TravelBluebird

I’m on that sailing and I’m very excited! My hubby is a foodie and a true Emeril fan from back in the days. He has informed me that upon embarkation, we shall be (very) quickly walking directly to where we can purchase tickets to Emeril’s cooking demonstration! Also super excited to have Christine Duffy on the sailing! I’ve never sailed with her//met her, and I admire her—I think she is just super effective and has the perfect personality to be the President of Carnival!

Oh gosh, so sorry you had to witness my fall (it was pretty painful and I was not quiet about it!). It truly is wonderful to be all healed up, traveling, dancing, cruising—the whole nine yards! Next review will start last week of May (Venezia Transatlantic, with Barcelona just before it).

I’ve got lot of video on this trip up in my latest YouTube video, plus my musings on the differences sailing on the Mardi Gras in 2022 vs. 2023. I hope it is OK to post the link here: Someone asked me if I was going to move my LIVES! to YouTube from Cruise Critic. Nope! This is still the best interactive cruise community I know! I’m just moving video content over to there, and having some fun with learning the entire video //youtube format which was completely alien to me (the non-profit I worked with asked me to do a video, and I sort of panicked because I knew nothing about video and TY //didn’t feel comfortable being taped) and so here we are!

I’m going to do that; we’ve had good results with Boninne in the past.

Awesome! I look forward to meeting you and hearing about your European trip! Just heard this morning that Christine Duffy and Emeril Lagasse are going to be on the first part of our Venezia cruise!

I’ll let you know what its like to do a Transatlantic! Its my first. I’m excited for all the sea days; my husband is a little worried that he’ll get bored. Also, I don’t suffer seasickness, but he occasionally does; I’m thinking that the North Atlantic sea won’t be as smooth as the Caribbean, but we shall see!

So the info on our last night in Orlando (and our early morning flight) that I promised! We stayed at the Residence Inn Marriott, Orlando Airport. Very good location close to the airport with a 24/7 airport shuttle. We stayed in a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite that worked out to $144 per couple, all taxes and fees included. Way cheaper than many other options. The hotel itself is a bit older—the air conditioner in the living room sounded like a plane taking off, there are very few plugs//usb ports by the bead, the couch was clearly old and creaked hard when you sat on it. That said, the downstairs lounge area was nice, there is a big breakfast area (free breakfast), and a pool. The employees were helpful and great to deal with. Several restaurants in walking distance! We walked to Marlow’s Pub which had a very good, expansive American menu—everything from seafood, to burgers to vegan. I had a burger (never got any Guy’s this trip!) and fries and they were delicious. My vegan friend was very happy too. I would definitely consider this hotel for an overnight before a cruise out of Port Canaveral; cheaper compared to the hotels at the port, and very convenient to the airport when you are flying in. Just have to be prepared to Uber or taxi to the port the morning of the cruise. We woke up on Sunday at 3am to catch our 5:30am flight. Hotel shuttle left promptly at 3:30am; just minutes from the airport. We were surprised there was a long line to check in your luggage…evidently the counters didn’t open till 3:45 am, so everyone earlier was already in line. No line at all for TSA Pre at security, and the regular line was quite short; probably not longer than a 5 minute wait. But thanks to the long luggage line, we had just enough time to buy some water and then boarding was already started. Easy flight to Atlanta, but there it was raining and we had to wait for a gate, so arrived like 20 minutes late. We really had to scoot from the B to the C terminal to get to our flight on time; they were boarding as we hit the gate. I’m home now; everyone on our trip caught a Cruise Cold, mine is very minor and almost over; hubby’s is a bit more. I’m done unpacking and back to work. I’m also working on a ton of video content for my YouTube channel (Cruising With Dee) from this trip! Stay tuned for my next LIVE! here on Cruise Critic which will be from the Carnival Venezia Transatlantic from Barcelona to New York, cruise starts May 29th; LIVE! will start a few days earlier as we’ll be in Barcelona for 3 days. Thanks for following my trip! I’ll continue to answer any questions or comments. Front desk, Residence Inn Orland Airport Lounge area of hotel Free coffee in lobby of hotel

I still recommend Jack’s for those reasons—the beach is awesome, you are away from the ships at the port, and the crowd really thins out that far down the beach. Also, the jerk chicken was quite good, just expensive and a long wait if you want some around noon.

ooh good tip! Thank you!

