9.3.22 Disney Fantasy

 We couldn't resist a reduced rate sailing on the Disney Fantasy. We were both very curious that it would like as adults. The evening meals were much better than we remembered and we really enjoyed the experience at both specialty restaurants. 

January 2022: Seabourn Odyssey

 January 28, 2022 - Quarantined in Barbados

We had an exciting start to our cruise from Barbados. We had a bit of trouble upon entry. The travel clinic gave us the wrong test so it was rejected. Usually that means you take an antigen test at the airport. No problem.

Then, we assume we got flagged because we had been in Mexico in the last 21 days. We had to take a PCR test at the airport. Upon arrival at our hotel, the hotel employee informed us we had to quarantine in our room. And I burst out into tears. I really thought when we arrived at the hotel we were done.

January 2022: Norwegian Dawn

 January 2, 2022 Embarkation

The transfer arrived right on time at 10:30 am. We headed to the port. They had set up testing in a parking lot. It was run by CVS. It was the best setup we've seen. They had stations with two people - one registering and one who watched you swab yourself. Then, you got a card with a time your results would be ready. We tested at 11:18 am and had 11:38 am written on our card. If you got your text with the results, you could raise your hand and they would give you a bracelet. Then, every 10 minutes, he'd go into the testing area and make sure they had notified everyone who tested positive in that 10-minute group. He'd say "Anyone with result times 11:40 am or earlier." And walk around and give everyone their bracelets. We got our bracelets 

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. 

October 2021: Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas Western Caribbean

 October 30, 2021 
We spent our pre-cruise night at Plunge Beach Resort in Lauderdale by the Sea. It's about 30 minutes north of Port Everglades. The Boat Show is this weekend so finding a reasonably priced hotel in Fort Lauderdale was hard. The Plunge Beach Resort took over three motels to form a fun, boutique hotel experience. One fun thing is the hand drawn murals in the rooms. 

October 2021; MerMaiden Inagural on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady

 On October 5th, we left Indianapolis where we had been celebrating my Mom's birthday and headed to Miami. We stayed the Holiday Inn Port of Miami and Glenn found a great restaurant for dinner, Ceviche 305, just around the corner. We called it an early night to watch the Red Sox game from the hotel. 

the next morning, We got late checkout at the hotel and I worked most of the morning. 

We headed to the port around 1 pm in an Uber. It took 9 minutes.

We dropped our bag with the Porter. He made us a luggage tag since we didn't have one. We got into a line that stretched down the terminal. We waited about 30 minutes in line to get to the first checkpoint. During that time, we registered for the test. 

To enter the building, we had to go through a security check and they checked we were sailing. Then, we finished registration for your test and got our nasal swab. Then we left that building and went to the building we would board from. We had another security check. 

We went to a large waiting room. We waited about 30 minutes for our test results. Someone brought us champagne so that was fun. 

Glenn's Review of Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady

 Disembarked this morning.  Wonderful cruise.  Great crew.  Amazing food (except for a dinner at Razzle Dazzle that went sideways).  Gunbae and Pink Agave were my favorite dinners  Very good brunch at The Wave.  And don't miss the mezze at The Dock.  Delicious grilled shrimp, octopus and hangar steak - all included in your cruise fare. They have lots of cold items also.   The Dock was my favorite hangout spot.  It was the only bar on the ship where you could feel connected to the sea.  Also don't miss the poke bowls at the Sun Bar Cafe (Deck 16 forward).  The tuna was very good.  

There are several "grab and go" locations around the ship which have cold sandwiches, salads, crudites and fruit.  Good options if you don't want a big lunch or plan to be sitting outside and want a snack.  I saw these at the doors right before The Dock (deck 7 aft) and at the Galley (deck 15 mid).

For disembarkation, they didn't provide luggage tags in your cabin. If you needed them you had to get from Sailor Services.  You do pick your debarkation time. They are letting people stay until 10:46. We left at 8AM since we had a bus to catch. 

