The World’s Longest Miracle Review, Part 8featured
We slept in again today. We were anchored a bit off of Half Moon Cay when I awoke, and Stephanie and I were still debating on how to spend the day. I’m not a beach fan (unless they’re at very nice resorts). I’ve touched ocean water once, in Antigua, and that was because Stephanie promised me that there were no fish there. And I only put my feet in. I don’t eat fish, I don’t swim with them. I even thoroughly disliked the much loved, National Geographic award winning Magen’s Bay in St. Thomas. In fact, I thought that was amongst the worst. The ocean grosses me out. Stephanie’s perfect cruise would include all private-islands or places with amazing beaches. She’ll spend as much time in the ocean as possible and as much time on the beach as possible.
So, unsurprisingly, I wanted to spend an hour or so on Half Moon Cay and then head back to the boat. Why lay out on a crowded beach when I’d have an empty Lido deck and empty pools back on the boat? Stephanie wanted to spend the entire day…or at least until 2pm…on the beach. She spent weeks looking at pictures at HMC, psyching herself up for this. Everyone told us it would be our private island paradise…the most beautiful place ever.
Our first glimpses of HMC were off our balcony. We noticed many dark spots in the bright blue water. I thought they were reef or algae. Stephanie things they were stingrays. We never did figure it out. From our balcony, we saw long stretches of white, sandy beaches and plenty of bright green foliage clashing with the blue skies and water. It didn’t look like any rain was in our future today! And it looked crowded already.
We had a quick breakfast up on the Lido and then went to Mom and grandma’s room to get Mom. HMC is fully HC accessible (they even have special wheelchairs to transport people on sand and all of the tenders are kind of HC accessible…there is an accessible area on the tender, but I don’t see how someone confined to a wheelchair would get off the tender on the island because the tender debarks on the lower level of the tender), but grandma decided the beach wasn’t for her and it was too hot anyways, and spent the morning resting and watching movies. We likely weren’t going to spend more than an hour or two on the island, anyways. So we went down to the A-deck to grab a tender. Early in the morning, everyone had to go to the Phantom to get a ticket, but since we slept in, there was no need. We barely waited in line to board.
I was already wearing SPF 15, but the second we got on the tender, I applied SPF 50. The sun rays here are very direct and it doesn’t take long for the sun to make your skin hot.
The tender ride wasn’t more than 10 minutes and we got off the tender at the welcome center. Immediately near the welcome center is a centro, a bar and a few shops. It looked almost like a civilized area instead of a private island. We didn’t realize it at the time, but there was a tram to take us to the food pavilion, which was a shorter walk to the beach than the walk we took.
We looked around the shops a bit, stopped at the bar so Mom could get a diet Coke (the bars are run by the ship and charge to your S&S. Coke cards are accepted) and then walked towards the beach looking for chairs. I don’t think I mentioned that Carnival has new chairs up on the Lido deck, but they do and they’re very nice. The old chairs are now on HMC’s beaches. On our way, we encountered many misting stations, which provided a cool respite from the scorching heat outside.
Now, the beach was packed. It was nearly noon and though Stephanie was ticked that we couldn’t find any chairs, let alone three chairs together, it was our fault for getting off the ship so late. I didn’t care, but I didn’t want this to ruin Stephanie’s trip. We ended up grabbing a high table with four bar chairs and it was perfect for us. We were right near the “I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever” bar for quick bar service, near the activities with the cruise staff, and close enough to the beach and ocean that Stephanie could swim and not have a far walk back to us. It ended up being perfect for us.
We ordered a few Miami Vices from the very limited bar menu and settled in. I sat out at our table and sunned while Stephanie went into the water (Mom eventually joined her). Stephanie tried to get me in the water by promising me there were no fish there, but moments after that exchange, everyone started gathering in the water a few feet away from her. What were they looking at? Yep. Big fish. Sam, Leonnie and Kyle were having a sand castle building competition near the bar and that looked like fun. I stayed in my spot with my drink and took it all in. We had been there for just less than an hour and I had to put my towel over my shoulders because even with SPF 50, I was burning already.
Now, at this point, my SLR camera died and I forgot the extra battery in the room. I had to go with my point-and-shoot until I could get back to the boat and was kind of bummed because there were many awesome photo ops that my P&S couldn’t handle as well as my SLR does.
