Beagle's Party on the Mardi!!! (Review w/Pics)

[Beagleluv6107]

Hello CC Family!!

Wow, I cannot put into words how excited I am to write this review. Just a word of caution… I am long winded so you may want to pass on this trip report. In fact, I’m starting my rough draft a month in advance so I can share all the wonderful or painful pre-cruise details.

A little background… My first cruise was on the Destiny in 2008 and Hubby and I were married at the first port – St. Thomas. As you can imagine, it was incredible.

 

 

I’ve been hooked ever since! We originally booked the Mardi Gras for December 2019. When the ship was not complete in time, we were given $600 of OBC and told to pick another date. This was good timing because 2 of our very dear friends were about to get married so the new date became their Honeymoon Cruise! Then … the disaster we all call 2020 happened. They had to push out the wedding to 2021 and we all had to agree on a date in 2021 when we thought this big boat might float! We chose May 29^th … and we chose poorly because that didn’t happen!

 

We brainstormed again and finally settled on November 27^th and I was thrilled. That meant I could enjoy Thanksgiving and ALL the obligatory family “stuff” on Thursday and then fly into Orlando on Black Friday. That translates to an extra day of vacation for me without having to burn a “legit” vacation day!! Whoo-hoo. I was so excited about this whole extended vacation that I suggested we stay in Cocoa Beach instead of somewhere near the airport. There were 7 of us on this mission to finally sail again. I’m not actually the leader of the squad, but I’m probably the biggest PITA so they let me have my way (most of the time). 

 

 

 

Researching our hotel options was fun but researching flights was nerve wracking. American flights were beyond ridiculous on prices unless you want to fly to and from at 5AM! In August, we settled on some perfect options on Frontier and by the end of September they had changed our flights twice. The worst change was our return flight was rescheduled for 10:40am. YIKES! Considering that was WAY too early, we tried to get Frontier to move us to the next later flight which wasn’t until 4:39pm. That meant 6 hours of doing nothing in the airport, but we knew we had no choice. UNTIL… Frontier wouldn’t let us change. That was hard to believe with all the concessions airlines are making because of Covid. They said the change was within 2 hours so we could cancel and rebook and by then the new flight had almost doubled in price. We opted to roll the dice and try to make that 10:40 flight.

 

 

Next order of business was transportation. Since were cutting things WAY too close, I thought it would be a great idea to book our transportation to and from the airport separately. There were a few companies that were completely booked. I think they had to reduce staff because of Covid. I was glad we booked about 8 weeks in advance just to get the reservation. We used Orlando Transfer LLC. They were excellent to deal with getting the reservation. I’ll keep you posted on the service.

 

 

The whole squad had been vaccinated since early March. A few of us decided go ahead and get a Booster shot and hope those antibodies will keep all those nasty little Covid germies far away! My biggest fear was failing that 48-hour Covid Test. Since we must test on Thanksgiving Day, I bought the at home version. I bought 4 tests (2 for DH and 2 for me). I had been reading reports on Cruise Critic that some test kits were dry, and I didn’t want to run the risk of driving 40 minutes to the nearest Urgent Care with a turkey in the back seat. Or a pumpkin pie… who knows what I’ll be “Voluntold” to bring to Thanksgiving Dinner!

 

Next item to check off the TO-DO list was TSA Pre-Check. Hopefully, this will prove helpful with that return flight. We made an appointment online for Friday, October 29^th and we had our Known Traveler Numbers by Saturday afternoon. It was very easy to update the number in our existing Frontier Airlines flight reservations.

 

On Saturday November 20^th, as we were anxiously waiting for Thanksgiving morning so we could take our test and be 1 step closer to boarding … we got a dreaded text. If your planning to cruise in 7 days and need to pass a Covid test it is the last text you ever want to read.  It was from a friend and it stated “Hey just tested positive”. Now keep in mind my bags are packed and sitting in the spare room. Can you just imagine failing 2 days prior and not being able to take the trip you’ve waited 2 years for????  DH and I both felt great, so I tried not to let the anxiety and the scary thoughts invade my brain. It wasn’t easy!!!

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Thursday finally arrived and we took our tests.

 

 

We used our iPad and DH went first. It was relatively easy except the proctor kept asking us to use the front and back camera. It ended up being a 2-person job. I’m not sure if using the phone would be better or worse. After waiting 15 mins, we could not see a line showing his results. The proctor tells us the test is bad and she’s about to hang up on us when DH says wait… I see the pink line. We hold that test back up to the camera and she passed him. It was a big relief, but I don’t think they are looking at anything. They ask “you” to tell them if "you" see a pink line, or 2 lines, or no line. (Seems a little shady to me)

 

I went next and my results came up within seconds. It was a huge relief.

Here is a pic of our celebratory Bloody Mary’s. We earned those drinks!

 

 

Thanks to all the worry and stress over catching The Rona, we decided to cancel Thanksgiving with the family. We cooked the turkey and dessert at our house and sent it over to them. I was already packed so the rest of the day was stress free for me.

