SDPadreFan

Got a notification from the Delta app (our flight is a code share with Virgin Atlantic) and Delta was informing us our luggage was loaded on our plane. Good news right? Only problem is the plane wasn't even here yet. Wife surmised it was loaded on the cart - to be then loaded on the plane. But the plane is here now.

Well, we've been sitting at LAX for 5 hours of an 8 hour layover. Only 3 more hours to go. Boarding will start in about 2.5 hours and then the long overnight flight to Heathrow. We may be zombies by the time we get to the ship, but still ready to go. First Sea Day will definitely be recovery day. Told my wife we needed to be up at sunrise for a brisk morning walk. Got the evil eye in response.

We got the same email. Train will stop about 9 miles short of your destination. Carnival "said" there would be shuttles/taxi's FOR HIRE to take you the rest of the way to Dover. Someone mentioned this (maintenance work) a couple of days ago on our roll call. Carnival does go on to say that those people who paid for the Carnival airport to port transfer (bus) will not be effected by this. That's what we have. Figured since we are flying in "day of cruise" via FLY2FUN that the smart move on our part would be to take the Carnival transfers as well. Hope you are able to get to the ship with a minimum of disruption.

Great night time shots.

For those who wait till Last Call. Do you keep all your luggage with you? I can see where it might be a problem to have one of the last pieces of luggage sitting in the luggage claim area.

We'll be boarding her on Sunday for her next sailing.

I'll do a review once we get back. I tend to take a lot of pictures with my Nikon DSLR so I'll post the best of them then. But I don't do food porn and rarely take pictures of the inside of the ship. We all pretty much know what they look like anyway. I leave those photos to the others. For me - the interest is in the places we visit and the excursions we go on. We have 3 ship tour's booked. First is Wismar & Schwerin Castle. Then in Stockholm we are doing the Vassa, Gamla Stan, & Swedish History Museum and finally in Gothenberg we have the City Orientation and Canal Cruise. For the other ports, we will just do DIY walking tours (at least that's the plan). For Kiel, we want to take the train to Lubeck and DIY there (not much in Kiel).

We'll be right there with you. We leave on Saturday from San Diego. Did Fly2Fun so Carnival will help making sure we get to the ship on time. The only real bummer so far is we leave from San Diego at 0615, land at LAX and then have an 8 hour layover before we board Virgin Atlantic at @ 3:40pm for the flight to Heathrow arriving about 10am on Sunday there. Then hoping all of our luggage arrives and we board a Carnival transfer to take us to Dover. I think next time, I will follow my sisters lead and rent a one way car, drive to LAX and then drop off the car. That's what she's been doing the last couple of overseas trips. Like to cut that dead time down to about 4 hours at LAX. I saw on our roll call there might be a meetup at Red Frog @ 4pm but I think it might be one arranged by "that" social media group. But I'd still like to say hi. I'm 67, 6'3" and 300# and whats left of what used to be dark red hair (now sand colored my wife says). Hope to see you on board. I don't do wifi on board so can't communicate that way. Will probably take my tablet ashore and look for wifi off the ship and try to catch up that way.

Assuming they are liter bottles (assuming ...), that's about 22.5 shots at $6 each. If you like liberal pours, then you could be looking at 11-15 shots at $10-12 each (give or take). Math is on the Tito's bottle, not the Grey Goose.

Personally - I'm glad Carnival (and most others) don't allow us to bring alcohol on board (save for 2 bottles of wine - 1 per adult). I'd even be okay if they restricted soda as well. I have no problem going a week or two with out a constant stream of soda. I do just fine with the free lemonade and iced tea they provide. Carnival is going to make a profit, regardless of the revenue stream they get it from. So when they prohibit bringing booze on board, the heavy drinkers boost Carnival's revenue at the bar (a lot). That keeps my cruise fare cheaper - so thank you heavy drinkers. I'll still enjoy a couple of drinks each day, but I don't need 10-20 drinks a day to have a great cruise. I also appreciate all the heavy gamblers too. Over time, THE HOUSE (or ship) ALWAYS WINS.

Curious thought. If you did bring on a fancy bottle of whisky in either carry on or checked luggage purposely (like the OP wants as a post cruise gift). If they did catch it, would they just hold it for you until the last night of the cruise like in-port purchases or tell you it was going to be tossed?

You could buy it in the ships store as previously mentioned or you could even buy it at a port stop. The ship will hold either for you securely and then deliver it to your cabin on the last night.

