ch27088

Thank you for such a wonderful and funny review. Please hurry and finish as I a lot more reading of your review to do. DH and I will be on the Carnival Dream this time next year and we can't wait (363 days to go)!

Thank you for sharing your review with us. Please hurry and add more, I can't wait to finish reading.

Love your review, thanks for sharing. Now hurry back so we can all finish reading it (lol).

Hubby and I just concluded our long awaited cruise on the Liberty! I have been waiting forever to sail the Liberty and I have been so excited to sail the eastern itinerary again. The Liberty has always looked so pretty in pics and it did not disappoint!

 

 

*Background*

This was my Platinum cruise J which I was overly excited about lol. My hubby was so over me talking about being platinum and I continued just to annoy him! This was hubby’s seventh cruise! We are from Virginia,both in our early-mid 30s and we sail annually for our anniversary! This year we celebrated 8 years. Typically, we drive or fly down the day before, but we couldn’t this time because of childcare issues. We had to push it and fly in the day of the cruise:eek: From the moment we paid our airfare, I started biting my nails. Not a good feeling.

 

 

Our flight schedule was changed TWICE two weeks before sailing and after a bunch of back and forth,irritations and frustrations, we were going to be flying into FLL with an arrival time of 11:51. Not the 2:15 and 3:05 arrivals that they kept wanting to give us. I checked our ever changing flights every day, twice a day, for two weeks hoping for no more changes.

 

Sept. 14

Carnival Liberty +Us= Maybe not meant to be?

 

 

Our flight was set to take off at 7am, so we figured we would drop the kids off, go to our friends house and park there to avoid the airport parking fees, and get to the airport at 6 with plenty of TSA time to spare.

 

 

YEAH, so when we plan, God laughs right……

 

 

We ended up not even leaving our home until about 5:30 and we still had to drop off the kids and then go to our friends home (5 min from airport) to drop our car off and have him take us to airport, as we did not want to pay the outrageous parking fees. At 6:03, yes you read that right, we were just dropping the kids off. I started to panicked. DH assured me we would be fine. “We are very close to his house” with a teary side eye I said okay.

 

 

We got to friends' house at 6:23 and you know what………his truck doesn’t start and you know what else…….I could see the airport from there........ Which meant I was going to see Delta flight “you are not sailing today” leave and fly off into the sky without us.

 

 

I told DH to get in the car and we would pay the airport fees, we had to go, but friends' other car started, so DH insists “Come on, we can make it”. I told him not to speak to me anymore until we were on the flight lol. My brain could not function properly with the thought of missing our flight. All I could think was “At least I’d checked in online already” we just needed to get to that gate and I would knock a few people over (including my husband) to get there!

 

 

We got to the airport, I’m pretty sure I swung the door open before we even stopped completely. I was a madwoman who needed this vacation like I needed air to breathe. At 6:45am we were two of the last ten people to board our flight. At 6:55 we were about to take off and DH was now allowed to talk again lol

 

We got to Fort Lauderdale with no problems, thank God. As soon as I powered my phone on, I had a message from SAS transportation. I made reservations with them and they were calling to let me know they were outside and waiting! PERFECT!! We waited out front for about 10 minutes and then we were on our way to Miami.

 

 

I see Double Whale Tail!!

 

 

Being that this is the latest we ever gotten to the port, this is where being platinum really came in handy. There were people EVERYWHERE! We usually arrive at the port at a quiet 9:30-10am, but by this time it was almost one and the difference was quite intense. The carnival attendant saw "priority” on my boarding pass and we were whisked off to the oh so trendy VIFP captains lounge. This is when I looked at DH and reminded him I was platinum and that I was taking him places, "cool" places at that lol. About 15 min later we were finally on the Liberty!!!

 

 

Liberty + Us = definitely meant to be:D

I wish you have warned me that your review was going to start off being funny, because I was drinking coffee and nearly choked when you said that "DH was not allowed to talk". I loved your review from last year (I think it was last year), and I'm loving this review already. Hurry and finish posting please.:D

Thanks so much for sharing your vacation/cruise with us. Hurry and add more to your review please!