We hung out at the bar for another hour or so and then decided to grab lunch and go back to the boat. It’s a long walk to the dining pavilion on a confusing path. Thankfully, there are many maps to help you find your way. We also stopped at a “photo stop” hut to take our picture with the boat in the background. I wish my SLR was working for this.
The dining pavilion is a large, airy hut that’s often crowded. The food service area is surrounded by many smaller picnic huts and a small beverage hut. Tropical flowers surrounded all of the little huts, and really the entire island. There’s plenty of foliage and flora here, and it really does make the island feel like a tropical hideaway. They offered usual grill fare, as well as some salads, fruit and dessert. I grabbed a hot dog, some couscous and some cantaloupe, but I wasn’t really hungry so I picked at it and decided to eat lunch with grandma later. Stephanie and Mom thought the food was really good, though. Outside the dining pavilion, we found Sara, our server from our January cruise. I think she was a little miffed that we didn’t request her, but she was very happy to see us and catch up with us and we were so happy to be remembered in a positive way by so many staff.
After lunch, we all decided to go back to the boat. It was still pretty early and we barely spent two hours or so on the island, but we were all very hot. We didn’t want to walk all the way back (it’s a very long island and a long walk from even the middle of the beach to the dining pavilion) in the heat, so we waited for the tram to take us back to the welcome center and then hopped on a tender back to the boat.
From the tender, we tried to get a picture of our balconies. If you look at the picture below, the top row of balconies in the recessed area, if you count the first balcony from the right in the recessed area and count six in, that entire area was ours. We had most of the recessed area between our two balconies. This meant we could see into the balconies of others in the extended parts of the ship, so if you plan on doing some naughty business with your partner on the balcony, many of them aren’t as private as they seem.
We were quickly back on the ship and Mom and Stephanie went to see if grandma was hungry for lunch and I went to go grab the extra battery for my camera and charge the dead one before meeting them up at Horatio’s for lunch.
Stephanie and I went swimming after lunch and while the water in the adults-only pool was cold the entire week to this point, it was very warm today (probably from the heat of the direct sun) and we ended up going into the pool shower, which was ice cold. The tiles on the edge of the pool were scorching and probably could have resulted in first or second degree burns if sat on. We made sure our flip flops were near the pool so we didn’t have to walk on the super hot tiles or ground. Mom and grandma sat out and watched us swim for awhile (and had a few ice cream cones…that soft serve is GOOD!) and then headed back inside because it was just too hot.
We stayed in the pool for awhile before going back to the room to rest and shower. The last tender back to the ship was at 4:15 and we were scheduled to leave at 5:00. Stephanie had this thing where she absolutely had to go up to the “secret deck” and I absolutely had to go with her, so we went up to see sailaway, which ended up being delayed by quite a bit. It wasn’t such a “secret” because there were at least 15 other people there. I didn’t see what was so special about it- we could see everything here from our balcony…and what’s the point of a balcony if you’re going to head out to other decks to look around anyways? We stayed until we started to sail away. Stephanie got mad at me because I wanted to leave and watch this from the balcony, but that’s what we did.
It was just as well that we left early because with our delayed departure, it was almost dinner time anyways. We wanted to book an excursion for the Bahamas tomorrow and the excursions deck closed during dinner so Mom and Stephanie ran down to the desk to get our tickets and I met them down there, and then we headed down to the Bacchus for dinner. I’ve been reading a lot about the Bacchus dining room recently on CC and yes, it’s ostentatious in decor, but really- what does it matter? I read the RCL boards a lot for research purposes (we may or may not try the Oasis at some point just to try it) and every time they bring up Carnival’s decor, a picture of the Bacchus is always posted. And then a picture of RCL’s dining room and the words “Wow factor,” which Stephanie makes fun of frequently. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I go to dinner, I focus on the people I’m with and what I’m eating. I don’t stare off into the decor while I’m eating or talking to my family or table mates (except for maybe the first night…). I don’t see why this is a big deal. And for what it’s worth? It might be our fondness for the Miracle, but I actually like the Bacchus. There’s some really pretty statues in there if you look beyond the grapes.
