Tuesday, August 19, 2008

All Aboard The Carnival Freedom!

My trip to the Mediterranean was the first time that I had ever been on a cruise ship, if you don't count the many episodes of The Love Boat that I watched as a young girl, not to mention the 75 many times I have seen the movie Titanic.

Sigh.

For today's post, I'm just going to show you some pictures of a few things that I saw while on board the ship. Some of you have probably already been on multiple cruises, so this might be boring to you. But if you're like me and have never been anywhere near a cruise ship (other than The Love Boat and Titanic), you might find them interesting.

So come join me on board the Carnival Freedom.



The first thing that caught my eye was the life boats. My only knowledge of life boats, up until this point, were of the ones found on the Titanic.



So, needless to say, the life boats on the Carnival Freedom were much different.



As a young girl watching The Love Boat, I used to dream of being on that ship, laying out by the pool, and having Isaac bring me a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.



I did love laying out by the pool; it was just as I always imagined it as a little girl.



Only I had a glass of ice water (with no umbrella in it) while laying out by the pool, due to the fact that I was suffering from a nasty kidney infection. And Isaac didn't bring me the glass of water; I had to go to the fountain and get it myself. But other than that, it was just like my childhood fantasy.



The view from the chair that I was lounging in, however, was more incredible than anything I could have ever imagined in my childhood fantasies. It took my breath every time I saw it.



There was even a pool with a waterslide on the ship.



Which, of course, was closed due to maintenance issues.

It got me tickled thinking of the Griswald family. After their nightmare of a trip going to Wally World, I could just picture them coming all the way to the Mediterranean to get on board the Carnival Freedom, only to have John Candy look at them and say, "Sorry, folks, the waterslide and pool are closed. The moose out front should have told you."



(I'm sorry; just ignore me. Thanks!)

After our unbelievably long journey to get to the ship (I'll post about that in the future), Melissa and I were both very excited to get to our rooms and crawl in bed. We were so exhausted that we didn't even watch the ship pull out of port. Which please let me explain, I had wanted to do this ever since seeing Jack and Fabrizio in Titanic.

I longed to say, "Goodbye! I'll miss you! Goodbye! I will never forget you!"



Sigh.

Anyway, we were both thrilled to finally be able to crawl into a warm, comfortable bed. And oh, it was sooooo comfortable. Melissa and I both fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.



Our room was located on the seventh floor, and we were told that this was one of the best places to be on the ship. It was right in the middle of the ship, which is supposed to keep you from feeling so much motion. We loved it.

This next picture is the view from our bed.



I apologize about all of the mess; Melissa just left stuff everywhere.;) (Just kidding!)

The door that you see in the little entry way in the picture above, is the door to our cabin. The door that you see on the left of the entry way is the door to our bathroom, and on the right hand side were three closets. (They are hard to see in that picture, but we had a lot of closet space.)

Obviously the rooms are very small, but they are designed well for the amount of space that you have.

The chair and the mirror that you see in this next picture is where Melissa made all of her magic happen.



She was like my own personal fairy godmother.



She would just wave her wand and say, "Bibbity, bobbity, boo!" ;)

This fabulous "updo" was one of the best tricks that she performed. She got all of my hair to stay in place like this using only three bobby pins.



She is amazing! (I love you, Melissa!)

The last few pictures that I have to show you are of our bathroom. (I took these pictures mainly for Yvette and Kenny; they are both very curious about bathrooms, much like myself.)

This is a picture of the shower stall. The ship, surprisingly enough to me, had great water pressure. The shower was obviously very small, but it worked just fine. And I only flooded the bathroom once or three times while we were on the ship.



Here is a picture of our bathroom sink, and you can see the shelves going up alongside the mirror. There were shelves like that on both sides, so we had plenty of room for all of our female equipment.



I saved the best picture for last. It is a picture of our toilet. (Again, just ignore me. Thanks!) If you look closely you will notice a button on the wall above the toilet; that is the button you push to flush the toilet. (Most of the toilets we saw throughout Italy flushed this way; only some of them had two buttons. They would have a small button for flushing a "Number 1," and a big button for flushing a "Number 2." See, this blog is entertaining, as well as informative.) ;)



Much like the strong water pressure in the shower, the flushing pressure was unbelievable! I would lean back before flushing the toilet out of the fear of it sucking the passport necklace right off of my neck.

The toilet was so close to the sink, that you could practically brush your teeth while using the bathroom. Not that I ever did that mind you, but if you were pressed for time you could definitely kill two birds with one stone.

I'm just saying is all.


24 comments:

Dee said...

This was so funny. I also love the Love Boat. Up until just a couple of years ago they still ran reruns here on TV.

Sigh, I have not been on a cruise ship yet, so you are not alone and it was very intersting, funny and lets not foget infomative!

;o)

sa061545@bellsouth.net said...

That's hysterical! I love the remark about being scared the pressure would suck your passport necklace down the toilet! Thanks for making me laugh!!!! I needed it!!!
Love you very much! :)
MOM

Sharon said...

