Hi everybody!! I stalked these forums multiple times a day while planning our cruise and found so much helpful information so, I thought I would return the favor. This is my first time posting anything here so be kind...
Background Info:
My name is Ashley and I'm a 29 year old Registered Nurse from Western Maryland. I am married to my childhood sweetheart, Jacob and we have 2 beautiful daughters (ages 6 and 2 1/2). I went on my first cruise 2 years ago. It was a 4 generation cruise with my Grandmother, Mom, Aunt, Cousin and my oldest daughter (who was 4 at the time). We went on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore for a 10 day Western Caribbean itinerary. I absolutely loved it and had the best time. I got the itch for another cruise and talked my husband into a romantic getaway, just the two of us. It would be my husband's first cruise and his first time in a foreign country so he was a little nervous. It would also be our first trip away, longer than a quick weekend trip, in 7 years.
Now my husband and I are pretty laid back, easy going people. We rarely complain and are easy to please. We booked the Carnival Pride, 7 day Bahamas itinerary because:
1. The Baltimore embarkation is close and convenient for us.
2. We didn't want to leave our girls any longer than 7 days
3. The price was right.
Embarkation:
We were scheduled to leave from Baltimore on Sunday, December 6th at 4:30pm. We were notified by Carnival the day before around 3pm that due to adverse weather conditions, the Pride would be delayed arriving back to Baltimore tomorrow and our departure time was being moved to 9pm :(
So instead of leaving for Baltimore on Sunday at 10:30am like we had originally planned, we got to spend some extra time with our girls and left for Baltimore at 4pm. We were lucky enough to have my in laws dropping us off and we got to the cruise terminal at 5:15pm. The security line moved pretty quickly but the line for check in looked like it was a mile long. At first, I wished we had splurged for the faster to the fun, but it moved pretty steadily and we walked on the Pride at 6:15pm. Carnival had instructed guests not to arrive to the Port before 6pm but having read multiple threads on this site, I didn't listen. We talked to a couple the next day at breakfast and they said they arrived at 6pm like they were told and didn't get on the ship until almost 9:30pm!! I was glad we didn't listen.
First Reaction to the Ship:
We literally walked on the ship with our carry ons and we were ushered right into the dining room for dinner. We did not have much time to take it all in but the atrium was beautiful with the glass elevators but it did seem smaller to me than the Grandeur. So in we went into the dining room with our coats and bags and had our first meal. It felt very rushed and the waiter was a little pushy trying to get us to order wine and drinks. My poor husband was completely overwhelmed and had no idea what to order. He just kept looking around and trying to take it all in. If we had boarded earlier in the day as originally planned, I think it would have been a different first reaction. But we were just grateful to be on the ship and on vacation.
Our Stateroom:
We were in 6110, which was an interior stateroom in the very front of the ship. I had read how much movement could be felt in the bow rooms and was a little bit worried. We definitely felt the back and forth movement but it didn't bother us at all. It actually rocked us to sleep and was comforting. Having never been on a cruise ship before, my husband took Non Drowsy Dramamine every night as a precaution and he had no problems. I took some the first few days but then forgot and I had no problems either. The stateroom wasn't spacious by any means but it was adequate for us. We found the bedding to be super comfortable and slept like babies every night. It was a little disorienting to wake up and think it was the middle of the night because it was so dark only to find out was actually 8am! But the money we saved by booking an interior was worth it to us for the little amount of time we spent in the room. We could only find 1 outlet in the entire room. Luckily we had packed a charger thing with 4 USB ports so we could charge both our phones and the kindle every night. I had expected to at least have another outlet in the bathroom for my hair straightener but no such luck. I just sat at the vanity where the only outlet was and did my hair and make up there. There were no dresser drawers for our clothes but there were shelves in the one closet, so we put all our clothes in and we could store our empty suitcases under the bed. I was happy with the amount of storage available in the bathroom and I liked the shower better than what I remembered on the Grandeur. Our cabin steward was named Felicia and she did an awesome job. She was like a ninja, in and out of our room so quick while we were at breakfast every morning and she also offered great advice and tips for us. She did ask us if we wanted our room serviced in the morning or the evening. We originally chose evening but morning actually seemed to work out better for her and us.