My general tip for this ship would to stay curious and explore.   Especially on Scarlet Night.

Deck 7 will be your friend since you can walk all the way forward and aft on this deck. Deck 5 and 6 won't allow you to do this.  To get to some of the restaurants and venues on decks 5 and 6 you will need to use deck 7 to get forward or aft as needed before heading down a deck or two. 

The Dual Reality show was amazing.  Breathtaking, jaw dropping and mesmerizing.

Don't miss the pool parties - especially Scarlet Night. The pool party last night was unfortunately canceled due to the weather (thunderstorms).  They added activities indoors including karaoke at the Social Club.  Speaking of karaoke, they held that at least once at the Athletic Club (deck 16 Aft) one evening.  Not in the app.  If you knew, you knew.  

One complaint I have is that live music was hard to find.  There were some musical "happenings" that would pop up at random spots around the shio and those were fun. But I was hoping for more live music that was scheduled in the app. On the last night there was a great five piece band at On The Rocks.  We only knew since it was listed on the schedule.   Maybe they were there other nights as well but it wasn't in the app.  I understand that the concept Virgin is using is one of spontaneity.   Things may happen when you aren't expecting them.  I like that.  But I would like more of a mix of those types of activities plus a few planned.  

We will be back onboard in January to see what changes (if any) they have made to the onboard product.   I am excited for the future of Virgin Voyages.

August 2021: Carnival Magic

 We took advantage of a great deal ($119 per person for a balcony cabin) and headed out on the Carnival Magic departing August 30th. 

Before we left, we decided we would stay on the ship as not to complicate our hopeful entry into Greece a week later. 

We had a great time enjoying the Alchemy Bar at night and the Tides bar during the day. 

We were also pretty excited to see the Caribbean Wheat in cans. It's been so much to watch Carnival's beer program evolve since our first chat with Colin Presby during the inaugural season of the Carnival Vista's onboard brewery. I recall him saying he had no way to serve beer outside the brewery Now these recipes are being canned and delivered to ships fleetwide. 

SeaDay brunch is always a favorite meal because I love their Salmon superfoods entree. 

We had a bit of delay in Amber Cove. The Health authorities did not clear the ship for disembarkation until after 2:30 pm. Then, only vaccinated passengers could disembark and they had to stay in the port area. We did spot some overwater cabanas we may want to try out on a future visit since we did not get off the ship. 

During out stop in Bimini, we found a great spot to relax on deck and enjoy the view. 

We finally won a ship on stick trophy during one of the last trivia - Trash Can Trivia  - on the last night. 

Overall, a great cruise. 

August 2021: Norwegian Encore

 We headed to Seattle to board the Norwegian Encore for an Alaskan cruise. We had a great afternoon of our arrival sampling beers from a couple breweries. 

Then we headed to Elliot's to meet up with Christine and her husband Dale for a 3 hour wonderful catch up dinner. 

Then it was time to board the Norwegian Encore. The process went very well including the mandatory COVID testing at the port. At boarding, we headed to our muster station to get checked off. Then, we went to American Diner. I love the lobster sliders. 

For dinner we went to the Italian restaurant Onda. We had the polenta and mushrooms and octopus for the appetizer. Delicious. For pasta, Glenn had the short rib ravioli and I had the bolognese. Both were good, but I thought the bolognese was slightly better. We had outside on the waterfront and it kept getting colder throughout our dinner. The ravioli cooled off faster than the bolognese. For entree, we both get the fried veal chop with a bright lemony arugula salad. It was so good but HUGE. We moved inside for dessert because an even colder fog rolled in. I had the butterscotch pudding and Glenn had the cheesecake. The cheesecake was very good. The highlight of the pudding was the salted caramel sauce. 

