011-11-28T22:11:00.001-06:00

(Sorry if these are more abbreviated than my normal writing style- I'm literally cutting these out of the notes I kept on this cruise and just changing the verb tenses in the interest of finishing this!)

We woke up around 7:30 am, quickly got dressed and went to Lidoto grab chairs. Our room being on the Lido deck, we have quicker access to the deck than we realized. We tookturns getting breakfast because we found some really fantastic seats near themain pool area.

Some breakfast offerings up on Lido

We decided to forgo the cooking demo and wine tasting becausewe only had two days at sea and we really want to relax. And at this point,both activities are kind of “been there, done that.” So we just kind of skipped them and planned to lay out until we got our fill of sun.

I threw on my sundress and went to get ourexcursion tickets when the desk opened at 10:00 am and found a long line and analready open desk. Some people were upset because the desk opened early and sometours had sold out (cave tubing in Belize, for example). If you have your heart set onsomething, buy early. We were lucky- the tours we wanted (an island tour in Grand Cayman and a tour of Xunantunich in Belize) were available when I got to the desk. Next time we travel and need excursions in active ports, I'll probably push the issue of getting Stephanie to agree on a tour earlier.

We weren't really hungry for lunch, but we grabbed a couple snacks from Rosie's and a pitcher of sangria from the poolside bar. I'm not sure if this is a thing most ships have or just the Valor has/had, but it was decent sangria. Not the best you'll ever have (or even really close to it), but it's decent.

We were burning, so we headed in a bit earlierthan planned (after Master Mixologist, which Stephanie wanted to do but didn’trealize that you had to sign up for the previous day…also which she has notraining to do but still really, really wants to do every time we cruise).

We both showered, rested a bit and started to get ready fortea and formal night. Tea time was lovely and the offerings were plentiful andtasty. We were seated at a table with two people from New Hampshire and threerandom people from Chicago. Tea time was VERY busy, though. But really- kudos to Carnival. Busy tea times, empty tea times...service-wise, we can almost never tell the difference.

After tea, Stephanie called room service to set up ourcanapés (she's picky when it comes to her seafood and, well, if it comes from the sea, it's not for me, so we wanted to be sure we weren't given a plate full of fishy delicacies for our platinum canapes) and I ordered a beef and brie sandwich and some crudités because we skipped lunch. The sandwich was very fatty and not nearly as tasty as I remembered. The veggies, though? Nomtastic. Pour that blue cheese dressing on anything and I'm likely to gobble it down. Maybe.

Medium Rare Roasted New York Strip Loin and Brie Cheese

Assorted Vegetable Sticks

We skipped the Captains reception (again, been there, donethat, gimme something new, Carnival) and went outside to take pics, but quickly came back inside because ourdresses were flying up. Wind is clearly not our friend. So we took pictures inside instead.

We went to dinner around 6:15 and there was no line. It seems the key to getting a table with no hassle for anytime dining is to go within the first hour the dining room is open. When we do that, we never, ever have to wait. The food tonight? Just okay. The spinach inthe mushrooms was flavorless and textureless. If they could merge the tastysauce/breadcrumbs on top of the mushrooms with the spinach inside them, they’dhave a winning combination because the layering of it doesn’t work. Stephanie says her dinner wasn’tanything spectacular. I got four cherries in my Cherries Jubilee. Holy cutback. Can you even really call that a dessert? You'd get more cherries in a Shirley Temple.

Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms (spinach, romano, cheese and fine herbs)

Strawberry Bisque (chilled creamy strawberry soup with fresh mint)

Greek Farmer Salad (iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, black olives and feta cheese, tossed with vinaigrette)

Black Tiger Shrimp Cocktail

Duet of Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp (yukon gold potato mash, roasted broccoli florets)

Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus (cooked to perfection, baked potato with traditional toppings)

Assorted Steamed Vegetables

Caramelized Apples on Puff Pastry (served with vanilla cream and caramel sauce)

Cherries Jubilee (dark cherries in our own sauce, flamed with cherry brandy and served over ice cream)

We strolled along the promenade and took pictures, and went back to the room to change because myfeet were killing me and my dress wasn’t all that comfortable before we all headed upstairs with grandma when she wanted to go grab dinner before the show.

Tonight’s show(Nightclub Express) was awful. One of the worst we’ve seen at sea. It’soutdated (we thought it was an 80s brainchild because of the graphics andcredits until we heard a 1999 Cher song), the male and female singer never sangtogether except for the way end. The show had no logical flow and jumpedbetween time periods (40s to 90s to 70s to 30s to 60s). The dancers hadtrouble keeping on rhythm with each other and some were more exciteable thanothers. We usually stay for both shows (we'd see Ticket to Ride five times in a row if they offered it), but even Mom and grandma didn't want to stay for the second show.

Afterwards, we went up to the Lido deck for some tea (which they always have out...and not just plain old Liptons tea, but the nice teas in the tea chests that they bring out during tea time), and then we wentback to the room to rest for a little while.

We went up to grill aroundmidnight after watching Showbiz Tonight (another guilty pleasure when we're onboard) and then walked around the ship (emptypromenade area, casino not busy…not really all that typical from the cruises we've been on).

Oh! And our Platinum gifts came. Not sure how handy these will be, but they're a nice gesture. Thanks, Carnival!

We went back to the room toget ready for tomorrow’s day in port and go to bed. We knew it'd be a long day and while we always intend on staying up and staying out late, we never really do. But you know what? Maybe that's okay. We might not be those people, but as long as we get off the ship rested and content? Who cares? Anyways, while watching TV, theycalled something that sounded like “Sara B 1224.” No idea what that meant. The boat really started rocking around 1:00 am...made for an excellent night of sleep.

Today's Lido lunch menu:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 6)

2011-11-27T21:03:00.001-06:00

Hi friends!

So we're back from our trip on the Dream! Actually, we've been back for three weeks. And I've been sick the entire time we've been back, grandma's been super sick (those respiratory bugs that go around cruise ships? Yeah, those are no joke. Wash, wash, wash your hands!) and I'm still swamped at work. Oh, and Stephanie's in such a post-cruise funk that the entire time we've back, she's been looking at cruises we can take in the next six months. But the show must go on and I'm kind of dying to get started writing that Dream review, but before I can do that, I have to wrap this one up. And I will. Somehow. This week. It's my goal. I'm awful with fulfilling my goals, but I have to get better at some point, right? In all likelihood, I'm going to end up abbreviating the ship parts to mostly pictures and less text because my information and thoughts are outdated by now, but I'll try to do something of a more traditional review on the ports and excursions because those won't be changing much (because, you know, we took the same excursion in Grand Cayman that we took in 2005 and it hadn't changed at all).

Also, if you have any home remedies for a cough that just won't go away, I'm all ears! I've done tea, I've done honey, I've eaten copious amounts of hot and sour soup and I just got off a Z-pack. I'd like to not be coughing the ear off my cubemate for another three weeks.

So we're finally at the ship part. Yay!

We woke up around 7:00 in Plantation. After a quick breakfast in the room, we left the hotel around 8:30 and made our way to the Port of Miami.

The drive to the Port of Miami took no longer than an hour and in all honesty, the extra drive added no hassle to our trip. It was rather straightforward and though I haven't stayed in Miami since 2004, the memories I have of the city aren't overly impressive. I felt Plantation is just nicer, quieter and offers more that we'd need in a pre-trip while allowing us to visit Miami (if we wanted) with a quick drive. And it's less expensive. I'll cut whatever corners I can when it allows us to travel more often.

We were at the port before 9:30, which is rather early and as such, there was just a lot of confusion on where to go, where to put our luggage, etc because people were still disembarking the ship. Nevertheless, we figured it out and were headed inside around 10:00, when we were ushered into the VIP lounge. That's right- V-I-P because this was our first Platinum cruise! So exciting! And the VIP lounge at the Port of Miami is quite lovely (not that we have much experience with them, as it's currently limited to the Port of Miami and Port Canaveral). The lounge was quiet, well-airconditioned and they offered lemonade while we waited to embark. They also had some TV's, but those weren't in use.

Around 11:30, theylet us board. They led us to the elevator where special assistance was lined upand brought us to the front of the line because we were platinum and special assistance. And not going to lie- we got some not-so-friendly stares when the VIP representative led us right upfront and put us onboard. And I'm not going to lie- given the limited perks given to Platinum cruisers (compared to some other lines), I didn't really care. Stare all you want. Reflects more upon you than it does upon me. Cruise on Carnival ten times and you can be at the front of the line that leads EVERYONE onto the same ship, too. People, man. You're all going to get on board. Relax. Enjoy it.

And just like that...we were onboard. I wish there was a way to bottle up or accurately describe that first moment when you step off that embarkation ramp onto the boat and enter the atrium. Excitement. Wonder. Elation. I always look up at the lights and colors of the atriums and just soak it in for the smallest of seconds (I'm sure I'd be trampled by the throngs of cruisers waiting to get on and get an elevator to the Lido deck if I waited any longer than that). And then we grabbed an elevator and headed up to the Lido deck to grab some lunch at Rosie's.

Rosie’s has lighter colors so the space looks much moreopen. The available options were the same as they had been on the Freedom the year before, except I think this was the first time we'd had the burrito bar, and that's exactly what we headed towards for lunch. And they offered *many* options to customize your burrito and they were really quite good. It wasn't a Chipotle or a Qdoba burrito, but it was pretty good for options that were made en masse to feed a few thousand people. And really, something I really do appreciate about Carnival is the made-to-order options in the quick service restaurants on Lido deck. All ships have the 24-hour pizzeria (which WILL make you any pie you want, upon request) and the deli (which freshly slices their meats and makes all their sandwiches to order, and will even make you a sandwich not on their menu so long as they have the ingredients), but the newer ships will also have the stir fry station (which is like a smaller, more limiting version of the stir fry bars at Stir Crazy or Big Bowl, offering around a dozen different veggies, a noodle, three sauces and three rotating meats, one beef or pork, one chicken and one seafood a day) and burrito bar (and in my next review on the Dream- the pasta bar). I know Princess didn't have these options when I sailed them and to my knowledge, none of the mainstream cruise lines offer so many made-to-order options (or any at all, in some cases).

We weren't allowed in the rooms until 1:30 pm, so we went to explore the ship. I thought the

ship was very pretty and I loved the themingbecause so much of it is retro Americana and I love all things retro. Stephanie isn’t quite as fond of it, but Stephanie is a much harsher critic on theming and design than I am. We grabbed a Fun Times and started plotting out our day.

While we were in the lobby, I noticed two new things near the shore excursion desk- the first being a TV that informed everyone on how full the excursions were (green = still plenty of spots, yellow = a few spots left, red = either almost full or full) and the second was a special for a shore excursion package. Please remember that this was from February, so I have no idea if it's still being offered, or if it's exclusive to the Valor (because I didn't see it on the Dream), but I thought it was an interesting concept for people looking to book multiple excursions and I'd be interested in seeing it rolled out to other ships.

We went to the rooms around 1:30. Stephanie and I were in a category 4H, room 1012. The room was small and I worried about how muchI’d want to sleep with the lack of natural light and rocking (this blog has already well-established how if the boat is a-rocking, I'm probably comatose).

Grandma and Mom’s room was huge. I don't remember what room they were in (1014, maybe, but I'm not looking at a deckplan and I don't have their email confirmation handy to consult), but I'll give my normal disclaimer here: grandma is completely wheelchair bound at this point (she's been wheelchair bound since 2008 and really can't take more than a step or two, guided, anymore) and absolutely needs that space so we can get her wheelchair around the room and the bathroom. Normal, able-bodied people do not need all that space and while it might be nice, please leave it for those who need it. There's only a handful of these rooms on each ship and many cruisers who need these rooms because normal rooms can't fit their wheelchairs or scooters (or the bathrooms aren't modified to fit their needs). If I remember correctly, this was another trip where an able-bodied party was kicked out of their cabin so Mom and grandma could have it because they didn't provide the documentation necessary to book and hold one of these rooms without getting bumped (because if you book a handicap accessible room, you should be contacted by the special needs department- we always are- and asked to fill out paperwork about the kind of assistance or modifications you need that would require you a room like this, the size of your wheelchair/scooter, etc).

We dropped our stuff off and went walking around Serenity to take pictures. Chairhogging had begun already. Really, guys? The ship hasn't even sailed yet! Alas, I will continue to complain about it here on my blog and write about it on my comment cards until something is done. I won't hold my breath in the meantime.

We went back to our cabin and all our luggage was delivered before muster, and oursteward, Three, brought it into our room for us. He was very nice and upbeat and in case I ever forget to mention it again, Stephanie and I had determined that he was definitely Dream Team material (we keep a running mental list of the best of the best Carnival employees we encounter across our cruises. Amongst them are our servers from the Pride in 2006- Lawrence and Liliya- and Malcolm Burns- the longtime cruise director on the Miracle...amongst others).

Muster was semi-chaotic. We were told to go into thelibrary…and that was kind of it. No one was there to lead or guide us. I found an outlet, sat myself down on the floor, charged my cell phone and soaked up the remaining moments of my cellular freedom. If you don't want my attention or seek it, I'm not going to seek it out. Besides, this was, like, my eleventh cruise. I get the gist of the emergency procedure. Signal sounds --> grab life jacket --> go to muster station --> follow directions of people in neon hats --> pray like hell.

Aftermuster, I went to save us a round bed at Serenity and it quickly filled up...so much so that someone came and stood directly in front of our bed. Idon’t understand why people see you lounging there and then go stand directlyin front of you. I grabbed a bed so Stephanie and I could lounge as we stared off into the ocean we were sailing into, not so I could stare at your uncomfortably low-slung swim shorts. The offending space stealer didn't stay long (maybe he had someone to meet up with...or maybe he caught wind of my passive aggressive comments...who really knows) and Mom and grandma came out to enjoy the view with Stephanie and I.

Once wewere in the ocean, we went back to the room to unpack a little and get ready for dinner. We were ready a little early, so we went to the casino to get lanyards for our cards and hit up the Purser's desk to get some extra keys made before dinner.

When we first got to the dining room, we noticed a familiar face- Dewey was here (and had been since September!). Dewey was the dining hostess in the Bacchus dining room on two of our Miracle trips, but we hadn't seen her in about a year and a half. She recognized usimmediately and hugged us, which really speaks to the special person she is. So, so nice to see her!

We went for the earliest seating dinner and wereseated immediately. It didn’t even get semi full until our dinner was over.Dinner was pretty good. The fruit had no real distinct alcohol flavor (Stephaniesays next time she’ll just order a fruit cocktail because it has more variety).Tonight’s server forgot Mom’s shrimp cocktail and messed up Stephanie’sveggies. The flat iron was really tender and flavorful. The Crème Brulee wasexcellent, but the cheese in the cheese plate was very strong. I wasn’t offered coffee.

The Lincoln Dining Room

Bread basket

Tropical Fruits (marinated with lime juice and a touch of tequila)

Heart of Iceberg Lettuce

Grilled Flat Iron Steak from USDA Choice Beef

Assorted Steamed Vegetables

Vanilla Creme Brulee (baked vanilla cream, garnished with assorted berries)

Assorted Cheeses (Port Salut, Brie, Gouda, Imported Swiss, Danish Bleu

Lime Sherbet

After dinner, we took grandma to Rosie's for dinner and then we all headed to the alcoholtasting (crowds of people grabbing a sample and then just getting in line againand repeating the process, which was just a waste of time because you're essentially tasting thimble-sized cups of liquor) and then went down to the Ivanhoe for trivia, whichwe lost, and then game show mania, which was fun (Robin is a fantastic host).Bingo was drawn out and boring while we waited for the show.

The Welcome Aboard show? In desperate need of a revamp...time for a newroutine. It's old and predictable at this point. We met our CD, Goose, who seems okay but nothing really distinctive about him. We leftbefore the comedian out of boredom. Also because we don't typically care for the comedians.

Mom and grandma headed to bed and Stephanie and I went to watch Ocean on the big screen, whichwas just depressing. Gimme a good romcom, Carnival!

We headed to the late night grill for a snack and Rosie's was just overrun with obnoxious teenagers screaming across the room, making prank calls on the public phones and just making a mess everywhere. Seriously? Like...it hasn't been that long since I was a teenager and I don't remember making a public nuisance of myself on family vacations. Probably because Mom and grandma always knew where I was and what I was doing when we were on vacation and if I made an ass out of myself or our family, they'd be vacationing and I'd be sitting at home (or at the very least, be tethered to one of them for the rest of the trip). When I see 13-year-olds defacing a ship and running around shouting at the tops of their lungs, I have to wonder where their parents are and if they even care given that these same kids were the same ones all week pressing all the buttons in the elevator before getting off, kicking over chairs in the lido restaurant for fun and making a mess of whatever they could find to mess up. Aren't family vacations a time for family time? Regardless, they were disruptive, grill food hit the spot and we were getting tired because it was late and the ship was rocking like whoa.

We finished unpacking when we got back to the room, but quickly realized that, like always, we overpacked and there wasn't enough room for all of our stuff (we'd end up unloading some of it in Mom and grandma's room). We watched NancyGrace (a guilty pleasure) and went to bed around 1:15am.

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

The late-night grill menu:

(Well that only took three hours to format and write. Maybe I should give myself a week and a half to finish this LOL)

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 5)

2011-10-10T00:46:00.000-05:00

Packing update: I have no idea where any of my contacts are. Yikes. Also, I think I need a hair crimper. Do they still sell hair crimpers? Do they still make hair crimpers?

Anyways.

Two entries in one day! Progress! Yay!

So our last full day in SoFlo, we woke up around 9:30...early for pre-vacation vacation means...but Stephanie and I? We had plans. The original plan was to head over to Las Olas for some shopping and brunch so we left Mom and grandma to rest and get their stuff ready to get onboard the ship the next day...and then we found Fort Lauderdale beach...and we found $1.75 parking right across the street from the beach...and the whole morning kind of detoured from there.

It's been well-established in this blog that Stephanie l-o-v-e-s the beach. Loves it. I'm sure she might live at the beach if she could. She'd certainly spend all of our port time at a beach if she could on any given cruise. So $1.75 parking (parking we were super lucky to find because that lot filled up quick) and a beautiful, sunny, 85-degree day? Yeah. We parked the car and went off to the beach. Las Olas? Maybe next time.

And the beach was lovely and beautiful and crowded. So nice that I even stuck my feet in the water. I wish we had our swim suits and some towels to just lay out. Maybe (probably) next time. As it was, we walked along the beach for awhile before deciding to head back to the hotel to grab Mom and grandma and get some lunch.

As is always the case with us, we needed more luggage before we got on the ship, so we decided to head back to Sawgrass Mills. TJ Maxx had some nice Diane Von Furstenberg rolling bowler bag style luggage for us and then we hit up the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet for some new clothes to fill them with (this shopping while on vacation...I swear, it's a sickness with us). And then we ended up at the Grand Lux Cafe at Sawgrass Mills for lunch. Too much of a good thing? Maybe. But Mom *loved* it so much the day before and in our family, there's never such thing as too much of a good thing.

Mom, grandma and Stephanie all had those bbq pork sliders Stephanie had the day before and I opted for the lemon chicken piccata. Oh.My.God. Best chicken piccata I've ever had. Ever. Anywhere. And this lunch portion? Easily could have fed me for two days if we were home. And then for dessert, we all split the made-to-order chocolate chip pecan cookies. Heavenly.

Lunch Portion Lemon Chicken Piccata

Homemade Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

After lunch, we hit up a few more shops (including a stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond to get some towel clips because I'd left mine at home) before heading back to the hotel to rest and pack things up a bit.

I took a nap for awhile because I seem to have to always be the last person packed. I woke up to Mom telling me we were all heading out again. We hit up Old Navy for some last-minute basics, Target (again) and then had a quick dinner at Chili's. After dinner, we went back to the hotel to finish packing up and then pack up the car with the stuff we wouldn't need for the night so we'd have less to pack up in the morning. At some point, Stephanie and I hit up the drive through at McDonald's for some late night diet Cokes and iced teas. We took our showers, watched a few hours of TV and everyone went to bed. Me? No sleep until 2:00 am. We'd be onboard the Carnival Valor the next day. I'd get my good sleep when the ship started rocking.

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 4)

2011-10-09T17:52:00.000-05:00

Andddd I've figured out this new Blogger template thing...and I'm suddenly thankful for the year I spent blogging for a local paper in Chicago completely in HTML because it looks like HTML is my new friend on this blog.

Also? Two weeks from this moment (where I'm doing laundry, blogging, trying to plan our next trip and watching Bridesmaids with Stephanie)? I'll be in Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Yay!!! I have a ridiculous amount of packing to do and stuff to get back together today, but we'll see if I can finish up two parts of this tonight. Maybe.

So I think where we left off, we had just gotten to Florida. We usually spend a day and a half in Florida. This time, we extended it to two and a half days firstly, because of the unpredictable weather (just in case we had to leave a day early or were delayed in coming in) and secondly, because we never feel like we have enough time to do what we want to do or see and visit the places we want to go. So I slept in until 10 because I was exhausted and everyone else was already up. Stephanie had a migraine so we didn't actually leave the hotel until closer to noon.

First order of business? We wanted to take a test drive to the Port of Miami to see how long it would take us. And of course...there was a multi-car pile-up on I-95 and our test ride was no where near indicative of how long it would take us, but man...having the windows down and feeling that warm, balmy air...so nice. And Miami was just as I remembered it (we haven't been to Miami since our first cruise, way back in 2004)- beautiful in some parts and kind of sketchy in others.

After we found the port and took a little scenic drive around, we decided to head over to Boca Raton (our old stomping grounds- grandma owns a condo in Boca and we all used to live there in the winters when Stephanie and I were little. It's too much of a hassle to use it for short pre-cruise stays, but we like to visit and check in on it when we're in SoFlo). We were getting hungry and Mom wanted to do a little shopping, so we headed towards Boca Town Center.

I'm perpetually amazed by how no matter what day or time it is, there is never parking at Boca Town Center! Here we were, middle of the afternoon on a weekday, and it took us almost 20 minutes to find a handicap spot! I can't even imagine how long it would have taken us if grandma weren't with us and we were looking for a regular spot because they were cleared out of those, too!

We were all hungry and we settled on Grand Lux Cafe. We have one of these in Chicago, but for some reason, we never tried it. Grand Lux is owned by the same restaurant company as The Cheesecake Factory, so they have the same kind of decor and same large portions but an even bigger menu (if you can imagine!).

Service was a little slow at the Grand Lux, but we needed that extra time to peruse the over-sized menus and the restaurant was packed, anyways, so we kind of expected it. Stephanie had these pork sliders that were, maybe, one of her favorite noms and noshes of the cruise. Grandma had a warmed goat cheese salad that was just amazing. Mom had the lunch sized Sonoma salad (which was bigger than most normal salads) and I had the lunch special of half a BLT, a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup and small mixed greens salad. And for dessert? Freshly made beignets with three sauces: a liquored chocolate sauce, a raspberry sauce and a creme anglaise. So, so good.

B.B.Q Pork Sliders and Warm Goat Cheese Salad

Lunch-portion Sonoma Salad

Lunch Sandwich Special (Half a BLT, a cup of soup-of-the-day and an organic greens salad)

New Orleans Beignets

We walked around the mall for awhile after. We used to spend so much time here when Stephanie and I were little and as many things that change, so much feels the same. It's always nice to come back. And palm trees! Always a novelty for me.

We found a cupcake place in the mall and, well, we're a cupcake family. We got a few to bring back to the hotel for later before heading out to explore Boca.

Towards the end of the afternoon, grandma was getting tired so we took her back to the hotel to nap. We rested for a bit, too, before heading out again (and telling her we'd be bringing her back some dinner later) and then we headed out to Sawgrass Mills, which is one of (if not the) largest outlet malls in the country. The last time we were in SoFlo, we came here to see a movie, but we'd never had a chance to walk around. And let me tell you- if you're a shopper like me, you could get into some *serious* trouble here. I'm pretty sure the Sawgrass Mills houses every major luxury outlet to exist. Barney's. Burberry. Kate Spade. Juicy Couture. EVERYTHING. And it was packed. On a weeknight.

We headed to PF Changs for dinner (breaking my nothing-that-we-would-eat-at-home quest) and had a bit of a wait before we were seated. But yummmm. So good. I could eat PF Chang's Mu Shu Pork every day of the week.

Mu Shu Pork

After dinner, we noticed a Target nearby, so we stopped in to get some more last-minute essentials that we'd forgotten and to get some snacks for the next day. And let me tell you- this Target looked *exactly* like our Target at home! There is no bigger mind screw than being in one place that is exactly the same as the one you have at home. Stephanie and I got a kick out of it, anyways.

We headed back to the hotel and Mom and Stephanie went back to the room to bring grandma her dinner. I sat in the lobby and called one of my friends. I love, love, love the lobby at the Renaissance. It's not grand by any means, but it's just so lovely. And it has PALM TREES! Always a novelty.