Dining:
Normandie Restaurant-
We ate dinner every night in the Main Dining Room (except for the one night we ate at the steakhouse) and overall we were extremely pleased. We had Your Time Dining and usually seated by 6pm. We only had to wait the last night when we were late getting to dinner and didn't arrive until 6:30. That night, we got a pager and had to wait 40 minutes for a table. Being a party of 2, we were seated with at a shared table a couple of nights which we found enjoyable. We liked the conversation with other travelers and always had good company. We also got a table to ourselves a few nights which was nice too. We never sat in the same place twice and always had different servers. We were impressed with the service and really enjoyed the overall experience One night my husband got the wrong entree (but he didn't say anything and still ate it) and on the last night service was extremely slow but it wasn't enough for us to be upset. We both liked the new American Table Menu but we don't have the previous menu to compare to it. I liked having the water pitcher on the table and my husband liked the bread basket. I personally don't eat a lot of bread (I prefer my carbs in pasta form:D)and couldn't help but imagine how much bread was going to waste.
Some of our favorites for dinner in the dining room were:
-The chilled fruit soups- I ordered the Strawberry Bisque the first night and my husband absolutely loved it. He also got the Peach Cream Soup and the Chilled Mango Soup later in the week and loved them all.
- The pasta- I really enjoyed the Pasta Carbonara and the Mushroom Cream Fusilli. The pasta was perfectly done which I found impressive for the amount of people being served.
-The seafood appetizers- My husband had the Soft Shell Crab appetizer and the Fried Oyster appetizer. Both were really good but the portion size was a little small. There were two tiny fried oysters on the plate. I told him he could just order more but he didn't want to.
-Caribbean Pepper Steak- This was the Port of Call entree the day we were in Nassau and it was delicious.
Dessert- All the desserts were good. We loved the Chocolate Melting Cake...soooo good! My husband liked the Vanilla Creme Brulee and I liked the Buttered Popcorn Pot de Creme. It didn't taste like buttered popcorn to me, more like buttered toffee. I also loved the Smores Parfait and Nutella Tiramisu.
Some of our not so favorites for dinner in the dining room:
- Sweet and Sour Shrimp- I was expecting sauteed shrimp with some vegetables but these were just fried shrimp with a dipping sauce. I am not a fan of breaded shrimp so these were not my favorite. I only ate one and my husband ate a few.
-Short Ribs- My husband and I both got these and while I didn't think they were too bad, my husband did not care for them. They tasted like really tender pot roast to me. I was disappointed when they showed up again on the second elegant night paired with the filet mignon. I liked them but they were completely the same as the first night and I like variety.
Some other things we got included the Fried Chicken, Steamed Mussels, Frog Legs, Cajun Shrimp with Jambalaya and Flat Iron Steak. All were good but didn't really wow us.
We heard the head Maitre'de, Ken, sing 4 nights in the dining room and people thought it was actually Frank Sinatra singing. He sounded incredible. The servers performed 3 nights and you could tell some of them really enjoyed doing it while others you could tell did not. I would have been fine with them only doing it one night.
Seaday Brunch-
We went to the Seaday Brunch all 3 sea days and it was very good. We went closer to breakfast time 2 days and closer to lunch time 1 day. It was never crowded and we were in and out fairly quickly. My husband was on a french toast kick this week and ate it almost every day for breakfast. He loved the Frosted Flakes French toast and got it twice. I didn't try it (too sweet for me) but he just raved about it. I got the Huevos Rancheros, which were delicious. I also got the Flaming Tomato Soup and Macaroni and Cheese one day for breakfast. The tomato soup was yummy...a little smoky and spicy. The mac and cheese was just okay, I only ate about a third of it. The day we went closer to lunch I got the Caesar Salad with jerk bacon. The jerk bacon was really good but they put a lot of it on the salad. I had a good bit left in the bowl. I also got the Hen Alla Diavola with was bone in chicken braised in a spicy tomato sauce. I really enjoyed it and found the sauce to be just spicy enough. My husband got the Pappardelle “Principe di Napoli” which was wide ribbon pasta in a tomato sauce and he really liked it. I liked the brunch menu but would have liked to see more lunch items on the menu. Grandeur of the Seas had lunch in the dining room every day and they had an amazing chopped salad bar... I found myself missing that.
