Reflections of My Travel

This was our first cruise with a group so it was a different experience than previous cruises.  The group was a lot of fun and we stayed way busier than usual.  Highlights of the week:

• Surprising Sylvis and Peach worked out better than I could have expected.  I think they really appreciated the gesture and I certainly appreciated her reaction when I jumped out from behind the door.
• To set up the stalking, I had been texting and talking with their friend Tiger for a few weeks. Since he was hanging out with them for a couple days before the cruise, he changed my name to Bob in his phone in case Sylvis or Peach happened to look over and see who he was texting. Due to my super spectacular stalking skills, I was known as Ninja Bob throughout the cruise. I like it.
• Miami Vice.  That is all.
• Diving is an awesome activity!  I have loved snorkeling over the years but this was so much better.  Hubby has always been able to free dive to get down and see some of the more interesting stuff but I’ve never been very successful with that.  This was my first time being able to really see everything and feel part of the underwater world.  It was exciting and soothing.
• Getting a corner, interior, accessible cabin is so the way to go.  By far our most spacious, dark, and comfortable accommodations on a cruise ship.  Happily, I did not see very many people in wheelchairs through the week so I don’t think we took it from someone in need. 
• Our dinner companions were wonderful.  There were several nights that we were the last four leaving the dining room because we were so engrossed in conversation. 

A couple of disappointments as well:

• This was our first cruise ever where I felt the service we received for dinner was so inadequate that we actually decreased the gratuity for our wait staff.  On every other cruise, by the third night, my post-dinner milk automatically showed up without me even asking.  This time, not only did I have to ask for it every night but there were a couple nights that it was forgotten even after I asked for it or I had to ask a second time.  There were several nights that we waited and waited for our plates while all the tables around us were served each course.  There was one night that my water glass was empty before our appetizers came out and stayed that way until dessert.  When it was finally filled, hubby’s glass, which was also empty, was ignored.  It was completely sub-par service for dinner on a Carnival cruise.  I don’t even know our head waiter’s name because he spent no time talking to our table at all.
• We mostly chose comedy over main shows but the couple main shows we did attend were pretty bad.