Good Morning,
Yes that was sooo funny, I lovedd the Love Boat.
I have never been on a cruise ship, so it was really neat to see things I have not seen. The toilet sounded a bit scarey. hahaha
Glad you had a good time. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings to you.
Sharon
How is Allie?

Hula Girl at Heart said...

What? No pictures from your drill at your muster station? We have the most hilarious pictures of my elderly inlaws doing the muster station drill.

valerie said...

That's too funny Amy.
I loved watching the Love Boat. Like you, I always thought and dreamed of going on a cruise.
My mom and I booked a 3 day cruise several years ago to the Bahamas.
I think we got one of the last rooms available on the ship.
We were VERY close to where they would bring up the anchor (I guess) but we'd hear this noise and wonder what in the world. We finally figured it out.
In our bathroom the toilet was high and my mom is really short and her little legs would dangle. That made us laugh.
I loved it though. The food was awesome and availble 24/7!
I love hearing about your trip. Makes me feel like I'm right there with you.
Have a great day, Amy!
Love,
Val

Mia said...

The closest I ever got to a big boat was when hubby worked on the river and I rode a little ferry boat out to see him. So I am LOVING each and every cruise ship post you make.
Thank you for taking the time to post so many pictures. Whenever I try to post pics throughout my post they go to the top and I have to cut,copy,paste them around. BIG pain! Maybe I need a bloggy lesson?
Hope you have a great day!

Liz Harrell said...

What a great girl trip! I'm always so curious about cruise ships... thanks for the photo tour! I've always wanted to know how small they were, I always picture a tiny closet with bunk beds. :)

Gina said...

I loved all the photos of the ship! It makes me want to go on a cruise again. :) I love the "up" do that Melissa gave you...very cute!!

God bless,
Gina

Jamie said...

You are too funny! I've never been on a cruise, it was fun to see all your pictures. Now I really want to go on one.

Whitney said...

Ya gotta love a good ole cruise ship! :)

Denise said...

I am rolling around on the floor laughing! What a great post! The John Candy "speech" in Vacation is one of my all-time favorites. I can recite that just like him - you would think it was him - really ;)

Great pictures too. I am so enjoying "our" trip.

Love,
Denise

Karma said...

The pictures you post with your words always make me chuckle! I have been on a cruise in Alaska :D And maybe one in the Philippines... ? It looks like you had an awesome time in those pictures! I am not very good with the whole swaying to the left, then swaying to the right thing, though. :D

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

I appreciate the tour. I've never been on a cruise, nor do I imagine I'll ever make that trip. I'm scared to death of drowing. Titanic didn't help matters.

peace~elaine

Unknown said...

You always know that bathrooms interest me since I share a phobia with you about them. Vacation is one of my favorites movies and you reference it often which is funny. Also I bet your Mom can do an "updo" on you with a little tape.

Kelly said...

You crack me up!
Enjoy your time with Melissa tomorrow!

Tina said...

GREAT, entertaining cruise ship tour! LOVED it...and the one cruise ship I've been on was very similar, minus the broken-down waterslide!

You are a wonderful tour guide!

Anonymous said...

Your post made me laugh - glad you had a good time! I have never been on a cruise so I enjoyed your info.

Paula V said...

Oh, thanks Amy for sending me back in time. I was a HUGE Love Boat fan. Absolutely love it!! I am also fascinated with the Titanic. I've only seen the movie once but I did a ten page research paper on it in high school. I've also been to three Titanic museums that have real artifacts from the ship.

Those are some fancy dancy life boats...covered even.

I love how what's his face tells the Griswalds the park is closed. That is the funniest thing ever!

I cannot believe she got all of your long hair into three bobby clips. My hair isn't quite as long as yours and doesn't look as thick as yours and I don't think I could do that with mine. Miracle worker indeed.

Luvya,
PP

Karma said...

thanks for taking the font quiz. I love typing in Comic Sans, too. It is awesome! :D Tell me your secret: how do you get so many comments every day?

Karma said...

I really appreciate you stopping by for all of the comments. I just thought I would say thank you. Thanks you! :D

Unknown said...

Amy you are a riot! Have you considered comedy?

Kenny apparently could be your sidekick!

Anonymous said...

Sorry I've been gone for a while, just now trying to catch up - MAN, I've got A LOT to read!!!

This was a great post - as usual!! You would make an excellent tour guide!

I'm not even sure that I would FIT in that tiny bathroom but I feel certain, once I got in there I would sit on the toilet, while taking a shower AND brushing my teeth. ;)

I'm just sayin'...

Anonymous said...

Awesome pics, Amy! And I loved Isaac but he could never keep a woman for some odd reason. Your dresses were 'da bomb'. You go, girl!

Hey, when you flush, were does it go? LOL

sa061545@bellsouth.net said...

You are just so gifted in the ability of writing and especially writing with humor! I am so proud of you!!! I can't wait to read that book one day!!! Love you,
Mom :)