STXcruiser1981

Thanks for the tip and the heads up!

DANG!!! I already pre-paid for parking at the port... But maybe if uber/lyft is cheaper by the total I can still cancel it... I did not know they offered free parking here anymore!!!

DUCK… DUCK… GOoOoOoO...GIMME,GIMME, GIMME, GIMME!!!!! “I have become addicted to… “The Duck Life”… -Unknown Hello… My name is Jay and I am a cruising and cruising duck addict… My addiction began on my first Carnival cruise aboard the Carnival Magic, I have since cruised her again, waaaaaay to long ago to even mention, when I stumbled across 5... count’em 5 ducks!!! SCORE!!! I found a Mardi Gras duck, a Santa duck, an Elf duck, a plain jane and one that could only be described as a Picasso… The poor fella look melted, he had a face only a kid or his own mama could love lol… Now I know there are supposedly “support” groups for this addiction and I might be a member of one… or two… or ten of them. I was hooked after returning home and giving these little critters to my kiddos as well as one to my nephew. As way for them to have a piece of a faraway place! For this trip I collected my little critters from Oriental trading and Amazon. I think I have between, 40 and 50 of my little amigos to hide on this trip… we shall see once I get down to the business of putting the stickers on them! I use the smaller ducks and I order my stickers from custom cruise wear . com, Angela and her team do amazing work and always have great customer service. A few of my T-shirts for this cruise as well as a few I wore in November came from there and my duck stickers for that cruise did as well… I have fun hiding these little dudes, but I always second guess myself while hiding them. Should I make them difficult to find? Should I make them kid friendly and easy to find? Should I ask a bartender to put one visible behind the bar? Is there etiquette about hiding them in dining venues? Now however… I have come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter one whit where I hide them they will get found and rehomed or re-hidden regardless and the Cruising Duck movement is expanding… It is now people of all ages enjoying and partaking of the fun, so I’m just going to put them where ever I get the “itch” to. ~Jay~

Casino As this Cruise was booked on a Casino rate I will definitely be spending some time there. Being a creature of habit you will find me at a blackjack table, a texas hold’em table, or one of several slots… Years ago I use to just walk around until I found a machine that “felt right” or “talked to me”… I was usually in my cups and possibly stoned, don’t judge me… LOL then I would sit and play a bit then move on to the next, I wasn’t a “gambler”. Since those days I have found certain machines that I love playing, win or lose I will play them because they are fun and I enjoy them. Plus, I may or may NOT have had several hand pays on these machines on several different ships throughout the fleet. If I find that I am not intoxicated or otherwise indisposed during the casino events I will be there for them. I believe there are to be several drawings, slot and blackjack tournaments, and hot seats on this trip… So I’m going to go have a little fun!!! I might go play a little bingo as well, I haven’t played bingo on board in probably 8 or 9 years. The last time I played, the EX-wife hit twice on the trip during bingo a $500 and a $1500 board. The woman then hit $4000 on a slot two nights later!!! It was her lucky trip… she had never been in to playing the slots she sat down put in a $20 and just started playing. I was a few rows over and was up about $800 on one of the old Wheel Of Fortune machines when I hear all this cheering and laughing. I cashed out and decided I was going to find her and go get ready for dinner. All the noise was coming from around HER machine… She had befriended the elderly lady next to her and explained she had no clue what she was doing and that she was just killing time. So she took some lessons and just started to push buttons. When I walked up and someone was explaining... “this rookie just sat down and started spinning, she has no clue and is cleaning up!!!” I walk around and…. %$%)##&$(#*& ()#*$&(#*&!!! I look at the board and the rolling total… I walk up to her and as I put my hand on her back and whisper to her time for dinner I hit all stop and cash out… She had NO CLUE how much money she had racked up because it was a little here a little there never a hand pay she thought she was seeing point totals!!! Needless to say we had an interesting cruise from then on out and we may or may not have missed dinner that night... and the shows… and the piano bar… ~Jay~

