Island Crazed

On 3/17/2021 at 11:30 PM, tallyho8 said:

WDW is/was my favorite place to go. We went on Friday, December 11, 2020 and there was a very small crowd in the morning but it grew in the afternoon. We were able to go on quite a few attractions with hardly no wait but there was always a wait to get anything to eat because you needed a reservation and the reservations were usually all booked up by 7 AM. You could wait at a take out line but when they brought the food to you, you could not eat there, you had to take your food and go looking around for some place to sit and eat. Seats were fairly scarce.

 

We went back Thursday, February 23, 2021, figuring that they would still not be crowded in the morning. WRONG! They were packed. Lines for any attraction were at least an hour wait going to 2 hours wait around noon. Food was almost impossible to get as you needed reservations to go in any place that sold food and all reservations were sold out before we got there when they opened. Since food places only were sitting at 25% occupancy you had to find a place somewhere else to sit and eat if you waited in the to-go line. By the time we found a place to sit the food was cold and we were tired. We only got to go to 2 attractions that day and they were not the top ones on our list. everything is vey slow because they are only letting about 25% to 33% of the seats on the rides to be occupied.

 

You could not pay me enough to try to go there during spring break while all of the restrictions are still in place. $120 entry per person per day for a ride on one attraction of your choice, no way.

We were at MK when the announced closing broke (3/12/20).  We returned 9/11-21/20 and it was hot in masks but lines were not too bad except some popular rides.  They were still running most rides per family/group. 

In December 1-5 they had added more plex/vinyl dividers and were filling up rides better - faster lines.

Feb 1-9 the lines moved real fast.  At Hollywood Studio on a Sunday,  we rode EVERY ride except Slinky-dog BEFORE lunch. 0, 5 and 10 min waits).  I hope fast passes NEVER return.

Spring break is always busy and with people feeling better about travel, cruises canceled, and reduced numbers allowed in the parks, space is limited.  Over half the Disney hotels and 33+% of the restaurants are not open.  And most live performances haven't returned.  Historically we never visit Disney peak holiday weeks. (President's Day week is BAD, Spring break especially the week before and after Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas-New Years.)

We would NEVER pay $120 per park.  We book 5+ days for the lower price point or we have Annual Passes.  Masks were mostly a nice addition in colder weather in Dec and Feb.

We have 3 cruises booked.  A Disney we booked before C19 for 9/2021, A CC we booked for mid Nov '21 and a NCL for next summer '22.  I am fully aware the NCL may be the only one we do as currently scheduled.  But DCL is still offering a 125% future credit if you are paid in full when it is canceled.  

Pretty New Normal.  Most everything is open.  Many schools have been in person since August. Some had choice of virtual or f2f.  Some waited two weeks past New Year to reopen for Holiday exposure.  Daughter's High School won the State One-Act Competition two Saturday's ago in an auditorium with social distancing but no masks on stage (She is the TEACHER - had C19 last September and missed 4 weeks of school). 

Masks are common in metro Atlanta but not as much in rural areas.  Camped at a state park last week and saw almost NO masks. Most people I know who have had C19 got it from teens or college students - either from family members or they work in that environment.  Took my 84 yr-old mother and her 92 year old sister for their first shot this morning - easy-peezy.  Overall optimistic.

1 hour ago, evandbob said:

As of Feb. 20, 2021, Florida has had 30,000 deaths due to COVID, or 1% of its 30 MIL population.

 

There have been over 4 MIL COVID vaccinations administered.

 

Positivity rates have dropped to 6.82% from double digits.

 

So good and bad news.......

Pop of FL is 22 Mil and 30,000 of 22M is 0.13%.  1% of 22M is 220,000 people

Nice review. So, what was that dessert you and your husband shared?

I think they called it Chocolate dulce leche. I liked the meringue cap on top.

Enjoying the photos.

