Jamman54

It's got to be at least 20 to 1. She never stops moving!

It’s time to get ready to head back to the ship. I’m having a Pina Colada for my last drink….. We left the Barcelo Aruba around 5pm. There was a line of taxis available to take us back to the ship. We were dropped off just outside the Cruise Terminal. Patti was going to stay out for a while and check out the stores around the port. I went right back to the ship, then went right up to Guy’s Burger. I took my Pig Patty over to RoCoco and ordered a Thirsty Frog Wheat to wash it down. I had a hard time finishing my beer so I knew I was done drinking and eating for today, so I made my way back to the cabin. Patti came back on board a short time later. Here is today’s towel animal. Looks like Edy is getting a little adventurous….. The laundry that Patti sent out yesterday has been returned….. Here are some views of Oranjestad taken from our balcony…. We remained in the cabin the rest of the night relaxing and watching television. We fell asleep before the Venezia sailed away at 10pm. Coming up next: Our day in Curacao at the Sunscape Resort!

After finishing her lunch, Patti went up to the lobby to take some pictures….. Here is the Ballroom….. The Barcelo Aruba Spa….. To be continued…..

Here are some more pictures of the lunch buffet…. Here are Patti’s lunch choices….. To be continued…

Patti heads back to the Barcelo. She’s feeling a little hungry and is going to check out the lunch buffet. She asks me if I want to come with her, but I’m perfectly satisfied with my liquid lunch. Patti documents the awesome lunch buffet….. To be continued……

Patti continues with her tour….. To be continued……

Patti takes a few more shots of me and the pool….. Patti heads out again to check out the beach and hotels in the other direction….. To be continued…..

It poured for 45 minutes and then it stopped. It wouldn’t rain any more for the rest of the day, but the sun never really came back out either. We were okay with that. Patti continues with her Palm Beach tour by heading up towards the RIU….. Patti comes back to the Barcelo to check on me. I had put our stuff back out on the chairs, and exchanged our wet towels for dry ones. Now I am comfortably back in my spot….. They are set up for a martini tasting. All you need to do for a free martini is dance with the shaker….. To be continued…..

It looks like the storm clouds are rolling in as Patti continues to explore….. It begins to rain, so Patti takes cover under a thatched umbrella. Back at the pool I get out of the water and head to the other side of the Pool Bar which is covered by a roof and has seating. I’ll ride the storm out there after I get our stuff out of the rain. It is positively pouring out now….. There’s a lot of thunder and lightning happening. Why would these people stay in the water? I wouldn’t want to be on that catamaran now with that high mast….. To be continued…..

Here are a few pool and whirlpool views….. Here is the Pool Bar….. I’m heading to the Pool Bar for my first drink. I will be drinking Balashi Beer all day. Notice that I am bringing my own cup. Last time I found out the hard way that they serve all the drinks in 8oz paper cups. They used to serve them in 16oz plastic cups. So now, everyone brings their own cups. No matter the size, the bartenders will fill them up! Patti heads out to explore the area and Palm Beach….. To be continued……

Glad you are enjoying the review. We still have a long, long, way to go. Everyone needs to sail out of New York at least once. There's no other sail away like it!

It’s so hard to decide what you want to eat. Here are Patti’s plates….. Here are my plates……. Our bellies full from our great breakfast, we head outside. Right outside the door there is a rock garden where all these critters live. This is for you Megan! To be continued…..

Are you still hungry? There’s so much more….. To be continued…..

We put our bags and towels on our chairs, and made our way to get some breakfast. They have an awesome breakfast buffet. Patti documents all of the offerings…… To be continued…..

Welcome to Aruba! Today we will be heading over to the Barcelo Aruba. We have an all-inclusive day pass for $89 /pp. This is our go to place when we come to Aruba….. We head down to the Lobby Bar to wait for the ship to clear. Once the announcement by Joey was made, we were one of the first to get off the ship. Once we went through the terminal and outside, we could see where the ship excursions would be meeting up…… We grab a taxi to take us over to the Barcelo Aruba which is located on Palm Beach. Here are the taxi rates….. Here are a few views as we left the port area….. Fifteen minutes later we have arrived at the Barcelo Aruba. Our taxi fare was $16 + tip….. After checking in and getting our wristbands, the first order of business is to try and get some chairs by the pool…… We stop by the towel hut to get our towels….. Now the difficult hunt for chairs can begin. Those people staying at the hotel get up early and claim their spots, so by the time the Day Pass people show up, pickings are slim. As an aside, there are plenty of chairs available on the beach, but we want to be by the pool. We were having no luck, so Patti went over to the smoking section, grabbed two chairs, and moved them by the pool. You go girl!! To be continued…..

