Mitsugirly takes great PRIDE in bringing her Spring Break extreme review
Day 2: Getting on the ship
As predicted, I had a rough night in the too small for Mitsugirly bed. I tossed and turned, body parts falling out of bed, arms hitting the night stand kinda night. I had my alarm set for 8am, but was wide awake at 7:30am.
I headed outside to see what the weather was like and it was cool out. Rain was predicted the last time I had looked, but there was no rain in site.
We all got up and got ready for the free hot breakfast down stairs which consisted of the powdered mixed scrambled eggs, sausage (which I admit looked really weird and light in color but tasted decent), french toast (that looked even weirder than the sausage and tasted nasty), 3 different types of cereal, white and wheat toast with various jellies, bagels, mini muffins, milk, apple juice, orange juice and coffee. It wasn't the greatest breakfast, but it was enough to keep us tied over until we made to the Pride.
We headed back up to our room to wait until 10am (the designated time we had picked for our shuttle to take us to the port). Once it was a few minutes until 10, we headed downstairs to check out and the shuttle was already waiting for us. We were the only one's on the shuttle.
The excitement grew once we got close enough to lay our eyes on the Pride sitting in port. The day had come. We were about to meet her in person.
Our shuttle pulled up and the porters took our luggage and loaded it up for us. At one point they grabbed my pop bag and I told them it was loaded with "soda" so I needed to take it with us. They told me we were more than welcome to check it in and have it delivered to our room. I know on our Dream cruise, we were told that we had to carry it with us (and it was the whole reason why we purchased the pull along small luggage for this). We went ahead and checked it and hoped for the best. I couldn't think of my room number off the top of my head, so Kendra gave them hers. I know one of the main reasons I purchased FTTF was fast access to our room in order to drop our soda off. It looks like it was not needed after all.
A quick tip to the porter and we walked over to the building only steps away. I'm use to the hustle and bustle of the Florida ports, but this was different. It was very calm and not very many people around. Maybe it was because we were so early. The cars that were parking were already lining up for the prime spot, but were not being aloud in yet.
We snapped a quick picture before we headed inside.
There were no lines inside at security check in. We zoomed right inside.
We told them we had FTTF and they pointed us to "our line" to wait for our turn. There were maybe 10 families ahead of us. Kendra did not purchase FTTF since she actually snagged the very last OV room available on the cruise and it was too late to purchase FTTF. She was directed in the "other" line.
So...Kendra actually made it up to the counter way before we did. Hmmm. Yea, I wouldn't live that one down for awhile.
During check in we were informed they had a "new system" that just went into place. The person helping us was struggling a bit and it was pretty obvious that she was still in training or didn't know what she was doing. She had to keep asking the lady beside her what was next and "why is my computer doing this". Meanwhile, you could tell the lady 3 places down knew what she was doing and was having no issues. "Katie" was a super nice lady, just really didn't know what she was doing honestly. It was quite a long process getting checked in, she even had problems with taking our pictures. But, we were in no hurry and knew we would be waiting for awhile.
Once we were done, we seen the Easter bunny running around the place taking pictures with everyone. Sakari was excited and had her picture done.
We were directed to our FTTF chairs, which were directly across from the suite and VIP people. Directly beside us were the people who were none of the above...which included Kendra. They were only 2 rows behind us and beside us. She once again reminded me that we probably wasted money on the FTTF because she was going to bet me that she would get on the ship within minutes of us.
Here we would continue to sit until noon. People on our roll call were posting selfies of themselves sitting in their chair while others were attempting to locate them. Hey, it passed the time by and was a little comical.
I of course headed off to buy a pop at $1.75 each.
Katie, our slow but very nice check-in person approached me and said that she forgot that, with their new system, they could now take gifts cards at check in. WOO HOO!!! Now I know I had been told that once you get on board to go to customer service to have any gift cards purchased applied to your account. This was going to save time and waiting in long lines doing this. I was happy. (I had mentioned to her how we had purchased a large amount of gift cards prior to the cruise to use for our sail and sign card).