Online Check-in, Setup, Questionnaires Since I am but a lowly “GOLD” VIFP, I had to wait for my online check-in until the 15th. But, seeing as how I opted into the facial recognition it might not now be such a stressful experience. The process has changed some as many will note but the end game is the same as you just have a few extra questions to answer to get that all clear and all checked in. It was rather quick and painless in my opinion when doing this this past November. . At about 11-11:15:00pm on Sunday the 14th I was able to check in and was actually shocked to be able to get a 10am boarding time!!! So I will get up do my morning routine grab some breakfast and make my way to the port. I will be able to have a leisurely morning and not be rushing which will be nice. This also helps as check out from the hotel is 11:00am so I won’t have to find something to do other than hang out outside the terminal that morning!!! The least amount of time in a face diaper the better!!! It has been a while since I have cruised out of Galveston and we weren’t given the option to “speed up” the boarding and check-in process with facial recognition the last time I was there (this was several years ago and they have “advanced” since then). Now, I am all about that, IF it makes life easier, it definitely sped up and improved the process in Miami so if it is just as efficient here as it was there, I will give major kuddo’s to the staff at the Port of Galveston. In my last review it was speculated that it would also be available in New Orleans. And I opted in to facial recognition there, however it must have still been in the process of being implemented, as we still had to go through the same old process. I did download Verifly that Carnival recommends and imputed all of my required info to make the process more streamlined and hopefully paperless… We shall see what we shall see… Verifly seems to function and operate as an I-wallet and Medical card all in one. When you input your data and download the info they request it goes to a hold until it is approved and verified. I can get behind this even though at first I was leery of it… first time I did the input and was setting up it kept telling me booking not found blah blah blah. I was getting ready to throw the d@mn thing across the room and give up!! A few calming breaths to center myself and some meditation I got myself back under control to start over and realized it was operator error!!! APPAREANTLY I did not realize that it was case sensitive when entering certain pertinent information!! Crisis averted and I am breathing normally again!!! If this app works like they say it does this just might be one of the best things that has come out and outclass other plebeian apps that claim to do the same. Remember when I said I wasn’t very tech savvy? Well case in point see above!!! ~Jay~

