chocolate melting cake

Don't feel badly! On our 2015 cruise a wonderful "artist" had carved this beautiful melon sculpture for Halloween. He stood proudly by his work accepting compliments----I just didn't have the heart to tell him he had misspelled Halloween!

This picture was posted on another MSC chat area, showing a ship under construction. Any idea of which ship this is? Also----I hope there will be water involved, one suggestion was that it's a "shortcut" to the pizza restaurant for those people too imparient to take the stairs or elevator/lift!

Any of you who get the Smithsonian channel might check out "Mighty Cruise Ships" at 9:00 EST tonight. They will have a one hour show on the MSC Meraviglia.

No review, but here is an album of pictures of our May 2 Miracle Alaskan cruise. If you skip/ignore the personnel pix it will give you an idea of what the cruise and ship were like for us. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions. Just click on the link--if you want to see any picture larger click on it. ALASKAN CRUISE

Some people claim this never happens---it has happened to us (unlucky?) 3 times. Barbados, flat tire on the bus--no spare! Panama, huge traffic jam, bus arrived 1 hour after ship due to depart. Freeport, boat from Dolphin Encounter pulled in 45 minutes after departure time! In all three cases we were on Carnival tours, the tour directors were in touch with the ship and we boarded with no problems. It was worth every cent of the extra charge!!

We were lucky enough to be aboard the Spirit on her first Transpacific voyage to Australia in 2012. The excitement was high in Sydney as the largest cruise ship to dock there approached. News helicopters buzzed overhead as we all waved the Australian flags that had been handed out. Ships blew their horns and a fireboat sent streams into the air. We were greeted by a huge banner "WELCOME CARNIVAL SPIRIT RESERVED PARKING". If interested you could check our cruise "album"-feel free to skip up to #366, or check out the whole "what I did on my vacation" album! Just click on 2012 AUSTRALIAN CRUISE below-----to see a picture larger click on it. 2012 AUSTRALIAN CRUISE

We'll be debarking the Radiance in Feb., staying overnight and embarking the Panorama the following day. We therefore need an overnight hotel. We booked a nice one in LA before the Radiance for about $150. All we've seen in Long Beach are around $300. Does anyone know of any hotel not too far (1-2 miles) from the port at a $150 price-or close to it? I won't even hope for a shuttle to/from the port area! Thanks,

Unless things have changed (we've taken two grandchildren who required K meals) they will only get K meals at dinner. Meet with the Maitre D when you/they board to inform him/her that the menu should be shown at that point. The meals will be ready by dinner. Breakfast and lunch at the buffets will be a matter of choosing from the normal choices (expect them to have a lot of salad). If they won't use the dishes or silverware at the buffet they'd better bring some to use. Any specific question? You could IM me if you'd like. If you'll be out Fri./Sat. NO REAL CANDLES we brought electric--and bring either wine or grape juice.

Feb. 2023 we'll need an overnight in Long Beach going from one cruise ship to another the next day. I see the Queen Mary is closed---and the Maya Hotel states fully booked. Is there another hotel in the area which would provide transportation to/from the cruise dock? Thanks