I thought it was nice that she came back and found me in the crowd to tell me she'd be happy to apply those for me...off I went with her back to her station (this tells you how slow things were and it was not crowded at all).
She did have a few problems at first, and I actually helped her apply them. It was pretty much the same principal as applying them online with the Carnival site. I kinda walked her through the steps and she applied all 5 of them. She couldn't give me a print out and said she was having issues with the computer still. I told her it was probably waiting for her to complete all of the transaction and to try to print it out once she was done. Right once again....score a few points for me.
Back to my chair for a quick selfie with the fam prior to boarding. Now I was told by many on these boards that absolutely NO CELL PHONE USE in the port. I was even warned that this port is so strict with cell phone use and pictures that they will conviscate phones. I'm not sure what was going on, but absolutely nothing was said to anyone and everyone was on their phones, taking pictures...no issues at all. ???
Our pre-boarding pic:
At noon, they started letting us board the ship. They called all the VIP/suite people sitting across from us and they marched out like soldiers...only not in single file, a little bit too excited and jumping for joy at this point.
Then we were called right after them. I glanced back at my daughter and she mouthed "see you in a minute" and winked. (Once again making reference to us purchasing the FTTF and she didn't).
Away we went with Sakari in the lead of course.
Now normally I'm use to being in a building, up high on the floor that we have taken an escalator to and going up about 2 inclining floors to the ship. But I had forgotten that we were still on the ground floor and had to make our way all the way up there.
This girl really didn't want a cruise and she's so bummed about being here can you tell?
We walked and we walked and the excitement grew.
Mommy and daddy fell behind and Sakari reminded us to "get up here" multiple times.
Then there she was...we stepped foot on her and our vacation has officially started.
Welcome back. Welcome home! I like it!
We walked around and explored for a short period of time.
My first thoughts were "man she's a beautiful ship"
I also love the expression of Sakari getting caught off guard when one pops up in front of her face. Daddy grabbed his first bloody mary from the bar.
We made our way to our room...since we had FTTF and all...we felt special that we were able to head there before everyone else had access to theirs. Only...the purpose of heading there first would be to drop off our pop in the room and not have to lug it around and now we didn't even have the pop because they allowed us to check it in. Oh well. We could still check out the room while we were at it.
We walked in and Sakari found a gift bag on her bed that our wonderful TA left for her. She absolutely loved it.
It was filled with all kinds of goodies and she screamed with excitement as she pulled everything out of it one by one and demanded I take a picture of her posing with the items. (I won't bore you with all of them).
Since we are in our room, I will give you the small tour of it. Our home away from home for the next 7 days.
Now first I want to tell you a story about booking this room. When we decided to book the Pride, we didn't book right away and I had been watching prices for awhile. When it was time to pull the trigger, the Carnival site said there were no more interior or ocean view cabins left. YIKES! We "normally" sail in an interior to save money, which allows us to cruise more often. We honestly don't spend a lot of time in the room other than changing, showering and sleeping. Yes, we love the times we have had a balcony, but honestly still don't feel it's worth the charge.
This time, we would basically be forced into a balcony since there were no other options and spending about twice the amount we had hoped to spend. Sigh
We went ahead and booked, reminding ourselves that we would still be spending about the same by saving in air flight tickets (and we all know how that turned out).
The day after I booked, the price of the balcony went down $100. I immediately called Carnival and told them that and they sent me a $100 gift card in the mail for the price adjustment. I'm use to dealing with NCL where they just adjust and credit your room (even weeks or months after booking and even most of the time if you are past final payment date...or they'll upgrade your room). I have heard stories in the past about having to submit some form to Carnival for price adjustments. I'm just glad I didn't have to do all of this for my adjustment.
Then about a week later...the INTERIORS AND OV BECAME AVAILABLE??? What the heck? My TA had even called with some "connections" trying to get them to open up one of the rooms and they refused and said there were none available. Then here they are available now. I was a little ticked about it.
