Left on Nov 27th for Miami Florida for a 4 night honeymoon cruise on the Carnival Imagination, a gift from Susan's Dad. On the way we stopped at Susan's Dad's in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Drive down was pretty easy, saw a couple of accidents, but overall traffic was light and we made great time. Past way too many battlefield's and memorials that I wanted to check out but Susan kept reminding me that there was lobster waiting and the lobster won out this trip. While in VB we took a quick look around, saw a cool Neptune statue on the beach and peeked at all the military traffic in the Norfolk area. We made it as far as Savannah GA where we met up with a friend of Susan's who directed us to a great BBQ place. Quick nap at a hotel and we headed back out in the early AM. South Carolina seemed like it would never end, the I95 through there is really boring to drive. Florida seemed like it would never end but it was cool being in shorts and a tee in what's normally heavy jacket time for us. Made it to our hotel at 3pm, checked in and headed to the Miami Dadeland mall for dinner, then back to the hotel to hang out.
Monday morning we headed to the Port of Miami to begin our honeymoon. Worst part of this the parking, which took 40 minutes and cost $80 . We walked over to the cruise terminal, breezed through the security area and check in, and were on the ship eating lunch by 12:30pm. Eat we did, like kings, all week. More on that later.
At 1:30pm we dropped our bags off at our room and met the head steward, Aurelio and one of the other stewards, Nyoman. I can not say enough great things about these guys. Twice a day they checked our room, brought clean towels, cleaned it, and made sure we had ice. Each night we returned to find cool towel critters, the bed turned down and mints waiting. I even found one of my dirty shirts neatly folded on the side. We pulled out of port promptly at 4pm, and other than a sailboat that seemed to want to be rammed, had a smooth exit to sea, the party in full swing. We went on touring the ship, getting a feel for where everything was, until it was time for dinner.
Food on this ship is everywhere. If you go hungry, well, you're an idiot. Seriously. The Lido deck has -3- bars, a double drink area where you can get coffee, tea, water, and in the morning juice, as well as a dinner bar, a rotisserie, and a Mongolian Grill. Just past that was the buffet dining area, where each day had 2 fruit/salad bars, 24 hr ice cream, 24 hr pizza, 2 desert bars, a sandwich bar, and 2 buffet sections. At night there would be burgers, dogs and chicken until 1am. Most nights also saw sushi. We ate lots.
We ate dinner in the formal dining area, where each night our waiters Oliver and Luis made us feel like we'd died and gone to heaven. Those fancy dishes you see on Iron Chef and other such shows? Yeah, we ate those. I had the best crab cakes ever. Strawberry and Mango soups, gazpacho, shrimp cocktail, and more. Did I mention lobster? On Tuesday it was all you can eat lobster. I had it for desert even! (Susan preferred the chocolate melting cake which was simply chocolate lovers heaven.) We ate with 2 awesome couples, one who found they were expecting and another who got engaged during the trip and asked us to shoot the proposal. We spent most of the evenings in the hot tub with the later couple.
The ship sailed full, had over 2,000 people on it, yet we almost never felt crowded. There's so much to do on there, stage shows, musicians, comedians, etc, we often found ourselves alone and felt like it was our private retreat.
On Tuesday we docked in Key West and walked around a bit. We skipped the shore excursions this trip, instead doing the look n walk. We hit the Pirate Museum, which while small has some great exhibits in it. Next door was a rather entertaining place, half porn shop, half costume shop, some of which were quite well done and quite expensive. The Last Samurai armor was $7,000 and looked great! Sadly, it's still there. We had a light lunch at Margaritaville, then headed back to the ship beating the crowd before heading to Cozumel Mexico. On the way, we hit some 70mph winds which caused a little rocking and the upper decks were blocked off for safety. Before they were though, I got to feel the wind and it was wonderful not wondering if a tree was gonna wack ya.
Cozumel was interesting, the water so blue. Once off the boat we saw some street performers, a Mayan dance act and just wandered the plaza's. Everything there seems to be negotiable. Some items had 6 different prices depending on how interested you were. I got a $40 pyramid for $7. The shops tended to blur together by the end, this one selling fake Rolexes, the next fake Cuban's, the next rude tee shirts, repeat until infinity. The plus side was the exchange rate was 12:1 and prices low. I bought a 20 oz Coke (with real sugar btw) for 60c US. We checked out the local museum, took our time walking back to the ship, then hung out on board (ship was mostly empty) until 10pm when we pulled out of port. Next trip we'll try the snorkeling or do a jaunt to the ruins.
Next day was a sea day, and despite having everyone on board, there was so much going on, it never seemed crowded. We caught the late dance show, spent a little more time in the hot tub, then while Susan went back to the room to rest I hit the Mexican buffet, took a final evening wander around the ship and hit the sack.
We pulled into Miami at about 730am, grabbed a final breakfast, took a final walk around the ship, then grabbed out bags and waited for our deck to be called to leave. At 845 we were called, and we walked off the ship, breezed through customs, and at 9am were on the road home. We stopped to see family near Atlanta GA, then made the 16 hr run home, coming in at 530am.
