Meet "The Cruisers"... The New Addicts in the Family
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Morning- Time for some Fun
Everyone slept much better and was already feeling the improvement of the swaying of the ship. Allie felt much better and was herself again and now completely enjoying the cruise. We were up and ready in our matching Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts, Cat in the Hat hats and Crazy Blue hair by 8:00AM for our Dr. Seuss Character Breakfast in the London Dining Room. We had an 8:30AM reservation and left a little early to take pictures.
My very own Thing 1 and Thing 2.
The original Thing 1 and Thing 2!
Gigi Shirley and Poppy as Thing 1 and Thing 2!
Once we got in the dining room the Maitre D' did not have us as a complete group and did not have a table large enough for 7 so we had to have a boy table and a girl table. I was frustrated at first but it turned out to be a good thing as we were placed on the main isle and we could see the characters much better. These reservations become open on Embarkation day and there is usually a table set up with a staff member on the entrance to the Lido Deck on Deck 9. Be sure to let them know if you have a large party and would like to sit together. It is an additional cost of $5 per person but it is worth it in my opinion. The food is fabulous and themed with Dr. Seuss and the kids (and adults) just LOVE it!
The Boy Table!
The Girl Table!
My Thing 1... she loved the blue wig!
My lovely family of FOUR! Love them all so much!
The kids immediately got excited and acting silly. Daddy told them that this was the time to act wild and crazy and of course, this is the one time they actually listened. We sat down and ordered and each got a unique and special item off the specialized menu. Natalie ordered the Cat in the Hat pancakes and Luke ordered the Green Eggs and Ham. Both of the kids had a great time filling out the Dr. Seuss booklet that was provided.
This face is PRICELESS!
Luke was not quite sure about the Green Eggs and Ham!
Once the food was served and we all had a chance to eat, the characters from the Dr. Seuss books all came out one by one for pictures. This was special as they also gave the kids their "Autograph" with a stamp. Natalie LOVED this so much and still says it was her favorite part of the cruise.
Love this one! Luke was a little unsure!
Poor Luke had to sit this one out!
Davis-Klingsick group with The Cat in the Hat and Sam I Am!
This was SO MUCH FUN!
Towards the end of the character meet and greet Luke got excited and knocked over one of the large Cat in the Hat displays and broke off it's tail and a piece of it's neck. I thought we would make it through the whole cruise without an accident of this type but... NOPE! Luke got in trouble and Poppy explained to the wait staff our apologies and offered to pay for any damages. I too went back to the Maitre D' and expressed my apologies later that afternoon. Luckily the display was made of Styrofoam so it was not a big deal but the wait staff was very nice and understanding. I tip my hat to them as they were the best group of waiters and hostesses we had seen all cruise and very professional.
After breakfast Gigi took Natalie "shopping" on the ship at the FunShops since Natalie didn't want to stay in Cozumel the day before. Gigi was so sweet as she got Natalie a stuffed bear we named Triumph and Luke a shark we rightfully named Kirk! We also were able to get some itinerary T-shirts as they went on sale at 10:00AM and despite this sale being on Sunday I did get to experience a BLACK FRIDAY type of shopping as the people went crazy as the worker unveiled the tables of $10 shirts. This made me laugh as I thought I would avoid all of that madness this year!
Then we went to a much anticipated event of Towel Animal folding and making demonstration. Allie and Luke even went up on stage to get a more personalized experience. Chris and I sat in the audience and we all made an elephant and a cute little dog. Both of the kids enjoyed this but lost interest as the steps got more complicated. I would recommend this for older kids of 10-16 as the folding process is detail and tricky, but a LOT of fun!
Towel Folding demonstration!
Love this face!
They made an elephant!
We then stayed for the Towel Animal Theater (puppet show) which was adorable. The towels came to life and did singing and dancing and even some jokes: "For the love of fabric softener" was my favorite. It was a very cute show and I would recommend it for all ages!
We then split up and decided to walk around the ship with Luke as my parents did their own thing. Chris decided to go to a Fact or Fiction trivia and I met up with my family to play mini-golf with the kids. This time the course was packed with kids and a few families. We all took turns playing and while Luke got frustrated at first, once I told him to putt the ball in the hole he would simply pick it up and take it to the hole and he was fine. I really enjoyed this time with my family as I watched us all have fun. I would recommend you go to the mini golf earlier in the cruise before people know it is there to have less crowds. It was so crowded we all had to share 2 clubs and 2 balls which was a little annoying.
Daddy and his kiddos!
Love my beautiful family!
Luke wanted to DRIVE the golf ball... not putt it!
Poppy was showing off his super golf skills!
He got better as the game progressed!
Afternoon- Tea and Trivia
We all wanted to go to the 12:30PM movie trivia so we grabbed the kids a sandwich at the deli on the way to the Casino Bar on Deck 5 where most of the trivia games were held. This helped hold them over until after the trivia when we all had lunch. I was able to get my last Guy's Burger and it was the best of the entire cruise. We also got some tacos to split from Blue Iguana and Natalie discovered she LOVED these tacos and ate them all. The Triumph was offering a Chocolate Extravaganza Buffet from 12-2PM in the aft buffet and we were even able to sample so specialty chocolate offerings. We had to wait in a VERY long line of 200-400 people so I would highly recommend getting their early if this is your type of thing.
We saw the Carnival Freedom passing us as they left Galveston on the previous day for the Western Caribbean! So cool to pass a ship like this! Maybe we will be on the Freedom soon... who knows!
