GETTING ON SHIP

The alarm was set for 9am and I was wide awake at 8am. Those "first day getting on the ship jitters" had set in I suppose.

I immediately went outside to check out the weather so I could decide what to wear for the day. It was already 76 degrees outside!

I headed back in to wake the family up (hey if I'm awake, they might as well be too!) and we were headed to breakfast around 9:30am. It was a hot meal breakfast with the normal eggs, toast, bacon, fruits, oatmeal, donuts, muffins and so on. They also had "cage free" eggs, which is the first I had ever seen at a hotel before.

We managed to find a spot inside to eat but there are also tables and umbrellas outside, in the front, around the turn around area to sit at as well.

We headed back to our room, once our bellies were full, and grabbed our very worn out rolling pop "luggage" and decided to head out to find a place to buy pop for the cruise. On the way out of the hotel, I kept hearing a lot of birds squawking, but didn't see them. There had to have been a lot because they were very noisy.

At the end of the street, we noticed a Marathon gas station, which was closer than the mall, and headed there only to find out they didn't have cans, so that was a bust. Off to the grocery store we had seen at the mall the previous day I guess. At least Carnival still allows you to bring pop with you on the cruise!

Once we grabbed our pop, we headed back to the hotel with our luggage in tow. Try scaling the wall with 3 twelve packs in a luggage that has lost a wheel at this point and could possibly fall apart at any time...yea that was fun.

I started hearing the birds again. Where are these things??? 

Then I caught a glimpse of them flying by and they landed on the electric wires above.

Can you tell what it is?

IT WAS GREEN PARROTS!!! Oh my gosh. They were beautiful and so many of them!!!

I guess I didn't realize they just roamed free like that here. It was amazing to watch them. Sakari was so thrilled!!! She immediately went into "I wanna catch and hold one" mode and started "talking" to them, like they were going to listen and just immediately come to her.

After awhile, I had to convince Sakari they were wild and not coming down to visit her and it was time to head back to the room and gather our stuff to head to the cruise.

We packed and headed out to the front desk to settle our bill and use up our gift certificates. We checked out at 11am and went outside to summon a Lyft driver to pick us up. The hotel offered a shuttle service to the terminal for ....get this...$20 PER PERSON!! Um, no thanks. Our Lyft ride cost us $6.12 for ALL 3 of us!

As we waited outside, Sakari found a lizard on the tree...this is her picture:

And before long, she had caught her very first lizard! She was so thrilled and amazed at holding it.

Of course her "saying" is "Awww, he's so cuuuute!!!" and she kept saying it over and over. (She says this about every animal...it could be a spider and she'd say it)

Her love for animals amazes me. It wasn't too long before she either had this thing trained, hypnotized or it just knew she wasn't out to hurt it. It started just walking on her and letting her hold it with her hand out straight and it didn't even run.

Our Lyft driver arrived within 10 minutes and we were off to the port. It's a very short drive there and we checked our luggage in and caught our first glimpse of the Conquest.

I'm going to be honest, I really didn't know much about the Conquest nor did I really do much research to see what they had on it. I really didn't care. As I said before, I booked this cruise for the new ports and not the ship. So, it really didn't matter to me. I just knew it was going where I wanted to go, it was a new ship for us, and it was an 8 day cruise!

We immediately checked in as we went in the door and it was rather odd to me. They had the check-in area as soon as you walked in the door and they were lined up along this wall. But, they checked our boarding passes and passports and that was it. Ok, so obviously this isn't the check-IN area. It was only a 10 minute wait. I think they might have been doing some remodeling or something (not sure because this is the first time at this port) but everything just seemed odd the way they had it sat up there.

Then we headed to the security check in line. After that, into the real check-in area. We waited in line...and waited, and waited. The line stopped moving. People started sitting down on the floor in line. I noticed that there were about 6 attendants at the desk and they weren't helping anyone. They were just standing there or walking back and forth. Is it break time or what? I really had no clue what was going on and it was quite puzzling. I don't ever recall seeing this happen before. Some of the attendants took a few people from over in the "express-platinum-fun pass" line, but we still sat. Well, I plopped down on the floor too. We had been standing for quite some time. About 12:20pm they started taking people again. When I ask the people a few lines over what was going on, they had said that they stopped checking in people because the waiting room to get on the ship was too crowded and they were waiting for them to get on the ship and clear out some. Oh ok, that made sense I guess but it would have been nice for them to inform us of this.

