IntrepidFromDC

A little about the Manhattan part of my trip, after the cruise. I'll walk from the cruise port two blocks to my hotel, store my carry-on, then visit The Met for a few hours. Lunch will be walking distance from The Met, Home Kitchen on 84th. Dinner will be at Bar56, a new restaurant with rave NY Eater and other foodie reviews. Menu is what sold me to choose it over a few other places (www.bardumbo.com/menus/#food-dinner) ... I almost picked Fraunces Tavern the oldest restaurant in Manhattan, where George Washington ate. Afterward I'll be doing a late-night walking tour of rooftop bars in Brooklyn.

It's good. It's not "very good" and it's far from "great". The lobster rolls are disappointing if you're used to what you can get on the east coast.

Now that the Super Bowl teams have been decided - 49'ers vs Chiefs (a repeat from the SB a few years ago!) I thought I'd just get my LIVE started, although it'll be mostly dormant for the next two weeks. Sailaway is at 4pm and the game will start a few hours after that so I expect to be sandwiched in the Sports Bar on The Venezia unless the game is showing on the tv's in the casino which usually provides a better viewing opportunity. I have never been to Antigua, Dominica or Grenada and as usual my first visit to each will be "whole island tour" excursions. I've already booked two of the three - NON-Carnival excursions as my experience is the local operators offer a better experience than the Carnival-selected operators for the most part. A stinkbug just flew into my Cava order and I am not happy about that, but have mixed feelings since it is, after all, protein. Anyway, I am really looking forward to spending a couple days in Manhattan, after the 12-day cruise, including Chinatown dim sum and a highly rated restaurant in Brooklyn on the East River with beautiful view of lower Manhattan. Usually my trips to Manhattan include a visit to Central Park and feeding of the turtles in Turtle Pond, but in February I don't think they'll be above ice, and even if they are they will be too cold to want to eat. Still, I'll be prepared. As Jamman would say, "to be continued..."

Here's a third vote for sailing from Manhattan... along with NOLA and Venice, Italy it's one of my favorite sail-away's.

Oh. I just noticed the dates of the posts. This isn't the thread I was looking for (use the force).

2/11? If so I'll see you on board!

Agreed that different people view cruise directors differently. Some people love them, rank them, love talking about them. I find them annoying without exception. It's just a matter of how annoying they are. To me, marq was up there with the "more annoying than average" but not "most annoying". I love the Alaska cruises because the naturalist/scientist boards and takes over with announcements and cruise director takes back seat. The naturalist announcements are interesting and add to the cruise experience.

Carnival Cruise Beer Menu (cruisecritic.com) Not impressive if you only like high-end craft beer (e.g., Pliny The Younger, World Wide Stout, etc.). I usually stick to rum while on the ship, it makes me talk like a pirate. Fun to order a Pirate Punch with a pirate accent. But at home I drink beer more often than not.

First, thanks for sharing everything, especially about the gang of kids beating up the autistic girl. That is heartbreaking and shocking, I've never seen anything like it on 27 Carnival cruises. Also so sorry for your five-year-old's experiences. I hope there were some good experiences (kid's club, etc.) to balance. Second, I was on the Venezia inaugural sailing from Barcelona to Manhattan and I'll be on it again (third time) sailing out of Manhattan in three weeks. I hope my experience is more like my first two, not like yours. I agree the service wasn't as "fun" and "cheerful" as the "regular" Carnival fleet, but I still had a really good time both times. And I always add two nights in Manhattan because I love NYC so much. In fact I just started salivating thinking about the meals I have planned. Anyway, I post this second point just for balance, Venezia apparently offers good and bad experiences. Happy cruising!

Well I guess I deserve it after googling images for the horse shenanigans yesterday. Or at the very least, it's self-inflicted - today I have horse supplement ads everywhere I websurf.

Closer and closer.

Just trying to do my little part to get this thing to 100 pages... 😁 🏴‍☠️

Kinda casts a whole new light on "Megan Thee Stallion"

Last but not least...

And le heating blanket...

I also predict Ravens/49'ers.

NEIGH! Sounds like horse treatment.

Thanks ninjapuddytat! I enjoyed every bit!

Thanks for the LIVE Sid, especially the pics and especially San Juan pics, but everything was fun to follow.

You didn't attach a previous post to this comment so I just want to be sure, you mean me, right?

What is that thing to the left of the meatball? Looks like an open-face brain sandwich.

Why not?

For me, $500 agreed. $100 depending on who I get to sit next to.

I don't dare you to get on the stage. I do dare you to get on the stage and belt out the entire song - "My Way" and i don't mean Sinatra style. 150 bonus points if you don't stop when Security shows up. 😁 🏴‍☠️