Long-Time Lurker, First Time Cruiser...

[tema56]

Pre-Cruise:

 

We flew into Miami from Minneapolis on Thursday on Delta and the flight was as we like it, uneventful. On the flight, we utilized some of our FlexPerks onboard credits to purchase sandwiches, snack boxes and a glass of wine each for my wife and I.

 

FlexPerks is a rewards points program U.S. Bank administers through one of its credit cards and I've found it to be one of the more advantageous ones out there. It only takes 20,000 points to redeem for many non-stop flights. And with each rewards airline ticket, you get a $25 credit to use for food, drink, baggage fees, etc.

 

Arriving in Miami, we took the "Miami Mover," which I thought would be a tram, but really is just a series of moving walkways, to the SIXT rental counter. We were able to secure a good deal on a full-size SUV for the next couple of days. Check-in was painless as we had entered most of the information online. In no time, we were on our way to our next stop - Key Largo - in the heart of Miami's rush hour. I have to say, it was not as bad as I expected. We left SIXT at 5:30 pm and were at our hotel, the Hampton Inn in Key Largo by 7:30 pm.

 

The Hampton Inn was very nice. Clean, bright, tropical and with a small beach and great outdoor pool. The free hot breakfast was the typical Hampton Inn complimentary morning meal. Great value overall. We didn't spend much time there but there was plenty to do with a family if we had. They even had kayaks for rent on the beach.

 

Thursday night we ate at the Pilot House Marina. The food was delicious. I had the conch fritters to share with the rest of the family and the crispy grouper sandwich, which was good but I could have just eaten the fish on its own with out the bread or accompaniments!

 

Friday's mission was Key West. None of us had ever been and none of us may ever go again. Ha! To be honest, for our family, the best part was the drive down along the Overseas Highway. Very cool to go over the Seven Mile Bridge and see the communities along the way. Key West itself was hot, crowded as heck as there was a Carnival ship in town (thanks for misleading me Cruise TimeTable). Finding a parking spot was fun, not. No picture by the southern most point marker as we would have had to wait in line for about an hour.

 

Instead we ate at Blue Heaven before heading back. The meal was overpriced and not good. About $70 for two cheeseburgers (split four ways) that included no fries and two slices of Key Lime pie. The pie with meringue vs whip cream was outstanding, but I left thinking, I spent how much on that?

 

On the way back to Key Largo, we stopped at Robbies to feed the tarpon. That was a lot of fun and worth the dock admission fee and fish buckets. My son until the last day of the cruise kept saying that was his favorite memory.

 

That night, we ate at the Fish House in Key Largo thanks to a tip over on the Key West forum. That meal was outstanding. I had the Mahi Mahi done Matecumbe style, which the waiter recommended. Absolutely amazing. It is the "house specialty" that is "topped with fresh tomatoes, shallots, fresh basil, capers, olive oil and lemon juice, then baked." Everyone else agreed their meal was one of the best ever at a seafood restaurant as well. The Fish House is both a restaurant utilizing freshly caught fish and fish market. I asked for a clean placemat to take with me as it offers a cool illustrative map of the Keys. Plus, our entire meal, with an appetizer and several drinks came to about twice what we paid for our paltry lunch in Key West. So it was a great value. We went back to the hotel that night in a great mood and ready for cruise day!

 

In summary, I felt like we had to visit Key West once but next time around, for our family, we would just stay in the upper Keys. Lots to do there. But your experience may be different!

 

I will try to get to the first actual cruise day and some of the initial Carnival experiences and impressions tonight!

 

 

 

I got married in Key West in Feb. We had rented a car and stayed at the Sheraton. The way to do KW IMO is to stay there but not try to drive downtown. You take the free shuttle the hotel offers lol! And prob going in Feb helped, wasn’t a million degrees. Kw is super interesting if you navigate it differently. Restaurants..I’ll agree, overpriced. We went to margaritaville. It was kind of crappy and expensive. But there’s better places.

 

 

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[LakeWobegon]

Thanks for a very informative review!

 

Thanks! I was a bit wordy but I enjoyed it. lol

[never_cruised]

Thanks for the review we have been considering Carnival but as you stated have always been put off, so it's good to see you really enjoyed it.

 

We are tempted by the Horizon however being from the UK just need to do some more planning.

 

We have only ever travelled with Royal Caribbean and Disney.

[LakeWobegon]

I enjoyed your review - thanks for posting. We did this same itinerary on Breeze in 2015 and also stayed at the Hampton Inn Key Largo for a few days pre-cruise. Good to see they weathered last year's hurricane. We also did Jolly Pirate in Aruba and Seavis in La Romana - both great excursions. Glad you enjoyed.

 

Thanks. The Hampton In was nice. I would definitely stay there again. And from all appearances, things looked good in the area. Yes, great excursions. Carnival's were pricy and not as good in my opinion from what I saw on paper. Glad these two worked out.

[LakeWobegon]

I got married in Key West in Feb. We had rented a car and stayed at the Sheraton. The way to do KW IMO is to stay there but not try to drive downtown. You take the free shuttle the hotel offers lol! And prob going in Feb helped, wasn’t a million degrees. Kw is super interesting if you navigate it differently. Restaurants..I’ll agree, overpriced. We went to margaritaville. It was kind of crappy and expensive. But there’s better places.

 

 

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Yes, I am sure it is a nice place. Just not for us at this time and stage. And you can't really judge a place in one day - and with two kids not particularly interested in anything going on there!