Stephanie attached her portable DVD player to our TV, popped in Baby Mama and we snacked on the cupcakes we bought at the mall earlier in the day before heading off to sleep.

Sooo Hi! I'm still alive.

2011-10-05T20:19:00.004-05:00

I guess I've kind of neglected this blog, huh.

I won't apologize to those who have left some not-so-nice messages about how I should just delete this all at this point because it's my blog and my only intent with it all along was to chronicle my family's journeys for my family. It's been a wonderful, wonderful kind of side effect that people found it helpful or entertaining and I do apologize for leaving the rest of you hanging!

When I had left off, I had just started a new job (I won't say where because I work for a high-profile company, so it's just probably best I don't for now, even though they've told us we're free to disclose it in our personal blogs). I spent most of the spring acclimating to working full time again (and the two and a half hour a day commute took some getting used to, too). Then I went to San Francisco with my friends for a short trip. And then my role at work increased. And then I got a big, lovely, huge and wonderful promotion right before my six month anniversary and I've been training for it the past month and a half. I hate to say I've become one of those people who are obsessed with their jobs and let it consume their entire beings, but I love love love my job and I love love love where I'm working and so where I've been when I've been neglecting this blog? Working, sleeping or out with friends.

Here...have a random and gratuitous picture of the Golden Gate Bridge from my San Francisco trip

But I do need to finish my last review. The information probably isn't too relevant anymore, but at least I have pretty pictures, right? I just have to figure out all these new changes to Blogger first (because uploading that one picture into the right place required me to go into HTML and HTML is a pain in my backside)...

(...and if we need a barometer for just how busy I've been the past few months, the gang and I are heading out to Orlando for a week in Disney World and then a week on the Carnival Dream in about two and a half weeks...and Stephanie has had to plan nearly everything!)

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 3)

2011-04-08T21:18:00.003-05:00

Well, new!job is kicking my ass. Figuratively, of course. I love the company, I love what I do and I'm having an absurd amount of fun at work (I'm doing mostly research with a little bit of writing for a pretty well-known company that I'm going to decline to name here LOL). But I'm also spending a ridiculous amount of time commuting, which is leaving me less time for this blog than even I had anticipated. My goal is to have this review finished by the time I go to San Francisco at the end of May. We'll see. I'm horrible with the goals I set for myself.

But speaking of San Francisco, I'm still having trouble responding to comments in the posts (wanna fix this, Blogger?), but thank you all so much for the suggestions you've given me for my trip! Keep 'em coming! My friend and I are flying out on American and flying back on Virgin (which starts service out of O'Hare the day we fly home!) so if you have any tips on how I can calm my mega super flying anxiety, I'm all ears. I usually pop a few Dramamines and sleep, but a couple of years ago, the fam and I flew home from a cruise (the last one I believe we went on before I started this blog) through Tropical Storm Barry and the turbulence was enough to keep my adrenaline pumping. The tug of war between the Dramamine, the adrenaline, my pounding heart and conviction we were going to crash resulted in me having really odd hallucinations in the limo on the ride home...so no more Dramamines for me. If you've ever flown Virgin? Tell me about it! I've only flown Delta, United and American (the latter exclusively for the past nine years). And I'm considering leaving my big camera at home and letting it sit this trip out in favor of a point and shoot (suggestions on a new one?) and my iPhone (because I am traveling with my friends and I don't want to drive them crazy with my incessant picture taking across multiple cameras). We'll see.

So that's that. Back to the escape from Snowmageddon.

We woke up around 6:30 and had a breakfast of bagels. Stephanie was insistent we get an early start...even if we had to skip the peach farm we always stop at (which didn't open until 10:00 am). I kind of dragged my feet a bit because I knew exactly how long it would take us to get there and I really, really wanted to make a stop there. I'm a fan of habit and creating traditions. Lane Southern Orchard? That's our tradition.

There was a thick fog consuming downtown Atlanta when we left that morning. Visibility was pretty low in many parts, which was frustrating given the traffic. I love fog. I think there's something quietly mystical about it.

The peach farm is about two hours outside of Atlanta. We made it there in an hour and a half. Stephanie wanted to keep driving but I really insisted we stop and wait for it to open because chances were it would be closed when we were driving back. And if the fog was bad in Atlanta, it was all-consuming out here in the country.

So we pulled up to the peach farm. There were a couple of other cars in the parking lot. We went and took the obligatory look-at-how-silly-Nicole-is pictures. And then we realized they'd opened early and were already open.

We've been here so many times that it's almost formulaic. We know what we want, where it is and we're good to go. Today? A big bag of pecans, a bottle of blueberry-peach wine from a local vineyard (Mom was upset that they didn't have the just-peach wine, but we have a bottle of that at home) and a package of candied pecans for me. Bam. Done.

And then we hit the road again. And we drove. And drove. And didn't really stop for anything other than gas. We *really* just wanted to hit Florida. I'm pretty sure I slept for a good portion of this ride, too, but in my defense, I was still on antibiotics for that sinus infection I started coming down with before we left and between those and the motion of the car, I was a glutton for sleep. But I remember waking up and being just really warm. We weren't even in Florida yet, but we were certainly far from the snowy depths of our home.

We made really good time (even with our peachy detour) and crossed the state line into Florida in the early afternoon. It was awhile before we hit the Turnpike, but we stopped at the first oasis on the Turnpike to take a bathroom break, stretch our legs and grab some food. I think we grabbed KFC. I don't really remember. I was captivated by the fact that there were palm trees and the air hitting my skin was a balmy 70something degrees.

I make it a habit of grabbing every pamphlet and brochure I could ever use or find useful in the future at rest stops and I noticed a lot of passes and signage about the Florida Sunpasses (which is the equivalent of the Illinois I-Pass, or whatever your state is' automatic toll-paying transponder system) and how they're going cashless. At some point in the near future (part of it has started now, I believe and another part is going into effect in the next few years as they integrate the technology), you won't have the option to pay cash. Your options will be use a Sunpass or they'll take a picture of your license plates and send you a bill in the mail for the cost of your toll passage (which, on the Turnpike, can go up to like $15). This gets sticky for people like us who use rental cars. No me gusta, Florida. No me gusta.

It was another few hours until we finally hit our hotel in Plantation, The Renaissance- Plantation. If you've read my prior reviews, you'll know that we've stayed here many times before and really can't recommend it enough. It used to be the only 4-star hotel in Plantation, so it used to be really easy to get off of Priceline, but there's another 4-star hotel in Plantation now, so we just cross our fingers. It was slightly more expensive than it was last year (I believe our winning bid was $65/night plus taxes and fees), but really, a steal. Is this a traditional 4-star hotel? No. It would probably be a 3.5-star in larger areas. The lobby is lovely (with a vaulted ceiling, wicker furniture and palm trees), but it's by no means large. The rooms are big enough, but not the biggest. The bathroom is standard for a hotel room but probably half the size of those like the Intercontinental. But what we like about this hotel? It's clean (always the first thing we care about), the staff is so friendly, the parking is free, everything we usually need before a trip can be found in the area (I'm looking at you, Target and Publix), but most importantly, it's far enough away from Fort Lauderdale to be quiet and peaceful but close enough to get into the city and everything it has to offer rather quickly. Even though we were sailing out of Miami, the hotel was only a half-hour from the port, which was good enough for us. So we arrived around 6:00 pm (which was *fantastic* time for us, since this drive usually takes us around 13 hours), checked in and got a few things settled in the room before heading out to get some real food.

First night in Plantation? There's only one place we'll be found for dinner: Smokey Bones. We love us some Smokey Bones. I'm not really sure why. The food is good (not great). The ribs aren't even really comparable with the ribs we have from Carson's back home. But like the peach farm...it's tradition. And the food is good. No pictures here. We were all hungry and dug right in. I had ribs, Mom had a sirloin steak, I think Stephanie and grandma had pulled pork. Mom kept insisting she wanted to come back at some point in the next two days (we were spending three nights in Plantation instead of our usual two)...but we never actually did.

After dinner, we headed over to Publix to grab some necessities for the next few days (drinks, snacks, breakfast stuffs). I really wanted a cupcake because every time we're in Atlanta or Florida and we go to Publix, they have these delicious looking cupcakes but I'm never hungry enough for them. None of that this time. I wanted my cupcake. I guess I was off doing something random but they gave Stephanie a free cupcake at the bakery...which she gave to me. And it was good...but not as good as the cupcake I bought. Moist chocolate cake, rich chocolate and vanilla frosting and a hidden pouch of chocolate in the middle. It took me two days to eat.

We hit up Target to get a few essentials before heading back to the hotel. Mom and grandma went up to the room and Stephanie and I borrowed a luggage cart from the concierge to bring our ridiculous amounts of luggage upstairs. We normally wouldn't bother and would just take the essentials in...but we'd be here for the next two-plus days.

A few trips in between the car and our room later, we took turns taking showers and watched SNL: The Best of Amy Poehler, which was on VH1. Why were we watching VH1? Because we had no MTV in the hotel room...which meant no Jersey Shore for me. Everyone fell asleep. I went down to the lobby and called one of my best friends and we chatted for a bit before I headed back up to the room to flat iron my hair and go to sleep early (for me).

It's almost ridiculous how happy I was to be in Florida. I love Chicago. I really do. And I can't really see myself actually living anywhere else. But I feel such a sense of home in southern Florida. Maybe it's because of the memories I have of when we used to live in Boca Raton for months at a time to escape the Chicago winters when I was little. Maybe it's because we visit at least yearly. But coming to Florida really is like coming home for me. And I was starting to realize that while our cruises are always so much fun, I have a crazy amount of fun in the days before our trips, too. Our times in New York prior to our NYC cruises are memories I hold really dear. And sometimes just bumming around Florida and revisiting old favorites (and discovering new ones) can be just as fun as some of the things we do on the ship. That said, though, I was growing increasingly drained of energy and our vacation had barely begun. Our pre-trip vacation was really like a separate trip in itself, and I was starting to realize I was going to need a vacation from my pre-vacation vacation.

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 2)

2011-03-22T21:27:00.006-05:00

Our drive was only going to be a few hours. Four, tops, and that was if we took a nice, long stop at the Pelham Stucky's. But I can't remember the last time we had a full day in Atlanta. Have we ever had a full day in Atlanta? When we were fully rested? The weather forecast was nice and cool and there was so much we wanted to do...so we got an early start. Up by 7:00 am, Stephanie and I ran to the McDonald's down the street to grab breakfast and we were on the road by 8:00 am.

Since I slept through Tennessee the last time we drove through (and Mom decided to skip Stucky's as a result), I made sure a stop at our favorite roadside candy store was on the list. And so we got out of the car, went into Stucky's...only to find out they were sold out of pecan logs. And on top of that, they wouldn't be getting any in for TWO AND A HALF WEEKS! So we wouldn't even be able to hit it up on the way home. What's Stucky's without pecan logs? It's like...me without at least three pieces of luggage. We grabbed some drinks, took our obligatory we're-at-the-Pelham-Stucky's picture and hit the road again.

So logless and listless (well, maybe just logless), we hit the road again. I think Stephanie watched a movie with grandma at some point. I know at some point I fell asleep. I'm pretty sure I could fall asleep anywhere if it's moving (except an airplane- go figure).

We hit Atlanta around 1:00 pm and headed towards Buckhead to check into our hotel- The Atlanta Marriott Buckhead. We've never stayed below 4* in Buckhead before, but we had a ridiculously hard time finding a hotel for our one-night stay on our way down to Florida and once we were bidding up to $120 for one night, we knew we had to bid down. The lucky bid was for 3.5* at $80. And we really lucked out because the only difference between the 4* hotels we've stayed in in Buckhead and this hotel was the size of the bathrooms and the scale of the lobby. The Atlanta Marriott Buckhead is a business hotel. Our room was clean (always the most important), large and generally well-appointed. Did we have an orchid on our pillow like the Intercontinental? No. Did the hotel have the crystal details of the JW Marriott? No. But it did have the fruit-infused water like the Westin. It's definitely more like the Westin's and Intercontinental's than it is the Courtyard's or Hyatt Place's. And we had Bath and Body Works products in the bathroom. Who doesn't love Bath and Body Works? And the staff was cheerful and accommodating, which always gets a stay off on the right foot, don't you think?

After we got settled in, we realized we were all hungry and set out for lunch. I'd been monitoring Groupon for deals in the area for places that we might like and about a week before we left, Mom saw a Groupon for a Jewish deli, The Bagel Palace, that was only ten minutes from the hotel. $10 got us $20 of whatever deli fare we wanted and the menu looked broad enough to appeal to all of us.

The Bagel Palace was a little hidden, located in a shopping center off a main road. It reminded me of a store grandma used to take me to when we were little, where she'd go to buy salami's and breads. The restaurant doubled as a store, with a large bakery, a nicely sized deli counter. In the middle of the shop were tables for diners and another dining room for overflow.

The menu featured typical Jewish fare. Deli meat sandwiches. Soups. The kind of seafood grandma used to buy all the time when I was little (the stuff I still see...and smell...in my nightmares but Mom and grandma love). Blintzes. Latkes. All day breakfast. Typical Jew food. And we know good Jewish food. Grandma made the best of the best of it and we live on the North Shore of Chicago, which has a high density Jewish population and dozens of really good deli's.

We each had a half a sandwich with a bowl of soup. Mom, Stephanie and grandma all went for corned beef on rye. I opted for hard salami on challah. All of us (sans Mom) had the matzo ball soup. Mom went with the minestrone. And this? This was good deli. Our sandwiches were flavorful and, especially in my case, stuffed. Mom's minestrone was thick and hearty. Grandma and Stephanie really enjoyed the matzo ball soup because it was really authentic tasting. The broth was homemade, the matzo ball was nice and dense and there were plenty of pieces of white-meat chicken mingling with the noodles. I thought it was certainly tasty, but I have much simpler tastes. My favorite matzo ball soup? It wasn't grandma's. It's the stuff you make with a box of Manischewitz. Just broth and an unherbed matzo ball (much like grandma's, these matzo balls had a heavy sprinkling of dill in them). They all had water. I had a sweet tea. Why? I was in Georgia! Why not?

Minestrone soup

Matzo Ball soup

Corned beef on rye

Salami on challah

I think we spent over our Groupon by, like, $10 or so, so figuring in the price of the Groupon, tax and tip, we all had a fantastic deli lunch for $25. As we were paying the check (and ordering some cookies to go at the bakery counter), we chatted with the owner of the restaurant, who was just lovely to talk with. I think this really is the beauty of Groupon- we'd have never found this restaurant had it not been featured and I think we've found a new local favorite.

After lunch, we took Mom and grandma back to the hotel to rest and Stephanie and I set out to explore Atlanta. Prior to this visit, the extent to which we'd explored Atlanta has been the Lenox Square Mall, Maggiano's, The Varsity, Target and Publix. And I've always just wanted to get out and explore *so* badly. I campaigned for weeks to make a trip to the Atlanta Zoo to see the panda bears. Stephanie refused. The compromise? I finally got to go see Centennial Olympic Park. So Stephanie and I went downtown (downtown Atlanta is about 10 minutes from Buckhead if traffic is nice to you, which it rarely is no matter what time of day it is). And I finally got to see the site of the 1996 Olympics (and the CNN building, too)...from the car. There was no street parking and Stephanie didn't want to park anyways. And she wouldn't let me get out to take pictures, so I had to explore it out the car window (I'm starting to realize this compromise wasn't much of a compromise LOL). The park isn't all that vast, but there's some beautiful sculptures and fountains. There's a tribute to the victims of the bombing. I'd love the chance to just walk around here on a nice, warm day. It's big enough to explore but small enough to balance some serenity.

Passing thoughts? It was a gorgeous day. I wish I went to the zoo.

So we called Mom when we were on our way back and she said grandma was napping and didn't feel like going out again, so we went back to the hotel to pick Mom up to run some errands. I tasked Mom with making us a dinner reservation for that evening at Cellar 56, another restaurant I had purchased a Groupon for a few weeks before we left. And then we hit up Target to pick up some things we forgot and Publix to grab breakfast goods for the next morning and some chicken for grandma to eat for dinner (Cellar 56 isn't her scene). With our errands down, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Like I mentioned, I found Cellar 56 on Groupon. Another place I'd probably never find if I hadn't checked Groupon, but a place that's now probably near the top of the list of places I've dined. I didn't know much about Cellar 56 before we left. I knew it was a tapas place. I knew they boasted an extensive wine list and I knew that I love me some wine. The menu looked good and the reviews were excellent, so we purchased a $30 Groupon for $60 of food and drinks.

The restaurant is located in Buckhead...a mile or so from what I like to call Hotel Row (Peachtree Rd., where most of the hotels in Buckhead are located)...so it only took us a few minutes to get there. But the first thing we noticed? Despite the private lot in the center the restaurant was in, it was valet only. It's a free valet if you're dining at the restaurant, but it's valet nonetheless. Well, not-so-free...you still have to tip...for them forcing your hand in parking your car five feet away. No lie. Five feet.

The restaurant is located in an upscale shopping strip, just beyond a lovely courtyard with a beautifully-lit fountain. And when we entered Cellar 56 (with only one other party seated), it was clearly an upscale establishment (well within line with the rest of the area it's situated in). The restaurant is dimly lit and quiet music plays in the background. Bottles of wine sit atop dark brick and wood paneling, clearly the focus of the restaurant and its menu.

We were quickly seated and handed menus mounted to wooden planks, each one from a different vineyard. Our server was great at explaining the various offerings to us and making suggestions. He poured us water out of a bottle (it may have been bottled still water. It may have been tap water in a wine bottle for presentation and flair. I don't know. I didn't ask) and we ordered a pitcher of sangria and began to peruse the menu.

The menu is comprised of all tapas, or small plates. Our server said most people order around three plates each, each plate with 3-5 bites, but I found that that was pretty understated. The menu is split into four sections: garden, land, sea and dessert, with each section having a set price ($5 for garden, $6.5o for land, $7 for sea and $5 for dessert). And with that...we ordered what seemed like half the menu.

We each ordered three dishes. Mom ordered the Super Lump Crabmeat/Avocado/Grapefruit Mojo, Grilled Flatbread/Roma Tomatoes/Maplebrook Farms Mozzarella and Guiness Braised Boneless Short Rib/Unnatural Reduction. Stephanie ordered the Grilled Flatbread/Slow Roasted Pork/Chipotle Cheddar, Herb Roasted Prestige Farms Chicken/Caramelized Shallot Butter and Cornmeal Fried Green Tomatoes/Cilantro Buttermilk/Goat Cheese. I ordered the Green Chile/Prosciutto Mac & Cheese, Grilled Flat Iron/Chimichurri/Arugula and Sautee of Wild Mushrooms/Locatelli Polenta, and then ordered the White Chocolate Caramel Bread Pudding/Maker's Mark Carmel for dessert. Well that's a mouthful of flavorful words. What can I say? Everything was phenomenal. Beyond words. We shared and tasted each others dishes and there was more than enough food for all of us. My favorite dish of the night, by far, was Stephanie's fried green tomatoes dish. It was tangy, it was crunchy and the addition of soft goat cheese added a nice flavor and textural contrast to the thick, breaded tomato slice. Mom's short rib was another big winner, soft and fork-tender and so, so flavorful. Mom really loved my mac and cheese, with thick chunks of salty prosciutto and thinly julienned pieces of spicy green chiles. Stephanie's favorite dish was her pork flatbread, which was like a much more flavorful and complex BBQ chicken pizza. I was the only one to order dessert and I just about licked my plate clean. That Makers Mart caramel is the most flavorful dessert sauce I've ever tasted. Bar none. Pour some of that on anything and it'll be heavenly. And I found out today that they use Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the bread pudding, which helps explain the richness of the dish. What I didn't care for? The mushrooms with polenta was the clear weak link in the meal. The mushrooms didn't have much flavor to begin with, but the polenta was literally flavorless, which made it unpleasant. My flat iron steak was a bit dry but tasty, but it was accompanied by a large helping of arugula and I really, really dislike arugula.

Super Lump Crabmeat, Avocado, Grapefruit Mojo

Green Chile/Prosciutto Mac & Cheese

Grilled Flat Iron, Chimichurri, Arugula

Grilled Flatbread, Roma Tomatoes, Maplebrook Farms Mozzarella

Grilled Flatbread, Slow Roasted Pork, Chipotle Cheddar

Herb Roasted Prestige Farms Chicken, Caramelized Shallot Butter

Cornmeal Fried Green Tomatoes, Cilantro Buttermilk, Goat Cheese

Guiness Braised Boneless Short Rib, Unnatural Reduction

Sautee of Wild Mushrooms, Locatelli Polenta

White Chocolate Carmel Bread Pudding, Maker's Mark Caramel

Cellar 56 isn't a place for the budget-minded. Even with our $30 Groupon, adding in tax and tip, we easily dropped an additional $90 or so on top of that. Was it worth it? We left feeling full, satisfied and talking about amazing this tasted or how we could eat that every day for the rest of our lives and how fun the experience was, so for *us* it was. I imagine many people wouldn't feel the same dropping over $100 on tapas and sangria.

After dinner, we hauled back to the hotel. Stephanie and I watched Modern Family and Mr. Sunshine with grandma while Mom got everything in order for our 10-hour drive the next day. And then I hopped in the shower, dried my hair, we popped in The Social Network (Stephanie always hooks up her portable DVD player to the TVs in our hotel rooms) and went to bed.

And after all of that? I only have one thing I'd like to say: I still want to go to that zoo.

To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World's Longest Valor Review, part 1)

2011-03-10T14:26:00.004-06:00

I meant to start this last week when we got home...and then I ended up in the emergency room the day after we got home (with a suspected blood clot nonetheless, which thankfully ended up being nothing but complications from a double ear infection and sinus infection, but was a nice wakeup call that when we're on long drives, I have to keep myself constantly moving and shifting). I start new!job on Monday, so I can't promise that I'll update this more than once or twice a week after then, but I promise I'll try. I'll start a thread on Cruise Critic when I get to the cruise portion of this review because we did have a pretty extended pre-vacation.

(And on one last aside before I start...our annual May trip has been pushed to the fall because of said new!job, but I am taking a long weekend in NorCal with my best friend to visit one of my old friends before she moves this summer. So if any of you have been to San Francisco/Napa/Sonoma/etc and have recommendations on things I absolutely need to see, please send them my way!)

And with that...our Valor cruise!

(You'll understand the title if you've ever been to Grand Cayman)

We'd been planning on taking a cruise this winter since fall, but we didn't give it too much thought until December. Mom wanted to go on the Miracle, Stephanie wanted to go on the Dream, grandma just wanted to go to Florida and I wanted to go on a ship that would allow me to see some Mayan ruins. We knew we'd be staying with Carnival this time because it was our 10th Carnival cruise and we were dying to use our new Platinum status. We narrowed it down to the Dream, the Valor and the Liberty and ended up on the Valor because it was less expensive than the Dream (especially because I would have insisted on a few days in Disney World if we were anywhere near Orlando) and we'd already been on the Liberty. And we were getting set to book when I got called for an interview for a job I'd applied for months earlier and had given up on. And a day after my interview, I had a job offer. So we waited for me to iron everything out with new!job (which I am SO excited to start) before booking our cruise. And we ended up booking three weeks before we left, something I do *not* recommend because we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off to get everything in place.

First we booked the cruise and much to my upset, there were no ocean view rooms on higher decks available. Stephanie and I were booked to sail in an interior room for the first time in all our cruises. Mom and grandma were booked in an interior room down the hall, but a week later, Carnival called and said that they had accidentally been booked by our PVP in a handicap modified room instead of a handicap accessible room. Since grandma is in a wheelchair and really can't take more than a step on her own, a modified room wouldn't cut it. Carnival's special needs department is quite wonderful though, and when they called to tell us that they reviewed our paperwork and saw the cabin wouldn't work for grandma, they cleared out a room for Mom and grandma (someone got bumped). And this is really why you don't book accessible cabins when you're able bodied- if you don't have paperwork on file with the special needs department and someone needs that room, you will be bumped and you will have no recourse. So grandma got the room she needed (it ended up being an upgrade for them- they were upgraded to an oceanview room from the interior they booked) and they kept Mom and grandma just down the hallway from us.

With the cruise booked, we set on booking our rental car. Rental car prices were through the roof. SUV's have been re-categorized by nearly every rental car company and are too small for us with grandma's wheelchair, so now we need a mini van. And I can usually find us a good code or last-minute rate with Alamo, but they weren't offering last-minute rates on mini vans because of the holiday our trip fell across. Stephanie was tasked with finding us a good car rate and the best we did was through Thrifty and after taxes (which added on, like, $200- thanks, City of Chicago), it came out to just under $700. I think it's time we start flying again.

