chrislaurn

Thanks all!

8 minutes ago, pe4all said:

For us it usually turns up around 3 days after cruise ends.

Thank you!

I'm supposed to be turning platinum on my next cruise.  I hope!  It's a 7 day cruise and I should be 7 days until platinum after my most recent cruise is posted.  How long does it normally take before it shows up there?  Thanks!

I will have my 75th day on debarkation day on my cruise at the end of May.  Assuming the rules don't change between now and then (and with my luck they absolutely will) will I be Platinum for the whole cruise even though day 75 is the last day?

Sorry you had a bad experience with traffic in Mobile.  The terminal is located near the start of the downtown parades.  Next time, consider staying downtown in one of the hotels.  There are some great and historic hotels downtown all within walking distance of restaurants and entertainment.  If you're looking to save a little money, staying across Mobile Bay is also an option.  Spanish Fort has several hotels that are newer and the pricing would be comparable to the hotels by the airport.  It's an easy 15-20 minute ride to the port from there.  

3 hours ago, Momma1980 said:

Just to clarify, you can order TWO starters and TWO sides at steakhouse? I thought it was just one of each per person. 
Thanks 😊 

Yes.  That’s what we were told and what we ordered.  It was one of each at the Italian restaurant.  

11 minutes ago, maxandmolly said:

Did you spend any time in Serenity?  I’m curious how it compares to the Legend and Fantasy class ships. 

No.  We tried on the last sea day and every single shaded area was full.  It’s quite big.   Two hot tubs. Clam shell loungers and hammocks.  I think I read where we had over 1000 kids on this cruise.  I imagine it was packed with exhausted parents.  

2 minutes ago, Laplayaperson said:

Anyone got a menu??  

Sorry I did not. 

Sometimes I think Carnival has completely lost control of its email system.  The day before we sailed I got approximately 37 emails telling me to download VeriFly which had already issued all our sail passes.  

The Ugly:

No one likes getting off a ship.  No family of four with 7 pieces of luggage to carry off likes to debark.  There are things you expect.  Like it's going to be hard to get an elevator.  We know this.  The forward elevators are especially difficult because they are closest to the atrium where the gangway is.  This we expect.  We also knew that this is the first cruise were we have ever arrived back at port after we woke up.  We were at least an hour late getting in.  Nothing to be done about that.  Roll with it.

The boys carried their luggage down stairs to the third floor lounge where suite, diamond and platinum were directed to wait.  I was being stubborn and waited for an elevator.  When I finally got downstairs it was a madhouse.  People were just waiting in the stairways and landings with their luggage.  It was almost two hours before we could get off the ship.  We were seated in a nice lounge and were fine.  Other people were not so lucky.  People were standing around waiting and were getting progressively angrier.  One *ahem* gentleman *ahem* had apparently reached his limit.  As we say in the south, he showed his butt and started chewing out the cruise director.  Dude.  We're all in the same boat.  Literally and figuratively.  We all need to get off the ship and we all will.  Eventually.  We did the early self-assist debarkation and were the second ones off the ship after diamond and platinum and we were headed out of the port at 9:45.  I know at least one family that missed their flight home.  At 11:30 there were people still waiting to get off the ship.  I'd imagine the embarkation for the next sailing was significantly delayed.  

The Good:

The facial recognition software at the port was outstanding.  If you have a passport, you just walk up to the camera, it takes your picture and greenlights you.  Then you go.  That's it.  That is going through customs.  From the time they "binged" us off the ship on the gangway to loading luggage in our car was 15 minutes.  Some of our family members were travelling with birth certificates and the process took them 20 minutes longer.  When I was reading about this before the cruise, I was wondering how they handled customs declarations.  Now, when you purchase something in the duty free shops in port, they note your folio number.  I guess they keep track of (at least some) of what you are buying that way.  

All in all, we had a fantastic time and did not want to leave.  This was our first 6 day cruise and lawd, I wanted one more sea day.  I want to give HMC another shot and hope to get back there some day.  We've got our next one booked for May of 2023 and its an 8 day. (Gotta get that day back, you know?) I'm already counting down the days and thinking we just might book a Christmas cruise as well.  

