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Empire State of Mind

Eric and I made a return visit to NYC this summer (end of June/beginning of July) and had a wonderful visit.

We did a double decker bus tour of the city, as well as of Brooklyn. After a few days in the city we headed out to Long Island to spend some time with friends of ours that we met on our cruise in October (2010).

Since I forgot to make notes and/or blog about our trip at the time, I'll provide you with a few of my favorite pictures... ;)

From Empire State of Mind

The VERY first Barnes & Nobles:


Riding on the Staten Island Ferry. Manhattan behind us.




The Montauk Point Lighthouse on Long Island.

Random thoughts on various "hot topics"

Fresh off of the Fantasy and still feeling the rock of the ship. Lol. Below are a few thoughts. I did a blog while on board and will be posting that to my personal blog (link in signature) later today or some time tomorrow. For now....here are my thoughts:

Embarkation – The process once in the cruise terminal is very smooth and easy. However, the process to get to the terminal is very confusing. You are dropped with your luggage at what reminds me of a car rental return. After you have turned over your luggage, you are sent to a queue to board a shuttle for a 2 minute ride to the terminal. After all was said and done, we were on the ship enjoying our first dod in about 20 mins after setting foot in the terminal.


Sail Away – We were very disappointed that there was no horn blast as we were pulling away from the pier. According to the debarkation presentation, Risa had noted that when the announcements start for the debarkation process that they would only be made internally due to city noise restrictions. This could also be the reason why there was no horn blast when leaving port.


On-board Entertainment – OMG! Butt cheeks. Beware butt cheek haters. Lol. We had 2 production shows on this cruise. The first one was Nightclub Express and was overall pretty decent. The second show was Ticket to Ride which is a tribute to the Beatles. The last 20 mins or so was about the only part of the show that I enjoyed. Granted if you are a big Beatles fan then you might appreciate the entire show. The musical entertainment (Lido deck, piano bar, atrium, etc) were all excellent. I never found myself needing to leave any of the area’s where there were performers (unlike the performers on the Dream in October). Overall I would give the entertainment an A.

General observations: As a non-smoker, I found there to be way too many public smoking areas. I would have enjoyed the piano bar and Cat’s lounge more if it weren’t for the small space and the amount of smoke in them. There was a strong sewage smell throughout the ship. I may have been more sensitive to it as I do have a sensitive sense of smell, however it was very overpowering near the forward elevators on Empress, Atlantic and Promenade. While the ship has been refurbished, you can still tell that the ship is old. There are a number of areas in which more work could be done (theater, ceilings, various furniture pieces).

Ports of Call: I think Carnival should investigate some new ports of calls for the Bahamas’s cruise. Freeport is a very disappointing port of call and we really do wish that we would have just stayed on the ship. Nassau is one of those ports of calls (in my opinion) where if you have been there once, you are good to go. We spent maybe a couple of hours in port (if that) and even then we just grabbed lunch and some rum cake from Tortoga. All in all, if you are looking for pure relaxation and never getting off the ship, this would be the itinerary for you.

Medical Center: While majority of the cruising population will never have to visit the medical center, I unfortunately did after falling on Lido due to a slippery deck. The staff is very professional and thorough in assessing and treating you. While I never wish anyone to have to visit medical, if you do end up there, you will be in good hands if you do.

Chef's Table - Amazing as always. The Fantasy holds theirs in the library. While the menu is the same fleet wide, there were a couple of dishes that we had not previously had on the Dream. The Chef did say that the menu should be changing within the next 2 - 3 months. One thing we did learn during Chef's Table is that you can special request dishes that may not be served during a 3 - 6 day cruise. As long as the ingredients are on board, the chef will have the dish prepared for you. This made the hubby very happy when he inquired about bitter and blanc.

Overall, the Fantasy is a good ship and itinerary for a first time cruiser who is not sure whether they will like cruising or not. Given the chance I would cruise it again since it is relatively close to home.

***

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

It's all over in the blink of an eye....