Car down, I had to set my sights on hotels. Here's my process for hotels: I'll rarely book hotels through the actual hotel. I'll only do this if I have my sights set on a certain hotel or if we're going to Disney World (because you can't stay on Disney property through Priceline). Every other time, I'll use Priceline because it'll get me the best hotel for the lowest cost. So first, I go on Bidding For Travel and Better Bidding (both message boards for people using Priceline and Hotwire) and see what people are bidding and what they're getting. Then, I'll go on Trip Advisor and research the hotels to make sure every possible hotel we could get is satisfactory. If even one of them has a really bad rating that would make us not want to stay there, I'll book through the hotel we want directly. And if everything checks out, I'll go to Priceline and start bidding. I always start low and then increase my bids by $5 or $10, but this takes some time since you can only bid once a day (unless you're willing to change your star rating or area, which I'm usually not). We decided to spend an extra day in Florida, and even though we were sailing out of Miami, we really like staying in Plantation because it's located pretty centrally to the things we like to do (and it's only a half-hour from the Port of Miami). We've stayed at the Renaissance Plantation for every Fort Lauderdale trip we've taken for the past four years and we love it there. It's one of two four star hotels in the Fort Lauderdale/Plantation area on Priceline (the other is a Hyatt, I believe) and we always get the Renaissance. This was no different- I got us in for $65/night (plus taxes and fees). Then I set my sights on Atlanta for a stop on the way there and on the way home. I quickly booked us in the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead for our return stay ($80 plus taxes and fees), but I was having trouble finding us a room in a four star for our trip down. I bid up to $120 a night and gave up because at that point, it wasn't worth it for one night. I bid down to a 3.5 star and quickly won a room at the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel and Conference Center for $80 (plus taxes and fees).

In between all of this, Snowmageddon hit and we got pelted with two feet of snow (with drifts of five to six feet...we had a good four feet or so in front of our front steps). I've never seen so much snow in my life. Lake Shore Drive got shut down with hundreds of motorists still on it. We were stuck in our house for two or three days. It was...an experience.

With a possibility of more snow to come, we decided to split our drive up and stop in Nashville, too. I was really hoping to get us into the newly-reopened Gaylord Opryland (I *love* the Gaylord Resorts. They're an experience unlike any other) but I just couldn't find us a code and it wasn't worth it to spend $250 for what would amount to just a sleep. So I hit up Priceline and we ended up in Courtyard by Marriott Opryland for $60 (plus taxes and fees).

Between the travel plans, the packing, Snowmageddon and getting things in place to start new!job when I got home, we had a busy three weeks leading up to the trip. I researched shore excursion. Stephanie got familiar with our platinum perks. And before we knew it, we were leaving.

Stephanie went to work the day we left (well, she worked until 10:00 am). Mom and I got up at 6:45 am to go get the car at Thrifty. Unlike Alamo, you don't get to choose your car. They gave us a Dodge Grand Caravan, which was pretty clean, very big, but already had 30,000 miles on it (most rental cars we've driven have had less than 10,000). We went home, packed it up, prepped the house and when Stephanie got home from work, we left our snow-kissed neighborhood and hit the road to less snowy landscapes.

It would take us around nine hours to hit Nashville. I'm pretty sure I slept for a good portion of it. I guess I'm lucky like that, though. For some people, motion makes them sick. Me? I fall asleep. I get it from grandma- she slept for most of the ride, too. When I wasn't sleeping, I was taking pictures out the window and playing with my iPhone. Between all of that, the ride went by pretty quickly. Our passage through Indiana (which is never fun because there's never anything to look at) went by quickly and uneventfully and the drive through Kentucky is really quite lovely.

We made really good time and we hit Nashville around 7:00 pm and checked into the Courtyard by Marriott Opryland. Mom and I went in to check in and they gave us a room with a king bed (which we learned when we got to the room and saw one bed). That wouldn't work for the four of us. Not to worry, though. They gave us a king room because they only saw two of us check in and quickly changed our keys for a room with two beds and a pull-out couch. I haven't stayed in a Courtyard in years (I think the last time was in 2004 in Miami, and that was a Courtyard that was recently converted from a 4-star hotel on the beach), but this one was nice for one night. The room was large and clean (albeit a bit dim) and we had free wi-fi, which is always, always a major plus.

Mom and I were hungry, Stephanie and grandma just wanted to get to bed, so Mom and I set out to find a place to eat. We knew there was a TGIFridays near the Opryland Mills from when we were here last year, so we went looking for that, but the Opryland Mills area is still shut down from the big flood last year. They've pumped millions of dollars into repairing the mall (which is huge but so, so nice) and just ran out of money so they stopped until they can get new funding. It's so sad to see an area that was so lively and nice last year just desolate and shut down. We drove back towards the hotel because there was a Cracker Barrel not far away and we grabbed some dinner there. We've had Cracker Barrel to go when we've driven through Kentucky a few times, but we only have one near us (and it's a half-hour away), so we've never eaten in a Cracker Barrel before. It's a fun experience. It's so homey and...different. Comforting in a way. It's fun. And the food is filling and tasty. Mom and I dined in and brought meals back to the hotel for Stephanie and grandma.

We got back to the hotel and watched some TV. I downloaded the Glee episode I missed and played around on my computer until midnight before I went to sleep. I figured vacation was a good way of resetting my sleep schedule because I'd turned myself into a total night owl the past few months, with my bedtime often after 3:00 am (and sometimes not until 5:00 am...being a freelance writer was good to me like that). So I went to bed "early" because I was so excited to get to Atlanta the next day.

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 13)

2011-03-10T13:50:00.002-06:00

So before I start the new review, I've gotta wrap up the last one, right?

I've probably mentioned this before, but I have a kind of spidey sense when I get my data service back on my phone. Something inside me just *knows* and wakes me up. And so I wasn't awakened by Stephanie pulling me out to look at the Statue of Liberty or Mom demanding we wake up or the motion of the ship pulling into the Port of Manhattan...I woke up because my iPhone!sense was tingling. And sure enough, my cell phone service was restored (and I promptly called my best friend, even though it was, like, 4:00 am at home. It's okay though- she and I are night owls and I knew she'd be awake).

Obligatory phone call to the best friend down, I got dressed, woke up Stephanie and we headed up to the Lido deck to grab a quick breakfast (fruit, a croissant and coffee for me...you don't want to be loading up on sausage and bacon before you sit in the car for 13 hours) and watch the ship pull back into Manhattan. It's not nearly as much fun going back in as it is leaving (because you just know vacation is over), but it's so scenic and lovely. And even though it was freezing cold and super foggy, it was a nice way to cap off the trip.

Once we were docked, though...that's kind of where the fun stopped and frustration set in. First, we went back to our room to meet up with Mom and grandma and then head down to the Jeeves Lounge for special assistance debarkation. For some reason, the ship was late in getting cleared and with our zone tags in the 20s, it was a long wait for us. This wasn't good because A) We had a 13 and a half hour drive home, B) We had to return the rental car within the next 15 hours and C) I was starting to feel sick (and get sick I did...my sore throat developed into a sinus and double ear infection. It wasn't helped by the fact that literally the next day, a few of my old friends came into town and we were running all over Chicago for three days and I got, literally, a total of seven hours of sleep in the three days they were here). So we sat in the Jeeves Lounge. And waited. I took my laptop out and started watching old Cubs games on my iTunes. And waited more.

We sat in the lounge for maybe two hours and *finally* debarked the ship around 10:00/10:30 am, which is the latest we've ever gotten off a ship. Things got a little frantic for us because we had such a long drive home and we had to return the car by 10:00 pm (we called Alamo and they told us that they'd charge us for an extra day if we didn't). Thankfully for us, we were in New York and if you read my last Miracle review, the porters at the Port of Manhattan are amazing and fabulous and this wasn't any exception. A super nice porter gathered up our luggage for us, took it up to our car and packed up our car for us. Mom tipped him generously and we were quickly on our way onto the busy Manhattan streets and on our way home.

The drive from New York to our home just north of Chicago is the longest drive we do, but it's nice to be on the cruise ship in the morning and be in my own bed that night. I took the time to catch up on my news, catch up with my friends back home, go through my pictures and take random pictures of the landscapes we were driving through.

We stopped for a quick dinner at a Panera at an oasis in Ohio (I can't mention enough how Ohio has the *best* rest stops ever) and kept on keeping on. We hit downtown Chicago around 9:30 pm (and hit traffic in the loop because spring construction was still going on) and finally made it home around 10:15 pm. We quickly unloaded the car and tidied it up and Mom and Stephanie went to return it. I went straight to bed because I felt like crap. Thankfully, the people at Alamo are nicer in person than they are on the phone and they didn't charge us a fee for returning the car late.

And that wraps up the 2010 trip on the Miracle. Ups and downs, good weather and bad, somehow any trip we take on the Miracle ends up being amongst my favorite trips. Maybe it's the sentimental value of being on a ship we're so comfortable on and we just love or maybe it's the fact that I believe there's some sort of magic in New York. But looking back on this trip...writing about it and seeing the pictures...just leaves me smiling and happy. And that's really the mark of a good trip, isn't it?

One of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken…

2011-02-04T13:22:00.003-06:00

We were in Antigua a few years ago. We went to visit Nelson’s Dockyard for a few hours and as we were leaving, I saw this man pick a coconut from a tree, he sat down, cracked it open and enjoyed it as he stared out onto the water. I’ve always been fascinated by how individuals interact with their environments. When I travel, I’m nearly as fascinated by watching people go about their everyday lives as I am by the places I’m visiting. And there was just something so simplistic and serene about him. Beautiful. I found myself wishing I had coconut trees and an ocean near me so I could try to find that same kind of peace. I don’t have tropical trees and vast bodies of tropical waters, but I do have sand and beaches. Why can’t I…why don’t I…wander out to the lake and sit and watch the water? Why don’t more people? So when I go to Miami in a week and a half…when I hop onto a cruise ship in two…that’s what I’m going to do. Find a quiet place and stare out onto the water.

And when the cold Chicago weather turns warm and stops tinging my cheeks pink and new!job gets too stressful, maybe that’s where you’ll find me- somewhere along Lake Michigan staring out at the water.

And we're booked!

2011-01-24T22:24:00.003-06:00

We're cruising again!

In three weeks!

(I don't recommend booking so last-minute like we did, but we didn't have much of a choice- big news...I was just offered a new job! I start right when we get back!)

So we'll be on the Valor on February 20 sailing towards Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. Shore excursion recommendations are very much appreciated! I have my eye on visiting some Mayan ruins :)

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 12)

2010-12-10T01:27:00.002-06:00

The last day on a cruise is always bittersweet. On one hand, I've found that there's always more to do around the ship (and this day was no different- there were a ton of activities we had marked in the Capers that we wanted to do) and there's that famous chocolate buffet. On the other hand, though, you have to say goodbye to crew members who have been a memorable part of your week...and packing the suitcase up to go home isn't nearly as much fun as it is packing it to get on the ship.

The Capers for today were packed with activities from top to bottom. Trivia. Galley Tour. Q&A with the crew. Tea time. Arts and crafts. Raffles. And on top of all that? The farewell party (aka the party with the free drinks) was tonight, too. So we got an early start- up bright and early at 8:00 am. But we're lingerers. We linger in bed for awhile. So we were up at 8:00 am...but Clueless was on and we probably weren't out of bed and dressed until closer to 8:30 am. With a full itinerary for the day, we skipped breakfast in the main dining room and instead went up to the lido deck with Mom and grandma instead, where the lines were long and the food was somewhere in between decent and good (new item of the day: egg and cheese breakfast burritos).

Our first draft of our day's itinerary had us laying out and basking in the sun for a few hours, but the weather had other plans- it was windy and cool. And this has really been a trend we've found on cruises departing from New York- the first day out and last day sailing back in are often cool and haven't been sunning weather.

No worries for us, though. This ship was full of activities, even at 9:30 in the morning. We ended up in the Jeeves Lounge playing animal trivia...where we lost big in score, but Stephanie felt like a champ for knowing what a Jesus bug is.

After trivia, we went to check the weather again and found it to be a bit more tolerable, and since a day at sea isn't really a day at sea for us if we haven't laid out even a little bit, we went and laid out for an hour. It wasn't swimming weather, but it was nice enough to lay out in.

Obligatory hour of sun down, we headed to the room to drop off our sun gear and went off to the Phantom Lounge for the galley tour. In 10 cruises, we've never done the galley tour before and it's always been on our list, so we decided it was the perfect time to get it done! The lounge was slow to fill up but did get very crowded as the presentation began (they do a little spiel before leading you down to the galley). In this time, the couple next to us decided that it was the perfect time to change the diaper of their little angel. Okay. Not the time NOR the place. There are restrooms immediately outside of the lounge. There are restrooms all over the ship. And there's, you know, your stateroom. The bottom line is there's no where on the ship that's too far away from a restroom and changing your child's diaper in any public place on the ship? Not cool.

So the galley tour. It's not so much of a tour as it is a quick walk around the galley. You're lead to the galley entrance. From there, you're kind of walking on a guided path without any actual guiding or narration on a looksee that lasts about two minutes. Cool to see where your food is made, but not something you necessarily need to do more than once. I found the posters and guides they had hanging on the walls particularly interesting, as they lay out the procedure and cooking methods for *everything*. They also have a picture with every dish they serve, along with a list of what's served with it. I took pics of those, but there's dozens, so perhaps if anyone wants to see them, I'll put them in a separate post.

After a quick walk around the galley and watching the chefs prepare what would be our dinner, we got a little hungry for lunch, so up to the lido we went for some chocolate. And on Carnival, they've cut and half-assed many things in the past few years (the filet mignon portion, the proteins from the dinner salads, etc), but one of the two things that haven't suffered any cutbacks that we've noticed is the chocolate buffet (the second would be tea time). Between the line of candied confections, the more than a dozen different cakes, the ice cream swans and the chocolate fountain (with all kinds of items waiting to be hand-dipped in chocolate- my favorites are the cantaloupe and the homemade doughnuts), it really is a sweet tooth's heaven...and probably a dentist's nightmare.

With all that chocolate and sugar around me, I went straight for...the salad bar? I have a sweeter tooth than anyone I know, but every last day-at-sea when the chocolate buffet is set up, I never have a taste for it! I always want some real food. So I made myself a nice salad, grabbed a plate full of macaroni and cheese from the rotisserie station (sooooooo good) and a bowl of wonton soup from the Asian station (excellent) before settling in with a cup of strawberry soup and some chocolate-dipped melon for dessert.

All refueled, Stephanie and I went off to burn some of that lunch power shopping. We wanted to go purchase a few bottles of that Absolut Tropics we'd seen in the liquor shop (a "travelers exclusive," they say. I've never seen it anywhere else...but I've never really looked- I'm a Grey Goose and cranberry juice kind of girl). The shops were packed. Literally five minutes after we arrived, they were nearly empty and we had room to peruse. We hopped from shop-to-shop checking out the goods and last-minute sales, picking up some small souvenirs with our booze.

The shops on the Miracle aren't the largest (the shopping area is confined to one small corridor on the Promenade deck), but they carry quite the array of merchandise. I'd venture an argument and say they have the best selection of merchandise I've seen on all the Carnival ships I've been on (each ship has slightly different merchandise. For example, the Freedom doesn't carry the World of Good merch that the Miracle does). In one shop, you'll find all kinds of liquors and cigars, Camp Carnival merchandise (right next to the liquor and tobacco, oddly enough), snacks for the travel home (or to enjoy on the ship...but who's going to buy snacks when you've got free food all around you?), all kinds of shot glasses and postcards and a variety of flip flops and handbags and clothes. In another shop, you've got fine jewelry, designer sunglasses, high-end cosmetics, perfumes and colognes, World of Good merchandise (handmade goods that raise money and awareness for third-world countries), watches, scarves and even a display of items for $10 and under. The downfall of the shops, though, is that the merchandise doesn't really change all that much. Mom saw a dress she liked the year before on the Miracle again in the gift shop. She still hasn't convinced herself to buy it yet, but I'm sure it'll *still* be there the next time we sail on the Miracle.

With two liters of Absolut Tropics in hand ($22, I believe, for both...and we could walk out with them because it was the last day of our cruise and if you purchase on the last day, you can walk out with it), Stephanie and I headed back to our cabin to pack. Mom always mandates that we have our luggage out before showtime and we had SO many other activities we wanted to do this afternoon (plus the farewell party before dinner), so we got down with our packing. Packing to go on vacation? Fun. Exciting. Anticipatory. Packing to go home after you'd been on vacation for nearly two weeks? Total downer. Never fun. Always a procrastinatory activity.

By 3:00 pm, both of us had most of our packing done (Stephanie more than me- I go by the five minutes of packing followed by 15 of watching TV method) and we headed down to Frankie and Johnnie's for the Meet the Cruise Director Q&A. I'd never seen this activity offered on any ship before and Stephanie and I were curious. Basically, Malcolm organized a panel of himself, Sparkles and the dance captain and they told us all about life on the ship, their jobs and they fielded questions from us. It was a super informative chat...highly entertaining...and I thought it was a really nice touch. Malcolm told us how it's all up to the activities staff to decide what activities are offered and when and you can totally see that and how the attitude and ethic of the activities staff translates into the activities offered in the Capers. On this cruise, we saw the staff *everywhere*. There were dozens of activities offered daily. We were never bored or looking for something to do. And beyond all of that, there were so many original activities offered that we'd never seen before. Contrast that with our cruise in February on the Freedom, where we saw the activities crew fraternizing instead of running activities, we saw Felipe (the cruise director) hanging out with his girlfriend more than we saw him hanging out with guests and their general lacksidasical approach to the week's activities translated to few activities and a generally unmotivated staff.

We learned that this week, the dance team had been changing (a bunch of new dancers were coming in to replace some departing ones who were on their last cruise before their break), the male vocalist was changing (a new one appeared in the Legends show that evening) and mid-cruise, the Captain changed from Captain Volpi to Captain Donato. We also learned that Malcolm lived in a balcony cabin on deck 8 near the bridge, so he'd have quick access if he's needed. Sparkles, as the assistant CD, has a room to herself, but she's on the A deck with the rest of the crew. The Spirit-class ships have some of the largest cruise director rooms on the fleet, but some of the smallest crew rooms. Go figure. After the panel ended, Malcolm stuck around to field extra questions and chat with the guests, but Stephanie and I had to hightail it out to meet up with Mom and grandma for tea. I have to say, though, if you're sailing on the Miracle in the near future, you're in for a treat having Malcolm as your cruise director (I checked the schedule and he's going to be on the Miracle for awhile). He really exemplifies what a CD should be. He takes his job very seriously and he loves what he does and that really, really added so much to our experience.

Our last tea time was nice and relaxing...just as it should be. I made my way through two pots of chamomile tea as we reminisced on the cruise...talked about what we wanted for the next one...and enjoyed the soft music until Mom found out about my 5/15 packing method and sent me back to the room to pack more (because on every cruise we've been on, I literally never finish packing until we're about ready to walk off the ship).

An hour later, I was still using the 5/15 method of packing and I wasn't much better off than I was when I started, but nearly all my clothes were packed up and most of my shoes, too. Everything else could wait. I was off to the casino...where I lost more money in the slots.

From the casino, Stephanie and I headed to the Fun Farewell Party for some free drinks. We stayed for two drinks and left. Service was slow. People were getting rowdy and I began feeling like I was watching an episode of Jersey Shore, with people in Ed Hardy gear getting sloshed on free drinks and shouting. Fun times.

We decided to walk around the ship for a little while since we had some time before we had to meet up with Mom for dinner. We settled in the Jeeves Lounge to wait for Mom. Stephanie pulled out her comment card (she takes writing these very seriously. If a crew member goes above and beyond, she will get their name and will give them appropriate props. If you don't meet her expectations, she will get your name and say so on her comments card. Me? I whipped out my iPhone. The closer we get to land, the twitchier I get to get connected to the internet and see a few bars pop up to the left of my little 3G icon.

Mom found us and we waited out the line to walk in. I've said it before and I'll say it again- if you have a confirmed dining time, you have a confirmed table. Standing in like for 15 minutes accomplishes nothing but wasting your time. Your table will still be there.

Dinner tonight was alright. It's not my favorite menu and we've frequently considered going up to Lido for dinner on the last night (or just having some room service delivered), but I'd feel so bad skipping out on our last dinner and not saying goodbye to the staff who'd helped make our week so enjoyable. Gede was filling in for an ill headwaiter somewhere else in the Bacchus, so Orlando was flying solo again.

Stephanie started with the American Navy Bean Soup (simmered with root vegetables) and noted that while it tasted good, there were virtually no beans in it. No beans in a Navy Bean soup? Really, Carnival? She had a regular fruit cocktail for her second starter and noted the fruit was a little overripe. Mom had a shrimp cocktail and then she and I both ordered the Chilled Supreme of Fresh Fruit (finished with Peach Schnapps), which we both agreed needed more Schnapps (then again, what doesn't?). I ordered the Grilled Portabello Mushroom and Handpicked Mesclun Lettuce (marinated with balsamic, fresh basil and virgin olive oil) and this starter is always a high point of a meal. Thick, meaty slices of portabellos heavily marinated in balsamic? Heavenly.

American Navy Bean Soup

Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Chilled Supreme of Fresh Fruit

Grilled Portabello Mushroom and Handpicked Mesclun Lettuce

Mom went with the Barbecued St. Louis Style Pork Spareribs (served with creamy coleslaw, grilled spring onion and fries) for her main course and enjoyed it much. She said the ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and that the barbecue sauce had a nice tang to it. Stephanie and I both had the Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus (Stephanie ordered a side of steamed vegetables with hers) and while I thought it was a little fattier than I like, but otherwise good, Stephanie didn't really like it. She said if you like meat, you'll like it...but she doesn't like meat all that much.

Barbecued St. Louis Style Pork Spareribs

Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus

Steamed Vegetables

Dessert came with a heavy dose of melancholy, as we realized it was our last course of the last meal we'd have in the Bacchus for a long while (a return trip on the Miracle is an inevitability in our family). Mom skipped dessert. Stephanie had a scoop of vanilla ice cream (which she said was very "vanilla-y"...I'm not sure what else you'd expect with vanilla ice cream though). I ordered the Grand Mariner Souffle (served with orange vanilla sauce) and a cheese plate to enjoy with my coffee. Gede finished up with his tables early so he could come down and say goodbye to us and Orlando made sure to hug all of us before we left. They really went above and beyond for us this week and we were so lucky to have such a fantastic duo.

Grand Mariner Souffle

Vanilla Ice Cream

Cheese Plate

Stephanie and I headed outside to watch the sunset while Mom went to wake up grandma from her nap. The closer we got to New York, the slower the ship sailed. One of my fondest memories from this trip is really the daily trip to the promenade after dinner to watch the sunset, uninterrupted by the noise of anything but the waves lapping up on the side of the ship...and my camera shutter.

We went up to our cabin so I could finish packing (and do one last outfit change for the night) before I met up with the rest of the family up on Lido deck. A day full of activities called for a night full of activities and we had a full night ahead of us. Stephanie and I split from Mom and grandma again and headed for Useless Trivia (I guess my knowledge of useless crap DOES know a bound...because we didn't even come close to winning) and then Music Trivia. Both rounds of trivia were supposed to be held in the Phantom Lounge, but ended up being held in Frankie and Johnnie's, which was packed to the brim. Smitty ran both games and he was the best at trivia. Really. He's more entertaining than the questions.

From trivia, we headed to the Phantom Lounge for What's Your Bluff (aka the Liars Club), which was HILARIOUS. Basically, Buttercup, Julie and Sparkles are given a word and they give you a definition of it. Two are lying, one is telling the truth. It usually results in hilarity, but this one was above and beyond. Literally. Buttercup ended up under the table hysterically laughing.

I wanted to check the score of the Cubs game, so Stephanie offered to keep our seats for the Legends show if I would put out all our luggage. Deal.

The Legends show? To put it politely...it was a trainwreck. The new dance crew was good and gelling with the holdovers from the last crew. The new male singer was good (and was no where near as distracting in his looks or mannerisms than the last one had been). But the Legends? Half of them didn't know the words to the songs and the others looked plain miserable up on stage. And really Carnival? There's only so many times a cruiser can see this show. Lets change it up a little, okay? It's about that time.

Not ready for our last night onboard to be over, Stephanie and I went everywhere but our room. We hit the casino. We hit the piano bar (and promptly left- it was empty and that's never fun). We were sad to see that Music Unlimited wasn't playing tonight and ended up on the Lido deck getting some pizza. My pizza enjoying experience was hindered by the screaming children that kept putting the pepper shakers in their mouths (seriously? I won't judge that your child is out past 1:00 am on a cruise ship since it's vacation...but letting them put a pepper shaker in their mouths to keep them from crying? Not cool. I might be judging you) and the teenagers who decided a slick floor made an excellent space for a slip and slide.

