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PhotoMike

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. The Dream served them 2 weeks ago on the 6 night sailing, my teens tried them. (They each ate 1..lol)
  2. I go twice just for the 12hr French toast. LOVE that stuff!
  3. Correct. Their cheapest "social media" plan will allow you to do this, though.
  4. My S/O is also a teacher, so it's Spring Break week for us, too. The 4 night Mon-Fri cruises really work out well in that regard, but we are doing a 6 night on the Dream (Sun-Sat) this spring. At least we get that Sunday after to recover before going back to work!
  5. Just made reservations for our upcoming cruise on the Dream. I got the $42 price, AND paid with a 10% off gift card. POW!
  6. I just booked this hotel for next March, based on your glowing review..lol
  7. Evaporation due to the air conditioned environment in a cabin.
  8. I was pleased with the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Long Beach. It's about a block away from Von's drug store/supermarket, which was handy for picking up last minute stuff that we didn't want to pack. We cruised on Carnival, and it was about a 5-7 minute Uber ride to the cruise terminal.
  9. Last month on Radiance, shows were at 7:30 and 9:30, with doors opening a half hour prior.
  10. It seems like this space is "almost" a Cucina del Capitano. The other 2 Dream-class ships have CdC, I'm wondering why this space isn't dedicated to that venue as well? I had my first dining experience at Cucina del Capitano last month on the Radiance, and LOVED it. I just booked the Dream for next Spring Break, and was bummed to see that this restaurant isn't offered on that ship.
  11. Yes you can. Last week on Radiance, they had them at the coffee shop, too.
  12. If you have an iPhone, and purchase the "social media" internet package, chances are that iMessage will work for you. At least that's been my experience for the last 3 Carnival cruises.
  13. Just off the Carnival Radiance this past Friday morning, from a very fun 4 night Spring Break cruise. Our last cruise was on Victory a few months before the whole pandemic thing hit us all, so it was neat to see the changes. The ship was beautiful. We stayed in an ocean suite on deck 7 (in fact, it was right next door to our previous cabin on Victory), and had no complaints about the room or service. Our family of 4 had the room set up with the king bed, the sofa made into another single bed, and a roll-away. I guess my only nit-pick with the once-a-day cabin service (we chose evening) was that the beds stayed out the entire week. I suppose I could've put the couch back together & folded up the roll-away every day myself, but we made due. That configuration does cut down on your space, though. The cabin didn't appear to be remodeled in any way from it's former life as Victory, but it was clean & comfortable, and we liked it. Once-a-day service also only gives you fresh towels & wash cloths once a day, so if you want a fresh set for 2 showers a day, you'll have to ask your room steward for extras (which we did with no problems). A handy perk with the suite was a free bag of "wash & fold" laundry service, which we took advantage of. You also get 2 extra complimentary bottles of water with a suite. I took advantage of an upsell offer to get this cabin & I thought it was worth it! On to the food. I will preface this by saying that I'm definitely NOT a foodie. I'm a blue-collar construction worker who packs a lunchbox with PB&J's and stuff like that every day for work. I have read that the MDR dining on Radiance felt a little lacking in quality, and I'm going to have to agree with that. I mean, I had the sweet & sour shrimp on the first night, and it was pretty lousy. Looked & tasted like it came out of a microwave or air fryer. Our 12 yr old got the steak (not the steakhouse one, the free strip-loin), and he felt the same way as I did. The quality definitely wasn't there from past cruises (I'm a gold card on Carnival so I've been my way around a ship's dining room a time or two..lol). On the other hand, we did Cucina del Capitano one night & it was OUTSTANDING. Exceeded all of my expectations. Same goes for Sea Day Brunch. I actually went to that twice because I loved the 12hr French Toast & banana creme pie so much! Guy's, Big Chicken, & Blue Iguana are all great. I tried a little of the smokehouse food on the first day & it was pretty good, too. So I will say that if you don't care for the MDR fare, there's plenty of options. We had 2 production shows on this cruise (impressive for a 4 nighter), and they were Rock Revolution and Soulbound. Guys...don't miss EITHER of these shows. They were terrific! We sat on the floor for both, and really felt immersed into the productions. Definitely a talented group of entertainers on the Radiance right now. Ryan Rose was great, we tried to hit up as many of his events as possible (the various themed deck parties), and they were all well-attended & very fun. As far as shore excursions, we rented a gold cart in Avalon, Catalina and did the ship's La Bufadora excursion in Ensenada. Both days were very fun. You'll find that the first golf cart place you come to in Catalina will probably have super long line, but there's another one just down the street, which we used (Catalina Island Golf Cart Rentals & Tours). We rented one for 2 hours, but only really needed about an hour & a half, and they pro-rated the time used & gave me a bit of a refund which I thought was pretty nice of them. It was fun to explore on our own, but boy those hills are STEEP, so pump those brakes! The Bufadora trip was one of those "been there, done that" kinds of things once completed. I don't feel the need to ever go there again, but it was cool to see once. But man, the vendors are HIGH PRESSURE! They were on my girlfriend pretty relentlessly, and were very successful in getting a significant portion of the cash that she brought..lol! I mean, it was 82 degrees there & they sold her a blanket, for crying out loud. I asked her if she needed me to go into one of the pharmacies there & get her some Preparation H after that experience (she didn't find that as funny as I did..lol!) I had been stressing about this whole Covid testing procedure for months. I ended up buying a 6 pack of the Binax Now tests & we did them in a hotel room in Chicago before we flew the next day. I have to say, it was pretty easy. The only thing...and this grinds my gears BAD... was that one of our test kits didn't include a nasal swab! I'm so glad we had a few extras, because we had to break one out. I just feel like that's extremely sloppy quality control on Abbot Labs. I mean, you could train a dang chimpanzee to put all the right stuff in a box & seal it up. They need to package those tests in a clear plastic container, because you don't know if you're good to go until right when they tell you to break the seal & open the box. So all in all, we had a great time on Radiance. If anyone wants any specific information, I'd be glad to help. (I'm not an expert & didn't hit up every single event, but there's YouTube videos out there of people who are and did..lol)
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