Ahhh, I can't wait to read more, hurry back please. By the way, thanks so much for sharing your review with us. Your family is just so precious. I believe taking child with you on a trip at a young age is great. He will get use to it and plus become a world traveler!!!

 

I am indeed a June baby! And a Gemini so watch out! :eek: Actually the pearl in my username is from my favorite June birthstone. I was very fortunate to find my house when I did. Atlanta was FULL of foreclosures. I looked at houses super cheap that were way too big for just me! Another bonus was getting the first time home buyers credit. Part of that money booked my Freedom cruise. :D A last minute solo cruise in a balcony sounds pricey! But you had a great time and that's all that matters. Good luck planning your next cruise!

 

 

 

It's coming up in 23 days! Review will be started the day I get home! :D

 

 

Wonderful I will be checking Cruise Critic for your review each day. Have a wonderful trip...eat, drink, and be merry!!!

GApearl, did you take your cruise in August? I've been looking for and anxiously awaiting your review! :)

Love, love, love, love, love your review!!! Thank you so much for putting your time and effort into this wonderful review. This is your third review that I've read and I've enjoyed all three and can't wait until you take another one. I actually lived in New York city and was worked near the towers when they fell on 9/11, but I'm very proud of the beautiful building that they have built in the place of the towers. Thanks again for a job well done and tell your mom that I enjoy her review as well!

Peter Max

 

 

 

Ok so let me talk a little about Peter Max.

 

I am not sure when, but at some point in time that afternoon, I was walking around on the pool deck and I saw Peter Max. First of all I could not believe that I actually recognized him, I was very excited about that. They were both walking and his friend was pointing up to the water slide, like to trying to show Max something.

 

Anyway, I am not sure how I did it, but I managed to get a lot of courage and go to him to say hello.

 

And this is how the conversation went….

 

 

 

 

Me: Hello, are you you Petter Max.

 

Him: Yes, (with a not so good face).

 

Me: Very nice to meet you, great job on the ship (I have to admit that the paint grew on me and I like it now. Trust me, I know how much I was against in the past. But the week before when I saw the ship sailing out of NY it just looked majestic on that cam)

 

Him: Ok

 

Me: Would you mind if I get a picture with you?

 

Him: "Uggghhhhhhhhhhhh" and his companion rolled his eyes

 

Me: Never mind, no worries, enjoy your cruise.

 

Him: Them he finally smiled and gave a weak high five.

 

 

I am not really sure what to say here, I understand that he must of taken thousands pictures by now. But I did felt a little let down by his attitude, I mean he is a celebrity in a ship which he decorated… Of course he is going to get people asking for pictures.

 

The funny thing out this entire situation is that I actually recognized him. I am absolutely horrible with faces, I really cannot believe that I recognized him.

 

My bf said that I should of told him his art was horrible, and put him in his place. But that is just not me, if he wants to be like that then be it. I wont sink to his level!

 

One thing is for sure, I will never buy any of his art!

 

 

Gambee I'm not surprised at how he acted. Years ago I use to live on Miami Beach and worked for a company where the President of the company knew Peter Max personally, and he would drop by from time-to-time to visit. Even back them he was NOT the nicest person, and he treated people like they were beneath him. When he would come to visit, as the secretary, I would escort him back to the President office, and I would try and make small talk (how are you, hope things are going well for you...we received your new picture and it's nice), but he would never say anything, so I'm sorry that you didn't have a nice encounter with him either; however I'm not surprised.:(

Well' date=' a few of my faithful followers (okay, both of them) have been waiting mostly patiently, so here it is--my picture-laden review of my recent back-to-back cruises on the Carnival Victory. :D

 

To start, I will introduce you to all of the major players, but first, the most important one....this guy......

