brilliantseas

Our small plates course included the Chayote Yucateco (Mexican squash and carrots), Guacamole with pomegranate seeds, and Esquites (grilled corn with a spicy aioli). Of the three, the Esquites was our favorite. Our medium plates course included the Enchilada de Pollo (chicken enchilada), Papas con Chorizo(roasted potatoes with chorizo), and the Camaron Amarillo (shrimp in mole sauce). It was a LOT of food, but our waiter insisted that we try all of the small and medium plates to get a good taste for the restaurant. The only course where we selected our own options was the large plates, or entree course. I had the Pato, which was a roast duck breast in mole sauce. GF had the Cochinita Pibil, which is a citrus-marinated, slow roasted pork. They were both excellent, although I personally preferred the duck. For dessert, I ordered the Capriotada, or Mexican bread pudding, and GF had the Tacos de Chocolate. We both liked the Capriotada more. Our meal at Pink Agave was a bit longer than most of our other meals on the ship, taking nearly two hours, but part of that was due to the sheer amount of food and taking our time to enjoy it all. If (when!) we do Pink Agave again, I think I would just select our favorites to savor and cut down on the total number of plates served to us. It was all excellent quality, it was just too much food for two people and we felt a bit wasteful for not finishing every course.

We started off the meal with a couple of cocktails. The No Mames was our favorite! Definitely a bit on the sweet side with the flavor of the cinnamon sugar. The What's Up Doctora started out good, but I quickly grew tired of the carrot flavor. If you are a fan of fresh pressed juixes, this might be for you. The menu is quite extensive, and is divided up into small plates, medium plates, and large/entree plates. They bring each out as a separate course. Our waiter was wonderful and asked if he could make recommended selections for us for the first two courses.

After the show, it was time for our reservations at Pink Agave. If you like Mexican food, don't sleep on this elevated Mexican dining experience.

We emerged from the show to find Scarlet Night in full effect. The lighting throughout most public areas turns red and the digital screens display some interesting undersea artwork.

The Myth of Scarlet Night show in the Red Room was a bit better. It is a 15-minute musical telling of the story behind why we celebrate Scarlet Night. It is a very basic, single performer production, so manage your expectations. 20230106_221536.mp4 20230106_222130.mp4

Time for ice cream? How about a cocktail? We stopped by On The Rocks to hear the story of Scarlet Night. While it sets up the backstory of what will happen later in the evening, we expected a bit more. This was just a member of the entertainment team verbally telling the story on a microphone while pacing around the lounge. I would recommend attending the Story of Scarlet Night once just to set up the rest of the evening, but it definitely isn't something to go out of your way for, or to repeat.

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After sailing away from Key West, our early evening entertainment was the Miss Behave Show, which is currently exclusive to Valiant Lady. The description of the show within the app gives absolutely nothing away, but you're in for a great time. Think of it as a cheap and cheesy drag queen variety game show with audience participation and a high seas musical number.

Scarlet Lady Riviera Maya November 5-10, 2023 https://virg.in/JrYR

Mallory Square was full of vacationers watching us sail into the sunset.

The ship was already preparing for Scarlet Night. Aquatic creatures are taking over!

After returning to the ship, I grabbed a cold noodle bowl and some sushi from The Galley and a couple of pizzas to bring back to the room to enjoy during sail-away.

I'd love to see Guy's Burger Joint replaced with Big Chicken, and potentially the addition of JiJi Asian Kitchen. Could they convert one level of David's Steakhouse into a different concept?

We were on Paradise in November. We were pleasantly surprised by the overall condition of the ship. She was in better shape than the Sunshine, and on par with what I've seen over the past year for other "mid-life" Carnival Ships, such as the Legend and Sunrise. Carnival seems to have improved their upkeep of public spaces since the restart. Yes, it will still have a very "90s" look, but we didn't see worn furniture, broken plumbing fixtures, missing tile/trim, etc., which seemed to be common-place on the Fantasy class ships a few years ago. We had an oceanview cabin and the room felt very much like the updated cabins on other Fantasy class ships. The only things that really felt like they needed to be updated or repaired were the sink, which had chipped porcelain, and the cheap shower curtain. Due to a technical difficulty, we only got to see one of the Playlist Productions shows; the other was replaced with a "concert version" with the singers and dancers sitting on stools in front of the curtain, singing the soundtrack to the show. This was a bit disappointing. I will say, after sailing on the Celebration a few weeks ago, we still prefer the older Carnival theaters such as those on the Paradise vs. the newer Liquid Lounge found on the Vista class, or worse, the cramped new theaters with no beverage/bar service on the Mardi Gras and Celebration. We did notice that the quality of food offerings in both the dining room, and to a lesser extent on the Lido Deck, continues to decline. Our MDR meals were consistently below average, and some of the changes on Lido, such as the switch from fresh cut to frozen fries at Guy's Burger Joint, are examples of declines in the dining experience across Carnival as a whole. So long as you go in with moderate expectations, you won't go hungry, but dining definitely isn't the highlight that it used to be.

Just a forewarning, attention-grabbing PJs at NSA may land you on stage. Of course, this may be your intent 😉

At one point, we got sucked into Fat Tuesday by a sidewalk sign advertising a Key Lime Colada, which is a regular frozen pina colada from the batch cocktail machine, mixed with key lime liquor and topped with whipped cream and Graham cracker topping. It was a sweet, Instagram-worthy cocktail, but not as good as the key lime margarita made with the same liquor found at your local Texas Roadhouse. Was it worth $12.75 + tip, probably not? But we're on vacation! After our cocktail, we headed back to Mallory Square.

We witnessed something that I've never encountered before anywhere in Florida, but it was certainly intentional on Duval street. City crews are "washing" the trees. Can anyone explain this?

After brunch, we were off to explore Key West.

We started our meal with a shared Watermelon and Sesame "Cream" appetizer, which is essentially a fruit and granola "pizza". The description wasn't overly appetizing, but seeing them on other tables led us to order it. Sadly, this was a rare miss on Virgin Voyages. The sesame cream needs to be replaced with a more flavorful sweet cream base, and their granola recipe needs some work. The blackberries were also a bit too frozen, and were difficult to chew. For our meals, GF opted for the Razzle Dazzle Breakfast, while I had the chicken cobb salad with a side of their signature smoked bacon. Don't skip on the bacon! GF also wanted another side of the tater tots with cheese, which are nearly as amazing as the bacon. Don't miss out! We were quite full after our brunch entrees, but GF still wanted to try the Cookies and Milk, sans the milk. The three cookies are a matcha-based green cookie, a stuffed red velvet, and a Rocky Road. Of the three, I liked the Rocky Road the best, while GF seemed to enjoy the red velvet.

Brunch at Razzle Dazzle was busier than dinner, but with only 800 sailors onboard and many already ashore, we still had no problems getting in immediately.