If there's anyone out there reading, thanks for following along.  I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.  Or at least I'll try.  Until then . . .

Amber Cove:

This was actually our third time there.  The first two times we did the Damajagua Falls excursion.  It is beyond amazing.  We would definitely recommend it.  However, it is a fairly athletic excursion so its a workout.  We opted to try something new and did the Deluxe Catamaran Sail & Snorkel Adventure with Freestyle.  Captain Mickey, Scooby the bar tender and the rest of the crew went above and beyond to make sure we had a good time.  We were delayed in our start because 12 people never showed up.  While it was annoying to wait, it was nice to have fewer people on the boat.  Its a 20 minute ride - in Dominican time (read: 30 minutes) - to the beach.  From there its about a quarter mile walk to where the boat is beached.  It was a beautiful catamaran and you just waded out and climbed up the stairs to get on.  The weather was getting progressively darker as we got closer to the boat.  By the time we were on our way to the snorkel spot, it was raining and the water was rolling pretty good.  Definitely some white caps.  Fortunately, our family has all grown up around boats and water, so we were fine.  Others on the boat had a harder time.  I was beginning to wonder how we were gong to snorkel with water that rough.  Then the skies cleared and we had a beautiful day on the water.  The snorkeling was good.  The reef was dead, but they feed the fish so the fish were waiting there and abundant.  We were in the water for a solid hour then returned to the boat and had a surprising good lunch.  Drinks were flowing and a good time was had.  

The DR is a beautiful island.  The mountain ranges as your sailing in and out are really gorgeous.  It's always so sad to sail away from the last port on a cruise.      

We ditched the kids and the grown-ups ate at Cuchina Del Captitano that night.  The food and the service were both a solid meh.  Nothing special but for $15 pp, I wasn't complaining.  There you get one appetizer, one entrée, one side and dessert.  I think that was the quickest meal that we had on the ship.  It seems like now if your ordering a drink at dinner, for the most part, you get the one drink.  Your waiter has to do it now and they just don't have time to run drinks.  I actually miss the sommelier/wine steward days.  Again, I'm dating myself.  Remember when they wore those metal sifter things around their necks and you could get one if you went to the wine tasting class?  No?  Just me.

Last Sea Day:

It's always a mellow day where I spend the first half of it daunted by the fact that I have to pack up all our (now dirty) stuff yet again.  Then I pack it and then its just a long wind down to getting off the ship.  Entertainment is always lacking that night.  They don't want you to be too tired to get up early and get the heck off the boat.  They did have a 90s Trivia Deck Party that night and they debuted the 88 Keys Show.  The Deck party was a lot of fun.  Truly, Simon goes all-in.  He was great.  After that we just went to bed.  That was some rough going on the way back in.  We had to open our closet doors because they were banging around so much.  Didn't bother me, but woke me up.  It felt like we were hauling butt and definitely felt like the fastest we'd travelled the entire time.  I learned the next morning that the ship had to turn back and assist in the rescue of a stranded vessel.  This lead to us getting into port late for debarkation.

Next up:  The Ugly

Grand Turk:  

This is actually one of my favorite islands.  I love that you can walk right off the ship down the pier and onto the beach.  If you've never been the white loungers are free.  This was the first time that I was there when there were two ships in port.  We were the second ship in and by the time we got to the beach, all the free loungers were taken.  An enterprising individual tried VERY hard to get us to go a little further down the beach (like 50 feet) and rent two loungers and an umbrella for $35.  I politely declined and then he dropped the price "just for me" to $30.  I again declined and eventually he gave up.  We set our towels in the sand like total savages and hit the water.  A few things about the beach.  First, the water is gorgeous.  It is also excellent for snorkeling.  Bring your own gear and just wade out.  We saw so many beautiful colorful fish.  There's a sunken cannon and a treasure chest.  It is better than some paid excursions I have been on.  Next:  Bring water shoes.  The beach is sandy but the water is very, very rocky.  

