Evening Explorations

Carnival delivers a little ship news print that is called the FunTimes. They also call the ship the FunShip so take it as you will. The news letter is useful. It tells you the times of all the shows and activities on board as well as their locations. There are a lot of on ship advertisements for things such as the art auction and the gambling classes. However, there is also a simple itemized list of all ship activities. This includes what time we are entering and leaving port, what time to return to the ship, when meals are and what the feature meal is at the Lido Buffet.

This is how I found our first event attempt, called Game show Mania. It was the only interesting thing that I saw on the first night and I suggested it to Tim. He agreed and we made our way to the lounge after dinner.

This seems to be how you earn ships on a stick. These are gold colored cheap trophies that Carnival gives out for games and silly fun. They had movie trivia at the start as well as music trivia. Not being one that watches movies or listens to music it was over my head.

The Gameshow Mania was basicaly onboard jepordy. I’m not sure what I had hoped for. I guess something interesting. This was not interesting. I left. Tim stayed. I decided that wandering the depths of the ship would provide me with much more interest.

It turns out that I was right. I’m not the social type. The ship was quiet. The bars were full and the air smelled of intoxication. I don’t drink and at times I have trouble dealing with drinkers. I remind myself that a cruise ship is one of the better places for people to decide to drink on. I avoided the crowds and sought out the quieter parts of the ship.

There where a lot of couples talking. The atmosphere around them was often tense. I do not think that the conversations where pleasant. There were many frowns and strained atmospheres. Perhaps this was a fix it cruise for many. Ocean and sky. These are two pieces to a romantic puzzle.

Night time on board fascinates me. The interior of the ship is a lot like being in a building. We had hit a bit of rough water and I did not have any type of sea legs. Therefor, I could feel the pitch and roll of the floor as I walked around and occasionally staggered when the ground was not where I expected it to be. The shops are open late and everyone is running around with a drink in their hand. I wound up with raffle tickets to something at some point. I’m not sure what the raffle was for or where it was. This happened a few other times on the ship. I know it was either for art or jewelry, two things I was not interested in pursuing on my ship.

I know that sounds strange, but even though they assure me that they are giving me great sales and excellent deals, I don’t believe them. Crazy as it is, I just don’t.

I started with the Lido deck. As I stepped outside I wondered if I was in the right place. For a moment, there seemed to be no wind and a black ceiling had been placed over the entire expanse. I shook off the feeling and instead stared up at the expanse of unlit black sky above me. A string of light bulbs runs the length of the deck and they block out the starlight. The walls of the deck are also two stories tall with the upper edges being another area for sunbathing. This makes it very warm with very little air movement. The air, instead is heavy with the scent of chlorine from the bubbling hot tubs.

I wound my way up the steps onto the next balcony. We had not really been forward so I headed that way, climbing steps as I found them. At one point, I stepped through a doorway and found myself on a spongy surface. Puzzled, I followed the red squishy path and discovered the mini golf area. I then realized that I was standing on the jogging track. They were located at the very top of the ship to the front. Beyond them, was a balcony. It involves walking along the jogging path and stepping off onto the edge of the mini golf AstroTurf to reach. However, it is the tallest deck for guests on the ship and you can really gather a nice headwind.

I discovered the deck 11 front balcony. It sits right above the bridge. The ways to access it are small and off the beaten path. Form the Lido deck you go past the bars on the left or right sides of the pool area. There is a door there and it leads to a long, dark deck. This deck is where the controls for the life boats are. If you heard forward there are little signs that stop you from entering the bridge, but the stair case leads up to a deck that wraps around the front of the ship.

There are also polished wooden doors right past the elevators before the atrium. They are inconspicuous compared to so many of the other doors.
This deck is amazing. It’s better, in my opinion then the one up top because it is a bit darker and it is more forward. You can feel the wind and just lean into it and enjoy being on a ship.

After a bit, I returned to our room and sat on the dark balcony watching the moonlight over the water. It is a fantastic past time. I highly recommend it.