I've left off a ton of things. It was just so much fun, it's the best vacation I've had in over 15 years.
We miss the ship already and plan on many many more cruises. We're hooked.
On a side note, I went on a 9 day internet blackout, left the laptop at home, and avoided the internet stations on board. I also turned off my phone for the duration of the cruise. It was a needed respite as I've been connected 24/7 since 2001. Go cruise, and turn off the web. It's wonderful!
Monday morning we headed to the Port of Miami to begin our honeymoon. Worst part of this the parking, which took 40 minutes and cost $80 . We walked over to the cruise terminal, breezed through the security area and check in, and were on the ship eating lunch by 12:30pm. Eat we did, like kings, all week. More on that later.
At 1:30pm we dropped our bags off at our room and met the head steward, Aurelio and one of the other stewards, Nyoman. I can not say enough great things about these guys. Twice a day they checked our room, brought clean towels, cleaned it, and made sure we had ice. Each night we returned to find cool towel critters, the bed turned down and mints waiting. I even found one of my dirty shirts neatly folded on the side. We pulled out of port promptly at 4pm, and other than a sailboat that seemed to want to be rammed, had a smooth exit to sea, the party in full swing. We went on touring the ship, getting a feel for where everything was, until it was time for dinner.
Food on this ship is everywhere. If you go hungry, well, you're an idiot. Seriously. The Lido deck has -3- bars, a double drink area where you can get coffee, tea, water, and in the morning juice, as well as a dinner bar, a rotisserie, and a Mongolian Grill. Just past that was the buffet dining area, where each day had 2 fruit/salad bars, 24 hr ice cream, 24 hr pizza, 2 desert bars, a sandwich bar, and 2 buffet sections. At night there would be burgers, dogs and chicken until 1am. Most nights also saw sushi. We ate lots.
We ate dinner in the formal dining area, where each night our waiters Oliver and Luis made us feel like we'd died and gone to heaven. Those fancy dishes you see on Iron Chef and other such shows? Yeah, we ate those. I had the best crab cakes ever. Strawberry and Mango soups, gazpacho, shrimp cocktail, and more. Did I mention lobster? On Tuesday it was all you can eat lobster. I had it for desert even! (Susan preferred the chocolate melting cake which was simply chocolate lovers heaven.) We ate with 2 awesome couples, one who found they were expecting and another who got engaged during the trip and asked us to shoot the proposal. We spent most of the evenings in the hot tub with the later couple.
The ship sailed full, had over 2,000 people on it, yet we almost never felt crowded. There's so much to do on there, stage shows, musicians, comedians, etc, we often found ourselves alone and felt like it was our private retreat.
On Tuesday we docked in Key West and walked around a bit. We skipped the shore excursions this trip, instead doing the look n walk. We hit the Pirate Museum, which while small has some great exhibits in it. Next door was a rather entertaining place, half porn shop, half costume shop, some of which were quite well done and quite expensive. The Last Samurai armor was $7,000 and looked great! Sadly, it's still there. We had a light lunch at Margaritaville, then headed back to the ship beating the crowd before heading to Cozumel Mexico. On the way, we hit some 70mph winds which caused a little rocking and the upper decks were blocked off for safety. Before they were though, I got to feel the wind and it was wonderful not wondering if a tree was gonna wack ya.
Cozumel was interesting, the water so blue. Once off the boat we saw some street performers, a Mayan dance act and just wandered the plaza's. Everything there seems to be negotiable. Some items had 6 different prices depending on how interested you were. I got a $40 pyramid for $7. The shops tended to blur together by the end, this one selling fake Rolexes, the next fake Cuban's, the next rude tee shirts, repeat until infinity. The plus side was the exchange rate was 12:1 and prices low. I bought a 20 oz Coke (with real sugar btw) for 60c US. We checked out the local museum, took our time walking back to the ship, then hung out on board (ship was mostly empty) until 10pm when we pulled out of port. Next trip we'll try the snorkeling or do a jaunt to the ruins.
Next day was a sea day, and despite having everyone on board, there was so much going on, it never seemed crowded. We caught the late dance show, spent a little more time in the hot tub, then while Susan went back to the room to rest I hit the Mexican buffet, took a final evening wander around the ship and hit the sack.
We pulled into Miami at about 730am, grabbed a final breakfast, took a final walk around the ship, then grabbed out bags and waited for our deck to be called to leave. At 845 we were called, and we walked off the ship, breezed through customs, and at 9am were on the road home. We stopped to see family near Atlanta GA, then made the 16 hr run home, coming in at 530am.
I've left off a ton of things. It was just so much fun, it's the best vacation I've had in over 15 years.
We miss the ship already and plan on many many more cruises. We're hooked.
On a side note, I went on a 9 day internet blackout, left the laptop at home, and avoided the internet stations on board. I also turned off my phone for the duration of the cruise. It was a needed respite as I've been connected 24/7 since 2001. Go cruise, and turn off the web. It's wonderful!