My husband and oldest had booked a dive excursion for this stop.  I understand the diving there is fantastic.  I will never have first hand knowledge of this.  Unfortunately, about two weeks before the cruise Carnival cancelled the excursion.  They ended up booking directly with Grand Turk Diving Company.  Jamal was their dive master and he did a great job.  They dove the amphitheater and the wall.  It's always a little nerve wracking making sure you get back to the ship in time when you're not on a Carnival excursion.  They made it back in plenty of time and thoroughly enjoyed their trip.

We got the Flow Rider ticket for my son and nephew.  There is a Margaritaville at the port and that's where the Flow Rider is.  They had a blast.  They were in a group of about 10 people and had great instruction and ride time.  By the end, they were both doing really well.  Margaritaville also had a pool and pool loungers that are free to use.  We ate lunch there and my son said his BOB burger was delicious.  Word of caution.  The pool party area gets pretty wild later in the day.  We learned, for instance, that what happens in Kentucky, does not in fact stay in Kentucky.  And we saw all of it.   Also, it is possible to hear the phrase "Oh Ship" too many times.  Remember when I said I enjoy people watching?  This place has it all.  There were a few people who required assistance getting back on the ship.  Party on people!  At my age, I would still be trying to recover.  

It's an easy walk down the pier to get back on the ship.  That night we had reservations at the Steak House and we took the boys for the first time.  This trip was a rebook of a cancelled COVID cruise and we had so much OBC we were trying to spend it wherever we could.  The service in the steakhouse was great.  You are limited to 2 appetizers, two sides, one entrée and one dessert.  The boys were excited to try the Waygu, sadly there was none of the ship.  They ended up with the cowboy ribeye and the surf and turf.  The eating capacity of teenage boys is awe inspiring.  Every piece of meat was gone.  The food was as expected and a really good value for the price.  Afterwards, we sat in the bar for a bit before turning in.  

Amber Cove next.

We had that, but it would not approve a test with a date outside of the three days.  You're not able to actually enter it.  If I remember correctly, when you go to enter the date, it gives you a drop down menu with the earliest date being the one three days out.  Does that make sense?

7 hours ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

Hi! I was on the same cruise as you. From what I was told, the main problem with the tenders to HMC was because someone passed away while being taken to the island. Which caused them to have to stop the shuttle service for quite a long time and caused a huge backup. (We were in Group 53, btw.)

I did hear about that.  So sad for his family.  But it doesn't account for the long waits going back to the ship as well.  I've done many tender ports and never had an issues like this.  And I agree completely, we definitely had some bad luck on this ship.  

Half Moon Cay:

So honesty time here.  We had never been to HMC and were looking forward to it.  I have read for years about how beautiful it is.  Here's the problem.  That stop is completely ill-suited to a ship the size of the Magic.  If you did not know, this is a "water shuttle" port.  (They don't call them tenders anymore.)  The problem is there must not be enough of them.  We didn't use the suite priority because we wanted to go ashore with our family and all try to sit in the same area.   We had pre-rented clamshells and wanted to stay together.  We got down there to get our tickets and were given groups 51 and 52.  And those were not the highest numbers given out.  We waited in the lounge (I think) for our number to be called.  It took FOREVER.  People were definitely unhappy.  I think there were only four shuttles.  We probably lost two hours on the island because of how long it took just to get there.  Also, you have to wear a mask when you board the shuttle and on the shuttle.  People were generally compliant.  It would be miserable in the summer months for sure.  You'd think we'd all be used to it by now. 

