Karen55

Carol.... I was highly disappointed in Jamaica... they had a charge to go out on the beach so we went to Margaritaville and had a drink and saw the beach... Loved Grand Cayman... Seven Mile Beach is beautiful!!! Cozumel is wonderful as well... Next time I go on a cruise to Jamaica.. I will stay on the boat and go to the spa or the Serenity Deck.... OOPS... didn't see the post about not getting to go on the Sunshine... sorry you aren't going on it... We are booked on it out of Port Canaveral in May 2014... Have fun on the Dream and best wishes for the new home...

We are booked on the Sunshine out of Port Canaveral on May 17, 2014... Can't wait to hear your opinion of the new decor and take on the ship....

Crusing out of Port Canaveral, FL on May 17, 2014 on Carnival Sunshine... 8 day to Grand Turk, Tortorl, BVI, USVI and St. Maarten.... Looking forward to seeing some ports we've not visited before... Any suggestions on what to see and do in each one?

*Grabs my chair and slides it across the deck, gets my phone out to call others at Cruise Crazies to read Jan's latest column loudly as Jan tries to sleep." LOL... I love it Jan... and well said... Especially the cell phone one... geeze... leave it in the cabin in the safe please...Like you said everybody and their brother, child, mother, and I am beginning to believe pet, has a cell phone... and feel compelled to use it for some reason on cruise ships in the middle of the ocean... give it a rest!!! Happy and quiet sailings ahead!!!!

I thought it was the best choice... Especially since it was the 8 day out of Port Canaveral and to places we've never visited... I am looking forward to being on the newly refurbished Destiny reborn as the Sunshine... It looks spectacular!!! Especially the Serinity Deck!!! Who knows? I may even give the sky walk a shot... LOL... and will check out Guy Fieri's Burger Joint...There is so much to see and do on board the ship, I'm not sure we will have time to check all of it out... I'm glad we have 3 sea days... LOL..

We had a great time on the Carnival Fascination. This was our sixth cruise on Carnival and the second time on the Fascination. This time we sailed to Key West, FL and Nassau, Bahamas. My sister and her husband went with us. It was their first time on Carnival... They are Royal Caribbean cruiser, so Carnival was 'new' to them. They liked the relaxed atmosphere of Carnival and said they would sail with Carnival again. My sister has now fallen in love with the warm chocolate melting cake as have I... we had it every night for dessert... LOL... That stuff is addictive... Key West is wonderful! I wish we had more time to explore and visit all of the sites on that small island. The feral chickens running around were so funny and entertaining... We rode the Old Town Hop on Hop off Trolly around the island and took advantage of the hop on hop off policy at several sites such as the Flagler Train Museum and the Souther Most Point in the continential USA... Nassau is still Nassau... however, they have re-built the straw market in a very nice building. It doesn't have the charm of the old straw market, but the vendors are the same and the women are weaving the purses and the colorful dresses and other items...You can still bargain for the items but they are not willing to come off the prices too much... We enjoyed the new broadway type shows on board the Fascination... The cast were very talented and really put on a great show. The two productions were performed twice during the trip giving you the opportunity to see it in case you missed one of the performances. Motor City and Divas were the two productions on this cruise. Motor City was my favorite... loved the music and the dancing was fantastic!!! My husband gave me the option of purchasing a nice piece of jewelry or booking another cruise for next year.... I chose the cruise!!!

"Fun on the Fascination" Click here to view the cruise review

Congratulations!!! Keep on crusin!!!

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go... himmm sounds like a good song... LOL Thanks everybody... we are leaving in the morning when the hubby gets home from work... we will drive to just outside of Atlanta and spend the night with my sister and her husband then drive down to Jacksonville, FL and spend the day and Sunday with a cousin, who has graciously opened his home for us to spend the night and will deliver us to the port on Monday.... Will give a full report when I return... I have my Cruise Crazy Lapel Pin and Cruise Crazy Door Hanger ready to go!!! Later!!! Cruise Crazy Karen signing off!!!!

Dear Shon: Say it ain't so!!!! I love reading your blog!!! You are always informative and entertaining... and thought provoking... I may not always comment, but I do enjoy reading what you have posted... I wish you well and hope you will continue to participate in other ways with us 'Crazies'... The best of the smooth sailing seas to you my fellow cruiser... God Bless...

Thanks everybody...I am really looking forward to this cruise... My sister and her husband are going with us... this will be our first cruise with anyone besides our son (who went on our first two cruises with us) and I will really enjoy having my sister to do thing with this time around... My husband is content to sit and listen to his books from the library on his MP3 player and he loads up on them before we leave... My brother-in-law likes to find the golf pro on board and pratice his swing and play with the golf simulator...so... My sister and I are looking forward to spending time on the Serenity Deck, and checking out the new Seaday Brunch menu and a few more new things onboard the Fascination that were not there the last time I sailed on it in 2011...Needless to say I will give a full accounting when I return...

