mommytothreeboys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2007
- Messages
- 3,504
We were finally at sea and our first day on the ship had been rainy and gloomy, but we did not let that dampen our fun! Day 2 was our Fun Day at Sea, so we did not have a port stop. Our plan was to enjoy the pool, explore the ship, and take part in whatever onboard activity caught our attention! 
The day dawned .well, I think there was a dawn.
You wouldnt know it to look out our cabin window. I woke to LOTS of clouds and it looked like we were in for another gray, rainy day. Oh well
a rainy day at sea is better than a day at home! We didnt get up early, but we were up by 9 am. We wanted to head to the dining room for breakfast. We knew that the buffet was an option, but we really like the atmosphere of the dining room. No lines, you can order whatever your heart may desire, and someone serves and cleans up after you! My kind of breakfast! 
This is Jonah as he tries to wake up and face the day!
We enjoyed our breakfast and then our older boys went off to do their thing. We did give them a lot of freedom on the ship. We always agreed on a meeting-up place and time just so we could check in, but they spent a lot of time off wandering and doing whatever it is teenage boys do. Without cell phones, the check in was much harder but we made it work. Jonah, Jeff and I wanted to check out the Camp Carnival group for Jonahs age group , called Circle C. I had registered him online, but wanted to stop by the Circle C area and get a schedule, meet the leader, etc. We strolled by and the door was locked so we went to the guest services desk and they gave us a schedule. There was an activity at noon, so we decided to come back then.
Jonah really wanted to play mini-golf so we went to the top deck, got our clubs and headed to the mini-golf course. It was SOOOO windy there!
The weather was ugly
dark, cloudy, intermittent rain
just gloomy. But, we also ended up finding the older boys there so Jeff and the boys had a rousing game of mini golf! It was hilarious to watch them try to play with the wind blowing their golf ball all over! 
I think the keeping score idea went out the window pretty quickly and they just had fun.
See how windy it was?
After our game of windy golf, it was about time to head to Circle C and check out what they had going on for Jonah. I think the two older boys were going to the room to change and head to the pool. At the Circle C area, the activity was just starting and the leader, Dave, introduced himself to us and quickly hooked Jonah up with a group. They were doing a scavenger hunt of sorts and it was great the way he didnt ask questions do you wanna play?, can Jonah join your group?...none of that. Just hi Jonah, Im Dave. Guys Jonah is on your team Go! He was obviously very good at his job and getting kids who were perfect strangers to participate and hang out together! Thumbs way up for Dave! We were super impressed!
So, with Jonah off with his group of kids and the boys at the pool, Jeff and I spent some nice time wandering the ship and taking it all in. There is so much to see and so many things that are kind of tucked away the you may never see if you dont go off the beaten path ( and by that I mean the path from the cabin, to the pool, to the dining room!) a bit! We found a piano bar, a sushi bar, the spa and gym, and the Serenity(over 21) deck.
By about 12:30 we were ready to get our suits on and hit the pool or at least the lounge chairs by the pool! Still, no sun, but it was warm enough and not raining so we figured we would enjoy it. We found a couple of chairs on the upper pool deck and made ourselves comfortable. We had a good view of the ice carving demonstration. Pretty impressive, actually.
Dan found us at some point and hung out with us (gasp!) for a little while.
There was a cool chess board on the pool deck so Jeff and Dan had a game!
At one point in the afternoon, there was an activity for the adults on deck called Last Man Standing. It was a sort of scavenger hunt in which each player had to find an item ON the pool deck and bring it back to the stage. The last person back with the item was eliminated each round. I was kind of surprised to see that Dan had volunteered to play! Good for him! The member of the activities staff running the game introduced each player, but called Dan Pepsi because he was wearing a Pepsi shirt. The first item they had to find was a red Sail and Sign card. The red cards were for VIP guests (those who had cruised on Carnival previously) and were harder to find than the standard blue cards. Plus, your card has charging privileges and is how you pay for everything on the ship, so people were reluctant to give them up. Sadly for Dan, he chose the wrong area of the deck and was just edged out by another guy. UGH! Eliminated first .but he participated and theres no shame in that! And actually, he met another guy about his age (he was 19). It was the guy who JUST beat him! Anyway, they struck up a conversation and Dan ended up spending quite a bit of time with him. It was nice because, being 18, Dan could do things that Isaiah could not. So having a buddy to hang out with was a big plus!
Where was Jonah during all of this you ask? Well, he had finished his scavenger hunt and then ran past us on the deck as he was headed to the waterpark for water slide races!