Port Day Breakfast in Dining Room-
The menu in the dining room is a fairly typical but more than adequate. My husband got french toast again and didn't like it as much as the Frosted Flakes one but said it was still very good. He also got the Belgian Waffles the last day. I got a ham and cheese omelet which was good but a little bit buttery for me. I ate about half of it before I got full. I tried the French Toast the last day and I wasn't really a fan but that's probably because I prefer a more savory breakfast.
Guy's Burger Joint- We ate here twice for lunch during the week and we were super impressed. My favorite quick service type burger is Five Guys and these reminded me of them. I went for the Plain Jane and my husband went for the Ringer. I am a sucker for grilled onions so I loved the toppings bar. I did find myself going overboard on the toppings, I could barely taste the delicious burger itself. It was also very messy so I wore half of it...but still enjoyable none the less. The fries were very tasty too.
Blue Iguana Cantina-
I ate here once for lunch and once for breakfast. My husband ate here twice for lunch. The lunch burritos were good but not quite Chipotle which I am used to. I got the chicken and my husband got the steak. I think it's the rice that isn't quite right for me but still a good lunch option. I got a breakfast burrito one morning with the mexican eggs and grilled ham. I'm not sure if my stomach was a little off that morning or what but I took two bites and couldn't finish it. It just did not agree with me for some reason. I also tried an Arepa with tasted like cheesy cornbread to me and I liked it better than the breafast burrito.
The Mermaid Grille-
We are not huge fans of buffets in general but we found the buffet to be clean and well attended to which was a plus. We only ate here twice for breakfast. My husband of course got the french toast which he said was good. The scrambled eggs were just not good. I think the omelette would have been better but I didn't really want to stand in line. The breakfast meats weren't too bad and there was a good variety of fresh fruit. We did not eat lunch or dinner at the buffet but from what I saw of it, it didn't look like there were that many options. We did go up a few nights for some late night snacks where we tried the pizza, the turkey wrap from the deli and a chili dog. All were pretty good for a late night snack, the pizza being our favorite. I think we ate more ice cream and frozen yogurt than should have been allowed. I liked the chocolate soft serve and thought it tasted like a frosty from Wendy's. My husband was a big fan of the strawberry frozen yogurt, but it was not as readily available.
Bonsai Sushi-
I love sushi rolls and really wanted to try it on the ship. My husband is not a fan but he came along with me anyways. The restaurant is located mid ship in the atrium and I really liked the atmosphere and presentation of the food. I ordered the Spicy Tuna Roll ($5) and and the Shrimp Tempura Roll ($7). The waitress brought out a complimentary appetizer of steamed edamame as well. I love edamame and these had a spicy seasoning on them that I really liked. The rolls arrive and they were pretty big. I can polish off a 3 roll lunch special at my favorite Sushi Place back home but the rolls are pretty simple and much smaller in size. They were both really, really god but I could not finish both rolls. My husband even tried the Tempura Roll and actually ate 3 pieces. I thought it was well worth the extra money.
David's Steakhouse-
We ate here on Day 3 and it was absolutely amazing. It is definitely more fine dining than we are typically used to but was a nice treat. The bread they served was a Rosemary Foccacia and it was so freaking good. I had said I don't eat a lot of bread but I could have ate 3 more pieces of this stuff. I started with the Portobella Mushroom appetizer and it was so good. It was cold which I wasn't expecting but the flavors were just incredible. My husband tried the Escargot and they were very tender and good. We both got the Caesar Salad. The dressing was thinner than a normal caesar dressing and the croutons were tossed in pesto which elevated it to an above average salad. I ordered the Surf and Turf which was a 4oz lobster tail and 5oz filet mingon. It was the most tender steak I have ever eaten and the lobster was 10x more flavorful than what had been served in the dining room the night before. My husband ordered the 14 oz New York Strip. He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy and has had quite a few steaks in his day. He took the first bite and his eyes rolled back in his head and he said the title for best steak may have just been replaced. He let me taste it and it was even better than the filet. It was just so juicy and flavorful. For dessert, I had the cheesecake and it was very good. My husband got the Washington Apple dessert and it was very good but had a strong liquor taste that was a little off putting. He just mixed it with the vanilla ice cream which helped. This was our favorite meal on the ship and totally worth the $35 per person. I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.