We headed back to the room. Mom had been waiting an hour for her room service to be delivered (I guess we weren't the only ones drawing out our last night onboard) and the boat was rocking pretty hard as they tried to keep us sailing in international waters. I started packing up my toiletries and accessories while Stephanie looked for something to watch on TV. As we flipped past the map channel, we noticed they were playing My Heart Will Go On. You're on a cruise ship. The boat's rocking. The theme song to Titanic? Probably not the most comfortable sound for some.

It probably wasn't the best idea to stay up past 3:00 am when we had a 13-hour drive ahead of us (and I wouldn't be sleeping much for a few days with my friends coming in to town...which I didn't. I didn't get more than three hours of sleep at a time for the next four days) but I just really wanted to draw it out as long as possible and remember every single thing I was feeling and thinking. And I wanted my cell phone service back.

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menus:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 11)

2010-11-13T18:22:00.004-06:00

After three days in port, I was ready for our last two days at sea. As we're looking at cruises, days at sea seem to be something we take into consideration. While port days used to be a priority to us, days at sea have kind of crept up in importance. They're so relaxing and so much fun. I love relaxing under the sun. I love exploring the ship. And tea time! I love tea time.

So after three port days, we had two days at sea left before disembarking in New York. Wanting to get an early start to the day, we woke up bright and early at 8:30 am (I don't even wake up this early at home! I'm firmly a late to bed, late to rise kind of girl) and headed up to the Lido deck for breakfast. Today's newest item on the line? Spanokopita. I opted for the omelet line. If you're not feeling like scrambled eggs of the powdered variety, you might want to check out the omelet line, where they make omelets made-to-order with a bunch of different vegetable, meat and cheese options. And if you're not an omelet person, you can have your eggs made-to-order. In my case? Sunny-side up, please!

After breakfast, Stephanie and I went out back to the adults-only Lido area to find chairs. We found two pretty quickly, but they weren't in an ideal spot and the area was overcrowding pretty quickly (I guess people have caught onto our little secret place!), so we headed up to deck 10, where it was empty, grabbed two chairs and laid out for a few hours. The area quickly filled up (deck 10 is always the last to fill up, though, so if you're up at a decent hour, it's always easy to find good spots up there), but it was still so peaceful up there. The seas were as smooth as glass, the sky was clear and I kind of drifted off to the tunes coming off my iPod.

We decided earlier to meet up with Mom and grandma and head to the MDR for lunch, so when we had our fill of sun time, we headed back to the room to change and we all headed to lunch together. We'll try to do lunch in the MDR once or so a cruise. The food is hit or miss sometimes if you're a picky eater like me, but it's a much more calm, leisurely experience than the bustle up on the Lido deck. Stephanie started with the Old Fashioned German Lentil Soup and found it very flavorful. Mom and grandma both started with the Medley of Garden and Field Greens and thought it was unremarkable (and that they'd be more satisfied with a visit to the salad bar up on the Lido deck). I started with the Chilled Orange Sory (chilled orange soup with tapioca pearls) and it was really fantastic. It tastes like melted orange sherbet with little, tiny tapioca bits and it's just really nice and refreshing to start with.

Old Fashioned German Lentil Soup

Medley of Garden and Field Greens

Chilled Orange Sory

We all had favorable things to say about our main courses. Stephanie had the Hay and Straw (egg fettuccine and spinach fettuccine tossed in tomato sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and basil) and thought while delicious, was entirely too heavy for lunch and didn't make much of a dent in it. Mom had a Create Your Own Burger, which was just as tasty as the hamburgers served up at the grill but with many more topping options. Grandma and I both had the Chinese Pepper Steak (stir-fried lean beef, peppers, onions and pineapples, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and served with steamed rice) and both of us nearly cleared our plates. This was delicious! The beef was soft and tender and the onions were nice and sweet. With the added sweetness of the pineapple, it was a really delicious mix of flavors.

Hay and Straw

Create Your Own Burger

Chinese Pepper Steak

We all had the Chocolate Sundae for dessert and while very yummy, it made me realize that the sundae bar they used to put out on sea days on the Miracle was gone and I missed it! It made for a great snack and was really a nice perk of sailing on the Miracle. Oh cutbacks. You're cramping my dining style.

Chocolate Sundae

After lunch, we went walking around the ship, taking it all in. I wanted to take pictures of all the public areas for a little project I'm going to work on. And then we split up again, with Stephanie and I going back to the room to shower and rest for awhile.

I must have fallen asleep after I did my hair because before I knew it, Mom was waking me up to get ready for tea time. On the way to tea, I began to notice some trash around the ship. Come on, guys. The ship isn't your trash can. If you finish your can of coke, throw the can out in your room or leave it at the bar. If you grab a cup of ice cream, don't leave the empty bowl in the elevator bank, leave it at a bus station or outside your room. It's my ship to enjoy, too. I don't want to be stepping over the trash you were too lazy to put in it's correct place.

Tea time, as always, was relaxing and delicious. I really love the live music and relaxing to it as I stare out the window into the open seas while I sip my chamomile tea. They served an absolutely scrumptious mocha cake today, and had these delicious cream-filled scones. I was, however, getting kind of grossed out that they use the same tongs to serve *everything*. As in the same tongs that are picking up Mom's smoked salmon sandwiches are serving me my scones. This brings a potentially dangerous cross-contamination issue that I hope Carnival will soon realize and correct. Please use separate tongs for the seafood options than you use for the dessert options.

After tea, Stephanie and I wanted to go to the shops so we split up from Mom and grandma again. What do I find in the shops? MORE TRASH. Come on, people! Of ALL the places to leave your empty mug, you're going to leave it in the SHOPS? Stay classy, guys.

Stephanie and I found bottles of Absolut Tropics that caught our eyes in the gift shop
and decided to go back tomorrow and purchase them). We perused the shops a bit more (I've found that while the stores are smaller on the Miracle, they have a better selection than the bigger shops on bigger ships) before heading back to the room to rest, watch some Avatar and then get ready for our final elegant evening.

Dinner tonight was really, really delicious and it's probably one of my favorite menus they offer all week. Everything I ate, top to bottom, was just delicious. Mom started with the Baked Eggplant with Mozzarella Cheese (served with Romesco sauce and green pea fondue) and while Mom typically loves eggplant dishes, she really didn't like this (and couldn't put her finger on why). She also had a Caesar salad, which was as good as it is every night. Stephanie started with the Cream of Garden Fresh Broccoli (enhanced with aged Wisconsin cheddar) and thought it was nice and rich, and then she also had the Green Bean and Roma Tomatoes (garnished with tender greens, tossed in vinaigrette dressing). I have no idea why they don't just call this salad with green beans and tomatoes since there's not many green beans and like one piece of tomato in it (it also used to have shrimp in it, but those were cut when they cut the proteins out of all the salad offerings), but Stephanie seemed to enjoy the salad nonetheless. I started with the Chilled Creamy Bing Cherry Soup, which was nice and creamy with a slight tartness from the cherry bits in the soup, and then I had the starter portion of the Penne Siciliana (Durham wheat pasta tossed with a sauce of eggplant, zucchini, plum tomatoes, cream and Pecorino cheese with Italian herbs). It was a heavy portion and a really rich sauce, but it's such a flavorful dish. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was nice and dense.

Baked Eggplant with Mozzarella Cheese

Caesar Salad

Cream of Garden Fresh Broccoli

Green Bean and Roma Tomatoes

Chilled Creamy Bing Cherry Soup

Penne Siciliana

We all went for the same entree for dinner- the Chateaubriand with Sauce Bearnaise (sliced, grilled beef shoulder tender). I contemplated ordering two because I typically love this dish but I went with just one. I should have ordered two. Let's get the not-so-good out of the way: aside from Mom's (who can never get her beef well done enough), mine and Stephanie's Chateaubriand were overcooked. Okay. That done. This was SOOOOOOOO good. That bearnaise. That au jus. I will eat nearly anything drenched in that combination of flavors. My mouth waters at the thought of it. No lie. The peas served with dried cranberries were delicious and I don't remember the potatoes but I'm sure they were good, too. But man, that Chateaubriand. It's the best beef dish they serve in the MDR. Try it. I can't recommend it enough.

Chateaubriand with Sauce Bearnaise

And on Chateaubriand night, there's only one option we all ever order at dessert: the Baked Alaska (vanilla sponge with assorted ice cream and baked with meringue). I miss when it was Baked Alaska on parade and they were carried (lit) out of the kitchen and everyone got a slice, but it's still so good. I could go without the sprinkle of fruits they put on top (this time, they put blackberries on top, too). They're an unnecessary distraction and I push 'em off my plate (I ate the blackberries. I love me some berries). Oh, and I had a cheese plate to go with my nightly after-dinner cuppa joe. Delish as always.

Baked Alaska

Cheese plate

Mom went upstairs to take grandma up to the Lido deck for dinner and Stephanie and I went off onto the promenade to watch the sunset. We did this nearly nightly and it became one of my favorite things we did. There's something so beautiful and poetic about watching the sun disappear into the never-ending sea.

We met back up with Mom and grandma on the Lido deck. They were serving steaks as an option for dinner but we found they were pretty undercooked (even the medium-well steaks were more like medium-rare. I don't want to know what the medium-rare ones were like!), but the cooks on Lido had no problem preparing one for grandma that was more well-done. I noticed they had sushi out during dinner hours and that many people would stop by and grab some in passing, as they had different offerings than the sushi bar was offering downstairs. I also noticed a surprising number of people grabbing things with their hands instead of using tongs (rolls, fruit, random pieces of food, etc). For the love of sailing, USE THE TONGS- IT'S WHAT THEY'RE THERE FOR.

Stephanie, Mom and grandma went to the atrium after we left the Lido and I went back to the room to change out of my dress. They came back (somehow, grandma's leg got cut...I never got the full story...and she was bleeding quite a bit for awhile before Mom got it under control and all bandaged up) and we all did some light packing. We debated whether or not to go see Singing with the Big Band with Christopher Alan Graves. We've seen his show a million times and it never changes. Ultimately, Stephanie and I decided to go see it for lack of other things to do. We ordered some drinks and sat back for the show.

While Mr. Graves is a very talented man, there's something so inherently self-indulgent about his show. Maybe it's how he superimposes pictures of himself in a photo montage of Rat Pack singers or his supreme self-confidence. He's good, but he's no Sammy Davis Jr.

Since the Madhatter was next to the Phantom Lounge, we decided to go watch some karaoke, but it was SO insanely crowded and rowdy down there. I couldn't decide if I stepped into a frat party or an episode of Jersey Shore. And somehow amongst all of that, it just wasn't as entertaining as it had been when KaraoKay had been running it last year.

From karaoke, we hit up the sports bar for a bit for some ticker watching, we did some walking around the ship (always fun at night when you're sailing with a lively bunch) and then we went up to the Lido deck for a midnight snack.

We headed back to the room to pack a little more. Stephanie watched more Avatar. I put some Glee on my laptop and watched that before settling in to write my journal for the day and go to sleep. The boat began rocking a bit during dinner and was really rolling around by the time we were heading to sleep. What did that mean for me? A good night of solid sleep.

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 10)

2010-10-18T23:48:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! Back with another update! Hopefully I'll be able to get this finished soon. I'm thinking of transitioning this blog into more of a traditional blog with cruise news and my takes on it just to give me a place to write in-between trips. We'll see.

Also...I really need a super big favor!!! I entered a photography contest the other day. There's only like two days left to vote for my picture (each entry is left up for five days) and I'm currently in seventh place and I'd really like to push for a strong finish. So, if you could go to http://community.hipstamatic.com/submissions/24235 and click the button to both Tweet the picture and Facebook "like" it, each of those count as one vote (and you can only vote once per Twitter account and once per Facebook account), I'd appreciate it more than you would ever know.

Last thing- I really appreciate the comments, both here and on Cruise Critic. They're very much appreciated and I appreciate everyone hanging in there with me while I finish this! Blogger's giving me a problem responding to comments, so I'm not ignoring you...it's just not posting my responses. Hopefully I can get that fixed soon, but if you have an immediate question, drop me a line in my Cruise Critic thread and I'll be able to respond there (here). And with that....

On our last port day, we docked in Nassau bright and early at 7:00 am. Not that I noticed...I slept right through it. And then I kept sleeping. In ten cruises, we've been to Nassau at least five times. Everything on this island is kind of "been there, done that" for us.

And then there's the matter of how I really, really don't like Nassau. Stephanie vehemently hates it (though I've never really asked her why...I probably should). It's not a particularly dirty port or dangerous port (though it's far from the most beautiful or exotic ports we've ever visited). For me, mostly, it's the fact that nearly every time we go to Nassau, it pours. And I don't mean a little light tropical shower. I mean the heaviest rain showers I've ever seen. And nearly every time, somewhere in the Bahamas, I get stuck outside with no umbrella (and I think we established in the last post that me and rain just don't mix). The night before at dinner, we were joking with Orlando about how we're a jinx on the Bahamas and how every time we visit, it rains (except, coincidentally, the ones where Stephanie doesn't get off the ship. When Stephanie stays on board, the weather is typically glorious. Go figure).

So what is there to do in Nassau? You can go shopping at one of the dozens of shops up and down the main streets or in the straw market. You can get your hair braided (I'd recommend bringing your own comb). You can hop a cab (or do a ship excursion) to the Atlantis resort. You can go to one of the beaches. You can go to Senor Frogs (which is my usual activity of choice). We've done all of the above. You can do a glass-bottom boat ride. You can go to the Ardastra Gardens (which I'd love to do sometime if I weren't convinced it would rain the minute I show up). You can do a historical tour. But it's not a large island and there's not a whole lot to do.

Stephanie wasn't sure if she wanted to get off the ship. I really wanted to hit Senor Frogs because the rain kept us away from it last year but she didn't know if she really wanted to. But there was one thing I was set on doing: getting me some internet. At this point, I'd been offline for more than five days and I was getting a little twitchy. Internet prices on the boat are exorbitantly high and the service goes down quite a bit (when it's not crawling at a snail's pace). Now, at the Starbucks' in the United States, all the stores have free Wi-Fi...and the previous night, it sparked in my head that there's a Starbucks right on Woodes Roger's Walk (which is the main street that's across the street from the cruise terminal and leads to Senor Frogs). There wasn't anything anyone else really wanted to do (grandma didn't want to get off the ship and Mom wasn't sure she wanted to, either, and Stephanie wouldn't decide until we docked), so I wanted to get my internet on if they had some Wi-Fi.

We woke up around 9:00 am and the skies were relatively clear (only slightly ominous looking...though that could have been my Bahamas!paranoia). We got dressed and met up with Mom and grandma having breakfast up on the Lido deck. Today, they offered eggs benedict on the buffet line and though they aren't as good as the ones in the main dining room, they were quite good for buffet line eggs benedict.

After breakfast, Stephanie and I grabbed our things from our room and went off into Nassau. Depending on where you're docked at the port in Nassau, it can be either a really fast or a really long walk to the cruise terminal. In our case, we were docked pretty far away (again), so we kind of took our time walking over. We weren't really in a rush to do anything, anyways.

The cruise terminal in Nassau is actually very nice. They have a welcome desk, where you can ask them any questions you have about the island. They have all kinds of tour brochures and local publications (anywhere we go, I grab every brochure and local publication I can...makes for fun souvenirs and good research material for future trips). There's pay phones and wi-fi (I never did pay attention to the price per minute...I'll have to make a note of it next time). There's hair braiding. And there's also a market with a bunch of different shops. I honestly can't say I've ever spent more than a few minutes perusing around the market since there's really nothing special to Nassau that you have to buy (not like, for instance, going to Mexico and buying tequila or going to Costa Rica and buying coffee). You do have to walk through this area in order to get out of the facility, but you won't be hassled or haggled by any vendors- they generally keep to themselves.

Once we exited the facility, we walked over towards Bay Street, which is where most of the major shops are (including most of the ship's recommended shops). While that was one block further than we needed to go (Starbucks is on Woodes Roger's Walk, which is the road that goes right along the ocean), we wanted to pop into a few stores to check them out. I've noticed that over the past few years, they've really put in some high-end shops on Bay Street and tried to build it up a bit. I know there's a Gucci store out there. There's a Coach store (not an outlet, but it is duty free...though I found they were quite rude in there). On this trip, we noticed a MAC store but didn't stop in. We didn't end up buying anything in Nassau on this trip. At this point, I think we pretty much have it all when it comes to Nassau. But the insurgence of higher-end stores does provide an interesting juxtaposition. You'll have a Coach store next to a sketchy alley with some random street vendors.

If we hadn't taken our sweet time stopping in a bunch of different stores, it would have taken less than five minutes to walk from the cruise terminal to the Starbucks. It's a quick and easy walk...pretty straight off the port area. And it's your typical US kind of Starbucks. Same drinks. Same pastries. Generally same prices. And an our of wi-fi will only set you back $3.00 (no food or drink purchase necessary), which on board, would either cover your one-time set-up charge OR get you four minutes of internet time. The Starbucks had a cool, lofty feel and it didn't really attract any locals...or tourists. This seems to be where a lot of the crew come to log on to their laptops and check in with family and friends. Stephanie and I each bought an hour of internet time and some drinks and got onto the internet via our iPhones. INTERNET! Glorious, connected internet! After so many days without my connection to my friends at home, I was like a crack addict, taking in as much time as I could get. The first hour went quickly...and Stephanie left after hers was up. Me? I went up to the counter and bought ANOTHER hour (what can I say? I had friends coming in to visit me the day after we got home and I had so much to catch up on). And I may have extended for another hour after that. Why? BECAUSE IT STARTED RAINING. AGAIN. Oh Nassau. Why do you hate me so? Can't you let your sun shine on me (or my Starbucks, as the case may be) for one day?

The rain thankfully stopped pretty quickly and I was able to walk back to the ship nice and dry. As I was walking back, a Bahamian man seemed to be following me and singing at me, so I just ducked into a store for a bit and looked around. In most foreign ports, I probably wouldn't be going off by myself, but in ports like Nassau that we've been to so many times (same thing goes for St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Grand Turk for us), I know the area so well that I don't feel unsafe going off by myself. Practice common sense, keep alert and stay in the visible areas.

It was starting to drizzle a bit, so when I got back into the cruise terminal, I hung around and took pictures for a little bit until it passed and I knew I wouldn't end up in some random Bahamian downpour (it would be my luck...).

I've gotta say...having some time to myself to walk back to the ship...it was kind of nice (well, sans the creepy random serenading man). Stephanie gets insanely annoyed by my constantly stopping to take pictures and it was nice to be able to stop and look at things...take pictures of them at my leisure. She's worried I'm living behind my lens and I'm only seeing things through the lens of my cameras. I tell her...how many times do I really have to look at the Bahamas with my real eyes? ;)

Back on board, I met up with Stephanie, Mom and grandma back in Mom's room. They ate so I ran up to the Lido deck, made a salad and brought it back to the room, where Stephanie and I watched Avatar. And then at some point, I fell asleep for a bit. What can I say? The drabby Bahamian weather makes me sleepy.

After nap time, I flat ironed my hair so it wouldn't take me so long to get ready for dinner later and then Stephanie and I went up to the Lido deck for ice cream and sailaway. I tell you what: watching people stagger back to the ship from Senor Frogs? High entertainment value. Ultimately, we had to leave to get ready for dinner before we even sailed away because the ship was delayed (probably waiting for people to stagger back from Senor Frogs). And Stephanie had a migraine and needed some aspirin (I, again, blame the Bahamas and its crappy weather). Did I mention that as we were getting ready to leave Nassau, the clouds (quite literally) parted and we finally got some sun? Why do you hate me, Nassau Gods?

After another wardrobe change (I'm going for a record here...I'd change clothes twice more after dinner), grandma went to nap and Mom, Stephanie and I headed to dinner. And honestly? Wasn't that great. This particular menu has a lot of bold flavors and I really just wasn't in the mood for them, so I started with some of the more blander starters: a fruit cocktail and the Petite Marmite (clear beef broth with beef, chicken and vegetables). The fruit was perfect- fresh and juicy and ripe. The soup was very game-y tasting and I really didn't enjoy it at all. It had some thin strips of beef and chicken and some larger chunks of root vegetables, but it really just tasted off. Stephanie started with the Mixed Garden and Field Greens salad (tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots with lemon vinaigrette dressing) and the Potage Saint Germain (pea soup with baby tomato salad), and while she gave the salad a thumbs up (especially the tangy vinaigrette), she gave the soup a thumbs down, a rarity for her. While my soup had an unpleasant game meat flavor, Stephanie's soup had no flavor at all. And Mom? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. She had a shrimp cocktail, a Caesar salad and a fruit cocktail.

Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Petite Marmite

Mixed Garden and Field Greens

Potage Saint Germain

Shrimp Cocktail and Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Caesar Salad

The main course didn't fare any better than the starters did. Mom had the Lasagna Bolognese (baked casserole with layers of pasta, lean ground beef, tomatoes and spinach, served on a lake of Pomodoro sauce) and was served a huge hunk o' lasagna. She thought it was good but it wasn't anything special. Stephanie had the Coq au Vin de Chamberlin (supreme of chicken marinated and cooked in red burgundy wine. Garnished with silver onions, gratin potatoes and wine dough crisps) and while Stephanie usually enjoys this dish (and she said the flavor was still spot on), she found the chicken to be really dried out, and noted it was becoming a trend for her. I had the Grilled New York Strip Steak from Aged American Beef (served with a green peppercorn sauce) and while it was cooked fine, there was an awful lot of gristle on the steak and not much edible steak and left me hungry for probably the first time ever after a MDR meal.

Lasagna Bolognese

Coq au Vin de Chamberlin

Grilled New York Strip Steak from Aged American Beef

In between dinner and dessert, Gedy (who had been filling in for a head waiter upstairs) came by to see how our day was and bid us a good night and we joked around with Orlando about the weather for the day (we warned him it would rain!). Though I'm pretty certain we'll try anytime dining on our next trip, Orlando and Gedy really kind of encapsulate why we've been so hesitant to make the move to anytime dining- there's something to be said for having a team that knows you and having that kind of consistency. They really were like old family friends by the end of the week.

Dessert was probably the strongest course tonight, but that wasn't saying much. Stephanie had a cheese plate and a scoop of lime sherbet, which she thought was nice and refreshing (and noted that she enjoyed this cheese plate better than the one she had in the supper club earlier in the week). Mom ordered the Almond and Phyllo Roll (served with a light honey sauce), which is really almost like a baklava roll. It's surprisingly light and not overwhelmingly sweet. I had the White Chocolate Bread Pudding and a cheese plate, and while the bread pudding is normally one of my favorite dishes (and certainly tasted fine), it was suffering from some textural problems. It was almost gloopy instead of firm.

Lime Sherbet

Almond and Phyllo Roll

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Cheese plate

After dinner, Mom went upstairs to take grandma to dinner and Stephanie and I went outside to watch the sunset. This was quickly becoming one of the favorite parts of my day- taking a few moments after dinner to watch the sunset out on the promenade. It's so breathtaking and beautiful and it's a nice, quiet moment to just listen to the water lap up on the sides of the boat and enjoy the feeling of being at sea. Moments like these? It's what cruising is all about for me.

When the sun had set, we set out for the sports bar...again...to check the ticker, only to find out it wasn't running on ESPN. You know what would be really fantastic? If the sports bar had it's own running ticker. Just an idea ;)

We met up with Mom and grandma on the Lido deck and I was still kind of hungry because I picked at most of my food, so I went to grab a pastrami sandwich. Now, I'm not much of a deli meat sandwich kind of girl. I'm very particular with my meats and sandwiches and I'm just not big on sandwiches in general (much to the rest of the family's chagrin- they could have a Subway or Potbelly's every day and never get sick of it) and I really have to give kudos to the Carnival deli. Firstly, they offer like a dozen sandwiches. Secondly, they're all made to order and made right in front of you. Thirdly, it's so *fresh*. When I ordered my sandwich, they pulled out a hunk of pastrami and cut the meat fresh right in front of me. They don't even do that at Subway. So props to Carnival on the delis. On that note, though, I really am not much of a sandwich person and after nearly half of the sandwich, I ditched it for some frozen yogurt.

We split up again after grandma had her dinner (and I had my post-dinner snack)- Mom and grandma went to the shops and Stephanie and I went to the Phantom for Game Show Mania, which is my favorite trivia game. Basically, one of the social hosts chooses three people from the audience, they go up on stage and answer trivia questions that are, like, 30 years old. It's fantastically fun because there's always some joke to be had or some spontaneous fun interjected in. And yay for me...I got chosen to play again! And like last time, I led early and then fizzled. One of these days, I'll win at this. Oh, and if there's any video of me doing the chicken dance on stage, you can go ahead and delete it. I fear it showing up on my future wedding video if my Mom ever finds it.