After lunch we went to the main pool deck nearby to dance and groove at Groove for St. Jude. This is a deck party where you can sing and dance as you donate to St. Jude Research Hospital. If you donate $10 you get a shirt and a bracelet. Our cruise director challenged the ship that if 300 of the 3,500 guest would donate $10 he would donate $100 of his own and there ended up being 457 people donate. It is all profit for St. Judes and I love that Carnival is helping by donating the shirts and bracelets. We love this and so did the kids. They were able to dance in the warm hot sun and they loved the songs. Even now they are singing "Celebrate good times c'mon".
Groove for St. Jude
After this Chris was tired so wanted to nap and we would meet up at the Love and Marriage Gameshow at 2:15PM. Unfortunately, I was never able to meet up with Chris as we just missed each other in the theater but I was able to sit out on the promenade deck with the kids in the glowing sun as they gave us a "presentation" of our day in Cozumel. The kids ran up and down the promenade decks and got brochures of shore excursions and told us all about them!
It was now time for FRIENDS trivia and we all did very well. It just so happened that is was almost identical to the FRIENDS Trivia on The Magic so I wanted Allie to win. She was very close but spelled one name wrong which meant she was 19/20 and someone else won. Chris tried to talk the entertainment staff into giving her a medal but they didn't have any.
Time for an afternoon snack of grilled cheese and pickles!
Then we hurried off to Tea Time since it ran until 4PM. We were late at 3:40PM but I asked the servers for fresh desserts and they were nice enough to go and find us some. Luke LOVED this so much and chose his own tea and did an amazing job! Again, you really need to check this out in the aft dining room of most ships at 3PM on sea days!
My parents wanted to walk around and see the wake again so we all headed up to deck 10. The kids wanted to jog around the track so myfamily took our kids so we could enjoy 15-20 minutes of peacefulness. This is Chris and I's absolute favorite part of ANY ship so this was a blessing to us for sure. The kids raced Gigi and Poppy nearly 8 times around this jogging track and then asked to race daddy. The jogging track on The Triumph is 11 laps for each mile which is fairly small even for a cruise ship! Natalie and Luke both won and we were all sweaty. It was time to go back to the room and get ready for dinner.
Chris and my view for 20 minutes... It was pure bliss!
Natalie and Luke loved the wake too!
Time for a race with Poppy!
Time for dinner!
Look at that face... He is in a GOOD mood!
Evening- "No Soup for You"
The classic Seinfeld quote of "no soup for you" proved to be true for me as the evening did not go as I had hoped or planned. We went to the Taste Bar early so Chris could play the NFL trivia and we tried out another $5 drink. The Taste Bar offers these $5 drinks from 5:30-8:30PM each night and they are a steal. Be sure to check them out! Chris did well in the NFL trivia but did not win. The Taste Bar was offering Red Frog Pub food and it was delicious! Red Frog Pub is not available on The Triumph but on other ships such as The Magic and The Breeze. It has a la carte items and is very tasty especially for an afternoon or late night snack.
We went to dinner and got another long rectangle table and we were crowded. Luke was in high spirits but as the meal progressed he had to use the potty, for what turned out to be multiple times. As they were bringing out the main entrees he had to go so I took him. By the time I got back to my meal it was cold, which was a shame as the Tiger Shrimp Creole was easily the best entree I had on the cruise. Then as soon as we ordered dessert Natalie had to go and I decided we would take her to Camp Ocean for the farewell party and t-shirt painting she wanted to go to. It took a lot longer than I thought and I ended up missing the dessert. Luckily Chris took it to the room but my last meal on board was not as good as I would have hoped! But sometimes, you just HAVE to play the mom card and that time was NOW! I love my babies and I would not change it for the world!
After I finished eating my dessert on my bed Luke asked to go to the Dive in Movies so we changed clothes and went and got a seat as sometimes the deck chairs are hard to come by. As a GOLD Carnival cruiser we also got a label pin, 1/2 liter bottle of water and a FREE DRINK coupon. We used this coupon as we watched the movie with Luke.
The movie was the Minions which we had never seen and Luke chowed down on his popcorn as he was all wrapped up in the blankets we checked out from the towel bar. At 9:45PM I had to go and pick up Natalie from her party and she had a BLAST. She decorated her own shirt and it was adorable. I went back out to the movie and Luke had finished his popcorn and was asking for more. Of course, I said no and within minutes he was asleep. We looked for my family who went to the main show and was going to meet us but never saw them so we went back to our room. It turns out that the main show Wonderful World was about 1:20 long. Plan accordingly, as my family still had to pack their suitcases and place them outside their door by 11:00PM and the show was not over until nearly 10:30PM (started at 9:00PM).
At the very last minute I bought some pictures and then I too headed back to the room for bed. We were doing self assist debarking so I had not packed anything. If you have very little luggage, I would advise you to do self assist as it is a LOT easier than going with your zone to debark the ship and then find your luggage. Plus you do not have to pack the night before and have it out by 11PM. In my opinion, that really cramps your style on the last night of the cruise.
It was the BEST day of the cruise so far and the kids were loving EVERY minute of it... Too bad tomorrow it is all over. This day would turn my kids into cruise lovers and addicts! All 7 of us had a GREAT day and its hard to believe the cruise is over in just a few hours!
Tomorrow it is back to the reality (Especially since Chris had to be back at work by 11:00AM). Thank you Lord for the blessings of this cruise and the tremendous time we all had! Just 13 months until we embark with our kids again! And believe me... they are already counting down the time!
Next Up... Debarkation
God is good... All the time!