The Pools:
There were 3 pools on the ship. The Apollo pool was in the front of the ship and I thought it was the least crowded most of the week. We did get in on Friday when it was really hot. The mid ship pool was the busiest and was always full of kids. We preferred the Serenity, adults only area at the back of the ship. The pool was smaller but much quieter. There were lots of seating options, including loungers, big round beds, pods with covers and even 4 large hammocks. The covered pods and round beds filled up fast but we never had a problem finding 2 loungers.
We were feeling brave and decided to try out the waterslides on Friday. The green one is pretty high up there. You get in and stand with your arms crossed. A voice counts down and the bottoms opens up from under you. I let out a big scream and it felt like free falling. It was super fun and I loved it. My husband isn't the biggest fan of heights so once was enough but he was glad he did it. The yellow slide is kind of boring and we actually had to push ourselves down it.
Activities on the Ship:
Our Cruise Director was Chris "Donkey" Salazar and we thought he did a really excellent job. He is a really enthusiastic Australian guy and was very entertaining. The rest of "The Fun Squad" included Nookie, TJ, Matey and Stephan. They all did a really great job and were very personable.
Trivia-
We participated in a lot of the trivias and found them to be really fun. My husband won the Name that Movie Trivia on the first night and got a "24 Carat Plastic Gold Ship on Stick". It is a little gold plastic trophy that looks like the Pride and is a nice souvenir. We came close to winning the Animal Trivia, Movie Quote Trivia and Disney Trivia. We also played Ready Set Draw one day which was like Pictionary. It was a nice sized group divided into 2 teams and we found it really fun. The theme was movie titles and I had to draw Bridge Over The River Quai! I had never even heard of that movie and how do you draw Quai?!? My husband actually guessed it...he knows his movies.
Hairy Chest Contest-
We watched the Hairy Chest Contest and found it super funny and entertaining. My husband is a burly man and I tried to get him to enter but he refused. After watching the contest, I was glad he didn't...way too much twerking and dancing for him. The winner was a 70 year old guy who ripped off his shorts to reveal a american flag speedo. He then had to turn around, bend over and twerk it. Oh my goodness, not an image I'll forget anytime soon. He more than deserved the title.
Gender Showdown-
This was in two parts and was absolutely hilarious. The first day the volunteers had to walk with a plastic coin between their butt and drop it in a solo cup. They tried really hard but only one woman was able to do it. It was entertaining to watch them try though. Then two men and two women had to pop balloons by practically grinding on each other. The one guy did not look happy when it was over but the crowd was laughing so hard. The girls ended up winning by a landslide. The other day was a family feud game. It was like watching it at home yelling my answers at the TV. The male contestants did terrible and the women won again.
Love and Marriage Show-
I really wanted us to be chosen to play this but they wanted a newlywed couple, a 10-20 year couple and a 30+ year couple. We are only at 8 years so we didn't fall in those categories. Oh well, we'll be ready in 2 years. This was a cute show and it was funny to see the newylwed husband be so uncomfortable with his answers.
Karaoke-
They had karaoke a couple of times and we watched the Superstar Karaoke with the Ohh La Las one night. The Ohh La Las were an awesome band on the ship and the people that did Karaoke with them were super talented. I wish I had the guts to get up on stage like that but I will stick to singing in the shower.
We went to "Guess that 80's Tune with Donkey" one night which was really fun. My husband knew all the songs and I knew a good bit too. Donkey started on Carnival in 2006 as a dancer and he showed off some his dance moves. Everybody sang along and had a good time.
We spent a little money in the casino. We are cheapos and mostly play the penny machines. I also got addicted to the quarter machines. I sat there and went through $10 in quarters in no time...that is a dangerous game.We didn't come home with any winnings but had fun trying. We also tried out Bingo once but no luck there either.
Hasbro Game Show-
They did the Hasbro Family Game Show and I actually got up on stage and participated. I had to roll a giant bowling ball and try to knock pins/dies over to get Yahtzee. I was the last one on our team to go and there was only one pin left. We had four 2's so I was trying for fifth one to make yahtzee but no such luck. My team lost but I still ended up with a consellation prize, a handheld Simon game.