He was having a blast!
I was a bit worried about Isaiah. He is not a joiner by nature and did not have any interest at all in going to Club O2, which was the Camp Carnival program for teens ages 15-17. We tried to encourage him, but he really did not want to, so we let it go. I was concerned because Jonah had found some friends, Dan had someone to hang out with, and Isaiah was kind of on his own. I had to remind myself (ok, honestly, Jeff had to remind me) that Isaiah preferred to just wander and make his own fun. He spent time with Dan sometimes, napped in the room , explored the ship ..in true Isaiah fashion. I was worried that he was bored, but he assured me he was having a great time! Mom worries too much!
Jeff and I gave up our lounge chairs on deck because we knew that Jonah was participating in an ice cream eating contest at 2:10 and we did not want to miss that photo op! We made our way to the ice cream machine (a path we knew well!) and waited for the kids to show up. Sure enough, at about 2:10, Dave arrived like the pied piper with fifteen 12-15 year olds in tow! The rules were that you had to get a bowl of ice cream, put your hands behind your back, and empty the bowl. No hands allowed. This was gonna be fun to watch.
Dave is in the bright blue shirt he was right in there with the kids!
Good technique Jonah!
Happy Jonah not a winner, but the ice cream was delicious!
Truthfully, I dont have any more pictures of this day until our towel animal picture at bedtime! I think Jeff and I went and did a little shopping. We wanted to buy a deck of cards and also a lanyard for Jonah to carry his Sail and Sign card on. He had almost lost it twice in the hot tub, so we needed a better solution. Jonah went off with a few of the kids from the group and went to the pool and the hot tub. Im not sure what the older boys did, but I think they spent some time in the pool as well. It had started to rain so the pool had cleared out, as well as the hot tub. They took advantage of it! Jeff and I went to the adults only area hoping that we could get into the hot tub there. The hot tubs on the pool deck were often filled with kids. Well, the hot tubs on the adults only deck were filled with kids as well. But these were the 21 year old variety who sat in the hot tub all day while the bartender continued to bring them drinks!
So, no hot tub for us! We did hang out and lounge for a while, but eventually made our way back to the pool deck. I think we did get in the hot tub at some point. We learned that when old people get in, the kids get out! Worked like a charm! We soaked some and then went back to the room to change. I think we watched a little TV and napped a bit as well. I could get used to this life!
This night was Elegant night so we got all prettied up and headed to dinner a bit early because I wanted to do a photo session. I knew we would not purchase any of the many photos they took of us while on board, but I did want to purchase a print of us all dressed up. A photo of all 5 of us together is a rare thing!
What do you think?
Dinner was most excellent, as usual. I believe this was the night that we all tried alligator fritters. They were actually very good! We also had lobster and prime rib because it was Elegant Night. Delicious! My boys really enjoyed the chocolate melting cake for dessert. I think they may have ordered it several nights in a row! And, our company was pleasant as usual. We were also visited by a magician. He did the cool close-up magic that I love. Isaiah loves magic too so this was a treat!
Oh, I remember something! Before we headed off to our nights activities, I had to make a quick trip to the room to fetch my trip binder. I had made a copy of a self-guided walking tour for our Nassau day and the girls wanted a copy. I brought the binder up to guest services and they made copies for me. Jeff also took the time to show off my OCD trip planning tendencies by giving the girls and their aunt a Jeff guided tour of my trip binder! So sue me .I like to be organized!
After dinner, Jonah headed off to a late night pool party. Dan headed off to meet his friend to hit the night club, and Jeff, Isaiah and I went in search of the ships library. The magician from dinner was doing a close-up magic show and we were very excited to check it out! The venue was not the greatest as the room was not really set up so that everyone could see everything that he was doing. But, he was really good and even Isaiah had a hard time figuring out how he did his tricks. As a student of magic, he knows some card tricks himself, so he can figure some of them out. But this guy had a few up his sleeve that even stumped Isaiah! It was a lot of fun a small crowd, so there was lots of interaction with the audience. Im glad we went.
When we got back to the room, we found this little friend!
Overall, our day at sea had been a good one. It was a shame that the weather did not cooperate, but we still managed to have a great day! I was tired! Jeff, Isaiah and I hit the sack, Jonah came back to the cabin shortly after midnight when his pool party ended, and Dan came in very late from the nightclub after dancing it up with the ladies. I remember my last thought being
..please let me open this curtain to sunshine in the morning
.
Nassau here we come!