Personally - we've done CHEERS on a 10 day Alaska cruise and we now know we are just not CHEERS people. We can still get drinks whenever we want. Take 2 bottles of "our choice" wine on the ship with us and that covers us for 4 dinners. If we spent $600 on drinks (on the ship) between the 2 of us on a typical 7-10 day cruise, that would be a surprise to us. Fancy Dinners. We've done fancy dinners before, but to be honest, put a big bowl of mac & cheese and some fall off the bones ribs and I'm a happy camper. We do excursions when they interest us. Bottom Line - if it was a cruise we'd done before. I'd save the $1600 and go on another cruise! We live in San Diego, and even then - a day on a cruise ship is still better.

Could have been a premonition - Just got new Rubio's Coastal Grill coupons in the mail today including a BOGO entree one that is worth about $13 to us. Rubio's started the fish taco craze in San Diego many many years ago so we've been fans of their food for a long time. My niece normally gets the same coupon and has a fish allergy so we'll get her coupons as well.

My brother-in-law (a retired landscaper) does the exact same thing with the Jacaranda he has growing in his front yard in San Diego. Although he does keep a few small thin young shoots each time so it's not completely bare. He's in his early 80's now and still trims his trees every year. He also has a couple of Chinese Elm trees. One in the front yard with the jacaranda and another in the backyard.

That's generally true if you are just taking basic shots and looking at them on your phone or a computer. But if you want to someday print a larger picture (11x14 +) to hang on a wall then you will really notice the difference between a smartphone with a digital zoom and a DSLR with a long zoom. Pictures I took of the Sawyer Glacier calving, a harbor seal and her pup on an iceberg or an eagle in her nest at the top of a tall tree just can't be done with a smartphone. You'll notice that the photogs on your ship are not taking portraits using a smartphone, just like wedding photographers don't use smart phones either. But for casual pictures, I will use my smartphone a lot.

When I retired from the Navy after 24 years (in 1998), my wife started talking about going on a cruise. I told her I had been on lots of cruises (in the Navy) and they really weren't a lot of fun. Yeah, that didn't go over too well. So in 1999, we took our first cruise "together" on the Celebrity Mercury (7 day Western Caribbean) and we've been cruising ever since. Nothing better in the world than sunrise out on deck at sea.

Agree - we've been on Spirit twice, Miracle last June for a 10 day Alaska, and we will be on Pride in July for a 12 day Baltic. Also did a 10 day Med on Brilliance of the Seas. Perfect sized ships.

The ocean is a harsh mistress. Even more so with the need to use more environmentally friendly hull coatings.

My wife likes to go to the salad bar area (for lunch) and make a salad in a bowl - then head over to the deli to get several scoops of tuna on top. Usually by the second day, the deli servers are already waiting for her. She does one lunch at Guys, and then the rest doing the tuna salad deal. On ships that have the Salad Creations in the Serenity Area, she'll get her salad there and then take it down to the deli for her tuna. Of course - her kryptonite is the chocolate chip cookies.

Looks like you had pretty good weather for the day with mostly clear skies. Made for some great pictures.

I always get a double order of the soup and they bring it in a big bowl. My favorite Carnival soup.

San Diego Zoo is still fantastic. But it has gotten pretty pricey. Kinda an all inclusive event now with the guided tour bus included as part of it. They have also added a hop-on/hop-off bus as well (also included). And of course - the sky ride as well. The "marketing" millennials changed the name of the equally fantastic Wild Animal Park up in Escondido to the "San Diego Zoo Safari Park". Dumb move in my opinion. It will always be the "Wild Animal Park" for us. We've been very long time members of the zoo - I can even remember the free summertime evening concerts at the Wild Animal Park back in the 80's. Saw many a great concert there at the Mahala Amphitheater. Fun fact - the plant collection at the San Diego Zoo is actually WORTH MORE $$$ than the animal collection. They have many, many endangered plant species there besides the animal collection. Learned that many years ago when doing a behind the scenes tour of the zoo. Got to see many unique experiences like the food warehouses and even went into the elephants bedroom. But back to the op's fantastic live report.

Skipping the waterfall should not be a problem (but just my opinion). I know there are sometimes when that part is not available if the water flow is too low. Fall is hurricane season (typically July through late October) on the west coast of Mexico just like it is in the Caribbean so be prepared for that. Generally speaking - the storms develop down around Acapulco and then work northward. Early in the season, they mostly tend to head northwest in the direction of Hawaii, but around early September - the pattern changes and they start hugging the coast more and eventually turn east into Mexico. Landfall can occur anywhere generally from Manzanillo, Mexico to as far north as mid Baja California. Nothing to be afraid of - just something to be aware of. It will be hot and humid (and rainy at times) in the fall. I would have no qualms sailing that route and have done so in the past. Just understand the potential for port calls to get canceled and/or restructured. We will be at our timeshare in Cabo for 2 weeks beginning the last week of October. This is a great site to keep track of the weather as you get closer to your cruise. http://www.eebmike.com/