Thank you. Only what I took with my phone. Fewest pictures I’ve ever taken on a cruise. For the past three I made huge photo books. Not this time LOL.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Island Crazed,

Thanks for the review. When you were checking in did they give you your S&S card or was it in your cabin?

We will be on the Fantasy in 142 days. Can't wait.

 

Thanks!

 

Sent from my LGMP450 using Forums mobile app

You get them at check in. They use them to let you onto the ship. Enjoy! We really liked how close Mobile is and may do this again - in warmer weather. [emoji51]

Sent from my iPad using Forums

So that’s it. Interesting outcome. DD#3 and her husband did a Disney Cruise for their honeymoon. Her 3rd DCL Cruise. His only cruise. They had a nice veranda cabin. And he said to me the second day that he now sees that an inside cabin is fine to cruise more often. And LOL he was looking at CCL cruises for late March that are a short drive from their home!!🤣

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Final note.... my son in law dropped DD#4 at the house and took our DD#1 to urgent-care where she tested positive for the flu! [emoji40]

Sunday my BiL fell victim

Monday the 1-year old not only had the flu but a double ear infection

Tuesday my 80 year old mother tested positive for the flu

Today - Thursday, my husband fell victim.

Was it from the ship? All of these victims live in different houses and the other members of their household haven’t gotten sick (yet anyway)....??????? And none of them went anywhere like school or work prior to getting sick. [emoji848]

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We headed to dinner. They had given us two 8-person tables next to each other and a high chair on the end of one. We mixed up who sat where each night. We had the same service staff.

I really liked these fried shrimp.

DD#3 - the one who was ill earlier in the day tried to stop me from taking a picture of her escargot.

We went to the Family Face Off game in The Cat’s Lounge.

Then we went to the family friendly comedy show with Kim Harrison. We all agreed that she was hysterical. Some headed to bed. And some headed to the Casino.

LAST MORNING

5 people carried off their luggage and got a head start in the morning. The rest took it very easy. Some headed to the main dining room for a quiet breakfast and some went to the Lido. 5 had a #2 and the rest of us had a #17.!!!!! We found plenty of comfortable seating in the bar area outside the comedy club and basically were about the last folks off the boat. Very low stress. We got home about an hour after the ones who walked off with their luggage!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

DAY 4 - Sea Day.

6:30AM my youngest (DD#4) woke me to say my DD#3 had a migraine. Short story I believed she had motion sickness and was dehydrated. She threw up the medicine I gave her. Pause....

While the Carnival Hub App said it was going to be a sunny warm day, it was not. I dressed for the pool and went for breakfast. The ship was rocking and it started raining hard.

I made the decision to take DD#3 to the medical center after talking to a very nice Head Nurse on the phone. We were there less than an hour and $78 later she received a shot for the motion sickness and was fine. I put her to bed as they said it would make her sleepy. ( A few hours later she ordered 2 lunches from RS and was fine).

My family won a Ship on a Stick (our 2nd) with a perfect trivia score for Big Bang Theory as I caught up with them and followed it with a 3rd SoaS with a 22/23 score for Harry Potter. My oldest niece could probably complete against anyone. She’s read the books nearly 10 times apiece and went to grad school in London (Guildhall School of Music and Drama)

I headed out to the pool as it looked like the sun was peaking out.

It was very windy. I tried for 30 minuets.

But I finally, sadly, gave up.

We played a round of Travail Pursuit. The ship was very crowded as there were not enough activities for everyone with the weather so poor.

I did use the extra time to pack earlier in the day. Which made it the easiest pack up in 5 cruises.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

DAY 3 Cozumel part 2

We made our way back to the ship and watched the sail away. We left 30 minutes later than posted.

We went to dinner and hung out in the Cat’s Lounge. Then we went to the Lido and played some games we’d brought.

They gave me a steak knife, thank goodness, toughest lobster ever! Not worth the $20 up-charge. I’ve had lobster on ships when it was on the regular menu that were way better than this. Very disappointed. Didn’t expect it to be like I’d get in Portland, but this was not what you’d expect from the steakhouse!