After Game Show Mania was a show unlike any other I'd ever seen on any cruise I've ever been before. Malcolm, our cruise director, had his own show- Film Within a Film- and what that was, basically, was Malcolm grabbing people from the audience and doing silent film sketches. It was the funniest show I've ever seen on a cruise ship. Bar none. And it's the first time we'd ever had a cruise director do his own show, so kudos to Malcolm, really, for putting the effort in to go the extra mile. Dream Team material, for sure. Stephanie has video of this somewhere and I'll have to find it and upload it. Until then, you get pictures. But if you're ever cruising with Malcolm and you see Film Within a Film in your Capers, go see it. And if you don't want to be chosen, don't look like you don't want to be chosen ;)

Tonight was also our deck party, so we headed up to the Lido deck when the show was over for some food and fun. They had quite the variety of mexican foods up at Horatios (a taco bar, a nacho bar, the hot food and an impressive array of desserts), but I've never found cruise ship mexican food to be anything to write home about. It's good, not great. So we snacked on some of the offerings and then headed outside to listen to Music Unlimited play on the big stage. We didn't see any deck games going on, but we didn't stay too long because the boat was really starting to rock, which was causing Stephanie's migraine to return.

Speaking of sea sickness, one of my dearest friends is getting married next week and is going on her very first cruise for her honeymoon. Aside from getting attacked and taken hostage by Somali pirates (I legit got a phone call last week asking me what the chances of this happening were), her biggest concern is sea sickness. In all honesty, there's no real way to tell if or how you'll be affected by the ship's movement and you can't really predict when the ship will get rocky (as the ship can move quite a bit even when it isn't storming out). Some people don't feel the movement at all (like me...unless I'm thrown around, many times I can't even tell if the ship is rocking). Some people are hypersensitive to it. Some people get sleepy from the motion (me again). Some people get headaches (Stephanie) and some people get so sick that they're out of commission as long as the ship is moving. So I'll share with you the tips I shared with her.
1. There's OTC meds (like Dramamine), which you can pick up FOR FREE from the Purser's desk or outside the infirmary.
2. There's prescription meds you can get from your doctor before you leave for your trip (this would be the transdermal patches you will see people wearing behind their ears. You change them every three days or so and get a constant dose of anti-sea sickness meds).
3. If you get REALLY sick on board (we're talking debilitating sick that you can't get out of bed), you can get an injection in the infirmary.
4. You can buy Sea Bands at your local grocery store, drug store or pharmacy, which is a pair of thin sweatbands you wear on your wrists that have a small plastic ball on them. You place the ball part on a certain part of your wrist and the accupressure is supposed to stop mild sea sickness.
5. Ginger is a natural anti-nausea remedy, so you can get something like ginger pills at your local GNC or vitamin store or something like candied ginger (they sell it at Trader Joes and Whole Foods). Ginger ale also works here.
6. If you take a second to notice, you'll often notice green apples out on the lido deck. This is because those help with sea sickness, as well. I don't know what it is, but Mom swears it's worked for her.

Anyways. Boat was rocking. Mom was feeling sick. Stephanie had a migraine. Grandma was already asleep and I was feeling heavy lidded, too. So we went back to the room, popped in the Ugly Truth and I fell into the best sleep I had all week. Re: the above sea sickness? If you sail with me, I'm probably praying for semi-rough seas. I never sleep better than I do in rough waters. Sorry!

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 9)

2010-10-07T00:22:00.004-05:00

When it rains, it pours. Ohhhh how it pours. And when you're in a Bahamian island with me, it'll always pour. I have that kind of luck.

I knew I shouldn't have gotten on that tender. We woke up on Half Moon Cay morning at 7:30 am. Stephanie loves beaches and she demanded we get an early start. The skies were gray and ominous. We got to breakfast on the Lido deck (Mom and grandma were going to skip the beach and sleep in...enjoy the ship) and the skies only got darker. Malcolm came over the ship's PA and told us that once the big storm cloud passed, we'd be in the clear.

I shouldn't have gotten on that flipping tender.

Breakfast up on Lido was pretty solid. There were more new options (like fruit-filled wontons). But I couldn't concentrate on breakfast. I was begging Stephanie to stay onboard and let us skip Half Moon Cay.

Here's the thing: Stephanie loves beaches. All beaches. Any beaches. And she's certain that HMC is the closest we'll ever get to paradise. I hate beaches. I really hate beaches. They just seem so...dirty. And the only tolerable beaches to me are the ones at five-star resorts where there's a pool nearby for me to swim in since I'm clearly not an ocean swimming kind of girl. The one thing I hate more than beaches? Rain. I hate rain. I hate getting wet. There's few things that feel worse than getting stuck in a rain storm and getting soaked to the bone (see: Nicole in Nassau, 2007 and 2009). Naturally, Stephanie won, so off to the Phantom Lounge we went. At around 8:45 am, we got tender tags for the second tender, and they started tendering early so we were really waiting for only a few minutes.

And, you guessed it, once we were safely on the tender and pulling away from the ship, the rain started. And it was raining hard (because, you know, when it rains, it pours). And when we got off the tender? Yep. Still raining.

At this point, I decide we should just catch the next tender back to the boat since it didn't look like the rain would break. Stephanie was sure it would, so we huddled under the first bar hut we found and waited for it to let up. And then we ran to get a clam shell (Stephanie's reason for getting off the ship early, $17 for a full day). From then on, the rain was off...then on...then off...then on. Stephanie got to swim in the ocean for maybe 15 minutes. I sat in the clam shell and waited for the sun Stephanie was sure would come out at some point (you know...since Malcolm said this would pass).

And then the skies opened up. Like whoa. If when it rains, it pours, when it pours, you must be with me in a Bahamian island. It's just my luck. So I'm stuck in a clam shell in the biggest downpour I've ever seen. Stephanie's off trying to get a refund for our clam shell because this weather was clearly not going to get better. Oh, and a family that I've never met before comes into OUR clam shell, that we paid for, without asking. Hello, this is not your shelter and I'm pretty sure when Stephanie comes back, there won't be room for you. But they had a baby, so I let them stay. But they Stephanie came back and they made no move to, well, move, until one of them left to get their own clam shell. Sigh. Beach. Rain. Crabby Nicole.

So no refunds (they told us to take it up on the ship and that we'd probably get a refund...we didn't) and we decided to try to wait it out. I'm huddled up because I hate getting wet, so now I'm achy from contorting my body to avoid the rain and the rain just keeps coming harder. Stephanie wants to make a run for it. I'm afraid the rain will damage my camera. We wrap it in a towel, put the towel in her backpack, wrap her backpack in a towel and run for it. We're soaked to the bone within seconds of leaving our temporary shelter.

So then we had to wait in line for the next tender. In the rain. And they kept pushing people with kids forward (despite the ages of said kids...pretty sure your nine-year-old isn't any more likely to get pneumonia than I am), so we had to wait for ANOTHER tender because no one was allowed on the upper deck of the tender. So we're soaked. I'm praying there's no water damage to my iPhone in my pocket or my SLR camera in Stephanie's backpack. And then we board the next tender, and there's a good few inches of standing water. You never want to be on a small tender that's got inches of standing water.

By this point, I have the chills. I'm soaked to the bone and shaking. Oh, and I have to keep my legs lifted up so my feet aren't swimming in the standing water on the tender. We get off the tender and there's staff handing out dry white towels (lots of good that's going to do me at this point...I'm gonna drip water all the way to my room unless you wanna wrap me like a mummy in these shower towels) and taking our wet beach towels (and our room numbers so we wouldn't get charged, but in the fracas of getting a hundred soaking wet and grumpy people off a tender and trying to get clean towels to them and get their room numbers, we worried everything would get lost in the fray. Alas, we were never charged, so I guess it did work out. At this point, Stephanie wanted me to make sure I wrote that she still thought the beach was beautiful. I didn't care. There was a hot shower calling my name.

We went straight to Mom's room to tell her we were back (I guess she was kind of worried because we were off on the island in a storm and she didn't know the status of the tenders. It's times like this we wish that our cell phones would work in international waters). She gave us all her dry towels to dry off with. I left my wet stuff in her room (she's got more room than us anyways) and went right back to my room to take the hottest shower I've ever had. And it was glorious but short (had to leave some scalding water for Stephanie). At this point, I was still chilled to the bone and perhaps the only person on a Caribbean cruise in the very late spring to don sweats around the boat.

After Stephanie was showered, dry and changed into dry clothes, we went up to the Lido deck to grab some lunch and plot out the rest of our non-beach day. And at this point, I was just so thankful to have such a wonderful cruise staff. Even though it was a port day (a rained out port day, but a port day nonetheless), there were a ton of activities available to us so we didn't spend the day wandering around the ship or in our room watching movies. So we poured over the Capers while we feasted on the Asian fare (I think it was Japanese that day, but seriously, the Asian station on the Miracle serves some of the best Lido we've found across the fleet).

We tried to go to Name That Jingle trivia in the Fountainhead, but it was insanely crowded so we just sat by the cafe, grabbed some news sheets and listened to the trivia game.

They announced on the loudspeaker that they had gotten clearance to open the casino early because I guess some of our fellow passengers were getting restless, so we just mosied on over there for a bit to take some spins on the slots.

We went to the sports bar for a little while after the casino (so I could watch the ticker...again) and then just kind of walked around a little bit. My favorite onboard activity might be just walking around the ship. There's always something to see or discover or take a picture of. All kinds of people to meet, activities to stumble upon. Random wandering around the ship is an activity in and of itself.

They were showing Amelia on the big screen in the Madhatters Lounge while we were in trivia, but we didn't really want to see it. It wasn't in the Capers, but they were showing Avatar after Amelia, and since neither of us had seen it, we headed down to the Madhatter to watch. It was kind of a cool experience...very cozy. I kind of wish they had popcorn.

We left the movie early to go back to the room and change for dinner before meeting up with Mom. Dinner tonight wasn't all that great. It's one of the menus we usually skip in favor of the supper club. Mom started with her usual Shrimp Cocktail and Caesar Salad. Nothing exciting there. Stephanie started with a soup- the Yukon Gold Potato Soup (enhanced with cheese and garlic croutons)- and thought it was too heavy for a starter. She also had the Wilted Spinach and Portobello Mushrooms with Fresh Bacon Bits (walnut and blue cheese dressing) and really enjoyed it. She said it's not as good as the spinach salad up in the supper club, but it's a well-balanced salad nonetheless. I started with the Fried Mozzarella with Mixed Greens (served with marinara sauce) and thought it was passable. It tasted fine, but it wasn't gooey like good fried mozzarella is. Instead, it was just kind of gloppy, fried congealed stuff. I also never quite know what to make of the "salad" they serve it with given they never dress the salad with anything other than olives and some fried garlic chips. I also had the Chilled Cream of Peaches and it was pretty good, even though I don't typically like peaches. I think, though, that this was entirely too sweet to be a starter and would be greatly enhanced if herbed, like the Strawberry Bisque is.

Shrimp Cocktail

Yukon Gold Potato Soup

Wilted Spinach and Portobello Mushrooms with Fresh Bacon Bits

Fried Mozzarella with Mixed Greens

Chilled Cream of Peaches

None of the entrees really appealed to any of us, so we went with the always available menu- the grilled chicken for Stephanie and the flat iron steak for Mom and I. The flat iron steak was actually very good, but Stephanie really didn't like the chicken (she said it was bland and dry).

Grilled Breast of Corn-Fed Chicken

Grilled Flat Iron Steak from American Choice Beef

Dessert was the best part of this meal (and is really the only reason we only skip this night every other cruise, really). Stephanie had the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, which was kind of the saving grace of her meal. She said it was the best thing she ate that meal and it was just as good as it always is. Mom had the Tiramisu (marscapone cheese with coffee and sweet chocolate) and thought it was absolutely scrumptious. By the time I could ask for a bite, she'd already polished it off! I went with the Bitter and Blanc (warm white and dark chocolate bread pudding with vanilla sauce). If you can take one tip from me- I'll give you this: ORDER THE BITTER AND BLANC ON BITTER AND BLANC NIGHT. It will be the best thing you will eat all week. If I could eat one dessert food for the rest of my life, it would probably be this. SO good. It makes me want to book another cruise right now *just* so I can order it again. I skipped the cheese plate tonight. Just me and my Bitter and Blanc.

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Tiramisu

Bitter and Blanc

We decided to take a short walk around deck two to kind of walk off some of that heavy dessert. And so I could get to the sports bar to check the ticker. Again. This is what a week of no internet does to me in NBA postseason/MLB regular season time.

Stephanie, Mom and I headed back to the rooms so we could go up with grandma to the Lido deck for her dinner, but Stephanie and I wanted to change again (did I ever mention that in order to justify the massive quantities of luggage I bring, I try to change my clothes as much as I possibly can?). And both grandma and I were highly impressed by the options they had up on the Lido deck for her to choose from. Lamb. Port chops. Beef stroganoff. She was really able to enjoy most of the main course entrees they serve in the main dining room, but in a more casual environment where she could go at her own pace, on her own time.

And her nap while we were at dinner allowed her to be wide awake for tonight's big show, Ticket to Ride, which you'll know if you've read my previous reviews is one of the best shows on Carnival's fleet. I still wasn't feeling the male lead singer, though. He just totally lacked stage charisma and chemistry with the female lead singer. But on a positive note, that missing male dancer finally showed up. I don't know if he was sick and feeling better or if they flew another dancer in, but we finally had a full production staff. And really, I can't say enough about the dancers and their ability to dance so well and so in formation and coordinated on a constantly moving vessel.

Mom and grandma left after the first show, so Stephanie and I moved up as close as we could to the stage for the second show, ordered a few drinks and settled in for the second show. And while we were waiting for our drinks, Stephanie pointed out a couple that had settled in their seats...with their feet on the tables. Come on, folks. This isn't your house. We aren't your family. Let's have some manners, okay? Drinks came, second show was even better than the first, but it had to be halted for a few minutes because the stage had a slippery spot that the dancers I guess had been complaining about and they wanted to mop it down. It was for the best- they do some complicated lifts during the show and it would be awful if someone got hurt because they didn't want to stop the show.

After the show, we went to (you guess it) the sports bar...again. The Lakers won. The Cubs won. And Stephanie was being an awfully good sport about letting me obsessively check my scores. I think she's just happy I stayed away from the interwebz during our trip (maybe she was hoping it would aide my cellular addiction...though I think I'm too far gone at this point).

We decided to go back to the room instead of to karaoke or the piano bar and we got into our jammies, ordered room service and watched Nancy Grace (which we seem to only do on cruise ships now). I don't remember if I mentioned this earlier, but we found out that the lack of local channels wasn't due to cutbacks but because the ship was having trouble with the satellite feed. A little relieved knowing that the next time we sail, I'll be able to watch my American Idol.

So we went to bed with no clear plans for our next day in Nassau. If past precedent had any indication, we should probably just stay on the boat lest we get stuck in another downpour, but I had an idea and I really wanted to see if I could work it out.

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 8)

2010-09-14T02:43:00.006-05:00

Our first day in port brought the one thing I'd been craving this entire trip- a day to sleep in! We slept in until well after 9:00 am and when we woke up, we were already docked in Grand Turk. Since we'd been to Grand Turk already twice in the past year and a half, we knew exactly what the day would hold- shopping, margaritas and then heading back to the ship to go swimming.

We decided to go up to the Lido deck for breakfast with Mom and grandma and found that they had quite a few new offerings up there. Snaps to the Miracle team for the change of pace. New items, like sticky rolls, BLT quiches, baked beans and kielbasa, were peppered in amongst the usual fare. The flavor and quality of the food was varied (some things were invariably better than others, but we didn't deem anything unedible), but the change of pace was much appreciated. Also appreciated- the fact that we could serve our own bacon this time. No pork police this morning!

After breakfast, Mom and grandma went out back to sit in the sun a bit (even though the clouds were a bit heavy and sometimes obscured the sun) and Stephanie and I went back to the room to grab our stuff before heading out. And let me tell you- it was HOT. Almost oppressively so. Hotter than I remember it being the last two times we were there. We did a little bit of shopping. There's many stores at the port, but there wasn't really anything I was intent on buying. I went to Ron Jon to buy the tie-dye hoodie that I passed up in Cozumel in February (even though I probably had two like it at home) and then we headed off to Margaritaville.

The port area in Grand Turk is small. It's a maybe two-minute walk from Ron Jon (which is on one side of the port area) to Margaritaville (which is clear across the way). But you know what? It's a small island- around seven miles by one mile. You can see the entire island from the ship. And there really isn't much to do. You can shop. You can go to the beach (which, I believe, is free of charge). You can swim or rent a cabana at Margaritaville. You can drink at Margaritaville. You can rent a golf cart and drive around the island. But there isn't *that* much to do. It's a restful port, not a thrilling one. That said, though, it's clean, it's safe and the port area is amongst the best we've been to.

So we made the two-minute trek to Margaritaville and headed to the bar for some drinks. It was *packed* and we were the only ship in dock! Because there isn't much to do in Grand Turk, I'd say at least 80% of the people who get off the boat end up at Margaritaville. It fills up early. If you want a chair at the pool, you best be heading out early. Seat at the bar? You're looking at waits. If you want to eat a meal or sit in the restaurant, though, it's not usually too bad. We didn't want food so we just headed to the bar and sat at the bar until a table cleared up, where we enjoyed some overpriced drinks and a very strong sidecar (for me).

Margarita time down, we headed back to the shops to look around a little more and enjoy the port area. The area near the beach is picturesque and gorgeous, but nearly empty every time we see it. It's a nice spot for some quiet moments enjoying the area.

We took some time to look around the store that leads out to the ship (you need to walk through the store to get back to the boat and it carries a variety of items...booze, cigarettes, perfume, flip flops, cold meds), but the prices weren't all that competitive with those on the boat so we passed on through (though if you're a fan of Havaiana flip flops, they're much cheaper here than they are at Nordstrom or on the ship).

Since we were in port for a few more hours, there wasn't much of a line to get back on the boat. And in that heat, there is nothing that felt better than the rush of cold air as you enter the ship. We met up with Mom and grandma for lunch on the Lido deck and I think it must have been This-Is-How-You-Get-Norovirus day on the Lido deck. Lets see. There was the person who got sauce on their hands, dropped the tongs they were holding to lick their fingers and then picked the tongs back up, the person grabbing food directly off the serving spoon and even worse- the person grabbing food directly from the display. THIS IS HOW NOROVIRUS IS SPREAD, PEOPLE. That hand sanitizer I hope you use before you grab a tray won't do you any good if this is what you do AFTER you use it. And lets have some manners, guys. If you see someone holding a napkin as a barrier between their hands and the serving ware on your next cruise, it might be me. I was really grossed out by what I saw.

After lunch, Stephanie and I went back to the room to drop our stuff off and change into our swimsuits and we headed out to the aft pool for a few hours to swim and lay out. And I, of course, had to grab some pics of the island. No matter how many times we come here, I love taking pictures of the island. There's some sort of awesomeness in the fact that you can see the entire island from the ship's vantage point. Equally awesome was the nearly-empty pool area. Not-so-awesome was the warm pool water. Can't have it all, I guess.

Mom and grandma headed in awhile before we did and when we both started burning, Stephanie and I went back to the room for showers and a bit of rest. She put on some Blades of Glory (have I mentioned with the crappy movies ahemTWILIGHT:NEWMOONahem and the lack of local channels how glad I was we could hook up her portable DVD player to the TV?) and we relaxed for a bit before we got ready for the past guest party.

The past guest party. Oh the past guest party. Have you ever noticed how the prospect of free stuff has the propensity to turn people into douchebags? My goodness. I honestly don't know why we bother with these anymore. They're overcrowded because everyone's bringing five guests with them. People are snappy and rude. They're just one big headache. This one, in particular, was particularly bad. Some of my fellow past guests were insanely aggressive. They were rude (some of them even snapping their fingers at the servers, as if they were their personal servants). I even saw a couple grab food off the tray (I guess they couldn't wait for the server to...you know...serve them). These events aren't peaceful get togethers anymore. They're a free-for-all to see who can grab the most attention from a server and get smashed in the shortest amount of time. I had two glasses of wine and we left after the John Heald video. They had the female vocalist come out and sing while people were dancing, which I thought was a nice touch. Still, kind of lost in the yelling and finger snapping of the people around us. But nice. One thing I made note of (and this may be old news to some people...maybe not) was that they told us Carnival had plans to make their own private island. Half Moon Cay is the private island for Holland America cruise lines and while it's owned by Carnival Corp (which is why Carnival ships can stop there), it's a HAL island and apparently, it can't quite handle the passenger load of Carnival ships. So a private island for CCL usage is in the works.

We split up for a bit after we left the party. Mom went to take grandma back to the room and Stephanie and I went to the atrium for one of my favorite ship offerings- the Rio de Sangria. I've only found this on the Miracle, but I continue to hope they roll it out onto other ships. $5.25 a glass and the offer like eight different kinds of sangria. Now, it's not as good as *my* sangria (I do make some pretty flipping awesome sangria, if I do say so myself), but it's more than decent. I don't know why they don't serve sangria every day in some ship venue. It's certainly my beverage of choice.

While I was sipping my sangria, I noticed a long line forming and winding all the way into the atrium lobby. People were lining up for dinner! Dear friends, listen to me. If you have a reserved table, there is NEVER any need to line up for dinner. Ever. If you go to the dining rooms five minutes after the doors open, you are not late for dinner and you can walk right in. Life is full of lines and waits. You're on vacation. Why add another one?

Stephanie and I waited until the line went away and then walked right in to the dining room and met Mom at our table. Dinner tonight, across the board, while good in flavor (for the most part), was so highly disappointing on my end. Stephanie started with the Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup and the Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes and Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella (marinated with basil leaves and virgin olive oil). She thought the soup was excellent and the portion on the salad (which was very fresh tasting, she noted) was more than ample. Mom also had the tomato/mozzarella salad (which she loved but couldn't even come close to finishing) and she had the fresh fruit cocktail (and noted that the fruit was much fresher, perhaps since we'd stopped in port). And then on top of that, Mom had a Caesar salad. I started with the Asparagus Vichyssoise (chilled asparagus and potato soup, garnished with asparagus tips), which needed a liberal dosing of salt and pepper. It's an acquired taste to enjoy a chilled potato and asparagus soup, as it's slightly gritty and thick and often needs seasoning, but it's something I really enjoy, as it's pretty light and fresh. I also had the starter portion of the Penne Tossed in a Tomato Cream with Vodka, which tasted slightly off. And I'll note it again as I have in past reviews: though I am not a fan of caviar (they used to serve this dish with a small dollop of cream and a bit of caviar on top), it was a nice touch and something that sticks out when it goes away. I'm sure Carnival is saving a ton by omitting that tiny bit of caviar from this dish, but at some point, I have to wonder if the cutbacks will ever end and I'll ever see the quality in the MDR food that I saw on my first five cruises.

Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup

Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes and Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella

Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Caesar Salad

Asparagus Vichyssoise

Penne Tossed in a Tomato Cream with Vodka

Stephanie and Mom both had the Oven Roasted Tom Turkey (sage and onion dressing, scallion pumpkin hash) and they both loved it. Stephanie asked for some extra gravy with hers and was easily obliged. And I'll relay that Stephanie thinks this is one of the best meals that they serve in the MDR all week long and she highly recommends it.

Oven Roasted Tom Turkey

I ordered the Duet of Petite Filet Mignon and Short Rib Confit (oven roasted potatoes, red burgundy wine sauce). I contemplated ordering two (or ordering the veal parmigiana with it) because I know there's inconsistencies in the size and quality, but the past few times I ordered this, it was good so I just ordered the one. And of course, I got something that was barely edible. The filet was tough and small and the short ribs were stringy and flavorless (and a larger portion than the actual filet). Sigh. Carnival. Bring back the old filet mignon, please. Please. I'm begging you. You're killing me with this "filet."

Duet of Petite Filet Mignon and Short Rib Confit

Stephanie and Mom both ordered the Old Fashioned Apple Pie for dessert and both found it to be good, but clearly not the best apple pie they'd ever had. I ordered the Chocolate, Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake (with almond sponge, raspberry coulis and raspberry sorbet) and I thought it was so very light (despite it's heavy appearance) and the fresh berries folded into the cream really bring a fantastic dimension to the dish in both texture and flavor. I also ordered a cheese plate to split with Stephanie.

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Chocolate, Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake

Assorted Cheese Plate

After dinner, Mom wasn't feeling well so she went back to her room and Stephanie and I headed to the Phantom Lounge for Pick the Flick, which is a fancy title for movie trivia. And we lost...probably because the extent of my movie knowledge is 80s Brat Pack flicks, romcoms and crazy comedies my friends (or Stephanie) drag me to.

We headed back to the room afterwards to check on Mom and see what was up with grandma's dinner and Mom was feeling sea sick (despite the fact that these were some of the calmest seas I think we've had in a long time) and grandma was kind of sleepy, so Stephanie and I went upstairs to the Lido restaurant and made grandma a few plates so she could stay in her room and rest.

