Saturday 02-16-08 - My DW and I drove down to Galveston from the Dallas area the night before. After our last cruise, where we barely made the ship as they were pulling up the gangplank, has convinced me to take a more leisurely approach for all future cruises. The idea was to stay at a no frills motel in order to save all our funds for the fun. The thinking was that all we really needed was a place to sleep. We stayed at the Sandpiper and I do not recommend this. Next time, we'll definitely invest a little more in the room and stay at a little nicer establishment. I draw the line at sheets with obvious stains.

Day 1 Sunday - Up early and out of the room by 9:00am. Quick stop at the local Walgreen for last minute this and that's, breakfast at IHOPs on the Seawall, then off to EZ Cruise parking. Arrived at the terminal about 10:45 and on the ship by 11:00. Since my DW is not a US citizen we always get to take advantage of the short line. :) Cabins were not ready until 1:30, so we took advantage of our first opportunity to dine at Sur Mer, and yes, it was as good as everyone warned. I had the fish & chips and my wife had the Ceviche. Great light lunch. We strolled around the Promenade until 1:30 taking in the elegance of this very attractive ship. Much more upscale decor than previous trips. We had booked an inside guarantee category 4A, and were pleasantly surprised to find we had been assigned a 8A balcony. Wow! We had a blast in this room and really appreciate the difference. Thanks Carnival! Since we didn't get much rest the night before we made this first evening simple by eating dinner in the Monet 8:00pm seating. We dined with a delightful mother and daughter from Toronto area. They were reveling in the wonderful weather versus what was happening back home. It was the daughter's first cruise and she was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds. Off to the Welcome Aboard show in the Talouse, then off to bed. Just love sleeping to that rocking motion.

Day 2 Monday - First Sea Day. We are up by 8:00 and as usual I am ready to go by 8:45, while my DW still has another hour or so of beautification to go through(Always worth the wait). As became my pattern throughout this cruise, I occupied my waiting on wifely time by partaking of various gaming options in the Tahiti Casino. Quite a large casino for a cruise ship. Never had to wait for a table, other than a few primetime situations regarding the Texas Holdem table. I won some, lost some, but came out about $100 ahead. This became my pattern throughout the cruise. Overall I was about $500 ahead for the trip, which was a nice way to pay for my port days. Once DW was ready to go we mapped out our day with the Capers and were off. The first disappointment came when we discovered the Classical Music and Tea Time had been cancelled due to some maintenance problem in Alfred's Lounge. Turns out it was cancelled the next day as well. Too bad since this is one of our favorite activities. We enjoyed exploring the ship, in and out of the shops. Found good bargains and had a thoroughly good time. We particularly enjoyed the Boy/Girl group Impromptu which sang in the Main Lobby for most of the cruise. Very talented couple with a wide array of musical offerings. My highlight of this day was the New World Wine tasting. Always enjoy these, and learn something everytime. Had great tablemates for the wine tasting, and I do believe we all left with a slight buzz. Very good wine. We lunched in the Cezanne buffet, and were impressed with the overall upgrade in the food quality since our last cruise three years ago. Carnival has obviously made a conscious effort and it shows. For that matter, there were so many food choices on this ship, we never even got around to the pizzeria, Lido deck grille or the Deli. Just another reason to get back sooner rather than later. First Formal Night. Everyone looked lovely and dashing. Lots of after dinner pictures. We ended up purchasing 5 8x10's ourselves. After dinner, we were again off to the Lobby to listen to a little light music before the main show in the Toulouse. We really enjoyed this show and marveled at the number of costume and set changes. Very talented group. After the show, we went back and enjoyed the Lobby music until about midnight and off to bed. Read more