 

Now, I am finally ready to start the actual trip review here... but first... a BIG Shout out to Jamman54, Saint Greg, SID_9169, JRL81, Mitsugirly, CeleBrat, Wrigley, GAPearl, and everyone that takes the time to do reviews. We all appreciate you so much!!

[Beagleluv6107]

Hooray - Travel Day

 

We were up at 3am to leave for the Philly airport at 4am. We had no issues getting our bags checked and using TSA Pre-Check. In fact, there wasn’t much of a line at the main security check point. We were seated at Chickie and Pete’s for a Bloody Mary at 6am!

 

 

 

I got the giggles because it was starting to feel like vacation already. We had a little breakfast.

 

 

Then I had to get one for the road. ☺️

This was an Absolute n Cranberry. Cranberry is considered a breakfast juice, right? 

 

 

We were boarded by 7am

 

Up Next - Arriving in Orlando

[stellarose]

following.  going on MG very soon.

[SNJCruisers]

7 hours ago, stellarose said:

following.  going on MG very soon.

Ditto. B2B in February

[mouche]

Following....

[stellarose]

more!!! lol

[kelkel2]

Following along! I can’t wait to hear more about your return flight. Omg I’m anxious for you!

[crewsweeper]

Am so waiting for this review since we were on board with you and went through the hoops to get tested on Turkey Day.

[Beagleluv6107]

9 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Ditto. B2B in February

Stellarose and SNJCruisers... Thanks for following along. I hope you have a Blast!!!! 

I think you will 😊

[Beagleluv6107]

1 hour ago, crewsweeper said:

Am so waiting for this review since we were on board with you and went through the hoops to get tested on Turkey Day.

 

Crewsweeper... yes that was a nail biter wasn't it???  😂😂😂

[Beagleluv6107]

Arriving at Orlando

 

Our flight was early but then we sat… We sat so long the driver called me twice.

 

 

We booked Orlando Transfer. I highly recommend them. Our driver was Carlos, and he was waiting for us at the bottom of the escalator with a sign. Then he patiently waited for us to get our luggage which took well over a half hour.

 

The ride to our hotel was enjoyable. Carlos kept us well entertained. I think I spied a Disney Ship and a Royal Ship along our ride.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We chose the Days Inn in Cocoa Beach. I wanted to stay near the pier and the other options like LaQuinta wanted $300 per night. We paid $207 for the Days Inn. Would I recommend the place???  Well, I’m not sure. We are not picky and have been forced to stay in some dive places over the years. It was clean enough and close enough, but I can’t say it was nice.

 

 

 

[stellarose]

how long was the ride from Orlando airport to the hotel?

[Beagleluv6107]

3 minutes ago, stellarose said:

how long was the ride from Orlando airport to the hotel?

It was about a 40 minute drive from the airport to the hotel and about the same going from Port Canaveral to the airport. Our driver did mention that we had no traffic. I'm guessing certain times of day could make a difference. 

[RoperDK]

Following. We are on Mardi Gras for the second time next month.  Enjoy your cruise!

[mkcurran]

Woohoo! Party time!

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, Beagleluv6107 said:

We chose the Days Inn in Cocoa Beach. I wanted to stay near the pier and the other options like LaQuinta wanted $300 per night. We paid $207 for the Days Inn. Would I recommend the place???  Well, I’m not sure. We are not picky and have been forced to stay in some dive places over the years. It was clean enough and close enough, but I can’t say it was nice.

I personally would choose a hotel near MCO and then get a shuttle the following morning directly to the ship.  Hotels near the airport will be half the price as in Cocoa Beach and you can just use Uber Eats for dinner delivery.  We're staying at the Wingate at MCO for 97 in February and then getting a private shuttle for 80 bucks to take us to the ship the following morning, picking us up at 845 am.

[jimbo5544]

Great start to your review, love the pics

[Beagleluv6107]

We were ready for a drink and some lunch, but I wasn’t expecting a line at the pier. There is a weight limit and they only let so many people on the pier at one time.

 

 

 

We stood in line for about 30 minutes to get in. We walked up to the first restaurant, and they seated us. We did not realize we could keep walking. We asked the hostess "is this it???" and she just sat us. Well, we are easy going so we just sat and ordered.

 

 

 

 

 

I had the fish tacos, and they were pretty good.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We did notice a sign that said “end of the pier go thru this hallway”. Once we were on the other side, we saw there was a bar at the very end. Well now …  that’s what we wanted this whole time!!

 

Of course, we stopped and had another drink just because! And we needed better pics! I highly recommend walking all the way out here to the Riki Tiki if you come to the Cocoa Beach Pier.

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AKR2011]

Great start! I'm excited to follow along. Happy sailing ❤⚓

[cruises42]

Do you mind saying how much you paid for Orlando Transfer? We need to book transportation for our May Mardi Gras cruise.

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, cruises42 said:

Do you mind saying how much you paid for Orlando Transfer? We need to book transportation for our May Mardi Gras cruise.

We have a booking with Corey at Cruise Control Transportation.  A private shuttle is 80 bucks for two and a shared is 20 pp. We have a private on the front end and a shared on the back end.  They have two time slots for post cruise pick up, with the second one being at 1035 am.