Live Cruise Reports

Hello everyone!
 
I'm getting ready to sail out for another adventure on Sunday and I plan to do a live review of my time on board.
 
This time I will be sailing on the Carnival Magic for 26 days from November 26 until December 22. I am not sure where I am going, nowhere too terribly exciting just around the Caribbean but I am excited to be on a ship for the Holidays and seeing the wonderful decorations and being around the festive cheer. Magic is also one of my favorite ships in the Carnival fleet.
 
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Jim_Iain -  2nd Half World Cruise -  B2B Singapore to Down Under 11/25 – 12/21
  
Welcome!    Come along and join us for another adventure.  
 
As an introduction we are Jim (who writes these Live Posts) and Iain, who ends up in most of the pictures.   We have been together 34 years -  or as Iain just said “34 long hard years”  LOL.
 
Are were  among of the first to be Gay Couples to be married in California.  We were legally married June 2008 days after the California Supreme Court ruled the restriction of Gay Marriage was illegal.   5 Months later California had a referendum to change the constitution and make it illegal again.   Luckily the State Supreme court ruled a small group of 4,000 marriage were grandfathered and would remain legal.  It was another 7 years before the Supreme Court Legalized Gay Marriage Nation Wide. 
We have 3 kids and 5 Grand Children.  

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Yes! She’s back! After a jaunt over to Royal Caribbean for Wonder of the Seas last month, I’m back on Carnival, this time taking the Celebration out of Miami!  This is my 7th LIVE! Blog here on Cruise Critic, and I just love taking y’all along with me.
 
For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Dee, traveling with my dear hubby Russ. I adore cruising, have done a ton of it.  I’m particularly excited about this cruise since I LOVE Carnival, and also the Mardi Gras—been on her twice!  This is my first time on her sister ship the Celebration, and my second time cruising out of Miami since the pandemic.

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It has been a year since sailing with Cunard, our last in November/December ‘22 to the same destination on this ship. Since then we have sailed with 2 other lines in the Pacific and Europe and enjoyed long distance travel. How pleasant to be back in familiar surroundings of QV.
From reading CC over the past few days, it appears that there are quite a few active members seeking some sun joining me on this voyage. 
I have written blogs before and always try to convey the atmosphere on the ship to anyone interested enough to read this.

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Here we go again! Hop aboard and join me as I sail solo for the first time ever on the beautiful Valiant Lady!

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Hello from deck eleven on Symphony of the Seas!
 
We are about to sail away from Port Everglades, heading toward the Southern Caribbean.
 

TIP:  If I can help find any information for you while I am onboard, please post your request. I will do my best to follow through on requests.
 
I will likely fall a day or two behind, depending on Wi-Fi and our busy schedule. However, I will try to keep the report as “live“ as possible. 
 
Gratitude:
 
Since this is a Thanksgiving cruise, it will be great to hear what you are thankful for, if you would like to share.
 
We are extra thankful to be on this trip today, as we had to cancel Odyssey of the Seas in January due to illness.  At that time, we could not with good conscience say “no” to a couple of the health questions due to our son having a cough and sore throat.  

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Hello. I’m fairly a newby to cruise critic, but not to cruising. I really enjoy the live posts from other cruise critics folks, so I’m going to give this a good ol’ fashion try. 

We (me and the husband) are embarking from Port Canaveral on Saturday, Nov 25th, on the NCL Escape. This is our 4th cruise on the Escape. We absolutely LOVE the Escape. The staff have been so attentive and they bend over backwards. It will be interesting to see if it is the same on this cruise (our last Escape cruise was in Feb 2023). 

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Know the fashion is to start cruise lives early, but I am starting cruise day sitting in the cruise terminal. I love reading them so much I figured I would do one on my cruise. Plus I haven’t heard much on the board about Breakaway recently. If anyone on the sailing wants to chime it with their experiences, that is super welcome!

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I thought that I would start this.  However I probably won't be as faithful as St Greg and TxTeach. First time on Princess. Did Holland America last year and others pre-covid. Hubbie and I traveling.  We are recent empty nester. We live near Dallas.  I stumbled upon this trip in Sept 2023 while researching for 2024 cruises in the Mediterranean. The price was very reasonable and we had the time available. We have a balcony near the Aft. We love being in the aft.

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Most of the time, what the industry calls a "Cruise Vacation" is called for.  I did a search for long cruises, 11/23, and then by price.  In my experience, the lines are pretty similar.  The frequent guest programs are useless, so once you get invited to the basic loyalty party, the rest of the perks are pretty boring.  The Constellation is a lovely ship, and we had fond memories of an amazing trip to the Med years ago.  

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Greetings from the Ruby.
 
It was very busy day in port at Fort Lauderdale.  There were 6 ships leaving for the week.
We were blue lane because we had to pick up our Medallions.  Total time from drop off to onboard less than 20 minutes.  
Cabins were not ready until 1pm.  
There is a sanctuary onboard.  $40 a d

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Here we go again! Although similar to other reports I’ve done, (as the Virtuosa is almost identical), I’ll comment on the differences Euribia. 
The aim of the report is to help others about to sail and, those considering whether or not to book. 
Also, it’s great for me to be able to scroll back and remember happy times when I’m at home and in between cruises! It’s surprising what one forgets, and how good it is when the pictures and text bring it all back to life!