This process of them becoming "sold out" then later showing up available would continue up until the entire ship sold out about 2 weeks prior to the cruise. I just think it's crappy of Carnival doing this. I wonder how many people were actually going to book and once finding out they would have to spend double the amount for a balcony then went somewhere else or booked an entirely different ship.
I got over being upset and convinced myself that this was going to still be awesome with a balcony, sailing to the Caribbean to places we hadn't been before, and I was determined to spend more time in there and put it to use. Time to put on my big girl britches and move on and I did.
We had originally picked a balcony on the 4th floor, aft area. Then the price dropped again and my TA managed to get us moved up a floor and the first room once you turn down the hall from the elevators. It made for a great location, but I was a little concerned because I had seen pictures on the blue prints with the life boats being directly 1 floor down and beside us.
This was the hallway.
%20copy.jpg)
Our room...daddy already out on the balcony taking pictures....of the port...lol not much to see there.
There was TONS of storage space. I was real happy with the layout of the room and the storage.
The first closet door with shelves.
There was a second closet for hanging items and also a third closet for storage and hanging more items. This is also where they had the Carnival robes. Now I have to say we have never used these and this cruise would not be an exception. We have gotten surprise VIP status several times with NCL and they provided robes and house slippers. We just never use them.
Plenty of drawer spaces, which we used for the "undies"
Yes, our room had the flat screen tv upgrade.
The hair dryer is located in the top drawer.
Our room steward was the nicest man ever. So fun and full of life and you couldn't help but smile every time you seen him. He was so friendly and learned Sakari's name right away. He was always asking how she was and if she was having fun. If he seen me leave the room without her, he'd ask about her. Sakari, at the age of 6, even noticed how happy he was. She would say "he's so happy and always smiling mommy."
I did speak to him in depth one day on the cruise and he told me that his 7 month contract was up this week and he would be flying home to Indonesia when we returned on Sunday. He said he had a child at home and couldn't wait to see her again. He told me stories about being on the Pride during dry dock in Freeport and how the ship had no electric or a/c. He said he would sometimes spend the night in the cruisers rooms with a balcony just so he could get some air because it was so hot. He told some interesting stories. I really loved his personality and he was probably one of the best room stewards we have had.
We had the standard cruise cabin bathroom that you find in most rooms
One thing I love about Carnival is this mirror attached to the wall. Perfect for trying to see the back of your hair. It gives new meaning to "mommy has eyes in the back of her head and can see you".
There have been discussions and debates over the last few months (and probably over the years) about people propping their balcony doors open.
Carnival states this on the doors:
People state they take all kinds of items to prop their doors open. The discussion lead to a poster on here that is real knowledgeable about the ships and the air system and you will find complaints from cruisers about their rooms getting too warm and never getting the a/c to work during the cruise. I believe it has been determined that this is due to cruisers propping their doors open. Something has to do with the air being pulled from adjacent rooms to yours because of the door opened and they can't keep their rooms cooled. I propped my door twice during the cruise for a different reason...I'll go into that later.
Good to Know items:
That room menu that I didn't even notice until it was time to leave (I only seen the one hanging up on the wall for breakfast for some reason).
Carnival had announced that it would start charging for items on the room service right before we left for our cruise. So I guess that's why I never bothered to check for a menu. Only after returning did I find out it hasn't started on the Pride yet and it will only be certain items. Oh well.
Want to take home Carnival items? Here's your pricing...
Now one thing I did want to mention about this room location (or any rooms near it)...
I usually try to pick a room in this location on all my previous cruises...close to the elevator and the first (if possible) in the hall. It's easy access to where you want to go and usually works out good. However, this time the location wasn't the "best"...ok, but not the best for this reason...
%20copy.jpg)
We were located directly across from the storage room for all of the housekeeping equipment. Every day the halls were lined with "stuff". The maintenance room (I believe) was also located there and there were many times I seen tools and maintenance men in the room across from us. It was always pretty crowded with items and it was like playing dodge ball a lot of times getting into the room.
