PrincessArlena'sDad

Here I am, at 6 o’clock in the morning…. Still thinking about you… I have no idea why that song just got stuck in my head. It’s not 6, it’s midnight, and I don’t think I heard that song once today. Oh, well. The ship is still rocking, but not as much as it was. Forward “secret” decks are still closed. Balcony is open, but I elected to type this indoors. Lots of sea spray and electronic devices don’t mix too well. We are enjoying the balcony, however. We love the coves. My red headed wife burns easily, so this is the first time she’s really been able to enjoy without constant sunscreen. I guess I should go back to the beginning of the day. I’m fairly confident that it will be more interesting to read about Aruba than our balcony. So, once again, we managed to wake up prior to our wake up call. I decided I love when that happens. You see, when the wake up call comes, I pick up the phone and say, “Ha, ha I’m already awake! You didn’t wake me! Joke’s on you!” I get no response from the automated voice. Therefore, I win. Family Harbor breakfast. BACON AGAIN! UNLIMITED SELF SERVE! I still prefer the sausage. Cookie announced we were free to leave the ship, via the after or mid elevators. Being in the after of the ship, we went to the aft elevator. But, the aft elevator doesn’t go to 0 deck. Cookie made a boo-boo. He meant mid or forward. It was the comedian from two nights ago who gave us directions. You might think one should never take directions from a comedian, but, we took the chance. At last we made it off the ship.

They don’t allow guests to take their own pictures, so you have to buy their package. We did, and I’ll give details in a bit. Spoiler: $39 for all of them.

Here I am in our cabin, settling down for the night. Despite being midship deck 2, it is rocking a LOT. Upper decks are a pirate ship ride. No waves out there, it’s just from the wind. After lunch the kids went back to the clubs, and my wife and I went to the fitness center. I got on the treadmill, but, with the rocking, within a couple of minutes I almost fell off. If someone took a video, they would have thought I was drunk. I really couldn’t stay on. I must admit that my wife was able to do just fine. Women’s intuition must have scored another point here, I guess she knew when the ship would zig and when it would zag? In any event, she came with me to the recumbent bikes, so I wouldn’t be over there all alone. Isn’t she sweet? Of the 5 recumbent bikes, 4 of them need maintenance. 3 of those 4 have seats that slip. 1 of them also doesn’t turn on at all, 1 of them has no resistance, and one has the belt slip if you go above level 6. Of course, my wife chose the one that works perfectly from the very beginning. I lost track of how many points she has. After freshening up, we met up with our 11 year old and went to Walk the Plank. This was a fun team game; 4 teams, I think 6 on a team. We got there a bit late, and they already had enough people, but someone volunteered to sit out so that our kid could play. His generosity was very much appreciated. The fun squad host (Eddie Spaghetti) had 1 person on each team compete for points in a series of games. Each team member got one game. We’re pretty sure Eddie Spaghetti made up the rules as he went along, as they would often change in the middle of the game, and he didn’t seem to realize it! DIdn’t matter though, everyone still had a blast. The highlight game was and adult only game where each person had to wear a bottle for a hat, and were given Nerf swords. The object of the game was to use the sword to knock the bottle off the opponents heads. Our team came in 3rd place overall. After that we had a little time before dinner, so we picked up our gold pins and complimentary water bottles from the bar. Dinner was completely on point and everything was absolutely delicious. Great service team! After dinner was family comedy, which, again, was great. Better than yesterday. Which brings me to the point I was at earlier, namely, waiting for Vintage Pop. Getting there early paid off nicely. We had great seats (which are very few in number) and fully enjoyed the show. The Playlist team on the Horizon is immensely talented, and they really are given great material to work with. We are highly impressed with the productions so far. After the show, we went to the after party in the lobby. The cast asked for 3 couples to volunteer. My wife and I quickly did, and were chosen. Each couple got a turn to dance, by themselves, up and down the dance floor area. Afterwards, they lined us all up and presented each couple with a free bottle of champagne! We’re going to enjoy that tomorrow evening. We wanted it tonight, but it needs to be iced. Tonight was the mega deck party. We went to check it out, but it was just too humid. It isn’t that hot at all, but the humidity is disgusting. We came back to the cabin and called it a night. I need to get to sleep. Sea Trek time tomorrow! We’ve been waiting three years for this.

