Post Review - Carnival Radiance Feb 2 -5. A Carnival do-over.

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Day three. It was another early morning for me at this time that I walked around and got pictures of the sunrise the towel menagerie and the guys hard at work on Lido.

 

 

 

 

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Then it was back to the stateroom to wait for L to finish waking up. In the meantime I watched all the seals swim past and heard them barking up a storm.  

 

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Saw your odd piece of garbage too. It wasn't till I zoomed in on this one that I realized it was actually a tire and not another seal. 

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This morning it was off to the dining room for breakfast. I was bummed about not getting my breakfast burrito, darn it, but Mary Ann had special ordered a breakfast for us and L was super excited for it so by extension I was super excited for it too. L tried to tell me it's like chilaquiles. Not in a 100 years is tapsilog like chilaquiles. What it is, is super delicious. 

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We had planned on having fish tacos for lunch however after that very filling breakfast I wasn't sure if that would still be the plan. Ensenada Massage had also thrown us a curveball. They asked if we would be willing to push back our appointment by 30 minutes so they can accommodate a large party. A 1:30 appt 4:30 all aboard? L was already having some anxiety about leaving the ship at all. Her anxiety was not helped when I indicated I wanted to take an Uber instead of hanging around the immediate port area. It was further not helped when I admitted that I've never in my life actually called an Uber for myself before. I know, right? 

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But I assured L that the worst that would happen was that our husbands would have to come pick us up in Ensenada. It did occur to me that we'd have to retrieve our luggage and my car from Long Beach too but I wasn't about to point that out even if it may have occurred to her too. Leading today's escapade, I looked up a flea market and we headed to Los Globos. 

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This place was quite extensive, and had anything you could possibly be looking for. Except a Fitbit charger. I had hoped to find a Fitbit charger. Aww. 

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It was a beautiful day for walking around, and we shopped while enjoying a jamaica and agua de pepino con limón y chía. Check out the produce on offer. I wanted to bring back some of these strawberries but I didn't want to be sent to a naughty room. 

 

And candy

 

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We did grab lunch after all. L opted for a tostada de ceviche. 

I made the mistake of adding table salsa to my taco. This was no stateside taco shop salsa, this actually had some kick. Ooh 😮. Good too. And just in case you wanted more heat you also had a slew of other bottles to choose from. Pretty standard in Mexico actually. 

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With a little bit of time to spare we decided to head back toward the port. We knew we wouldn't have time after our facials. Oh yeah, we had that 3:30 massage appointment remember? This area is much better organized with items generally sold in better condition and locals actually shop here too. Are Uber dropped us off in front of the hotel Rivera and we walked back, stopping for cigarettes (🤢) for L. 

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From the art center across the street

 

 

 

Carl's Jr cuz hey why not?

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Ensenada Massage. We got there about 10 min early. We were confused at first because there was no one in reception and when we went upstairs there were several employees - looked like they're having some kind of meeting. They were very kind and asked us to wait downstairs and came and got us just a few minutes later. We had no issue at all changing our appointment from massages to facials and that was a whole experience. First of all they introduced themselves, confirmed what treatment we were looking for and had us undress from the waist up. For your convenience they have storage cubes where you can put your belongings. They did give us our privacy and left the room while we got ready. Crawling into the bed surprised me in a good way though. The blanket had actual weight to it and the beds were warm. Warm! The room itself smelled good (aromatherapy), and they had relaxing music playing too. We chose the microdermablation deep facial. With with any facial though the treatment includes a shoulder, neck, arms, and hands massage. My masseuse had the best hands. Even while she was rubbing my neck and shoulders I was regretting not having her for my whole back. L had slightly less luck with hers but she still enjoyed it. At the end of the treatment I was left in complete awe. I had no idea even just a facial would be so relaxing and soothing. We were both giddy. L was blown away with how soft our skin felt. I really felt like she massaged years worth of stress off my face, ending with me looking years younger. Now that I've tried it, I can't wait to have another chance to book with them again. 

