December 2021: Minnesota

 From Indianapolis, we headed up to visit our favorite Deephaven residents. 

We had a great time visiting breweries, hitting golf balls at Top Golf in sub zero temperatures, and playing Catan. 

December 2021: Christmas

 We had a terrific Christmas.

Glenn taught our niece and nephew how to make pretzels

We decorated cookies

We sang carols

We visited Conner Prairie

We snuck in a visit to Gwen, Brian, and Jackson

I made the whole family crack up when I accidently snorted during our family photo

Glenn made his famous Hawaiian chicken

We visited the Carmel Christmas market.

I was the best cheater at Cheater Monopoly

My nephew and Glenn had an epic Animal Crossing session

I finally almost won Mario Kart

Glenn's Thoughts on the Carnival Mardi Gras

 I am on the 12/11/2021 sailing.  For reference, this is my 55th overall cruise and 17th on Carnival.  First impressions of the experience:

The food has been great.  Big Chicken really met and  exceeded all the hype.  And great fries as well. Also had some very good meals at Chibang and Le Cucina del Capitano. Those are still complimentary. 

December 2021: Carnival Mardi Gras

December 11, 2021 

We finally got to sail on the Carnival Mardi Gras! We had been booked on the European Inaugural and the Port Canaveral inaugural. Then, everything changed and changed again. It was very exciting to finally board. 

We had an easy drive to the port. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. getting through checking and security was super easy. We were on board by 11:10 a.m. . We tried big chicken for lunch. The chicken sandwiches were really good. We toured around the ship trying the different bars. Our favorite was a bar that reminds us of New Orleans: Brass Magnolia. 

November 2021: Seven Night Cruise on Norwegian Breakaway

 November 21, 2021

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the port. We dropped off the luggage and walked to the Marriott for testing. It took about 90 minutes for the whole process. We had a glitch with my mom's test that was very stressful. We all got our test results and 15 minutes later, she still didn't have hers. Then, a person came out and called her number over the microphone. We all freaked a little. Turns out it was just a glitch with her registration. She was negative and we went on our way.

We were escorted up to the Haven to meet the concierge. Then, we headed to American Diner for lunch. It's included for Haven guests at embarkation. I love the lobster sliders.

 Glenn liked the milkshake. 

The spinach salad was also good. After lunch, we checked in at our muster station and enjoyed some cocktails at the Haven bar. We headed to our cabin. 

We went up to the Sun Deck to watch sailaway. It was delayed by an hour, but we did get to enjoy a little sailing down the Mississippi as the sun was setting.

Dinner was in the Haven. We met a fun couple from Pennsylvania and invited them to join us. After dinner, Glenn and I had a cocktail at the very empty Prime Meridian bar and called it a night.

November 22, 2021 - Sea Day
We had avocado toast for breakfast and then spent the morning on the Haven Sun Deck. We met my parents for lunch in the Haven. We enjoyed the mega ships presentation and tried to watch the Yes/No game but it was terrible so we headed to the Waterfront. We got cocktails at the Sail and Sustain bar. John Tan, our server, gave us all the details on how the cocktails use what used to be waste. The watermelon twist was our favorite. We watched sunset from the balcony and Glenn spotted some dolphins. We met the Captain and had dinner in the Haven. We enjoyed the comedy show and stopped by to say hi to Jerome at Prime Meridian bar.

November 23, 2021 Cozumel, Mexico
I worked for a couple hours since Verizon works in Cozumel. Glenn had breakfast with my parent. We headed out in the Playa Mia Mexican cuisine cooking class. It was terrific. 

One of the best cooking classes I've taken. After a little chaos at the beginning, it was well organized and interesting. Plus the food we made was delicious: shrimp sopa with a tomato chipotle sauce, grouper with a tamarind sauce, and caramelized plantains with a chocolate tequila sauce.

 We came back and went to the Haven for dinner. The Haven restaurant has been a bit rough this trip. It's like eating in the middle of a fire drill. I think they will get a little better organized nas they sail more. We went to Six the musical. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was terrific. It's about Henry VIII's six wives. The stars were incredible. I love that Norwegian has full Broadway shows.

After the show, we listened to the piano player's Elton John / Billy Joel set. He definitely chose the sleepy songs, but we still had fun.

November 24, 2021 Roatan, Honduras
My Mom, Glenn and I had breakfast in the Haven while Dad got a pedicure. We also enjoyed the bacon bourbon Bloody Mary. We walked around a bit and just relaxed most of the day. We had a delicious dinner at Ocean Blue. Then we went to the Comedy Magician. He was not great. We needed the night enjoying some fancy cocktails at the Haven bar.

November 25, 2021 Harvest Caye, Belize 
Happy Thanksgiving from Belize It was pouring rain when we docked at Harvest Caye. We waited it out in the Haven lounge chatting with Elizabeth and Rich. It cleared and we enjoyed a couple hours at the pool. 

It's a great complex and I also enjoyed the Butterfly House.

  We came back for lunch in the Haven. Then we took a nap and finished watching The Jungle Cruise. Dinner was in the Haven. They had a special Thanksgiving plate that was very good. The Concierge took us down to Syd Norman's Pour House so we could get in before it opened. 

The band did a tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album. It was incredible. Then, we went to see the comedians in the theater. This is how my Dad and Glenn greeted my Mom and I. 