The plan was to try the ropes course and skyride next, but they were closed for wind again. In fact the ship was rocking and rolling all day. Great weather though, just windy. Instead we did the salsa class. That was fun. The rest is the fam did great, and did it perfectly at the end. I was lucky to stay on my feet, especially with the ship participating in the class on it's own. (Rocking and rolling ship, see what I did there? ) After much debate we settled on the Mongolian wok for lunch. Food was excellent and they accommodated our allergies nicely. Vintage pop will be starting in a bit. Assuming I can stay awake long enough, I'll finish off the day before turning in for the night. If not, see you in Aruba!

I am now waiting outside the liquid lounge. Vintage pop is the show tonight. I can hear the violins in the atrium. So this works. The kids are hanging out in the clubs until showtime. As we were determined to make the family harbor lounge breakfast this morning;, we set a wake up call for 9am. Turns out we didn't need it. We were all up by 8:30. So... the answer to the most important question on all of cruise critic: THERE IS 🥓 🥓 🥓. Not only is there bacon. It is self serve bacon. As much as you want. Unlimited. Replenished faster than it can be eaten. I preferred the sausage. After breakfast we went to the military appreciation. Cookie did an excellent job here. It was very moving and meaningful experience. Cookie has not been in the military:, but did share what branch he would have liked to serve. No spoiler here. You'll have to take a cruise with Cookie to find out.

We had some time before dinner, so we got portraits from 3 different backdrops. Does the Dreamscape count as a backdrop? Or is that a different category? Service in the MDR was excellent. Absolutely perfect. All of our steaks were cooked to a temperature hotter than what we ordered, so the chef needs to work on that. At least he was consistant. There was also a wandering magician who came to our table. He came last night also, but I forgot to mention it. Which really is unfair to him, as he was very good. Different tricks from yesterday, also. After dinner we saw the PG comedy as a family, with the guy who was funnier last night. Kids almost spilled their Shirley Temples they were laughing so hard. Then we saw Soulbound. This was the best Carnival show we’ve ever seen. Actually, it was one of the best shows we’ve seen in a very long time, anywhere. After the show, the kids went to the clubs, and my wife and I returned to the cabin to watch Cuba sail by. Well, the kids have returned from their partying (my 11 year old won a medal for his dancing skills!) so it is time for me to turn in for the night. Tomorrow we’ll make the family harbor breakfast or die trying. Or, at least fight for it. I think they have bacon every morning. They did today (hence my almost uncontrollable urge to fight for the food). We shall see. After that we’ll try for the ropes course and sky course. We also would like to go to the military appreciation event. For lunch, should we go to the Mongolian wok or pasta bar? Guys burgers? We already did the BBQ. Brunch again? Blue iguana? What do you predict we’ll do?

After the welcome show, they had the Comedy Showcase, which was 15 minutes of each comedian. The first one was OK, the 2nd was very good. Then we staggered back to the cabin. I would have fallen right to sleep, but I had to force myself to stay awake to wait for our 14 year old to return from Circle C. Party animal! Our plan was to get up to have breakfast in the family harbor lounge, and then sea day brunch for lunch. That didn’t happen. Not because we didn’t want to pig out. But because we slept too late. The food was gone when we got there. People were still eating though, and it looked really good. I thought of starting a fight to steal their food. But I was too tired. So we went right to brunch. Brunch was very good, very fresh, and good service, and accommodated our allergies really well. Breakfast potatoes were a standout. We then went up to try the sky ride and ropes course, but it was closed for high winds. So instead we wandered around a bit. The kids went to the clubs, and I was going to come on here and catch up, but, instead, we went up to the fitness center. The machines are set up really nicely to be able to look out into the ocean while working out. And then they put giant TV screens on top of each machine to completely block the view. Why? Am a an anomaly? Would most people rather watch TV than the open ocean? After burning off the cheesecake I was about to pick up at Family Harbor, we collected the kids and got ready for formal night.

