TravelBluebird

Thanks for coming along @lazydayz!

@havanadaydreaming I have started my LIVE! thread for the Venezia’s maiden voyage. I will let you know if there are any new or different must-dos, and if you have any specific questions or things you want me to find out for you, please let me know in the thread!:

They ARE Eccos and they are SO comfortable! And good footing for boats,. I’ m bringing them on this trip too!

In 2 days we take off for Barcelona, where on Monday we will board the Carnival Venezia for its maiden TransAtlantic voyage to it’s New York home port! Well, its maiden voyage as a Carnival branded ship, since as many of you know the ship was originally a Costa ship for the Asian market, which didn’t work out so well because of the pandemic. I am fully packed as of 5 minutes ago! Have a little extra with us this time—we always just take 2 24” roller cases and a small under-the-seat carry on each for our cruises, but we just couldn’t figure out what the weather would be like in the North Atlantic as we cruised from the Azores to Halifax, plus while in European cities we like to be more dressy than shorts and a t-shirt. That, plus taking a bit extra equipment for my new video hobby ended us up with 1 larger carry-on case that we are checking, plus a camera bag. We feel so overpacked! I know others on this trip that literally have packed 1 carry on or backpack for the entire trip PLUS extra time in Barcelona. I salute them. I can never be them. Ports of call are Barcelona (embarkation), Malaga, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, Halifax, and New York (debarkation). For those that have followed my LIVES! before you know that I’ll share the good, the bad and the ugly. That said, I realize that this is a maiden voyage for this ship, and for me that is a bit like preview week for theater. I’d LIKE everything t go smoothly, but if it doesn’t, there’s a little grace as all the kinks get worked out. I’m a little nervous about the sea days. There are 9 sea days on this voyage! I hate to say it, but if the internet is bad on the sea days I may go a little crazy. I hope there is enough Internet at least for posting my LIVE! updates and for uploading at least a few short videos. For blogging and photos, stay right here on Cruise Critic! For videos and I’m hoping some LIVE broadcasts (embarkation, ship tour, Q and A), here’s my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@cruisingwithdee I’m a small channel and not compensated in any way for the videos (yep, even though YouTube is running ads on them) plus I have received no compensation etc from Carnival for this trip, so all opinions can be as free as possible! For those new to my LIVES! on Cruise Critic, we are Denise and Russ Van Patten from Knoxville, Tennessee. We are avid cruisers! My husband is now retired and I work for myself, and I’m on the board of a non-profit, so can arrange my schedule for cruising. I have included a photo of us so if YOU are on the Venezia for this trip, please say hello! Also, please let me know what questions you have about the Venezia, what you’d like to see photos//videos of. With all those sea days I’ll have plenty of time to find the answers for you. And, if you are on the Venezia, I like my LIVES! to be interactive, so please chime in! Welcome to my LIVE! Y’all here on Cruise Critic are the best.

it’s so weird…I tried to get a definitive answer for you, but everything online is so vague. It is my understanding that Amber Cove is just for Carnival Corp cruise lines (Carnival, Norwegian, Princess) bur when I try to find a separate cruise ship schedule for Taino Bay (which is the other Puerto Plata port) I can’t find one. Please let us know after your cruise where you ported to! If you are interested in more information about Puerto Plata, Monkeyland, etc, I have a new Guide to Amber Cove//Puerto Plata that I just posted:

I will introduce you to my husband on the ship; he’s a major foodie; you two would get along!

I’ll be on the trip with you!! Hope to meet you on board. Also doing a LIVE! here plus coverage on my YouTube channel. I will start my LIVE! About 5 days before the cruise; we’ll spend some time in Barcelona. I look forward to following your LIVE! As well!

Oh my gosh! You seemed to maintain your calm while you waited; I would have been a nervous wreck! Flew in day of just once many years ago, and had flight delays, and I never did it again, I did an entire video on why people should fly in the day before their cruise: Please excuse the goofy picture of me. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip; I’m assuming//hoping it went more smoothly than embarkation day! Also, I love sister cruises; I really should cruise with my sister again.

This was my experience on the Mardi Gras last month; used to go to every Sea Day Brunch—went the first Sea Day, and then didn’t return for the other 2 Sea Days. Loved the Chia Pudding and the Frittata; hubby loved the Pancetta Scrambled. Sometimes would get the Salmon Super Food. All gone! Now its just a boring breakfast/lunch menu with limited options.

Same for us; we’ve done the steak house so many times; we are going to do this instead! It’s a 15 day cruise so we may well end up in the Steak House one night if we get bored of the MDR, but something totally new and different appealed to us!

Same here! Was just able to get a reservation for the TransAtlantic! Yay!