*** Sea Day – January 21, 2011 ***

We had breakfast this morning in the MDR again. We both had our usual and shared a table with a young couple from North Carolina who were on their first cruise. We shared some tips with them that we truly appreciated as first time cruisers and enjoyed the conversation with them. After breakfast we went to check out the debarkation presentation and then ventured up to Cat’s Lounge to play some gin rummy. I decided since it was the last sea day that I deserved a tasty beverage so I went to the bar to secure one. They did not have the drink I wanted so I hopped on up to Lido to grab it. Boy the weather sure had changed from when we left Nassau. It was probably a good 20 degrees cooler and the wind had picked up. We also had gone through some rain at some point so the Lido deck was very slippery. I made note of this and moved very cautiously along the deck. On my way back I wasn’t so lucky as the next thing I know I am crashing fast onto the deck. I landed directly on my right kneecap and did a full on belly flop the rest of the way down. A couple of guests rushed over to see if I was okay and to help me up. I wanted to cry that’s how bad it hurt. I hobbled down to where Eric was and told him I wanted to go to the room. He made the decision that we needed to go to medical since we had cruise/trip insurance so down we went. They x-rayed my knee and thankfully it was NOT broken, however I will probably have a lot of soreness for the next couple of weeks. We were “released” from medical and headed back to the cabin.


Eric went up to get us some lunch so I could take the med’s they gave me and then I was out like a light. Not the best way to end a trip, but luckily we were not assessed a fee for having to go to medical.

We eventually made our way to the MDR for dinner and I tried escargot for the first time.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

It was actually not that bad considering it was coated in butter. Mmmm….butter makes everything better. Lol.

We topped the night off in Cleopatra’s Piano Bar with a couple from our roll call group, Jodee and Brian. After awhile we headed to 21st Century Bar as it was a little hard to talk and hear each other in the piano bar.

Cleopatra's Piano Bar.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

All in all it was a good cruise. Exactly what we wanted. No expectations and just a lot of rest and relaxation.

Conch, pirates and hair braiding...oh my!

*** Nassau, Bahamas – January 20, 2011 ***

We woke up this morning and were already docked in Nassau. We were the only ones in port when we first woke up. We headed to the MDR for breakfast and then hung out up on the “secret deck” for a while. Somewhere between waking up and breakfast the Celebrity Mercury docked a few slips over from us. While we were up on the verandah deck aka the secret deck, the Carnival Pride (which sails out of Baltimore) arrived in port and we watched them maneuver into the slip next to us.

Carnival Pride arriving into Nassau.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Like us they backed into their slip so all they would have to do then is just pull out and be on their way. As it started to get toasty out we headed back in and meandered around for a bit. Eric decided to head back out to watch the crew muster drill and I just relaxed. We eventually headed up to the 21st Century Bar for some trivia. Believe it or not, we rocked it on the 60’s trivia and won a ship on a stick. Whhooohhooo. Granted, we were pretty much the only ones playing, but we actually didn’t do too bad. We stuck around for 70’s trivia, which we tanked at and then decided it was time to hit Nassau. We went to Conch Fritters for lunch and boy was it good.

Cracked conch and fries. Yum!

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

We then headed across the street to the Hilton British Colonial and I “snuck” onto the beach to feel the sand beneath my feet and to dip my toes into the water.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

After a stop by the Tortoga Rum store we headed back to the ship. One thing that I didn’t notice when we were here in October is that they have a free shuttle to run you back to the ship. We took advantage of this as we were on the last pier. Once we were back on the ship we went to our cabin to drop off our one purchase and pick up a bottle of wine, bananagrams and our chocolate covered strawberries.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

We hung out up in the 21st Century bar which kind of reminds me of Ocean’s Plaza on the dream. We played a game of bananagrams and some gin rummy and then it was time for some more trivia. After a while we headed up to the verandah deck as we wanted to watch for “runners” trying to make it back in the nick of time and watch the Celebrity Mercury pull out of port. It’s always amazing to watch these enormous vessels maneuver as if they were a small sedan. It is just incredible.

We dined in the MDR for dinner tonight and in all honesty, this was probably the worst dining experience we have ever had. Service was just incredibly slow, our special and requested dessert (compliments of the Chef de Cuisine) came out cold and missing the vanilla sauce. We asked to speak to the Maitre D’ and they did make it right by making us fresh desserts. When the assistant Maitre D’ brought us the desserts she asked us if we wanted the recipe so that we could make it at home. Eric’s face lit up like Christmas morning. We told her that we would love a copy and she said that she would have it for us tomorrow night. At least one part of the meal ended nicely.