CALENDARS, CHECK LISTS, PACKING LISTS… Earlier I had made light about my habits of making schedules, lists, and other things but truth be told they are as much a part of the planning of the trip, as they are used in my daily life now. I now more than ever use my calendars and to do lists at work and at home in my daily life. I have found myself forgetting things that I used to be able to remember and recall clearly, facts, data, dates, instructions, names, etc. I mean the frustration level has become totally unacceptable. I have turned one area of wall in my home into a “Memory Wall”, pictures of family, friends, places I have been, etc. for me to be able to see constantly and stave off the progression of this disease. Some of these lists I have saved and reuse, some are made specifically for this trip and others are laminated and reusable, even my hand made list from 6-7 years ago is laminated, and I just use a white board marker to check things off as I go. My detailed calendar that will end up on the wall of the cabin so I remember the what’s, when’s, why’s, and where’s of what is going on! The packing list is a little more basic, but I also have the hand written one that has my more specific items on it lol. But it is no less as important as the calendar as I do not want to forget anything at home OR on the ship when they kick us off!! I will post pictures of my actual copies with the laminate on them when I get home, so you can see how they hold up after a few years of use and being stuck in my bags/drawers for lord knows how long since they were last used. I use google maps to track, mark, and plan my walk abouts while on trips. I am not as artistically inclined as other fellow CCers that can hand draw maps… Remember the squirrels we discussed earlier? THEY could draw better and would be more accurate than ANYTHING I could draw. At the same time if my maps lead me astray or I find myself lost, that’s part of the adventure, as long as I am not in some shady area or in a bind for time. At that point I have no shame in asking a local for directions and I am smart enough to ask for assistance or simply flag down a cab or bus and get to where I need to be. But, I do have multiple maps… one for food, one for bars, one that shows places serve both, and one for places of interests. I make these maps up for all my trips and keep them with the places I went to highlighted. Sometimes, I go back to the must haves some of my favorites or just the famous tourist spots for fun. Being Bi-lingual helps a lot while on my walk-abouts, so again I have no issues asking for help. Living in South Texas and growing up I had days in my youth from toddler to the time of starting school where my nanny/babysitter would only speak Spanish to me and only allow me to speak it in response as a way to learn the language from a young age. It was one of the things I am grateful for along with my passion for cooking that I got from her. It stuck with me and with it as well as completion of 4 years of Spanish in high school, I have something that has helped me throughout my life and career history. It is a major benefit while traveling as it makes bargaining while shopping, ordering food, etc. so much easier throughout my travel/adventuring life! Another benefit is that when I am traveling the base of Spanish has helped me in several other countries as some words are the same or close enough that I can muddle through and half way make it work. But always remember there is a HUGE difference between Spanish in other countries, Spanish in Mexico, and TEX-Mex… BELIEVE me some times it does not help the cause!!! LOL I have started pulling out and putting together all my paperwork, travel documents (boarding pass, luggage tags, etc.), printed off my info required for my excursions… Getting everything somewhat organized to begin the packing process. I still need to make copies of my Passport, ID, and Insurance cards. I generally have 2 copies of these documents. Let me explain, as a solo traveler and someone with some medical difficulties, which have progressed since our last adventure, it is more for the peace of mind of my family than anything else. One copy of these documents goes with me in my backpack and are what I take off the ship with me at most places along with S&S card. The second set, along with a copy of my cruise insurance, my will, POA, and other documents are left with my mother, in the event they are needed she can get them directly to my brother as required. I cannot stress enough the importance of having some form of ID other than your driver licenses or S&S card with you in the event of an emergency while a shore or simply due to missing the ship… I also print off the information for my hotel stay pre-embarkation. This little dude right here is a life saver… it holds passport, Covid card, ID, CC’s, debit cards… and it is RFD! Heck of a deal. Thanks Amazon!!!! ~Jay~

THE EQUIPMENT Nothing fancy about my pictures or other items you will see in this review. I will mainly use my new Iphone 13pro max for pictures and on the fly posts, my Surface Pro for editing and posting on the longer items with more detail, I Also have an old school Coolpix digital camera that I carry if I ever remember to use it! I also will be testing out a new to me GoPro this trip if I can get the dang thing to work for me. Y’all I am not tech savvy… bare with me as we go through this! I am very much a novice when it comes to photography and capturing the moments but I will try my best! So like I said nothing fancy but they do the job for me and helps me chronical my adventures. In the last few years and especially with recent events I have decided to live in the now more than ever… BOOK THAT TRIP, TRY THOSE DIFFERENT FOODS, TRAVEL WHERE YOU WANT, life is too short to not do anything other than live in the moments we are given and take advantage of that and most of all striving to LIVE HAPPY. I do plan to update and upgrade my camera soon but it’s still working so I’m not in a real hurry to buy a new one, so it’s making this trip. Again thanks to the MS. I have begun to take more notes, details, pictures, and all of this is to be able to go back and read, relive, and remember things that I possibly might not be able to in years to come. I still do my daily Memory games, games to remember long term details, ways to preserve what I can remember and ways to recall what I already have difficulty remembering. Hence all the detail, the lists, the maps, and things you have seen so far. It is as much for me in the future as it is for yours, and mine, enjoyment while it’s happening. My benefit is your gain in this sense as I strive to capture everything I can to remember and have these details! I already am at a point I am needing to do it more often than not to jog my memory. It is sad and heartbreaking that I remember somethings but not the details or how and where and when they happened. I want to prevent that going forward as much as possible. ~Jay~