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Thanksgiving with ninjacat123 AND family!  I am ready for a vacation from my vacation (if you didn’t read my LIVE in Italy, etc here’s the link)
 
And now you know why I’m still recovering from that whirlwind trip.  Sooooo much fun and sooooo many places to see, it was awesome.  Now ninjacat123 aka Bethany needs some chilling time and we have that on Elation as we cruise to Freeport and Nassau!  Freeport is a new port for all of us and I have booked a cabana at a beach club.  Now, when I say “all of us” I mean my mom, my two DDs, me and Craig.  We are all getting excited about our 6 hour drive with potty stops to Jacksonville starting at 5am (NOT) but this is the way.

I decided to write a bit as I watch the birds skimming the wave tops in the Caribbean.  We are Elite on Celebrity, 3* on HAL, Elite on Princess, and have sailed a few of the other lines in everything from OVs to Penthouse suites.  This sailing is our first on Celebrity (X) in nearly a year (Apex 12/2022), and it’s 18 months since we have been on the Reflection.  We sailed 3 times on X in 2022 in suites.  Due the the new pricing structure (yikes!) we are in Aqua on this cruise.  My brother and SIL are along in Concierge as well.

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Hello, my Cruise Critic  family!
 
I am here yet again to do my Community Service and help you all deal with either your post-cruise blues, or your “my cruise isn’t approaching fast enough” blues. How do I plan to help with those problems, you ask? By letting you live vicariously through MY cruise in this live review, of course! Sure, you have to mix up your own DOD’s, cook your own meals, and make your own bed, but seeing my crazy adventures will make you feel like you’re on vaca….right?

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I'm about to cry happy tears.  We're actually on board.    Long awaited, much needed.  Can try to answer any questions..... 

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We boarded yesterday about noon, and the process couldn't have been any easier.  It took about 45 minutes from arriving at the port, to drop luggage, park, get back to the terminal through the check in process and be onboard the ship.
 
The ship is amazing.  It is our first time on an edge class ship, and so far we have been very impressed.  We ate dinner at the Roof Garden Restaurant, and the food was good, and I was blown away by the size of the T-Bone steak.

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We boarded the Venture yesterday in Ushuaia and are now powering our way through 4 meter swells in the Drake. I'll provide updates as Starlink allows throughout the voyage.
 
 
Unlike our July trip aboard Venture, this time we had no flight drama and arrived in Buenos Aires without an issue. We are squeezing this trip in over the Thanksgiving break to minimize days missed at school for our son and his friend and had a very narrow window to make it work...thankfully the stars aligned this time.

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Good Evening from the Eclipse! I have been so busy doing absolutely nothing I never started my live thread until just now. But I guess better late than never. Sailing solo this time around for the holiday as mom decided to visit some friemds (and I decided a cruise sounded much more enjoyable!) 
 
For Thankgiving I booked a Royal Suite for the 8 night Celebrity Eclipse Mexican Rivera sailing which includes a stop in San Diego. The best thing about this itinerary is that there is an afternoon arrival in most ports which makes for a relaxed morning. I found it a bit odd that Celebrity decided to do mostly 6 night cruises this season with a few 8 nights mixed in rather than doing 7 night cruises. Of course, what do I know about fleet planning? Absolutely nothing. They didn't seem to h

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Currently sailing off coast of Morocco. It is November 21 2023 - but temps outside are mid 70’s at 8:19 am. We have had gorgeous sunny days at Barcelona, Malaga, and Casablanca. Light sweater in morning, short sleeves later. 

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We are a few hours away from boarding RSSC’s second newest ship, Splendour. We have a few cruises on Regent under our belts. Maybe you remember my live review from last year’s Voyager North Atlantic cruise where I had a slight altercation with some of Greenland’s hardest granite. The score of that encounter was Greenland WON, Matt fractured left arm….

First we are Matt & Susan from North Carolina. We have been in Spain now for 25 days. We have really enjoyed ourselves. Week long stays in Madrid, Seville and LaHerradura were the precursor for our first cruise on Splendour. More on those stops a bit later.
 
I am ready, the bags are ready BUT Las Ramblas is calling Susan. I think a morning walk is in my immediate future. More to come after boarding.

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Here we go!! Well, almost - here we sit at the airport waiting to board to go. Then it's Here We Go - Rome Here We Come!⛲
We sail Sun Nov 26, so we'll play tourist for a couple days in Rome before we board the fresh out of dry dock Nieuw Statendam. We have a few days planned and one flex day with a rented Vespa to do whatever we feel like we missed or just to go tooling about.
Luggage was loaded very quickly after checking in, so I feel good about my chances of being reunited at the correct time.
Going to get some chocolate for the flight...Ciao for now. 

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I have long been a lurker but this is my first liveish review so bear with me. 
 
My friend Janelle and I sail on the Seashore Monday for 6 nights with stops to the private island, Costa Maya and Cozumel. The weather is clearing up after the past couple of wet days and the ship had to move their stops around this weekend due to weather conditions.
 
A little background, I have been a Celebrity loyalist for over 15 years with the last 6 or so cruises in the Retreat. I have reached Elite Plus status and I will probably never hit Zenith (the highest level) unless I hit the lottery. Their recent changes and price increases had me shopping around and after reading reviews from GenX and JamieLogical I was definitely down to try MSC.

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After the sub spectacular Prima TA, nevermore was said by me, the raven, and many others.
 
Well never say never. We are going live in 19 days, 2 days pre-cruise in Rome, and 21 days on the Viva. 
 
So many “firsts" for us on this adventure. We are still burn’t out from the NCL Star cruise but super excited about our next adventure.

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Hello to anyone interested in following along as Viva makes her maiden cruise across the Atlantic Ocean!
 
Departing Lisbon, Portugal on 16 November, the lovely Viva will take us on an 11-day cruise across the ocean to arrive in Miami the Monday after Thanksgiving (American Thanksgiving).

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