Grandma fed and Mom resting (we brought her back a green apple, which help for sea sickness), Stephanie and I headed down to the promenade shops so Stephanie could buy a waterproof watch for Half Moon Cay. We took a walk along the promenade (which at night, seems like a quiet, romantic spot for an, albiet windy, stroll) and then ended up in Frankie and Johnnies to catch some Music Unlimited tunes. I ended up heading over to McGwire's to check my sports scores and then we both ended up heading to the Phantom for Marcus Monroe's juggling show when Frankie and Johnnie's closed down for the singles meet and greet. We didn't stay for the entire show, not because it was bad (he's actually quite talented and Stephanie and I both thought his show was clever), but because we were tired and just wanted to head back to the room.

Stephanie ordered us some room service while I got ready for bed and it was delivered fairly quickly. I noticed that while my veggies were fresher, the sandwiches were getting smaller (which was fine, but worth noting). We finished the rest of Blades of Glory before popping in the House Bunny and then heading to bed.

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 7)

2010-08-24T14:01:00.001-05:00

Hi all! Thanks again for all the wonderful comments you've been leaving me here and on Cruise Critic! Your kind words really fuel my writing and they are much appreciated!

We slept in until around 8:30 am on our second sea day. Mom and grandma were doing a room service breakfast again, so Stephanie and I headed down to the Bacchus for breakfast by ourselves. We were quickly obliged a table for two (it's fun to meet and chat with other people in the dining room, but we prefer going at our own pace) and we sat down with the Capers for the day to plan out what we wanted to do...and there was SO many activities to choose from.

Stephanie started with some melon segments and then had the lox plate for breakfast, which she thought was pretty good (but clearly nothing like the ones she has at the deli's we have back at home). I had the Eggs Benedict (poached eggs on toasted English muffin with Canadian bacon and Hollandaise sauce) with a side of bacon, which was extra crispy but a bit greasy. I hate Canadian bacon but I've found that while the dining staff will oblige you, it will take forever or they'll get it wrong a lot of the time, so I modify it myself. Take off the Canadian bacon, add the regular bacon and done! The Eggs Bennie were very good, but insanely heavy and I don't think I even finished half. Oh, and my apple juice? Syrupy again. No more MDR apple juice for me this week.

Melon Segments

Smoked Salmon

Eggs Benedict with a side of bacon

Eggs Bennie a la Nicole

We split up after breakfast- Stephanie went back to the room to change into her sunwear and I went to the Fountainhead to get a newspaper before meeting Stephanie back at the room. We headed out to the pool together, only to find there were no chairs by the aft pool! At least they were being used and it wasn't rows of chairs with random flip flops or chapsticks thrown on to "save" them. I was kind of bummed because I wanted to swim, but we just really wanted to lay out and bask in the warm sun so we headed up to deck 10, where we found a nearly empty deck! Score! Once we found it, though, it filled up pretty quickly. I put on my iPod, took off my sunglasses (didn't want to get raccoon eyes and have Stephanie tease me all summer...again) and let the gentle rocking of the ship soothe me into a light nap.

After about an hour and a half, Stephanie and I were ready to head in. We decided to stop in Nick and Nora's to make a dinner reservation for that evening (when we called Mom to let her know where we were going to be, we told her that tonight was the dining menu we usually skip and so she told us to go ahead and make a reservation at the supper club for tonight) and we saw them setting up for the wine tasting. Jigga wah? There was nothing in the Capers about the wine tasting! It turned out, they had forgotten to put the wine tasting in the Capers so thought it was unadvertised, it was still happening. With that, we made our dinner reservation (they only had a 9:00 pm reservation, which was late...even for us...but we took it anyways) and ran back to the room to get changed since we had 15 minutes until the wine tasting started and it didn't seem right to do a wine tasting in our swimsuits. So we get to our room...and the room steward is in there cleaning. It seemed he'd come really late in the morning and really late at night, which was irritating sometimes since he'd always be in there when we wanted to go back to the room. I was suddenly REALLY glad we didn't go swimming and chose an outfit and put on some light makeup in record time.

We ran back up to deck 10 just as the wine tasting was to begin- for us and one other person. Even though they had Malcolm go on the loudspeaker and announce the tasting, I guess most people didn't hear it and we had a kind of private tasting with just us, another woman and the sommalier. This provided for a very intimate setting and I found I actually preferred it. The small group allowed for a better dialogue and the sommalier was able to kind of get to know us and make suggestions, allowed us to ask questions and get more personalized answers.

The wines we were tasting were Rawson's Chardonnay, Wolf Blass Cabernet, Folonari Pinot Grigio, George Blanc Pinot Noir and Piesporter Riesling and I thought they were all wonderfully fantastic. Even Stephanie, who doesn't like red wine, found herself not totally disliking the ones we sampled. She preferred the Riesling, while I really took a liking to the Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir. $15 got us some very generous pours (along with the food pairings plate) of these five wines and I was more than pleased with the experience. If you're a fan of wine (whether you just like drinking it or you're a more seasoned wine connoisseur), I really recommend checking out the wine tasting onboard. It's usually held on the second sea day...and if you don't see it in the Capers...ask.

After the wine tasting, we met back up with Mom and grandma and headed down to the Lido for lunch. Nothing hits the spot after a morning of wine tasting than...chicken wontons. Seriously though...it was chicken wonton day at the asian station and it might be my second favorite thing they serve up on Lido all week (with my beloved tiramisu cheesecake, which they were serving today! Snaps for good lunch!).

Lunch time made me sleepy (well, that and the vino...and the motion of the ocean...I was tired, okay?), so I went back to the room to nap for a little bit. Sometime later, Stephanie woke me up and we decided to go hang around the boat before tea time. We ended up at the shops on the Yellow Brick Road. We took our time perusing the various merchandise and I noticed that while I prefer the layout of the shops on the Conquest class ships, the Spirit class vessels have a much better selection of merchandise. Amongst that merchandise this time? Absolut Tropics. Has anyone ever seen this stuff before? We hadn't!

We ended up in the atrium for a little while after looking around the shops. It sounds kind of bland and mundane, but I kind of love sitting in the atrium. It's always so quiet and empty during the day and there's a certain peace that comes with that. And maybe I'm in the minority, but I love the atrium's on the Carnival ships I've been on. Are they as elegant as the ones on Princess? No (and the ones on Princess really are quite regal and lovely...really a sight to behold). But they're colorful and fun to look at.

Up next was the Jeeves Lounge for tea time. And let me tell you- I have not encountered such a crazy crowd of tea dwellers like I did for this tea time. First there was a table argument. Someone came up to a lady sitting at a table saying it was their table...that they had just gotten up for a moment. The problem? There were several other empty tables of the same size in the lounge. Are we lacking assertion and power in our everyday lives that we need to take it out on strangers on a cruise ship? Then there was the couple who impatiently brought their plates up to the cart and demanded to be served. Again...really? There were the people complaining about the service (I'm sorry free tea service with scrumptious goodies and live music all for free isn't good enough for you). Come on, guys. You're on a cruise. Relax. I had one slight complaint, though: the servers were using the same tongs for everything- so the same tongs that were plating salmon sandwiches were plating my muffin. Clear cross-contamination issue and a possible problem if you go to tea time and you have seafood allergies. Or if you're like me and it squicks you out.

After tea, we went back to the room. I took a shower and Stephanie put on a movie. Since there wasn't much going on around the boat and we didn't have dinner to get ready for since we'd be dining at the supper club later in the evening, we decided to go mini golfing, which we'd never done before. And I have to say- I really think we'll try anytime dining on our next cruise because I really enjoyed the pacing of this day. Since we usually have early seating dinner, we often miss out on many opportunities for rest or fun because we're getting ready for dinner. Having a later dinner allowed us to try more things, get more rest and take a more leisurely approach to our day. And with anytime dining, we could dine early on nights where there are shows we want to see and later on nights where we don't.

But back to the mini golf. It's another activity Carnival offers for free and Stephanie and I had never done it before. We went to the towel cabana to rent a club and some golf balls (they take your Sail and Sign number in case you don't return your rentals) and headed up to to the mini golf course. The golf course is what took the place of the departed (and much missed) topless deck (where you were ALWAYS sure to find an empty lounge chair and some quiet, even if you didn't want to go topless) and I have to say- I hadn't seen it since the transformation but it's actually a really nice little mini golf course! It's not Par King, but it's something. We tried to mini golf for about a half hour. I was really bad at it and I wasn't any better with the heavy wind swirling around us.

Stephanie wanted some ice cream so I went to return the clubs and when I found her, she had no ice cream. Why? She got to the machines and found a bunch of kids eating ice cream directly out of the machine. Like...literally. Mouth to machine. Come on, people. Train your children. This isn't appropriate or sanitary behavior any way you cut it and it's inexcusable. If your children are old enough to go get ice cream on their own, they're old enough to know not to pull these stunts. And if they don't? Maybe they need some stricter supervision. Stephanie told one of the workers on deck. I hope they cleaned it. I know I didn't grab any ice cream from the midship machines for the rest of the week.

After golf, we went back to the room and checked in with Mom. She was ordering room service, so I had her order me a roast beef and brie sandwich and some veggie sticks, but she forgot my sticks and ordered me a cheesecake instead. Stephanie and I watched Eurotrip (and I flat ironed my hair) while we waited for the food, which took FOREVER. Literally, more than an hour. Note to self: if you're going to order room service in the late afternoon, it will take forever. We usually order late at night, when it's usually there in less than 20 minutes because half the boat is sleeping. The sandwich was delish, the cheesecake was way too heavy and I took another nap after my snack.

When I woke up, it was nearly 7:15 pm and Mom and Stephanie were already ready for our dinner and getting ready to take grandma upstairs. I got ready and joined them up on Lido, where we took grandma out to watch the sunset with us after she ate. We really wanted to see the One Woman Tribute Show with Karen Grainger (which we had heard great things about), but the first show was at 8:45 pm and we had 9:00 pm dinner reservations, so we just couldn't fit it in. Stephanie and I split from Mom and grandma for a bit- we stopped in the sports bar so I could check the sports ticker and then headed into Frankie and Johnnie's to listen to Music Unlimited for a bit before dinner.

Have I talked about Music Unlimited in this review yet? I can't really say enough about them so even if I have, I'm going to do it again. Music Unlimited is a group that's seemingly permanently stationed on the Miracle. They cover classic rock songs nightly in Frankie and Johnnie's, except for the night of Ticket to Ride, when they star in part of the show. They are FANTASTIC. Best band I've ever heard at sea. They did Freebird last year when we were on the Miracle and Stephanie *still* talks about it because she was that impressed. They take requests and if you're ever sailing with us and you hear someone go FREEBIRDDDDD, it's probably my sister.

So we had a 9:00 pm dinner reservation, but we showed up around 8:40 pm hoping to be seated early and they quickly obliged us, leading upstairs to a table on the second level. We've never eaten on the second level of the supper clubs before! I have to say, though, while Nick and Nora's is absolutely stunning at night, the beauty and ambiance of the restaurant would have been so much more enhanced if they still had live music. Small cutback, but I really miss it.

Our servers for the evening came to introduce themselves and explain the dining experience we'd be having and then gave us a presentation about the different cuts, chops and choices they serve.

After we placed our orders, we were presented with an amuse bouche. Stephanie and I were served a small taste of a roasted red pepper bisque, which was rich and complex. I'm not a fan of red peppers, but I'd enjoy a bowl of this! I honestly don't remember what Mom's was other than it was seafood and she didn't want to eat it. But it looked pretty!

Roasted Red Pepper Bisque

Mystery Amuse Bouche

In between the amuse bouche and our appetizers, we were brought a tray of fresh butter, bruschetta topping and an eggplant tapenade and our assistant server brought around a basket filled with freshly baked carb-laden goods. My personal favorite is the brioche, which is soft and buttery. Stephanie recommends the focaccia with one of the vegetable spreads.

Butter and spreads

Brioche

Focaccia

We were starting to notice our meal was progressing really slowly, which would usually be fine- except it was pushing 9:30 and we'd barely started our meal yet. We aren't fast eaters by any means (in fact, my entire family will tell you that I eat frustratingly slow), but there was a long lapses in between courses throughout the meal and it kind of threw off the experience a bit.

Despite the amuse bouche and the bread, we were ravenous when our appetizers were served. Mom started with the Lobster Bisque with Vintage Cognac (fleuron and fresh cream) and she thought it was velvety and rich but that it was very heavy, especially to start with. Stephanie had a selection of cheeses off the dessert menu and was a little disappointed in it. On the Freedom, they brought out the cart and cut her some very generous portions of many different cheeses. This time, just a plate was brought out and while she thought the portion was plenty for her, it was worth noting that it was a much smaller portion than she'd had on the Freedom. She was also given no note on what cheeses she was served and she found one of them absolutely repulsive. I tried it and it really did taste like what a zoo smells like. Yech. I ordered my favorite starter they serve on the ship- the Beef Carpaccio (sliced raw beef tenderloin with shaved Parmesan cheese, marinated mache lettuce) and it was as fantastic as always...but missing the fig pate they used to serve with it, which really would have enhanced the flavors quite a bit.

Lobster Bisque with Vintage Cognac

Selection of International Cheeses

Beef Carpaccio

Up next was our salad course. Mom went with one of my favorites- the Baby Leaf Spinach and Fresh Mushrooms salad (with blue cheese dressing and warm bacon bits) and really liked the balance of flavors in the salad with the tangy blue cheese, the salty bacon and the pungent mushrooms. Stephanie decided to try the Sliced, Sun-Ripened Beefsteak Tomato (with gorgonzola crumbles) and thought it was an ample portion of dense tomato, nice and fresh, but she wanted more blue cheese on it. I decided to change things up a little and ordered the Heart of Iceberg Lettuce (with red and yellow grape tomatoes. I ordered the salad with ranch dressing and instead, they brought me house dressing. I didn't care enough to correct their mistake because it would have just progressed the meal longer and it was getting pretty late as it was. I didn't like this salad at all. It was bland and flavorless and the house dressing was a pretty flavorless vinaigrette. This is supposed to be a steakhouse, right? Come on, Carnival. If you're going to serve a wedge, do a traditional wedge. Or at least give this salad some flavor somewhere.

Baby Leaf Spinach and Fresh Mushrooms

Sliced, Sun-Ripened Beefsteak Tomato

Heart of Iceberg Lettuce

It was well past 10:00 pm by the time we were served our entrees. Mom ordered the Surf and Turf (seared lobster tail and grilled filet mignon). Both were cooked perfectly, but they forgot Mom's mashed potatoes and had to go run and get them. These lapses in service weren't something we were used to and it damped the experience quite a bit to have our meal paced so oddly, or to have things forgotten or done wrong. Stephanie ordered the 14oz. Broiled New York Strip Loin Steak, mostly because it came with a clove of roasted garlic on top (she's a garlic fiend), and she had the creamed spinach as her side. She said her steak was overdone, but that the spinach was creamy and delicious. I had my usual- 9oz. Broiled Filet Mignon with a side of bearnaise sause and the wasabi mashed potatoes. Steak? Good. Potatoes? Needed more wasabi (and can I gripe again about how they unceremoniously glop them on the plate? Come on. Give me a small dish on the side). I was stuffed halfway through the steak.

Surf and Turf

Broiled New York Strip Loin

Broiled Filet Mignon and Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Bearnaise Sauce

It was super late and we were super full by the time we were handed our dessert menus, but you don't go to a Carnival supper club and not have dessert. Mom ordered the Cheesecake with Hazelnut Biscuit and just like the cheesecake I ordered on the Freedom, she was presented with what might be the largest slice of cheesecake you will ever see. It's insanely dense with slight notes of citrus, which freshens it up a bit. Stephanie ordered the sherbet, which I believe was a port wine flavor that night, and it was nice and fresh. She thought it was the perfect ending to a heavy meal. I went with the Chocolate Cake with Bitter Chocolate Pate, which is a sampler of four different chocolate dishes: a flourless chocolate cake, a banana chocolate cake, tiramisu and a chocolate pate. It's presented beautifully and is insanely rich- almost a meal upon itself. I've never finished one of these. I'm pretty sure I never will.

Cheesecake with Hazelnut Biscuit

Port Wine Sherbet

Chocolate Cake with Bitter Chocolate Pate

Service and pacing issues aside (and smaller flavor issues, like the poor excuse of a salad they served me), this really was a fantastic meal, well worth the $30 per person cover they charge for dining here. Will we be dining again so late? Probably not. Finishing dinner at 11:00 pm just isn't really our thing.

After dinner, Mom back to her and grandma's room and went to sleep and Stephanie and I went back to our room to change to go out (had to put on my Lakers purple!). I wanted to head down to the sports bar to check on the Lakers game and she wanted to go back to Frankie and Johnnie's to hear Music Unlimited again. Lucky for us, the sports bar and Frankie and Johnnie's were right next to each other, so we were able to go back and fourth whenever we wanted.

The sports bar was pretty empty when we got there. Since the boat didn't carry the channel the Lakers were playing on, we were basically watching Sports Night for live updates and ticker scores. Well, I watched and Stephanie constantly asked me if I was done watching yet. Oh, and the Cubs won on a walk-off homer by Rami in the 11th.

Cigar menu

When my games were over, I heard the opening notes to Journey's Faithfully coming from Frankie and Johnnies, so we headed over and listened to Music Unlimited for awhile. Let me tell you, there were some sloppy drunk people in there. But hey, if you're going to act a fool, why not do it amongst people you'll never see again, right?

We went upstairs to check out the piano bar, but it was nearly empty, and that's never fun. We found what seemed like the entire ship in Frankenstein's Lab for the 80s Flashback Party, which would have been fun to party in...except it was packed to the brim in there. So we ended up just going back to the room, hooking up the DVD player and watching Confessions of a Shopaholic before bed. An earlier night than the night before, but we'd need our rest because our next day was our first port day of the cruise!

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido Dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 6)

2010-08-18T14:43:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful comments you've left me here and on Cruise Critic! It really makes all the time I put into this so worth it to know you all enjoy it :)

So it was our first day at sea...first full day on the boat...and I woke up at 7:30 in the morning thinking the boat was sinking. I'm a light sleeper, especially when we travel, so I sleep with earplugs in. Stephanie is a very, very heavy sleeper so she sets a bajillion alarms on her iPhone. And see, when I set my alarm clock on my iPhone, I set it to something upbeat and fun. I think my current alarm is the Borderline/Open Your Heart mash up from Glee. But Stephanie? She goes industrial. It's called Alarm and I kid you not- it legit sounds like that alarm that goes off in action movies when the vault is closing and they're rushing to leave the room before getting caught. So she's sleeping and I jump out of bed like a bat out of hell because through my earplugs, all I hear is ERRRR ERRRRR ERRRRRRRR ERRRRRRRRR. Note to self: next time we're sharing a room, set her alarm sound to Harp.

I went back to sleep for another hour and we woke up around 8:30 when Mom came in to make sure we didn't sleep the entire day. She and grandma ordered room service for breakfast so Stephanie and I got dressed and headed down to the Bacchus dining room for breakfast. It was cloudy and overcast outside so we decided to have a leisurely morning and see how many activities we could get in.

We had requested a table for two and were quickly obliged. Service in the dining room was spotty this morning. They did bring around the pastry basket (which they didn't do on the Freedom), but I swear my apple juice was 90% syrup. Bleh. I stuck to my coffee, but they were slow on the refills. I'd ordered Cream of Wheat and the Belgian Waffles with strawberries and a side of bacon. The waffle was delish and the bacon was nice and crispy, but the "strawberries" were a small ramekin of strawberry sauce...and they forgot about my Cream of Wheat. I didn't bother asking for it. Stephanie actually got her Cream of Wheat (which was served with traditional oatmeal toppings of brown sugar and raisins) and she ordered a Ham and Cheese Omelette with a side of sausage. She said her omelette was better than any one she'd ever had up on the lido deck for breakfast.

Belgian Waffle with strawberries and a side of bacon

Cream of Wheat

Ham and Cheese Omelette with a side of sausage

After breakfast, we decided to check out the situation near the adults-only pool and well, here's a sight you don't see on every Caribbean cruise...

10:00 am...and an empty pool area. A handful of people were out in the hot tub, but the wind and overcast skies kept people away from the pool. And honestly, it ended up being kind of a blessing because we now had the opportunity to do a few things we normally wouldn't. I've often said we're creatures of habit (and if you've read my previous reviews, you can probably predict our Day at Sea schedules: we wake up, we go to breakfast, we lay out by the pool, we go to lunch, we go back to the room and shower, we walk around the boat or hang out on the promenade deck, we go to tea, we go shopping, we go back to the room and rest, we go to dinner and then we go to a show or we go out to the piano bar, karaoke, etc) and because of this, we often miss out on the fun activities they offer during these days at sea. Last year when we were on the Miracle, it rained one morning and we ended up at trivia and it really opened our eyes to how much there is going on while we're sitting out at the pool. And then when we were on the Freedom, we realized just how important it is to have a good entertainment staff because there really wasn't anything to do BUT sit at the pool. They're in charge of planning all these activities and the lacksidasical entertainment staff of the Freedom really didn't plan much of anything.

Today, though? Even though the weather was crummy outside, there was SO much to do inside. Seminars and clinics. Arts and crafts. Trivia. Gaming lessons. There was a Getting to Know Your Ship seminar in the Phantom Lounge, and Stephanie and I missed that in favor of breakfast in the dining room (and really, if anyone knows the Miracle, it's us :P), but how awesome is that?! I don't think I've ever seen that offered on any ship I'd ever been on and I think it's a fantastic idea, especially with the newer ships that have so much more to offer. We did decide to go to the Fun Aboard and Fun Ashore program with Malcolm and on the way, as we were passing by the Fountainhead Cafe to grab some extra Capers, we noticed they had out these mini newspapers put together by the boat staff with domestic and foreign news, entertainment news, sports scores. I don't know if we had these because the local channels were out (I later learned we had no local channels because they were having big problems with the satellite feed), but we ended up stopping by every morning to grab a copy to read with our breakfasts. It was nice to be able to catch up with my news (and especially nice that they printed every sports score in there), but I was still bitter over missing the NBA conference finals, American Idol and Neil Patrick Harris on Glee.

So first day at sea on our ninth Carnival cruise (and tenth cruise overall)...and for the first time, we actually went to the ports presentation...for ports we've been to a bazillion times. But it ended up being a really fun, entertaining talk. Malcolm is hilarious and insanely personable and we quickly realized that any activity he was leading would just be total fun because he's fun to be around.

After the show, we called Mom's room. She and grandma were watching a movie but Mom was going to meet me and Stephanie up at Nick and Nora's for the cooking demonstration. The room quickly filled up, but we had snagged some primo front row seats for the action. And this demo? SO MUCH FUN. We'd done a few of these before and it's usually hosted by one of the chefs. They talk about making food on the boat, crack a few jokes and demonstrate how they make a few dishes. We were quickly learning that there wasn't enough fun for this cruise staff- they were always striving to make things MORE fun. The demo was hosted by asst. CD Sparkles and it took the form of a cooking competition- there were four of the onboard chefs there and each one demonstrated a different dish. We got to taste each dish (generous portions of each, too, for a taster) and then at the end, we'd vote on which one we liked the best and that chef would get a Ship on a Stick.

Beyond being informative, there was an interactive element to this that was so much fun to watch and participate in. It really was like we were watching a live cooking competition. And best of all- everything they made was supper club fare and we got to taste it all for free! They demonstrated and served the Mushroom Cappuccino (served as an amuse bouche), Baby Leaf Spinach and Fresh Mushrooms salad, Broiled Supreme of Free Range Chicken (served with macaroni and cheese, as it would be in the supper club) and the nomtastic Tiramisu they serve with the chocolate sampler. Everything was fantastically delicious and they even handed out the recipes to everything they made so we can replicate them at home!

Mushroom Cappuccino

Baby Leaf Spinach and Fresh Mushrooms

Broiled Supreme of Free Range Chicken

Tiramisu

The sun finally peeked out during the cooking demo, so once it was over, Stephanie and I ran back to the room to get changed, Mom went to get grandma and we all headed out to the aft pool. It was super crowded, but we still had no problem finding two chairs in the sun for me and Stephanie and a table in the shade for Mom and grandma.

It was still windy and the pool water is insanely cold, so I just sat on the edge of the pool for a bit. Two kids tried to come swim in the pool (the aft pool is adults-only) and they were removed by pool security within a few minutes. Snaps for Carnival's pool security. Seriously. Every time we've been on the Miracle, we've stayed to the aft pool, every time there have been kids who tried to come swim in the pool and every time they've been booted. Kudos, Carnival. Now, if we could just work on kid patrol on the Lido deck late at night...