When we finally made it there, we had to take a shuttle (or so we were told) to the remaining available clamshells.   We totally could have walked in less time than it took to wait for the shuttle.  I will say this, that beach is stunning.  Truly.  The water is crystal clear and the sand is soft and clean.  As I said in the beginning, my husband and oldest are scuba divers.  We all like to snorkel, so we brought our gear out there with us.  There was nothing to see.  The ship also provides a free BBQ lunch and they accept your Sail & Sign for purchases.  However, you cannot use your drink package on the island.  We relaxed for a few hours then headed back to the ship.  We timed it right and only had to wait about 20 minutes for a tender.  Others were not so lucky.  Some claimed to have waited more than an hour.  I believe it.   This didn't ruin the day for us, but had we known what it was going to be like (y'all . . . people were cranky), we probably would have just enjoyed a day on the ship.  I'm sure the ship is handling the water shuttle system as well as possible but I think they're just not set up for that kind of volume.

Another note about the HUB app:

If you weren't aware, you do pretty much everything on it now.  Check in for meals, view menus, see the entertainment schedule.  There is no more paper.  I like that because, again, I hate the waste.  We also used to the chat feature to keep up with the family.  It's great.  When it works.  One of the kids was never able to get on at all and we would intermittently and randomly get disconnected.  My sisters and I each got the social wifi plan and found that it was easier to communicate with each other via FB messenger so that's what we did.  The wifi worked well for the purpose that we needed it, so no complaints about that.  I used to it to check emails (it would load outlook, but not gmail), FB, Insta and Snapchat.  I was also able to use it to download a new book in my kindle app.  

If you're asking why we didn't just go to guest services and see what was wrong, we did.  When the line wasn't more than two hours long.  It stayed long for the first three days.  After that point, we just decided to deal with what we've got.  

Next Grand Turk!

11 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

Great review!  Traveling with such a large group sounds like a lot of fun.

Thanks!  It is fun.  As long as you take the attitude of "do what makes you happy."  Trying to coordinate that many people doing the same thing at the same time for a week would be a nightmare.  (At least in my family.)

Sea Day:

I think Sea Day brunch is totally underrated.  The Steak and Eggs is one of the best meals on the ship.  It used to be a small fillet mignon, but now its a different cut.  Better than a sirloin, but not as good as a fillet.  I used to think this was a well kept secret.  Well, secret's out.  We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table but that wasn't bad.  Service was again a little slow, but otherwise fine.

I am not one to lay out in the sun.  I prefer to be busy.  Otherwise, I'll just fall asleep and wake up extra crispy.  I'm too old for that.  I'm already kicking myself for not taking better care of my skin when I was younger.  That being said, I do like to be outside.  We were able to spend a little while in that pool cabana thing again and people watch.  I LOVE to people watch.  There's some seriously interesting people on cruise ships.  

I also really enjoy the trivia games.  We did the 90s music trivia, the movie theme trivia and the TV theme trivia.  And lost all of them.  We actually were in a 15 way tie (I'm completely serious) for movie theme but I flamed out on the tie breaker.  A lot of people showed up for trivia on this ship and had a good time doing it.  Stephanie was my favorite host.  Cheeky Charlie did the "Arry Potah" trivia on the last sea day and good Lord, was this woman was serious.  Or should I say Sirius? (See what I did there?) Those questions were really hard.  Do you know Madame Hooch's first name?  Me neither.  ANYWAY . . .

That was the first formal night.  I just dated myself.  The first "cruise elegant night."  We knew it would be a long wait to get all of us into the dining room.  However, this is an area that could definitely use some improvement.  The HUB app is great, but not really accurate.  For the entire hour and 10 minutes that we waited for a table, it showed that we had less than a 10 minute wait.  LIES!!!  We all dressed up, sport coats and/or ties for the men, dresses for the ladies.  I really believe the gown and tuxedo days are over.  You used to be able to rent a tux onboard, and I don't believe you can do that anymore.  But, you do you.  I really don't care what anyone else wears to eat so long as they don't pose a health risk or ruin my appetite.

My last cruise was in 2020 and the lobster tail was actually half of a tail.  Thinking we'd beat the system, most of our party ordered two lobster tails.  This time, we were served whole lobster tails.  Fear not!  Not a single delicious bite of crustacean was wasted.  In general, I found the portion sizes of the meals to be reasonable.  Not exactly generous, but reasonable.  All the food waste always makes me sad, so I would rather see people eating multiple smaller portions than wasting enormous portions.  

