jam19872016

If I do you guys will have to be disqualified 🤣.

Sounds like something my mom would enjoy if we make it back. I'll try to get her there. I've still got a ton of pictures to share 😀

I once talked to a man on a Carnival cruise who claimed he got caught counting cards on Royal and was banned for life from sailing with them. He was a terribly obnoxious person and constantly bragged about the rules he broke so I have no idea if he was telling the truth or not but it's worth noting it could happen. I think the odds are bad enough in the game it's not likely to be worth it but not likely to be monitored if you do decide to do it, just know the risks - it could result in banning even if not likely.

Wow - I replied to the wrong topic. Ignore this post 😆

That ended up being all I got for pictures in this port. I clearly wasn't engaged. The architecture was stunning. The museum was amazing to look at. And the park was very impressive. It seemed like a very nice place. But for tourism? I'm not sure Valencia has a lot to offer. I'll pick up tomorrow with my day in Naples.

I ended up at another (the same?) park. Heading back.

They had a beautiful park nearby that was full of locals enjoying their Sunday. Then I found a mall which I ended up getting sucked into for about an hour and a half. It was for the wifi mostly. I was able to get a map downloaded, and talked to a friend back home who was in Barcelona getting ready to board her cruise that day. They had a giant Christmas display that looked like it was about to be set up and I was hoping to check it out when I returned on Freedom to see if it was completed, but that did not happen since our shuttle didn't take us this far. With a map downloaded I attempted to wander a little ways instead of sticking nearby so that I could find my way easily.

The next port was Valencia. This would be the only port of call we would visit three times. Honestly, one was more than enough to get everything I needed out of it. I skipped it the first day because I knew I would have two more chances to visit. I made my way off today taking the provided shuttle from Cunard. This was much better than the one Carnival had for us which was simply a means to get to the terminal building outside of the industrial part of the port. I took this picture as a reference point because I was rushed off the ship so fast this morning that I had forgotten to download an offline map and I wanted to make sure I could find my way back easily. Our dropoff point was the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias which was very stunning to view. The buildings here had very interesting shapes. The museum.

Armed with confidence because I knew where I was at again, I decided to keep exploring some more. Right in the middle of all this city, was a wooded area that felt like being transported right back into the country. I ended up walking these trails for about an hour before I headed back to the ship. Looking back up at the Castle that I had just come from. This was a great day for me with lots of wonderful views of the city and time spent exploring the wooded countryside!

I come down these stairs, figuring I have to be getting back on track at least by descending. I wander around for a little while with my offline map trying to find my way back where I know where I am. I hear some commotion and a familiar tune.... This street performer was singing Sweet Caroline...I can't escape it, even here in Ibiza. It's about a half hour of wandering when I am confident I know where I'm at and where I am going again.

I start making my way back down. I decide to follow the path back down instead of simply backtracking, I may have ended up lost as a result once I made my way back down to street level 😄 I've somehow wandered into a neighborhood instead of coming back out where I expected to.

Close up of the two ladies.

Some renovations in progress. I just love this view. There is a Queen next to the Virgin

I've reached the top and can see down towards the ships in port. With us today is a Virgin.

Reaching my point of interest, The Castle of Ibiza. Making the climb Looking down. Climing higher. The view getting even better now.

I so wish I had not fallen behind on my port days. One of the benefits of live, or almost live, is a fresh memory to recall details to go along with the pictures. I'm a year older now than I was when I started this review, and the memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. The next port day was my visit to Ibiza. This was another day for exploring on foot and I had a vauge idea as I set out where I wanted to end up. Walking. Not even sure why I took this picture now, but what the heck I'm including it anyway.

The MDR does not open. In fact, Carnival does not usually ever open the MDR for lunch, only on Journey's cruises and Alaska cruises, for some reason. All of the other food venues are open however. On the newer ships with more food choices, some of the venues that are only open on sea days are also open on embarkation day, and most people don't know about them so they are a nice quiet place to eat for the first few days of the cruise. Thank you! Transition hasn't been too rough, and I don't have too long to deal with it before the next one 🙂

I don't have the stomach for health care 🙂. Far less glamorous....retail. That's a sight NOBODY wants to see 😄

I have early access on Carnival. But not other lines but I travel light (usually, but not this time 😆). But yes, there is hand luggage everywhere On boarding day 🤣.

-1.6 today. Heading in for a 12 hour day

They don't open the rooms until 1:30. Everything else is business as usual.

Nope. By 10am there would be hundreds already at the terminal waiting to board. Boarding usually starts by 11, sometimes earlier. Excellent!

Thank you 😊 I started in a size 36, I can't make that work now and the size 40's I own are a little big. I don't have any 38's 😆