The Bubble and Beads Tour, October 2010 About This Page:

[Jillybean]

I have never heard of a cabin crawl, but what fun! Who cares if it was hurricane season because you are definitely making the most of your experience!

Jil

[chezp]

You see, I just knew that you guys were going to have a ball! Love the cabin crawl - and thanks for the Bahama Mama recipe. That always brings back great memories from a certain Food and Wine Festival visit to Disney, when a good friend was making them for me!

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by B.M.

Well, yall definately found a way to have a blast on an unplanned sea day! Sounds like a great time....

The nice thing was that we had planned to do this on the second day at sea. We decided to proceed with that plan. The tricky part became in finding out which day ended up being our second day at sea. Even if we hadn't planned the cabin crawl the entertainment staff always makes sure there is plenty of stuff going on throughout the day.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Sounds like a great day at Sea! I can't wait to read about the singing adventure!

It was a great day at sea. I just wish I was more comfortable singing in public with no preparation. I can do it just fine in the shower

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by Wendyismyname

Such a shame to have missed Costa Maya!! It was one of my favorite ports. I saw the Chacchoben(?) ruins there. I loved how it was set up, the water so beautiful. But my grandma and I didn't waste any time meeting up with our tour. Lol

The cabin crawl sounds like a ton of fun!! Glad you had such a great time, looking forward to more!

Well now I have something to tuck away at the back of my brain. Be sure to visit Costa Maya in the future. So many places to go, so many places to see.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by Disneybine

YES!!! I'm so not a winter person! I actually started planning a budget trip to Florida for the summer because I want to think about the sun

Love the cabin crawl idea!

Considering how I do notice that it is not unusual these days for Passporters to go on the same Disney cruise I would suggest doing a cabin crawl if you happen to be in that situation. Passporter members have consistently been wonderful people whenever I have met them. You know who you are. The drinking and the poker game are totally optional. It was just really neat to see different types of accommodations. I thought that I would have all these pictures of all these different rooms, but then with all of the people crammed into these little rooms it made it virtually impossible to get a good picture of the rooms.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great updates! Glad you had such fun on the cabin crawl! Sorry about missing Belize and Costa Maya!

Thanks! Not to worry about missing those ports. I still had a wonderful vacation regardless. The card games and cabin crawl was a big highlight as was the following day as you will read about soon.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by Big Baloo

What a fun time you all had--and it sounds like way more fun is on the way!

Yes, it was a fun time and the entire vacation was really great.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

What fun on the cabin crawl!! Sounds like you made great use of your unexpected at-sea day!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by wheatenwalker

Douglas, I LOVE your trip reports- I cant wait to read more!

It's so GREAT to hear from YOU! How are you!?! More is on the way.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by Tconst

I'm enjoying your trip report so much! It really helps to make me forget about the cold weather here. My family of 4 has cruised twice during hurricane season. It enables us to get the best cabin we can for the price we're willing to pay. I made sure my husband & kids knew what to expect if we ran into a hurricane. 1st time - no problem. 2nd time this past August we had to miss our stops in St. Thomas & St. Maarten due to bad weather. Instead we were re-routed to Costa Maya & Cozumel. Yes, it was disappointing to miss our planned excursions, but we quickly found something to do in each new port & had just as good a time. I would have also enjoyed an additonal day at sea. If you know that might happen, you're better equipped to handle whatever comes up.

Even though I was prepared I must say that I would not like to book a cruise during the peak of hurricane season. I would do it at either tail end but I actually don't like my plans changed. It's funny when I read others' trip reports and I read about how much their plans change. That would drive me bonkers. I'm a "do my research, make a plan, stick to it" kind of a guy. Now upgrades are a different matter. Someone wants to give me an upgrade, I'm not gonna complain about that kind of change.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by Jillybean

I have never heard of a cabin crawl, but what fun! Who cares if it was hurricane season because you are definitely making the most of your experience!

Jil

Wouldn't it be fun if you were on a cruise with Eileen, Sharon, and Karen and you all did a cabin crawl? You don't have to have the beverages or the poker play. It's just fun running around the ship seeing different types of rooms.

[DouglasE]

Originally Posted by chezp

You see, I just knew that you guys were going to have a ball! Love the cabin crawl - and thanks for the Bahama Mama recipe. That always brings back great memories from a certain Food and Wine Festival visit to Disney, when a good friend was making them for me!

Obviously, over the years you have gotten to know me quite well I was able to roll with the punches quite well but there was a time or two when Craig's feathers got ruffled. He's a bit scary when he gets pissed off. Thank goodness he was never pissed off at me.