 

 

the big one....although the little one is important too. This is my dad (handsome fella, isn't he?). This picture was taken on our Destiny cruise in 2005. My dad took the whole family on this cruise in June 2005 after our mom passed away in February 2005 after a courageous battle with a rare form of cancer. Our family is very very close (we still all live in the same town we grew up in), and this trip was a great chance to honor and mourn our mother as well as to strengthen our family bonds and have a good time.

 

Now fast forward a bit...last year we started talking about doing it again. After a little convincing (okay....a lot), Dad once again agreed to take us all on a family cruise. Just before Christmas we booked the Victory 5-day trip (dad and sister didn't want to be away any longer than that) for all of us....my little family (intros to come soon), my sister and her family, my brother and his girlfriend, and my dad and his girlfriend of 5 years. Our trip was scheduled for June 2013.

 

Now, this cruise would have been my 10th and DH's 9th, and he could hardly stand knowing I would get platinum status without him. So....since my DH and I usually do a full week cruise, and he gets about 11 days off in a row when he takes vacation, he and I decided to book the 4-day Victory cruise that immediately preceded the family trip, in order to "earn" platinum status for DH as well.

 

For the next few months, we excitedly made plans about what to do in each port, and we admonished Dad not to keep any secrets if he was planning to get engaged on this trip (he was not). In early February, Dad started making comments about being very tired and about worrying that he wouldn't be able to go on the cruise. He also made a statement that this would be the last family cruise he paid for (he claimed it was because it was so expensive). In mid-February, I went with him to his heart doctor and found that he would have to have a defibrillator / pacemaker put in. The surgery was scheduled for March 7th, but my dad didn't make it...

 

My hero....my daddy (I'm a daddy's girl and have always been).....the only one who could communicate well with my autistic son.....the rock of our family.....the man I hold every other single man in the world up to in comparison (and they fail....miserably) died in his sleep in the early morning hours of February 28th. :(

 

After some discussion, and not without noting the cruel irony of the timing (two February deaths followed by June cruises with family), my brother and sister and I decided to still go on our cruise (cruises for me). We also decided to still allow dad's DGF to go, if she wanted to (she did). She had just turned 65 this year, and she had never cruised before. We finalized our flight and hotel reservations and put on our happy faces...

 

(sorry for the "downer" of a start, but I thought Dad deserved honor in this whole thing. No more depressing posts coming, I promise! :o)

I am sorry about the loss of your father. I lost my dad ten years ago on Christmas Day (his favorite holiday). I too was a dad's girl and still miss him each day. However, I know that he is watching over me and my family as your father is also watching over you and your son!!! Glad you were able to still take the trip!

The pictures of the Breakaway with the drawbridge raised is just beautiful. It gives you an idea of how big she really is.

Cannot wait to read the full review. Thank you for taking us along on your cruise. So happy I'm doing the "Happy Cruise Dance".

oh lord, what have i done?

 

so... i booked the conquest out of NOLA. feeling great until i searched hotels and now im so confused i kinda wish i had picked a different home port.

 

1. hotels are OUTRAGEOUS for the week we are going there

2. Im confused on the districts- which ones to stay at?

3. No idea how much parking is going to be in french quarter if we stay outside the district and decide to go explore.

 

i have searched the gulf home port section and can not find answers.

 

if anyone has suggestions: please, inform me.

 

thanks.

I totally understand how you fell. My husband and I are booked on a cruise out of New Orleans for March 30th (Carnival Sunshine). We arrive a day early and will be staying at the La Quinta, which is $179 per night (not including taxes). What I did was to search for hotels in the area of the port. Coming back from the cruise, we have to stay in New Orleans that Sunday night and the prices are out of control. The same hotel that offered $179 is now over $300 for one night, which I cannot do. So I choose an area that is near the French Quarters and searched for hotels. I haven't booked anything yet, but hope to in the next few days. Good luck and don't give up, you will find a hotel.

As for parking, the majority of the hotels charge for parking and they average about $18 - $20 per night. We are not driving to New Orleans, but instead will be taking the train. If we drove, it would be $20 for the first night, then $112 for parking at the pier. I just felt that we could save money if we took the train.