The wine selection wasn't fantastic, but I think that links back to supply chain issues.  We were able to find a nice Malbec, so all was right with the world.  My husband is a bourbon drinker and there was no selection of bourbon.  I only recall seeing Woodford.  (There was also virtually no bourbon to purchase on the ship or in the ports.  We got the single bottle of Maker's Mark and the only other we saw in port was Bulleit.)

We floated among the bars that night and I turned in early.  First port was Half Moon Cay and we had no idea what we were in for with that one.

Next::  HMC

Embarkation Day:

Because we had a suite we were able to check in two days before the normal check-in time (so 16 days before sailing instead of 14).  However, we could not check the boys in until the standard time.  We were able to get both rooms an arrival time of 10-10:30 am.   You better believe I was sitting with my iPad and his refresh when the clock struck midnight Eastern time on both days.  

Since we stayed so close to the Port, we left the room around 9:15 and by the time we got our luggage situated in the car, thought we lost the car keys, found the not actually lost car keys, and finally got everyone in the car, we actually left around 9:35.   In addition to our normal luggage we had two dive bags with all the dive gear.  I don't know how it all fit in the car, but it did.  Our oldest son was the grand prize winner of Luggage Jenga!  Spoiler alert!  There's no actual prize.

We arrived at the port around 9:40 and went directly to the porters to unload our bags.  The gentleman was super-friendly and we were in and out of there in 5 minutes.  Tipping is a hot topic, I know, but here's the perspective that I carried throughout the cruise. (You know, since you didn't ask.)   My family was lucky enough that we were able to work throughout the pandemic.  While we certainly had our inconveniences, we never had real issues like trying to figure out how to feed our family.  With that in mind, we were generous with our tips knowing that a lot of these folks had been out of work while the cruise industry was shut down.  Also, I think all of these people deserve not only to be paid and recognized for their hard work but respected as people as well.  They aren't exhibits for social media showings of generosity.  I cringe every time I see some elaborate social media post were some cabin steward is made to endure someone's photo opp so they can post about how generous they are.  We tip, thank and move on.  And to once again quote Mr. Gump "that's all I have to say about that."

And returning from my soap box . . .  we were able to get a spot right near the front of the ground floor of the parking garage.  There was literally no one waiting and we hit the entrance right at 10 am.  It's important to note that they give you an arrival time.  It's not a boarding time.  We asked which line we should go in because we had one suite and one interior.  They told to that we go through the suite line and that the kids come with.  As soon as you get in you are directed to a person to verify your vaccination status and COVID results.  This was so easy with VeriFly!  She asked if we had it, we said yes, scrolled through 4 cruise passes and were directed to the metal detectors.  It was literally less than two minutes.  We went through the metal detectors and then were directed to the check-in line for suite guests.  She checked in all four of us and then we were directed to wait "upstairs".  We went upstairs and waited.  They call suites first to board and started boarding at 11 am (almost on the dot).  We were probably the last suite passengers to board and were on the ship in less than 10 minutes. 

Once we boarded, we went directly to our muster station to get that out of the way.  OMG.  So easy!!!  What an improvement.  They scanned my husband's card and checked us both in.  The boys' muster was upstairs, so they checked in there.  Our muster station was in the theater.  We were directed into the theater to watch the life jacket instructions.  We waited about 5 minutes for a few others to show up and they put on the life jacket, talked for about 30 seconds and then we were off.  We went to the suite to drop off our luggage, picked up our Sail & Sign cards and then went to the Pig 'n Anchor for lunch.  Again, no one was there.  I think we had already lost our children at this point as they headed to Guys and Mongolian Wok.  After we ate we headed to the Lido and met up with the rest of the family.  We had the RU3 rate so it included drinks. 

