Amber Cove + a forgettable night...

 Amber Cove!

So today was a early day! We woke up at 8 am since we had to meet in the Northern Lights Dining Room for our excursion at 8:50 am. I was really excited because we decided to do the Outback Terracross Adventure and I didn't really know what to expect since we have never done anything like that before. We ordered room service for breakfast and I ordered a muffin...Did I get the muffin? Noooooope! But we still went upstairs to Lido for a quick breakfast. It was 8:55 and we were still in Lido and that's when my nerves kicked in cause I had never done an excursion with Carnival before so I didn't know if they had already left or not. Needless to say, I didn't know what the heck to expect. But we arrived! On time! And sat for quite a bit before we left. When it was time to go ashore we had to go through the crew stairs to get downstairs so we could all be the first ones off. It was pretty cool to see the crew staircase and area, even though you don't see much. 

waiting...

We walked the pier through the shop, and had to look for the excursion and we finally found the guy. His name was Pedro (or Pablo?--Ugh, I don't remember...) but he was AWESOME literally 5+ stars for him. Everyone was really nice and helpful. We waited for a little while until everyone was ready, then we all walked to the bus.

This was the bus, I wish I had taken a picture of the bus by itself but I totally forgot and this was after the excursion. The guy in the blue was Pedro-Pablo lol and the guy in the orange was the driver. 

On the ride there it was pretty nice. Pedro-Pablo taught us a few things about his island and the area we were going to (Puerto Plata). 

The bus ride there wasn't too bad. Maybe 25ish minutes. Although I don't remember exactly. It felt quick just because we were enjoying it! 

When we got to the spot, we had to sign in, and get ready. They asked if anyone had to use the bathroom before we left because it would be a while before we could use the bathroom again.

We also got to use goggles for free, and they had bandanas for sale ($4). But we brought our own (1$ at walmart! what a deal!) We got to pick our own buggy, get our helmets and they buckled us in and told everyone what to do. 

We waited for everyone to be ready, and off we went! Each buggy had to follow the other. We had 3 people. So one guy was all the way in the front, then one in the middle that we had to follow and then at the end there was another guy. If you were by yourself, you got to ride with one of the workers.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was really fun but I have anxiety in cars and such especially cause Sam worries me but I was okay for the most part but I kept finding myself saying SLOW DOWN even though we weren't going that fast. But it was so fun, but out of my comfort zone. I'm sorry guys, i'm normally really boring and not adventurous, by any means. This was definitely something that was up Sams alley.  The person in front of us got stuck at one point in the mud and couldn't go further so the guys had to help them get up a litte hill that's when I started to get nervous but Sam knew what he was doing. Phew. I guess I don't have to mention that when we got to switch drivers, I refused! Ahhhh. Ummmm, I think 5 mph would have been too fast for me on that thing. I have a lot of videos of the ride but I will have to upload them later on. 

We stopped for a little while for a break and to switch drivers and then kept going. Then we finally got to the river area. It was a little bit of a walk but it wasn't too bad. When we got to the river, I almost slipped cause the rocky sand? was slippery and I dropped my new s7 face down on the rock..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo. But I had the lifeproof case so NOTHING HAPPENED but do you know how I felt when I was picking up my phone? Terrified. My stomach was in my bum.....

If you do this excursion, its extremely rocky so wear boat/water shoes! I had them, and I forgot them on the ship! What a waste of my money to buy shoes I never wore lolol.

We didn't stay in the river very long but long enough to dip in and enjoy it. I didn't go in though. Everyone else did...I'm noticing a pattern here. I never do anything.........?

Then we made our way back to the buggys and back to point A. But we went a different way which let us explore the area. We saw people just doing their daily thing. Some kids were in the road and they high five-d us and I felt a little bad for them. I can only imagine that we all look like aliens with our helmets, bandannas and these goggles... I'm upset because I took a lot of pictures and even some of cows literally a foot away from me, but I think when I transferred the pictures to my computer, it didn't upload all of them....and I had to return my phone (not because of the fall-- but because the phone itself was having issues-- so I lost those pictures forever!!!!!! Ugh).

Anyways, we got back to our original spot and got off the buggys which they started to wash immediately and they sat us in an area and they gave us FOOD and drinks! Yayyyy nom nom.