There wasn’t much going on tonight as far as entertainment goes we just walked around a bit and then decided to go check out Karaoke Awesome. While there were a few really good acts that we saw, majority of it was like a really bad car accident that you know you shouldn’t stop and look at but you do anyways. It was just…wow. Lol.


All in all it was a good day. No expectations and exactly how we wanted it. Tomorrow is a day at sea as we make our journey home to Charleston.

Some shots from the day.

Pride and Fantasy docked in Nassau.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

View of the ships docked in port from the British Colonial beach.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Atlantis at sunset.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Celebrity Mercury leaving port.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Cause I'm Freeeeeeeee....Freeport baby!

*** Freeport, Bahamas – January 19, 2011 ***

We docked into Freeport between 7am and 8am this morning. We never heard the announcement indicating that we could debark the ship, but luckily we were docked on our side of the ship and we could see that people were heading into port.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

We had no plans for the day and if we could have the do-over card, we probably would have just stayed on the ship and enjoyed the quiet day. However, we took a cab to Port Lucaya and was extremely disappointed in the area and in our choice for brunch. Things are definitely more expensive in Freeport than they are in Nassau. We were back on the ship around 11am and headed back to the cabin to freshen up and grab our Fun Times to see what was happening on board. We went and played a couple of games of trivia and then grabbed some much needed food. After lunch we headed down to the cabin to relax and ended up taking a well deserved nap.


We did not dine in the MDR tonight as we had reservations for Chef’s Table. We first experienced Chef’s Table on the Carnival Dream and while majority of the menu is the same, there were a couple of dishes that were different.

Eric, Chef Rakesh and I.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

After the Chef’s Table we headed to the casino to people watch and Eric tried his hand again at Caribbean Stud Poker and Blackjack. After our donation to the “electric bill” we went up to the “secret deck” and just enjoyed the peace and tranquility of being in the middle of the ocean. When we arrived back to our room we were surprised to find a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. We have no idea who they are from or where they came from, but they look delicious. Hopefully they’ll be fine come morning as I can’t eat another bite of anything after the Chef’s Table experience.

Tonight's towel animal and our surprise strawberries.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Tomorrow we dock in Nassau and I am looking forward to some GOOD cracked conch.

Sailing the high seas....

*** Sea Day – January 18, 2011 ***

We slept in this morning and then headed up to the Celebration Dining Room for breakfast. Eric had the Carnival’s version of the Western Ommelet and I had the eggs benedict. We then headed out to the Fun Aboard, Fun Ashore show. Our Cruise Director is still MIA. We hear her, however she seems to send her Assistant out to do everything, which is totally fine with me as he is excellent at what he does. Afterward, we went to explore the ship some more. We attempted to play some mini golf, however it was way too windy. Technically I won since I got a hole in one on the first hole. Lol.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

We decided to find some seating on the Lido deck and ended up doing some people watching. Always a hoot. The weather is definitely warmer today, but still very windy. There aren’t too many on board activities that interest us today so we are just meandering around and finding our own fun. Tonight is the Captain’s Celebration as well as cruise elegant night.

The menu tonight featured my favorite Strawberry bisque. I could literally have them put this in a super big gulp and be content. Lol. This is also the one night that I usually double up on entrée's as they feature their shrimp and lobster combo. I ordered this along with a very tasty fish dish (unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the fish…) however it was a white fish and very good. Eric doubled up on the shrimp and lobster and was very happy. Prior to dinner we went to the Nightclub Express show. There were some good moments during the show, but for the most part it was very cheesy. I know, I know….it is what it is, but sometimes you just want that WOW factor. After dinner we went to the Game of Love show. This is a crowd favorite and always very funny. After the show we wandered around the ship, went up to the sundeck to enjoy the now warmer weather and to just catch a breath of fresh air. We decided to then head down to the disco to people watch, but there wasn’t much action going on there. We found ourselves at the casino and had a good time just watching people make their donations to the “electric bill” and playing a few hands ourselves (well, really just Eric…I play a good cheerleader). ;) After a quick stop for our midnight cheeseburger, we are calling it a night and looking forward to docking in Freeport in the morning.


Some highlights from around the ship.

Watching the wake from Serenity Deck.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Ldio deck at night.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Chess anyone?!?

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Sailing away on our Fantasy...