I had a nice summary of my overnight in Orlando and trip home that I just erases somehow after I typed it all out 😭; I’ll re-do it tonight (I’m too upset to do it now; don’t know what button I pushed). I’ m home! Got home at about 10:am; woke up at 3am this morning to catch my 5:30am flight to Atlanta. Sitting in my closet with my cat helping me unpack. I’ll be back in a bit, so let me know if you have any questions about Mardi Gras or the port!

Good to know! 11 weeks is so long; I remember when I could go and renew the passport at my post office and the renewed (or new!) passport would come very quickly; often within the month. I’m dreading passport renewal (I have to do mine soon) , because you can’t travel internationally once you’ve submitted your passport to the passport office for renewal. If I already have a trip planned, I think I’ll have to expedite mine.

Thanks for that information; they only had 3 officers looking at the birth certificates in Port Canaveral, so that didn’t help. Good to hear Miamai is much faster. And sad to hear that passports are still taking that long! The pandemic is long over; I don‘t understand why we can’t get them on a timely basis anymore.

This! My vegan friend on the last day said she absolutely could NOT eat another salad on board! Thankfully Bonsai Teppanyaki was the one restaurant that seemed to GET being Vegan. Our teppanyaki chef asked her about contamination on her meal, and so kindly cooked hers first before all the meat and fish dishes, She got a good meal at Teppanyaki—grilled vegetables and Tofu, white rice, a cucumber and avocado sushi roll, and fruit. But not training all of your wait staff to know the difference between vegetarian and vegan is very concerning; we’ll definitely be giving feedback in the survey on this.

Disembarkation went extremely smoothly for us. Since we were in no rush, we decided to stay on ship as long as possible. Gave our Group 2 luggage tags (they deliver those right to your stateroom if you are in a suite) to someone else who needed them and picked up last group, Group 30. Wanted to sleep in as long as possible, but at 7:20 my cabin steward knocked to give me the bill. I was not pleased; first of all, I was sleeping. Second, I already looked at in my app. Couldn’t he have just put it under the door or something? Even earlier than that (7am) the announcements started. Self assist was able to head out before 7:30am. First zones (1 and 2) were called at 8am. These were huge zones, lots of priority guests this trip. So Zones 3 through 6 were called at 8:44. by 9:30 Kyndall had only called up to Group 26, but employees came around and verbally said all luggage was out and we could leave. Which was perfect; we were aiming to leave around 9:30 since we thought we could easily get an Uber as Ubers with passengers to embark would be starting to arrive right before 10! We left our rooms at about 8:15 and had a nice breakfast on Lido. Again, it was really nice that the food was not ice cold like last year; don’t know what Carnival did to improve that, but we appreciated it! I had an Eggs Benedict, hash browns and fruit; Rick an Omelette, Sue I think a bagel and peanut butter. Russ, traditional breakfast foods (egg, sausage). There was one employee at the coffee machines pouring and giving out the cups of coffee, and another one coming around with full coffee service to the seats, with coffee, cream, sugar—that was great. Bathrooms were really busy, long long line for women’s up on 16. We headed down from Lido 9:30. No wait for the elevator and no line to exit ship. We walked straight through with no line to the passport scanners, scanned our faces, and that was it. Didn’t even have to take out the passports (as my friend said, convenient, but also maybe just a wee bit creepy). Grabbed our luggage and were on the street right at 10am. HOWEVER, OMG those poor people who only traveled with birth certificates. That line was HUGE, and it was not moving. The line snaked back all the way up the white ramps that lead from the ship…so long, I think many people at the back of the line probably missed their early flights. This is a big difference from last year’s Mardi Gras cruise, where there was no line for birth certificates at all. I’m surmising the difference was how many families were traveling with children this year, compared to last, plus the extra 1,000+ passengers. I think most cruise critic readers have their passports, but if you don’t, this should serve as a cautionary tale. We enquired about a taxi—$150. Shuttle to airport $30 per person. Nope. So we Uber’ed. I was nervous about Uber because last year it took forever to get an Uber to pick us up after Mardi Gras (with 3 cancellations) and we had to wait out the crazy surge pricing. All those problems were evidently remnants from the pandemic, Because this year, we called the Uber and it was there in less than 15 minutes. And only $48! We ended up with a Toyota Prius though (I thought I’d pressed the Uber XL?) but that guy was able to get all the luggage in the trunk except for 1 suitcase which Rick had at his feet. So here we are; I’m waiting for my room and board meeting, and my friends are out still vacationing! You definitely would want to go RIGHT here. Simple Lido last morning breakfast!