It was good. The girls that sat with us ate one piece of chicken and didn't care for the tostones (fried plantain) but since we're hispanic and grew up eating this, we devoured it. I loved it. so yummy. Please send me some. They also offered us a surprise........Rum and coke. With their specialty rum they make on the island.

I didn't care for it but, um....free drinks. I'll take it! Pedro-Pablo also gave us a few shots of pineapple rum, and another rum Mama Juana? EW. That was disgusting and no one liked it. You've been warned and if you like it, then......you're not human.................just kidding!

They gave us some time to look around at their shop and to see some guy making cigars but I was tired and ready to get back to the bus...so Pedro-Pablo let us.

Here's when things got adventerous, as if the buggy ride wasn't adventerous enough. So we get on the bus, and we get going and I guess everyone had a little bit too much rum and mama juana cause everyone is NUTS. Pedro-pablo pulls out the rum and says Now lets get this party started and everyones laughing and dancing in their seats.. They put up the music, and he's pouring rum and cokes for everyone......Everyone was having such an amazing time, it was probably the best part of the day...No i'm kidding cause the excursion was fantastic, but suddenly our trip back turned into the party bus. We kept drinking and drinking and then I started feeling like..I was floating

I asked this guy who was partying it up on the bus to take a picture of us (the picture of us with Pedro-Pablo, and the bus driver) and he decided to take a selfie. Hiii, whoever you are :) 

Heres him again, having fun...I have to say there were a lot of happy drunks.

It was close to 2 I think so we decided to go look for a shot glass for my mom and then go back onboard to shower because we were covered in mud and dirt from the buggys'....

I really REALLY loved Amber Cove. It was such a beautiful port and I wish I could have explored it more but the excursion took up almost all the time and we were exhausted and ready to be onboard. Next time I think we will definitely just stay in port. But i HIGHLY recommend the Outback Terracross Adventure. Try it if you can! It was sold out a couple weeks before the cruise started so book early! 

After we showered, we decided to go grab some food, I think we probably got burgers or pizza. I'm not sure...I don't have pictures! While walking around the ship we were thinking of getting another excursion so we went to the excursion desk but never made it cause we got distracted by the Dr. Seuss parade....Then decided we didn't wanna spend any more money. 

After this we went back to the room to get ready for dinner.

I loved this view. I really loved this room! Come on what gets better than this? I mean maybe balcony lol but likee for a wittle baby budget like mine, it doesn't get better than this! :) 

So today we went to dinner and met the other couple that was missing the other night. We quickly became buddies and somehow the goal was to get Sam drunk that night since he never drinks/ and/or gotten drunk and it was the tables mission for the night. Well, the other people are the table were already in a far away land because they had the cheers package, and our little buzz from earlier went away.

I'm going to be extremely honest with you, just because this happened and it never has. I used to be that person would make fun of drunk people but that changed tonight....So our table friends and I set out to go out tonight. Well, we started at one bar (Alchemy Bar) I cringe at the thought of it now. I'm pretty sure we were the loudest table at dinner and everyone was always watching us cause we were laughing like crazy. Carnival did a GREAT job at pairing us up. Our personalities all fit with each other and I miss our friends now!

 My drink........my new friend suggested it. It was a cucumber sunrise. I'm literally trying not to die right now as i'm typing this. SO GROSS. But I chugged it........BLEHEHHHHHHHH. I can't take it.

Well we sat outside and talked and got to know each other better and we shared stories. It was a very nice, relaxing time. 

Then we decided to go to the tides bar (is that even the bar name? I'm probably making it up now haha.). Then we drank some more, and I kept chugging drinks like I was in a desert and didn't have a single drop of water in ages. I even stole all of Sams drinks? Like wasn't it the goal for Sam to be drunk. What happened here. Why didn't anyone stop me?! LOL..-crosses arms and pouts-.....Then our new friend (the one with the cheers package) didn't want to finish her drinks so she would give them to me (yeah, yeah I know. no sharing. oops). So I chugged all hers too...BIG MISTAKE, GUYS. I rarely drink (other than a few 'girly' drinks and the rum and coke we had earlier that day) so I don't really know my limit,  but I learned that night.....Then we went to the club where they were having the time of their life and I remember telling Sam that I wanted to be on their level. Well i'll spare you the details but I definitely passed their level and went to a whole new universe, Mars.  I don't remember a thing excepting sitting down then I woke up at 5 am hoping it was all a dream. I am not mentioning this because I wanted to share my drunk story, believe me, i'm ashamed. But I am mentioning this, because if I was alone or with friends who didn't take care of me, I could have easily done something incredibly retarded. I think that with all the booze cruises provided, people should be careful and family and friends should always be attentive to their loved ones or even other people on board. I think those people who go overboard, is without question because they're highly intoxicated. I am very glad I had Sam and our new friends to watch over me. Never let someone who was drinking walk anywhere alone! 