The day dawned .well, I think there was a dawn.
You wouldnt know it to look out our cabin window. I woke to LOTS of clouds and it looked like we were in for another gray, rainy day. Oh well
a rainy day at sea is better than a day at home! We didnt get up early, but we were up by 9 am. We wanted to head to the dining room for breakfast. We knew that the buffet was an option, but we really like the atmosphere of the dining room. No lines, you can order whatever your heart may desire, and someone serves and cleans up after you! My kind of breakfast! This is Jonah as he tries to wake up and face the day!
We enjoyed our breakfast and then our older boys went off to do their thing. We did give them a lot of freedom on the ship. We always agreed on a meeting-up place and time just so we could check in, but they spent a lot of time off wandering and doing whatever it is teenage boys do. Without cell phones, the check in was much harder but we made it work. Jonah, Jeff and I wanted to check out the Camp Carnival group for Jonahs age group , called Circle C. I had registered him online, but wanted to stop by the Circle C area and get a schedule, meet the leader, etc. We strolled by and the door was locked so we went to the guest services desk and they gave us a schedule. There was an activity at noon, so we decided to come back then.
Jonah really wanted to play mini-golf so we went to the top deck, got our clubs and headed to the mini-golf course. It was SOOOO windy there!
The weather was ugly
dark, cloudy, intermittent rain
just gloomy. But, we also ended up finding the older boys there so Jeff and the boys had a rousing game of mini golf! It was hilarious to watch them try to play with the wind blowing their golf ball all over! I think the keeping score idea went out the window pretty quickly and they just had fun.
See how windy it was?
After our game of windy golf, it was about time to head to Circle C and check out what they had going on for Jonah. I think the two older boys were going to the room to change and head to the pool. At the Circle C area, the activity was just starting and the leader, Dave, introduced himself to us and quickly hooked Jonah up with a group. They were doing a scavenger hunt of sorts and it was great the way he didnt ask questions do you wanna play?, can Jonah join your group?...none of that. Just hi Jonah, Im Dave. Guys Jonah is on your team Go! He was obviously very good at his job and getting kids who were perfect strangers to participate and hang out together! Thumbs way up for Dave!
We were super impressed!So, with Jonah off with his group of kids and the boys at the pool, Jeff and I spent some nice time wandering the ship and taking it all in. There is so much to see and so many things that are kind of tucked away the you may never see if you dont go off the beaten path ( and by that I mean the path from the cabin, to the pool, to the dining room!) a bit! We found a piano bar, a sushi bar, the spa and gym, and the Serenity(over 21) deck.
By about 12:30 we were ready to get our suits on and hit the pool or at least the lounge chairs by the pool! Still, no sun, but it was warm enough and not raining so we figured we would enjoy it. We found a couple of chairs on the upper pool deck and made ourselves comfortable. We had a good view of the ice carving demonstration. Pretty impressive, actually.
Dan found us at some point and hung out with us (gasp!) for a little while.
There was a cool chess board on the pool deck so Jeff and Dan had a game!
At one point in the afternoon, there was an activity for the adults on deck called Last Man Standing. It was a sort of scavenger hunt in which each player had to find an item ON the pool deck and bring it back to the stage. The last person back with the item was eliminated each round. I was kind of surprised to see that Dan had volunteered to play! Good for him! The member of the activities staff running the game introduced each player, but called Dan Pepsi because he was wearing a Pepsi shirt. The first item they had to find was a red Sail and Sign card. The red cards were for VIP guests (those who had cruised on Carnival previously) and were harder to find than the standard blue cards. Plus, your card has charging privileges and is how you pay for everything on the ship, so people were reluctant to give them up. Sadly for Dan, he chose the wrong area of the deck and was just edged out by another guy. UGH! Eliminated first .but he participated and theres no shame in that! And actually, he met another guy about his age (he was 19). It was the guy who JUST beat him! Anyway, they struck up a conversation and Dan ended up spending quite a bit of time with him. It was nice because, being 18, Dan could do things that Isaiah could not. So having a buddy to hang out with was a big plus!
Where was Jonah during all of this you ask? Well, he had finished his scavenger hunt and then ran past us on the deck as he was headed to the waterpark for water slide races!