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We scurried over to the ship, ready to continue our pampering. Our Uber driver was only a few minutes away, but by the time we walked back to the ship, made it through security, into our state room, and back to the spa we only had a few minutes to spare. Reception didn't seem to have a spot booked for us, but as soon as we mentioned the pamper party, they assigned someone to us. As soon as I walked into their treatment room, I noticed immediate differences from our experience just a short while prior. First of all, they don't have a couple's treatment room. They also don't have any place to put your stuff down once you undress. The room is cold and all you got is one thin white blanket. She did notice I was cold and got a second blanket for me. No aromatherapy in the room, so all you got was that clean room smell, however they did play ambient music. Actually I noticed differences before ever walking into a treatment room. They had us sign a form which also asked us things like target pain areas and issues like dark circles under your eyes. The lady that did my massage asked me do I use a phone and do I use a computer. I was like, yeah? It was just odd. I didn't like the message much. At times, she used too much pressure and at other times she did not use enough pressure. What was supposed to have been a 75 minute treatment ended up being closer to 90 minutes. I guess it's a bargain, but still a stark contrast to who I had massaging me earlier, and the mood created in the room. I think I fell asleep when she was massaging my scalp. I definitely enjoyed that part of the treatment 😁. After having experienced both, the place in Ensenada was just so much better. 

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Pictures from earlier. I'm a sucker for interesting statues.

 

 

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Then we headed to the steam center to watch the ship sail away from Ensenada. We had no idea if we were dying out our skin or undoing any of the work we had done previously but we wanted to so we did. From here we also had a view of the pilot boat escorting us out of the harbor. 

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L was now hungry again. To be fair so was I, but I knew we had a special ordered dinner for tonight. After breakfast, I was doubly looking forward to tonight's dinner. I tried to convince L to just snack, or stick to dessert but to no avail. She had the right of it though, when on a cruise you should never be hungry. 

Edited February 11 by carohs

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Our last night aboard hearts. 

 

And the ship's wake as we leave port. 

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We explored again, with some time before dinner. This time we found the ropes course which were now closed 😪 and the mini golf. We played a round of 9 holes which went all sorts of funky as the golf balls refused to cooperate. It didn't help that it was super windy from the ship's movement and the ship was rocking back and forth and the golf balls never stopped moving. It was a blast!

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Tonight's dinner menu

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oh and today's Funtimes.

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Tonight's dinner was adobo and sinigang. I don't really like baked Alaska so I went with the melting chocolate cake. Ncl's is still better. The adobo was very tasty but we have a coworker that makes it better. The sinigang I could eat all the time, it's one of my favorite soups. 

 

 

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Then back to the stateroom where I fell asleep while L watched a movie. It was a great day. 

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Can I just take a moment to apologize for all the typos and grammatical errors? I'd like to say I'm better than that but evidence suggests I'm not usually. Today you could either blame voice to type and my stuffed up nose, or DD who put stick on nails on me that are impossible to type with.

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Debarkation day. The day before the hub app had been nagging me to select a debarkation time. I thought I picked self assist, must have since I didn't get luggage tags, but the second screen then asked me to pick a time. Whatevs, I just went with the latest available hoping to actually sleep in this time. Nothing exciting about being kicked off the cruise ship. Once again I felt the difference of cruising without the fam. Being only a 3 night cruise, we had very little to unpack and repack. The night before I didn't have to figure out what to leave out and scramble to get everything else packed and out for the porters. When you have 4 people, 2 of which don't listen and are impatient at best, and add the lines and crowds of debarkation, you tend to want to make use of the porters. But I just had my own luggage to worry about this time. Made the last night of the cruise a full vacation day, unhindered by sad thoughts of leaving. It's incredible how little things like that can make such a difference. I'm convinced now that I would rather not do a 3 night cruise with the kids, but as an adults only trip it was a nice quick getaway to be sure.