My concerns for the balcony were unfounded. It ended up being a good view and the life boats really didn't distract from looking down. Not the perfect balcony room where you can look down and see nothing but the beautiful blue ocean, but that wasn't because of the life boats.
The life boats are kind of recessed back, so there's not much "blocking" going on.
I guess the things I didn't like was when you looked down, there was the promenade floor sticking out instead of seeing just the ocean. Looking directly out was good of course and you didn't see it if you were sitting down. No biggie, just thought I would mention it.
Our view looking down.
%20copy.jpg)
Now is the time I want to ask you cruisers a question...
Where do they get what they play on the tv? Is this pre-recorded shows? Is there sattelite? How does this all work? When you are watching the "news" is it really what is happening now? Or is this all pre-recorded from the week before?
I ask this question because we would spend the entire week watching commercials of this...the absolute weirdest thing to see while cruising Carnival.
Now I will take you on a full tour of the ship and get that out of the way. I know many of you are wanting to see the ship and maybe not my ramblings about our cruise in general. For those of you that just want the nitty-gritty of what the ship looks like...this is for you.
I will go floor by floor with the pictures that I have. Yes, I missed some things and I'm sorry for that.
Please go here for the ship pics ------>
For those of you that want to stick around for our silly adventures, weird sense of humor and that thing we call "life"...my review will continue and I appreciate you sticking with me. :)
If you are here for the port reviews, you'll have to suffer for awhile until I get 3 days worth of cruising done. :p ;)
Also, you may see other things in the review pictures I might have not posted during the ship tour. Not necessarily, but there might be. I didn't want to post any of the pictures with us in them for the tour. So those were saved for the review itself.
Time to push on...
Since our luggage had not arrived to our rooms yet, we decided to wander around the ship a bit, get a lot of the pictures you viewed earlier before things got too crowded, and of course EAT!!!
Here we are taking a look around at a few places. Sakari loves to pose for the camera.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
At this point I actually had to tell her to stop! LOL
We ran into Kendra and Brayden and they explored a little with us. They mentioned that they had already been up to the kids club to register and we decided we needed to head up there too in order for me to be able to get in and get pictures of it before we are no longer aloud in.
Daddy played fish puppets with Sakari for awhile and she found the box of "sea animals" (shown all blurry in her hands in the picture above) and she didn't want to leave. She obviously loves sea animals but to the extent that most other kids her age can't relate. She has an entire collection of various animals, but mostly whales. She can look at a whale and tell you exactly WHAT it is...an we are not talking about "a whale"...we are talking a killer/orca (she's know both names) whale, a blue whale, a sperm whale, a beluga whale, a shark whale, a pilot whale, the list goes on and on. She is like that with most of her animals.
The kids looking outside and watching them load our meals in for the week. I told Sakari "that's all our food we'll eat this week" and her eyes got big. I think she took it literally.
We decided it was time to grab a bite to eat. We headed up to the pool deck and went straight to Guys Burgers. This would be the first time I have ever tried it (here at home we have a Five Guys Burgers and I love it) and I couldn't wait.
We grabbed a burger and off we headed to the toppings bar to load her up.
I was so hungry and it was so good that I had already dug in before I realized I forgot to take a picture.
.jpg)
It lived up to my expectations and the fries were also yummy! This would be my go-to comfort food throughout the cruise.
After eating, we decided to head back to the room and see if our luggage had arrived. I was happy to say it was there, but sad to report I have no idea what time it was. LOL
I quickly unpacked and put everything in it's place for the week and tucked away our luggage under the beds.
It was time to decorate my door!!! I had worked a good month off and on designing and creating this master piece. hehe I had everything measured out (except where the door handle would go since I didn't know which side it was actually located on for our room, but did know the measurements so I made sure not to have anything on the paper there on either side) and ready to go other than a few small details to add.
Once I was done with my masterpiece, I stood back like a proud Dr Seuss parent that I was.