This is how I do mine - double ice cream and a little Mickey.

My husband ordered the apple pie and we ordered this to share not knowing really what it was. I actually liked it a lot.

The forecast for Friday was sunny and 78°. The boat was really rocking as we headed north.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

DAY 3 Cozumel

As I mentioned above, we docked early. We watched theRCCL Harmony of the Sea pull in beside us. We’d ordered room service breakfast to save time and watched The Today Show which broadcast 2 or 3 commercials for HotS LOL.

We were ready to leave the ship as soon as it was announced that we could. My husband, youngest daughter, oldest daughter and her husband and my brother were in our group. The rest were just going to shop and eat in walking distance of the ship. We wound our way through the maze of stores to get to the taxis. We were quickly on one headed for Paradise Beach ($5 pp for taxi each way) $3 to get into PB. We didn’t want the play pass. We were early so we got great chairs and umbrellas and it only seemed full after few hours. We headed to the water a few at a time. I felt our stuff was pretty safe. As it turned out one of the 6 of us was always with our chairs. The water was a tad cool but not too much so. I swam and floated around. We were in the water close to an hour.

After sunning awhile we ordered lunch.

My brother and I went over to the pool for awhile. There were chairs in the water open. We went back to the beach and dozed. We headed back to the port about 1:00. My brother and youngest headed back to the ship. The rest of us shopped.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hmmmm..... we were on the cruise the week before 12-21 to 12-26 and Mickey was our cruise director. He was not out an about the last morning and several announcements were made saying he was sick.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We had JAMES - my daughter did a tad of investigative work and figured he was a sub based on his social media.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Was it warm enough to swim in Cozumel? We will be there over Christmas week next year and I'm trying to decide on a excursion or if we should just wing it. I know my kids won't want to get in the water if it is chilly, in that case we'd be better off with a tour-type excursion.

Sorry I have not answered. Was thinking I’d do it in my Cozumel Day report. The water was warm enough to swim. We are from near Atlanta and tend to be sissies when it comes to water temps. My thought is that it was warmer than my three spring break cruises in April. 1 was Eastern and 2 were Western. Thinking the temps haven’t yet cooled through the Jan-Feb months as temps continue to be cool. If the air temp is warm, 80s, I think it’s fine. We went to Paradise Beach. The ocean was cool but not overly and the pool was warmer. Again, we don’t like cool water. Kids were swimming on the ship when the air temp was high 50s. [emoji15]

Mother and her 6 granddaughters.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Day 2 Sea Day

First issue. The Hub App said the high would be 54°. So I dressed for the day only to discover this was completely wrong. At 8 o’clock it was already in the 60s headed to the high 70s. We found the weather part of the Carnival HUB app to be wrong most of the time. I was annoyed because I had spent time on my “hair and make-up” thinking that I would be indoors all day. We were able to get a good spot outside. The family that wanted shade found shade the family that wanted sun found sun.

We went inside and played some of the games and learned our way around the ship. Naps were had and overall it was a good day.

It was the most dressy night and we got ready early to do pictures.

Dinner was good and the “Motown Show” was very enjoyable. We’re not a typical family I don’t think when it comes to entertainment. Within our 16 adults are 5 theatre degrees, 1 art degree and 10 music degrees. ( several have 2 or even 3) (All are employed in the area of their education) Some of them are hard to please. 🤪 I thought it was entertaining.

They made a announcement at dinner that there was a medical emergency and they requested type A+ blood donors. One nephew-in-law went down but they change their mind about the donations. Instead it was announced that we would increase speed and dock in Cozumel before 5 AM. Needless to say-it was a very rocky night.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Oh. Here are some pictures from that first day.

Ok. I like Caesar salad. Had did every night.

