havanadaydreaming

man, we just disembarked the Venezia earlier this month and i cant remember when the buffet closed. i know we left the room at 830. went to the buffet. found a table and then got in line to eat. about 15 mins after we were done it shut down. rapidly. a few folks were outta luck who arrived late. im thinking 930 close but might be 9. clear as mud, eh?

two weeks til flight. eldest child still doesnt have swimsuit. he's definitely a last minute to last second type. drives me batty! im ready to start packing now. i have most of my cruise clothes set aside in the closet and other cruise essentials in a rubbermaid container. Let's Go!

$192 ttl or pp? its kind of a coin flip to me. i love the deluxe OV. this from a fella that only did balconies first 10 cruises or so. i like the higher up balconies in port so i can see more stuff in the distance. at sea not so much so long as it isnt obstructed view.

we thought Venezia had the best teppanyaki at sea. really good portion sizes, well worth the money. best hibachi place by us is just about $50pp without drinks or apps/sushi.

i think lunch is $5 less expensive.

Im sure carnival with block out the breast scene.

I think our upcoming cruise has $200 obc. I have squirreled away $250GC from carnival cc. Two $100 GC from Go 365. And bout to get another 100 GC from the grocery this week. Gives me some worry free onboard spending. There shall be Alchemy (only have DOU casino) and sailaway dranks!

Son just asked if miami beach was near downtown and if there is anything to do there....

Thanks Mz, imma definitely do a walk by. Waiting til day of to make day pass decision. HAS to be a gorgeous day to offest the fee.

Oppen has to be a midnight showing.

Hola alias. Come say hi at Turk Margaritaville. We should be setting up shop in pool across from swim up bar. I am very strongly leaning towards getting a tray of jello shots to share with strangers. Fins up!!!

My sympathies, godspeed.

Not sure i really have a ccl ship i really wanna book. Id like a smaller ship that can go to slighly nontraditional ports.

Ive enjoyed every ship ive sailed so have my now adult kids. We are sailing the Magic next month. If i had to select my favorite ccl ship id pick horizon. Cant quantify why exactly. Im surprised youre not more interested in ports for your first timer 10 and 12 year olds... some muuuuuuuuch more fun than others.

Off Venezia Nov 8, havent got a survey here.

most memorable MDR item from last month cruise on the V was meat lasagna. highly recommended.

Line 'em up folks...what are your most memorable CD moments on Carnival. i have a few. 1. "butchy baby" on the Breeze, my first sailing. he mentioned on the announcements to say hi to him when he was out and about. i took it literally when i saw him on the pier returning from first port. he actually engaged in conversation which, at the time, surprised me. 2. Todd on the Spirit. was very much available to guests at trivia contests and events around the ship. 3. Donkey. For just out and out excellence at Guess that Song and trivia events and interactions. Plus, he really seemed engaged in helping his fun squad progress. His asst CD from our cruise was, in fact, promoted to CD fairly recently.

i remember about a half dozen CDs over the years that did their job VERY well. i give my personal top ranking to Donkey. it sure seemed like he was living his best life. it didnt surprise me at all he was promoted to that Fleet Director role.

admittedly i am not really swayed by ships when booking cruises. its more bang for the buck....ports of call.....departure port flight cost....etc. i have really enjoyed every ship we have cruise on, big or small. What is the next CCL ship you want to book? I was looking at Mardi Gras or Celebration Black Friday deals but none fit our 2024 availability. (an odd aside, probably my favorite cruise ship is routinely bashed in the cruise community. NCL Epic. granted, the cabin bathroom setup is WEIRD and not my fave)

just saw a video this week of the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise casino. it had a sports betting machine. the rest of the casino was pretty sparse. "regular" size room but not a lot of machines like other cruise lines.

learned the adult kiddos have cabins on deck 7 extreme rear, connected inside cabins. the last two cabins in the hallway. we are extreme front deck 9, i think the "inside cabin" with obstructed view window/porthole. this was kind of a budget family holiday cruise so all is well. i still have to load Cheers package on the kids' cabins.

always wanted to sail out of NOLA, preferably after winter when daylight a little longer each day. love to see the rest of the trip to the ocean. i always thought NO was on the ocean growing up. ha!

been an odd year pcvt. was in vegas when we got word of jimmy passing 6am. literally across the street from Margaritaville, so we wound up going there midday. we were at the casino resort with the volcano so you bet i knew when the volcano was gonna blow that night. fins up! then we were on Venezia last month when his final album was released, in Barbados. i downloaded it and listened to the new tracks with a pretty heavy heart. i give 4-5 of them a strong thumbs up!

we were on Venezia last month, 12 nt cruise. every single dining reservation was deck 3, we had "your time" dining. kept waiting to hit deck 4 but never happened.

We are under one month to go until the next cruise, a six nt trek on the Carnival Magic with two of our adult kiddos and their BFF's. Gonna spend two nights in Miami Beach pre-cruise (cheapest airfare caveat). The Dania Beach Jai Alai will be running matches from early Dec until late Feb...so that's a must do for me, luckily the wife will tag along. I'll try to bribe her with a visit to Jaxson's down the street for some good, and huuuuge, ice cream. We have to save for a couple years to pay for the three cabins, Cheers! and airfare. But its sooooo worth it. we usually get 5-6 days with the kids during the holiday season. other years they are so busy with work and other family that we only get a few hours on the Big Day. Bribery? mayyyyyyybe. This is the first bigger ship the children have been on. The previous two were Elation and Paradise. I think they are going to be in for quite a surprise. I love the small ships but the big ones do kinda overwhelm the senses. Ports of Call Amber Cove (we have all been) Nassau and Grand Turk (they havent been) We had Grand Turk replaced by Bimini a couple years ago on the family cruise. pfffffffft. Thrilled to finally get there with them ESPECIALLY this year. I'm an admitted top shelf Parrothead and it was tough learning Jimmy Buffett passed away this past September. It signaled the end of our family tailgates before his concerts. I ended with 56 concerts and i think my youngest daughter was in double digits. Grand Turk ranks as the Best Margaritaville on Earth in my book. So far we dont have any excursions planned. Cove and Turk will be pool days. No idea for Nassau yet. I might stroll over to the new Margaritaville Resort near the port. THINGS WE MIGHT OR WILL DO FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS CRUISE *get the surf and turf upsell at the MDR *buy one of the tarts at the coffee shop - i've been intrigued for years! *get some Seafood Shack *sailaway from Miami as family Stay tuned.