The bartenders at the Observation Lounge are so much fun. This is Paul's first contract ever. His wife is the hostess in the Haven. Febri could be Lovely's sister. She looks a lot like her and has the same fun energy. Giselle is great - a little quieter. Both Febri and Giselle know Lovely and were with her on the initial crossing on the Joy. They think she may be assigned to the Bliss. She went back because she didn't like sailing without her husband. Kurt is really tall and the only non-Filipino. He's from St Lucia and really nice. 

We went to back to the Observation Lounge after dinner to hear the piano player. She's pretty good. The bartenders at the Observation Lounge kept talking about how Glenn looked like Mark, the head of Food and Beverage. See for yourself: 

Day 2 - Sea Day 

We had a very relaxing Sea Day enjoying the Observation Lounge. The highlight was seeing Choir of Man again. They made some adaptations due to COVID, but the show is still very good. 

Day 3 -  Icy Strait Point

Lovely morning of scenic cruising on our way to Icy Strait Point. We saw a lot of whales spouting around us and one tail very far away. Giselle - the bartender - has a bar waiter bring us waters wherever we are sitting. 

We spent most of the morning in the Observation Lounge watching for whales. Lunch was at The Local. I had a really good chicken salad sandwich. Glenn was disappointed by the chili dog, but the wings and casaer salad were decent. After lunch, we walked around the waterfront since the weather was really nice - about 60 degrees. Then we headed to the balcony as we pulled into port. 

We decided not to get off since there's not much there. We enjoyed people watching from the balcony.  We could see the people riding down the zip line. 

We went to Manhattan Room main dining room for dinner. It was really good. I had a good French Onion soup and beet salad. Glenn enjoyed the Asian spare ribs and mozzarella ravioli with lobster cream sauce. 

The pear salad was good but my Mom would call it weeds. Glenn had the chicken Madeira and I had the bang bang chicken and shrimp - it was kind of like a curry. 

After dinner, we went to the magic show. The magician had appeared on Penn and Teller Fool Us. Glenn gave the show a 7. The jokes were a little tired and very 80s. It was a lot of card tricks. 

We headed to the Atrium to listen to the band. They were pretty good. After that we headed to the Observation Lounge and it was hilarious and rowdy. There was a more serious piano player - Alexa- on the right side and a rowdy group at the bar. The funniest part was the people at the bar started chatting One more Song when she still had 30 minutes left in her set. Then, the bartender made everyone shots and a cheers to Alexa.... As she was in the middle of singing a slow, sad song from Les Miserables. It ended with Piano Man. It was great. 

Day 4 - Skagway

Very fun day yesterday in Skagway, Alaska. We had halibut and reindeer sausage at the charming Olivia's Bistro. They have a little garden where they grew many of the vegetables they serve. 

Then, we enjoyed the beer garden at Klondike Brewing. The blonde coffee stout was my favorite. 

On to Skagway Brewing Company. It's wonderful to see how much it's grown since our last visit in 2017. I love their Spruce Tip Blonde Ale. I also really like their rhubarb gin cocktail made with Uncle Val's Botanical gin. 

We stopped at Skagway Fish Company for oysters and smoked salmon spread. 

Masks were required in Skagway. The restaurants and brewery had us sign in with names and phone numbers for contract tracing.

We had delicious Indian from the buffet for dinner and called it an early night. 

Day 5 -  Juneau / Dawes Glacier 

It was super rainy in Juneau so we set up camp along the windows in the Observation Lounge. I think we were there from 8 am - 6:30 pm. I read a book and a half. 

We had scenic cruising from 5 pm - 8 ok through Endicott Arm ending at Dawes Glacier. Once we got to the glacier, people were all over us. I thought one lady was going to sit in Glenn's lap. We got up and went down to Deck 8 right outside of Ocean Blue for a great view. Glenn even spotted some seals on an iceberg and calving.

For dinner, we went to Manhattan Room. The broccoli soup and spicy corn soup were delicious. Glenn had a delicious Asian pork dish he said reminded him of Chinatown in Boston. I had a great short rib pasta. After dinner, we went to see Harvey and Rowena at the A List bar just outside Cagney's. Then, we went to the main theater for a Beatles show. It needs a little work. The costume / beard changes took a long time. 