I saw the announcement about the restaurant, and rushed to my Cruise Manager to try to make reservations on the TransAtlantic. Sure enough tried twice, wouldn’t work, then I saw the announcement that we “broke the internet” with everyone trying to book at once. Well, at least we broke the Carnival site! 😂 Anyway, still broken as of 10 minutes ago. Really would like reservations for the Venezia TransAtlantic; I adore Italian regional food and the menu items disclosed so far look divine! Yes, I agree its pricey but it sadly seems par for the course these days.

I know…perhaps it will do so well it will get a year round ship soon? I can dream.

Closest port to me and I want to try it! I was booked on a Mobile cruise on the Sensation in Fall 2021 that was cancelled. Checked a few dates and regular balcony cabins were few and far between…I mostly saw obstructed balconies available. Glad to see Spirit instead of a Fantasy Class though for Mobile; hope she does well so Carnival continues to home port ships there!

When I boarded in March our Ocean Suite was not ready, although we were able to drop our carry on bags off. Our friend’s Ocean Suite was ready; they had a different, more experienced room steward than ours.

I have been very surprised at how un-crowded the Mardi Gras generally feels, and my last trip was Spring Break on a very crowded ship. The only time I felt very crowded was in the middle of the day on embarkation day when everyone is out exploring the ship! I agree that Grand Central can feel crowded. I would take stairs instead of elevators nearly everywhere except up to Lido and above (I have stayed twice on deck 9 where I can easily take stairs to 6, 7, and 8, but not to Lido, Sports deck, etc ). And thanks to the huge number of food venues (I just did a vlog on the free food venues, and I counted 14 of those, not counting the paid ones!) food lines are small, or if there is a line like at Guy’s, they move quickly. Lido of course feels crowded, but I’ve never been on a Carnival ship where that isn’t the case.

I noticed that the Key internet is for 1 device. Does that mean ONE device for the whole trip, or does that mean one device AT A TIME? I pretty much want my iPad and iPhone both connected because of my vlogging and work. So that matters, since the Voom Surf & Stream allows 4 devices. I don’t mind switching between them. The Key is “on sale” for the Wonder right now for $32.99 a day; the Voom Surf & Stream is “on sale” for $18.99 a day. That’s $14 a day more so $98 for Chops lunch, early embarkation//debarkation and better seats (maybe?) for the shows. I don’t rock climb or flow ride. I’m traveling alone so I’m almost tempted, if I can switch devices for the internet.

I’m pretty sure you have to turn them on in settings. I discovered the setting to turn signatures ON when I went to add my YoutTube channel to my profile page…I discovered that signatures existed, and so I made one and also turned them on so I could see everyone else’s! You go to Profile, then pick settings, then on the left hand side of the page, signatures (as in the photo below);

Wow I’ve been on cruises with one medical emergency, including a helicopter evacuation, but never on one with so many!

I leave at the end of the month on the Venezia TransAtlantic, and all I’ve ever seen to book is the same—Steakhouse and Teppanyaki, plus Chef’s Table. I have not seen the Italian or Asian restaurants (well, there is a “sold out” JiJi’s but I don’t remember ever seeing it for sale).

Goodness. I really need to pack more warmer clothing than usual for my TransAtlantic at the end of the month. You’ve certainly had your share of waves and weather for your TA!

Thanks. Well, since I’m new to Royal I won’t be comparing it to what has been before. Only reason I particularly reacted to the YT reviewers was I have watched them before and they are not generally negative, and really love Royal.

Yikes. As someone planning to go on my first Royal cruise this has me worried. At bare minimum, I expect warm food, hot preferred, and certainly not some of the ice cold food they were served in the MDR.

On Mardi Gras the lines go quickly and are well managed. If you want to spend your entire cruise on the Lido deck or in the very busy casino it will feel crowded, but isn’t that just like the smaller ships too? I was always able to find a less-crowded area when I wanted one; some of the bars have nice areas indoors that are often less crowded (Brass Magnolia, Havana), parts of Serenity are not bad. I was on during Spring Break recently and even at the buffet I generally walked right up without a wait. Less waiting for comedy shows because there are so many of them. Only waiting I did was for the Center Stage shows, but that was by choice because I wanted a good seat so we’d come early, get drinks, and hang out during all the pre-entertainment each night. Getting on and off at ports was easy breezy; quick and minimal lines.

As mentioned, no one knows yet! I’ll be sailing on the Venezia TransAtlantic, and covering everything about the ship both here in a LIVE Blog, and on my Youtube channel, Cruising With Dee. Be sure to look for my blog which I’ll start about a week before the cruise, and be sure to subscribe to my channel since I’m hoping to do some Live videos while on the ship (internet permitting!), and you’ll want to get notice of those and new videos.