The Welcome Show was fun. We like Cooke a lot. One point he made, which I fully appreciate, was how fortunate and blessed we all are to be on this cruise, and it was because of the men and women in uniform that keep us safe, that allow us this luxury. Then they did the competition to win the VIP seats to the shows. I was hoping to get chosen. I did not. Speaking of the Liquid Lounge; WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??? That venue is terrible. A huge disappointment. The lower level is bad with the flat level, but the balcony is possible even worse. I’m over 6 foot tall, and sat in the 2nd row, center balcony. The person in front of me was a short, petite woman. Yet, she completely blocked my view. I had to lean one way, then the other, to see around her. And the side balcony? First, the seats should be angled to the stage. Why they are facing the other side balcony, I do not know. The people sitting across the theater are not that interesting. Sorry, but true. And, second: those columns completely block the view of many a seat. Those columns are even less interesting than the people across the theater. The columns obstruct the view so badly that there should not be seats there. I do have to say, though, that this is by far my biggest complaint. We really are having a fantastic trip. I hope you all are so fortunate when you have your trips!

Before commenting on the welcome show, I want to talk a bit about Camp Ocean and Circle C. 11 year old is enjoying Sharks (it’s the party night there now, so I’ll go get him at 1am. Or sooner if he texts me asking for a pickup. We gave him an old phone to use that we don’t use anymore. Galaxy S7, actually. Works great with the Hub app, so he can text us on it. He was given the option of moving up to Circle C with his brother (they asked out of the blue), but he decided to stay with the kids his own age. Last time we cruised he was a Stingray, and he really wanted to be a Shark at least once. Next year he’ll be Circle C. Apparently, the parents on this ship didn’t get the memo that on Carnival ships they are supposed to let their kids run wild. The scavenger hunt had to be cancelled because hardly any of the Sharks were given permission to leave the camp without a parent. So far he is enjoying Camp. He’s made a couple of friends (one of whom was on the same flight into FLL that we were on - maybe they’ll keep in touch when we get home!) Circle C has also been a lot of fun. He danced the night away with a couple of kids last night. That’s not just an expression. He really loves dancing. And, today, they went around doing the scavenger hunt together. Right now they are having a Hollywood themed party. Fun stuff! All the middle school and HS kids are also being very well behaved. Even the adults have been very polite. Well, there was that one person who cut the line to get the free charm bracelet. Yes, that really happened. I guess there’s always one.

Thanks! Only things I published were for school - academic boring stuff. I do enjoy writing though.

Our server at dinner, Marie, is fabulous. Full of energy, fun, and really on point. As I mentioned earlier, we got a lot of allergies in our family. I thought we would have the allergy tablet, but they aren’t using it. Maybe because we have some non-typical allergies that the tablet can’t accommodate? Anyway, the kids ordered gf/dairy free/egg free sweet and sour shrimp. Marie let us know it would be 15-20 min delay because the chef would have to make it from scratch. We finished dinner at 7:40 (we have 6pm fixed). Food was great. I had the brisket, which was perfect and fresh. Stir fry veggies were very good, but a weird pairing. Dessert was melting cake. Between dinner and the welcome show we finished straightening out the cabin. Oh, I also enjoyed the family harbor lounge cappuccino machine. Absolutely great. Kids are enjoying the hot chocolate (at least the ones who can have dairy). We do have one gripe with the machine though; “black coffee” has some cream in it. You can’t get plain black coffee. So, the machine can’t be used if you have a dairy allergy.