*** Monday, January 17, 2011 Embarkation – Charleston, South Carolina ***

We woke up to overcast skies this morning but we were not going to let that damper our moods. We had shuttle service booked for 11am and it could not come fast enough. Finally the shuttle arrived and we made the journey to the port. Our shuttle driver seemed more than confused as to where he was supposed to go, but eventually got us to the right place. The embarkation process in Charleston is so much different than the experience we had at Port Canaveral. Our passports were checked before we were even allowed into the passenger drop off area. You are then dropped off in what looks like a rental car return area and you leave your bags. You then proceed to another queue to board a bus for a roughly 2 minute ride to the terminal. You then go through security screening, fill out your health form and then stand in another line for the actual check in process. The process alone once we were inside the terminal took about 10 mins. After our embarkation photo and then our picture for our sail and sign cards we were on the ship. The whole process probably took no more than 20 mins.

Our first view of the ship.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Our first order of business was to secure reservations for the Chef’s Table. We had originally requested this through John Heald’s (Senior Cruise Director) blog, however we never received confirmation of the reservation. We were told that there would be a table to sign up at so we waited what seemed like forever, but was only 15 mins. During this time we also had our first Carnival Funship Special. This is the most popular drink on embarkation day.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

With Chef’s Table confirmation in hand, we headed up a couple of decks to meet a couple from our roll call and then on to Lido deck to secure some lunch. It was a mad house. We found some food and then the hunt for a table was on. We finally found a table and enjoyed our lunch in the chilly weather.


Our view of historic Charleston during lunch.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

After we ate, we headed down to check on our cabin and was happy to see that it was ready for us. We dropped off our carry-on’s and then headed out to explore the ship. While the Fantasy is a much smaller class then the Dream we actually found ourselves getting more turned around then we ever did on the Dream. Luckily we had the portable deck plan to carry with us.

During our exploring we decided to take a break and participate in the Sound Clips Trivia in the 21st Century Bar. We had some pretty strong competition but sadly did not come away with the Ship on a stick. We continued on with our exploring and then headed up to the Lido deck to wait for our muster drill. Sail away was very cold and dreary, but we found ourselves cheering as we saw the pier moving further and further away.

Waiting for sail away to start.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

After the sail away we headed down to our cabin to freshen up for dinner and made our way to the Celebration dining room for our first dinner of the cruise. Eric started with the shrimp cocktail and I had the Cream of Sun Ripened Tomato soup (fancy name for tomato soup). It was very delicious. For our entrees Eric had the Flat Iron Steak and I had the Linguini with sausage, peppers and tomatoes. It was not as good as I remembered it being on the Dream, but still delicious. Dessert is always my favorite as I get to have the amazing Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Love that stuff.

After dinner we went to the Casino as they were offering lessons on some of the games. Unfortunately they weren’t offering a lesson on the game Eric was interested in so we ventured on. We explored some more of the ship and then headed to the Universe Lounge (theater) to wait for the Welcome Aboard Show. We did participate in Name That Face while waiting and watched the Game Show Mania show. After much waiting, the Welcome Aboard Show finally began.

It left much to be desired in my opinion. It was presented by the Assistant Cruise Director and we have heard, but have not seen the Cruise Director for this sailing. Best Part of the Welcome Aboard show was an audience participation segment that Eric was a part of. What a hoot.

A quick stop at the midnight buffet and we are all tuckered out. We have a full day at sea tomorrow and here’s hoping that we have some calmer seas.

Some shots from our exploration of the ship.

Cat's Lounge.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Cleopatra's Piano Bar

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

(more to come...)

Southern Charm...Northern weather

*** Sunday, January 16, 2011 ***


We arrived in Charleston, SC on Saturday and got settled into our hotel and then headed to King Street to meet a friend of Eric’s for dinner. We met up at Basil Thai and had some amazing Thai food. Since we’ve moved to Blacksburg we don’t have a lot of the ethnic type restaurants that we’ve come to love. So when we travel now, we try and scope out some of our favorite foods we’ve come to love.