We had Thing 1 and Thing 2 with curly poofy crazy hair going everywhere. We had the truffula trees that stuck out. We had signs for every place we would be going to and cards with Dr Seuss/Cruise sayings on them. (Noticed I incorporated "cruising" words into my signs)
These signs are made out of foam padding and I designed the paper over top of it on my computer using various pictures I found and also downloaded the Dr Seuss font for the typing.
Now I belong to a group that is for decorating your Carnival doors. They take things super serious there, but I do it just for fun. I know they talk about a lot of the ships have contests, but I wasn't aware of a contest on the Pride this cruise. There's also a lot of talk about the do's and dont's of what to use to put your decorations up. There's only certain products to be used that will hold good and not leave a residue on the doors and walls. It comes down with easy removal.
However....I was having a huge problem with my signs sticking to the walls. Maybe it was because it was wallpaper on the walls? My poor room steward kept picking them up off the floor and putting them back on the walls. Others on our roll call told me that they would also walk by and pick up anything that had fallen off the walls and put it back up. (Thank you).
It finally got to the point were the room steward took it upon himself to go get some masking tape and put them up with that. (Not my doing for those out there gasping). They did not fall after that.
Everyone seemed to love the decorations and I got a lot of compliments. It also makes it easy to spot your "home" for the week.
I was lucky that we did not get 1 single item stolen from the door...even after things were falling off. We actually GAINED an item as well. (big grin).
So now that Sakari and I had our door decorated and the hubby thought he would take a nap, I sprang from the clatter to see what's the matter...no wait, wrong story...I woke the hubby and told him it was time for the life boat drill so get a move on it.
We headed to our muster station and assumed the position. I have to say it's a lot different than NCL, they (NCL) might as well carry guns and have you walk the plank if you are not perfectly formed in a straight line, talk, take a picture, or do anything other than stand in military form with eyes straight ahead....seriously. This was more laid back and relaxed, but they got the same message across and people payed attention when the time came.
It was supposed to start at 4pm (my understanding)...but you always have those "latecomers" that stroll in like you are ruining their party time...at 4:20 to be exact and we are not talking about a few people...we are talking about 2 ENTIRE LINES the length of our muster station! (Do you feel my glare people??? I've been standing here freezing for 20 minutes...nice of you to arrive). :mad:
While we are doing our muster drill, I notice there are actually still people getting on the ship and coming up the ramp. The hubby made the comment that it might be employees. However, none of them were dressed as a Carnival employee, none of them had luggage (like if maybe they were getting on the ship for this trip to start their contract) and we even witnessed children (families) and also people in wheelchairs. Yea, I don't think his theory of "workers" was holding up too well in my book. Any ideas?
We were supposed to leave at 4pm. But instead, we didn't start to pull out until 5pm. I seen comments about "the Pride has to wait until low tide to leave so that she will make it under the bridge" however, how do you explain all the people (and not just a few) still coming up the ramp at 4:30ish? Makes me wonder.
Once the life boat drill was over and I felt safe in knowing how to install my flotation device for the 50th time on a cruise...I felt confident that I would still panic and run like h3ll if the ship was sinking. I mean come on, if the ship is sinking how many people do you think would actually report to THEIR muster station in an orderly fashion as they do in the drill? Take a look at the massive freak out session from the Costa Concordia...need I say more? I would hope things would go smoothly, well, I would hope we would never have to hope they go smoothly, but you know how people are.... just saying.
Once we were released, people ran like....well, like the ship was sinking of course. Back to the partying and dancing and the cruise was officially about to begin.
I knew there were several bridges the Pride would go under during the beginning of our voyage and I really didn't want to miss it. We kind of hung out around the ship (taking more pictures of course) and waiting for that finger crossing, teeth grinding, deep breath moment to happen.
We seen the bridge in the distance. We hurried to the front of the ship. The glass was up high and I didn't like the view. I remembered someone saying the best place to be was out on the deck below the pool slides. We hurried in that direction now. Once we arrived, I found out it was the serenity area. Well, count us out, we have the munchkin along with us. We headed back toward the front. The bridge was fast approaching. What do we do????? Ok, so let's go back and go up to the actual whale tail deck. That should be a decent shot right?