We finally made it up to the counter to check in AND apply my abundance amount of gift cards to my account. This will be the first time that I actually had a person that knew how to do this without asking for help from someone else. HOWEVER, I'm thinking she didn't realize that she could just slide the cards in the card reader for it to appear on her screen. Instead, she was just manually inputting all of them. I mentioned it to her, in a nice helpful way saying that in the past they were able to just slide the cards, and she told me "that doesn't work here". However, about 5-6 cards into manually putting them in, guess what she did....YES, she started sliding them and it worked! BOOM! I win! See how easy that was?

Another thing that was different this time is that they didn't take our pictures. Once we were handed our cards, I ask why she didn't take our picture and she said "I scanned your passport picture". Um what? Really? I have never had that done before. Sakari is only 3 or 4 years old in hers. She looks like a baby.

We headed to the restroom, grabbed some pop out of the vending machine to get our party started with on the ship (lol) and at 12:52pm we were heading on the ship. (So much for an 11:00-11:30 check in time).

At some point, they took our pictures prior to getting on:

This time around, they told us to make funny faces. I laughed because I have been contemplating doing just this when our huge group sails.

Funny what you come up with on the spur of the moment. I wish I would have known about this and they did this on all ships and I could have planned something spectacular! hehe

As soon as we made it on the ship (almost 1pm) we decided to see if we could find our room and drop our things off.

We decided to book an interior room this time around, based on pricing for spring break and buying a house and everything else going on with our lives, and it was on deck 1. I have found that I really enjoy these rooms a lot (the lower decks, not necessarily the interiors). I really like being able to just walk down a flight of steps and off the ship in ports as well as getting back on the ship and walking up a flight of steps and being at my room! So much nicer than fighting for your spot on a crowded elevator when people are returning from port. Ahhh, the little things.

We were in room 1451, which was located toward the back of the ship. Like I said, I didn't put much thought into the ship and I didn't research the location either (big mistake on my part). This would be a first for me not really even knowing WHERE our room was. Now don't get me wrong, the room was fine but I usually try to book my room based on the kids club and walking distance from there. Well, the kids club happened to be on the front of the ship...oh joy! Oh well, there goes all that walking off the calories already. I'll live.

Here are the FuN~TiMeS for the first day~

And here is our home*sweet*home for the next week.

Would ya get a load of that pink trim!! Yikes! 

Once again, it was odd that they already had the bed pulled down. Did they talk to the employees at the Hyatt? Usually the beds are up and the room steward asks if we'd like it down only at night or left down. I prefer for the bed to be put up during the day to make more space and to be able to walk on the side of the bed easier. However, they already had this one down...where it would remain down the entire cruise! Eh. Everyone knows I'm not a complainer and I usually don't speak up too much about little quirks that I don't like. I did throw several hints out during the week that I would like it up...for instance pushing it up myself a few times...but I guess he didn't get the hint. Oh well. We don't spend a lot of time in the room to begin with anyhow and Sakari always preferred to sit up there instead of down below when we were in the room.

The other odd thing I found was that the room steward did not even put the ladder up at night. We had to do it each time. Not that Sakari can't just climb up and jump back down but she requested for it to be attached at night in case she had to get up and go to the restroom in the middle of the night. She knew we probably wouldn't appreciate it if she did a dismount onto our bed from hers.

This was a 4 person room with another drop down bed from the ceiling on the other side.

I felt that the room was a pretty decent size to be an interior. There was PLENTY of storage space for 3 people. I had all kinds of drawers, shelves and hanging areas. Lots of options!

Also, see the little table in the picture below beside the ladder? That was a cool little table that you could pull over to the bed and have a snack/meal or in Sakari's case-draw. It also went up and down to whatever size you needed it to be. Great idea! The end table beside it (in the picture) is where the refrigerator was located! Now some say these are just "coolers" and don't get things very cold. But this one worked really good! But the time our pop was delivered, we put it in there and by that evening it was cold.

There was a desk in front of our bed, which had the convenient 1 plug for all your electronic needs. (giggle). The safe was also located here behind the doors, under the tv, and you use a card to swipe for opening and closing.

Oh whoops, here's a better picture of the refrigerator and the extra table I was referring to above. There were lots of shelves for all of your clothes. Two other cabinets with a shelf and hangers for clothes. As you can see, someone had brought extra hangers and left them behind, but you can always ask your room steward for more if you need it.

Your typical Carnival bathroom:

Our room steward found us and introduced himself before we left the room. He gave us his card and then presented us with a "time schedule" of his hours. This was a first. He worked from 8-noon and 6-9pm. It made me wonder about all the talk of how the room stewards work so many hours, are over worked, get no time off and so on. After thinking about it, my room steward works approximately 7 hours a day with a 6 hour break in between. Hmmm

He did ask if I required anything during my cruise and I told him the only thing I really needed was an ice bucket and to have it filled daily (they don't seem to even give you ice buckets in the room anymore unless you ask for it...and I seen them stacked on top of each other down the hall in the "closet") and I needed 4 towels total for my room because of my long hair that I always wrap up in one towel. He said he would make sure to have these items for me daily.