Chicken Appetizer very disappointed

Husband’s beef entrée forget which one

Steakhouse fillet very disappointed

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We drove down from the Atlanta area. We left a tad after 6:00 AM and arrived in Mobile before 10:00 Central time. We had to kill 45 mins as they were still emptying the ship. It was cool and overcast but not freezing.

We got parked and checked bags without issue. We checked in fairly easily too. We walked right on and headed to the Lido where we met up with all 17 members of our family. This was a family trip that was my mother's idea. We began planning abut 18 months ago. She wanted everyone to go somewhere together and this worked out best. The Group was - My mother celebrating her 80th Bday. We lost my father in Feb. of 2014. We included myself and husband and 4 daughters, two of which are married; my sister and her husband and two married daughters and one grandchild and my brother. We all got to eat what we wanted and wait for our rooms to be ready. OH - my oldest is a vegan and a niece and her husband are vegetarians. My daughter always looked at the menu for the next day and worked our a vegan meal. The other two were able to order off the menu.

Our rooms were very close to one another. All were very good.

Sail away was breezy and cold.

Most people were dressed in"winter" clothes. Dinner was typical. - Not was good as my two past CCL cruises.

The welcome aboard "show" was so so. (LOVED the shows on The Legend back in 2011!!)

Mikey was not our CD. I think we may have had a sub due to Christmas week.

I have to say that I liked The Legend and The Freedom much better overall.

Crew was the best - Cabin Stewart learned all 17 of our names as well as head server. Never had anyone better than these two.

Boat is a little worse for wear. Oldest CCL ship still in use. Liked the atrium a lot. Pool area seemed smaller. Loved Guys and Cantina.

Holiday so it was run over with kids - as you’d expect it to be.

Odd table of 4 unsupervised children probably 7-10 years old right behind us. Very loud. No parents in sight at dinner. They were seated somewhere else. Very happy when they didn’t show the last night.

Winter weather - Tues. cool. Wed. Nice enough to sun. Thurs. on Cozumel was very nice. Sun is very low as it was/is so close to winter solstice. Friday was overcast and rained in the A.M. Too cool and windy to be outside.

More to come.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Following - Our nephew is Director of Special Effects for Blizzard (WOW). Works at the Blizzard campus in Irvine, CA.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Do carnival hire people to watch whose giving a drink to their kid. I’m picturing myself getting a frozen drink and walking to the pool area and as I hand over the drink to my daughter, someone is tapping me on my shoulder. [emoji848]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

LOL Friday night I saw a server bring a Miami Vice to a lady. She signed for it and then passed it to her about 8 year old son! It didn’t appear to be “virgin”, looked just like any MV. I’m sure my mouth dropped open for a second.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

This was our first “winter” cruise.

Our first from Mobile, AL

Our first with extended family - 17 members - 4 generations (80-1) 6 married couples, 4 singles and a 1-year old.

First time we left Home on embarkation day and drove to port.

And the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet!

At midnight of the night before the cruise (Christmas night) while we all tried to get a good night’s sleep, our power went out. Stayed off all night. Got ready in the cold and dark. Came back on about noon while we were boarding the ship.

We got to Mobile without any complications. Arrived at the port a little before 11 and had to get in line. Next time I would shoot for more like 10:40. We had a 11:00 checkin time didn’t seem to matter.

The parking and check in process was no different than you expect being that we got there with a big rush. We were able to walk right on board after checking in and headed up to Guys burgers for lunch. The buffet area was not very crowded as it was about noon. It was very chilly and breezy at the Sail-away most people were dressed in “winter clothing” even at dinner.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

joining

28 Days - 4 weeks tomorrow! Hard to wrap my brain around it with so much to do between now and then.

12/26 -12/30. Fantasy

War Eagle here too. (Look Up Auburn Christmas Lights - Georgia - that's us!)

We are sailing on her later this year.

We got 11:00 boarding. Will we be able to get there with parking traffic?