Dinner tonight was rather good. Stephanie started with the Potage Saint Germain, which she thought was very good, and then had a fruit cocktail, which she thought was starting to lack freshness. For dinner, she had the Coq au Vin and thought it was very tasty. Mom started with her usual shrimp cocktail and caesar salad, and had the lasagna for dinner. It was a large portion and she thought it was good, but not great. I started with the spinach crepes, which were much better than the last time I had them a few years ago (I believe this menu is only for 8-night or longer cruises…we went to the supper club on this night on our last 8-night cruise). I also had the fruit cocktail and agreed that it was good, but the fruit was a little too soft and sweet. As the week went on, the quality in produce slipped a little more. I’d have a veggie plate from room service nearly every day and the cauliflower was nearly inedible the last three or four days because it looked off. For dinner, I had the NY Strip Steak, which was, again, overcooked. It’s nearly impossible to get a medium/medium-well steak anywhere on a Carnival ship other than Chateaubriand night or up at the supper club. The NY Strip Steak was the one missing from the first night menu, and replaced a beef tenderloin dish. It was good otherwise than the overcooked issue. For dessert, Stephanie and Mom both had the almond/phyllo rolls and thought they were “interesting” tasting. I don’t think they really cared for them. I had the white chocolate bread pudding and it was the best dessert I ate in the MDR all week.
Potage Saint Germain
Crepes filled with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese
Caesar Salad
Fruit Cocktail
Coq au Vin de Chamberlin
Lasagna Bolognese
New York Strip Steak
Almond and Phyllo Roll
White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Tonight was FINALLY the first of the two musical revues. We were worried they cancelled one because we never had them pushed back so far in the week. We went back to the room to grab the Caper (and see our cute new towel animal) and then went upstairs with grandma for dinner. Stephanie left early to grab seats. I know it’s a no-no to save seats at the show, but we were only about 15 minutes (and still nearly 45 minutes early for the show) and we wanted to make sure there was a place for grandma’s wheelchair.
We caught the tail end of the Movie Quote Challenge and had a few drinks before people really started to fill in. I mentioned this before, but you just can’t show up 10 minutes before the show starts and expect to find a seat in the front few rows in the center section (or anywhere on the floor sometimes). There was one seat between Mom and the person next to her and many people would ask if they could try to squeeze two or even three people in. Not unless grandma wanted me sitting in her lap! And then they’d give us (or anyone else who told them that there really was only one seat there) what Stephanie called “bitch eyes” and sulk away. Sorry, I don’t feel bad for you- we’ve been sitting her for 45 minutes!
Generations isn’t my favorite show. It’s not nearly as good as “Rock Down Broadway” or “Ticket to Ride,” but it isn’t as bad as Vroom or “Around the World.” Sherri Hayden and Matthew Cross were fantastic and some of the best singers we’ve seen in awhile. The dancers were fantastic too, and I don’t know how they do what they do, especially in rough seas. And Matthew Cross is VERY good looking. And I’m not just saying that because he came up to me and put his scarf around me during the show 😉 Towards the end of the show, they had to stop for a “safety issue.” We thought one of the dancers might have gotten hurt or something. The show came back on about 10 minutes later. We were thinking of staying for the next show, but decided not to, and headed to the patisserie for some cake. Mom LOVES the cakes they serve at the patisserie. The cakes are fantastically delicious and rich, and the portions are huge for the nominal price (usually around $2/slice). Grandma and I split a slice of strawberry cheesecake and Stephanie and Mom split a slice of carrot cake. Both were excellent.
As we were noshing, a flood of people came out of the Phantom. Apparently the safety emergency was big enough that they cancelled the late show (they’d end up rescheduling it as a matinee later in the week). We’d find out later from one of the show’s engineers that there’s a safety stop on the parts of the stage that levitate and if something gets stuck in there, an emergency stop automatically happens and it won’t go back down, and something got wedged into part of one of the raised parts of the stage and they couldn’t get it reset. The dancers actually performed the last act of the show on a stage that was unevenly lifted up four or five inches in the center. They cut part of the show out to accommodate this during our showing, but it was very difficult for them to finish. No one seemed too upset that the show was cancelled. After some of the crazy posts I’ve read about things people have seen others complain about onboard, I half expected someone to go to the Purser and demand a refund because they couldn’t see the show.
We went down to karaoke after our small sweet nosh to watch the Britney Spears and James Brown auditions. They really seemed hard up to find auditioners for the Legends show. One girl volunteered to do Britney, and only two men tried out for James Brown.
We were all exhausted so we headed back to our rooms. I sat on the balcony and listened to the water lap up against the boat for a bit before heading back in and watching movies with Stephanie.
Up next: Storms Over Nassau, 2.0.
Today’s Lido Lunch Menus
Today’s Lido Dinner Menu
