Our final two days at sea, and there's still plenty to do. I'm sure these two days will pass as quickly as every other day on our cruise. Pretty much like any day on any cruise we've taken. With our first activity starting at 9:30, we got up at 8:15 to have time for our standard "first breakfast" and not have to hurry. For us, this is by far the best way to start our cruise day, whether at sea or in port.
First breakfast
Coffee, croissants, and pastries for our enjoyment. At the top right of the photo is a small container of orange marmalade. That and a little butter goes perfectly with a buttery, flaky croissant. What could possibly make this any better? How about a dazzling view?
Breakfast with this view
Accompanying this view was a cool breeze and the sound of the water rushing by the hull. I could easily sit out here for hours just to take it all in. But we didn't have hours this morning, only a few minutes. I'm not complaining, though. We would be having plenty of fun at our Big Sexy Secret Santa Gift Exchange. We bought a gift in Curacao for the gift exchange, since it would be something unique. Come on, let's head down to deck 5 and meet up with everyone else.
Once again, Josh had arranged for the night club to be our meeting place. With all the space and ample seating, this was perfect for our gift exchange. We added our gifts to an already large pile, and drew our picking order number. The organizers set up a pretty standard "steal" rule where a gift could be stolen twice, then it was safe from any more steals. These types of exchanges are always fun, and it's funny watching people's reactions when their prize find is swiped at the last minute.
Once again, Josh had arranged for the night club to be our meeting place. With all the space and ample seating, this was perfect for our gift exchange. We added our gifts to an already large pile, and drew our picking order number. The organizers set up a pretty standard "steal" rule where a gift could be stolen twice, then it was safe from any more steals. These types of exchanges are always fun, and it's funny watching people's reactions when their prize find is swiped at the last minute.
Josh gets things started
photo by Cindy Newman
Cindy found (and managed to keep) a Mr. and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shaker. I stole this really colorful, iridescent drink tumbler. Everyone seemed to have a blast at the gift exchange, and even the CD made an appearance, bearing a gift cake for Josh and Susan.
Well deserved!
Those candy canes scattered about the tray were individually crocheted by another Big Sexy cruiser for each of us to use as an ornament. There were so many that we got two of them for our tree. Yet another story for our tree that will evoke fun memories each Christmas for us.
With this bit of fun completed, we took our treasures back to the cabin and proceeded to the Pig & Anchor BBQ, instead of brunch in the MDR. This venue is only open for lunch on sea days, so we had today and tomorrow to take advantage of it. The Pig & Anchor is another Guy Fieri partnership food venue that Carnival has on many of their ships. For what is essentially a commercial scale preparation, the barbecue is actually quite good.
Ready for lunch?
Take your pick
Can't decide what you want? Take a little of each. Like Guy's Burgers and the Blue Iguana Cantina, this venue is included in your fare so if you enjoy barbecue, don't miss the opportunity to try it out. Make sure to sample the various sauces, too. With all the different combinations of meats and sauces, I'm sure there will be something to suit your fancy.
Plate #1
Yes, "Plate #1" means there was a second plate. I had the pulled pork, chicken and Andouille sausage (one of them on a bun) with some baked beans. About the time we sat down, Josh, Susan and their daughter showed up, so we invited them to sit at our table. "Risty" showed up a bit later, and we grabbed a chair for him as well.
A new game?
Not content with just eating, "Risty," Josh and Susan decided to form a human chain of sorts, linked by a water bottle and silverware roll. No, not a drop of alcohol was involved, just a love of fun. While Carnival offers many activities on any given cruise day, be it a port day or sea day, I still enjoy just hanging out with our friends. The trivia contests, name that tune, bingo and everything else is fun, but nothing beats the fellowship of friends and family enjoying each other's company.
Full from lunch, Cindy and I returned to the cabin to hang out on our balcony and even take a seaside nap. Why? Because we could! Later in the afternoon, Cindy needed to work on her Clue case files. Remember that from my earlier blog? Today in the Lobby on deck 3, all of the suspects would be available for two questions from each investigator. Cindy had already ruled out several suspects, locations and weapons, so she had a focused list of questions to ask.