I guess I don't have to mention that the tables goal of getting Sam drunk wasn't achieved. Nor will it ever, now.  

That's the end of day 3......What a crappy ending!

Booze, 1. Cinthya, 0.

Tomorrow is day 4 & St. Thomas!! 

Open Seas + Eat...

Just me, and the open sea.
and thousands of other people, too.


There is something that is so relaxing about being in the middle of the ocean and looking out your little window and seeing this....Yessssss. Beautiful first sea day! Remember how I told you May is the best month? Yeah, this is why. God, your creation is beautiful!

Today I wanted to do everything that was on the funtimes but no, that didn't happen because I don't know how to plan all that well. It's a skill i'm trying to master. No such luck on this cruise though.

But we started out with brunch in the Southern Lights dining room. It conveniently was right above us! Before this cruise my hypothesis was that I'd eat a lot of food, but I'd lose a pound from all the walking....I'll tell you what happens at the end of the cruise ;).

We went to the dining room, and waited in line it was a little long but went by pretty quickly. It was around 9:30 am. They asked if we wanted to sit alone or with others and i'm all for sitting with other people but I guess today I wasn't feeling up to it so we opted to sit alone. We were seated all the way aft like right on top of our room. Atleast if I had broken the deck, I would have landed on the bed. Hehe. Our waiter was very attentive and it was a fast brunch lasted maybe 40 minutes. We didn't stay for brunch dessert though. 

Sea day brunch- 8:30 am- 1:00 pm, Southern Lights, 3 aft.

Here is the yummy brunch we had.

 Ceasar salad with chicken, and it was really good! Which is funny because each time I eat caesar salad on the ship something is always off.

 Sam's ceasar salad with bacon...also good. So I heard.

 Steak n Eggs.

 Steak n Eggs and Turkey Bacon....Sam really likes bacon. 

Breakf-...no, I mean brunch, was delicious and something about steak in the morning doesn't sound healthy or like my first choice on land but on a cruise it's food heaven. Happy tummy's. 

We didn't do much after brunch, we walked around, looked at the shops and such. I probably ate 5 ice cream cones within that time period. I ate. alot. One negative is that the machines always had an issue. Didn't matter which I went to; a turtle could walk faster than this soft serve coming out or there were no cones or it didn't even work. The struggle was REAL. Oh, and the lines got long and I think they're in an awkward spot....

...so we kept walking around and then I saw it was 12:30 and I was like "OH I KNOW WHERE TO GO" 

Mooooore foooooooood.

 Magic has the Guys Pig and Anchor Smokehouse BBQ on Sea days so you best believe I had to check that out. 

12:00 pm - 2:30 pm Ocean Plaza, 5 mid 

First off, I think this spot is random like if I hadn't stalked it I wouldn't know it's there but I guess it works for traffic. There aren't many seats outside and no drink dispensers around or  none that I could find? I did see some guy that was from bar services probably selling soda and such. So we went upstairs because being the first sea day there was literally no seats inside or out. Just incase youre wondering because you probably are .....yes the lines were long....like really long but it went by pretty fast. 

 The BBQ was good. The mac and cheese was good. I once again didn't find any sauce I liked. Wah.

Since we were already upstairs eating our BBQ, I checked the funtimes and saw 

Red vs Blue's Challenge at 1:00 pm on the lido deck so we waited for that  which was just watching some people mix up some drinks and seeing who wins. You know how sometimes you can't see anything because it's so crowded and what not? Well, you can see everything thanks to the big screen and the videographer so you don't have to be right in front of them to see what they're doing except we stood there and I felt awkward the whole entire time. Sam really likes to be upfront and center when it comes to seeing things. Me, on the other hand. Oh no. 

I failed you guys and I didn't get any pictures. I'm sorry.

After the 'who can make better drinks' show lol came Hottest New Line Dances W/Dr. E. The picture below shows everyone having a great time learning how to dance lol Dr. E made it soooo funny. I had fun just watching it. Next up was The Very Hairy Chest contest. I think I picked a great spot to watch it. We went up to deck 11. I was right in front of the doors to the elevators so every time it opened it was like getting a hint of Alaska (it was nice and cold)(and in the heat it felt ammmmazing). Plus the view was great! 

