pirate4me2

Travel day done! To appease Mom, I crawled out of bed at 3:15, even though my KatieKat tried to tell me not to. She tried all the tricks: lying on my belly purring, refusing to move, giving me the sweetest head butts and meows, then tried rolling around looking cute and meowing when all else failed. When she realized she got an early breakfast thought she abandoned her mission to lure me back to bed. After tearful goodbyes to the cat and dog, and a lecture to the husband to keep them alive, I hit the road to mom’s at 4, and we were loaded and headed southbound at 4:30. We made good time until about 6:15, when a crash near Pomaria, SC shut down the interstate and we had to do a little detour. It wasn’t bad though, and the detour took us by a Chick fil A. I could totally taste a spicy chicken biscuit with pickles, so we pulled in. That biscuit hit the spot and was fresh and PERFECT! We trucked on to Jacksonville, FL for our next stop at a tack store I discovered years ago, and reached it at 11:02. Mom and I wasted a good 45 minutes here and left with a back seat full of goodies (not really, just cheap pitchforks) and then grabbed a Blizzard from Dairy Queen for “lunch.” We didn’t want anything heavy, and the FL heat was hitting us good, so ice cream sounded like a great plan. The rest of the drive was uneventful until about 25 minutes away from the hotel, when we narrowly avoided an incident that could have been bad. We were barreling along at a good clip when a tractor trailer ahead blew a tire, and thank goodness we were in the far left lane. A huge chunk of tire landed in the middle lane, and another car hit it and pieces flew all over, and a bunch of it was stuck under his car. I felt so bad for him, and was so greatful that A) we were not in that lane and that B) none of the debris hit us! I hope that other car was not damaged too badly. We got the our hotel, Home2Suites, at 2:30. I had done contactless check in on the app so we just went up to our room and chucked our junk in there, then headed down to the lobby. We stopped at reception to pick up our shuttle pass for tomorrow morning (shuttles run at 10:45 and 11:15) and the parking pass for the car. I then called for an Uber to whisk us away to Fishlips for dinner. We walked in at 3:34, and ahhhh…I immediately felt like I was finally on vacation! We opted to sit upstairs on the deck under an umbrella, and I ordered a drink (Tropical Heat Wave I think the name was?) that had habanero bitters in it…oh my gosh y’all, it was awesome!! Sweet and spicy, and the perfect start to vaca! I sipped it as we watched Ol’ Stumpy (oh sorry, Carnival Freedom) sail out. Mom shook her head at poor Freedom and said WHY has that poor whale tail not been fixed yet…it’s a shame to Carnival, and looks awful up close. To me she looks like the forgotten stepchild of the fleet. But anyway…I know she gets fixed in a few months. Our food arrived, and dinner was a great success. Mom got the seafood roll with a salad, and the innerds of the roll were DELISH! I got blackened Mahi tacos with fries, and they were as delicious as always. We chowed down and watched the birds and port traffic, and talked to a few locals. It was nice. We Ubered back to the hotel at 4:45, and wandered the property for a few. We dangled our legs in the pool, and then walked to the “pond” out back. We got excited when we thought we saw an alligator in the water…then realized it was just a turtle. Darn it. Mom so wanted to see a gator in person. Maybe I’ll take her mini golfing where they have them sometime. 😂 We finally decided at 7 that we were done for the day. We are feeling like 2 old ladies with our early morning wake up, so we came back to the room to shower and collapse. We discovered that although the room is clean, they forgot to refill the shower gel and shampoo, but whatevs…I brought my own, I’ll be ok. Tomorrow…CRUISE DAY!!!

Thank you! Thank you!

Yes, we love Costa Maya. Our usual spot is Maya Chan, but they are closed next week, sooooo…the plan is to actually stay onboard and explore “gen-pop” areas of the ship. Lol she would too! She’s feisty and loves to see what she can get away with.

The itinerary for next week. I’m excited to see Ocean Cay, and to spend 2 whole days there!

My coworker just had the guts to tell me I need to quit cruising....um, lady, have you lost your mind? Do you want to see me go coco loco? Better hush up!

My coworker just had the guts to tell me I need to quit cruising....um, lady, have you lost your mind? Do you want to see me go coco loco? Better hush up!