[LakeWobegon]

Thanks for the review we have been considering Carnival but as you stated have always been put off, so it's good to see you really enjoyed it.

 

We are tempted by the Horizon however being from the UK just need to do some more planning.

 

We have only ever travelled with Royal Caribbean and Disney.

 

Yes, like I said. I'm a bit sad we're not going on Carnival our next cruise but MSC will be a new experience. I have to say I enjoyed the diverse mix of people on board, all of whom were respectful. Only a few times did I run into unruly kids, swearing and acting cool, and holy bleep their parents let them have it. And the service and vibe put forth by the entertainment staff were just really positive and fun without being silly or trashy.

 

Good luck. I think the Horizon, Vista or Panorama once sailing would all be good options for a first cruise if you are used to bigger ships with all the bells and whistles.

[BENHANDEL]

 

Tip (Given to us by SkyRide staff): One of the best times or least congested ones to visit is when approaching Curacao. The winds die down dramatically given the location of the pier and everyone is rushing to get ready to get off the ship. We all went twice on the SkyRide and could have went a third time, probably within an hour's time.

 

I made a note of that tip. I think we'll try to do this during one of the port stops where we do not have an Excursion booked.

[LakeWobegon]

Yes. If you are doing the same itenerary, its something about the winds and the pier position in Curacao. Otherwise, if a differnt set of ports, just ask the staff on the first day. Would have, could have, should have...we may have done a beach day in Curacao or something else but it was a nice leisurely stop to spend time on the ship and take a stroll into town. Very safe to do that there versus say La Romana, where I feel like you would have to book an excursion or choose something safe but boring like going to the recreated European village via cab. Not knocking Europe. lol. Good luck. Have fun and safe sailing!

[lunagirl]

Thanks for doing this review! We are considering this itinerary and your info was super helpful :)

[LuckyStar]

Yes, I am sure it is a nice place. Just not for us at this time and stage. And you can't really judge a place in one day - and with two kids not particularly interested in anything going on there!

 

I equate KW with where the donkey boys took Pinnochio. It's great fun for adults but no place I would take my kids.

[AAAAmerican]

Thank you for your review.

On NCl you did not mention the FEES nor Costs for even Water, Juicers.

On the alcohol did you know NCL makes batches in pitchers? Carnival mixes them singuarly.

Your son is already an expert in the culinary delights. Cheese Cake made well is really simple in the NY Style but you need to add the Cream Cheese. It is a prefect test for each and every ship to see the standards of quality aboard.

Now after youall try other lines your going to see some minor as well major differences. You are so wise to teach your children well!

[PhillyFan33579]

Thursday, Aruba, we had ordered room service to be delivered the night before. A bit underwhelmed as they only sent half the order but that was OK as the kids had enough pastries and I snagged a few breakfast burritos for my wife and I from the Blue Iguana along with some Lattes on the way back. We were off the ship shortly after 8 and it was a quick taxi ride (20 minutes) to Moomba Beach. I think it was $4 a person or $16 each way without tip.

 

We did the Jolly Pirates excursion which I highly recommend. The boat departed at 9 am and was back by 1pm. During that time, we cruised out to the old German shipwreck to snorkel in some very rough waters. Then off to a calmer spot near shore with lots of fish and white sea urchins, the type you can pick up! A gentleman in St. Thomas had showed us the difference last year. With everyone back on board after that, the main entertainment was swinging off the rope swing on the side of the ship. Very fun and many people lined up to do it 10 times or so. You wanted to go again and again to keep improving your form. lol. A small boat motored out to us around Noon to bring us a good BBQ lunch. And there were free rum drinks throughout the cruise. At $60 pp booked online, I would highly recommend this excursion and do it again - if not just for the rope swing.

 

On the way back, the taxi driver said she would drop us off at the shops just a few blocks off the cruise terminal as they had more variety and were cheaper than those right outside and inside. Well, she lied. : P But it's a good story how my wife bought her magnets for twice what she could have paid right there at the terminal. Twice for the same exact ones.

 

We had dinner at the Steak House that night. My wife hurried up to the Spa beforehand to get a pedicure, discounted by the $50 gift card Julio our room steward placed in our room to help celebrate our anniversary. She would only go on the waterslides if wearing socks the rest of the week. The steakhouse itself was great and it was determined the next night in the MDR that our head waitress was our MDR head waiter's girlfriend. We told him it was wonderful service in the Steak House and he said he would tell her we said it was the worst ever.

 

The meal itself was good with a minor hiccup. I had the Fire and Ice Oysters that they bring out in a dome of cold smoke that dissipates over the table, followed by lamp chops and the chocolate orb. All very good except one of the chops was tough. I considered bringing this up but the other's were excellent. And the service great so I let it drop.

 

One thing I wonder is if the wait staff in the MDR don't angle for a spot in the Steak House or specialty restaurants eventually given the tipping situation. There was no auto gratuity involved in the fee so you tipped what you felt comfortable with and I wonder if this doesn't present an advantage to the wait staff here depending upon how they split it?

 

Just an FYI, the additional charge for the speciality restaurants includes the gratuity for the wait staff. Of course you can always leave an additional tip, just like you can for the wait staff in the MDR, room stewards, bartenders, etc.

[texasgirl73]

Thanks for the review. I sailed Vista last year and will be returning to her next year. Great ship!

 

 

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