He was having a blast!I was a bit worried about Isaiah. He is not a joiner by nature and did not have any interest at all in going to Club O2, which was the Camp Carnival program for teens ages 15-17. We tried to encourage him, but he really did not want to, so we let it go. I was concerned because Jonah had found some friends, Dan had someone to hang out with, and Isaiah was kind of on his own. I had to remind myself (ok, honestly, Jeff had to remind me) that Isaiah preferred to just wander and make his own fun. He spent time with Dan sometimes, napped in the room , explored the ship ..in true Isaiah fashion. I was worried that he was bored, but he assured me he was having a great time! Mom worries too much!
Jeff and I gave up our lounge chairs on deck because we knew that Jonah was participating in an ice cream eating contest at 2:10 and we did not want to miss that photo op! We made our way to the ice cream machine (a path we knew well!) and waited for the kids to show up. Sure enough, at about 2:10, Dave arrived like the pied piper with fifteen 12-15 year olds in tow! The rules were that you had to get a bowl of ice cream, put your hands behind your back, and empty the bowl. No hands allowed. This was gonna be fun to watch.
Dave is in the bright blue shirt he was right in there with the kids!
Good technique Jonah!
Happy Jonah not a winner, but the ice cream was delicious!
Truthfully, I dont have any more pictures of this day until our towel animal picture at bedtime! I think Jeff and I went and did a little shopping. We wanted to buy a deck of cards and also a lanyard for Jonah to carry his Sail and Sign card on. He had almost lost it twice in the hot tub, so we needed a better solution. Jonah went off with a few of the kids from the group and went to the pool and the hot tub. Im not sure what the older boys did, but I think they spent some time in the pool as well. It had started to rain so the pool had cleared out, as well as the hot tub. They took advantage of it! Jeff and I went to the adults only area hoping that we could get into the hot tub there. The hot tubs on the pool deck were often filled with kids. Well, the hot tubs on the adults only deck were filled with kids as well. But these were the 21 year old variety who sat in the hot tub all day while the bartender continued to bring them drinks!
So, no hot tub for us! We did hang out and lounge for a while, but eventually made our way back to the pool deck. I think we did get in the hot tub at some point. We learned that when old people get in, the kids get out! Worked like a charm! We soaked some and then went back to the room to change. I think we watched a little TV and napped a bit as well. I could get used to this life!This night was Elegant night so we got all prettied up and headed to dinner a bit early because I wanted to do a photo session. I knew we would not purchase any of the many photos they took of us while on board, but I did want to purchase a print of us all dressed up. A photo of all 5 of us together is a rare thing!
What do you think?
Dinner was most excellent, as usual. I believe this was the night that we all tried alligator fritters. They were actually very good! We also had lobster and prime rib because it was Elegant Night. Delicious! My boys really enjoyed the chocolate melting cake for dessert. I think they may have ordered it several nights in a row! And, our company was pleasant as usual. We were also visited by a magician. He did the cool close-up magic that I love. Isaiah loves magic too so this was a treat!
Oh, I remember something! Before we headed off to our nights activities, I had to make a quick trip to the room to fetch my trip binder. I had made a copy of a self-guided walking tour for our Nassau day and the girls wanted a copy. I brought the binder up to guest services and they made copies for me. Jeff also took the time to show off my OCD trip planning tendencies by giving the girls and their aunt a Jeff guided tour of my trip binder! So sue me .I like to be organized!
After dinner, Jonah headed off to a late night pool party. Dan headed off to meet his friend to hit the night club, and Jeff, Isaiah and I went in search of the ships library. The magician from dinner was doing a close-up magic show and we were very excited to check it out! The venue was not the greatest as the room was not really set up so that everyone could see everything that he was doing. But, he was really good and even Isaiah had a hard time figuring out how he did his tricks. As a student of magic, he knows some card tricks himself, so he can figure some of them out. But this guy had a few up his sleeve that even stumped Isaiah! It was a lot of fun a small crowd, so there was lots of interaction with the audience. Im glad we went.
When we got back to the room, we found this little friend!
Overall, our day at sea had been a good one. It was a shame that the weather did not cooperate, but we still managed to have a great day! I was tired! Jeff, Isaiah and I hit the sack, Jonah came back to the cabin shortly after midnight when his pool party ended, and Dan came in very late from the nightclub after dancing it up with the ladies.
I remember my last thought being
..please let me open this curtain to sunshine in the morning
. Nassau here we come!
I've read your entire TR and had to comment! 
NO PLANE FOR US...planes are for the weak! (LOL...as Isaiah would say!) To be honest, in order to do both the cruise and WDW, we needed to cut costs somewhere. Driving vs flying saved us a lot of $$!
Ohmygosh, that's hilarious. I'm wondering if those guys were that brave or that drunk? 
Love it!