[DouglasE]

Joy has informed me that we went to Bob and Sylvia’s room after mine because it was there that she had her first shot ever. And her second. At Doug and Andy’s room they made a drink whose name I can not repeat on a family board but it had Crown Royal Whisky, cranberry juice, and peach schnapps. Since that tasted so good we just cut right to the chase and had shots of Crown Royal. So now you have a better idea of the condition of the crew .


We are all having a good time chatting and sipping away in the Big Easy Lounge. Craig is munching away on food that he scavenged from elsewhere on the ship. It is a good time for all. Then, we hear that Craig’s name has been called to perform at karaoke.

Over the course of the cruise I had the opportunity to be present for karaoke on about three different occasions. One of which, Craig and I, just sat back and observed. On this sailing of the Triumph the karaoke was hosted by Ashley. Have you ever come across someone that just rubbed you the wrong way? That’s what happened with my perception of Ashley. He came across as a minor league bully to me. He was a bit harsh and abrasive. I understand that when it comes to karaoke you are dealing with more than your share of intoxicated people and you might feel the need to corral them. Still, I felt his demeanor was unwarranted. At the very start he would give a speech in which the tone was as if he was talking to errant school children. No one had even had the opportunity to misbehave yet! The good news is I felt he was very organized and performed his duties fairly. Everyone seemed to get their turn singing and he did not play favorites. He did do his best to encourage people to get involved. However, once again it wasn’t in a friendly way. I felt he seemed to intimidate people into interacting as opposed to encouraging. This is totally my perception and feelings that I had. If you objectively described what he said and did you wouldn’t have a problem with that description. It was his manner in which he did these things that rubbed me the wrong way.

When Craig’s name is called the Cruise Critic gang rush into the Venezia lounge and find that most of the places to view performances were all taken. Many of us ended up sitting on the floor so others could see including myself. Craig had selected “That’s Life”, the Frank Sinatra version. I was rather surprised by this choice. There was the potential for disaster because Craig hardly ever has alcohol. Today he had some. To be honest I wasn’t monitoring his alcohol consumption that closely. But as I’ve described in the past it doesn’t take much. So I was a little concerned that it would be a drunken mess. The whole performance amused me. First of all, Craig is very, very quiet. He doesn’t say much. This means that when he does have something to say people really pay attention thinking it must be rather important. Trust me, that isn’t always the case. Anyway, so he’s this quiet, shy, sweet guy. However, he has great stage presence. I think all of the Cruise Critic gang were rather surprised that this little reserved, shy guy would suddenly command a stage like that. He really delivered the song. His singing voice is serviceable. He can carry a tune and didn’t go off key and didn’t make me cringe by going super flat. These are the hazards of listening to karaoke. However, he does not have the tone or skill of a Frank Sinatra, Placido Domingo, or a Josh Groban. Still the great thing was that he had great confidence and obviously was enjoying singing. That communicates well to the audience and the Cruise Critic gang cheered wildly. It really helps if you go to karaoke to bring a tipsy fan base with you. Obviously, he didn’t have nearly as much to drink as did I.

Craig singing "That's Life"



Once Craig had finished his number, we exited the lounge. We all seemed to be having such a good time. I felt like we didn’t want to leave each others company. At least that’s how I felt. This was a really fun group and I was having a super day at sea. The next thing I recall was hanging out on the Lido deck aft near the New World Bar back at the table where I was playing cards in the morning. Several of us were hungry and I helped others eat their food as well as enjoying another slice of one of those De Chevre pizzas. I think some of the gang had more beverages. I did not. I had had my fill. It’s amazing how long a shot of Crown Royal can last you.

Somehow a bunch of us managed to make our way to mid ship on the Lido deck. Craig, Jay, and possibly Heidi decided to take the plunge, quite literally, and go on the enormous slide. Carnival Triumph has a huge slide as I’m sure you’ve noticed in the pictures. The guys decide they want to experience it. I am not wearing swim wear. I have had quite a bit to drink. I am perfectly comfortable lying on a chaise lounge. There is no need for me to go on the slide. A small part of me regrets (very small) not going on the slide because that is something I never did get around to experiencing on the ship. I think I’ll live. I seem to recall a lot of hooting and hollering to encourage others to go down the slide. Somehow I think Heidi did most of the encouraging. Instigator! Joy, Patty, and I were perfectly fine just laughing and chatting, thank you very much. It is here up by the slide that Cheryl and Tom find us. I don’t know what happened to Cheryl but it is obviously she didn’t need the cabin crawl to feel no pain. I’m sure her sign and sail card got its fair share of usage at the bars of the ship this day.



The sun sets outside my room's window






Now the sun begins to set and it seemed to me that we had spent all day laughing with one another. I was so happy that I was not the only one who didn’t want to part company. I had gone into the day thinking we would just do the cabin crawl for two hours maximum. Now it turned out that we spent the entire day hanging out with our new friends from Cruise Critic. Craig and I felt very blessed that we had such a good, fun loving group of people with which to share our trip. It truly enhanced the experience exponentially.


