Monday, August 5, 2013

Fun in the Sun 2013- Sea Day #1

Monday, July 29, 2013 
A Little Bit of Everything 
 
After a wonderful evening of sailing down the Mississippi River we had reached the Gulf of Mexico around 4-5 am. When Chris and I woke up around 6:30am we were looking at the deep blue waters of the northern part of The Gulf! It was absolutely beautiful and drinking coffee on our balcony was perfect.
 
Coffee on the Balcony in THE GULF... Pretty Blue waters! Calm as glass!
 
Before we headed to Brunch I went browsing in "The Fun Shops" to check out today's deal. I also purchased a "Unlimited Bubbles" card for unlimited Cokes while on board. I thought I might be able to make it a week without a coke fix but the first 24 hours proved me wrong since the only complimentary drink the ship served was SUPER SOUR lemonade. In the long run this worked out a lot better for me. We also just walked around casually exploring the ship! It hard to imagine that 3600+ passengers and 1200+ crew are on the ship too! Crazy!
 
This digital map was supposed to show where on our itinerary we were but it was a little off...
 
 
After this we went to the Punchliner Comedy Brunch with the ships comedians. This was really neat but I was expecting a comedy HOUR not just 5 minutes. They had paid comedians on the boat for nightly entertainment and they basically used this brunch time to promote their show that evening. At every hour, on the hour, they had the 2 nightly comedians do a SHORT 5-10 act and try to get you to come to their show that evening. We basically got there right after one comedian spoke so we had to wait for the next hour to hear the 2nd comedian. The food was great but the whole idea seemed to be lacking just a bit!
 
After brunch we decided to check out the pool and hot tub scene. The Carnival Conquest has 3 separate pool areas but since it was summer they were really full with KIDS. We decided to go to the far Aft of the ship and go to the Adults Only Pool and Jacuzzi area. This worked out great because there were literally ONLY ADULTS. We were in the hot tub for about 30 minutes before it started to rain. We got out quickly forget about the retractable roof on that part of the ship that allows the pool and hot tub to be covered in the event of rain!
 
It's Pool Time!
 
 
After this we went to a Cooking Demo put on by the superior chefs on board that work in "The Pointe Steakhouse" which is a private secluded restaurant on board that cost a small nominal fee to eat there. We wanted to go to the Steakhouse so we thought this would be a great test-run. There were 6 chefs who were labeled as being known worldwide for their cooking. This demo came with samples and even recipes to try to make these dishes at home. They served some amazing dishes but my favorites were "Mushroom Cappuccino" and "Tiramisu". They were delicious and I wish I would have been able to have a full serving instead of a small amount! They were both some of the best food I have EVER had!
 
We were told that these two chefs have cooked for President's in the White House!
It was pretty cool
!

Mushroom Cappuccino... It was AMAZING!

Tiramisu... I could have taken 4 more of these, they were DELICIOUS!  
 
This chef was labeled as "The Rachael Ray of The Conquest" and he lived up to this title!
 
After this we decided to go to the on board Art Auction. We had never done anything "high class" like this so we thought it would be a fun experience... in our shorts and flip-flops of course :)! It was a lot of fun and we even won some free art that will be shipped to us in a few weeks.
 
Showing our "High Class" getting ready for the Art Auction
 
We then decided to check out the Grand Buffet on the Lido deck. I remember not really liking the buffet on our last cruise but I wanted to try it out this time anyway. It was about average for buffets but I would still prefer non-buffet food.
 
During the mid-afternoon we went to HASBRO THE GAME SHOW which was sponsored by Hasbro Games and Carnival Cruise Lines. This was a larger than life version of common board games made by Hasbro such as Sorry, Operation and Connect Four. We were not chosen to play on stage since we were sitting in the balcony but we now know to sit on the lounge floor to get chosen so we will be prepared for Episode 2 on Wednesday.
 
It was now time to start getting ready for Formal Night in the Main Dining Room and the Captain's Party on the Promenade deck. Once we were all dressed up and decked out we went to take some professional pictures offered by photographers on the boat then it was on to the Captain's party. 

My handsome Hubby all dressed up... I LOVE IT!
 
This was really neat because we were the 1st couple to be able to meet the ACTUAL captain of the ship! He was very nice and has been with Carnival for nearly 15 years! I was highly impressed.
 
Us with the Captain of The Carnival Conquest
 
Chris and our Cruise Director, Cory Rodgers... He was pretty funny!
 
Dinner in the Renoir Dining Room was Lobster and Prime Rib, amongst others, and they were all delicious! In fact, I think we actually got our moneys worth for the whole cruise just by eating on this night. During the last dessert portion of our meal, we were able to get up and dance on the dining room floor with other couples. It was very romantic!


 

Chris and I dancing in the Renoir Dining Room.
 
 
 
We then went to the main entertainment of the night which was performed by PLAYLIST PRODUCTIONS called "The DIVAS". This was a musical production of music from female vocal artists such as Celine Dion, Christian Aguilera and Beyoncé. It was a really good show and both Chris and I really enjoyed it! We liked it so much that we were even able to meet the cast afterwards and take a few pictures! In addition, we spent several small moments in the casino all day but overall for Monday we were up by $45!
 
We wrapped up the evening in the comedy club and then came back to our room for Room Service. The Comedy Club was much cleaner than the previous evening and was pretty funny! The Room Service was lacking a little bit and seemed a little worse than last time... but it was after midnight so I cut them some slack!
 
It was a fantastic day of just relaxing and enjoying each as well as having lots of fun in and around the ship! We are so blessed to have this opportunity! Thank You, Lord for this trip and the time with each other!
 


God is Good... ALL the TIME!

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