May 12-17, 2012
After a somewhat sleepless night filled with anxiety and
giddiness, we awoke one by one and prepared ourselves for the early morning
flight out of Wichita. Since our internal alarm clocks sounded before our supplementary
alarm clocks, we didn’t have to rush and even had time to mill over a cup o’
joe. Rhonda woke Jim up and we loaded our suitcases into the car, doing one
last check to ensure we had our passports, DL’s and all other essential items.
We waved goodbye to Jim and headed into the airport terminal
where we were unpleasantly surprised to see so many people in the security
checkpoint line. We had ignored the suggestion to be at the airport one hour
before our flight. At this time, we regretted our tardiness and even began to
grow concerned. Thankfully, they opened up another line and we were able to get
through security with just a small snag with Rhonda’s luggage being randomly
selected for a look-see. Beyond the checkpoint, we quickly sped towards our
gate and as we arrived in a tither, the airline attendant said, “Rhonda, Robin
and Valerie?”, as if they were expecting us or even waiting on us. As it turns
out, we boarded the plane with seven minutes to spare and prepared for take-off
without Angel, the lone passenger that missed the flight.
We felt very fortunate that everything worked out and we
were able to arrive in Chicago with a 45 minute wait until our connecting
flight to Orlando departed. Rhonda decided a Starbucks latte was just what she
needed for a pick me up. The flight to Orlando was smooth and after we “arrived
alive” we called our Cocoa Beach shuttle where we soon met our driver, Janie,
passengers Mr. & Mrs. Brown, and a quiet, non-descript couple who sat in
front of us. Janie and the Browns proceeded to talk politics for the next
several minutes, including absurd comments like “Hilary Clinton & Oprah
should run for president.” Ha Janie
pulled up to our Courtyard Marriott in Cocoa Beach and we tipped her the
obligatory one dollar per bag, though we felt like cheap skates and hoped Janie
wouldn’t be the driver on our 2nd and 3rd legs of the
Cocoa Beach shuttle.
We checked into our hotel without incident and settled
quickly into our room. Almost immediately, we were putting on our swimming
suits, cover-ups and sunscreen so we could hit the beach and look for a genie
bottle. On the way to the sun and surf, we grabbed a chicken wrap and chips to
share since the granola bar we ate before daybreak was wearing pretty thin. We
found three spots in the sand where we placed our hotel bath towels. After
eating and soaking up a few rays, we frolicked in the surf, took a few pictures
and headed back to the hotel.
We changed into some casual clothes and our plan
was to walk to I Dream of Jeannie Lane, which didn’t seem very far on the map,
go to the grocery store to buy some breakfast food for the next morning and
find a good seafood restaurant. As it turned out, I Dream of Jeannie Lane was
several, several blocks away and it was pretty warm out there. We finally got there,
took some pics and headed back towards the grocery store we saw on the way. We
bought fruits and granola bars and a bottle of wine called “The Middle Sister”
to take onto the ship. We asked a couple people where a good seafood restaurant
was, that wasn’t too far away. We were told, Florida’s Seafood Bar and Grill,
which was not too far away from the hotel but not close enough to walk. Our
front desk attendant called a cab and even called the restaurant to tell them
we were coming. She held her hand over the receiver and asked, “Name
please?” At this time, I boldly stepped
in front of my sister’s and said in a confident voice, “Isabella Valentino”.
Had it not been for the laughs and the “I can’t believe you told her that was
your name” comments, she might have been more certain I didn’t just make that
up, but she went along with it anyway. “Hurley”, our taxi driver, pulled up in
his minivan taxi and attempted to take us to a faraway seafood restaurant
instead so he could earn more cab fare, but since it cost $3.15 to get into the
van, we decided to stick to the original plan. We arrived at the restaurant and
I stood before the host and declared us as “Isabella Valentino, party of 3”.
She found my name on the list and then said, “I love your name” to which I
replied, “Thank you”. The food was good,
after we finally got someone to wait on us. The hostess called a cab and
“Kipp”, our driver, took us back to the hotel.
After a decent night sleep for Rhonda and I, we all rolled
out, grabbed our morning Starbucks and walked to the beach. Today was Rhonda’s
50th birthday! Robin and I had bought her a shirt that said, “I’m
not 50. I’m 18 with 32 years’ experience”, so we made her wear that.