During the final sea day tomorrow, the suspect, location and weapon would be revealed. After meeting all the suspects and listening to the other detectives' questions, Cindy was fairly confident she had everything right. She would turn in her form for a drawing. The first correct answer drawn would be the winner.
Tonight is our second of two formal nights so we took our time in the cabin getting ready. I finally managed to capture a few decent sunset shots, since there wasn't much cloud cover today.
During the final sea day tomorrow, the suspect, location and weapon would be revealed. After meeting all the suspects and listening to the other detectives' questions, Cindy was fairly confident she had everything right. She would turn in her form for a drawing. The first correct answer drawn would be the winner.
Tonight is our second of two formal nights so we took our time in the cabin getting ready. I finally managed to capture a few decent sunset shots, since there wasn't much cloud cover today.
Sunset on Day 7
I avoided snacking throughout the day so I could enjoy dinner. Lunch held me over just fine until dinner, and I was ready to see what would catch my eye.
Appetizer: Wild Rice, Gruyere and Country Chicken Soup
Dijon mustard, Chives, Sage, Soft Butter
Of all the appetizers offered tonight, I selected this one to keep it light and save my appetite for the entree. The combination of Gruyere cheese with the mustard and seasonings made this a rich, silky soup.
Main: Filet Mignon
String Beans, Red Wine Sauce
Typically when I see "filet mignon" on the menu, I anticipate seeing the steak wrapped in bacon. My filet didn't come wrapped in bacon, but this did not diminish the flavor or presentation. Cooked exactly as ordered, this filet was tender and loaded with flavor. The green beans had just the right amount of snap that made them a pleasure to eat.
Dessert: Grand Marnier Souffle
Orange creme anglaise
Hhhmmm, interesting. If you look at the photos of my appetizer and dessert, they almost look the same. I can assure you, though, they didn't taste the same. This is another of Carnival's signature desserts, although not as well known as their chocolate melting cake. Between the fluffiness of the souffle and the punch of citrus, this dessert presents many layers of flavor and texture. It's also a lighter dessert, too. (Gotta save room for those late-night grilled ham and cheese sandwiched from Lido)
Now that we were finished with dinner, we changed back into our more comfortable clothes and hustled down to the comedy club to catch Ronnie Bullard's family show. It was every bit as entertaining as his adult show, and Cindy and I had a lot of good laughs from his jokes. We dropped by the Alchemy Bar for a nightcap and tried to figure out what we wanted to do next.
Cindy was feeling the effects of all the accumulated fun and wanted to just relax in the cabin and watch a little TV and read. OK, no worries. I'll find something to occupy my time for another few hours. I ran into a couple of other Big Sexy cruisers who said Josh was also going to call it an early night. So, no Cigars Under the Stars tonight.
Several of us watched Ronnie's adult show and true to form, went up to Lido for our nightly "sammich run." See? Soup and a light dessert helped ensure I still had room for a sandwich...or two.
I returned to the cabin and spent some time on the balcony before retiring for the evening.
Day 8: Our final sea day
What's better than sleeping in with my beautiful wife on a cruise? Very little! We woke up naturally around 9, but I did set my Kindle to wake us up by 9:30 just so we wouldn't sleep our morning away. We wanted to do brunch one more time, so we got dressed and took the elevators down to deck 3 to sign up for a table. We didn't see any other Big Sexy cruisers waiting, so we asked for the first available table. Just a few minutes later we were seated with two other couples and placed our orders.
Now that we were finished with dinner, we changed back into our more comfortable clothes and hustled down to the comedy club to catch Ronnie Bullard's family show. It was every bit as entertaining as his adult show, and Cindy and I had a lot of good laughs from his jokes. We dropped by the Alchemy Bar for a nightcap and tried to figure out what we wanted to do next.
