No Bermuda for us!

When we arrived at the dock last Friday, we found out we were going to San Juan, St. Thomas, and Grand Turk instead of Bermuda.  That was just fine with us because the hurricane was heading straight for Bermuda and spared the USA entirely.  Bermuda got a pretty direct hit and the port closed.  Glad we didn't go there.

Instead we had smooth sailing and lovely weather the entire time.  The Carnival Sunshine is a beautiful ship. The staff, food, entertainment, and cabin were all top notch.  In fact, it's now one of our favorite ships, and we are probably going to go on her again in the near future.  Soon she will be moved to Charleston, then Norfolk, and then NYC.

We also got 25% off a future cruise because of the changes to this cruise, so we booked the Carnival Victory in May to Bermuda.  That should work since there are no hurricanes in May. It seems like half the people on this ship did the same, so I think we'll run into a lot of the same people.

I haven't weighed in yet.  I'll do that tomorrow morning, but I'm sure I will have gained some.  Because we don't spend money on holidays or Shabbat, there were four out of eight days when we did not buy any alcohol.  That helped.  We walked and took stairs when possible, so i hope that helped, too.

Now we are just relaxing at home and trying to catch up on lots and lots of TV that we missed in the last 8 days.  Here are some pictures from the cruise.

Porthole cabin 1414 is huge!

Lovely big atrium with glass elevators.

Enjoying music in the Red Frog Pub the first night during the Rock the Promenade event.

In Red Frog Pub

Jaime Dee, our excellent cruise director from Detroit.  One of only 2 lady cruise directors in the Carnival line.

Walking the deck on the first sea day.

Towel animal the second night

We bought the spa package for the Thermal Suite and enjoyed it every afternoon.

We won a ship on a stick to add to our collection because we got all the Disney trivia right.

My first cocktail, a Mai Tai in the lobby bar

Looking out over the ship from the Serenity Deck up top, forward.

Three decks, a pool, a hot tub, and a bar comprise the gorgeous Serenity Deck, for adults only, on this ship.

Passing El Morro fortress as we sail into San Juan harbor.

Capitol building in San Juan

Posing with the ship.

We rode the free, local, city bus.  A street scene from the bus.

A school

Fort San Cristobal.  We remember touring it last time we were here.

It's a short ride to El Morro.  We toured that one last time, too.  This time we did not get off the bus.

A museum we hope to hit next time we are here.

Breakfast the morning we docked in St. Thomas

Taking our morning walk on deck 10

Views of St. Thomas from the ship.  The cable cars to the top of that hill are close to the dock, but we did it with Evey in 2003 when we were here before. We didn't get off the ship at all.

Allure of the Seas was on the other side of that island in the harbor.

The beauty of staying on board is that you have the ship almost all to yourself.

We played golf.

Mark won.

We swam in an empty pool.

It was very cold, but the day was very hot.

The hot tub felt nice after the cold pool.

Mark forgot to pack a bathing suit, so he bought this one in the gift shop.  i think it looks great.

Napping a little before lunch.

View of St Thomas from our portholes as we sailed away.

Ready for dinner

Tuesday night we had our specialty dinner in the Italian restaurant.

The food was good, but not as good as in the Tuscan Grille on the Constellation.

Listening to the band in the pub after dinner.

Deja Vu was one of the best bands on any ship.  Everyone enjoyed their performances, especially that of this lead singer.

Second elegant evening and a drink at the outdoor pub venue.

On our last sea day, we were surprised to see the deck taken over by towel animals!

Every deck chair was used.

View of Grand Turk.  Last time we were here, we just walked off and swam.  Today we will take a bus tour.

Every day we listened to an hour of our audio book, The Last of the Mohicans.

Our bus tour took us to the place honoring John Glenn's splashdown point off the coast.

Salt used to be a major export, but now they gather it only for use on the island.

Semi wild donkeys are all over the island.

The lighthouse at the extreme end of this small island.

Beautiful water

Visiting a church.

The national museum of Turks and Caicos Islands.

The mystery of this wreck is that it might be Columbus' Pinta.

Heading back to the ship for a late lunch.  The Carnival Glory is next to us.

Mark danced at the late night buffet and deck party, but I wasn't feeling well, so I just watched.

On the last sea day we made our donations and danced for charity.

Me with the cruise director Jaime.

Saturday morning, back in Port Canaveral, we were docked next to the Disney Fantasy and the Carnival Valor.

Our zone has been called, so off we go.  It was smooth getting on and off this ship.