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| Not our beach access |
We
strolled along the shore peacefully while we sipped our morning brew and I
decided it was becoming a good time to head back to the hotel to “drop the kids
off at the pool”.
Might as well start this vacation off right! My sister’s
pointed me to our beach access and continued their walk in the sand and gentle
waves with the intention of joining me later. I was puzzled when I didn’t
recognize our beach access and soon realized why as I looked up to find an
abandoned parking lot surrounded by chain link fence. It was then I realized it
was not a great idea for my sisters to send me, their directionally challenged
sister, back to the room by myself. I headed back to the beach where I became
aware that all the hotels/condos looked the same from the ocean. I tried the
next beach access and it was not the right one either! I texted my sisters and
said, “Houston, we have a problem” and I informed them we were further down the
beach than we realized. They turned around and started to head back as well.
Fifteen minutes later, while I was still walking along the beach looking for
our beach access, Rhonda called and asked if I had made it back yet and I
answered, “NO… I’m still on the beach!”
They were even 15 minutes behind me yet. Finally, I found our hotel. I
can now mark off “Likes long walks on the beach” off my “things about me” list!
It was an amusing anecdote to start of Rhonda’s 50th birthday. The
good news is we weren’t in any sort of a rush as our ship didn’t sail until 4
p.m. and the port was just a few minutes away. Back at the room, together once
again, we ate the delicious fruits and granola bars from the grocery store
while sitting on our balcony.
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| Carnival Sensation |
have to wait in line with the other passengers. 
We
We
found our
cabin, V7, on the Verandah Deck 11 and it was cute and reminded us of Grandpa
Olson’s camper. We had a balcony, two twin beds and a couch that folded into a
third twin bed. We wandered around the ship for a bit until Rhonda and Robin's luggage arrived
in our room, then they proceeded to unpack and make themselves at home. Rhonda took a peek outside our room to see if my luggage had arrived too, and she got her toe caught under the door and needed a bandaid. She called to get one and they said they'd be happy to bring her one, but it would cost $2.19. She said, "Nevermind!"
It was around 1ish and we would be leaving the port at 4
p.m. All the food smelled so good and we settled on some delicious Mongolian
BBQ. After lunch and prior to our departure, we joined the group that would be
taking a tour of the ship. Since the ship was quite large, we thought it would
behoove us to familiarize ourselves with the ship with the help of this guided
tour. Two members of the entertainment staff, Mo and Gabby were our tour
guides. They were fun girls, but apparently we didn’t pay enough attention
because it was not so easy later on for us to find our way around the ship.
Once the tour concluded, we were called to our Muster Station (F) for our
standard safety training. While waiting with our group of people, I found
myself standing behind a man dressed in the oldest, dingiest Fruit of the Loom “white” T-shirt,
inside out and a pair of dirty “work in the garage” jeans. I looked at Robin
and she had noticed him too. Soon, we would name this man, “Banjo Bob”, along
with his hillbilly wife, “Earline” and daughter “Peaches”. More on them later.
The next interesting character we met at our muster station
was “Wallace”. He was on the cruise with his daughter who had just graduated
from college and was preparing to further her education in Marine Biology. They
were nice, but Wallace had a quality about him that screamed lonely and
desperate. More on him later.
It was time to sail away so we called our loved ones and
said our farewells and bon voyages. Music was being piped through loud speakers
and we noticed the song they played was Rihanna’s “Umbrella…. Ella… Ella…” Thanks mom! Happy Mother’s Day to you too!!
Just to be on the safe side, I took a Dramamine and we all
lounged on the upper deck and watched the coast of Florida grow smaller and
smaller.
We were really here! This was really happening!!
We were really here! This was really happening!!
Before we left on the trip, Robin passed out our matching Hello shirts (Hello, Hello, Hello). We enjoyed
wearing these around the ship and got quite a bit of attention. And who doesn’t
like attention, right?
Our cabin steward, Gede would see us coming down the
hallway and we’d sing Hello,
Hello, Hello and he’d
join in and say “HELLO”. It was cute. Our main cabin steward, Sumarni
was a very nice lady from Indonesia and it took us a few days to understand what she was saying. But she smiled a lot and that says it all.