Several pairs of flip flops because I don't stand barefoot in the showers, or walk barefoot around the decks. Clorox wipes and a small can of Lysol spray, sunglasses (a must), and a note pad to write everything down about the trip so that when I get home I can write my review on Cruise Critics!

After dinner, it was back to the room to change. We got our last towel animal of the cruise:

 

We had gotten our FTTF tags for our bags, which made us zone 2 for the morning. So we got all of our bags except our carry-ons and set them outside the cabin (for our zone, we had to have them outside our door by 11 p.m.). Then we went out to enjoy what we could of the ship for the rest of the evening. I hit the casino and ended up cashing out with $36. Just enough for the cab & tip back to the hotel for the next morning (with $6 leftover). We went to bed about 2am.

 

Day 8 – Disembarkation Day – Friday, June 14, 2013

 

Had our wake-up call for 5:30 a.m. and coffee with croissants and guava jelly came at 5:35 a.m. I wanted to enjoy the balcony one last time with my coffee (added the croissants for kicks). We headed up to the Celebration Dining Room for breakfast at around 7 a.m. where I had Belgian waffles with blueberries, corned beef hash, hash browns, and orange juice. After eating, we headed back to the cabin and gathered up the last of our stuff. We said goodbye to Rolando who we would miss very much and headed to the library at 8 a.m., where we were instructed to meet for FTTF disembarkation. They directed us a few yards away to the disembark line after all the self-assists had cleared off at around 8:10 a.m. or so. We collected our luggage (which we had decorated with some neon orange duct tape for easy identification), breezed through customs, and walked right out to where the cabs were waiting. We got a cab immediately and were taken back to our hotel where we loaded our luggage back into our vehicle and were on the road headed home by 9:00 a.m.

 

A couple of final notes:

 

As an ex-cigarette smoker, I notice the smell very easily and do not like it. Nowhere on the ship, including the casino, did I ever feel it was smoky. I rarely noticed it at all.

 

I do use an e-cigarette and used it everywhere on the ship (except at the dinner table), including the casino, and never had anyone say a word to me about it.

 

I do enjoy cigars and brought a small humidor with a few cigars to enjoy with my bottle of wine I brought on board with me. I smoked them only on my balcony. I purposely booked the suite I did as it was the second to the last one to the end of the row of suites. I only had one cabin behind me and did that to avoid having my cigar smoke possibly bother any neighbors. My neighbors never said a word to me, although I only saw them maybe once or twice on their balcony. I watched the smoke though and when we were moving the wind carried the smoke away too fast for it to really get to their balcony. Also, to our left the balcony divider was solid – there were no holes of any kind so that if that neighbor had been smoking, we never would have known it as there was no avenue for it to get to our balcony. It appears every second balcony had that solid divider and the alternating ones were the kind with the slits along the sides.

 

I never encountered any rude staff of any kind throughout the cruise. The ship was very clean everywhere.

 

The dining room bar service person was OUTSTANDING. I did not catch her name, but after the first night, she would show up at our table within 2-3 minutes of us sitting down and had my boys’ sodas for them – Root Beer for one and Sprite for the other. They had the unlimited soda sticker which I bought for them the morning of the second day and she knew what they liked and made sure they had it in hand shortly after they got to the table. The boys were VERY appreciative of that service.

 

If anyone has any questions about anything I did or discussed, or anything I might have left out, please feel free to ask.

 

This was yet again, another outstanding Carnival cruise. My boys are now hooked on cruising too and I see more cruises in their future. I hope I finish school fast – it’s going to be hard to wait 2 years before getting back on a ship!

 

I love Carnival and can’t wait to get back on one of their ships again!

Wonderful job on the review. Loved the pictures and how yow were able to do such a wonderful job telling the story with your photos. Thanks!

Hi,

I was reading about FTTF, and it sounds like a good idea. Our ship leaves at 4 PM, but I would like to get on it as early as possible. I've also heard that boarding in Miami is a nightmare, so anything that would make it easier would be great. If I purchase FTTF am I really guaranteed early entry to the ship.