Before the disembarkation post, just two random interesting things that happened on Mardi Gras this week that I don’t want to forget. First, we had 4 people that had to be called out on the loudspeakers on Grand Turk around 20 minuates after the final all-aboard. I wasn’t on the side to see pier runners, but evidently they found 2 of them//2 pier ran and made it. Two did not, and I hear the ship left them in Grand Turk. No idea what happened or why. Perhaps they fell asleep on a sun lounger (which was one way I, personally, could miss a ship) because Grand Turk is not that big; you can’t really drive and be too far away from the port! Second random thing is that evidently the grill got a little vigorous cooking those burgers at Guy’s Burger Joint (was always quite the line there this trip!), so a bit of extra grill smoke caused the sprinkler system in the restaurant to go off! Everyone eating there//on line at the time got drenched! Had to mop up all the water//clean up and then Guy’s re-opened for rest of trip. Personally, I’ll sleep better on the ship knowing that the fire sprinklers work!

Good morning! Our cruise is officially over, but our trip is not since we are staying the extra night tonight near Orlando Airport. Why, you may ask, did we add in an extra night? We booked this cruise very late (end of January) and because it was Spring Break, there were not a ton of seats available out of MCO that would work for disembarking our cruise, and any that were left were crazy expensive. Literally $1,000 a person out of Knoxville and $2,000 a person out of Idaho. So we got creative. By flying out on Sunday we were able to more than 1/2 that from Knoxville, and from Idaho, by using Spirit Airlines and driving (5 hours) to Salt Lake (plus the day change) the fare was 1/4 of Saturday, The downside? We have to wake up at 3am for our flight to Knoxville, and our friends don’t leave till much later in the day, and will arrive home at 11am (2am EST). The rest of the crew is at Universal City Walk right now; I’ m stuck at the hotel because the non-profit I work for is having a board meeting at 2 pm and I have to attend that (I normally would be able to skip if on vacation, but I missed the last one). So I’m plugged in online in the Residence Inn lounge area, waiting for my room (hopefully ready at 1pm). At least the wi fi is great! Next post about disembarkation this morning.

