The Tribe has Spoken!! Carnival Celebration - 1/14/2024 (with pics)

AmyJA · February 20

Man...now you are putting the Universal bug in my travel brain.

Did I just go check hotel prices? Yes, yes, I did.

I hate to say how long it has been sense I've been there.

TxTeach79 · February 20

On 2/17/2024 at 10:28 AM, Jamman54 said:

Yes, one section is still called the Marketplace, and before it became Disney Springs it was Downtown Disney.

Yep, and in my formative WDW years it was the Walt Disney World Village!

TxTeach79 · February 20

13 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

That's their highest priced resort. That's why we stay at the Royal Pacific.

Royal Pacific was always our jam too! Great spot.... and man, did I put some time in at that outdoor bar at Margaritaville staring up at the Hemisphere Dancer back in the day.....

sid_9169 · February 20

15 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We are back at City Walk. I am going to hang out at Grill & Brew, while Patti is going to get on another Water Shuttle to the Portofino Bay Resort. Patti knows exactly where to find me. Lol. Patti is at the Shuttle landing waiting for the next Water Shuttle to the Portofino Bay Hotel…..

Patti is now on the Water Shuttle to the Portofino Bay Hotel. Where that tower is you’ll find the entrance to the Islands of Adventure theme park…..

Past the globe is the entrance to the Universal Studios theme park…..

They are sailing past the Hard Rock Hotel…..

They are approaching the Portofino Bay Hotel. They are doing some work on one of the buildings…..

Patti has found a duck, though she can’t take this one home…..

To be continued…..

Looks almost like a copy of Curacao...

Elsammo46 · February 20

Do you prefer City Walk or Disney Springs. I have friends that swear by each one, so I was just wondering what y'all's opinion is.

Jamman54 · February 20

2 hours ago, Elsammo46 said:

Do you prefer City Walk or Disney Springs. I have friends that swear by each one, so I was just wondering what y'all's opinion is.

We really love both places, but Disney Springs is much bigger and more extensive, so it gets the nod. 😃

Elsammo46 · February 20

45 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

We really love both places, but Disney Springs is much bigger and more extensive, so it gets the nod. 😃

Thank you! 🙂

Megan_Strick · February 20

54 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

We really love both places, but Disney Springs is much bigger and more extensive, so it gets the nod. 😃

I agree. I prefer Disney Springs.

SenatorsFan · February 20

I like Disney Springs, too but City Walk has Voodoo Doughnuts and the Chocolate Emporium which has a delicious dark chocolate beer! 😁

Jamman54 · February 21

Patti continues with her walk around City Walk……

You always need to stop at VooDoo Doughnuts…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · February 21

Patti checks out the Universal Studios Store…..

Patti meets me back at Grill & Brew and we have a couple of drinks…..

We decide to have lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. We had to wait about ten minutes for a table.....

Here are a few interior views of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co…..

To be continued……

Jamman54 · February 21

Here are the menus…..

We shared a Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail…..

Patti had the salmon…..

I had the jambalaya…….

Afterwards, we decided to head back to the hotel. Here are a few views as we took the moving sidewalk back to the parking garage……

Ten minutes later we are back on International Drive…..

We decided to head to CVS to pick up some more meds and snacks. We passed the Sawgrass Steakhouse and the Wonder Works along the way…..

We then went back to the hotel for the night.

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · February 21

Post Cruise - (January 24th) - A mostly do nothing day and a great dinner.

We were up at 7am to a nice sunny day. The temperature might hit 80 degrees today. We head down to the Fountain View Café for the breakfast buffet.

We really don’t have anything planned for today, so I’m going to rest up since I’m still not feeling that great, and maybe work on the pictures for the review. Patti is going to take the car and check out the outlet stores. She tells me to come out of the room so she can get my picture. That’s me up on the 6^th floor…..

I worked on pictures for a couple of hours until housekeeping knocked on the door. I wanted to let them do their thing, so I went down and sat by the pool for a while.

Patti came back to the room around 3pm, and we just hung out and relaxed. Tonight we have a dinner reservation with a friend of ours from New Jersey at 6pm at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, which is right across the street from our hotel…..

Here is our friend Diane…..

Here are a few views of the restaurant…..

Here are the menus…..

I had the chicken potstickers and the jambalaya…..

Patti had the fish & chips….

Diane had the shrimp and scallop risotto……

We had an excellent visit and a great meal. We got back to the room at 9:30pm, and called it a night.

Coming up next: Our last day in Florida! (For now).

Princess Cruiser27 · February 21

I'm caught up with the food porn, husband day care and Patti's walks. I never ate at Bubba Gumps before. Run Forest Run. 😅

AmyJA · February 21

5 hours ago, SenatorsFan said:

I like Disney Springs, too but City Walk has Voodoo Doughnuts and the Chocolate Emporium which has a delicious dark chocolate beer! 😁

Come visit me and I'll take you to the mother ship of Voodoo.