Cindy was feeling the effects of all the accumulated fun and wanted to just relax in the cabin and watch a little TV and read. OK, no worries. I'll find something to occupy my time for another few hours. I ran into a couple of other Big Sexy cruisers who said Josh was also going to call it an early night. So, no Cigars Under the Stars tonight.
Several of us watched Ronnie's adult show and true to form, went up to Lido for our nightly "sammich run." See? Soup and a light dessert helped ensure I still had room for a sandwich...or two.
I returned to the cabin and spent some time on the balcony before retiring for the evening.
Day 8: Our final sea day
What's better than sleeping in with my beautiful wife on a cruise? Very little! We woke up naturally around 9, but I did set my Kindle to wake us up by 9:30 just so we wouldn't sleep our morning away. We wanted to do brunch one more time, so we got dressed and took the elevators down to deck 3 to sign up for a table. We didn't see any other Big Sexy cruisers waiting, so we asked for the first available table. Just a few minutes later we were seated with two other couples and placed our orders.
Eggs benedict with crispy bacon
Properly dressed eggs benedict
Although I've mentioned this before, it bears repeating. When ordering the eggs benedict on the ship, ask for the Hollandaise sauce on the side. Otherwise, it gets very thick and unappealing if it sits under a heat lamp waiting for pickup. I ordered some cheese grits, too, and these arrived on a separate plate.
Cheese grits
These grits were divine! Just the right amount of cheese, the grits had the perfect consistency, not too runny or too thick. Yes, you can order the grits without cheese if you so desire. A nice, hearty breakfast like this would last all day, with only a snack here or there to keep me satisfied until dinner.
Here it is, our last day of the cruise, and we still haven't been on the waterslides. That was about to change, though. We stuffed our towels and sunscreen into our "beach bags" and went up to Lido to find a couple of loungers in the shade near the slides. As expected, Lido was pretty crowded, but what was not expected was to find two seats on Serenity deck, in the shade. Score! And we were that much closer to the stairs leading to the slides.
So, ready to take the plunge and ride the slides? Let's go!
So, ready to take the plunge and ride the slides? Let's go!
How high up are we?
I was happy to see that the short line was moving quickly and we wouldn't be spending too much time just waiting. With two different slides, you have two different rides. The "Twister" is the yellow slide you see in the photo above. It has several loops or spirals that will go in both directions. The orange slide is called the "Drainpipe," although I like to refer to it as the "Toilet bowl," based on the way you swirl around it and exit out of a hole in the bottom.
Here we go!
SPLASH!
Photos from the slides are stills I captured from my GoPro. Cindy and I took turns sliding and filming each other, when we didn't take the GoPro with us on the slide. We took about three trips down each slide, and that was enough for us. Besides, the Groove for St. Jude event was taking place shortly and we wanted to be with the Big Sexy group for a photo. Cindy and I are both proud to be part of the Big Sexy cruisers who raised just over half of the entire ship's donations for that cruise. Yes, you read that correctly. Of the entire amount raised on the Carnival Magic for that week, our group donated just over half of that amount. Wow!
Oh, no! We have to go! The Clue reveal is happening soon, down in the main showroom, deck 3 forward. We need to turn in our guess and hope it gets drawn as the winner. We made it with a few minutes to spare, and dropped our guess into the box. Here comes Simon, the CD, to collect all of the entries. Annnnd we have a winner! A correct suspect, location and weapon. But it wasn't ours. Oh well, it was still fun.
From there we went to the final "Big Sexy" group meeting to close out a wonderful cruise. No we weren't done yet, not by a long shot. We still had one more Cigars Under the Stars tonight. Josh revealed the new t-shirt design for Big Sexy Flashback Voyage 4. Each year has gotten better and better, so I can only imagine what BSFV 4 will be like.
My family and friends will be shocked by this next revelation. Sometime between our last cruise and this one, Carnival made the brilliant decision to add gourmet donuts to their selection of treats. To quote Homer: Mmmmmm, donuts! And the shocking revelation? I didn't buy a single donut! No kidding! Each day we'd pass by and I'd think to my self: Self, you need to try some of these before the end of the cruise. I'd put it off thinking I could always get one the next day. And of course the last day just flew by without me taking the opportunity to buy one...or two.