We are approaching the Cruise Terminal in Oranjestad, Aruba….. The Venezia is getting a water cannon salute….. We are sailing past the Church of Scientology’s Freewinds, which spends most of its time here in Aruba….. We are now docking at the Cruise Terminal here in Oranjestad, Aruba. Captain Crescenzo has gotten us here an hour early….. To be continued…..

Day # 12 - 10/04/23 - Oranjestad, Aruba (9am – 10pm). We were up at 6:30am to a warm, partly sunny day. The seas are calm. Here are our views forward and aft from our balcony….. We can see Aruba in the distance…… Here are today’s Fun Times….. I made my way up to the Java Blue Café for my morning coffee. While there I met another Cruise Critic member, Gail Fulton, which is also her posting name. We’ll have her picture later. I head back to the cabin to pack our beach bags for today. From our balcony we could see that the Aruba Pilot has been dropped off…. Here are some views as we are sailing into Aruba…. To be continued…..

Hey Greg! We're along for the ride. We've never been on Princess so happy to get to see what they are all about!

I rest my case. 😎

Sorry we didn't get to chat. I met quite a few CC members in our time on board, but not the ones you mentioned. Maybe next time!

I just started noticing that they are about the same every day!

The Venezia is basically a brand new ship. It was launched in 2019 and only cruised for a short time before Covid. After Covid, she only sailed for a little while before being signed over to Carnival. We just spent 21 days on her and never saw what the OP was talking about, other than the casino being smoky. I can agree with that. As far as everything being stained everywhere! No way. Urine smell in the casino. Really? Sure, people spill things and you will find some stains, but that's normal, and they do get addressed. If the OP was so upset, why didn't he take pictures to document it? I've posted hundreds of pictures so far in my review, and I'm not seeing it. And before you say that I wouldn't post them if they existed, I have always told it like it is. I show the good, the bad, the indifferent. I am not a shill for Carnival, and I don't gamble enough to get free cruises. In three weeks aboard her not once did we encounter any rude crew members. It was quite the opposite. Perhaps the OP was rude to them first. I have a feeling, and I could be wrong, that the OP was on the Bermuda cruise that didn't make it to Bermuda, and is showing his displeasure here.

Here are our bread plates….. The amuse bouche was a teeny tiny cheeseburger….. The Chefs here are very hard at work….. We both had the shrimp cocktail to start…. Patti also had the baked onion soup, and I had the risotto….. For her main Patti had the lobster tails and a baked potato….. I had a 14oz New York strip steak with mashed potatoes and mushrooms….. For dessert we both chose the apple tart….. Though it took two hours we really enjoyed our meal here tonight. Knowing that we would be drinking a lot tomorrow, and the fact that we were in a food coma, we decided to head back to the cabin to relax and watch television. Coming up next: Our day in Aruba. It’s one happy island!!

Tonight we are having dinner at the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse….. Here is our table….. Here are the menus….. We decided to enjoy a bottle of Moscato with our dinner….. Here we are at the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse….. To be continued…..

Around 10:30 we went down to the non-smoking casino annex to gamble for a while. Patti played video poker for about an hour losing a little bit, then decided to walk around for a while. I played blackjack a little longer winning back what I lost the other day. I then went back to the Burano Pool Bar and had a couple of beers, and grabbed some Asian food from the Seafood Shack. I then went to meet Patti at the Teatro Rosso for another afternoon game of Deal or no Deal….. Rich and the gang are here watching as well….. The first contestant Gina picked Case # 3….. She had a favorable board all the way and took the bankers offer of $450….. The second contestant Tracey played it down to the last three cases, and then took the bankers offer of $195….. We didn’t break even today, as we only won a $30 in casino fun play. We went back to the cabin to relax for the afternoon, where we found today’s towel animal. Really Edy? To be continued…..