Carnival Imagination
Tim’s skillful driving took us to the Port of Miami. After the truck was safely parked, we began the boarding process for the Carnival Imagination. The process was speedier than ever and we were in our Empress Deck Stateroom #73 by noon. The ship’s layout is similar to other Carnival ships we have been on, so it did not take long to acclimate ourselves. The safety drill was done before we left port. Our Muster Station A met in the main lounge (Dynasty) then proceeded to the Promenade Deck where one would board the lifeboats in case the ship needed to be evacuated. Passengers did not need to take their life preservers, but there was a demonstration on how to put them on. The safety drill was no different than we have experienced before.
Monday, January 30: We had dinner with a young couple from Cocoa Beach. They told us how much the area changed since the NASA Space Program was discontinued. We had an interesting conversation about how it would be to grow up so near Kennedy Space Center and the impact on their lives. I went to the shopping show about Key West and Cozumel—honestly, one would think I could do the shopping show myself!
Tuesday, January 31:
Key West, Florida/ mid 80s F/ sunny
We disembarked the ship at Key West at 8 a.m. I had not
been there since 1983 when I took a cruise with Aunt Bernice. We easily found
Tim’s cousin Joe Garr and his Key West
Bait and Tackle on Margaret Street in a prime spot on the water. We made
arrangements to spend more time with him when we return in a few weeks.
§
Another top priority was key lime pie. We tried a piece
at Kermit’s Key West Lime Shoppe and another at Key West Key Lime Pie
Co (our choice for #1). Next
time we will visit the home of Ernest Hemingway, the trolley tour, Harry S.
Truman’s Little White House, and more shopping!
§
Back on the ship, we played a “phone in the answer”
trivia game. We were quick on the redial and won a bottle of champagne, a ship
on a stick trophy, and a photo of the Imagination!
Wednesday, February 1:
Cozumel, Mexico/mid 80s F/ humid/ quick shower
After spending the morning by the pool, we disembarked shortly after the ship arrived at Cozumel--about 2 p.m. We had lunch at Pancho’s Backyard, a tradition we started many cruises ago. This is a very nice Mexican restaurant with live music and great cheese enchiladas! Very comparable to our favorite in Erie, Torero’s.
We
opted to play the Gender Battle in the Dynasty Lounge. Unusual for us, we got
highly involved. Tim was on stage guiding the men to succeed in the number
shuffle—5 men, including Tim, each had a number, 5 women had the same numbers.
The announcer would call a sequence and each team had to reorganize themselves
in that sequence. The men won that round, for sure, with Tim’s help. Then I was
on stage for another round. My male opponent had to bounce a ping-pong ball on
a paddle for 30 seconds, and then I had to do the same. He never dropped the
ball. For me it was hopeless. I sure did my best though and I did get a ribbon.
The women won the game anyway! After that, we were back to couple teams for a
scavenger hunt and Tim was Team Leader.
Our team came in 2nd, with dentures, nail polish, a roll of
toilet paper, and a few unmentionables as some of the items to look for from
our team.
TK’s Takes: The ship’s pool was probably 78 F, no problem for him.
Thursday, February 02 / Groundhog Day:
At Sea
We spent most of the day at the pool. I did meet up with some scrap bookers and worked on my Smash Book. The men’s hairy chest contest was entertaining. Tim made it into the 2nd round of the Slots contest. The pool deck was warm enough, but very windy.
After dinner (vegetable spring rolls, veal parmesan, tomato & mozzarella salad, and baked Alaska), we went to the comedy show. If Happy Cole and Dwight Slade ever come to Erie/Jrs. Last Laugh, we will certainly go.
TK’s Takes: Our stateroom was in a great location. If it had a balcony, it would probably be the best location ever.
Friday, February 3:
Miami, Florida / Hampton Inn—Miami Airport South/Blue Lagoon
Customs and disembarking were no problem for us! We were off the Carnival Imagination by 8:49 a.m. and in our truck driving to our hotel by 9:05. Because we needed a few things, we asked for a nearby mall and by 10 a.m. we were at the Dolphin Mall on NW 12 Street, 6 miles away. Speedy!
We checked into our room at 1 p.m. and then did laundry for about an hour. We took a short walk to Publix to buy Diet Pepsi for the next cruise.
JK’s Takes: First, I can’t imagine better planning than Tim has done for this trip. Every hotel has been great. He signed up for OnStar, so all we have to do is call the “Trip Advisor” and the operator downloads the directions to any site we want to our GPS navigation system. Tim had already emailed many of our stops to OnStar but if we want to go to a mall*** or a restaurant, or any other place, we just call OnStar. Tim planned the cruises, too, as well as all the other stops on this trip.
We decided that we will probably not take any more 4 day cruises. We enjoyed the first cruise, but it is a different atmosphere—not bad, but different.
February 4-18, 2012
Carnival Liberty
No comments:
Post a Comment