It is not often we get a chance to live like royalty, so this is quite a treat for us; we never could have imagined how beautiful this room would be. The picture here on the lower left is the two of us sitting at our private bar. Too bad we don't drink; if we did, there would be so much to choose from.

As for Sue Ellen and I, we would rather stay drink free and enjoy all of the activities. Right now that jacuzzi looks awfully inviting, but I think we will wait until it warms up outside; for some reason, we have returned to Charleston, and it is still very cold. We later foud out that they returned to take a woman to the hospital who had a spill on the floor and broke her hip. What a lousy way to mess up a vacation!!!

As you can see on the right, we even have our own dining table our room. I don't think we will go for the room service, so the table will not get much use, but you never know. I'm sure we will find something to do with it.

To the left is a picture of our bathroom sinks, we each get our own. The architecture here is fantastic, and as you can see, the sinks are actually golden colored glass bowls. On the far side of the picture is a door which leads to a very large walk-in closet, which we will put to good use. Inside the closet are special terry robes for each of us, which we might take home with us. They do allow this, for a price of course.

The picture of the jacuzzi in our room does not do it justice. This tub is huge, and I think I could go to sleep in this one. Perhaps a little later, we will fire it up with a few bubbles. If the bubbles start to flow out the door, then we have put in a few many. Kind of sounds like a challenge to me:)

Update: Yes, the jacuzzi is huge; yes it fits two very comfortably, and yes, this will get a lot of use on our cruise.

After a hard day at the wheel yesterday , it is time to relax]; at least long enough to take a picture. Here we are sitting on our couch. Of course, the trip wouldn't be much of an anniversary without the king size bed, and this one is beautiful. That really isn't a mirror above our bed, although it does reflect rather well through the shiny black panels. I'm actually glad that it is not really a mirror; at 54 years old, who wants to wake up and see their toes...Not me.

Now what cruise would be complete without a little towel art by the room steward. Waiting for us on our first night at sea was this terry crustacean, also known as a white lobster. I'm pretty sure this little fellow will land himself in hot water by the time the cruise is over. I expect however, that at some point, he will be reincarnated as some other terry life form. Who knows just what that will be... A dog, or a cat? Perhaps a monkey. We will see what awaits us tomorrow night.

 

The ship has plenty of artwork, as all ships do. Along certain areas of the deck are tile murals like the ones shown here. They are actually a pretty nice touch. The ship also has an art gallery, but we haven't had a chance to look at that yet; perhaps in the morning.

As we continued to tour the ship, we stumbled upon this beautiful background for an individual photo of each of us.

The background you see is actually the curtain in the Universal Lounge. We will be going there later tonight to watch a show. It starts in about an hour, and I think that will be it for the night. After that, it will be time to call it a night and go to bed. Of course, that is all open to change. We may be 20 years older than we were in our first cruise, but we still have plenty of life left in us to everything Carnival Cruise line has to offer.

Today was a day at sea, so we have primarily been wandering the ship. The photo shot at the right was a quiet moment that was ideal for sitting down, watching other people, and looking out at the vast ocean. As I looked out the window, it was obvious how small we really are in this world of ours.

We did go to one show this afternoon however we decided not to take pictures of it, even though it was rather entertaining. They had a contest for the one man on ship with the most hair on his chest. Since I didn't think my 7 hairs would get me very far, I decided not to participate. Besides that, if my daughter Allison ever saw the pictures we could have taken, she certainly would have said something like "ewww".

Sunday, February 13, 2011:

Tonight was formal night on the Canrival Fantasy, and our neighbors from the table next door were kind enough to take this picture of us at the table.

The fantasy crew was also kind enough to bring us an anniversary cake. Well, actually it was a small square piece of a cake, but the thought was nice. Their singing was so-so, but they did a pretty good job considering how many different countries they represented. Just the fact that they all sang in english was impressive.

As we are ready to call it a night, we open our door and walk into our room. What little terry animal will await us tonight? Yep, that is him, our own white frog, complete with two chocolates. Of course, the chocolate is not in the picture, that was devoured by a certain web designer before said web designer's wife was able to break out the camera and take the shot. Ah well, sometimes temptations just gets the best of us.

Monday, February 14, 2011:

Today we visited Freeport. We have actually been to Freeport several times in the past, but this was the first time we took a tour bus to go deeper into the city, so much of what you see below was new to us. Window shopping is always kind of fun, but we haven't quite found what we are looking for yet. Perhaps we will find those items in the one of our next ports.

Of course, today is also our anniversary; 20 years ago today we were married on another cruise ship, the Enchanted Isle, from Commodore Cruise Lines. That line is no longer around, which is unfortunate; it would have been great to celebrate this occasion on the same ship on which we made our vows.

On the left is a picture of our anniversary dinner together. The photo was taken by a young lady who was traveling with her friends on her 2nd cruise. A heartfelt thanks goes out to her. Of course, one of the young ladies at the table really made Sue Ellen's' day when she asked Sue Ellen how she kept her complexion so nice. You could just see her whole day brighten even more than before.