Sorry for the delay getting back. I meant to continue upon returning to the cabin last night, but I just fell asleep. And, today was a fun, busy day at sea. I just took a picture of Cuba from our balcony. I’ll post it here later. It’s not very good, considering it’s 11pm, so it’s just a few lights in the distance. I bet the view is better from the Havana cabins. But, hey. It’s Cuba. So, back to yesterday, where I just left you all at pork butt. After lunch, we went to our cabin to find that most of our luggage arrived, so we did most of our unpacking. Once that was done we explored the ship. And, by explore, I mean get lost. Over and over and over again. We found about 15 ways to get to the basketball court, but not a single way to get to Camp Ocean. Spoiler alert: midship stairs to deck 11. As we were wandering around, my wife suddenly says she wants to go to the spa raffle. I ask, “Why?” She has never used the spa services, never seemed interested, but she really wanted to. So we did. And she won! $100 spa credit! I told you it was coming: 2nd point for women’s intuition. She’s going to book a facial treatment (probably) on the morning of La Romana, where the ship comes in to port late morning. (The credit has to be used on a port day). Freshly aglow with her victory, we continued our tour of the ship, until it was time for the sailaway party. We felt obligated to at least try the big deck party, but only stayed for 2 minutes. That’s because it took that long to cross the deck. Why did the family cross the deck? To get to the AC! It really is too loud for us. And hot. Instead we went to the “secret deck” all the way forward. I think we were on 12, but maybe 11. Of course, as soon as we get out there, my 14 year old says, “What are these windows?” And sticks his head in it. Spoiler #2: It’s cabins. We hung out there while we pulled away, and enjoyed the view and the breeze until reaching the open sea. We were the first ship to leave, followed by Harmony of the Seas hot on our aft. We left the Disney Magic in the dust. Or sea spray. We did enjoy the deck party music of the Harmony of the Seas. We did the Cupid shuffle with the folks on Harmony. They were a fun group, waving and cheering for us as we passed. The Disney folk were a bunch of snobby stiffs. Ignored us low life Carnival cruisers completely. At this point we went back to our cabin to get ready for dinner, and found the remainder of our luggage waiting for us. So, we put away the remainder of our stuff. Then made our way to dinner. Well, we got lost first. Then went to dinner.

What a busy first day! It's 9pm, and I don't know where the kids are. That reminds me. This is from a disney cruise, but it's cute. Song to "When You Wish Upon a Star:" When you're sitting at the bar And you done know where your children are Take this tip You're on a ship They can't go far So... where were we? Oh yes... we boarded! For those who keep track, they boarded a wedding first, then suites. I didn't stick around to see who was next. They took my Priority G placard (I tried keeping it, but no luck) We walked into the atrium, and the colors explode. Almost overwhelming, but in a good way. We walked down a flight to drop odd our carry ons, and walked into a wall of people boarding the ship. The non Priority folk board the ship deck 2 midship. Salmon swimming upstream. And that wall of people were hungry for salmon. And confetti cheesecake. Next we went to lunch. We went to Mongolian wok on 11, but it was closed today. They did it'll be open for lunch tomorrow. Same ss pasta bar. So we went to Guys BBQ. Very good. The welcome show starts in a couple of minutes. So... I'll leave you now with thoughts of pork butt. Coming up next.... women's intuition scores point number 2.

We had a helmet dive planned in Bernuda for 2020. When we booked this cruise, the first thing the families said was "can we do a helmet dive?"