People frequently ask "is the drink package worth it."  For me, no it's not.  Five drinks is about the break even point.  I can hit five on a sea day, but likely not on a port day.  My husband gets his money's worth.  However, it is nice to just order a drink whenever you feel like one knowing you've already spent the money.

My favorite is "Kiss on the Lips."  I'm basic.  I admit it.  A Kiss on the Lips and we were hanging out in that little cabana next to the main pool.  At 1:30 I went back down to the room to unpack our toiletries bag.  By 1:45 all of our luggage was delivered.  I unpacked us and was back on deck with another drink by 2:30 for sail away. 

This was our first cruise with Simon London as cruise director.  I didn't know anything about him, but we absolutely loved him.  He was everywhere, very friendly, funny and high energy.  The sail away party was the first of the deck parties and they were a blast throughout the week.  This group of passengers was ready to party.  I don't know if its post-COVID or Spring break, but we found the people on this ship to be an absolute blast. 

We went to the dining room for the first night at dinner.  We had Anytime Dining and 12 of the 14 of us came to dinner that night.  We all checked in together to try to be seated together.  We knew that it would take a while with such a large group and that was fine.  The dining room experience was one of the few criticisms I have of this cruise.  The food was fine and the staff was fantastic.  However, that is one of the areas in which it is most apparent that they are understaffed.  Our waiters kept apologizing for delays but they were working their tails off.  Dinner averaged 2 to 2 1/2 hours each night.  There's some nights in which our drinks didn't arrive for 30 minutes.  I really believe that they were doing the best that they could so we just tried to be patient and rolled with it.   (I understand from our FB group that other people were very unhappy with the service issues.)  We had Edsel as a waiter on our second night and requested him each night thereafter.  He was fantastic!!  He was in his 9th month working on the ship.  To work that hard for that long and still work so hard is a testament to the character of the cruise staff.  They deserved our patience.  

Entertainment:

The piano bar was closed for the first three days.  (Rumors were that the piano bar entertainer's flight got cancelled and he missed the ship.  Again, rumors.)    I have a confession.  I am an absolute show snob.  I think that most Carnival productions look like really well designed high school musicals.  And they very rarely change.  I didn't go to any this cruise but there was Flick and 88 Keys.  There was also a Country and a Rock show.  I'm hopeful that once the industry recovers, they can start adding new shows.  

Once the piano bar opened, he was very entertaining and talented.  I wish I could remember his name, but he looked like Ving Rhames (at least without my glasses on).  The piano bar is always a good time. Beats Bunnyman (I think I remember that correctly) played guitar and he was also fantastic.  There was a duo that played a variety of music and they were also very good.  The violinists are always wonderful.  So while I am a show snob, I do enjoy live entertainment!   

Entertainment for the Kids:  My oldest is extremely outgoing, my youngest, not so much.  Oldest always goes to whatever event the kids club is hosting that first night to meet people.  He met a wonderful group of friends and we saw him for probably a total of 5 hours on the ship for the rest of the cruise.  My youngest hung out with his cousin, but also met a nice new friend his age.  There was plenty for them to do.  They went to all the PG comedy shows, the deck parties, and hung out in the Red Frog Pub playing shuffle board and foosball.  Simon was also really great about interacting with the kids.  They got selfies with him and even liked him so much, they made him a little gift.  They had a fantastic time and did not want to leave.  Thanks to their various forms of social media, I am sure these kids will keep in touch for a long time to come.

Next Up:  Sea Days

A little bit about us.  We are from South Alabama and were cruising with a group of 14 family members.  My family of four includes my husband, myself and our two boys (17 and 14).  This was our 9th Carnival Cruise, but probably somewhere around my 16th overall.    We are pretty experienced family cruisers.  My husband and I had our first ever suite and were in room 7252 and the boys were across the hall in interior room 7254.  I should also mention that my husband and oldest son are both scuba divers and were planning to dive in Grand Turk.  