HAHAHAHAHA oh my.....so funny story, I actually am trying to find my white sheer shawl to put over my spaghetti strap dress for dinnertime. Maybe I should just use my bathing suit coverup? 😂 Just kidding. I did pack, according to your review, a hoodie for at night in case I get cold.

Oh sheesh.....reading your experience at Cucina had my PTSD from our Cucina experience on Celebration in February pop up! It was a nightmare. We actually had someone fall asleep at our table because service took so long, and Chris (my DH) had to refill our waters. It was a total, epic failure. I love Cornelius at Alchemy! We were not sure about him at first, but as we got to know him throughout the week I really started to like him.

Not on an Excel class ship....that pool is pitiful. If it were on Vista/Horizon/Panorama, I would say absolutely, but they ruined the Havana experience on Mardi Gras/Celebration/Jubilee.

Last work day before vacation! I think I can maybe make it until 5:30. Really though my mind is already on island time....

We too are trying MSC for the first time next week. Never sailed Celebrity, and the negative reviews I heard on MSC concerned me, but I decided what the heck. Hopefully it will be a good experience!

Thank you for the info! Maybe I will pack my "dressy" flip flops and see what happens. 🙂

22....certainly old enough to know how to behave for the farrier. But, she has been known to be a bit spicy now and then, and today was unfortunately one of those days. She believes her job in life is to keep me on my toes and guessing. Today she succeeded.

Ugh, I need this vacation to be NOW. Flirt, my dear, sweet redhead horse, decided to kick the farrier today and did some lovely work to him. I’m praying he doesn’t drop us as a client now. I’ll be drinking a few extra drinks this vacation until I hear back from him.

Ugh, I need this vacation to be NOW. Flirt, my dear, sweet redhead horse, decided to kick the farrier today and did some lovely work to him. I’m praying he doesn’t drop us as a client now. I’ll be drinking a few extra drinks this vacation until I hear back from him.

I am so jealous that you live so close to a cruise port!!! Thanks for tagging along!

Pre-Cruise Hotel Info: Thanks to @Jamman54, I discovered the Home2Suites in Cape Canaveral last November. We used to stay at the Raddisson Resort at the Port when we would sail from PC, but that place has gone downhill and wasn’t up to snuff last time Chris and I stayed there. So, this is our new go-to when we sail from Port Canaveral. It is clean, in a great location, and now has a park & cruise package! The address is 9004 Astronaut Blvd, Cape Canaveral if you want to check it out!

Pre Cruise Hotel Info: When I sailed on Mardi Gras last November, DH and I stayed at Home2Suites in Cape Canaveral for the first time. Their address is 9004 Astronaut Blvd in Cape Canaveral, and the location cannot be beat! It’s super easy to find (although if you come in too quick you can easily pass right by, like we did), close to the port, and they have a park & cruise package. I honestly don’t mind parking at the port in PC, it is super convenient, but if I can get a hotel the night before that allows me to keep my car (well, truck) there, and will shuttle me to (and sometimes from) the port, that is awesome. The hotel was also super clean (unlike the Raddisson, which use to be my go to pre-Covid), with a nice pool, so I decided to go ahead and book it again for this sailing.

Welcome aboard! Royal is one, along with NCL, that my hubby and I are considering to sail with friends who are not Carnival fans. I think I am leaning more toward NCL though.

I will feel right at home then! HAHAHA. I actually have somehow missed "Showtime!" in the MDR the past several CCL cruises.

So sorry for the troubles you have had! Sounds like MSC needs to work some on their organization. I'm still looking forward to my sailing next week. 🙂

I told her to come on here and pipe in now and then. She said if she can remember her login info (her screen name is Lilabee or something like that) she will make an appearance…unless she has too many frozen concoctions 😂

We did one in 2016, it was great! They did different menus every night (not sure if they still do), had a Throwback Sea Day with activities from days gone by (frog racing in the pool, "horse racing", and a few more), and the crew did some extra entertainment activities (a crew talent show, an extra production show)...it was a blast. I would do one again if getting time off from my work wasn't so hard!

Oh she does!

Saturday is the day before our cruise, this one is a Sunday to Sunday itinerary. No way will I drive in day off, that’s too risky in my opinion. I’ve never tried that restaurant, I will have to look it up for future reference!!