So far so good! We're now relaxing in the priority lounge at Terminal F. I hope the rest of the week goes as smoothly! I hope i didn't jinx it! The hyatt breakfast was very good. Food was replenished quickly and stayed fresh. Larry's Limo arrived at 8:35 for our 9am pick up. We weren't quite ready yet, but it felt good to know our ride was there. The van was a nice 9 passenger van, very clean, great ac, courteous driver. Highly recommended. We left the hotel at 9:01 and pulled into a spot at the terminal at 9:26. A porter came up to us to collect our luggage, confirmed we were not giving him our boarding passes and ids, and gave us directions on where to go. He almost left before I could give him his tip! I had to chase him down! Check in was a breeze. No one in front of us. Up to the luggage area. A bear sniffed our carry ons. (The sign claimed it was a dog. That was no dog. That was a bear. ) We all had to restrain ourselves from giving her a great BEAR hug. Upon entering the priority lounge we got a card with "Priority G" on one side. The other side says we have to return the card when boarding. Dang! I thought i had a free souvenir! We took our picture with the horizon booth and got a seat in a mini living room. A coach and 2 chairs. Restrooms are nice and very clean. We've been sitting for about a half hour and they just announced boarding will start "soon!" I'll see you all on board!

No, but we don't plan on leaving the port complex. There's a nice pool there that opened this year. We saw online they have pictures with monkeys, a fish pedicure we might try, and shopping.

We collect our bags and call the Hyatt for pickup. The guy tells us which door to wait for him at (Door 223 I think from the departures level. Don’t bank on this, I’m still punch drunk from sleep deprivation!) He gets there 1 minute after us (if that), and, as he helps us load our bags into the van, BOOM goes the FL thunder! We get ourselves in the van just before the flood gates open, and we’re practically at sea already. A short 10 minute drive to the Hyatt, and we exit the van to completely dry skies. FL weather. Hyatt Dania beach is very nice. Large rooms, comfy beds. Nice fitness center (which the whole family used). Dinner was at Lime’s Mexican Grill across the street. AMAZING. OUT OF THIS WORLD. Biggest problem was that the free salsa bar had too many amazing varieties and my stomach could only fit so many chips after that burrito with a side of beans and rice. And a strawberry margarita. I would have taken pictures, but everything was eaten faster than I could get my phone out to take them! After that we walked over to Sprouts for 3 bottles of wine (advantage of a daughter who is 21) and nut pods for my wife’s coffee. And, ice cream sandwiches for dessert. I should mention that we have a lot of allergies in our family, so we’re going to have a lot of experience with the allergy tablets. But, for now, I should note that Sprouts is heaven for desserts for those with allergies. Those dairy free and gluten free ice cream sandwiches didn’t last. We walked back to the Hyatt, and as we walked under the awning the rain returned. We timed that perfectly! And, now, here we are, settling in, excited for embarkation day! Larry’s Limo is coming at 9am, and my wife wants to use the fitness center before breakfast, so it’s time to turn off the Diner and Dive’s marathon. Good night everyone, and see you tomorrow!

I am a compulsive planner. I started a “To-Do” list a month ago. I started a packing list 2 months ago. I gathered everything we were bringing 2 weeks ago, making order after order on Amazon for things we didn’t have (or couldn’t find). So what happens this week? Emergency orthodontist appointment (his braces basically fell out). Work due dates change. Massive traffic jams. Cat sitter has an emergency and can’t come some of the days. Front door lock stops working and needs to be replaced. Dryer decides it misses the repairman and asks for a visit. (Luckily it agreed to dry all the clothes we need for this trip). I scheduled packing to start 9 am July 5. Instead, first clothes go into a suitcase at 9pm on July 6. 14 hours before our flight! And then there‘s dishes. And cutting the cat’s claws so the (new) cat sitter doesn’t sue us. Did I print the boarding passes? Luggage tags? Passports? Wait, my father in law isn’t coming, we don’t need his passport! We planned on leaving for the airport at 7:15 this morning. Car was officially packed and ready to go at 7:10. Yes, I pulled an all nighter. We spent 5 minutes saying goodbye to the cat (I won’t lie, there was some crying involved. Not the cat). And…. We pulled out of the parking spot. And stopped. “Daddy, I think I dropped something on the way to the car, can you check?” 10 feet later. “Daddy, I can’t find my sunglasses.” Drive to the airport was almost the entirety of the trip, thanks to the lady who thought it would be a good idea to multi-task while driving: eating and checking her phone. For those keeping count, she did not have a third hand. And she apparently needed an alignment on her car. Badly. And lets not forget the truck driver practicing his NASCAR skills. Seriously. He’d do well. We avoid the demolition derby, and, a few miles from the airport, my wife suddenly points out the window, “There, over there!” She wasn’t talking to me at all, but showing the kids something. But, being the dutiful, obedient, husband that I am, I get off the highway where she was pointing. Or, maybe I was a brain dead zombie from sleep deprivation. I’ll let you decide. GPS rerouting kicks in, and our arrival time at the airport was only 2 minutes later, going in the back way. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart.That exit could have been a highway with no exits for miles! The flight to FLL couldn’t have been more uneventful and boring. Only thing of note was that I noticed that the flight to FLL that left two hours after our flight was delayed about 3 hours! We almost picked that one, but my wife said to book the earlier flight. Score one point for women’s intuition!