Pre-cruise:

Before we even left home we had to get COVID tests for all four of us.  We were all vaccinated and boosted and were able to test three days before the cruise.  I can tell you with absolute conviction that this was BY FAR the most stressful part of the entire cruise experience.  I was super paranoid that something was going to go wrong with the tests so I had a contingency plan for my contingency plan and I'm so very glad that I did.  I had booked all of us for testing at CVS.  We learned when my husband showed up for his test that they had messed up our reservations and none of us could get tested.  This is at noon on Thursday and we were leaving at 6 am on Friday.  Fortunately, our local Urgent Care was able to get us in and -- thank you sweet baby Jesus -- we all tested negative.  (And had to pay $95 per test.  Grr...  I'm looking at you CVS!!)  The rest of my family that was also traveling with us spent the day texting each other with our various negative test results.  One long day and 14 negative test results later, we were all ready to cruise!  For the first time ever, we used VeriFly.  I highly recommend that you do it.  We uploaded our info, a picture of our vaccine cards (our area doesn't do the online one), the test results and then answered the health questionnaire.  Once that info is confirmed by them, they issue you a sail pass.  Really very easy.

We drove down two days before the cruise at spent the night at the Loew's Royal Pacific at Universal. We arrived around 3:30, checked in and dropped bags and headed to the park for the evening.  Unfortunately, the park closed at 6 pm for GradBash, but we still got in for a couple of hours.  We ate that night at Vivo in City Walk.  I highly recommend it.  The squid ink pasta is amazing!!!  We went to the park the next day and got stuck in a torrential downpour.  It was a real Forrest Gump moment.  "There was tiny biting rain, big 'ole fat drops of rain, rained sideways and felt like it was raining from the ground up."    

We checked out of the Royal Pacific and drove to the Cocoa Beach area to spend the night before the cruise.   It was a little slow going because of the weather, and it took us about an hour to get to Cocoa Beach from Universal.   We ate dinner at Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar in Cocoa Beach port area.  It 's right across the water and has a great deck with views of the port.  Unfortunately, it was still raining and kind of cold, so we ate inside.  The food is decently priced with a good selection. 

We stayed at the Home2Suites Cape Canaveral Cruise Port.  It's located less than 5 minutes from the port.  It's a newer hotel and is actually connected with a Hampton Inn.  It included a free breakfast and the room was very spacious with 2 queen beds, a pullout sofa and a kitchenette.   We were able to do a load of laundry (post-deluge and Universal) and the laundry was about $2.50 per load.   There was plenty of room in our room for the four of us and each of the boys got to have their own bed.  We will definitely stay there again when/if we sail out of Port Canaveral.  I do suggest you book it early.  The rates right before the cruise were upwards of $400/night.  I think we booked it about 8 months out and paid around $225.  

This cruise was kind of snake-bitten for some people travelling by air.  That downpour that I mentioned was part of a massive storm system that had a TON of flights to Florida cancelled the day and evening before the cruise.  This cruise had a very active FB group page so we were able to keep up with other folks travel adventures.  There were a lot of people that did not make it in at all.  One lady named Beth chronicled her journey and we were all routing for her.  She got to the terminal right before the ship sailed and they would not let her on.  Beth, if you're reading this, I don't know you, but I was praying for you.  Glad you got on another cruise!

Next up Embarkation.

2 minutes ago, chrislaurn said:

38 and 35.  Why?

I’m kidding.  They’re teenagers.  

51 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

How old are these kids?

38 and 35.  Why?

We sail in a little less than two weeks.  Husband and I are in a suite with the children in an interior directly across the hall.   When I checked our boarding passes, our children are assigned to a different muster station.  We are A3 and they are A4.  Is that basically the same place or are they in a different place?  If so, is this something we can change at guest services?  Thanks!

4 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

I was able to do this successfully by taking both DH's and my S&S cards.

We did the same.  No issues.

1 hour ago, TrinaLC said:

If traveling with minor children I find it perfectly fine to have them board with the parents/suite. Not so with adult children or traveling companions.  

That's my feeling as well.  It's not like they can board without us, but I certainly won't make a fuss if it's not allowed.

Thanks!