What would you pick?
Can I have one of each?
I'm going to make it a point to try at least one of these on our next cruise. Maybe I should be more realistic and add "of each" right after the word "one." You know......for "research." Yeah, that's it, I'll do it as a research project! Can any of y'all help me write a grant for this?
One final dinner for this cruise, then we need to pack and have our suitcases outside in the passageway by 10 pm. Since we want to hang out at Cigars Under the Stars and squeeze out every last bit of fun, we'll do this right after dinner and be done with it.
Speaking of dinner....
Appetizer: Caprese Salad
Tomato and fresh mozzarella, balsamico, virgin olive oil, basil
Another favored appetizer, I usually order two of these and share one with the rest of the table. The black discs in the photo are not olives. They are gelled balsamic vinegar pearls. Not pictured are the fresh basil leaves.
Main: Jerk Pork Loin
Slowly roasted pork loin, marinated in island spices and herbs.
It always amuses me when I order this, and the waiter cautions me that "It is very spicy." My standard reply is to smile and say something like "No problem, I'm from Texas and we love everything spicy." If I've had something spicy earlier in the cruise, most of the waiters will remember and change their "warning" to "Mr. Patrick, would you like this extra spicy?"
Dessert: Chocolate melting cake
photo by Cindy Newman
Why not, right? One last chance to enjoy this before we leave. Warm, rich and chocolatey, it was the perfect ending to a perfect dinner. We said our goodbyes to our wonderful tablemates and bade them safe travels home.
By now, we are pretty efficient in packing our suitcases. In no time, we had everything packed and placed our suitcases outside. We'd collect these in the terminal the next morning after debarkation. The rest of the evening was ours to do with as we pleased.
Our first stop? You guessed it...the Alchemy Bar. We listened to one of the bands while our drinks were prepared and told Jovana how much we appreciated her superior service. With time now in fast forward, we took our drinks outside to join our friends for the final Cigars Under the Stars. And what an epic event it was! I'm honestly surprised we didn't have security come by as much as we were laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Good times
It was wayyyy past midnight when we broke up the party. Several of us would have a long travel day ahead, which would probably start early. Hey, I'll sleep on the plane if I have to.
And just like that, our cruise was essentially over. We'd get up the next morning, eat breakfast on Lido (no room service on debarkation day) and depart the ship.
Heading home and final thoughts...
We were up early, at least for us. Being so close to Lido, we easily found a table by the window. Since our flight was for later in the afternoon, we were in no hurry to get off the ship, just to have to wait in the airport terminal to drop our bags off.
As we snaked our way through the lines in the terminal, I heard this voice behind me: "Hey Patrick!" I turned around and Josh was waving to Cindy and me. Susan was right behind him with their daughter in the stroller. I waved back and wished them a safe trip home (all 45 minutes of it).
Customs quickly and efficiently processed us and in short order we boarded a van to the airport. The terminal is close to the airport and less than 10 minutes later our driver dropped us off at the Southwest terminal. We were still more than four hours away from our flight, so we couldn't check our bags just yet. We saw Randy and his wife standing by their suitcases so we had the unexpected pleasure of visiting with them a little more before we truly parted ways.
Once we checked our bags, we found the same restaurant we ate in last time we flew out of FLL. In fact, when we booked this cruise, my first thought was to see if this restaurant was still there. It was! Yay!
La Familia
And just like last time, I had the pork belly tacos. They were every bit as good as I remembered. "Airport food" has come a long way since I first started flying. Heathrow Airport in London (LHR) even has a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Would it be weird if I wanted to connect through LHR on a future flight just so we could try it out?
Pork belly tacos
Black beans and rice
The tacos came with a side of black beans and rice, which were flavorful and seasoned nicely. And one of the nicest things about this whole lunch? The prices were quite reasonable.
We took our time with lunch and even swung by a shop to grab a few snacks for the flight. It's not like we really needed these snacks, but why not? It's all part of the adventure.
