Revived and Refreshed

WE ARE BACK!!!

With that comes A LOT of blogging and even more pictures. (I have been working on this for about 5 days now) Most of this is journaling for my own purposes, but to also share our experience with those of you who are interested in knowing the details. (but again, mostly for my own purposes) That being said, if you don't want to know details or sit through and read it all feel free to just scroll through the pictures...no offense taken! :)

Because I took hundreds of pictures between my two cameras, I will narrow them down to my favorites (or ones that apply) on the blog. I have posted MANY more on Facebook so for those of you who are my friends on Facebook, which should be most of you, you can view many more of them there. (If you are not my friend, and I know you, you can simply look me up, "Kimberly Burr Fullmer" and request friend status)

Okay, So here we go...

This is our third cruise, second with Carnival and second to the Western Caribbean. We flew out on Saturday, May 7th and arrived in Miami just after 9pm. We got a free shuttle to our hotel which was only 5 minutes away..."GREAT DEAL we thought". Well, this hotel was pretty much a dive. We were pretty sure there was a camera in the hole in the ceiling, afraid to sleep in the sheets on the bed and certain we would find a dead body in the closet if we opened it! SCARY...good thing we only had to stay there for a few hours. *Tip for those who are traveling to Miami...stay away from the Days Inn Miami North!!!

Uh, are these bullet holes in the wall??? :s

The following morning we took the shuttle to the port of Miami. From there the whole process was pretty slick and we were on our ship, The Carnival Liberty, within about 30 min. We checked things out on the ship for a little bit b/c we were told we would not be able to get into our cabin until after 1:00 . We decided to try it out after about 30 min and got right in.

The room seemed bigger than our last one and the balcony was AWESOME! (singing it)
Later in the week we had a comedian come on & at his show he asked the audience, "Who here has a balcony", (hoots and hollers from the audience...) "Who has a room with a view?" (hoots and hollers...) "Who has an inside cabin?" (more hoots and hollers). "Who here doesn't really care because you say it doesn't really matter b/c you're never in your room anyway?" (Lots of hoots and hollers...) Then he said, "That's because you've never had a balcony!"
There has never been a truer statement!!! This was our first time with the balcony. In the past we have always had an inside cabin and we had that same thought process that it didn't really matter b/c we were never in there...whatever! It was really, really nice having the balcony and I don't think I could ever go back to an inside cabin or room with a view, if I didn't have to. We would sit out there at night and look at the stars and prop the door open at night and fall asleep to the nice breeze and the sound of the ocean. It was also nice to be out there and watch us sail into and away from the ports. LOVED IT!!! (more singing)

I also had a dozen beautiful long stemmed pink roses waiting for me from my sweet hubby wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.

BON VOYAGE!!!

My Mother's Day gift :)
(like the cruise wasn't enough?)

The special dessert the Chef made for the women only on Mother's Day.

THE SHIP:

Looking up to the top of the atrium and elevators from the main lobby.

I had lots of fun playing with my Nikon on the ship and it's beautiful decor...


Club O2: Fun dance club

These chandeliers would change colors.



The ceiling of the ship's sports bar called "Gloves"...


FOOD:
After that we went up to the cafe and had our first meal...Fish and chips and watermelon with seared Ahi Tuna on top. I know it sounds kind of gross but the blend of flavors was quite good. Speaking of food, I guess now would be the time to give my opinion on the food this time around. The fish and chips were wonderful, the Sushi was great and the food in the dining room over all was delicious. The creme brule and the chocolate melting cake were the best of the desserts in the dining room. However, the dessert bar in the buffet area was very disappointing. I would rate it almost "Chuck A Ramma-ish" maybe slightly better. The rest of the food in the buffet areas, that we tried, was...eh, so-so. The ice cream was delicious...especially on those hot days at sea. Oh, but then you have Harry's...the steakhouse on board. DELISH!!! I will get into that more later. In the dining room we were seated next a great couple from Connecticut, Bob and Christine Campbell. We had a great time with them every night.

We sailed off around 5:00 pm and headed out to the Caribbean sea.

Sunday was spent at sea the whole day. We laid out on the balcony and tired out the pool and slide for the most part. It was also the first formal night of the cruise. It is always so much fun to dress up in your very best.