Hello all! This is my first attempt at a LIVE trip report. It may have something to do with the fact that this will be the first cruise where we’ve gotten a wi-if package. Hopefully it goes well, and, more importantly, you all enjoy following along with us. I am writing this from the comfort of a wonderfully comfortable bed at the Hyatt, Dania Beach, with Guy’s Diners and Dives playing on the TV. But, let’s go back in time a bit before going forward from here. In August 2019 we booked a Journeys cruise on the Radiance out of NYC. 9 nights. Over the course of the next 6 months I diligently racked up Allstate rewards points to purchase discounted gift cards to pay for it. And you all know what happened. So, I had thousands of dollars in Carnival gift cards sitting in my desk for 3 years. But, I really can’t complain too much, with the 11% ROI from the Allstate discount, those cards sitting in my desk made me more money than any other account since 2020. (Isn’t that a great silver lining?) So there are 5 of us going. My wife and I, college age daughter, and two sons (14 and 11). We debated between two cabins or the family harbor suite. We settled on the suite. It saved quite a bit of money over 2 cabins, we get the suite perks, we have the 2 bathrooms, and we really don’t spend that much time in the cabins anyway. They’re mostly for sleeping. It will be our first cove balcony, and we’re looking forward to that! I thought about leaving you in suspense, and surprising you with what port we were in. But, I figured, A, many of you already know, and B, you might be interested in a particular port or excursion we’re doing. So, here it goes: Transfer to port with Larry’s Limos. Aruba: Sea Trek helmet dive at De Palm Island Curacao: walking tour we downloaded, self guided La Romana: walk around the cruise port, but mostly a sea day at port Amber Cove: VIP dolphins at Ocean World. Last Sea day: Dr. Seuss breakfast FLL airport transfer with Everglades tour. I think that’s enough of planning. Next up: our adventure begins!

We’ll definitely keep an eye out for celestial strings. We board tomorrow!

Carnival does not offer OBC for military like Princess does. For Princess, it's like the stockholder OBC; no matter what rate you book under, you send in the request to have OBC added. For Carnival you have to book under the military rate, which may have OBC included. But, for us, the military rate is almost always not the best rate available.

This is not completely accurate. Only certain IDs from those states are not valid in FL. Most people's IDs from those states are still valid. There are numerous news articles that has the details on this.

That booking was cancelled. They can call Carnival directly for a new booking (which is what they need at this point).

The arrival time is selected for the cabin, not for an individual person. When you open the check in window, it'll start you on step 1, which is individual passenger information. On the right hand side will be the list of the check in steps. About 3/4 down the list will be "arrival time." You can click on that right away, and do that first, if you would like. When you click on that, it'll have you select a time for the cabin.

We're flying down on Friday!!!! You're review this week has me completely psyched!