Truth be told I have never been. But I used to sit kitty corner at a restaurant on Sunday mornings and watch the line to get Voodoo while having a great Sunday brunch. I miss that place.

SenatorsFan · February 21

28 minutes ago, AmyJA said:

Come visit me and I'll take you to the mother ship of Voodoo.

Truth be told I have never been. But I used to sit kitty corner at a restaurant on Sunday mornings and watch the line to get Voodoo while having a great Sunday brunch. I miss that place.

I would love to do that! 🤗 Sunday brunch is always a good idea, too.

Von & John · February 21

A few years ago, I was on a flight from ANC to DBQ...
One of the legs was SEA to ORD - early morning flight.

I was in my traditional Row 17 (Exit) Aisle seat when 2 sisters joined me...

The younger sister was carrying 6 dozen Voodoo Donuts - I may have remarked "Wow someone's getting lucky today"...

They were headed to Wisconsin from O'Hare for a Family Event.

They showed me the contents & offered me a donut (no one will notice one missing).

I was happy to take them up on their offer 🙂
Snapped a photo of the boxes & my selection to text to family members living in Portland & munched on my donut...

Edited February 21 by Von & John

Von & John · February 21

@Jamman54 & Patti Thanks for a Fantastic Review - including Pre & Post Activities!!!

When I lived in Orlando I used to alternate years of purchasing an Annual Pass for either Disney or Universal...

I spent 5 years in Florida between Tallahassee & Orlando (the Land of Mickey)...

With friends we'd occasionally hit up either Disney Village Market Place which became Downtown Disney or CityWalk...

Johnny & I were back in Orlando DEC 2017 & spent a day @ Disney Springs & a day @ CityWalk...
Loved the Boat House!

We also ate @ Pat O'Brien's - John had not been to New Orlean's yet at that point - so Hurricane's were a must & Crawfish Étouffée.

Thanks for the fabulous Review, pic's of the Tribe & the Memories!

Cheers -- Von

Webecruzen · February 22

Coopers Hawk and Boat House in the week. You guys were really living it up. I need to go to Coopers Hawk, I think I have three bottles of wine to pick up.

MeganGC1983 · February 22

I have to catch up on what I missed while I was sailing! Cheers!

mopedmom1 · February 22

Voodoo Doughnuts is what my daughter chose for her 17th birthday instead of a cake. Unfortunately, we were rear-ended on the way home and they were filled with broken glass and we spent the evening in the ER. That was 13 years ago and may have been the last time I spent any time in Downtown Portland. You couldn't pay me enough to go into that wasteland now.

MeganGC1983 · February 22

On 2/12/2024 at 6:53 PM, Jamman54 said:

I played blackjack for a couple of hours losing $100, but it was all the free play money. I was feeling hungry so I went to Sea Dogs and grabbed a couple of Chorizo’s with mustard and peppers, and took them back to the Tides Bar. Suresh kept the Cruisers coming, and at some point Sid joined me. He grabbed something from Big Chicken, and we had a couple more drinks there. We then made our way down to the Watering Hole for some Watermelon Crushes. Sid tried to take the infamous mirror shots, but the mirrors were filthy! These pictures are courtesy of Sid…..

After a couple of drinks here, we move inside to the Pig & Anchor Bar. Who do I find hanging out and drinking with Heather, Peter, Amy, and Megan? Patti! You go girl! We had a couple of drinks and then went back to the cabin where I took a nap.

When I woke up the sun was just setting……

Tonight we’re having dinner with Pat & Jim at Fahrenheit 555…..

Table setting…..

Here are Patti and I……

The Chefs are hard at work…..

Bread plates….

I don’t remember what the amuse bouche was, but it was pretty good…..

To be continued…..

She definitely got “it” on this cruise!! 😆😆

Jamman54 · February 22

33 minutes ago, Webecruzen said:

Coopers Hawk and Boat House in the week. You guys were really living it up. I need to go to Coopers Hawk, I think I have three bottles of wine to pick up.

We had great dinners at both the Boathouse and Coopers Hawk with you guys in the past. Great memories! 😃

Jamman54 · February 22

25 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

I have to catch up on what I missed while I was sailing! Cheers!

You had an excused absence. Carry on! 😁

MeganGC1983 · February 22

On 2/13/2024 at 5:46 PM, Jamman54 said:

I was soon joined by Pat & Jim, Vic, and then Sid showed up with another duck that he had found to give to Patti. Thanks again Sid!

At 10am I met Patti at the Grand Spectrum Theater for “The Wave” Morning show hosted by Lee, Louis, and the Bingo Host, whose name I forget…..

They are joined on stage by Abraham who is the Watch Guy on board…..

The end of the show……

To be continued……