After the show, we went to Observation Lounge for a night cap.

Day 6 - Ketchikan 

We had great weather in Ketchikan. Norwegian docks at a new area called Ward Cove. 

We had to wait about 30 minutes to board the shuttle to downtown Ketchikan. The ride was about 20 minutes. 

We walked around and visited 55 North - a great local coffee shop recommended by Diane's daughter Erin. We tried to meet up with her but she had to work. 

We then walked down to Artic bar with an outdoor deck to try a couple beers. 

Then, we headed to Bar Harbor Ale House. That place was terrific. They had a choose your own platter with different seafood and meats and sides. 

We tried Alaska Spot Prawns. We had never had them. They are very small and are very tender and sweet almost like lobster. We also had the smoked salmon and brisket. Both were very good. For sides, we got onion rings, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. It was a great stop.

We headed back to the ship to hang out at the Observation Lounge during sailaway. We went to Cellars for a pre-dinner glass of wine and the to Ocean Blue. 

Our meal at Ocean Blue was great. Glenn had the scallops/short ribs app and the halibut. I had tuna tartare with avocado and the Hong Kong style snapper. We both had the beer salad. Glenn had mushroom risotto and brussel sprouts for his side. I had mac and cheese and creamed spinach. The best bites were the scallops, halibut, and brussel sprouts. Glenn liked the cheesecake dessert and I thought the key lime tart was pretty good.

We went to A List for an after dinner cocktail and then to Observation Lounge.

Day 7 - Sea Day 

We started the day in our beloved Observation Lounge. 

Then, we went to a lot of panels. We heard from the onboard guest performers what life is like performing on cruise ships while we ate our pub lunch. 

We went to the Captain's talk with the Chief Engineer. The Captain had led the "mission" as he called it to sail the crew back to the Philippines from Europe during the COVID suspension. I asked the Chief Engineer about the changes in fuels and he seem excited about upcoming developments in alternative fuel sources for cruise ships. 

The Magician had a class on magic and taught us a few tricks. He was very complimentary of being on the Penn and Teller Fool Us show. He also emphasized how important it was to practice the magic tricks. 

Then we walked around the Waterfront enjoying the balmy weather and Sea Day views. 

We had a nice dinner at Savor and then went to see Choir of Man one more time. We love that they still passed out beer to the audience for the initial Cheers! 

Day 8  - Headed home 

We took the Celebrity transfer to the airport. We were all checked in and through security 4 hours before our flight so we enjoyed the beautiful Delta Sky Club at the Seattle airport. 

February 8, 2020 John Heald Cruise on Carnival Conquest

We follow John Heald - the brand ambassador for Carnival Cruise Lines on social media. Once a year, he hosts a cruise. You sign up to have access to special events with him including Q&As, karaoke, or Cigars under the Stars. 

Glenn asked a question that got a good response. I asked about question about adding more vegetarian dishes that match the crew's nationalities and the room went bananas. It became a long standing joke for mean people - Don't Take My Meat. 

We also went to the Chef's Table and it was so delicious. 

The ports of call were Grand Cayman, Roatan, and Cozumel. We went to Mahogany Beach on Roatan. We like the beach bar there. 

Onboard, we were pretty excited to win trophy at trivia. 

Our go to drink this cruise was the leftover Pumpkin beers from Parched Pig. They had the big bottles on special. 

 

2020 January Celebrity Summit Southern Caribbean

 One of my favorite cruises is the Southern Caribbean itinerary on the Celebrity Summit so it's the perfect way to start the year. We flew to San Juan and spent the night at the Caribe Hilton. 

We had a little trouble finding a good spot for dinner. A lot of the restaurants were closed. Earthquakes were happening on the other side of the island. We felt a slight tremor the evening before the cruise. We ended up at a food court that was not excellent. Things improved greatly once we boarded the cruise. 