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Before dinner, we went to the Fantasia Lounge where they
were hosting a trivia game show. The first three contestants didn’t seem very
bright so when they asked for volunteers for round two, Rhonda ran up to the
stage to give it a go. They asked each contestant what their name was, where
they were from and who they were cruising with. “I’m Rhonda, from Kansas and I
am cruising with my two sisters for my birthday!” They noticed Rhonda’s shirt
announcing she was 50. Round two questions were more difficult but Rhonda still
managed a respectable second place finish, though if her buzzer would have been
in better working order, she may have gotten first. 
After the fun-filled day, we were all exhausted and decided to hit the hay. Sleep came easy for all of us that night and we woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready for our day in Freeport. We went to breakfast in the Fantasy Dining Room and it was very good. Before we disembarked, we made sure each of us had everything we would need to get back on the ship. The port in Freeport was very industrious and taxis were lined up to take us to the fun places, located about 15 minutes away. We checked out the local straw market, found three ankle bracelets to purchase and a straw hat for Rhonda, then continued on to the beach where Big Mama wanted to braid our hair. We paid $10 each for rental of a beach lounge chair and found the perfect spot. The water was very blue and pretty and we lounged in the sun until the heat moved us to the water for a cool down. We’d noticed a little tiki bar a few yards away and wanted to try a Bahama Mama, because “when in Rome…” Kendrick, our bartender fixed the drinks for us and they were quite tasty! We didn’t want to overstay our welcome in the sun so we made our way back to the taxi stop for our ride back to the port. The van was pretty full, but had room for three more. Rhonda and Robin climbed over all the seats to sit in the two remaining seats in the back of the van and I sat in the front seat next to the driver. Now, in the Bahamas, they drive on the opposite side of the road and their steering wheel is on the opposite side too, so it was pretty interesting to sit in the front seat and not have a steering wheel in front of me. The driver was quiet and so was I, but there was plenty of chatter going on behind us. We were packed in the van with a group of black people who had no filters. Rhonda and Robin had to sit by the “Doobie Brothers” who talked about smoking weed the whole time while the lady sitting behind me, “Shamique” was going on and on about nothing. I learned that I would never want to borrow money from Shamique! We’ve never felt so white in our lives. Yikes. But, we lived and gathered all our belongings, as well as someone from Georgia’s prescription glasses that were left on the van, and boarded the ship.
Tonight was our fancy eatin night at dinner. Before we dressed for dinner, Rhonda got her dress out of
the closet and was preparing to put it on when she saw something
strange pinned inside the dress. It was something green and white... She said, "What is this?!" and we all started laughing.
It was one of Imogene's awful ties that likes to make appearances in
many a locale over the last several years. It's the gift that keeps on
giving! Thanks Imo!Anyhoo, each passenger was required to dress nicely tonight. The previous night, Pa Kettle told us he left his dress shoes at home, in the back of his pickup truck and was going to have to find shoes to wear besides the lone pair of flip flops he had. We took our turns getting ready for dinner and made our way, past the pool, in our high heels and pretty dresses. Once again, we arrived to dinner promptly at 6 p.m. and were seated at our table. Our head waiter, Pablo had learned our names and was placing our napkins on our laps, giving us our menus and preparing to take our dinner order when Tennessee arrived. Pa Kettle had found shoes for dinner. However, he failed to find nice pants because he was just wearing blue jeans. Maybe in Tennessee, that IS nice dinner attire?!
