I have loads of pictures to share with you but due to the terrible internet service where I’m staying most just aren’t loading properly. I’ll be home soon and I’ll post all the pictures that failed to upload then.
Category Archives: Florida
On the Good Ship “Imagination”
Welcome to Cabin Riviera 207. The cabin was set up as a double with one bed.
That was easily remedied. Joe and I unmade the bed and pushed the 2 sides apart. Unfortunately there was no bedding for a “twin” set up so we made our way to guest services on deck 7 where they filled out a request form for housekeeping.
From there it was time to explore the ship. The Lido deck, deck 10, (Sounds like the Love Boat?) seems to be where most of the action is.
Bars, swimming pools and hot tubs.
A stage for shows and contests. A buffet lunch was underway so we hopped in the line. The offerings ranged from Pizza to rotisserie to “off the grill”.
I opted for the rotisserie, sliced roast beef and chicken,. Joe got a salad from the salad bar but couldn’t find any salad dressing. The paparazzi were out in force. Everyone was fair game. Everyone on the fun ship is a celebrity. And every 2nd guest had a camera. At one point I started turning the tables. If someone wanted to point a camera at me I’ll point mine at them!
The rain showers continued to drift through but didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. Kids still slid down the giant water slide and adults sat in the hot tubs.
The revelry was briefly interrupted by the mandatory safety meeting. All guests had to report to designated locations to hear the evacuation plans incase of sinking. This included a demonstration of the life vests. We got to listen in English and then again in Spanish. Luckily we were spared French, German, Polish, Dutch etc. The last part of the safety meeting was to be led to the life boats and then we were dismissed. It’s kind of like listening to the airline attendants when they go through the safety speech on a plane. You listen but kind of not….of course history is filled with examples where the safety instructions were needed from the Titanic to the Concordia.
Around 4pm the ship cast off and we stood at the stern on deck 11 watching Miami shrink into the distance. We spotted some “ultra lights” as we left the harbor.
Heading back down to our room we bumped into “D” our room steward. We explained to him that we were friends not a “couple” and asked for the bedding to make up the room for twin beds. He was insistent that any requests like that go to him and he would make sure it was done. Thanking him we returned to the Lido deck for more pictures before dinner.
We enrolled in “anytime” dining so we didn’t have to be locked into a time frame. It was about 6:30 when we made out way to the assigned dining room…The “Pride” was on deck 8 also known as the Atlantic Deck.
Dinner was ok, nothing special. My shrimp cocktail was small but tasty. Joe’s Lettuce wedge was huge, crisp and fresh. I was disappointed in my “Southern Fried Chicken”. It was dry and all dark meat. Joe had a pumpkin, squash, yam casserole pie that was quite good. For dessert we both had the hot chocolate melting cake with vanilla ice cream. Rich, luscious, decadent, it made up for any shortfalls on the dinner.
The wait staff puts on a little performance midway though the dinner. It’s quite amusing. From there we tried several of the club activities wandering from the piano bar to the karaoke and finally to the Welcome Aboard Show.
This show is a variety style show designed to introduce you to the cruise director (Marcello) , the show dancers and singers and the comedians. Marcello pulled audience members up to the stage for silly skits between performances by the staff. Not a bad time but for me it was the end of a long day and time to call it a night.
Arriving back to R207 we were please to see our beds separated and crisply made up. Ready for a tired head to hit the pillows.
Tomorrow our port of call is Key West. It will be fun to be back after so many years away. Last time I was there was when Joe was driving the trolley in 2000.
We’re off to go a “Cruisin’
Monday morning rolled around quickly and Joe and I were soon packing to head to the Port of Miami. Joe’s neighbor’s cat , Simba, watch the proceedings with interest. All packed we made a short stop at I Hop for breakfast and then we were on the road. We took non turnpike roads through “Old Florida” since to take the Florida Turnpike would have racked up $37.00 in tolls without any major time-saving.
With an oldies station playing on the radio we were on our way.
The state seemed to be experiencing bands of rain. We’d go through a downpour one minute only be in bright sunshine with blue skies the next. On the way we saw skydivers drifting down under their bright-colored parachutes and the Goodyear blimp. The farther south we got the more birds we spotted. Egrets, herons and turkey vultures were just some we could identify.