We decided to change things up and we booked an ocean view cabin instead of a balcony. We ended up loving it because it was one deck up from where we'd exit and enter on port days. It made everything so easy. We love starting a Celebrity cruise with lunch at the sushi restaurant. 

Sailaway from San Juan is always gorgeous. We watched a lot of sail-aways on the cruise from Captain's Club happy hour in the Reflection Lounge. 

One of my favorite onboard activities is the Silent Disco. 

The reason I love this itinerary so much is that you wake up each morning on a different island. Our first port of call was St Thomas. We decided to stay on the ship because we'd just been there in December on the Encore. Our second stop was Antigua. I used the opportunity to tour the Royalton Antigua - a great family all inclusive resort. 

Our next port of call was Martinique. I've never been to Martinique so we took an island tour through the cruise line. We visited a rum distillery, a history prison that was almost wiped out by a volcanic eruption, and then took a boat ride back along the coast. 

In St Lucia, we had a lovely day at BodyHoliday. We filmed a resort tour, had lunch, and they even treated us to a massage. 

In Barbados, we toured Turtle Beach and Sandals Barbados and Royal Barbados. It was a nightmare trying to get a cab there. Next time, I'll line up a private transfer like I did at the other ports. 

In Grenada, we decided to stay on the ship. We've been there a couple times. We just enjoyed the view. 

My first visit to St Vincent. It's a developing port of call with great outdoor hiking excursions. We ended up just walking around the downtown and enjoying a couple beers. 

In St Marten,  we filmed a resort tour of the new Secrets  St Marten. 

This cruise, we ate most of our meals at the buffet so we could sit outside each evening either watching sailaway or enjoying the guitar player that played each evening. We spent a lot of our time onboard at the pool bar - so much fun. 

12.30.18 Holland America Rotterdam

Our cruise had a bit of a late start. Fog closed the port of Tampa. Our boarding time shifted from 1 pm to 9:30 pm. We were on board around 10:30 pm.

We had a late night snack as the buffet and a cocktail and headed to bed.

New Year's Eve - We were supposed to go to Key West, but that was cancelled and we spent the night in Tampa. We got room service breakfast and worked for the morning. Muster drill was at 10 am and we set sail at 11 am. We had lunch at Dive In Burgers.  

Then, Glenn worked and I went up to the Crow's Nest to enjoy the view heading under the bridge.

 Glenn joined me for happy hour. We also went to Sip and Savor. Each evening, the sommelier team explains two wines that pair well with an appetizer for $5/glass.

8.10.18 NCL Sun

I convinced Glenn to take a last minute cruise. We booked on Wednesday for a Friday departure. I've always wanted to do that since I moved to Florida. 

We worked Friday morning and then headed to the port. We were onboard by 2:30 pm. We booked an Oceanview cabin on the Norwegian Sun. We headed to the small buffet for a late lunch. Then it was the muster drill. We watched sail away from deck 6. Took a tour of the spa and then had a drink in the lobby. It was an open bar cruise which was fun. 

For dinner, we went to the Mexican restaurant. The food was very good and the drinks were delicious.

 We played the game This or That. I won twice "Popes or Brittany Spears songs" and "Swedish politicians or Ikea furniture'. We enjoyed the piano player. 

 

Saturday, we docked in Nassau Bahamas. We headed over to Sandals on a day pass. We enjoyed a pool/beach day. For dinner, we tried the sushi bar. Not my favorite so we had a second dinner at the buffet. We watched the newlywed game and then listened to the piano player. 

Sunday, we tendered to Great Stirrup Cay. We left early and got a clam shell on the beach. 

A big storm came in. We did have some delicious tacos before we headed back. We had a lazy afternoon. Then, we tried to hear all the musical groups on board before heading back to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. We ended the night back in the piano bar.

Disembarkation was easy. Glenn worked in the car on the way home.