When you are cruising, is their anything sadder than the last night of a cruise. Our bags have been taken away; I’m about to turn in for the night. We are going to take our time getting off the ship since we are staying in Orlando overnight and our room won’t be close to being ready (Residence Inn, Orlando Airport). Had a nice, typical, final day onboard. Had a bit of breakfast on Lido this morning; the salmon eggs benedicet and wedge potatoes were good this trip; warm, not cold, and quite good. Last year all the Lido breakfast food was stone cold, so big improvement. Beautiful weather, so we were on deck a bit, Did Bingo, and attended Kyndall Fire’s Q and A. She’s such a great cruise director, and her story is so interesting. The youngest person to be cruise director in Carnival history at 22, we really enjoyed her. She was perfect for this very full ship of 6,281 (!!) passengers, especially with all the young Spring Break kids and teens. Played a bit in the casino, got some photos at Pixels, got a bit of sun, had the most delicious carbonara fries at Street Eats, and then had to PACK. Sigh. Luggage tag boards were in several areas around the ship, which was nice instead of having them all in one location (I think I saw 4 boards). We spent the evening at the Havana Bar (love the latin music although many fewer dancers there this cruise than last year), at the Alchemy Bar, and had dinner at Teppanyaki. Sue said it was the best vegan meal she had on board the ship, and it was a nice final dinner. Also watched just a bit of the Center Stage show before a bit more time in the casino before calling it a night. I’ve still got more to cover for this trip; will continue tomorrow at the hotel and when I’m home. Mojito, Havana Bar Carbonara Fries, Time Fries at Street Eats Luggage Board near Elevator

We didn’t have a bad wait for drinks but the wait for food was really bad at lunch time. Our friend Rick ordered food at noon and it took about a half hour to get it! My husband’s early food order was very quick, but not so for lunch. And Jack’s wasn’t particularly busy.

That is good to know! We didn’t do it this time because the last few days we knew we wouldn’t have very much time on the balcony. I do wish that all suites had at least 1 lounger just provided.

Weather was crazy on Grand Turk today! Overcast, then sunny (got my beautiful water blues!) then overcast, then poured rain, then sunny….you get the picture! Once back on board we went to Guest Services to resolve refunds for our Chef’s Table cancellations. Much better today; lines will be so long tomorrow. Grabbed a bite at buffet (Schwarma for Russ, and I was weak and got Shaq’s Big Chicken. Had to have it; even though it is formal night tonight with the lobster and prime rib. Trying for early dinner tonight, Voodoo Moon show, another comic, and the Rock an Glow 80s party, then maybe more gambling! I’m staying up LATE tonight—last night without the have-to-pack-up monkey on my back, and I can sleep in tomorrow!

it really helps to be in the Marriott (or other program) for free nights and free upgrades, but I agree that more and more points are required for the free nights lately!

Yes, Cucina and ChiBang were included on our Mardi Gras cruise!

We are at Jack’s Shack right now! Very overcast day so no sun and I can’t see those beautiful blue water hues I do love here. It’s drizzled a bit but we are under umbrellas. we got off the ship at 8:15 to get loungers and umbrellas right by the water. Almost 10–lots of loungers still available (second row). Might be the overcast weather, or all the families are at Margaritaville. Two ships I port We are here with a HAL ship. We watched the dive and tour boats leave and now it’s peace and quiet. About to have a Mojito—heck it’s 5 o’clock somewhere! 😂 For those who have come here for years—Janet and Jack sold the shack to employees and retired to Canada! Topher passed and they took the other dogs with them. So no dogs today. Shack was damaged in hurricane and it’s been rebuilt—quite nice, improved bar area. But not the same—it’s like Jack’s 2.0. Still a great spot and worth the walk down the beach, and running the gauntlet of locals wanting to sell you a beach chair or braid your hair. Two umbrellas and loungers. $23. Out of mint so drinking a rum punch. Russ having the jerk chicken for breakfast—$17. Gone up! Still good