The cruise staff sang a happy anniversary song again tonight, which was good, being as this was in fact our anniversary. They also brought us a piece of fudge cake with a single candle; I think 20 candles would have been a bit much:)

As we head back to our room, we wonder what terry creature will await us. This guy sure has talent; I never thought anyone could make a towel look like a dog. Not quite a Golden Retriever, but still a happy looking creation.

After arriving at our room, it was time to take care of a couple of things before heading off to hear a band in one of the clubs. These guys were fantastic. Everyone looked to be Chinese, but you would never know it from their voices; their rendition of the Bee Gees was absolutely perfect, we even got up to dance for a while.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011:

Ah, my gift of the day from Sue Ellen. In this box are fortune cookies, covered in chocolate. I could be wrong, but I think that I will be putting on quite a bit of weight on this trip. What the heck, you only live once, and I'm going to live this vacation to the max!!!

Early in the morning on Tuesday, our ship enters the harbor of Key West. This was our view as we entered the port, As well as the front of our ship once we finally docked.
After arriving in port, we embarked on a tour through Key West. We switched trolleys on the way home to the one you see on the right. Our driver is sitting in the middle above.
As our tour begins, we see a number of very nice homes, and some of the most unusual plants we have ever seen.
These trees are called Banyan Trees, and the roots actually grow down from the branches, and eventually take root in the ground.
Quite a few buildings and homes in Key West have never been painted, and many have been here for over a hundred years. Once upon a time, if a building was not painted, it was considered to be unfinished until painted. since the building was not finished, taxes could not be collected.
The rest of our time in Key West was spent shopping, and of course eating. The picture below to the right, and the one just below it were from "Cheeseburgers" here in Key West. The burgers were great, and more than enough to fill us up. There were plenty of restaurants to choose from here, and plenty of bars also if you like to drink. Although the Island is only about a mile and a half long, by a mile and a half wide, there are actually over a hundred bars on one street alone. Yes, this city is certainly a party city. As a side note, Jimmy Buffet's recording studio is on this island.
For those who enjoy Sponge Bob, you will really like the sponge man above and below on the left.

Now what good parent can go on a cruise without buying new toys for their puppies. Our puppies love stuffed animals, so we decided to pick up a couple of stuffed snakes. I can see it now; we will walk in the door, they will whine, they will whine some more, then they will see their toys. They will each grab one, and then run to a private spot to take possession, followed by more whining.

We have just returned from a very funny and entertaining show, which happened to star a juggler from Charlotte North Carolina by the name of Dana Tison. He was fantastic!!! Upon returning to our room, we were greeted by yet another terry friend, this time, an orangutan.

Now, it is time for one more show, which should be rather fun to watch. The ship is holding a karaoke event in the Cat's Lounge. After that, it's off to bed. In the morning, we get to sleep in, as the ship does not even arrive in Nassau until noon; our tour will come some time later...

Wednesday, February 16, 2011:

Here are photos from our visit to Nassau.

The scenery as we entered the Port of Nassau was beautiful. Off to the left, you can see the Nassau lighthouse, and off to the right the view from our stateroom as we back into port. The picture in the middle was rather interesting; this is the water behind and to the side of the ship as the ship is turned sharply around to enter port.
Finally we arrive in Nassau, and solid land feels good; it is time to find our way to the tour bus, which will take us to the Atlantis Hotel. No we are not going to stay there; it is shall we say, just a little beyond our budget.
These photos are from the Atlantis hotel. Remember how we said this was a bit beyond our budget, well, to give you an example, look at the section of the hotel that joins the two towers together. This is the Michael Jackson Suite, so named because he was the first guest to use this room. The cost of this room is only $25,000.00 per night, and the minimum stay is only four nights.
More photos from the Atlantis property.
The underwater photos above are from the re-creation of Atlantis.
Here we have some exhibits from inside of Atlantis.
Atlantis has a very large aquarium, as well as an underground view of an area in which swimmers can view underwater exhibits. The Jelly Fish to the left will irritate your skin; however if you are stung by the one on the right, medical attention will be required. Don't worry, neither of these Jelly Fish are in the swimming area.
The pictures above, and the four rows of pictures below are more views from above and around the grounds of the Atlantis hotel.
Below on the left is an interesting photo. It is a public service bill board, which is a reminder about protecting yourself from AIDS and other STDs.
The middle photo is our latest Terry Friend, a Manta Ray. This was fitting, considering the number of Mantas which were in the ponds at Atlantis, and the last photo are some gifts that Sue Ellen brought for me to open during the cruise. Cute:)

Thursday, February 17, 2011:

Well, our cruise is coming to an end, just as the weather has gone down the drain.

Today, the sky is cloudy, the cold air is coming in, and the rain is coming down. Somehow, we managed to get all of our tours and all of our ports of call in while the weather was good; what more could we want.

So this will be our last entry for this, our 20th anniversary cruise, and to the right is our last terry friend, the seal.

Here are some pictures taken during our cruise by the ship's photographer:

We're glad you took the time to check out our site. Take a look at our photos from our honeymoon 20 years ago in the Mexican Riviera, then come back in five years to see what we are doing on our 25th.

Gary and Sue Ellen.