As other posts have stated, it's really your call on if it's worth it for you. I am going to purchase it for my husband and I leaving from New Orleans on March 30, 2014. My husband is blind in one eye, and because his handicap is not noticeable, sometimes people will push ahead of him while in line, and he also has a hard time seeing (steps up & down), so I feel it is better for us to purchase the FTTF so that we can board in peace. I even called and asked if those with disabilities can board early without the FTTF and they said no. I also like getting our luggage early as well. I am not one for sail away parties, so I would prefer to be in our cabin putting things away.

I just don't get it...I see on people's signatures tons of cruises and a lot of time the same itineraries, why? We've done the Bahamas, Alaska, Western Caribbean, Baltic, Mediterranean and coming up we have an Eastern Caribbean but I wouldn't want to do any of them twice. Just wondering?

I would prefer to go to the same places over and over again. I am not one that would like to cruise to Alaska, just not my cup of tea. Plus I love the Caribbean, so I'm happy with cruising to those destinations over and over again. If I'm on a ship where there are palm trees, sand, water, and sun I'm happy!:)

I'm not sure if that would have been a good idea as the decibel level of her cries would have been like a sonic boom on steroids to a fly on the wall rendering it into unconsciousness...or worse! :eek:

 

 

Thanks for the compliments!:D

Now that's funny!!!!

It was the Ephesus Shuttle.

 

Thanks and read on!!

I am so glad that you and your wife (and the rest of the group) are fine from the kidnapping. I would not be happy, in fact, I would be PISSED, and would have walked out. I don't like being a "captive audience" for something I did not ask to be a part of. Other than that, seems like you had a wonderful trip.

Thanks for sharing.

As many of you are aware when posting you cannot add more than 6 pictures (per post) at a time so from time-to-time I may post some supplemental pictures as stand alones too.

 

Some Additional Dubrovnik Pictures....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the local residents!

 

 

 

I should mention that I am a "Catman" and will post some additional Cat-Pics throughout our adventure.

 

 

Ciao For Now, or is that Meow For Now!!!

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us. The pictures are beautiful and many congrats on your anniversary.

P.S. I'm a cat person as well.

Meow, meow, meow = Can't wait to read the rest of the review.

ShotoJuku’s LEGENDary Mediterranean Adventure

 

 

 

May 4th – 16th 2013

 

 

This is my review of my recent 12-day cruise on the Carnival Legend that took us from Venice, Italy to Barcelona, Spain with my Wife to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary. Our adventure actually begins nearly 1 ½ years ago when I began to explore the any and all cruise options in the Mediterranean with Carnival. Sadly, no cruises had been posted for the time of year that I wanted – that being May, 2013 as our 30th Anniversary would be May 1st. I waited ever so patiently, watched the cruise critic boards carefully for any possible news, hints, or rumors until finally my patience paid off on February 14th 2012 when Carnival posted the dates.

 

There I sat ever so discretely and quietly in the early morning hours in the living room (in my underwear like John Heald) so as not to wake my Bride and see what was available. What I found was the perfect dates with the perfect itinerary aboard the Carnival Legend who was to set sail on May 4th 2013 from Venice on a 12-day cruise including 10 ports of call including: Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, Messina, Naples, Rome, Pisa/Florence, Marseilles, and Barcelona. What made this cruise so incredibly fortuitous was this would be the only cruise that Legend would be stopping at Athens and Izmir during the 2013 season.

 

It was somewhat ironic that I was actually booking the cruise on Valentine’s Day, 2012 (the day we were engaged in 1982, 30-years earlier) and would not reveal this until exactly 1-year later when I would give this to my Bride on Valentine’s Day 2013; what a year of suspense! My Bride, who is principally of Italian/Irish decent had always dreamed of visiting Italy one day but in the back of her mind thought that her dream may never ever be realized. Little did I realize that the year of suspense and anticipation would be worth the wait! In the mean time I started our cruise critic roll call the next day making sure that any computers in the house would never be logged onto the sight for the next year. Our roll call group was named as the M&M’s for either Married in May or Mediterranean in May and what a group it became!

