Willdra’s Valiant Venezia Review

[princess76021]

9 hours ago, willdra said:

W and I took our food back up to the room and ate in there. Alright let’s get into this bagel. Whooooooo I was not ready for this goodness. New York!!!!! What are y'all sprinkling in this food??? This didn’t taste like any bagel that I ever had before. This got the coveted second look award. Y’all know. When you take that first bite and it’s so good that you gotta put it down, step back, and just look at it. Awestruck. That little bagel shop made this like rent was due!!! I was glad I got a fork too. The cream cheese was very thick and oozing out of the side! Delicious! Gahhhhhhhhh. Why is this so good??????? It’s just a bagel for heaven’s sake. And it's a DAY OLD!!!!!!! 

 

After that first bite I looked at the bagel. Pause. Then I looked at W. He knew. He said "That's why I got 2". Well played W. Well played. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's in the water!!  that's why pizza tastes so different (and delicious) too!!! 

hugs from texas (formerly from the bronx!)

[Jeafl]

We were on the Venezia 5/27-6/6 so I am really enjoying your take on the ship.  We did not have the extra time in New York, and I am really regretting that.  Our comedians were a snooze as well.  What is up with that?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your journey.

[gambler]

Love your review. Great pictures!

[fair-winds39]

Just saw this today and I need to catch up. Here I go again, your descriptions of some things are so funny, I’m again, laughing out loud. Looking forward to your thoughts on Venezia. We were on her in Oct. 2023. Enjoy your NY adventure and the Venezia.

[peteandpris]

Yay! love this review.

 

[notscb]

It's so weird seeing photos of this ship and thinking "huh, it's a Carnival ship, but it definitely doesn't look like a Carnival ship." I love the little touches in the serenity area (the greenery, mostly) and the extra accents and details all around- not to mention the mirror in the bathroom!

 

[Knights on the Beach]

Great pictures - looks like it was a wonderful first day on the ship! I hope all the circus monkeys stay in NY when Venezia moves to Port Canaveral. 🤡

[HeyJut]

Been following along again. Willdra you are so real it’s just plain fun reading your posts.

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 12:54 PM, wrightkj said:

I am having a great time reading about your adventure! Love your writing style!

Thank you! 😊 

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 1:16 PM, mimmy52 said:

Although it might have been more fun to cross the Brooklyn Bridge in good weather, the rain certainly made for some wonderful photos with the reflections. There were several that made me stop and think Wow.

What a great observation! I had to go back and look again after I read this and you are right. I never even noticed the reflections and I’ve been staring at these pictures for weeks! 😜

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 1:34 PM, x lindsay x said:

It is their occupation. Turf wars and all. 

 

And glad to hear that you didn't buy wine at a bodega, because what they sell is "wine product" you can ONLY buy wine in NY at a liquor store or wine shop. You can also buy little Fireball shots at the bodega but they are half proof of the real stuff #workarounds. 

You are so right! I didn’t buy it at the bodega cuz their stuff was like 5% abv or something ridiculously low. I told W we should just go back to the hotel and regroup. So glad we waited! That would’ve been such a disappointment. I feel like I could get stronger wine at church.🤫

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 2:48 PM, TravelE said:

I am loving this review, and you are helping me plan for our August cruise on the Venezia. I love how you are making the most of your time in NYC. Cant' wait to see what Lucy and Ethel get up to next!!

 

 

LOL 🤣 We tried to do as much as we could, since we weren’t sure when we would get back to NY again. Lucy and Ethel are a mess! They do get around tho! 😉

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 3:54 PM, princess76021 said:

one more thing,  about the subway system, 

that is how i met my husband!!

he fell on my lap (literally) after a few not so nice words we started to talk nice

after 1 1/2 years we were married!  53 years the day before he passed.

love the subway for that!!

hugs from texas

 

Wow that’s an incredible way to meet! It was clearly meant to be. I wish I could’ve heard what you said when he fell on you tho! 😂😂😂

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 5:13 PM, purpleally said:

“His vote is silent”. Heehee 

Always 🤐🤐🤐

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 5:44 PM, #Bluesea said:

Enjoying your review! Great summer read!!! Thanks for your time to bring it to us!!!

Thanks for joining my journey! 😍

[willdra]

On 6/17/2024 at 6:55 PM, notscb said:

As a NY'er (not NYC, but still), I remember the moment where I said to myself "wait- they did the MET and the Brooklyn Bridge and the 9.11 museum all on the same day- WHAT. " It seems like y'all made the most of your trip!