Having the airport so close to the cruise terminal is convenient, but one "downside" is the view. We got seated near our gate and I happened to look out the window to see...
Our home for the past week
You'll have to click on the photo to see a larger format. The whale tail in the background belongs to the Magic. If we needed any more confirmation that our cruise was truly over, this was it. Cindy and talked about how much fun we had during this cruise and how amazed we were to be accepted into the Big Sexy cruiser family as quickly and completely as we were. For having met as strangers just a week before, we departed as family.
With a couple of hours yet to go, we were getting caught up on Facebook, e-mail and that sort of thing when we got another pleasant surprise. I had just read an update on Facebook from a scuba club friend of ours and remarked to Cindy that Dave was kinda sorta in the neighborhood.
Well, not exactly. He was in the neighborhood, like walking up to us. "Hey guys, I was wondering if y'all would be on this flight. I just switched to this one from a later flight."
Oh, cool, the "Pichelator" would be joining us on our flight home! Excellent!
With a couple of hours yet to go, we were getting caught up on Facebook, e-mail and that sort of thing when we got another pleasant surprise. I had just read an update on Facebook from a scuba club friend of ours and remarked to Cindy that Dave was kinda sorta in the neighborhood.
Well, not exactly. He was in the neighborhood, like walking up to us. "Hey guys, I was wondering if y'all would be on this flight. I just switched to this one from a later flight."
Oh, cool, the "Pichelator" would be joining us on our flight home! Excellent!
Dave joins the party
Dave told us all about his diving adventures while we told him about our cruise. From his description of the diving he did, I could tell he had a blast. Then again, I've never heard any of his trips being anything less than an adventure.
Our ride home pulled up to the gate and we knew we'd soon be boarding and heading home. Today we'd be on N750SA, a 737-7H4. As we were getting seated, our captain informed us we'd be battling a headwind most of the way home, but we would still arrive very close to our planned time.
We departed on runway 10L and banked our way back west. With mostly blue skies, we'd have a great view for most of the flight.
Departing FLL
People often ask me why I insist on carrying my GPS receiver on every trip I take. Besides keeping a tracklog of our trip, it helps me identify where we are, and allows me to mark certain points to research later.
As my GPSr indicated we were approaching St. Petersburg, I glanced out the window and saw the Skyway Bridge. I only learned its name after getting home and Googling "large bridge near St. Petersburg." Did I tell you how much I love technology?
Skyway Bridge
Even with our flight being slower heading west, it seemed to pass by more quickly with me alternating between visiting with Dave, and glancing between my GPSr and the world outside.
Slower than last time
But still making progress
By the time we got to Houston, cloud cover increased dramatically and it was almost sunset. We made a smooth landing on runway 22 and taxied to the gate. Baggage claim was a bit slower than usual, but with the amount of arriving flights, I could understand why. Cindy and I collected our bags and said our goodbyes to Dave. "See ya soon, Dave."
Luckily, our shuttle bus to the parking lot was just a few minutes away and we got to the car in short order. Very little traffic made our drive home just a short dash down the highway.
Home at last.
Well, there it is, my faithful readers. The end of my series on our Carnival Magic cruise. I truly hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you are a latecomer to this series, no worries. Just click here to go directly to the first blog in this series.
Do you want more? I can help. Below are links to three other series I wrote on our cruises.
Carnival Breeze
Carnival Vista
Carnival Freedom
Coming up next, my views of Tasty Humans.
Until next time...
carpe cerevisi
Luckily, our shuttle bus to the parking lot was just a few minutes away and we got to the car in short order. Very little traffic made our drive home just a short dash down the highway.
Home at last.
Well, there it is, my faithful readers. The end of my series on our Carnival Magic cruise. I truly hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you are a latecomer to this series, no worries. Just click here to go directly to the first blog in this series.
Do you want more? I can help. Below are links to three other series I wrote on our cruises.
Carnival Breeze
Carnival Vista
Carnival Freedom
Coming up next, my views of Tasty Humans.
Until next time...
carpe cerevisi