November 26, 2021 Costa Maya, Mexico
I worked in the morning as Glenn tried out O'Sheenans for breakfast. He had a very good breakfast sandwich. It was a bit rainy, but we decided to explore Costa Maya anyway. I have taken excursions from the port, but never walked around. It is a nice area with a pool, small beach, shops, restaurants, and a swim with a dolphin experience. We had lunch in the Haven. We watched the Ironman competition, watched Deal or No Deal, and lost movie kiss Trivia. 

Dinner was at Ocean Blue again.

 It was really good. Then, we went to see Burn the Floor. The dancing was amazing. Glenn then had a very fun night hitting bonuses in the casino.

November 27, 2021 Sea Day

We had the delicious breakfast sandwiches at O'Sheenans for breakfast. But the coffee was terrible so we headed up to the Haven for French press goodness. We listened to the Captain and Chief Engineer answer questions. We had a fun run at the slot machines.  Then, we tried about Shanghai Noodle Bar. The pot stickers and lo mein noodles were good. We had second lunch in the Haven and I was thrilled to see Norwegian's signature pretzel rolls in the basket. We played Deal or No Deal. I went upstairs to work Then, we headed to Prime Meridian bar. Jerome made us a cocktail he'd been working on with Fireball, pineapple juice, and ginger beer. It was surprisingly good. We played and lost trivia and then went to the Haven for a favorites dinner. We decided the best food on the trip had been the Haven crab cakes, Ocean Blue scallops and pork belly appetizer and Haven beet salad. After dinner, we had one last Haven cocktail and headed to bed. 

November 28, 2021 

We had late afternoon flights so we took the ship's tour of New Orleans with drop off at the airport. The guide did a great job covering the highlights. We got to have some beignets, visit a cemetery, learn more about the levee system, and the history of New Orleans. And then, off to the airport. 

November 2021: Pre-Cruise New Orleans

 November 19, 2021 

We took the first flight of the day on Southwest so we were seated breakfast in New Orleans by 9:15 am local time after checking in at Loews New Orlean. I was pretty excited a room was available.  I chose Luke because I've wanted to try it for a long time. 

It did not disappoint. We had terrific shrimp and grits. After breakfast, we headed to City Park to visit the New Orleans Museum of Art. Our Uber driver was a lifelong New Orleans resident and former taxi driver. He gave us a great little tour pointing out great restaurants and the history of places as we drove by. 

The Art Museum was a mixed bag. I realized I like exhibitions and this museum had a lot of collections. By exhibitions, I mean highly curated works of art around a theme, to tell a story, or give insight. It had a very good exhibition on the depictions of Asian men in art during the turn of the 19th century and how that contributed to a desire for isolationism.

 It also had an incredible exhibition of Dawn DeDeaux's works. She's a New Orleans based artist. Many of her exhibitions were destroyed when her studio was destroyed by fire and flood during Hurricane Katrina. In this exhibition, some of those works were recreated and new works added. One work that really impacted me was a series of glass panes painted with water marks up to the heights of the different flood levels. When you stand by, it looks like a cityscape. 

We also explored the Sculpture Garden. One piece that captured our attention was George Rickey's Four Line Oblique. It was in perpetual motion with the slightest breeze. Glenn said it reminded him of Erector sets. 

I was exited to see work by Jaume Pensa. I've seen his sculptures on Celebrity cruise ships. 

We headed back to the hotel so I could work for a couple hours. At 3 pm, we decided it was time for happy hour. We went to the Peacock Room for Sazeracs - the must have cocktail of New Orleans. 

We met up with my parents and headed to Josephine Estelle for dinner. We had a bit of a laugh entering the restaurant because you had to show your vaccine card to get a wristband to enter. The security guard looked at my mom and said, Sweetheart, let me see that vaccine card. For some reason, that just cracked us all up. We had a terrific dinner. Everyone agreed the veal ragu was the highlight, but the burrata salad was also great. 

November 20, 2021 

We started bright and early and headed to the National WWII musuem. 

This is an incredible museum. It combines oral histories, newsreel, and personal artifacts to follow the war in the Pacific, North Africa, and European theaters. Glenn's review of the museum: 

My father fought in WWII as part of the Army in the 12th Armored Division. He never really talked much about it other then mentioning his division had participated in the Battle of the Bulge,, they had helped to liberate one of the Nazi concentration camps and that he was the soldier in his troop that had to carry the Browning Automatic since he was the tallest.

What I remember being taught in school about WWII is the beginning (Pearl Harbor), the middle (D-Day) and the end (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). This carefully curated museum really tells the whole story of the war, and all the fronts it was fought on. So much strategy and in a few cases pure luck. It is scary to think about what would have happened if Hitler and Germany had succeeded on their plan. There is even a whole room that really portrays what the Battle of the Bulge must have been like. And I got to see what a Browning Automatic looks like up.close and try to imagine what my 18 year old father must have felt like during the war.

It was three years ago this week that we visited the beaches of Normandy. And in February we will visit Pearl Harbor. Seeing these places is a much better way to learn about and appreciate what happened and what was sacrificed for our freedom.

I highly recommend a visit. 

For lunch, we headed to the famous Commander's Palace. Miranda kept our drinks full. She even made up a little hand signal if we needed another drink and she was across the room. 

We enjoyed the live music, though someone had to be talked out of requesting the "music from Deliverance". 

After lunch, we went to Harrah's casino and had a lot of fun on the penny slots. For dinner, we went to Gordon Biersch brewery. 

November 21, 2021 

We have an easy morning with breakfast at the hotel and then we head over to the pier to board the Norwegian Breakaway for a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise.