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Left a girlfriend, came back a fiance! Pictorial Liberty Western Review 9.11.10

TinkyPatz

By TinkyPatz,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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TinkyPatz

TinkyPatz

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After almost 2 weeks of being back, I have finally gotten over the depression of the cruise being over, and have started this review.

 

If you like lots of pictures and a detailed account of everything we did, then this review is for you!

 

First a little background: it was only me and DBF of 2 years, Jason, staying on balcony stateroom #8268. We're both 26 and live in Orlando, therefore we drove to Miami and stayed at La Quinta Inn near the airport on Le Jeune road.

 

That Friday before we started the drive down to Miami, we finished packing the last minute stuff, put all of our bags in the car, and when I went to fill up the cat bowl I realized that they were out of food. Oh no! So we had to make a last minute trip to Wal-Mart for cat food, but while we were there we also got some bread, ham, and cheese to make us a big sandwich for the 4 hour drive.

 

So we went back to the house, fed the cats, made our ginormous sandwich, and stopped at Burger King to have some breakfast ( I love their hash-browns!), and then on the road we were! I drove most of the way there because Jason had some pain on his sciatica. We left Orlando at around 10:30am, and, after a couple of pit stops, got to Miami at 3:00pm.

 

Front desk service at La Quinta was superb. They were attentive and cheerful and ready to help you with anything you needed. We informed them we would be leaving our car there for the week and signed up for the shuttle to the port. The earliest they had was 1:00pm... oh, well. We got up to the room and it was OK, except for there was some discoloration (bleach) on the blanket. They gave us a king sized bed and there was a desk, chair, tv, microwave, fridge (that was unplugged when we got there, and completely warm), iron and ironing board, coffee maker, basically the standard amenities.

 

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After we got settled into the hotel, we had half of our sandwich and we got in the car and headed to South Beach. We parked and walked around, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. We walked over to the beach and watched a couple of cruises sail away. Afterwards, we got hungry and headed to the 11th Street Diner for dinner. I'm a fan of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and upon reading another CC review I found out the 2 places that Guy Fieri has been to in Miami. One being Tap Tap, and the other was this diner.

 

 

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TinkyPatz

TinkyPatz

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The diner is small but cozy, the waiters were excellent and very attentive. The menu had all-american fare with a few Hispanic dishes. The waiter took our drink order, a raspberry tea for me, a Youngleing draft for Jason. From watching the show we knew that they actually roast a turkey everyday for their Thanksgiving Meal dish. We weren't in the turkey mood, so we ordered the skirt steak with chimichurri, and it came with two sides so we chose mashed potatoes and rice and beans. Now, I must make a small side note here, 3 years ago I had a Gastric Bypass done, therefore I don't eat as much food as a normal person, more like the equivalent of what a 3 year old would eat, so Jason and I often share one plate. With that said, the skirt steak was delicious and soft, and perfectly made, the mashed potatoes were homemade and tasted like so. However, the rice and beans were under seasoned and we found ourselves having to add more salt and pepper to it. This is a theme that would repeat itself for the whole week.

 

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After we ate, we found an ATM to withdraw some cash for the ports and headed back to the hotel. We took a shower, watched some movies and had the other half of our sandwich. We went to bed at like midnight, and I had nightmares ALL night about forgetting something at home or missing the ship! I had about 4 hours of sleep. I finally got out of bed at 8 and asked Jason to check if there was a cancellation on the shuttle so that we could take an earlier one. And there was! But it was for 10:00am, and we had to be there at 9:45, we had unpacked a lot of stuff, it was already 8:15, and Jason still had to make one last run to the pharmacy, he had no idea where the nearest one was and I was left to pack everything by myself, take a shower, plus get us some breakfast from downstairs all in an hour and a half! Did we make it? I'll let you know next!

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TinkyPatz

TinkyPatz

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Love the detailed reviews. Keep it coming.

 

This one is going to be very detailed, I'll try not to make it too long :o but a lot of things happened that are worth mentioning, and it's also a nice reminder of the best vacation we've had thus far :)

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TinkyPatz

TinkyPatz

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We are heading to Miami in 28 days, to spend the night before our B2B cruise. How did you like SOuth Beach?

 

It was ok, lots of overpriced drinks and food right on the strip, nothing much to do unless you wanted to be at a bar or at the beach, we just walked around taking it in.

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TinkyPatz

TinkyPatz

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Congrats on your engagement! Glad you liked the 11th Street Diner - We had a breakfast and dinner there the same week Guy was taping his DDD episode. (No, we didn't get to see him.:() It was good food at reasonable prices for South Beach.

 

We were hoping to see Rosie O'Donell! Haha, she appeared on the episode, but the diner was basically empty when we went.

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TinkyPatz

TinkyPatz

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Congrats on engagement. Based on all the last minute stops prior to the cruise--you too better plan to "be at the wedding" a day early, just to get there on time! ;)

Loving the writing style

 

I know! LOL, thankfully the wedding will be near our house, otherwise I don't know what would happen... but I promised myself that I will never be a bridezilla, whatever happens is fine as long as we have a good time! :)

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