We stayed out at the pool until around 1:00 pm, when we headed into Horatio's for lunch. And during prime lunch time on a day at sea, we still had no problem finding an empty table and the lines for food weren't unbearably long. I wasn't very hungry so I made myself a salad, but Mom, Stephanie and grandma all headed for the rotisserie, where it was turkey day. Once a week on the Lido deck, they do a full turkey meal for lunch...complete with all the fixings. Stephanie looks forward to this meal every cruise and she said this time, it was good, but it wasn't great.

After lunch, Mom and grandma went off to walk around the ship and Stephanie and I went back to our room to shower. Tonight was our first elegant evening and two with girls who need to shower, blow dry and flat iron, it requires an early start. I watched TV while Stephanie showered and then took mine. I was SO glad I took my own hair dryer. The ones Carnival provides are pithy- barely any power, limited settings and they take forever to use (especially since you need to hold the button down as you blow dry). I was able to get my hair done pretty quickly and we headed out to explore the ship more.

We were meeting Mom and grandma for tea time at 3:00 pm, so Stephanie and I decided to talk a quick stroll along the promenade. When we don't have balconies, I find myself heading out to the promenade whenever I can just to enjoy the sound of the waves lapping up on the boat and stare out at the infinite seas.

Mom and grandma had a table saved for us when Stephanie and I got to the Jeeves Lounge, and I was actually surprised that there were many open tables. On our past few cruises on the Miracle, you had to come early to stake out a table because they'd fill up quick.

I thought tea time on the Miracle was greatly improved (with more selections from the pastry cart than I had previously remembered), but it wasn't quite as good as it had been on the Freedom. Still, it was very relaxing and between the soft music and my chamomile tea, this was the good life.

After tea, Mom and Stephanie headed off to the casino and I took grandma back to her room and ended up falling asleep while we watched some movie on TV. I napped for about an hour before Stephanie came to wake me up to get ready for elegant evening.

Since they did away with the Captain's Cocktail Party in favor of the Farewell Party on the last night, we didn't have quite the rush to get ready that we used to have. Still, we wanted to hit the atrium bar for a drink while they were (I believe) $1 off. Mom got grandma ready for her nap and met me and Stephanie at the (very busy) atrium bar. We had a round of pomegranate martinis, which were very strong and kind of tasted like cough medicine. Not the best I've ever had, especially for what they charge onboard for them.

Happy hour down, we headed to the Bacchus for dinner. The first thing we noticed was that Orlando was not there tonight (we later found out he had taken ill)...Gedi was flying solo. And let me tell you- you have this young team waiter handling everything by himself on formal night (taking the orders, running the food, serving the food, switching out the silverware, serving the bread and then serving it again, making sure everyone's drinks were refilled) and not only does he get everything correct, he finds the time to make conversation and be an absolute delight to be around? That's a special person. Yeah, Gedi is definitely making the dream team.

Mom started with her usual Caesar salad and shrimp cocktail and joined Stephanie and I in ordering the Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms (spinach, Romano cheese and fine herbs). We all agreed they were a bit overdone and dry, but they were still cheesy delicious. I'm telling you all- order these on your next cruise. Ever since they appeared on the menu, every single time we order them, someone at a neighboring table asks us what they are and then asks their server to grab them a plate. Every.single.time. I'm telling you all- try them. They really are fantastic (even when they're overdone). Stephanie also ordered the Greek Farmer Salad (iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, black olives and feta cheese, tossed with vinaigrette) and she thought it was good, but it seems to shrink in portion size every time she orders it. I ordered the Strawberry Bisque (chilled creamy strawberry soup with fresh mint) as my second starter and like always, it didn't disappoint. Nice and smooth, creamy and refreshing. And I still love that Carnival pours its chilled soups tableside. It's a nice touch.

Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms

Greek Farmer Salad

Strawberry Bisque

Main course? For Mom there is no other option. It's lobster (two of them to be precise). She finishes the first of her Duet of Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Grilled Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp (yukon gold potato mash, roasted broccoli florets) and right on cue, Gedi appears with her second plate singing "I have more lobster for youuuu." Can I put him in my pocket?

Duet of Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Grilled Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp

Stephanie and I both went for the Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus (cooked to perfection, baked potato with traditional toppings). Stephanie thought it was "meh" (her words, not mine), but I thought it was pretty good. It came with some onion rings, which were nice...thick and crispy (always a win in my book) and the prime rib, itself, was less fatty than the past few I'd had onboard. It really was quite good. Gedi came around with a tray of au jus, horseradish, sour cream and bacon bits to accompany the dish. Au jus and lots of horseradish for me, please.

Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus

In between dinner and dessert, Gedi stopped to sing and dance with the night's song (I didn't pay attention...we don't usually stay for the singing and dancing) and then joked around that it was back to work. Seriously. Promote this man.

Dessert was a plate of lime sherbet for Stephanie and Cherries Jubilee for me and Mom. I had a cheese plate with mine and Stephanie asked Gedi if he could get her a plate of just brie. His response? "It's no problem. It's my job to make you happy." Do I need to say it again? PROMOTE HIM. Cherries Jubilee was delicious. Sometimes, I'll order a Warm Chocolate Melting Cake and mix in the cherries (sinfully rich and fantastic- try it sometime) but I just wasn't in the mood for chocolate this time.

Lime Sherbet

Cherries Jubilee

Cheese Plate

Just Brie

After dinner, we headed out to the promenade to watch the sunset for a little bit. It happened to time out pretty perfectly that usually as dinner was letting out, the sun was starting to set, so we'd head out to the promenade for a little while after dinner every night.

We all headed to take grandma to dinner after we saw the sunset. I think it's kind of nice that even though she prefers to nap while we're at dinner, we can still sit around a table and have family time while she eats. And they do make it really nice up on the lido deck for dinner. On this night, they didn't have the lobster, but they had both prime rib and flat iron steaks. Most of what's offered on the MDR dinner menu shows up on the lido deck for dinner, so if you prefer a more casual, go-at-your-own-pace setting, it's a nice option.

After grandma ate, we went back to the rooms so Stephanie and I could change out of our dresses and then we all headed down to see the first big production show of the cruise, Generations. By the time we took this cruise, I'd already seen Generations seven times (including the make-up matinee show they did the year before on our Miracle cruise because there was a tech malfunction in the last scene) and it really is one of my favorites. Grandma loved it, Stephanie doesn't care for it either way and I'm pretty sure Mom loves every show she sees. I still wasn't feeling the male singer, though. He butchered my favorite part of the show (Hair) and he would make these intense show faces that were insanely distracting. One note, though- Carnival really needs more handicapped seating for their theaters. I believe on the Miracle, there's two rows with indented space for people in wheelchairs or scooters. If you use a scooter and can walk some, I implore you to please not use these spots and leave them for people who are strictly wheelchair/scooter bound and their families because it's really the only place they can go. And the bigger design flaw is that only one person in a wheelchair or scooter can sit with their family on the couches next to them. Anyone who "parks" next to them has to have their family sit in front or behind them. I really wish they'd make these theaters more friendly to special needs cruisers because there's always people who come looking and just can't find the room, resulting in them missing the show.

Mom and grandma went back to their room after the first show and Stephanie and I moved up to the front row for the second. At showtime, there were plenty of seats still available in the first three rows- a rarity, especially for the big production shows. And when the second show was over, we ended up in the sports bar for a bit so I could watch the ticker for the score of the Lakers' game (the game was on a channel the ship didn't carry so I'd have to watch the Eastern Conference games, which were on a channel the boat DID carry, and watch the ticker for live updates) and then headed back to the room.

Stephanie figured out how to hook up her portable DVD player to the TV (which she couldn't figure out on the Freedom. "Miracle: 1, Freedom: 0"). This was pretty much the best thing to happen to us all day since the only things that were on TV were Nancy Grace (and we'd already seen the episode), the ship TV channels and constant runnings of Twilight: New Moon (ugggggggggggggh). So she put on 17 Again, we ordered room service and I wrote my trip journal entry for the day.

Another late night, but who needs sleep when you're on vacation. Right? Right? We had a 13 hour drive home at the end of the trip. I'd sleep then.

Today's lido lunch menus:

Today's lido dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 5)

2010-08-10T22:28:00.002-05:00

Okay...I suck at life...I know. This is taking way too long to get done, but I've been so insanely busy and these blogs take me hours to write. I know it's not timely, but I hope you'll all still find them interesting. If nothing else...I have pretty pictures! :) And since we're on the cruise portion (FINALLY! YAY!), I'll start up a thread on Cruise Critic, so drop me a line there or in the comments section if you have a question or a comment...I love chatting with you all and I've been gone from CC for way too long!

So the morning of embarkation, we all woke up around 8:00 am. The plan was to leave by 9:30, and we knew it would take about 20 minutes to get there so we'd be in the terminal by 10:00 am. We ate up the last of the scones we had from Alice's, got everything together and had the bellhop take the luggage down to the car, but between the bellhop taking FOREVER to get to our room and the fact that I take FOREVER to get ready, we didn't actually leave the hotel until around 11:00am.

Unlike last year (when we were sailing during Fleet Week), there was no traffic going into the terminal and this time, we knew exactly what we were doing and where we were going. It took us about 20 minutes to get from the hotel in Jersey to the Port of Manhattan. And when we first saw the Miracle...it was like coming home again. I'm pretty sure our next cruise is going to be on the Miracle, too, which means half of our Carnival cruises will have been on this ship. While variety may make for the spice of life, there's a nice comfort of coming back to something you know and love. And after our experience on the Freedom, we were kind of glad to get back to Old Faithful.

We paid the parking fee ($240, I believe, for the eight nights) as we went in, the dogs sniffed our car for bombs, the porters took our luggage and we quickly found parking and made our way into the terminal. I noticed there weren't many people around...no group sitting...no crowds. Was everyone on the boat already?! This was the first time we've ever not been amongst the first people on the boat. We were VIP on our very first cruise because we were in a suite and we sailed in a suite on every cruise until grandma started needed a wheelchair, so at that point, we were put in special assistance.

So it was a very different experience for us to quite literally walk in, walk right through security, walk right through check in and then walk right on the boat. It was all very quick and easy and literally within a half hour of pulling up to the Port of Manhattan, we were on the boat. And we didn't even arrive that late...I remember marking that we were on the ship at 11:30 am (which is long before most ships even BEGIN boarding, let alone have all zones loaded...snaps for the efficiency of the Miracle staff, the Port of Manhattan and US Customs). I think we'll always arrive early because I like to maximize the amount of time I can spend on the boat, but if you prefer a more relaxed pace or have small children, you might want to consider arriving at the port a little later when things are more quiet and peaceful and you can take your time, avoid the crowds and just walk right on.

Our initial (and only real) worry about arriving late was the crowds. After our experience on the Freedom and the crowds EVERYWHERE, we were worried that we'd be forced to plead for a seat at a table with our fellow passengers (and that's kind of always awkward, isn't it?). But the moment we stepped on board, our worries were gone and the familiar sight of the Metropolis atrium...that innate cruise ship smell...nothing really mattered. We were finally on vacation. And despite the fact that this was our fourth trip on the Miracle (by the end of this trip, we'd spent over 30 days on this ship since it entered the fleet), I still get giddy every single time we step on board. I kind of wish there was a way to explain that feeling when you first step on a ship and begin your cruise...I wish it could be bottled (I'd be able to live on a cruise ship forever off the dividends, I'm sure)...but the memory of that feeling is what gets me through the wait in between trips.

Once onboard, we immediately headed to the aft elevators (and a perk of sailing on the same ship more than once...or at least ships of the same class...you already know the lay of the land and all the short cuts) to head up to Horatios, the Lido restaurant, to grab an early lunch. And despite the fact that all groups had been boarded before we arrived and they were doing open boarding, we found a table almost immediately. Oh Spirit Class ships, how I've missed you. There were a ton of people around, but I didn't feel crowded for a second. And as I've said in previous reviews, the flow of Horatios is SO much better than the flow of the Lido restaurant on the Freedom and as such, even though there were many people, the lines for the various food stations were short and moved quickly.

Seasoned cruisers will know that you can get copies of the Capers at the specialty coffee kiosk on the Lido deck, so Stephanie and I went for those immediately so we could plot out our first night. I think there's more of a sense of relaxation when you're on a ship you've already sailed on because there's really nothing to explore and discover. On the Freedom, we wanted to explore all the new features and try everything out and we kind of missed out on a lot of activities because of this. For us, we really have to learn how to balance that desire for discovery and participating in the activities around us. The first thing we noticed is that the format of the Capers had changed. They were much more user-friendly...it was easier to find activities and things were much better explained. And they were fun to read!

When the initial excitement wore down and we had perused the Capers for the day, we finally grabbed some grub. Stephanie headed immediately to the Chinese station because she had really missed it on the Freedom. I started at the Rotisserie and ended up at the Grill (I tend to like to try a little bit of everything instead of having a substantial portion of one thing). I thought the food quality and taste was much better than it was on the Freedom, but it was just generally unappealing and I ended up picking at it all. The Lido menus are pretty identical fleet-wide and we've been on so many cruises the past few years, that I just felt like I'd already had it all. Change it up, Carnival! New selections for 2011! We discovered they'd changed the hamburger buns at the grill to these whole grain ones, which I didn't like. They tasted fine, but the texture of them was so dry that it bordered on stale. And I know people debate whether the cheese they use at the pizzeria is real or not, but the cheese they were using on this particular sailing was definitely the real stuff.

Some gratuitous lunch food pics...

After we had all eaten, we went back down to deck 2 to get some room keys. To take advantage of the senior discount (which is available for anyone over the age of 55, I believe), we had booked Mom in my room with Stephanie and me in Mom's room with grandma. Getting extra keys? Easy peasy. No harm, no foul. Go to the Purser's desk with someone from the other room, say you want keys to each others rooms and done. No big deal...people do this all the time...they're used to it. I ran up to the Bacchus dining room to check on our table and as requested, we had a table for four, but this time, we were on the lower-level of the dining room, which was a nice change of pace since I'm pretty sure we've been on the upper-level of every dining room of every ship we've been on.

We headed to our rooms around 2:00 pm. Mom and grandma were actually in the same room they'd been in for our southern caribbean cruise and we were right next to the room we were in for that cruise, so we knew exactly where we were headed. Both cabins were 4K cabins, 4201 and 4203, with 4203 being a handicap accessible cabin. And let me tell you- after that crawl space we were in on the Freedom, being back in a room with a couch was like HEAVEN. I'm a girl who needs her space...and with all the extra luggage I brought because we had a bigger car...my luggage needed the extra space, too ;) Now, 4K rooms have french doors that open up (but open to a ledge and lifeboats), but the accessible 4K rooms have a large window with a partially-obstructed view. No french doors in the accessible 4K rooms.

4201 (cat. 4K)

4203 (cat. 4K, handicap accessible)

The luggage came rather quickly and we were able to get some unpacking done before the muster drill. Being away from Cruise Critic for so long, I had no idea until right before we left that surge protectors (or a strip of multiple outlets that plugs into a singular outlet) had been banned and they were getting confiscated out of luggage like they were contraband liquor. One outlet for two girls getting ready for formal night? It will NEVER work for us. I brought my own blow dryer because I hate the Carnival ones, we both have flat irons and we both have cameras and phones that need charging (and then there was my laptop on top of all of THAT). So what we did was we put one surge protector in the front of Stephanie's luggage (in the non-locked zipped part) and two small surge protectors (with three outlets) in her carry on luggage. She had no problem getting the smaller ones through security onto the boat and she was ecstatic when the large surge protector was there when she unzipped her suitcase.

Our room steward, Bodi, came by to introduce himself while we were unpacking and he seemed very nice. Mom wanted to leave for muster drill early (being Miracle vets, we knew exactly where we needed to be- the Jeeves Lounge is the designated area for special assistance) so we decided to go walk around decks two and three before muster. Unsurprisingly, we ultimately ended up in our favorite spot on the ship- Gatsby's Garden and just sat there for a little bit.

We steaked out a spot in the Jeeves Lounge about 10 minutes before muster drill was to begin and we read through the Capers a bit more to plan for our evening. There were SO many activities we wanted to do. After the lack of activities on our last cruise, we were super excited to have so many fun options to choose from.

Muster drill was different than it had been on cruises past. No more life jackets and this time, we got brochures on safety. It was much more well-organized than the muster on the Freedom, where the staff had no idea where to put the special needs guests or how to instruct us on in-case-of-emergencies. They did hold us a bit too long and we had to make a mad dash to the elevators before they were swarmed with non-wheelchair/scooter passengers.

We all went straight to deck nine aft, grabbed some chairs and set up for sailaway. Last year, it was raining as we sailed out of NYC and it made it difficult to enjoy the beauty of it, but this time, it was beautiful out- warm and sunny. And if there's one thing you want to experience in your life as a cruiser, it's sailing out of the Port of Manhattan. It is GORGEOUS. Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. Picturesque. Unlike any other.

Malcolm, the cruise director, would come on the intercom and tell us when we were about to pass something interesting, which was much appreciated. We stayed out on deck, watching the large Manhattan skyscrapers fade into tiny dots in the distance, until around 5:30, when we went back to the rooms to get grandma settled for her nap and get ourselves changed for dinner.

Since our rooms were near the aft staircase on deck 4 and dinner was on deck 2 aft, we took our time getting there. I think we actually left our room at 6:00 pm so we could avoid the crowds. I never understood why people who have an assigned table line up for dinner. Why spend more time standing in line than you need to? Our new dining team was Orlando from Costa Rica and Gede from Indonesia and they were both SO SO SO nice. Really, over the course of the week, they were amongst the best dining teams we've ever had. They both made the Dream Team (Stephanie and I have this thing where we make the ultimate cruise staff based on our favorite staff members from all of our cruises). They were friendly, knowledgeable, always remembered our preferences and greeted us by name. We really have nothing but good things to say about both of them.

Dinner this night was really fantastic. Mom started with the Tropical Fruits (marinated with lime juice and a touch of tequila), the Caesar salad and a shrimp cocktail. Stephanie started with the Tropical Fruits (she said she couldn't discern the tequila) and the Beef and Barley soup with Diced Root Vegetables (like usual, she loves the soups in the main dining room and highly recommends them). I started with the Heart of Iceberg and the Fried Chicken Tenders, Marinated Cucumbers and Lettuce (served with a zesty honey mustard sauce). I think the salad was bland and basic and I'd love it if they'd make it an actual wedge with some bacon and some gorgonzola, but I thought the chicken tenders were fantastic and much better than the ones they serve at the grill because they season the breading.

Tropical Fruits

Caesar Salad

Shrimp Cocktail

Beef and Barley soup with Diced Root Vegetables

Wedge of Iceberg Lettuce

Fried Chicken Tenders, Marinated Cucumbers and Lettuce

Mom was debating between the Barbecued St. Louis Style Pork Spare Ribs and the Pan Seared Filet of Tilapia (green pea fondue, vichy carrots, mac 'n cheese). I told her to order both (the ribs are only available the first night, the last night and during one lunch), but she ultimately went with the tilapia. Mom really enjoyed the tilapia and thought it was nice and mild, very fresh tasting...not at all fishy.

Pan Seared Filet of Tilapia

Stephanie and I both ordered the Grilled Flat Iron from American Choice Beef (accompanied by three peppercorn sauce, vichy carrots and mac 'n cheese), though Stephanie only ordered it because nothing else interested her and she just wanted the sides that came with it. I thought this was the best flat iron I've ever had onboard. It was soft and tender and so flavorful. And the macaroni and cheese was amazing. Stephanie wished she could make a meal of just the mac 'n cheese.

Grilled Flat Iron from American Choice Beef

We all had the Vanilla Creme Brulee (baked vanilla cream, garnished with assorted berries). Mom had hers with a side of orange sherbert and Stephanie and I split a cheese plate on the side of ours. The creme brulee was perfectly flambeed, but it was soggy in spots near where the berries were. The berries were cut up into smaller pieces than I remembered, too...perhaps another Carnival cutback.

Vanilla Creme Brulee

Assorted Cheese Plate

There was Funship Trivia in the Phantom Lounge at 7:30 pm, so Stephanie and I ran there right after dinner while Mom went back to her room to check on grandma and get her ready for dinner. We lost like whoa. I guess my vast knowledge of useless crap isn't vast enough.

We met up with Mom and grandma after trivia up at Horatios. Grandma was having a corned beef sandwich and a caesar salad for dinner (she loved both) and I noticed they expanded the desserts they offer up there. Along with selections from the main dining room (MDR), they also had various other desserts, including these delectable whipped selections that grandma absolutely LOVED and had every night.

We all went outside to the aft pool area to watch the sunset. Since we didn't have balconies this trip (the first May trip we've ever gone without!), we found ourselves out here a lot to watch the sunset. It was windy and Mom was concerned that it would be too cold for grandma, but grandma was fine...she really loved this little bit of family time we all had together every night.

We all went down to the Phantom for the Big Screen Challenge and Game Show Mania, but grandma got sleepy right before Bingo, so Mom took her back to the room while Stephanie and I watched people flail over Bingo. We never play ourselves because our luck is *never* that good.

The Welcome Aboard show...I hate to say it...but I was kind of bored. It's been six years. Spice up the routine, Carnival. Maren, the female singer, was insanely talented but she lacked chemistry with the male singer (Jason), who just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. There was just something about him. Maybe it was the faux hawk. That's just never a good look on anyone. Malcolm was hilarious and very energetic, but I cringed every time he went WOO HOO. Bad memories of Felipe Couto haunted me every time those two syllables came out of Malcolm's mouth.

We ducked out right before the comedian and went up to the late night bistro. The late night food service was more like hors doerves and small snacks on the Freedom, but thankfully, it was still the late night grill on the Miracle and I could get my late-night fry fix. The new buns, though...man they killed the flavor of those cheeseburgers. I only got a few bites in before I pushed the cheeseburger away in favor of the fries. The new buns would grow on me...eventually.

Stephanie and I walked around the ship for a bit afterwards, popping in and out of various activities. I found myself constantly popping into the sports bar to check the sports ticker. We went to the casino to get our room keys punched and get lanyards and since it was the first night, they just had people walking around doing this instead of having to wait in line for the casino hosts. One thing we noticed, though, was that the casino wasn't busy! And in the parts of the boat where there would normally be traffic or crowds, we still haven't felt crowded. Not once. It was a nice change of pace from the Freedom. The "Fun Patrol" (CD Malcom, asst. CD Sparkles, Julie Bean, Allie-Oop, Buttercup and Smithy) were all around the ship meeting guests and having fun and this was seriously one of the most energetic, personable, accessible and all-around FUN cruise staff's we've ever had.

We ended up in our room around 1:00 am and finished our unpacking. Stephanie ordered some room service. I had my usual strip loin and brie sandwich with a veggie plate, chocolate milk and some apple juice and while the veggie plate was fantastic as usual, I'm pretty sure the sandwich was smaller. And that's fine...I'd eaten plenty and I only ordered it because Stephanie was already ordering room service, but I thought that was note-worthy. We sat down to watch some TV and noticed...all the local channels were out! What a bummer! No American Idol this week, no Glee, no Grey's Anatomy. And there were no movies on that we liked, so we watched random ship stuff while we munched and unpacked.

I wish I could say these were ALL our shoes, but they're really just mine. Yeah. I have a problem.

When Nancy Grace came on, we switched to that (she is our onboard TV staple...we watch Nancy Grace almost every night before going to bed while we're on cruises) and Stephanie went to sleep while I grabbed my laptop and started journaling the day's events. Our fellow passengers seemed like a fun group and the entertainment staff was just a total contrast to that of the Freedom. I was super psyched for a fun eight days on board and finally crashed around 2:30 am.

Today's Lido lunch menus:

Today's Lido dinner menu:

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 4)

2010-08-02T15:18:00.003-05:00

The weather forecast for our last day in New York wasn't exactly tourist perfect. Weather.com was calling for intermittent thunderstorms, so we nixed our plans for another day on the tour bus because we'd seen nearly all we wanted to see the day before (and because you've gotta leave something for the next time, right?) and decided to take it easy- a little shopping and some afternoon tea...get some rest because we were getting on the boat the next day!

I vaguely remember Mom trying to wake me up to ask me if I wanted breakfast and I'm pretty sure I mumbled that I didn't (if you've ever been to Alice's for tea, you'll know you don't eat before tea time), but she woke me up at 10:30 am (yay vacation sleeping in!) with a bottle of Vitamin Water and a bagel sandwich from Cosi.

Even though a peek out our window showed sunshine and clouds across the Hudson, I made sure the umbrella and emergency poncho were packed- I wasn't taking any chances. We made sure grandma had everything she'd need for a few hours and walked over to catch the PATH into NYC.

We got off the Subway in the 5th Avenue shopping district. There was a orange juice booth right outside the station giving away free samples, making street congestion even worse. Always something unexpected in NYC, right?

We walked a few blocks down Lexington towards Dylan's Candy Bar. The last time we were in New York, we visited super late at night (a must-visit for us- Dylan's is owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren, who Mom gave Stephanie her middle name after...even though she'll tell anyone who will listen her middle name is Lauren and not Lauren. I got my middle name after a soap opera character. Stephanie clearly wins this one). Oddly enough, this time, in the middle of the day, we found the store considerably less crowded than we did at nearly 11:00 pm on a Friday night the year before.

