jam19872016

Regal princess out here too. The deck is very wet, must have rained recently.

Oh no, it's our sister Carnival Dream here too trying to tender in 4k people also. Wonder who is in Mohagany Bay today? The new private island development is coming along.

-1.2 but +1.2 still since the last weight check I posted since I forgot to post yesterday. Gonna start my walk then check on some lunch.

Belize is a hot mess to tender into even on a small ship. Four hours into our port stop, Mike just called the last group of ticket holders to the tenders. If you've never been to Belize and don't book an excursion, plan on getting up early for a ticket or you will spend your day waiting to get off. I'm really surprised a ship this big stops here, it is about a 20-30 minute ride to the island, so they aren't moving people very fast with each tender taking about an hour round trip.

That is amazing! If I had one nitpick, did we have to block a busy staircase to do it 😆 Amazing work though and with all that icing, surely it is edible 😋.

Still having a great time but of course after a few weeks things do get a bit repetitive. I know that going in, and things are going to get mixed up a little next week (he says foreshadowing to something without explaining what)

Good morning everyone. Despite the attempt at an early evening, my body wasn't having it and I probably didn't get to sleep any earlier than I have been but at least I saved some calories from not drinking or having a late night food run. Not going to get off the ship today in Belize but I need to join the land of the living, so I'm kicking off the covers and heading out to the daylight now.

I'm not really catching a second wind so I am going to go ahead and pack it in for the evening. I'd like to watch some TV, but the only good channel is Food Network, and after that dinner tonight I don't want to look at food for a while. YouTube it is then. Tomorrow is Belize, which holds about a zero percent chance of me exploring so it will be a stay on the ship day. Good night everyone see you tomorrow.

Dessert was also good. I enjoyed my meal and service was nice and quick. I feel like I'm in a food coma now.

The fish was good again, nice to see consistency for the most part with the new Emril items. Eggplant was very good but that was an insane portion. I might get it with the salad next week. For dessert I got the banana cream pie 653.

Both appetizers were excellent and I only detected one onion in my carbonara. For mains I got cast iron bronzed fish and eggplant Parmigiana 634. Holy portion size batman!

BBQ beef spring roll and pasta carbonara 623.

Table assigned immediately.

Checked in for dinner at 556 with under 10 minute wait.

Couple more loose ends from last night.... I got another Ship on a Stick. I did not mean to, I've been to this same trivia three weeks in a row. I recall scoring 0 the first week so my 13 I got this week is from hearing mostly the same questions (a few different ones, but mostly the same). I was cheering for my score, and all of a sudden nobody else cheered. I should have bowed out, but I was a little over served by that point. Speaking of over served, apperently I made quite the impression at the night club as I was recognized in port 🥴. Few people asked if I would be back tonight. If I do, I need to stash some food because I can't eat that pizza again.

Love cruising over New Years! Such an amazing energy ringing in the New Year on a cruise. Does not look like I am going to get to do that this year. Love and Marriage is still being offered. I went the first week but it is not my favorite event and I rarely attend. It was well attended so it is clearly very popular, but it isn't really my thing. Quest has indeed returned and I think this is one of the best ones I've seen. It is crowd dependant though. Last night was poorly attended, and the crowd was not really comfortable letting loose and the show just wasn't as fun as a result. I think he did it too early this week, but maybe it was just this crowd. Still a good time, and I am glad to see it back! Mike is on his first contract as a CD. He is good and wants to be the best CD in the fleet. If I am being honest, he is not there yet but seems like he has potential. He is not annoying, and does not make too many announcements. Very visible and engaging, he just doesn't seem to connect with people if that makes sense. As I said though, he has potential and I think he can only get better with experience. I'm also enjoying the PBE, Rodney. I've seen him a few times, and he does have a limited routine so after a day or two, you kind of know where the show is headed but he is entertaining and does great with audience interaction. Like most PBE on Carnival recently, he seems to close down around midnight even if the crowd is still engaged. If the last set is only going to last for an hour, I would like to see it start at 10 instead of not doing the adult show until 11. It is a lot more fun after 11 when we can cut loose. Although, he certainly pushes the boundries of family Piano Bar a bit, but don't tell Carnival I said that.

Even with the disappointing filet, I was happy overall with the meal tonight. Service was quick and efficient although something is broken with the check-in process. If I am going to have a 30 minute wait, that is fine if I know about it and can plan accordingly. If it says 10 minutes, I am not going to check in until I am ready. I have not experienced this before in fact many times when the time is high, it ends up being much less than the estimated time.

Table was assigned at 749. My under 10 minute wait was actually 29 minutes. For my appetizer I got the tuna crudo 809. This is a very light option, but it is very good. The flavor is fresh and pairs nicely with the fruit and has a little kick of spice to it. For mains I got the filet and short rib and firecracker branzino 814. The filet was not good. I don't usually order it because just like the lobster, it is very poor quality but there would be a bigger uproar to remove it than to serve the cheapest possible filet they can source. It was good last week so I ordered it again and my luck had run out. I ordered medium, it was rare and while I have been eating medium rare, this was a bit too pink for me on the inside. It was also tough and lacked any flavor. I ended up not finishing it, which is something I rarely do but it just was not good at all. The short rib was the star of the dish (and was definitely missing from this dish last week) I would have been happy with just a full portion of short rib. Tender, and great flavor. The fish was good but I think was sitting maybe just a little too long under the heating lamp. The potatoes were definitely sitting too long and had dried out while also being room temperature at best. I was happy with the fish still, but the potatoes were better last time. For dessert I got the grand mariner soufflé and chocolate panna cotta 830. Looking at the soufflé I thought it was going to be overcooked again, which is still better than undercooked like the first week. It ended up being perfect! One of my favorite Carnival desserts and they knocked it out of the park tonight! The panna cotta was also good. Rich chocolatey goodness, what's not to love?

Rewinding to dinner from last night when I was in a wifi dead zone. Formal night menu.

The rain mostly held out for our day in Cozumel but has made an appearance for sail away. One picture of Mariner as we leave. Not raining hard but the wind is blowing it right at me so I'm coming back in and heading to the sauna now.

Looks like I am getting another zoo.

Very unusual for Cozumel. It was so uncrowded.

If you hurry they are open for 15 more minutes.

I once tried the habenero salsa. Just a little drop. I have never felt such an intense feeling of pain on my tounge. I don't mess with that anymore. I tried the one on the right, salsa Roja. I love spicy, but this was still pretty bad. Give me a szecuan sauce with a flavorful heat any day. This is just heat. Pass. Cooling down the burn now.

I wish I could have spent some more time I'm Cozumel, it's my favorite of the ports that we visit too many times. Back onboard is 330 which for my own comfort means 230, so I had to wrap it up. Grabbing lunch now. Just a salad and dessert today since I didn't skip breakfast.