I was a little bummed that it rained on Sunday. That really put a hitch in the giddy up. We had a few more things on the list for that day but the rain (and W forgetting his knee brace) slowed us down quite a bit. I’m sure we will be back soon for round 2 tho! Especially now that we sorta know what we’re doing. 😜

[willdra]

On 6/18/2024 at 10:48 AM, Sadebud said:

Great review as always, Willdra!!! I had been checking and checking and checking for it...I went out of town for 3 days, and sure enough, it showed up while I was gone and I had 6 pages to read...lol.  I, too, will be thanking God tonight that there is another Willdra trip report to follow!

Awww thanks for this! Now I’m motivated to continue! 🥰🥰🥰

[willdra]

On 6/18/2024 at 1:26 PM, mlshum said:

So excited for another Willdra review!

 

Thank you! 😊 

[princess76021]

23 minutes ago, willdra said:

Wow that’s an incredible way to meet! It was clearly meant to be. I wish I could’ve heard what you said when he fell on you tho! 😂😂😂

i think to be able to stay on CC  i'll just say i'm a born Bronxite and it wasn't a raspberry!! (for those that don't know, a raspberry is when you stick your tongue out and blow)

hugs from texas

Edited June 20 by princess76021
more info

[Essiesmom]

16 minutes ago, princess76021 said:

i think to be able to stay on CC  i'll just say i'm a born Bronxite and it wasn't a raspberry!! (for those that don't know, a raspberry is when you stick your tongue out and blow)

hugs from texas

Oh, a Bronx cheer…EM

[pinto18]

I love the Lucy and Ethel comparison lol. It could also make sense as Fred ( him) and Ethel ( you) ...ok I am really showing my age now!

[cruises42]

Excited to read your review! We were on this cruise too.

[LaRue1975]

Loving your review Wildra! We’ll be on the Venezia 12 day to Port Canaveral in November 2025. You have sold me on spending two nights pre cruise in the city, thank you! We were on the Celebration May 5th to the 18th and I have a vague memory of hubby pointing to a ship and asking why it doesn’t have a whales tail? And me replying that’s Venezia and we’ll be on her next year. I could have been dreaming or drunk so will be looking to see if we were in port together somewhere along the way. Looking forward to the rest of your adventure! 

[HolySpearit]

Following along, love your reviews! NYC cruise is definitely on our list, but given our list is about 18 miles long at this point not sure when it’ll be outside of “someday, as long as the good lord doesn’t decide to take me out unexpectedly soon”. 
 

Glad to live vicariously through you in the meantime! 

[LatinaInTexas]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:06 PM, willdra said:

We were still a little early, but we walked towards the Empire State Building anyway. Our ticket time was 3, we got there around 2:25. We inquired, and the doorman said it was close enough, and he let us in. I’d reserved the tickets through CityPass. In CityPass, you can pick the number of activities you would like to do. I did 2 since we already had Moulin Rouge and The MET booked separately. I knew we wanted to go to Empire State and we would choose one of the other activities on their list for Sunday. We were thinking it would be the 911 Museum and Memorial.

 

Anywho we walked in and went thru security with a big group. We stripped down, took everything off (not everything just jackets, bags, and phones), and walked thru the scanners. I set off the alarm, but I guess I looked innocent cuz the security guard just glanced at me and started doing something else. Oh ok it’s like that. Mkaay.

 

So we walked thru and put our jackets and bags back on. We were able to separate from the group at the entrance to the scanners. They held them back to account for everyone. Thank goodness. We did not want to be stuck behind whatever that was they had going on (not that we were that much better). I scanned my CityPass, and the gates opened. I turned around to hand W my phone to scan his pass, but he had entered with me. The alarm was kinda going off too, since both of us walked in, but it was very quiet. For a split second, W almost turned around, but I told him to just come on thru. If security approached us, we could scan him in, otherwise we would keep it moving. Nobody even looked at us. We kept it moving.

 

I started to wonder tho, “Why do we have to be Lucy and Ethel everywhere we go?” Does this happen to other people, or is it just us? We have been in this building 10 minutes, and we have already setoff 2 alarms. Sheesh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just getting started on this review. Can't wait to see what all Lucy and Ethel get into while in the big city👀