Dylan's Candy Bar takes the phrase "like a kid in a candy shop" to an entirely new level. There's kids in the candy shop...but they don't have nearly the excitement the adults do in this three-story haven to all things sweet. There's a cafe on the top floor (serving, what else, chocolate confections), bulk candies, souvenirs and a chocolate fountain (where you can buy confections freshly dipped in chocolate) on the main floor and in the basement? A veritable candy land. Retro candy. International sweets. Lollipops and gummi bears. Glass cases filled with autograph-adorned boxes of various celebs' favorite sweets. There's something sweet everywhere you look...even in the steps going to the upper and lower levels. Every time I'm here, I lose myself in sweet abyss for hours because there's literally so much to see. What do I want to buy? What do I wish I could buy? What can withstand an hour in my suitcase or the car while I'm on the boat?

After an hour inside the store, I restocked on some mints and gum (Dylan's chocolate mints are ah-may-zing!), grabbed some M&Ms and a pair of logo sweat pants. Stephane nabbed a few sweets, too, and we headed out onto the busy streets of New York.

We weren't far from the Alice's Tea Cup Chapter II location, so we just decided to walk it instead of taking the train. Even though we were forecasted for storms, it was such a lovely day. It was warm, with a slight breeze coming in. And walking through the streets of New York was so...charming. As we walked towards Alice's, I almost felt like I was walking through the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, with the understated elegance, the shops and boutiques lining the streets, a quiet flurry of activity around us.

A quick aside on the above picture-- the biggest thing I found in New York that's just so vastly different from Chicago is the street life. Street food. Street shopping. We don't really have that in Chicago. Everywhere you go in New York, there's little corner floral markets (that would just make me smile every time I passed them because nothing brightens your day than passing by a colorful display of freshly-cut flowers) or an ice cream truck...a street vendor cracking jokes while serving gyros or an artist selling sketches. Chicago has it's own unique culture...one that I obviously love given that I spend as much time in and around the city as I possibly can, but there's just something special about New York. More than the sightseeing, the shopping, the dining, I just love walking the streets...taking it all in.

The walk to Alice's only took 15 minutes or so and as expected for a Friday afternoon, it was packed. They quoted us 20 minutes for a table, but I think we only actually waited around five. No celeb sightings this time, though (we dined next to Michael Nouri and his wife the last time we were here).

We pretty much knew what we were going to order before we were even seated. We'd split a Mad Hatter tea service and a Mad Hatter tea service for two between the three of us (they split the service for two so they can get their fishy stuff). I ordered a chocolate-butterscotch scone and a pumpkin scone (the scones are baked fresh in-store, with offerings changing daily), the lapsang souchong smoked chicken breast and the Alice's BLT sandwiches and the lemon fruit tart and assorted cookies while Mom and Stephanie ordered two chocolate-butterscotch scones and a pumpkin scone, curried chicken salad and albacore tuna sandwiches and the chocolate mousse with assorted cookies. We all got our own pots of tea (I think I went with the Drink Me Detox, a blend of Pai Mu Tan and Silver Needle Jasmine white teas with organic Rooibos) to complete our tea service. Our server was friendly, but I asked twice for honey that never came. The food? Nothing in the world tastes better than Alice's fresh, warm scones with a bit of cream and a dab of preserves. *Nothing*. The BLT sandwich was a bit saltier than I remembered- probably from that blue cheese spread they layer on the dark bread and the smoked chicken sandwich was unlike any sandwich I'd ever had- a whole grain bread was spread with a nice dollop of a herbed goat cheese spread and then topped with pieces of marinated chicken breast, thinly-sliced granny smith apples and what I think was arugula. The apples gave the sandwich a sweet kick and a bit of crunch, but the greens were bitter and overpowering, and I just ended up picking them off. Stephanie and Mom didn't really care much for their sandwiches. Stephanie convinced Mom to try the chicken salad sandwiches instead of the smoked salmon ones and they both thought they were entirely too spicy and the curry was mixed in with a heavy hand. Stephanie thought the tuna fish sandwiches were too "fishy" and didn't care much for that one, either. And the chocolate mousse? Too rich for her. I offered her a bit of my lemon tart (which was heavenly), but she declined.

Mad Hatter tea service for two:

Mad Hatter tea service for one:

Some gratuitous food porn:

Chocolate Butterscotch and Pumpkin Scones

Lapsang Souchong Smoked Chicken Breast and Alice's BLT sandwiches

Lemon fruit tart and assorted cookies

Curried Chicken Salad and Albacore Tuna sandwiches

Chocolate mousse and assorted cookies

We took some scones, cookies and sandwiches back for grandma (and Stephanie took some scones to go for breakfast the next morning). I think Stephanie bought a tea mug and I bought a travel tea mug (the kind with the loose tea brewer in it because I only drink loose teas) as a kind of souvenir.

The service at the Chapter II location of Alice's Tea Cup is spotty, the food can be hit or miss, but there's this intangible quality about just being there that I absolutely love. It's not uptight and more kitschy than traditional, but it's unlike anything we have in Chicago. We have formal tea services at the upscale hotels downtown, as well as some smaller tea places out in the suburbs and such, but we really don't have many places like Alice's in Chicago. Maybe one day. One can hope, anyways.

After we left Alice's, we walked back towards the Fifth Ave. shopping district. We stopped in a random convenience store because we needed a few extra luggage locks and I needed some hairspray. Afterward, we decided to just head back into Jersey for the day...get some packing done...take grandma out for a bit...get some rest. While we were waiting for our train, a young man playing music for tips started playing Sweet Home Chicago. Even when we're hundreds of miles away, there's always a little piece of home somewhere.

We got back to Jersey City and it was just so beautiful out, so I decided to take grandma to go sit with me in the park across the street from the hotel while Mom and Stephanie packed a little. It was so quiet and serene...it reminds me much of home- close enough to the city for quick and easy access in but far enough away for moments of quiet peace.

Grandma and I went back and I took a nap. I think Mom took grandma over to Cosi for lunch while I was napping. We did some packing, watched some movies...I blogged at some point to finish up my last cruise review. Around 7:00 pm, we decided to walk over to Boca Grande for dinner because Stephanie was still raving about it and Mom and grandma really wanted to try it. I don't remember what everyone else ordered other than Stephanie ordered the same exact thing she had the night before and I ordered these steak "guacOLE" tacos, which was like a hardshell taco with steak, then a layer of guacamole and then a soft tortilla wrapped around it. They were SOOOOOO good. Really heavy, but they were so tasty! They do guacamole right at Boca Grande. I also ordered a side of mexican rice, which I thought was just okay. If you're around the Jersey City area, I *highly* recommend checking Boca Grande out. They have some really fantastic bar specials, too, that you can order throughout the restaurant. I know Stephanie and I want to stop back for a pitcher of sangria the next time we're out there.

The Mr. Softee truck was parked outside the PATH station, so we grabbed some icy cool treats to bring back to the hotel (I think I had a soft serve cone dipped in chocolate and nuts), where we just kind of chilled for the rest of the night. I showered and flat ironed my hair so I was good to go in the morning, we laid out our outfits and packed everything else up, made sure our documents were in order and I went online until my internet time ran out.

Our time in New York was drawing to a close, but our vacation was really just beginning. Four wonderful days in New York done, but we still had three ports and four days at sea awaiting us.

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 3)

2010-07-12T02:57:00.007-05:00

This one's going to be VERY photo-heavy...hope you all enjoy! Also- Blogger is giving me issues with the comments (I hope it's not giving any of you problems, too!) and it's not letting me respond to anything. So I am reading them...I just can't respond back until this Blogger issue is resolved.

I woke up around 8:00 am and Mom and Stephanie had already grabbed breakfast for us at Cosi. Stephanie wanted to get an early start because she had booked us on a city tour and we wanted to see as much as we can since this was our designated tour day. The plan was for us to do one tour today, one tour the next day since the tour we were on offered many different tours and we had two-day tickets, but we wanted to get in as much as we could today since we were forecasted for rain the next day. We planned to do one tour, head back to the hotel to take grandma out for lunch and then head back to Times Square or something of the like to walk around. Later that night, we planned on doing a night tour to see the city lights. A quick peek out the window showed the sun shining over lower Manhattan- perfect sight-seeing weather.

The three of us walked over to the PATH station and were greeted by the morning rush...and a fresh pile of vomit on the ramp. Not the way you want to start a morning. The trains were packed to the gills. Like...nose-up-to-the-back-of-the-person-in-front-of-you-if-you-don't-have-a-seat-sardines-in-a-can-packed. Even on the most crowded rush hour express train I've been on in Chicago, I've never been on a train this packed. It made for an uncomfortable ride, but you grin and bear it...and clutch your purse tightly.

We got off near Times Square and walked over to Madame Tussauds to pick up our tour tickets. The line was out the door and we ended up waiting more than a half hour to pick them up. There are many tour operators in New York. Stephanie ended up booking us with City Sights NY for their All Around Tour, which included all of the various loops (the downtown tour, the uptown/Harlem tour and the Brooklyn tour), a night tour, admittance to the Museum of the City of New York and a Circle Line harbor cruise for $54 a person. You can do any or all of these (we ultimately did two of the tours), over the span of two days (I believe as our tickets were), but the value really can't be beat. We debated between this tour (a hop on/hop off bus) and a guided tour and we ultimately decided on the hop on/hop off because it gave us more control over what we saw and when and would allow us to be more time efficient by not making stops at places we didn't care to see. The beauty of a hop on/hop off is that you can get off wherever you want or not at all...you can see it all from the top of the double-decker bus. We didn't really plan on getting off anywhere (except for Strawberry Fields, which I was adamant that we stop off at) and it ended up being a really relaxing way to see the city.

After we got our tickets, we walked to the designated stop to get on the bus for the downtown tour, which would take us past the theater district, Carnegie Hall, the Winter Garden, Times Square, Macy's, the Empire State building, the Flatiron district (and building), Union Square/Ladies Mile, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown/Little Italy, St. Pauls Chapel, Battery Park, the South Street Seaport, the Lower East side, the East Village, Kip's Bay, the UN building, the Waldorf Astoria (which I still plan on staying at one day) and Rockefeller Center before dropping us back off in the theater district. Our tourguide wasn't that personable, but he had great knowledge of the city and I found the entire tour fascinating. New York really does feel like a bunch of smaller cities contained within a larger city, each having a different vibe. I found many differences between NYC and Chicago (beyond the obvious). Like in Chicago, we don't really have flower markets out on the streets, whereas I saw many lovely flower shops on the street corners in New York. And we don't have street food in Chicago, either (which is really so unique and fun from a tourist's standpoint). The sun was out and it was a breezy 60something degrees out. Perfect weather for a double decker bus ride through the city.

After the downtown tour, since we didn't feel like getting off anywhere and it went by quicker than we planned, we decided to do the Uptown Treasures and Harlem tour (which we had planned on doing the next day). That tour would take us through Times Square and the theater district, Columbus Circle, the Lincoln Center, Central Park and Strawberry Fields, the American Museum of Natural History, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Grant's Tomb/Riverside Church, the Apollo Theater, the Harlem Market, the Museum of the City of NY, the Guggenheim, the Met, the Frick Collection, the Central Park Zoo, the Plaza Hotel and Winter Gardens. This was the plan: the tour would take two hours. Stephanie and I were going to do the tour and get off at Strawberry Field while Mom went back to the hotel to take grandma to lunch and we'd met up in Central Park and finish the tour. Stephanie ended up really liking the tour guide we had on the bus and didn't want to get off- she wanted to do the tour in its entirety with him and then do it again and get off at Strawberry Field. I thought that was more complicated than hopping on and hopping off and then hopping on again. She won.

So after we did our first loop of the uptown tour, we had to get off the bus, wait for a NEW bus and get on that one. It was a bit more hassle than it was worth- we should have just hopped off and then hopped back on. We stopped inside a nearby Starbucks while we were waiting for the new bus to grab some drinks and a quick snack. The new tour guide was...interesting. He had a crude sense of humor and was kind of polarizing. I could see many people being offended by his sense of humor. I didn't really care- we were only on for a few stops.

We hopped off at Central Park West (I wanted to hop off at the Dakota...no dice with Stephanie) and called Mom, who wasn't far off. We chatted with her until we found each other and then made our way over to Strawberry Fields.

I've got to say- I've been a lot of places and I've seen a lot of things. I've rarely felt as much serenity and peace as I felt when I was in Strawberry Field. There was a musician quietly strumming the guitar but even as people shuffled in and out of the area, that's all that could really be heard. We just sat there for awhile, taking in the peace. It really was quite lovely.

We planned on hopping back on the bus and redoing the rest of the tour with Mom, but Mom didn't really care for it since she saw everything she wanted to see on the downtown tour and since walking through Central Park was on my list of things I really wanted to do, we just decided to stroll through the park.

We walked for about 40 minutes...not really knowing where we were going. Well, Stephanie claimed she knew where we were going, but we weren't getting anywhere anytime quickly. We were constantly peddled for pedicab rides (the big honking camera is a tourist giveaway, I guess), but nothing a polite (but firm) "No thank you" didn't take care of. My blood sugar sunk really fast because I hadn't eaten since 8:00 that morning and it was nearing on 4:00 pm. Luckily, I had a slice of cake I bought at Starbucks in my purse and I munched on that while we navigated our way out of the park. We ended up near The Plaza, an area we were familiar with from last year. We decided to walk back towards 7th Ave. and try to find some food.

We walked about ten blocks and found a bunch of delis. Since eating NY deli food was on Mom and Stephanie's lists, we settled on the Benash Delicatessen. The restaurant was nearly empty, which was slightly uncomfortable, but the menu was big and full of offerings. It was also insanely overpriced (which didn't really matter much at that point because we were hungry)...Mom and Stephanie decided to order a corned beef sandwich, which was nearly a full pound of meat, but also nearly $15 (plus a $4 split charge, which they ordered a side of fries to avoid...because the $15 was a la carte...but the side of fries was nearly $5. My cheese blintzes? $17.95. For three blintzes and a small side of fruit. We have amazingly delicious jewish deli restaurants on the north shore of Chicago and the same meal would have cost us $20 at home. Mom and Stephanie loved their sandwich. I didn't care for my blintzes. They're just so much better at home. So I boxed those up to take back to grandma and munched on the fruit and Mom and Stephanie's fries, which were heavenly.

Since we were near the theater district, we decided to go back to Crumbs bakery to grab some more cupcakes to take back to the hotel and we saw a huge crowd outside the theater that houses Promises Promises. We thought maybe a matinee had just let out and people were crowding the stage door and we decided to go over and see if we could meet Cheno or Sean Hayes, but it turned out that David Letterman was filming a sketch where a bunch of crap gets thrown off the roof of the theater. He tossed a bunch of bottles of champagne, water and some other crap before we got there and we saw them drop a ton of watermelons and bouncy balls off the roof (we collected the balls as souvenirs later). Stephanie thought she spotted Alec Baldwin on the roof and a quick crop on my camera proved her right- Alec Baldwin was indeed looking down on us. It made for a cool story to tell my friends when I got back to the hotel.

We headed towards our original destination (Crumbs) and grabbed another Oprah cupcake for me, another Promises Promises cupcake for Mom, a red velvet cupcake for grandma and a carrot cake cupcake for Stephanie.

We were all exhausted and sore, so we hopped on (another very crowded) train back to Jersey City and went back to the hotel to rest. We were so tired that we skipped our night tour (which I really wanted to do because I wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge, but that'll have to wait for the next trip, I suppose) and watched TV in the hotel. I bought some more internet time and did some last-minute trip research. Stephanie and I got hungry around 9:30 and decided to walk over to Boca Grande, a mexican restaurant about four blocks from the hotel. I have to say...walking alone with Stephanie at night in Jersey City...I felt completely safe. The area is very well-lit and there's always people walking around. There was no point that I felt unsafe.

The food at Boca Grande was really fantastic (and very reasonably priced). I had the fajitas and while they weren't the best I'd ever had, they were really quite tasty. Stephanie had the beef tacos and says they were the best tacos she's ever had. Legit. And Stephanie has had many tacos. She also ordered a side of beans, which she thought weren't that great.

We walked back to the hotel and got ready for bed before putting on Letterman to watch our segment (we didn't see ourselves, but it was cool knowing we were there). Mom, Stephanie and grandma crashed before Letterman was even over. I stayed up until around 3:00 am uploading pictures to Flickr and playing around on the internet. My sleep schedule was getting so messed up, but who needs sleep when you're on vacation?

New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 2)

2010-07-04T03:20:00.003-05:00

Ahhh day two in New York. Our first full day. I slept in until around 10 and then got dressed really fast to run with Stephanie to Cosi to get breakfast for all of us. It was really windy and rainy out and not really the best explore-the-city kind of weather. Luckily for us, our tour was planned for the next day. Today? Stephanie and I were going to see Hair. Again.

An egg and bacon and an egg and ham bagel sandwich, a breakfast quiche and a specialty oatmeal with three bottles of Vitamin Water and a diet Coke only set us back around $20 and we took the goods back to the hotel to have a quick breakfast before Stephanie and I set out for Times Square.

The play was at 2:00 pm, so we set out around noon thinking we had plenty of time. The ticketing still confused the hell out of us (at some point, we bought unlimited ride tickets only to find out they only worked on the MTA and not the PATH, which rendered them a waste for us) and the directions Stephanie pulled up on her phone weren't exactly...right...so it ended up taking us longer than it should have to reach Times Square.

The rain had faded into a drizzle by the time we hit Times Square, which was packed (when isn't it?) with a ton of school groups. Maybe it's the ADD side of me (because I really do have the attention span of a fruit fly...which is probably one of the reasons it takes me so long to write these blogs), but I'm always so taken by Times Square. There's so many lights and colors...a constant flurry of activity. There's always something to look at and I'm pretty sure it's impossible to notice everything there. We don't have anything like that in Chicago and I'm kind of glad...it makes visiting it in New York that much more special.

After feeling our way around and trying to regain our sense of direction, we made our way over to the Al Hirshfeld theatre for the show.

Stephanie and I had been confused to what row we were in when she bough the seats because the seating chart was confusing. I think we had row B, but we couldn't tell from the seating chart if there was a row A in our section. There wasn't- we were ushered to our FIRST ROW SEATS! I'd make a stupid joke about my excitement, but I really can't. It was the best theater experience I've ever had. I quickly texted my friend Ali to brag about our seats before I had to turn the phone off and the show began.

It's hard to compare this cast to a cast that won a Tony (2009, Best Musical Revival). I was really attached to that cast and it was hard to see all of them replaced with a new tribe (the original cast was shipped over to London to open the play on the West End). Gavin Creel's portrayal of Claude last year really affected me in a way I never really had been by a stage production before. Ali is a big fan of his replacement (Kyle Riabko, a Spring Awakening alum), so I was interested to see what he'd bring to the show. One of my favorites, Caissie Levy, was replaced with American Idol (season three) runner-up Diana DeGarmo, who I really, really didn't like when she was on American Idol. Replacing Will Swenson as Berger, though, was one of my favorite American Idol contestants ever, Ace Young. See, I'm pretty sure I fell in lust with Ace Young the first time he hit my TV screen. I keep a video of his Father Figure performance on my iPod. He's stunning and I kind of, maybe, sort of insisted we see Hair on this trip so I could see him in the role.

And as expected, this cast just couldn't quite live up to the revival cast we saw the year before. They were fantastic, but they just weren't quite *there.* The chemistry between Young, Riabko and DeGarmo just really wasn't there, whereas the chemistry between Swenson, Creel and Levy just kind of jumped out at you. That aside, having such amazing seats really gave the show a new perspective. It was almost as if we were part of the show, interacting with some of the Tribe members as they reclined on the stairs in front of us, observing the intricacies of the show that we had missed the last time. A Tribe member played with my hair, Diana DeGarmo handed me a flower and at the end of the show, we ran up on stage to dance around and sing Let the Sunshine In and play around with Wallace Smith (Hud). It was the perfect experience. And then somehow, I ended up in some huge bear hug by a very sweaty (and insanely gorgeous) Ace Young and I was telling him about how much I had enjoyed him on Idol years earlier and we were making random chatter that I don't remember because I was taken by his gorgeousness. Stephanie wanted to take a picture of us, but he said to meet him at the stage door and he'd come take a pic with us.

So after the show, we headed out to the stage door to meet the cast. Why not. All of them came out (except for Diana DeGarmo, who I guess couldn't take the time to meet her fans...I didn't care...I'm still not really much of a fan) and were positively delightful. When I met Kyle Riabko, I made sure to tell him that my friend Ali was such a huge fan of his and he told me to tell her he said hi (I called her as soon as we left the theater...I squeed over Ace, she squeed over Kyle and we acted like the teenagers that we....aren't). And then Ace came out and he came right over to us, saying how it was time for that picture. Sigh. I love this man. I do. It's so awesome when you're a fan of a musician or an actor (I've met many of both) and find out they're super awesome in real life with their fans. After we got our programs autographed by the cast and got our pictures, we had someone take our obligatory picture with the marquee, made a quick stop so Stephanie could take a picture with a Gavin Creel poster and headed back into Times Square for some grub.

We wandered around Times Square for a bit, taking it in, but we hadn't eaten since just after 10:00 that morning and it was after 5:00 pm at this point so we went looking for a quick bite to eat.

Since eating street food was on our list of things to do in New York (since we failed to do it last year), we found a street cart and grabbed some hot dogs. Gotta say, though... Chicago-style hot dogs > New York-style hot dogs. It's not even close (and I only eat ketchup, mustard and pickles on my 'dogs...and that's, like, sacriligious in Chicago). It's in the 'dog. And the bun. Sorry, New York. But they're cheap and filling and they aren't untasty...just not AS tasty as the ones at home.

After our foray into Times Square street food, we stopped in some touristy-type shops and bought some scarves on the street. We found M&M World and decided to stop in because...why not? We were in New York. It was overcrowded, overpriced and nothing special, so we left almost as quickly as we entered.

We found a vendor selling hot candied almonds on the street and grabbed a few bags to munch on while we were on the train. On our way, we were stopped on the street by some guy pimping a comedy show. He made it sound super cool (taping with the cast of Saturday Night Live on the Letterman set, food and drink included, this and that and the other, best experience ever, jibba jabba) and like all things that sound too good be to true, this was, as well. I don't remember what the catch was, but I remember we laughed at him, turned on our heels and went to catch our train back to Jersey. Keep this in your back pocket: there is ALWAYS a catch.

When we got off the train, we were still kind of hungry so we stopped at the street cart outside the PATH station. The vendor was offering many made-to-offer sandwiches and other delights (gyros, knishes and sausages, amongst other things) and we both settled on some Philly cheese steak sandwiches ($5 each) and bottled water ($1 each). It took about 10 minutes to make the two sandwiches (because everything is grilled and sliced to order) and he and Stephanie were chatting it up while he made our sandwiches. She mentioned that we were from out of town and that we have nothing like this at home (we really don't. Chicago doesn't do street food) and he told us his sandwiches would make us remember New Jersey, and they really did. Street vendor man didn't lie- his sandwiches were DELICIOUS. So fantastic, in fact, that Mom ran down and got some for her and grandma after smelling ours. If you live in Jersey, his cart is right outside the Newport/Pavonia PATH station and he's open until 10:00 pm everyday except Friday and Saturday, when he's open all night.

Mom and grandma had a nice, relaxing day. I think they took a little trip to the shopping mall next to the hotel and caught up on their rest from the previous day's drive, walked around the Jersey City shore front a bit. Stephanie and I, though, were exhausted. We took a rest. I used up the rest of my internet time, and we ended up staying in for the rest of the night.

We had planned to visit this restaurant in Hoboken for dinner, but it would require a trip on the light rail and there were storms brewing. Instead, we took our showers so we'd be fresh and clean for the next day, watched American Idol, ordered Chinese food from a place down the street (the name of the restaurant escapes me at the moment- I'll look it up later) and Stephanie hooked up her portable DVD player to the TV so she, Mom and grandma could watch Sex and the City while I used my internet time up and watched movies on my laptop.

They fell asleep pretty early, but my sleep schedule was all messed up and I didn't end up going to bed until well past 2:00 am (which is still kind of early for me at home, but pretty late for me on vacation). I sat in one of the leather armchairs by the window and looked out at lower Manhattan while I typed out the day's events in my journal, which just might be my ideal writing environment (instead of writing as I am now- at 4:30 am, looking out at a cluttered desk and a random movie playing on the Disney channel). I headed to bed with a flurry of ideas cluttering my mind. We were doing tours the next day and we had so much we wanted to see...and only a few hours to get it all in. One thing was for sure, though- I *had* to see Strawberry Fields.