We passed Fort Lauderdale without incident but just outside of Miami we began to hit the first city traffic of the drive. By now we were on route 95 south. The traffic jams were brief and before too long we spotted the exit for the Park & Cruise lot.
Premier Parking was substantially less expensive than parking at the Port of Miami. They offered a shuttle to and from the docks. It worked just like the shuttle to the airport only the drop off was at your cruise ship instead of your airline.
On the shuttle we met a Florida couple who seem to take advantage of the deep discounts Florida residents receive from the cruise lines. They seemed to cruise almost every month and they also seemed to have experienced every horror a cruise can offer. They did nothing but complain about their past cruises , especially the one on the Norwegian Line.
After they were dropped off at their ship those of us remaining concluded that they couldn’t have had such a bad time, after all, they came back again,
And now it was our turn. There was our ship and there were the porters right next to the shuttle. We hopped down, handed them the baggage tags and headed to the cruise terminal. First check point was right at the door. Boarding pass and passport.
Second check point with an attendant was to point us to the correct security line…passports or “other” ID.
Then it was the security check point…think airport screening. The attendant here scanned out passports, wrote a number on the boarding documents for each of us and sent us on to the screening apparatus. We got to keep our shoes on but bags, carry ons, etc all had to be sent through the scanner while we got to walk through the people machine.
Once through security it was more lines but everyone was in a fun mood and the line moved fast. Once again we presented out boarding passes and passport. This time we stood for an ID photo as our on board account was activated. Our room key which doubles as your money card was then handed over and once again we were off following the roped lanes. Almost there and we were stopped by the first, of what would turn out to be many , photographers.
Finally! We crossed the gang plank and set foot on the Carnival Fun Ship Imagination. It’s huge! Our room was on Riviera Deck (deck 4) # 207. Where we entered the ship was the wrong end so we walked and walked and walked. Finally we found # 208,210, but no 207. The decks are set up as odds and evens so we were on the wrong side. Luckily the width is much shorter than the length and it didn’t take us long to locate #207 .
Finally we got to see out home away from home for the next 4 days.
Back to the real world (Almost)
Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. The ship had an internet cafe but it was very pricey and the connection slow so I held off trying to get online…boy was that hard! But I’ve still been writing some posts and hope to start getting them uploaded soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me. 🙂 I’m using Free WiFi at my hotel right now…yeah!
Washington to Orlando
That plane was one of the smallest I’ve been on in a long time. 2 seats on each side of the aisle. No wonder they had to put the roller bags in cargo! But in spite of it all the flight was smooth and uneventful (boring). I tried to grab a few ZZZ’s but having bun on the back of your head makes it kind of hard to get comfortable.
The first leg was to Dulles in Washington DC. I had a layover there and a change of planes. It was a full house. In fact at first they thought they were going to have to “bump” someone. They were offering a $200 voucher toward a future flight. I volunteered along with one other lady but in the end they didn’t need either of us…but once again they wanted to check the roller bags..no charge. This time not because the bags were too big but because it was so crowded there wasn’t enough room. Once again I pulled out the lenses. In the process of unpacking again I lost my boarding pass.
Oh boy…Now I figured I was going to “get it” but no. One of the attendants saw me frantically searching and offered to print another one for me. I didn’t even have to ask! Either United is taking customer service to a new level or there’s something to this “dress the part”.
The plane touched down in Orlando just after 2pm to blue sky, fluffy clouds and 70 degrees. Perfect weather. Joe was already waiting so as soon as I grabbed my bags we were on our way.
Joe’s renting a cute little house 5 blocks from Eola Lake.
The house is set back behind the main house. The foliage makes it look like it’s in a jungle. There’s even Spanish Moss hanging from the trees.
Before we headed off to dinner we took a stroll around the lake.
Cypress knees
Dinner was at a little restaurant called Bananas. The thing that sets Bananas apart is the staff. From the hostess to the wait staff to the person cleaning up..all drag queens. The only times I’ve been exposed to Drag Queens they were wild. Not so here. The atmosphere was quiet and everyone was polite.
Time now to get a good night’s sleep before the drive to Miami in the morning.