Who’da thunk it?!? Ok just like in my last review here I’m going to list a couple of things that I started traveling with to make things easier for me, again these work for me maybe not you, most of these are inexpensive and can be snagged at your friendly local DevilStore (AKA WallyWorld), DG, $tree, or on Amazon (pick your poison). The only things that I do not scrimp on when I travel is my luggage or backpacks, these items need to be durable, sturdy and take a beating. HOWEVER, what I take for getaways, cruises, etc. will not be what you see me traveling with internationally. For international/overseas travel I have a few pieces of sturdy leather luggage that I use, duffel, carry-on, and satchel (notice nothing with wheels). For cruises I researched 4wheel spinner hard sides that where carry-on compatible, that I could also check when I didn’t want to worry or hassle with it. After comparing prices and reading reviews I settled on the Ifly 2 piece set from Walmart. It had great reviews and fit exactly what I was looking for in a travel set $99.99 + tax at Walmart. (Caught it on sale a few Christmas’ ago). Luggage tags are Carnival approved with wire clasps that can be placed the morning of embarkation, they are inexpensive on Amazon and the cables are strong enough that I have used them successfully for 3 cruises. This trip my backpack is not the same as the last trip, it was caught on an Amazon prime deal for $59.99+tax. I grabbed this bag about 3 years ago for camping, hiking, and for trips. It is cut resistant and has plenty of room for my documents, my surface, and my “important things” that will not be in my luggage. I don’t have to worry about size/fit for a flight this time so it will take a little of the stress of my luggage and score me a little bit more room while on the trip. I also have a “GO Bag” that folds up and is used for trips shore side when I don’t want to carry everything but still have to carry somethings… I do not travel with extension-chords, or surge protectors, however I use to…. Then I found this little gem, it is an outlet expander from POWSAV $12.97 on Amazon and worth every penny, I have 2 of these jokers that stay IN my backpack not including the ones I bought for use around the casita. They are cruise ship friendly, and more than serve the need for my surface, phone, camera, etc. while I’m traveling. I also bring my own straws (250 for $6.99+tax on Amazon), magnets, command strips, alarm clock (digital and battery operated), Dramamine, and a mini pharmacy… This little wonder goes with me everywhere, never know when you may need something… $6.99 on Amazon (I bought 2 just be on safe side) and a .50 cent pencil bag at $tree and it’s my own pharmacy on the go!!! Included in my packing will also be Handy wipes, bleach wipes, hand sanitizer… I am very cautious and always have been when it comes to travel so nothing has really changed for me as far as that goes. I am one of those people that will clean a “clean” hotel room or ship cabin BEFORE I even let my bags be opened up. Pre-Rona I had stocked up on all my OCD products, my mother calls it my “OCD bag of CLEANLINESS” that has traveled with me always lol. This is in no way a knock towards any Hotel staff or Carnival employees and their dedication to our safety or the hard work they put in to clean our staterooms. That said I have encountered some… obvious and/or questionable items left behind after “cleaning” that I only feel comfortable after a thorough wipe down by myself. The only addition that I have made to this pouch is adding disposable masks, I have many masks that I took with me in November and they were hot, uncomfortable and made it difficult to breath. So this trip I am taking more of my disposables to use instead, normally I do use disposables while in transit (air travel, bus train etc.), so this time I won’t worry about losing my good masks and can always have them on hand. Again, Amazon was my friend here again when I ordered the masks, at $12.99+tax for a box of 50. I only ordered a new box because for quite a while after my last trip we were back to wearing masks daily at work, so I was almost out!!! Another topic that is debated on cruises is LAUNDRY... HE SAID WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!! Yes, that demon, the bane of all our existences… LAUNDRY!!!! I use to just throw some tide pods in my luggage (pray they don’t bust) and do a load on board or at the hotel before heading home… Now though I have found something much easier. These beauties come in a pack of 5-6 for $5.99+tax and they get the job done, wash and dry (fabric softener in the sheet). Sooooooo much easier, not my normal scent, but its vacation, less to pack and I can rewash when I get home. With my last cruise, the trip to Cabo and an overnighter here and there where I wanted to only go with a back pack I still have a few left before I need to reload. ~Jay~

Parking Parking in Galveston can be over whelming with a LOT of options. Some covered, some not, some with shuttle, some without, some walking distance to the port and some quite a bit farther away. It all comes down to what you want to do and how you want to do it. I went ahead and prepaid/booked with port of Galveston in a garage, it was a rather expensive but it was close to the port and a shuttle will take me to and from I can handle that. Grand total for 5 days parking in a garage, shuttle, taxes, fees etc. came to $92.00. I am ok with that as it’s less I have to deal with! On Board Credit Like I said earlier this cruise was booked on a casino rate with $200.00 OBC and drinks in casino while playing. I also have some leftover on a gift card that will be applied on board giving me about $250-275.00 dollars to spend on board. As I have already pre-purchased some of the “necessities” I will use most of this on the first day as CHEEERS! Doesn’t apply on the first day out of Galveston and put the rest towards an ornament and gratuities. I will probably still have a little bit of a bill but nothing to trip out over. Heck I might just use it in the casino and go out of pocket for drinks so I don’t go off the reservation while sitting in the casino! ~Jay~

Hotel Being that this cruise is out of my “home port”, I could have driven down the morning of. But who wants to do that if it can at all be avoided? I would probably be too tired and after boarding be either a zombie or asleep before sail away!! NOT how I want to start my vacation!!! When cruising out of Galveston, there are many choices for hotels/B and B’s, or rentals available on the island but, the question is how much do you want to “pony up” to stay there or close to the port? Usually I stay somewhere just outside of Houston the night before and mosey my way across and down to the port on cruised day. This time I will be staying on the island, due to the construction they are experiencing some long, long travel times between Houston and the island. Now, I am NOT one that has to have the fancy hotels will all the bells and whistles. My requirements are simple this trip: 1. On the island 2. Breakfast included or something close by 3. A clean room 4. Something for dinner close 5. Not too far from cruise parking 6. Good AC 7. Comfy bed I don’t pinch pennies but I am not going to spend over $200-250.00 for a place to simply lay my head for 8 hours… If this was a situation where I was staying a day or two pre-cruise like I normally do then I would have picked a hotel with a beach view and probably spent a little bit more for a different room. So I started looking around checking with all the usual suspects… Expedia, HotWire, etc. trying to find a “deal” that fell in the parameters I was looking for on this trip. I put a few on a watch list to see if the prices would change up/down etc. and thought that I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do. About 4-5 days of watching and I caught a price drop/sale on Expedia for a beachfront hotel. It has some mixed reviews… But from reading I get the feeling that part of it is simple… People are setting too high of expectations for a budget hotel and some are expecting 5 star service at a place that is just not set up or run that way. Now granted, it’s not a “fancy” 5 star hotel, but it does have 3.8/5 stars on Expedia and it’s near the beach, has a breakfast that is included, and I got a queen beach view room for a grand total of $90.00 +/-. SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Beach view is not the same as beachfront here… it looks like beach is across the street and some rooms have better views than others so no skin off my back. So I have some food choices for dinner after check in and a breakfast option IF the hotel breakfast is subpar. There is also a Starbucks close by. I will not be over indulging at breakfast, just putting something in my tummy to make it until lunch at Guy’s or some street taco’s from Blue Iguana and to have a base for which alcohol will be absorbed!! Depending on how my drive down goes and what time I get there I may do a walk about in Galveston to have a few drinks to kick start vacation, but with my MS after a 3-4 hour drive I might be having a quick dinner and calling it a night. I might make good time and have no issues or I might have to stop more than I do when I have the minions… Every day is a roll of the dice and never know what I will face when I wake up. I am hoping for one of those GOOD days to where I will not be exhausted from sitting on my derriere and will have some energy to explore! I know on a Sunday happy hours and things like that may be hard to come by but I’m banking on there being somewhere to hang out and watch the end of the Steelers/Lions game. I doubt I will be on the island before the game starts so I’ll be looking for somewhere to watch from halftime on… IF traffic doesn’t drive me up the wall getting there!!! ~Jay~

Pre-Purchased for Onboard This trip I don’t want to take any chances with connectivity so I sprung for premium WiFi again (let’s see how this goes), also there will be 3 trips to the steakhouse and one trip to Cucina just for kicks. And as always Cheers! Has already been purchased as well. I know that chefs table has been started again but it has not been an option on Carnival’s website so I will be attempting to add it once on board and will adjust my steak house reservations accordingly, that is assuming I can get a place of course. For WiFi I went with the Premium package as it will allow me to do what I need for this review as well as being able to check in with my kiddos and those back home that worry when I travel alone mainly my mom and my boss. Fingers crossed that the Breeze does not have the issues I had on the Valor and we can keep this rolling along!!! I also like to read in my down time and to relax, so I have few books downloaded and a few shows to occupy my time on those lazy days as they do happen sometimes and it will aid me in dozing off for a nap. (Like I actually will need the help). Cruising as a solo does have its benefits when purchasing cheers, I mean yes it’s not cheap, but if two people are in a room and the other HAS to have it but only drinks 2-3 drinks a day it is a waste! With me being a solo the price ain’t too bad and I easily drink enough to pay for it… I am going to splurge a little bit here on this trip and will be dining at the Steak House three times on this trip. First night to get the free bottle of wine, which I will probably upgrade to a nice Malbec and have them hold it for my next two visits. I will be there again on Wednesday and also on Friday for the last night. I will be dining at Cucina del Capitano on Thursday evening, I have to get my Pasta fix!! But seriously I am looking forward to that pork chop… Which leaves me in the dining room only on Formal night this cruise and I am ok with that. I had thought about doing Bonsi Teppynaki on this night but it is not showing up on the specialty dining so I’m not sure if it is open, however if it is open I will make a reservation on embarkation day. I am indulging myself this trip, and if I decide I don’t wanna get all spiffied up for formal night I can always go to the buffet or seafood shack! ~Jay~

So some “adventuring” will be happening on this trip, a few first for me, so let’s run a check list: 1. Parasailing at Mr. Sancho’s in Cozumel 2. Kayaking/snorkeling at The Reef Club in Progreso 3. I plan to also check out the slides on board (usually I avoid them) 4. If available I will attend Dr. Seuss events in honor of my nephew as well 5. If possible and not packed I will also do a build a bear for him This list doesn’t include whatever else I can get into while on board. I will definitely be putting my CHEERS! Through its paces, catch at least one or two comedy shows each evening and maybe a main show or two along the way and a dive in movie as well! No cruise will ever be complete anymore without the hide and seek adventure that is a Cruising Duck Scavenger Hunt… I will bringing my ducks to rehome on the ship as well as do a little hunting as well! As I have said in the past the giggles, the grins and smiles, the sparkle in the eyes as ducks are found or discovered in out of the way places is so fun to watch… And that’s just the ADULTS!!! The kiddos are even more fun to watch and it makes my heart happy to bring a little fun in to the day of those kiddos!

As they were adventurers this cruise is going to be an adventure as well… I have booked one of my favorites for Cozumel and added a twist I will also do some shopping/exploring if time permits, and then I am going to do some self-exploring and an AI through Carnival in Progreso as I did not want to worry about making it back or missing the ship. So here is the plan… Cozumel 9a-5p Back to Mr. Sancho’s PARASAILING @ SANCHO’S (Bet ya didn’t see that coming from me…) In Progreso I wanted to snorkel and have some relaxing beach time… But I wanted food, drink, and transportation too. So I went for something in the middle… This AI has a beach and a snorkeling area (according to some reviewers)… It is a little bit of a ride from the port but from past reviews you get a history lesson of the area on the way down and they get you back with enough time to still be able to shop before all aboard. ~Jay~

Oh you have no idea!!! 🤣

Hey megan thanks for following along. I have to get through this last week and I'm ready to go!! I also have to make it through posting the first part of this... but it will be theraputic for me. Thanks for the support!!! ~Jay~