We have developed a false sense of security thinking 'it won't happen to me or mine'... when it certainly can... We think we take all the precautions necessary when in reality there is always one more thing we should and could have done to prevent a tragedy such as this... These parents will forever live with the fact that they were not paying close enough attention to their own child to prevent it's death... how horrible for them... My prayers are with them... Jan you are so right... peaceful and wonderful to have the pool to yourself, yes, and I too am guilty of swimming in our pool alone... it's wonderful... but dangerous... nobody would ever know if something happened to me until they find me at the bottom of the pool... you and I are both old enough to know better and therefore should do accordingly... Safe swimming my friends and safe sailing!!!

Congrats!!!! Continued happy cruising!!!!

Sarge, my prayers and thought go to you and your family in the lost of your daughter... there are never words to express at the lost of a child period! Not for you and your family nor for the family of this precious one lost in this pool on board the Carnival ship... Accidents happen... nothing more nothing less... God does always have a plan we may not know it for years to come, but He always knows... it's hardest to trust Him when these situations are fresh in our minds and the pain is fresh in our hearts. The verse that comes to my mine is: Be still and know that I am God... If we as humans can remember and rely on this one statement, we can have hope. God bless you in the loss of your baby and God bless this family in the loss of this precious six year old.. My prayers are with you all...And praying for you and your friends as well, Shon...

Jan... Loved this post!!! We are kindred sailing spirits... If it were up to me I would book a cruise a month.. In fact I do not know why the cruise lines do not do a promotion called Cruise of the Month Club... Kind of like the Fruit of the Month Club idea that my sister in law is so fond of sending me for Christmas but... this would be so much more fun... Buy 12 cruises... oh the mere thought makes me starry eyed... Have fun... We set sail on November 11th... our sixth cruise and for the first time my sister and her husband are going with us.. This will be their sixth as well but they've always gone on Norwegian... and we've always gone on Carnival... so they are coming with us this time and we have promised to go with them on their next Norwegian cruise... Bon Voyage to you and your daughter....

Congratulations!!! Keep on crusin'!!!!

Welcome to Cruise Crazies Lucy!!! I hope you enjoy your stay and make yourself at home!!!! We were in Grand Cayman in February 2012... and loved it!!! We love cars so we booked the tour of the car museum... It was fantastic... some very speical vehicles not seen elsewhere... If you aren't into cars, 7 mile beach is beautiful!!! The Tortuga Rum Factory tour is great as well... Our shore excursion on Cozumel was the America's Cup Regatta...We have our own sail boat and really enjoyed sailing aboard a real America's Cup comptetition sail boat...They have two boats that actually were part of the America's Cup racing teams, including Dennis Connor's Stars and Strips the winner from 1988. Enjoy your trip!!!

I hope so for the sake of the family members left behind to mourn. They need closure and without remains to bury, that closure is hard. My husband's uncle was on the USS Greyback submarine during WWII when it sank. It was never recovered, and my grandmother-in-law never accepted the fact that her son was gone and not coming home from the war. She always had hope until her dying day that he would return. So... My hope & prayer is for the families, that the bodies will be recovered.

As someone who gets migraine headaches from cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke.. to have to go to the hospital after being 'unintentionally' exposed to that type smoke even accidentally can ruin a vacation for me and cause me to have to spend my time in the sick bay... Not a good deal for me... So the fewer places someone can smoke on board a ship the better for me... I have to be realistic and know that all smokers will not comply with smoking rules and there will always be the odd few who will be rude no matter what you say or do... so .. I try to avoid those 'smoking' areas and make sure that my cabin has been a smoke-free environment...

On our cruise we started out at $329 per person for an Ocean View Cabin on a 5-day cruise... we are now at $162 per person... so... Needless to say... I am very happy with this price reduction from Carnival...

All I can say is AMEN!!! You are not going to see the people again anyway... so what difference does it make? You are either a participant in life or life will pass you by. You can do something or gripe about 'what might have been.' That applies to everything you do or do not do. You cannot blame it on anyone but yourself. You are given one life to live... It's up to you what you do with it... You can sit around and complain about what you don't have or you can work hard and make something of yourself... Get on that boat and live... Get off that boat and continue to live... Have fun... you only have one life and it gets shorter every day... Remember it's not about the storms in your life, it's about learning to dance in the rain!!!

I booked earlier in the year for a cruise in November with Carnival... So far, I've had three price reductions... If they keep going with the super sales... They will soon be paying me to go on the cruise!!! Keep it up!!! LOL...

I can sing, I can dance, but I'm a red-head (okay today I'm a red-head who knows what I will be tomorrow) but... I'm too old.. *sigh* story of my life.. My best friend's son is on the Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Sea's as part of the Cast and Entertainment Crew.. He is a very talented young man and I am so proud of him... So, if you are booked on the Vision of the Seas.. and happen to see Wade Lowman ... that's 'my' boy!!!! okay so he's not mine but... LOL... He's the best!!! It would be a wonderful opportunity for some young person trying to get started in show business... to have this opportunity... and to travel all over the world and get paid for it... Wade had been to Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Scotland, England, and several other places... He will soon be moving back to Miami and be on the Miami to the Bahamas run... He loves it! Singing and dancing my way off... Later all... Karen

So far, our favorite activity has been the America's Cup Regatta in Cozumel ... It was so much fun... We have a 25' Catalina Sailboat and sailing the big boat was a thrill beyond words and being able to sail actual America's Cup competition boat was a dream come true... I will book this activity again when in Cozumel...