 

Tick-Tock...one year later...the day had finally arrived - Valentine’s Day 2013 and it was time to launch my plan: Operation Pizza Box! After celebrating 31 consecutive Valentine’s Day’s together I figured that my Bride had probably had her fill of receiving the obligatory box of candy and such so I opted for something better…..pizza! Well not really pizza but a pizza box that I picked up a couple of weeks earlier in preparation of surprising my Bride. Our trip would entail 16-days in total starting on our actual anniversary (May 1st) and ending on our return on the 16th. So I took a large sheet of paper that would fill the inside of the box, drew a circle with 16-slices that denoted each and every day of our journey. On the outside of the box I taped a paper plate onto the cover with a picture of a heart-shaped pizza with a question: I know a place where we can get some really good pizza; interested?

 

 

Now when I initially presented the box to my Bride she gazed at it with a bit of bemused puzzlement probably wondering just what the hell did I do now, and where is my candy? Once she opened the box her bewildered look was instantaneously replaced with the absolute best looks of astonished surprise I had ever seen rush across her beautiful face coupled with one of the loudest screams of joy followed by streams of tears that I had ever heard. For an instant I thought that I screwed up big time as her screams and tears could have been easily confused with grief however after a few moments of her now gasping her breath I detected a sign of sheer and utter happiness that was translated into a scream of “I’m going to Italy”!!!!!

 

That of course was the best gift that I could ever receive as I had given my Bride the realization of her dream to see Italy and so much more. Besides I was going too so it was a win-win for both of us!

 

More To Come….

Priceless...I wish I could have been a "fly on the wall" at the moment she opened the box. Great job and I know you both had a wonderful time. I can't wait to read your post.

Wait a minute...I don't have any more to read. What do you mean you are stopping to go to work! Okay fine, but please hurry back and finish, I want to see and read more...thank you very much. :)

Hello all. We just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Valor with the Southern Caribbean itinerary. This is the second time in two years that we've done this itinerary, so my review won't be too different than the one I did on the Victory. (that review is in my signature)

 

I won't be able to beat GAPearl's review, HAHA, but here is my take.

 

There was another couple who traveled with us. My good girlfriend and her husband. Our traveling buddies. This is the 4th cruise we've all taken together.

 

We are from Wisconsin and flew to San Juan the day of the cruise. Our flight left at 5:20 am, so we had to be at the airport at 3:30 am :eek:. The flights were very uneventful and we made it to San Juan at around 1:30. We hopped in a cab ($19 plus $1 per bag) and made it to the port in around 20 minutes.

 

The line to get into the terminal was RIDICULOUSLY long, so we dropped off our luggage with the porters and took a walk. We walked a few blocks until we came across a restaurant/bar that had drink specials. Two mojitos for $10 and 5 local beers for $6. You couldn't beat that with a stick so we went in and had a seat at the bar. 2 mojitos, two orders of hotwings and 5 beers later, we walked back to the terminal where the line had disappeared and we walked right on board. Here is my first picture I took of the ship...

 

 

We stopped at the liquor store inside the terminal. Each couple bought a bottle of wine and a liter of Cruzan Rum. We walked on board with BOTH bottles in the plastic bags that the liquor store bagged them in. Security didn't check the bags. They asked if the bottles were wine, we told them yes and they let us on. Easy!

 

We had a Scenic OV Room for the cruise, which I was very excited about. It was a surprise for my husband, but he wasn't too impressed. He's so dry sometimes. Here are a few pics of our room. Our cabin # was 9199 by the way. Please let me know if the pics are too large...

 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely LOVED the room. I kept the shade up constantly. It was nice going to sleep viewing the stars and the moon and it was even nicer waking up to views of the ocean or whatever beautiful port we arrived at that day. I would book this type of room again in a HEARTBEAT. I LOVED it.

Hi there, nice review and photos of your cruise. Just one question, is there enough room on the window ledge to sit and read? Would love to do that as well to relax.