Bonney's
Vacation Sagas

Our first day at sea was our first time to sleep in, rest for upcoming adventures, and become well known at the 24-hour pizza bar for breakfast at ten in the morning...followed by soft serve ice cream. Is it still called dessert after breakfast? When we returned to our room, we were surprised to find a fruit basket that was another perk of our gold card status.

We met Patsy and Rich for lunch in the Monet dining room. Yeah, I know we just had breakfast! When we returned to our room we were presented with 4 chocolate covered strawberries. Yum. We didn't share these!

When the ship is at sea, the casino is open, so Lesley and I spent about 30 minutes making our donations. That was probably about the time Patsy and Rich went for the free line dancing lessons.

Patsy dancing.

The sun set on a day of calm seas and a happy motley crew.

With this first day at sea came our first formal dinner, a great opportunity for a group photo, so I started going to the other's cabins suggesting they hang around after dinner. When I got to Barbara and Bobby's room, I was talking with Barbara in the doorway, not really noticing that Bobby was still putting on his pants in the background. It made for a good tease for the rest of the cruise, reminding him to call me the next time he was dressing, and trying to get Johnny to do the same.

Our head waiter, Raymond from Trinidad.	Our assistant waiter, Tatyana from Ukraine.	Our wine stewardess, Svetlana from Servia.

Patsy and Rich.	Rich, Svetlana, and Lesley.	Barbara and Bobby.

Olga.	Olga, James, and Silvia.	Silvia and Patsy.

Taking lessons from Mary Lew Bray Finster at one of our reunions, I decided to try to get in all the photos!

Bonney and Patsy.	Bonney and James.	Randy and Bonney.

Debbie, Bonney, and Johnny.	Raymond and Bonney.

Somewhere along the line, Patsy decided she wanted some professional photos of herself with hubby. It turns out she could have gone on another cruise with the money she spent on shipboard photos.

Our second day at sea gave us time to relax as we headed toward the Caribbean. I was still nursing the sore tendon in my arm, hoping to be strong enough for our shore tour the next day.

Lesley and I made our breakfast pizza run. Lesley also calls this a coffee run, but was disappointed in the buffet coffee that was too strong. An experienced coffee drinker, she ended up getting about 1/5 cup of coffee and filling it up with hot water, but even then she had to add an extra sugar to her usual two or three. Lucky for her, the dining room coffee was much better.

The Restaurant Cezanne, otherwise know as the buffet.	James and Olga lounge at the buffet.

Patsy, Rich, and I went for a swim, discovering the "adults only" pool. Note, I didn't say topless, just kid-less. This was where I got my usual sunburn—red, but not crispy fried—yet, again.

Meanwhile Lesley had returned to the casino and won $400 on the quarter slots, enough to make her break even to this point. Note that she never wins when I'm with her and I'm just taking her word for these winnings!

The spa was running a "Ladies Night In the Spa" special, featuring self pampering head to toe. I signed up hoping for some pampering like a massage or facial, not realizing self pampering meant they'd give each lady samples of various products, instruct us on how to use them, and at the end try to sell us something. We had body creams, eye treatments, exfoliants, and horror of all horrors, a body sea salt scrub all over my fresh, not quite crispy fried sunburn. We also had ten minutes in the steam room and another 10 in the dry sauna, the whole time during which I was thinking, "Didn't I already sweat like this standing in line to get on the cruise?"

I only thought I was glowing before the sea salt scrub. The upside was that I pretty much didn't wear any cosmetics except at dinner since I was peeling the next day. Foundation and powder are really ugly on flaking skin.

The theme of the Conquest was art, so there were copies of famous paintings all over the common areas, as well as the wall paper and ceiling decor. Also, the restaurants and other rooms had names like the Monet dining room, the Renoir restaurant, the Toulouse Latrec Louunge, the Degas Lounge and the buffet area called Restaurant Cezanne. I'm surprised the jogging track didn't have a theme name. But I guess jogging is a much more modern thing. As we wandered the ship to become familiar with the layout, I noticed several other decorative items that were pretty cool. I especially liked one area that had unique lamp lighting down a corridor called Impressionist Boulevard. Patsy also took several photos of the decor.

Artistic decor around the ship.

Seating around the piano bar.	Stairway guardian.	Light fixtures in the promenade on Carnival Conquest.	Typical paintings hanging in promenade.

Each evening we met in the dining room for great food and to talk about our experiences for the day.

Bonney and Lesley.	Randy.	Johnny, Barbara, and Bobby.