Eventually, it came time to go our separate ways. While in my room I looked out the window and saw a wonderful sunset. We got ready for dinner. I really liked the main dining room and planned a return to see our friendly hostesses. I’m sorry but I just can’t recall what I had to order on this evening. It was a good meal. I know that because I just never had any bad food. But obviously it wasn’t incredible like the previous evening or I would have definitely remembered what I had to eat. Service continued to be very good. I do remember eating a lot. I think I might have even skipped dessert because by the end of the meal I was feeling incredibly stuffed.

It certainly looks yummy but I can't recall what this dinner was exactly



I had eaten so much in the later part of the day plus the dinner. I felt it was necessary to lie down. I seriously could not function. I can’t recall ever pigging out this much. Oh my goodness! I was a bit worried because we had plans to meet the rest of the Cruise Critic gang later in the evening. Tonight was the Carnival Triumph’s Halloween celebration. Cory had announced not just at the stage show, but over the announcements that he was conducting a dance class this evening. If you wanted to dance like Michael Jackson and do the Zombie Clap you could learn the dance moves from Thriller with Cory our cruise director. So as I lied on the bed like a beached whale, Craig went to the Rome Lounge on 3 Forward to dance like one of the undead. Eventually, my body was kind enough to digest all of that food and I got to the point where I could actually enjoy myself.

When Craig returned we got dressed into our Halloween costumes that I had packed. We were both figures from the middle ages. Craig was my knight in simulated chain mail and I went as a friar. I did try using my bed pillow to create a big, fat tummy but it just didn’t work. Once we were all dressed the plan was to meet our Cruise Critic friends on the promenade near the Café Vienna. Let me just say a word about the Café Vienna. The offerings of lattes, cappuccinos, espressos, milk shakes made-to-order and various cakes and pastries were mighty tempting. However, I never felt the need to pay for these treats at the Café when there were always wonderful treats in the main dining room and at the buffet. Craig had said that by the time he got to the Rome Lounge all of the decent viewing spots were gone. He could not see very well and therefore ended up not really learning the dance. Oh well.

Pretty soon we saw Doug and Andy dressed as Daryl and his other brother Daryl from Newhart. Then we were joined by Joy and her cohorts as various witches. Bob and Sylvia dropped by as a biker and a flapper from the 20’s. Basically, we took a seat and watched the parade of costumed passengers float by. I think all of us felt a little bit lost on this night. We all kind of had the feeling of “ok, now what? What do we do now?” We just didn’t know what to do with ourselves. The Halloween dance party didn’t begin until midnight. In hindsight it would have been nice if the Hollywood Dance Club had been open and we all could have gone dancing. I just felt like there was not much to do until 11:00.

Characters from The Canterbury Tales



Bob and Sylvia



At 11:00 Craig and I went to the Hollywood Dance Club to see the costume contest along with Joy. Cory, our cruise director, was the master of ceremonies. The way he conducted it took forever. First he gathered anyone that wanted to be a part of the contest. It was a very large circle of costumed guests. He then had each person introduce themselves, tell where they were from, and what was their costume. There was something like 50 people for all of this nonsense. We narrowed it down to the top 30. Then we narrowed it down to the top 25. Then it was the top10. Eventually sometime the next day we crowned the Charm School Drop Outs the winners. I loved them. They deserved to win. I have a soft spot for drag done well. It was a male-female team. Picture Chris Farley dressed as a charm school drop out with pig tails and you would understand why they won. It turns out that by this time it is the next day because it is after midnight. Time for the dance party! But how do the start it off? With line dances. I have the same problem this time as with that sail away party. I don’t know any line dances. Craig does so he goes off and joins in the fun while Joy and I watch from a distance. I’m so grateful that I had Joy to hang out with otherwise I really would have felt awkward and out of place. I don’t do well with crowds of people I don’t know. It’s a manifestation of a slight social anxiety problem. I kept on waiting for them to do something other than a line dance. But no…it just went from one to another.

The Captain had made an announcement shortly after leaving Costa Maya that we would be heading back to Cozumel. While I would have preferred a port I hadn’t already visited, having a destination was a better option than another day at sea as far as I was concerned. Since we were due to be in port that meant having to get up early to start an adventure in Mexico. I asked Craig if we could head back to the room.

NEXT: A wetsuit, a headlamp, and water socks to explore a Mexican secret treasure

[chezp]

What a fun end to a great day! Kudos to Craig in doing the karoake - sounds like it went quite well.... I must admit I had my heart in my mouth reading that, after what you said about him and alcohol!