COZUMEL, MEXICO:

Monday, was our first port. Cozumel, Mexico. We had all day and night here. We decided to try a little tiny island resort out called "Passion Island." It was a beautiful little private island just off of Cozumel and it included an all you can eat buffet and drinks, kayaks and paddle boats. This is where Chet jumped into the ocean, swam around for about 5 minutes and then realized that his Blackberry was in his pocket...OOPS!!! Good thing I had my phone or else we would have had no other way to tell the time. We did lots of shopping trying to find gifts for the kids and of course, you can't go to Mexico without bringing home some real, pure vanilla.
We were laughing at this sign at "Carlos & Charlie's".... um, doesn't that pretty much mean everyone?






Oh my goodness...I was having BIG issues getting into this hammock!!! Pretty tricky thing to do...I was just waiting for one of those moments that you see on TV and in the cartoons where you start flipping over in it and wind up in a huge tangled mess!!! haha





For old time's sake... Below is Royal Caribbean's "Grandeur of the Seas" ship. She was the ship we were on for our very FIRST cruise. It was in port at Cozumel the same day as us so I had to take a picture....It was good to see her again. Great times on that ship!

Our ship this time around...the Carnival Liberty. She is much bigger than the "Grandeur of the Seas". Our balcony was on very top deck towards the front of the ship. It was on the same level as the pool and Emily's Cafe which made it very nice and convenient.


Tuesday, was another day at sea. We started out on the deck to get some sun but we didn't stay out very long. It was SO hot and we were both so tired. We decided to each lunch in the dining room. Chet only ordered dessert and I ordered a salad and it took FOREVER. Chet literally fell asleep at the table so after his dessert he went up for a nap and I joined him as soon as I was done. When we woke up we attended the Newly Wed game which is always SO funny. For dinner we went to Harry's steakhouse. Let me tell you...it was worth every penny. What an experience. You felt like royalty...the food was not only delicious but it was so pretty. The servers were great and constantly replacing your utensils as you used them. It is definitely something I would recommend to anybody cruising....EAT AT THE STEAKHOUSE!

Captain Stubing?

The food at Harry's

Escargot...YUM!

Crabcake

10 oz lobster tail

The chocolate sampler...it came on a long dish and I couldn't fit the whole thing in my lens so I took shots of the different ends.

SUNSETS:

Chet on our balcony trying to salvage his Blackberry to no avail.

Towel animals:

Our waitors

Formal nights

GRAND CAYMAN:

Wednesday, we docked in Grand Cayman in the morning. We have been looking so forward to this port because we were excited to do Stingray City again...this time getting there by our own jet skis. But alas, it was not to be. The entire sandbar of Stingray City had been canceled by all companies b/c of high winds. :( :( :( So, instead we walked back to the port and paid for a local tour of the island and stopped at Seven Mile Beach. We stopped and saw the Governor's house (yippee) then we went to "Hell". A little township named Hell with really cool rock formations. Now I can honestly say that I have been to Hell and back...haha. We also stopped at the rum factory where you could sample different flavors of rum and rum cake. The cake was delicious. Then they took us to a stop where we could watch people swim with the dolphins for free or pay $10 a person to go across the street to the Turtle farm for 25 min. We chose the dolphins for FREE!!! It was pretty neat, I guess to see people swim with them and watch the tricks...not sure I would pay $130 a person to do it though.

SHOELESS JOE:
At 7 mile beach we rented some snorkel gear and walked WAY down the beach to a spot where we were told was a cool reef. It was pretty neat indeed but trying to swim over it got quite dangerous. The depth of the water where the reef was was only about 2ft clearance. So when the tide went out the reef was pretty much exposed. Well, Chet got caught on the top of the reef when the tide went out and he got stuck and pretty scraped up from the tide pushing him back and forth. He also got stung really bad by something...assuming jelly fish...but not sure what. Ioffered to pee on him but he didn't go for that. (I can't imagine why?)

We decided we had had enough of the beach and headed back to return the snorkel equipment. When we got there Chet realized that he was only carrying one sandal. So we walked ALL THE WAY back to our spot looking for his shoe...no luck. We turned around and began to walk back from to where we had started. On the way back we spotted some neighbors in our ward who were there on another cruise ship. What are the chances of that??? That beach was SO crowded too...it really was crazy to run into them there.


I wanted to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean" after being here! haha










Isn't his beautiful??? Not a bad picture for being taken in a moving taxi with a point n shoot camera.