We strolled along King Street for a bit and ended up at Cupcake as I had recently learned about them in my search for places to eat and things to do in Charleston.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

I found that they had a “fan” page on Facebook and joined their page. They recently started a birthday club and knowing that I wasn’t going to be here for my birthday I thought I’d inquire as to whether I could get my birthday cupcake early or not. They were so awesome in allowing me to do so, so we popped in and I got a black & white. Not as big as the ones I’ve grown accustom to at Bubblecake or Crumbs, but very moist and the perfect dessert.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

This morning we woke up and met up with Kim for breakfast in Mt. Pleasant which is just over the river from Charleston. We went to Page’s Okra Grill.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

I got a low country favorite of Shrimp and Grits with an Andouille Sausage gravy. It was INCREDIBLE!!!! Eric got the seafood omelets, which was made of crab, shrimp and grouper with onions, tomatoes and pepperjack cheese. Everything was so delicious and well prepared.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

Charleston currently has their restaurant week going on and we’ll be going to Old Village Post House for dinner. The Old Village Post House is a beautiful old home which has been converted into a restaurant. There are several small dining rooms and we dined right outside of the open kitchen. For restaurant week they have 3 courses for $30.00. You choose an appetizer, entrée and dessert. I had the smoked fish dip for an appetizer and it was wonderful. They smoke the fish in-house and it was just right. For my entrée I had the salmon with a mustard glaze and garlic mash and chocolate cake for dessert. The dessert was just….okay. Eric and our friend both had the steak for dinner. We headed down to Shem’s Creek to take some pictures and hung out for a bit and then decided we needed more dessert. We ended up at Crave which is a very cool little place in Mt. Pleasant. I had the tempura French toast bites and Eric had blueberry cobbler.

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

From Carnival Fantasy/Charleston, SC

All in all it was a good day and a nice little introduction to Charleston.

Tomorrow we sail…

We shall sail again....

Who would have thought that we could become cruise junkies?!? lol.

We are setting sail for the Bahamas out of Charleston, SC on the Carnival Fantasy in 4 long and cold days.

We will see you soon Fantasy. Can't wait to step aboard.

From Are we there yet?!?!

Help us...help you...

to cruise with us again.

** October 15, 2010 - Sea Day **

Our final day at sea and our final day on board the beautiful Carnival Dream. We didn't do a lot today (again, I sadly cannot remember much of our sea days).

I remember not feeling well today, partly due to a late night on Thursday, sadness from our dream coming to an end and slightly rougher seas.

We dined as usual in the main dining room with our friends. It was an amazing night and the perfect way to end an awesome week.

We had such an amazing waitstaff. Here is Eric and I with 2 of our servers. Nazan, our head server who is from Turkey. Miroslav, who was the 2nd server who is from Croatia.

From Carnival Dream 2010

Here is our 3rd server, Sudarma and I. Sudarma is from Singapore.

From Carnival Dream 2010

After dinner we went back to our room to change, pack and get our luggage set out for the morning. After we were all packed we headed down to meet up with Janie and David for drinks at our favorite place, Ocean's Plaza and the Lanai.

From Carnival Dream 2010

From Carnival Dream 2010

After awhile we said good night as it was getting late and tomorrow would come sooner than we wanted.

Morning arrived and I was able to catch this picture of the Norwegian Cruise Line's ship the Sun.

From Carnival Dream 2010

We disembarked from the ship somewhere around 8am. Grabbed a shuttle to pick up our rental car and then returned to where we started our trip for breakfast. We had such a great breakfast that first day of our cruise at Simply Delicious that we decided to return. We mentioned to our server that we would see her next year and told her that we had just returned from a cruise. She gave us a little goodie bag for our travels home. So sweet of her.

We were so not ready to leave Port Canaveral or our Dream behind. We circled into port for a final glimpse at her before heading to Orlando.

From Carnival Dream 2010

There is nothing like cruising. Nothing at all. From being able to see God's beautiful work first thing in the morning. To the beautiful Atlantis resort in Nassau at Sunrise, the amazing clear blue waters of St. Thomas to the breathtaking views of St. Martin. To be able to pay one price and visit anywhere from 2 - 6 or more ports of calls (countries) in as little as 5 - 7 days. I feel blessed to have been able to experience this and look forward to many cruises in the future.

To close out this series, here are a few of my favorite memories.

From Carnival Dream 2010

From Carnival Dream 2010

From Carnival Dream 2010

From Carnival Dream 2010

From Carnival Dream 2010

From Carnival Dream 2010

Live, laugh, love. Make the most of it.

xoxo