Back we headed again and to the deck around the whale tail and David's steak house were we would claim our spot. Well, it was windy and it was cold...so there were plenty of "spots" because not many were crazy enough to be out there.
Sakari posed for a quick picture and we took a quick selfie
(Man we look cold like if we are on an Alaskan cruise)
and then turned around and the bridge was there...
See the red barge? It decided to play chicken with us and squealed by just in time for us to take our turn.
Whew, we made it safely under the bridge!
Anyone know what this spot of land out there is?
Someone on these boards posted a picture of the webcam showing us going under the bridge. I thought I would share it.
One last picture of Sakari turning red with fright about going under the bridge and making it...
Then it was time to get warmed up. (Not something I expect to say while on a Caribbean cruise).
We headed back to the room to pick up the FUNtimes and see what was going on.
The one thing I worried about this cruise was it being Easter weekend and sailing on Easter day. I had no idea how this was going to go over with having a little one, but we were determined to make things happen for her.
I had ask John Heald about a egg hunt and he assured me that they would be having a "hunt" (scavenger) for the kids on that day. Once we boarded, we found out the hunt would take place at 7pm.
We met the kids club people and found out what it was all about. We were provided with the "map" and you had to race from place to place. Upon arrival at each place, you received a sticker on your map and some candy to be put in your bag (provided by them).
I have to admit, it took awhile before we had to make changes to this "map" plan if we were going to make it to the end...especially after eating Guys Burgers.
This map was Crazy with a capital C! It had you running from 1 end of the ship to the other end and up to the top and then back down to the bottom. Who does this to parents? LOL After a few trips like this, we caught on...we would then devise a plan, scope out all the locations of the different places on the map and hit them in a feasible order...the type of order that won't wear you out!!
Along the way, the hubby goes running outside. I'm looking at the map like "that's not on here!!" I ran outside demanding he WAS going to finish this hunt with me whether he liked it or not (wink wink) and he said "look!!!"
We were at the other bridges!! Ok, so time out! We must stop and take pictures of course. (Meanwhile Kendra is rolling her eyes at me).
Ok, mission accomplished...at least mine was. Off to the race again. (Hey at least it made for a good excuse to take a breather)
We manage to finish, collect all the stickers and candy in record time and the ending place was at Beauties Dance Club where they would be throwing an Easter Dance Party.
Sakari got a certificate of completion and I seriously think us parents deserved a drink on the house after that.
...Or at least we should have received our own certificates staying "you survived it without a heart attack...don't worry, you'll thank Carnival later for the awesome weight loss program we just enrolled you in" certificate.
They had the disco dance floor going, Easter music playing and they were ready to party...kid style.
Anything that involves dancing, Sakari is game.
Then of course they insisted the parents come out to "play"...man I was resting my feet.
Click the video below for Sakari dance entertainment.
Brayden and mommy dancing
He's not quite as "out-going" as Sakari is.
Or course Kendra and I are pretty darn outgoing...especially when you put the 2 of us together...we totally cut loose. (Notice the goal of this picture was to get the boobs in it...and not ours lol)
More dancing (clickable video)
They had a real pretty Easter cake that looked gorgeous and made out of fondant too. Kendra grabbed us all a piece.
I bit into it, stopped, swished it around in my mouth, let the tip of my tongue explore it and then wonder WHAT THE HECK IS THIS??? I have no clue but I know 1) it was not icing as any human being would be able to detect and 2) was it really edible? I think not. I really hoped this what not any indication as to what was in store for us with the deserts. Like seriously. It was that bad! Even the texture was weird. I did notice we were not the only ones putting their plates down and leaving it.
Well at least there was back-up. They also provided fruits and chips.
They then had a dance off between the kids and the parents. Then the staff picked whatever kid from each age group they wanted to win and then a parent as well. There was no rhyme or reason to it...they just picked. There was no clapping of the audience for your choice or anything. It was pure random. The kids got a medal and the parents got a ship on a stick.