So....back to Chet's shoe... what on earth was he going to do with one shoe? We hopped in a taxi and told the taxi driver about it. She was laughing so hard and dropped us off at the first store that was close to the port. There we found him some flip flops. Now...keep in mind that Chet HATES flip flops with the passion and will not wear them...but, here he hand no choice. I had to take a picture if this shocking and rare event! The funniest part, when I mentioned we needed to find a garbage can to throw his one shoe away he was shocked. He did NOT want to throw his shoe away. I asked him what on earth he would do with one shoe..."It's still a good shoe!" he says...but honey, what can you do with only ONE SHOE??? Hop around on it??? He sadly threw it in the garbage can. We did more shopping for the kids at the shops and then headed back to board the ship. As I was stepping off of the tender boat onto the ships platform a gust of wind blew my sunglasses right off me and into the ocean. The cute crewman tried to save them but to no avail. I like to think that my glasses just couldn't bare to leave Chet's one shoe there alone. So forever, a part of each of us will forever be in Grand Cayman.


Chet and his ONE shoe headed into the shop to find something for him to wear.

Take a good look because you will NEVER see this again!

Jerk Chicken wrap and mango smoothie we got from a little local place. It was pretty much a little setup in a garage on a side street but the food was SO good!

That night we participated in the biggest color contest and deck party of the week. It was so much fun! "BLUE, THERE IT IS...BLUE, THERE IT IS!!!"

JAMAICA:

Thursday morning we arrived in Jamaica, YA MON!!! When we came here last time I was quite nervous b/c it can be very dangerous there when dealing with the people but it was my favorite stop. I loved it so much. So, I was kind of excited to go here again. Wondering, if it really was as wonderful as I remembered it and if I would still love it as much the second time around. Now, after being there the second time around I can honestly say that it is BY FAR my most favorite place on earth! It is such a beautiful island. Completely covered with lush green foilage and beautiful bright flowers. The water is SO blue... it is what I imagine paradise looking like. I was constantly cursing the fact that I didn't have my Nikon. I decided not to bring it onto the islands for fear that something would happen to it so I just used a Kodak point n shoot. (grrr) I wanted my camera at every port but here I was going crazy without it. The only two things I uttered the entire time was "I LOVE this place" and "I want my camera." I think Chet was pretty sick of it by the end of the day! We hiked the Dunns River Falls (again) and went to this beautiful lagoon with waterfalls, caves under the falls and a rope swing that you could jump into the lagoon with. We had a guide that showed us what to do and we jumped, while he dove, off of the little cliff into the lagoon. Then our guide took us on a 15 min hike up to a higher waterfall. On the way he stopped and showed us things of their culture and way of life and even made me a crown from a fern he plucked from the side of the trail.

When we got to the waterfall he showed us how to walk down the falls itself and jump into a lagoon from there. I didn't do this part but Chet did. It was just a really cool place. And what made it even better was the fact that we had it to ourselves for about 15 to 20 at each spot before another couple showed up. It was a wonderful experience. Also, I found that being here the second time around I was not nervous at all but completely comfortable. We got haggled by the natives that swarm you like vultures to buy their items, but we knew the do's and don'ts and did just fine. The only thing that actually made me nervous was the driving! WOW!!!

*sigh* I really do love that place. The pictures just don't do it justice.

























Friday, was a day at sea heading back to Miami. We spent almost the entire morning and afternoon on deck getting as much sun as we could, knowing that we were quite possibly going home to rain and cooler weather. We did some packing and spent most of the night in a lounge watching this great Filipino band called "Blood Power".

ENTERTAINMENT:

Speaking of entertainment, the entertainment on the ship for the most part was good. The main shows every evening varied from night to night in quality but for the most part they were good. We missed a couple of them. The piano man in the piano bar could have been a little more personable but he was a good player, singer...not so much. Now, the TOP and very best entertainment of the ship was the above mentioned Filipino band. They were AWESOME to say the least. VERY talented. They could play, they could sing, they were funny, they were personable. In fact we spent the last night watching them instead of going to the Farewell Show. We talked to them on their break for quite a while and even sat with them for a bit. They found out that Chet played the guitar and invited him up to play with them. So, Chet had his moment of playing some GNR "Sweet Child of Mine" with a real band in front of a real audience. (even though it was small) This band is on Youtube so you can look them up if you like, but the videos don't do them justice either. They played everything from The Eagles to ACDC and quite literally ROCKED!!!
"Blood Power" and their guest band members!


We had a wonderful trip! It was so nice to be have that time alone and it was nice to come home and see the kids again too. We are hooked on cruises and ready to plan the next one!!!