This will be my first post in my Cruise Critic trip report:


Music cue:  Come Sail Away by Styx

First a bit about us.  I'm known as "songbird" because of my love for music.  Too bad my singing voice is suited only for the shower.  In gentler times I'd be referred to as "a woman of a certain age".  Let's put it this way -- my daughters are 22 and 21, so I'm just a tad bit older than that.

My traveling companion is referred to in this trip report as "the pirate king" (after the character in Pirates of Penzance) and/or "Jack Sparrow", for what girl wouldn't love to sail the Caribbean with a dashing pirate?  but he's also got a bit of the Pirate Captain from that animated movie -- The Pirates! Band of Misfits -- he can make me laugh.


A bit of backstory.  The pirate king and I married, produced two beautiful children, divorced and eventually found each other again.  Our first cruise was in 1987,  on Premier's Oceanic. The Big Red Boat was Disney's official cruise line then, offering a cruise to the Bahamas combined with a Disneyworld vacation.  We sailed on Monday, visited Nassau and Premier's private island Salt Cay, and returned to Port Canaveral on Friday for the Disney portion of our vacation.


Our second cruise was in February 2010.  The Carnival Valor.  A seven day cruise, Western Caribbean, stopping at Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Cozumel.
 
Music cue:  Sea Cruise by Frankie Ford

So the idea for this cruise came to us in March 2012.  We're friends with another couple, who proposed that we take a cruise together. The idea was to cruise during President's week, February 2013, when schools on Long Island close for a week.  Jack Sparrow's secret identity is " high school teacher", and our friends planned to bring their son, a high school student. So we booked the Carnival Liberty, a seven day cruise with an Eastern Caribbean itinerary.  And began to plan -- dinner at the steakhouse, an excursion to the Bacardi distillery in Puerto Rico . . .

Music cue.  Oh Sandy by John Travolta

October 29, 2012.  Superstorm Sandy devastated the tri-state area.  The coastal communities of Long Island, especially those on the South Shore, took the brunt of it.  Homes severely damaged or destroyed.  A year later the residents are still struggling with the storm's aftermath.  Those of us who live further inland had to deal with downed trees, days without electricity and long lines at the gas station.  Major inconvenience, but life went back to normal eventually.

One problem, though.  Schools cancelled February break to make up for time lost as a result of the storm. Our friends decided to pull their son out of school and go on the cruise anyhow.  But the pirate king . . . he'd been scheduled for surgery on 10/29,  finally had the surgery in the middle of November, and used up all his sick days recovering from the surgery.   He couldn't lose that much in pay to go on the cruise.   So we bit the bullet and cancelled the cruise.

Music cue:  Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts

So our consolation prize:   an 8 day cruise on the Carnival Breeze.  Eastern Caribbean, making port at Puerto Rico, Grand Turk, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.  And the planning began again.

Music cue:  a medley of Boat Drinks by Jimmy Buffett  and The Waiting by Tom Petty

So we spent the winter being tormented by TV commercials, being told that "the sea is calling", that we should "cruise like a Norwegian", that "it's better in the Bahamas", and we should be "Cayman kind"... but the worst was the one for Carnival cruise lines.  You know, the one that had the couple on board the ship, happy that their vacation is "better than last year"...  Even with Carnival's problems -- the Triumph of course, as well as the Dream and the Legend all made the news, we would not be deterred...