It had been awhile since our Guys Burger meal and decided we would head up to the buffet to grab some food. The only thing that was open was the pizza place and the deli.
I opted for a turkey bagel sandwich. It was good.
I wanted to take advantage of the Dive In Movies and hoped that they would have a kid movie tonight since the kids club isn't open on the first night...which I still don't understand this!!!!
But, instead they had "Ride Along" playing on the screen.
We grabbed our prime real estate on the chairs and the hubby went for some popcorn...a super nice added treat for the movies. Great job Carnival.
The lights in this area change colors as you are watching the movie.
It was pretty darn cold, even with the roof closed. Every time someone entered/exit the doors to outside, the cold air just sucked into the place. We were freezing. I took advantage of this. Sakari complained of being cold and I volunteered to go back to the room to meet up with Mr Easter Bunny. I winked at the hubby and told him I would "be a minute" getting those jackets.
I hurried back to the room, met up with Mr Bunny, he put out the Easter Basket (which just happen to have a stuffed sting ray in it and our room steward also had made a towel sting ray for Sakari for the night...coincidence? I think not. I think the room steward and Mr Bunny where in cahoots together). Mr Bunny hid the Easter Eggs around the room while I looked for the jackets. Once done, back to the movie I hopped...I mean walked.
Daddy had managed to get us cozy warm Dive In movie blankets from the staff. They were cozy, but I would need about 10 of them to keep my thin blood warm. Still a very nice added touch Carnival.
It didn't take long before Sakari fell asleep on the lounge chair and we continued to watch the movie.
All of a sudden Sakari sprang up and was shaking ferociously. She couldn't stop. Her teeth were even chattering. Ok, time to go!
We headed back to the room with our half frozen little girl and figured we'd call it a night.
We entered the room with our half asleep child and her eyes sprang wide open and if someone had just shocked her.
She noticed the basket, she noticed the stingray towel animal. She was wide awake now and ready for her goodies. She pulled everything out and examined it one by one.
Meanwhile my eyes are roaming the room hoping that she would catch on. It took awhile (give the kid a break, she was just fast asleep and frozen) but she spotted a hidden Easter egg. "What??? The Easter bunny hid eggs too???"
She was on a mad hunt to find them all...in the room and in the bathroom.
She made out that night because Mr Bunny obviously forgot to bring things to stuff in the eggs and didn't want the hassle of bringing it...so her eggs were stuffed with non-sugary non-teeth rotting goodies=$$ She made out with $39 that night from 15 eggs. I guess things are healthier that way according to Mrs Bunny. It's ok, what kid doesn't like money right? She still had her Easter basket, which did have a variety of goodies in it.
Kendra said she did Braydens basket and hid it in the window for him to find. I guess it took him quite some time that night to find it.
Sakari headed off to bed and I decided to take a HOT shower to try to warm up. Man, why is it so cold in this room. I turned the thermometer all the way to HOT and headed for the shower.
Now I don't know if these showers have a water softener on them or not, but the water felt slimy to me and I didn't like it. One thing I hate is to wash my face with soap and it feel like someone just lathered it with butter. Ewww!
We also discovered that somehow I either misplaced the hubbys contact holder or it was left behind in the hotel. He headed off to see if the shops were open and if he could find one. No luck, they were closed already. We improvised and he used a container I had and hoped that the ship didn't rock that night and mix them up.
The only other thing I have to add to this day is that we didn't have any cups in the bathroom to use to rinse our mouths out after brushing. No biggie, I've used my cupped hands many times and this would be no different.
Oh, I did want to add that we told our room steward we wanted our ice bucket filled daily and he definitely did his part and more during our week with him. He was awesome. Any time we needed anything, he was right on it. Yes, there were a few mess ups, but nothing major and nothing I would really complain about, but will mention them as I go along. Once again, he was awesome!
We laid in bed and watched a movie, the Fast and Furious 5 was on, and who doesn't like to drift off to sleep starring at a little Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (sniff)?
That was our adventurous 1st day aboard the beautiful Carnival Pride.