The Quest-
I had heard about this game from Royal Caribbean and was excited to see it. It was adults only and for good reason. We didn't really know what to expect so we planned on just sitting back and watching. My husband and I both like to have fun but we are little more reserved. Somehow we ended up on a team and doing more than watching. There were some more mild tasks like "Have a girl where two men's shoes" and "Bring me a drink umbrella". Then there were ones like "Show me your best fake orgasm", "Dance on this man like he was a pole at a strip club" and "Bring me 3 women's bras". They were a little outside my comfort zone but there wasn't any pressure to do anything you didn't want to. I had fun just watching all the other brave souls. It was a fun adult event and I would totally go again.
Entertainment:
Playlist Productions-
There were 4 shows featuring the Playlist Performers. I had read a lot of bad reviews but honestly we enjoyed all the shows and found the performers to be really talented. The first one was mostly 80's music which is right up my Husband's alley. We sang along and enjoyed watching the choreography. The costumes were a little revealing and the Madonna scene was a little over the top. The second show was called Island Getaway and really showed off the performer's acting skills. It was a lot of fun to watch. The last two shows featured Rock Songs and Love Songs. We weren't big fans of the music featured in these shows but it was still a pretty good show.
Punchliner Comedy Club-
There were over 20 comedy shows over the week. We went to one of the PG shows and 11 of the R rated shows. The R rated shows were definitely raunchy and you heard the F word a lot. We enjoy laughing and understand that you can't take comedian's seriously.We found all the shows extremely funny and looked forward to going. It did get really crowded a couple nights and one night we actually had to stand. This one of my husband's favorite things about the cruise.
Magician-
There was a magician one night and he was really good. Apparently he had been in the dining room throughout the week as well but we never saw him. I have no idea how he did some of the things he did in the show, it was mind boggling.
Ports of Call:
Port Canaveral- I had a hard time deciding on an excursion here. We've been to Disneyworld twice before and we love Disney but we didn't really want to spend the money for it as an excursion and we were afraid we wouldn't have enough time to really enjoy it. We ended up booking the Airboat Alligator Tour through Carnival. Getting off the ship at Port Canaveral is a little disappointing. It is just a great big empty cruise terminal and there is nothing I could see that was in walking distance. We got on the charter bus and went to the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp for our airboat tour. Our tour guide on the boat was very nice and did a good job telling us about the river. We arrived at our destination and loaded up into several airboats. We wore headphone things for hearing protection because these things were loud! Once we got out on the river the captain let loose and we really picked up some speed. It was so much fun and I think I would have been happy with just the airboat ride if we didn't see any gators. Our captain was very experienced and we ended up seeing 4 alligators. The smallest was only 2 feet and the biggest was 11 feet! We were able to get pretty close and got some great pictures. After the ride we got to sample some fried gator tail. It was pretty good and tasted a lot like chicken. There was also a local exotic animal rescue place that came to the camp to do a small presentation. They had some really cool animals including a white skunk, a kinkajou, a capuchin monkey and a tame runt alligator. It was a really enjoyable day and I'm glad we chose the excursion we did.
Nassau-
I had high hopes for Nassau and was expecting the beautiful Bahamas with crystal turquoise water. We decided to get day passes for the British Colonial Hilton through ResortForADay.com. It was $60 a person and included a $40 food and beverage credit for each of us. The pictures of the grounds looked beautiful, it seemed like a really good deal and we liked that it was only a 10 minute walk from the port. We arrived in Nassau and the weather was a little cloudy and overcast. The water looked extremely dirty and was not that beautiful turquoise I had envisioned. We got off the ship and walked into the port area and it was so crowded and noisy. It was a little overwhelming and my husband just wanted to get to the hotel. We didn't stop and really look at any shops and planned on doing it on the way back. We walked to the hotel and it was pretty easy to find. The hotel itself was beautiful but the grounds were a little underwhelming. The pool was spacious but we couldn't find a hot tub. The beach was so close to the port you could see the ships and all I could think about was that dirty water we saw on the way in. They were doing construction right next to the hotel which didn't help either. But we decided to make the best of it and got some drinks with our food and beverage credit. They had Bahama Mama's on for buy 2 get 1 free so we each got one. We watched him make it and knew they were going to be strong but I thought it still tasted pretty good. We got in the ocean and it was much cooler than we expected it to be. We played in the water for a bit and got used to the water. The sun wasn't shining as much as I'd hoped but it was still a beach and we were still on vacation. We got out of the water and I finished my first drink. I hadn't eaten much breakfast (we did the buffet that morning) and I was starting to feel the rum. We went over to order lunch and nothing looked good to me. My husband ordered a cheeseburger and french fries and I decided to just eat some of his. I went ahead and ordered another drink, I think a Dark and Stormy this time. Now I don't drink very much or very often and have been drunk only one other time in my 29 years (a friend's bachelorette party...oh what a night). By the time I finished that second drink, I was done. I laid on a beach lounger and attempted to read a book on my Kindle but I ended up falling asleep pretty quickly. I woke up an hour later and was feeling pretty sick. My sweet husband knew I was going to be sick and I wasn't going to make it to the bathroom. He handed me a plastic bag he had in his backpack and held my hair back as I emptied my stomach. It was not my finest moment but I felt a little better after getting sick. We left shortly after that and I leaned on my husband the whole way back. I remember walking across the street in Nassau and my husband thought he saw a really small bird on the ground. After a second look we saw it was actually a giant cockroach. It was the biggest bug I've ever seen and it was just walking across the street like it owned the place. Ewwwww. We managed to stop in a shop and got a magnet (I like to collect them from places) and then we hightailed it back to the ship. I still wasn't feeling that great but after a nap back in the room and a shower I was good to go. Nassau was my least favorite stop and I really have no desire to go back. It could have been the weather or the alcohol but if we did go back, I would book a Carnival excursion to somewhere.
Freeport-
We were only supposed to be in Freeport from 7am to 1:30pm. It was such a short time and we didn't want to have to get up super early to do an excursion so we planned on just staying on the ship. We had checked out Freeport on Google Maps and saw there wasn't much around the port but I had read there was a Senor Frogs near by and had thought maybe we could check that out. We got off the ship and we were pleasantly surprised at all the little shops and food stands right in the port. This is exactly what I was expecting in Nassau but didn't get. I really liked looking in all the little stands, even if they did all have the exact same junk. I was looking for something to take home for the girls an ended up finding small straw purses that had Disney characters sewn on the front out of colored straw. I found a Doc McStuffins one that I knew my 2 year old would love. So I found my 6 year old a Hello Kitty one and asked the price. The lady told me they were $18 piece but she would do 2 for $30 and put their names on for free. I offered her $20 for 2 and she refused to go lower than $30 so I went on the next one. I finally found one that would go down to 2 for $27 and just bought them. I also found some ornaments for my mom and mother in law and a magnet for myself. My husband found some good quality t-shirts in one of the nicer chain type stores, I think Sharkees. We checked out the food court where they had a band playing and ordered some Jerk chicken wings. These wings were so freaking good. The jerk spice was similar to what I had in Jamaica 2 years ago and it is so much better than the jerk seasoning they serve here in the US. They were hot, fresh and made to order. I was also impressed that the family running the stand wore gloves and kept everything nice and clean. The weather was absolutely beautiful that day and we were really starting to sweat. We got back on the boat and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool. This was my favorite port and I would definitely go back.
Disembarkation:
We got back into Baltimore by 8am on Sunday, 1 1/2 hours early. We had decided not to do the self assist because our ride wasn't going to be coming until 10:30am or so. Plus, the handle on our large suitcase broke so we would of had to carry it around the ship...no thank you. The self assist people started getting off the ship around 8:30am. We took our time and walked around getting last minute pictures of the ship so I don't know how the lines were for that but it seemed to go pretty smoothly. We waited up on the lido deck in the comfy chairs and caught up on all the social media we had missed out on through the week. It seemed much less crowded than what I remember from Grandeur of the Seas. They started calling the Zones a little after 10am. We were Zone 17 and got called around 10:45. The line moved really quickly and we were our getting our luggage in no time. It appeared really organized and efficient.
Final Thoughts:
We had an amazing week and enjoyed every minute of it (Well, except the whole puking in Nassau thing). I'm sure if we tried really hard, we could find stuff to complain about and be negative towards Carnival but I'd rather focus on the positive and have a much more enjoyable vacation. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise on the Pride again or try another Carnival Ship. Compared to Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, I think the ships were similar. There were things I liked better about both of them but for me it comes down to price. I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with my husband and I'm so glad he had a good time too. I don't think I'd have try very hard to get him to go again.
Thanks for reading my little trip report, I probably wrote way more than I needed too. I have some pictures but didn't take nearly as many I wanted to, I just kept forgetting. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. :)