Another fun evening on the Mardi Gras! It’s late and we have an early morning tomorrow because we want to make sure we get loungers and umbrellas at Jack’s Shack. So brief summary for now, and tomorrow I’ll also report back on the changes for Jack’s Shack with the new ownership there. Buffet dinner was fine (should have been a better desert selection, otherwise they had selected dishes from the MDR menu tonight. Tonight was supposed to have been our Chef’s Table. Since I didn’t like the desert, I had a Choclate Martini at Center Stage after. After dinner we did Deal or No Deal. We won a $25 Bingo card for last day, and a $30 casino credit. Top audience prizes were $300 and $200; lots of smaller prizes. Went to Punchliner after for the R rated Russell Nagle show. Three comics aboard right now, and 2 earlier in the week. 5 for one cruise is incredible. Then hit the casino. Lady luck was not with me tonight, but I’m down less than $100 for the week so far, so I won’t complain. Stopped by the Motown Party for a little while. Gosh that Kyndall Fire is one ball of energy! She had the place, well, on Fire! The entire 6th floor of Center Stage was made into a dance area; much better for lots of people dancing than Lido so much room. So lots of dancing and singing and lots of people watching//singing along on 7 and 8. I’ll post a clip tomorrow; this party is new to me since it wasn’t yet on Mardi Gras last year. Then a quick bite of pizza; would have been just as fast for me as earlier in the week (couple minutes) but I wanted just a cheese//sauce plain and they didn’t have one so I had to wait about 10 minutes. They had 7 pizza chefs working tonight! See you on Grand Turk!

We had a perfect day in port at Amber Cove today. We hired the Private Van through Carnival. As mentioned, it worked out to $75 per person, plus tips (can have up to 6 passengers, so would have been less per person if we had 2 more). We had a wonderful guide, Eddie, and Alex was our driver. We were most interested in history, a few views and stops for photography, and shopping for larimar (the national stone of the Dominican Republic; only place it is found). If you do the Private Van, you can do anything you want—beach, lunch in town, waterfalls. All of that was done; went to Puerto Plata, the port, a place where they make the Larimar jewelry by hand including th silver, down to the drive along the beach, the main square, the church, etc. etc. I’ll do a full write up of all we saw when I return. The private van tour was 4 hours, and the ship is in port till so we got back in plenty of time to explore Amber Cove. Carnival has really done a beautiful job with this port—there’s a big shopping center to the right, with nice shops for tourist items, jewelry, Dominican specialties (chocolate, coffee), a coffee shop with wifi, places to get food (including a restaurant with a lovely view of the water, and of course the giant pool complex to the right with on water cabanas, water sports, big pool with swim up bar, and ziplining. There was a small beach visible from the complex; does anyone know if that is open to all or if it is a resort beach? in any event, after the van tour, we changed into swim wear and covers, had lunch at the buffet, and took back off before 2 to explore the port. It was my first time in the pool complex part, and it is extremely nice..we got in the pool, and loved the tropical resort atmosphere. Shopping after that, and now we are back. It’s 5:24…a few people still straggling in for a 5:30 departure. No pier runners yet. Tonight we are going to eat dinner at the buffet and stay casual. Then for the first time we are going to play Deal or No Deal, go see some of the comics, and then go to the new (well, new since last time I was on Mardi Gras)n Motown Showdown. Did I mention how much we enjoyed the Silent Party at the Limelight last night? It was great, although I think Celebrity’s Silent Disco was the best one of those I’ve ever been to. If you don’t know what that is, everyone gets headphones and gets to dance to whichever DJ they feel like, usually 2 (Carnival) or 3 (Celebrity) channels. You switch channels as you like. Fun to dance to and fun to watch! Rudi’s Seagrill last night was fantastic and did not disappoint; full review to follow. Sue went to see the Love and Marriage Show (she loves game shows!) and we all love Kyndall Fire, the cruise director. We also saw the Vegas show at Center Stage; good floor seats. I’m not a fan of magicians (part of the show) and song selection was just OK, but we were wowed by the aerialists and loved the live musicians including 3 brass, and always love the graphics on the big screen. At the Amber Cove 3D sign; line to take photos! We met people in line who lived 5 miles from us back home! Amber Cove Port Me on the Umbrella Street, Puerto Plata. Worth the $1 tip for the umbrella prop! Main square, Puetto Plata, from the balcony of ice ccream shop Our van from above at the sqauare Russ and our driver Eddie The little bar at the port that has live music, food, and tables right on the water Photo stop with Puerto Plata behind us Cabanas on the water, Amber Cove Pool aqua area, Amber Cove