After dinner, we headed to the Fantasia Lounge for the evening show, starring “Dennis, Patsy and the Solid Gold Dancers”. Our host tonight was Laura, the assistant cruise director. She had a great accent and whenever we saw her, she wanted us to say, “Shimmmaaaa” and wave our hand from high to low. Robin remembered to do this a few times during the cruise and Laura shimmmmaaaa’d right back to her. After the Dennis and Patsy show, we checked out our “Fun Times” itinerary for the day and found a couple options for us to try. One was Karaoke in the Michelangelo Lounge. We thought this would be fun and imagined ourselves entertaining the crowd for hours on end with our mad karaoke skills. However, when we arrived, the place was pretty full and it wasn’t the casual, fun karaoke atmosphere we had imagined. We decided to go on to option 2, a 70’s and 80’s dance party next door in the Kaleidoscope Lounge. Good tunes were playing when we arrived so we immediately headed to the dance floor. Two to three songs into it, the DJ started playing “Funky Town” and we noticed everybody on the dance floor left except for us. We thought, Oh well and continued with our dancing. You know the phrase, Dance like nobody’s watching? Well, that was kinda hard to do here because the dance floor was the center of the room and all eyes seemed to point to us. Funky Town was a longer song that I remembered, but we suffered through the entire thing with our 80’s dance moves and once they started playing some Michael Jackson, people flooded the dance floor. A scary looking “woman” that might have really been a man dressed in drag, was dancing with her boyfriend close by. We named her Victor/Victoria. By this time, we were dancing up a sweat and each of us tied our sweaters/jackets around our waist and continued dancing. As if we didn’t already look 20 years older than the majority of dancers on the floor, we had to tie sweaters around our waists. We called ourselves, the Sweater Sisters.
After another restful night for all of us, we decided to give the breakfast buffet a try. It was good, but we preferred the nice sit-down breakfasts served in the Fantasy Dining Room. Today, we were docked in Nassau and looking forward to another day at the beach. Nassau was known for having nicer beaches and a bigger straw market than Freeport. Bring it on! First, we walked to the straw market and there was booth after booth of the same type of items and the same type of people saying, “Pretty girl, come take a look at my stuff, I make you good deal” or “Sexy lady, what you like here, today everything is on sale”. I guess if you need an ego boost, a straw market is the place to go! We each bought a few souvenirs and headed towards the water taxi that would take us to Paradise Island. The dark clouds were starting to move into the area but we were somewhat sure the rain storm would come and go quickly. On the ferry ride, one of the tour guides decided to give the group of people in the back his own guided tour. Robin and Rhonda quickly decided to make a move towards me so we wouldn’t be sucked into his tour and be expected to give him a tip. When we arrived at Paradise Island, he said he would personally take all of us to the beach, but he was pretty scary looking and we didn’t trust “Blackbeard”, which is the name we gave him. Besides, we are three intelligent women and could find our own way to the beach! However, that was easier said than done.
After wandering
around for what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the beach. We paid
our $10 per lounge chair and found our spot. The waves seemed to be crashing in
with great force and it would take some energy to get very far into the water.
As we were approaching the waves, I suggested to my sisters that we had to time
this just right and once the wave crashes, we needed to run as fast as we could
into the surf before the next wave was upon us. Okay, GO! And I proceeded to
following my own instructions and made it far enough out before the wave could
knock me down. I happily turned around to make sure my sister’s made it and
this is what I see. Rhonda was limping and bleeding, with water up to her ankles.
Robin had disappeared momentarily but then I saw her face emerge from the
rolling wave and sand that served as her tortilla. Once the wave allowed her to
stand, she had sand caked on her head and face. This was slightly amusing to
me. I thought I could hear Rhonda saying she was bleeding and I was puzzled
because she didn’t even make it into the water! I decided to come check out the
situation. Rhonda said a wave had forced a big rock across the top of her foot
and left a cut. She hobbled back to our lounge chairs and we all sat down to
try and relax. The rain was starting to pick up now and Robin and Rhonda were
hiding under their Carnival beach towels. Next thing we know, the waves have
reached us and we grabbed all remaining items that we under our chairs right
before they were swept out to sea. The lady next to us was not as fortunate.