The ice-he managed to get right..at least in the mornings, not so much in the evenings. The extra towel...never once did he get it right or bring that extra towel.

He also ask if we preferred morning service or evening service or both. I told him both. It's the little "pampering" things I enjoy on a cruise. My husband makes the bed in the mornings at home (our rule is last out of bed is responsible for making the bed and I usually win that bet), but someone to come in and turn down the bed and the towel animal...then we usually have taken a shower after being in port and have wet towels that need replaced...yea, I need service both times. I'm a needy little sucka aint I? lol

As for the evening service...I really felt like it was lacking, well...at least compared to our other cruise (whether it be from Carnival or NCL). He did come in and replace the wet towels, but that was all I ever noticed. The beds would still be made from the morning, but never "turned down" like some have in the past flipped the corners down. The regular lights were left on (not the fancy side lights that give that "nightlight" type of feeling to signal you that it's time for bed. The towel animals were done at the first service=SUPER WEIRD!! The ice was never filled in the evenings and was usually melted into water at that point. I felt like all he really did was replace the towels in the bathroom and leave the Fun Times for the following day on the bed.

Also on the last day of the cruise, once again he gave me a card. It stated to be out of the room by 9am (although the paper they gave you said 8:30am).

So basically I felt that the room steward was average and didn't really go out of his way or above and beyond. It's fine. I'm not complaining, just telling the story of what we experienced. It doesn't make me feel negative toward Carnival or him in any way. Just stating there was no real "special" service this time around.

Usually the first thing we do is go explore the ship and I take pictures. I usually try to do a lot of my pictures on the first day because people usually get on the ship and head straight to the food or swimming. That gives me the opportunity to head to the various places around the ship and get pictures with no people in them. Of course I would continue to snap pictures throughout the cruise, forgetting which ones I already had pictures of, and listening to my husbands eyeballs roll because he knew I had passed the same spot every day of the cruise and took a picture..."just in case". LOL But he knows how I am with pictures and he's learned to live with it (or tolerate it). :')

So you will find the ship tour on the next page after I finish today.

On with the rest of our day. 

After going to the room, dropping our things off and meeting our room steward, we decided to roam around for a little bit and take pictures...then head upstairs to see what kind of tantalizing grub they had on the buffet menu for us.

We tried a few different items and I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the taste. It was pretty bland. We did play it safe with a salad and that ended up being our lunch this time around. The hubby agreed that he didn't think our choices had much flavor.

As you see in the picture above, we were still nursing our pop from the port area. If you want to grab a bottle before getting on the ship, it will set you back $2.25.

We finished our scrumptious bunny food by 2pm and went off to explore (let's be honest...take pictures) again.

We headed to Camp Carnival to sign Sakari up for fun times ahead during the cruise. She seems to enjoy going and I'm going to milk it for as long as I can. I know there will be a time in her life that she will no longer want to go there...I have a feeling it will be soon.

I had daddy entertain her while I signed her up.

She always like the younger kids area the most. I think because there's more toys and more things geared toward "animals".

One thing about this cruise that I haven't mentioned...IT'S A SAKARI BIRTHDAY CRUISE AND SHE HAD NO IDEA!!! She has complained for the last several years that she never gets to go on a cruise for her birthday and daddy goes on his every year. Last year was the first year that I got to do a birthday cruise, but never her. So, we got VERY LUCKY that her Spring Break fell during her birthday this time and I was so excited to "not" tell her. She knows the date of her birthday, she just didn't realize the current date.

I informed the staff about her birthday and told them it was a surprise and she doesn't know. They said she could be in the Stingray group until her birthday and then change to the sharks. I reiterated that I DID NOT want them to tell her about her upcoming birthday.

When it was time for our safety drill, we headed to our assigned zone...as late as possible I might add. This is one time that I would like Kendra's "skills" to rub off on me. Arrive late, not as much time wasted standing in line forever. Well, we were happy to see that the lines outside were formed about 5 people deep already. Yep, this will do!

I did want to mention that at this safety drill, there wasn't anyone to "check" you in. They had no idea who was present and who didn't show. That was weird!!

We waited and waited and before long, WE became the middle of the line. Sigh! It was so hot outside. People were sticky, sweaty and it was very uncomfortable. I had a lady in front of me that couldn't stay still and was weaving back and forth. I tried my best to keep her from stepping on my tootsies.

