This day started out like any other day at sea – breakfast, then lose some money in the casino and lose a couple of games of knock rummy. But it was notable in being probably the only day that we will have the cabin cleaned on this 2-week cruise. Marlene does not like to have daily cabin cleanings. Nor every-other-day cabin cleanings. On previous long cruises we compromised at one cleaning every 5 days. This time she balked at that, so we went a full week without the cabin attendant cleaning anything. This annoyed the heck out of him. He actually phoned us at 8:30am when we were still in bed and chided me for not letting him do his job. I assured him that we would take down the “do not disturb” sign and vacate the cabin at some point so he could give it a thorough cleaning but that wasn’t good enough. He wanted us to vacate NOW.

His expected tip just took a hit.

After breakfast and the obligatory losses in the casino and at cards, we actually got into the hot tub to soak for a bit. Then things got interesting.

First, Marlene cajoled me into signing up for the mixologist contest – an amateur bartender contest in which 4 passengers judge alcoholic beverage inventions, the winner winning… nothing. I planned to try a concoction with white rum, blackberry brandy, Triple Sec and orange juice. But only four people were given a chance to complete. One was Marlene who made “Marlene’s Mess” from tequila, Curacao liqueur, raspberry brandy, peach schnapps, pineapple juice and orange juice. I thought it would be very strong but it was actually fruity and refreshing. I guess the judges thought so too because she WON. So “Marlene’s Mess” will be available at all the bars on the Conquest for the rest of the cruise.

Then we ventured into the casino again and I put $20 into a Dragon Link slot machine. After about 10 spins I hit a bonus in which the dragon threw 3 additional “money balls” into the grid. One of the balls was a “Mega” ball which, much to my shock, paid over $970. So I went from being way down to being slightly up after 8 days of cruising.

My negative view of the casino instantaneously improved.

We continued to play and, of course, I lost some of that. But I ended the day just about even for the cruise.

That’s a relief!

Dinner had a French and Spanish theme. The French onion soup was outstanding.

The evening show was “Love and Marriage” which is always a hoot. This time the newlywed couple (on their honeymoon) were embarrassed, in front of both sets of parents and all of their fellow passengers by admitting that they had had sex in the cabana in the Serenity Lounge on board the ship. They will have to endure a full week on board with everyone asking if they had been to the Serenity Lounge lately.

I have been to Grenada a couple of times, most recently in 2024 during our first cruise on the Conquest. This is one of my favorite Caribbean islands, but this time we didn’t see the harbor or climb the hills for the spectacular vistas, two of the things that I like about this place. Instead, we shopped, pretty much until I dropped.

I don’t like to shop, even on one of my favorite islands.

We were back on board by 3pm and I then spent some time blogging, followed by a nap before dinner.

Dinner had a Chinese/Japanese theme. I had some California rolls for an appetizer and kung pao chicken for an entree. The California rolls were excellent; the kung pao was terrible – dry and bland. Fortunately, we had also ordered a BBQ steak dish that was quite good.

We saw the comedia show after dinner, featuring Percy Crews II. Pretty raw. Pretty funny.

I continued to lose in the casino. I have, in one week, reached the limit that I set for a “reasonable” amount of money to lose on the 14-day cruise. I need to be careful for the rest of the trip. This casino is being very tight. I lost nearly $200 today, with nary a bonus to show for it.

I also continued to lose badly to Marlene at knock rummy. She won all 3 games we played today.

Quiet day at sea. Except for the rescue.

Yes, we were diverted to save a person in a disabled sailboat far from land. How does a sailboat become disabled? I have no idea. But we did divert and did rescue him. It didn’t delay us at all, just added a bit of excitement to an otherwise dull day at sea.

I spent much of the afternoon reading and watching movies on TV while watching the ocean go by. Unlike previous Carnival cruises, the movies on this one are actually quite good.

We had dinner at a table with a couple from Nashville and a young lady from Geogia who was on her first cruise with her elderly aunt. Good dinner companions. No fistfights.

We went to the show after dinner – 80s to the Max (it was 80s night). A song-and-dance revue to 80s tunes. Not bad.

The casino continued to take my money.

I saw Footloose on the big screen on the Lido deck at midnight. Hard to believe but I had never seen this movie before.

It took all night to travel 45 miles. We must have been doing circles in the ocean.

We had breakfast then went ashore in Frederiksted, St Croix. I couldn’t recall whether I had been here before but once on shore I remembered: I was here many years ago with Jett. The town was forgettable then and remains so now. There is NOTHING here. Perhaps this would be a good place for an excursion. Maybe next time.

Actually, some people we met on the ship tried to do an island tour but sat in the open-air bus for nearly 30 minutes while the driver tried to find 4 more people to fill the bus. People got tired of waiting so while he tried to find 4 more, 8 people left. He needs to take a course on optimizing revenue.

Marlene did some shopping, without success. We were back on the ship for lunch.

We played cards after lunch. Two wins for Marlene, 1 for me. The usual ratio.

We also spent some time in the casino and, as usual, I lost.

We went to a comedy show after dinner. Pretty funny, but an otherwise quiet evening.

Our first port of call – St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We had breakfast then went ashore. We debated what to do and how to do it and eventually agreed to walk into town (Charlotte Amalie). It was about a 3-mile hike, which was pleasant in the sense that much of it was along the coast, but was unpleasant in the sense that it was very warm and my sciatica was acting up. But we made it.

We spent a couple of hours in town, mostly shopping. We bought a couple of pairs of shorts for me. Marlene was very interested in an outfit with a $40 price tag at a tent vendor but the shopkeeper refused to haggle. We left without the dress.

I caught up on my blogging when we got back but got into a tiff with Marlene over my time on the computer. We dined separately but we made up after dinner. We danced a bit and hit the casino. I was up for a while but ended down.

We did the usual late night card thing in the buffet. We played just one game which Marlene won easily, skunking me. I had no apetite for another, so we went to bed.

We started the day in the casino before breakfast, convinced that we would recoup our first day losses. Marlene did, to some extent, but I continued to lose, miserably. I am down $300 with two paltry “bonuses” totalling $14 to show for it. I am going to stay out of the casino for the rest of this day and probably Day 3 as well.

We had some breakfast then I played some general knowledge trivia and did fairly well, scoring 12 out of 20. The winning score was 14 and I would have exceeded that if I hadn’t second guessed my answer to “what the first first federal minimum wage in 1938?” – the correct answer was 25 cents per hour which was my first response, but I crossed it out and put 50 cents down because 25 cents seemed too low. I also had a brain freeze on “who wrote Catcher in the Rye” (my friend David Benjamin will never forgive me for that) and I should have known that “the name of the outermost geological layer of the Earth” is “crust.” I could have won and received the coveted Ship on a Stick.

We played some cards (2 wins for me, 1 for Marlene), then napped in the afternoon. I read a bit. Dinner attire was elegant and we dined in the Renoir dining room. I had the filet mignon and short ribs combo. The filet was tasty but not tender but the short ribs were both. Marlene had fish cakes which were okay but not great.

We attended the show in the theater after dinner. Big Men in Town, a 4 Seasons tribute. Pretty good. Then we joined
Juan and Laurie for some dancing. We danced until the band stopped at midnight. No late night buffet – straight to bed.