She managed to lose her sunglasses, cell phone and hair. Yes, hair. Some sort
of extension that she clips onto the back of her head. She was lucky though,
because her sons found all her lost items, including the hair. As one of the
boys dove under the water, he resurfaced with his prize pelt and held it in the
air for the world to see. We were noticing the skies were looking darker and
the rain was really coming down now. After a few minutes of misery, we decided
to just go back to the port. We’d spent a lot of time getting to the beach and
spent $30 on chairs, but sometimes it’s just not worth it. We were drowned rats
as we stood at the dock waiting for our return ferry. We tried to dry off the
best we could with our one remaining somewhat dry beach towel. It was raining
cats and dogs, the thunder was really loud, and there was ground to cloud
lightening everywhere we looked. Thankfully, we made it back to the port and since
we had plenty of time before we had to be back on the ship, we decided to relax
at a local restaurant that served the “best conch
fritters in the Bahamas”. Besides the fritters, we ordered a variety of
appetizers as well as a fruity, Caribbean beverage. We were happy to be seated in an
outdoor area in the balcony, since we were still drowned rats and
not in need to the refreshing cool air of an air conditioner. Our table gave us
a great view of Market Street and all its hustle and bustle. We did get a rare
opportunity to watch a drunken Asian guy “Pee Li” stumble along the street then
find what he thought was a secluded place to relieve himself on the tire of a
taxi. We were hoping he was not getting back onto our ship!
Back on the ship, we were never so happy to change into dry clothes. While Rhonda was waiting for her turn in the shower, she was out on the balcony and met our neighbors, “the Gamblers” who loved to go on cruises and gamble. They had just won quite a bit of money the night before in the Casino. The lady kept thinking we were sisters from Wisconsin and Rhonda kept telling her Kansas. Finally she offered a piece of advice to Rhonda… “Don’t be afraid to gamble!” Duly noted.
At dinner, we visited with Tennessee about our day and Pablo served us some delicious Lobster tail. Each day, we ordered a type of seafood. Each day, we ordered dessert. The most popular dessert at our table was the Chocolate Melting Cake. Travis and Nicole went on their first cruise, the Carnival Sensation a year ago for their one year anniversary. Travis had eaten the Chocolate Melting Cake every night then, and he was eating it every night now. We renamed it “the Travis Special”.
Tonight’s show included some Blues Brothers song and dance
and it was quite entertaining. We were just glad we didn’t have to listen to
Dennis and Patsy! Afterwards, we headed aft to the Punchline Comedy Club in
the Plaza Lounge to get a few laughs from comedians Ira Proctor and Ronnie
Buller. Ira was being heckled by some unattended children and it really got
under his skin and he didn’t hide it. But, by the end, we all wanted to punch
out a couple of kids! After the comedy show, we were looking through our “Fun
Times” and I jokingly said we could go to the GLBT Mix & Mingle. I then had
to inform Rhonda and Robin what GLBT meant. They quickly decided we should not
go to that. Instead, we went to the deck party by the pool where many gathered
to dance, including The Cupid Shuffle, The Wobble and of course everybody’s
favorite dance move, “Washing the dog”. After dancing a while, we were getting
pretty warm. Good thing we left our sweaters behind this time! Mo found a few
volunteers for a game. She asked for a single lady, a hot mama and a hot
grandmamma, then asked for a single guy, a dad and a grandpa. One by one, each
had to lip sync and perform to the song being played using the banana as a
microphone. This was fun and the ladies all did well. The grandmamma especially
did well as she sang and strutted her stuff to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”. We
named her Zsa Zsa. The men took their turns dancing and lip syncing too and
then it was time for the grandpa to perform. He proceeded to do inappropriate
things to the banana and we were regusted! This guy possessed all the qualities
of a dirty old man and he will now be known forever to us as, The Banana Man.
Ewwwww!!!!! We could hardly stomach the 11:00 p.m. Mexican buffet, but somehow
we managed, even though we weren’t even the slightest bit hungry!
Once again, sleep came easy for all of us and we were ready
for our day at sea. We had decided to eat breakfast in our favorite place, the
Fantasy Dining Room, then latch on to some lounge chairs on the deck before
everyone else realized that with 2053 passengers aboard (possibly just 2052 now
that we were unsure if one of the female passengers made it back onto the ship
in Nassau…) the chairs would be highly coveted by noon. We found our favorite
spot and set our stuff down. There was a TV theme song trivia about to begin in
the Fantasia Lounge so we left a few items behind to reserve our spots while we
played along. When we arrived at our chairs, all was undisturbed and we
stretched out for a day in the sun. This was nice and relaxing, even though the
sun came in and out of the clouds for the next few hours.