We knew this didn't seem like a good situation for many out there. We were right. Before long, there was an elderly gentleman that passed out behind us, hit his head on the way down, then down on the floor he went. It's really ridiculous how long they keep you there...even after the drill is over.

This is 2017! There is absolutely NO NEED to continue to have these drills outside on the deck in the heat. NCL has them inside, in the A/C in places like the theater, casino, big venue places. Carnivals safety drills is one of the worse I have experienced.

We hiked back to our room to see if our luggage had came. 

When we arrived at our luxurious interior cabin accommodations, our luggage was there and I tucked our items away in each area that I could find that was appropriate for the item. Then I noticed it was after 4pm (sailaway time) and dropped the unpacking ritual like a hot potato and told the crew "we're heading out!".

We made it up to deck 10-11 and we weren't moving yet. We waited and waited and nothing. I was told by another passenger that we would not be leaving until 6pm. Well crap, I could have finished packing if I knew that.

We hung out for awhile and then we finally started pulling out at 6:17pm (according to the picture I took of my watch).

Sakari noticed that they were dancing down at the pool deck and wanted to head down there. She loves to dance at the sail away parties.

Since most on cc knows our family...and especially Sakari, it didn't take long before we were spotted! Thrillednow2017 came over to confirm my identity. Thrilled and I had been talking before the cruise and her daughters Spring Break was the same time as Sakari's and low and behold, they both love to draw! We knew immediately that the girls would hit it off and she booked the same cruise. I'm so happy she did. She's amazing and we really got to know each other on the cruise and hopefully will have many other cruises together.

We talked for awhile and the dancing died down and I knew I had to get back to unpacking and get dressed for dinner. At this point we were all starving and the bunny food had worn off.

We dressed for dinner and headed to the MDR. Like always, we ended up at the wrong MDR and had to figure out how to get to the other one.

Of course with this wacky layout, we ended up on the top floor of dining and also at the wrong end. Yep, we were cutting through and down. Ain't no one got time for figuring out this maze when you're hungry. We were seated right away (7pm) once we arrived at the right entrance and floor.

We sat for about 15 minutes before they acknowledged that we were there and were given a menu.

We had 2 waiters: a male and a female. Immediately the water pouring commenced and our hatred for water showed when we stopped them and presented our "bubbles" card and ask for pop. The pop arrived super fast and I was shocked because we have never received our drinks this fast...on ANY cruise, on any line. Hmm, progress is being made. Or was it?

Nope, that was the end of the progress. We waited forever to order and then after we did, we waited forever for our food.

The photographer came around and took our dinner picture. Oh great another one I'll have to buy.

I ordered the Quesadilla to start with. The hubby wanted one, but he does not like guacamole and ask for it on the side. Of course they informed him that everything is premade and ready to serve and they would not be able to make any accommodations to the food. Of course I am aware of the premade food, but we have had "changes" with no problems before. He decided to get the tomato soup instead. Sakari loves soup, so she picked the "Corn Chowder Maryland" because the description said "Potatoes, oregano, cream". Well, it was like creamed corn and none of us like that, so that was not a good choice for her (or us).

When the quesadilla came, look at the guacamole...there's a smithering on there. You couldn't even taste it. The hubby would have been fine with it...only...

Inside of it was black beans and they tasted, smelled and looked burnt. The outside shell was pretty hard. On the ends it wasn't really edible. It just wasn't very good.

More waiting before our main course came. Meanwhile, someone I assume that was "important"...more important than Mitsugirly on this cruise, came in, they seated him, immediately he was swarmed with everything he needed, double drinks, appetizers, wine, dinner, desert and we are still waiting...

I ordered the sweet and sour shrimp and rice because I have had it many times before and knew that I liked it. To me, it's really good when you first start, but after about two of them, it's just not appealing anymore. But, that's just me. The rice was kind of bland this time around too. It would have been nice to have some soy sauce or something. They did not bring my sauce and I had to request it twice before it appeared on my table. The hubby also ordered the shrimp (he's allergic to seafood...just kidding, but this has been his story to me since we first met and I have converted him to a shrimp lover).

Sakari ordered the chicken and from the looks of her plate, it must have been good.

I also played it safe with the bacon mac & cheese. This stuff is so yummy and if it involves cheese, I'm all for it. It did not disappoint!