This picture is when I moved to the side to where Sam was. No Alaskan air here, though.

The show was funny to watch and i'm sure participate in. Let me tell you, there were some crazy people on this sailing. I LOVE IT.

After this the fun died down for us, we didn't know what to do except eat, yet again. Listen, this cruise has more than enough places to eat. I'm pretty sure I ate every 2 hours if that...actually I got my stomach used to it so now i'm hungry all the time but I don't have the convenience of having lots of food to eat. Cinthya starves, is gonna be my new blogs name. Lol. ;)

Now here I am....eating again. Does it stop? No. This is my face when someone says I should stop....

Obviously I had the dessert I didn't eat earlier. Seee, i'm not eating too much, i'm just catching up on the course I missed earlier! Phew, good save.

Tonight was formal night so I knew we had to dress up and drying my hair takes forever so we decided to go back to the room to shower and start to get ready. aka nap time. While I was looking at the menu for tonight (elegant night #1) I didn't see anything that appealed to me and Sam goes with anything I say so we decided to try out the steakhouse....Prime Steakhouse. So we called and made reservations for 6:30 pm. However, Sam underestimated the time at the laundry to iron his shirt so we made it super late and I thought they would be like umh no sorry too late and it'd be super packed and I would have to suffice to main dining room but IT WAS TOTALLY EMPTY. They asked where we would like to sit and I was like right infront of these chefs. It was so cool to eat and watch them. Ok that came out creepy.... The prime steakhouse has a 35 per person charge but you will need to be rolled out of the restaurant so it's definitely worth that. Our waiter was absolutely amazing I don't remember his name but I love him, he was the best. He shared personal stories with us about his life back home and how life works in mysterious ways; how God can close one door but open many others, which we totally agree with that. I could have listened to him talk all night about nothing and it would have been great. Ahh...something about accents. Uhhhhhhhhhh. I mean....yeah, cool guy. :) 

Here is Sam looking very nice even though you can't really see him. Anyone realize how massive that plate is?

Compliments of the chef. Why thank you chef. I had the one on the left, it was some mushroom thing. I don't like mushrooms but I did try it and it was good, but I gave it to Sam and he ate everything if the plate was edible he would have eaten that too.  

 I really forgot to take pictures of our appetizers but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary because it was a ceasar salad.............yeah laugh at me now.

 We aren't fancy people, we don't eat out at expensive top-notch restaurants (remember the budget). The best place we've gone to is like applebees, chilis, outback, and texas roadhouse so we don't have alot to go by in regards to taste, but i'll tell ya, that THESE STEAKS WERE HUGE AND DELICIOUS.  We got the three peppercorn sauce to go with it and uuuuuuuuffffff I WANT IT NOW.

 Aww, how romantic. 

 Now it's dessert time...........do you see the size of that cheesecake? I didn't think i'd be able to fit it buuuuut I did.....

 Sam got the chocolate sampler and fresh fruit. 

After all that was said and done and we needed assistance to get out of our seats, we waddled to the comedy show. The comedy show is packed. Always. You had to wait in a line that went through the piano bar just to go to the comedy show but that night we had to stand because we couldn't get a seat. The comedy show was funny, I really enjoyed it. I don't remember the guy but I laughed so that's all that matters. Let me be honest, I am a tough cookie to crack a smile or laugh. Some things that people find funny, I don't. But he did a good job. After he's done, they clear out the room and you have to go wait in line all over again. It's kind of weird but it works so that everyone can have an opportunity to enjoy. We rushed out so we could get in line so we could get a seat and we did! Yay.

When the comedy show was over we decided to go back to the room. We did call some early nights but just you wait until tomorrow.......Oh boy. I wish I could leave that part out but it is important to this review.

Awwwwwwww! Iwayan, Thank you!! We were celebrating our anniversary on this cruise and it was soooo nice of Carnival and our steward to acknowledge it! I love Carnival, I won't lie. They do go above and beyond! (We also got 50$ off the spa -- not worth it and also a free photo in Pixels gallery!--a small photo--we used that though!)

With this, I'll end it. "Tomorrow" is a big day! 

Our first port, Amber Cove, Dominican Republic!