At 3 p.m., Rhonda and
Robin decided they wanted to attend a “Tea” in the Touch of Class lounge. I
decided to stay on the deck with my book, my music and the sun. While Rhonda
and Robin were at Tea, Wallace approached them with his cup o’ tea and asked if
he could join them. They were about to leave for their Hip Hop Dance class but
Wallace just looked so sad and pitiful so they stayed for a few minutes longer.
He went on to explain about his horrible, rotten day and they cordially
listened and offered some support then at the right time, excused themselves
for the Hip Hop class. By now, I was ready to shower and change into casual
clothes, so I did and took my camera to the Hip Hop class. I was able to
capture video of Rhonda and Robin doing their best impression of a Hip Hop
dancer. Their dance instructors, Ash and Eric, were also extremely talented
break dancers.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bob, Earline and Peaches. We had been seeing Bob and family everywhere we went during the entire cruise. We even heard Earline yell "TOO HARD" at something Peaches did. Poor Peaches! On the list of things to do today was, “Take a picture of Bob, Earline and Peaches”. I was going to be ready. After the show, I saw Robin had also spotted Bob and family and was making her way towards them with the camera. To make it look less obvious, I stood behind them and shouted to Robin, “Hi Robin, take my picture” so she did and now we have a picture of Bob.
At 3 p.m., Rhonda and
Robin decided they wanted to attend a “Tea” in the Touch of Class lounge. I
decided to stay on the deck with my book, my music and the sun. While Rhonda
and Robin were at Tea, Wallace approached them with his cup o’ tea and asked if
he could join them. They were about to leave for their Hip Hop Dance class but
Wallace just looked so sad and pitiful so they stayed for a few minutes longer.
He went on to explain about his horrible, rotten day and they cordially
listened and offered some support then at the right time, excused themselves
for the Hip Hop class. By now, I was ready to shower and change into casual
clothes, so I did and took my camera to the Hip Hop class. I was able to
capture video of Rhonda and Robin doing their best impression of a Hip Hop
dancer. Their dance instructors, Ash and Eric, were also extremely talented
break dancers. 
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bob, Earline and Peaches. We had been seeing Bob and family everywhere we went during the entire cruise. We even heard Earline yell "TOO HARD" at something Peaches did. Poor Peaches! On the list of things to do today was, “Take a picture of Bob, Earline and Peaches”. I was going to be ready. After the show, I saw Robin had also spotted Bob and family and was making her way towards them with the camera. To make it look less obvious, I stood behind them and shouted to Robin, “Hi Robin, take my picture” so she did and now we have a picture of Bob.
We started the conversation with Tennessee about the GLBT mix and mingle and then the jokes started. Jim and Gay, the older couple at our table had some real zingers. Gay said she should go to the GLBT party and announce, “Hi! I’m Gay and I’m here to party!” Then Jim chimed in with, “I knew she was Gay before I married her!” and “The kids used to tell their friends their mom was Gay!” Ha
During this trip we learned several things about each other
and ourselves. First of all, we all had good intentions to spend time each day
exercising. After all, we each brought a set of workout clothes and tennis
shoes. There was a nice weight room, as well as a running/walking track.
However, we never made time. Secondly, we wanted to play mini golf and ride the
water slide, but we just didn’t get around to that either. Cruise ships offer a
wide variety of entertainment and we just couldn’t do everything.We realized we were all directionally challenged, not just
me. In our defense, the ship was set up poorly and the signs were confusing. We
knew there had to be a better way to get to dinner from our cabin without
having to walk on the deck, past the pool. But after numerous failed attempts,
and countless “I’m going back down/up/in” comments (ha), we just gave up and
found the dining room the tried and true way.Rhonda and Robin learned what GLBT was and what it meant to
“drop the kids off at the pool”. Heck, those buses were running non-stop most
of the trip! But Shaquille and his backpack, the Gilligan kids and Fat Albert
provided hours of entertainment for the Olson Sisters. Overall, we are a pretty
entertaining bunch and enjoy being around each other and can definitely find
ways to laugh and have a great time!
After debarkation, our CB shuttle driver, Wrigley, took us
back to Orlando, where we flew to Houston, then on to Wichita where Jim was
waiting for us. It was a great time and we will have stories to tell for years
to come. I can’t wait to see what our “Trip of a Lifetime” to Sweden and
Germany has in store for the Olson Sisters & dad!