The pop was flowing fast during the meal...well, it was the only thing flowing fast other than the wind we felt every time the waiters passed us to help Mr Important at the table beside us. However, I do have to bring up something about Mr I. They brought out his wine in the (not hip on the terminology) glass container they use to measure it, and didn't have a glass to pour it in. I kid you not, the waiter walked over to the table on the opposite side of us and grabbed an unused glass off the table that the family just left after eating. Now it wasn't used, but I bet they touched them when they moved them out of the way and it just really put me off when they grabbed a glass off a dirty table.

For desert, I had the chocolate melting cake and ice cream, Sakari had the fruit plate and the hubs had some type of contraption that he seen the family next to us have before they left.

Mine was good, Sakari enjoyed hers, the hubby...not so much. 

This entire dining experience is one of the longest experiences I have ever had on any ship. It was a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes!! That's a little ridiculous for "premade food".

We headed to the library and decided to play a game. One of the things I don't like about Carnival is the kids club is not open on the first night of the cruise like NCL. So, we are forced to try to entertain an 8 year old, confined to a ship, without her own toys or familiar surroundings.

There were a lot of games in the library...but here's the problem...I would say that 80% of all the pieces were missing to all the games. From dice, cards, game pieces, boards. They would have several of the same game, but not enough pieces to play.

We managed to find a few "Sorry" games and were able to combine several games together to be able to play.

Sakari and I battled it out and it came down to each of us in the same position in our "home" area, trying to win. She won! She's very competitive at times...especially when it's against me and trust me, I show her no mercy (like daddy will).

After playing our game, it was going on 10pm. When we signed Sakari up for Camp Carnival, Sakari had begged to come back that night. I always hate breaking it to her that they are not open on the first night like NCL. But, the counselors informed me that they did have the "after hours" sitting services that night.

I normally do not do after hours sittings UNLESS the following day is a sea day. We won't stay out late enough to make it worth it if we have to get up early the following day. However, tomorrow was a sea day, so I agreed that she could go.

Even though it wasn't time to take the kids yet, they told us she could go ahead and play and we could go with her. So, play she did.

At 10pm, we signed her in and she was the only kid in there. I kept asking if she was sure she wanted to go and she said yes. We walked away hoping that other kids would show up too.

Off to the casino we went to donate some money. We each started with our normal $20 a piece. We did pretty good that night and didn't have to donate anymore. I did find a "Bubble Gum" game that I really liked. I instantly made friends with a couple that was playing and we all had a blast cheering each other on for the bonus round (which hit A LOT).

We headed out at 12 midnight, with an increase in our piggy bank, and picked up the munchkin from Camp Carnival. They told us that 2 other girls and 1 boy did show up that night so...she wasn't alone after all.

We headed back to our "home" and were greeted with this towel animal and our fun times for tomorrow.

I reminded the hubby that we needed to sign up for the internet service tonight and I sat down to do so. After getting signed on, he signed me off and was prepared to do a little work before going to bed.

Then....the bad news struck....😡

Kolin (my youngest son) always runs the store while we are on vacation. He messaged us to let us know that the police had just shown up at our HOUSE to tell him that the store was just broken in to. The alarm went off at 11:57pm and they were immediately dispatched and there within minutes. They found several "chunks of blacktop and stones" were thrown through the glass and the kids entered the store and was out in minutes.

Oh geesh...just what you need when you are on vacation and many miles (or countries) away. The frantic-ness started immediately while we tried to ask Kolin questions about what was going on, to count the bikes, count the scooters, count everything...WHAT IS THERE STILL??? Delayed reactions is what we kept getting and the frustration was building. We got bits and pieces from him (we later found out that he was with the police at the store at that point). We ask for pictures (the hubs had just received a new delivery of bmx bikes the day before we left and knew how many were on display, how many were put together on the showroom floor and how many were still in boxes) of the store and the broken glass...and we all we got was "I'm not sure, there's maybe 6 left"....WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT SURE??? COUNT THEM! TAKE PICTURES AND SEND THEM TO ME! It was a frustrating night of trying to get answers. On top of that, we had a busted glass door for others to come in. Then for about 30 minutes...we had silence. No response, no nothing. It felt like eternity at that point. We both looked at each other at one point and agreed that no matter what, we were still on vacation, there's absolutely NOTHING that we can do ourselves, and we were not going to let this ruin our vacation. So we waited...and waited...then finally a response. The landlord of the building came out at 1am and boarded up the door, the police took the report, Kolin didn't count the bikes or take pictures of the place and he was now at home in his bed. :o He could only confirm that there were bikes missing, possible scooters missing, computers and registers were still there and skateboards and other equipment/parts seem to be still in place.

It was a very rough sleeping night for us of course. Just too much on our minds. (n) Not the way you want to start out a vacation for sure.

THIS CONCLUDES DAY 1