VintageCheap

I have done this myself. The wind app /forecast/eyeball is favorable but did not consult the weather radar. Oops- big front coming and fast across our path. Serious wind gusts, we are headed back out.

I read the wine price thread. Might be over the pay grade of the onboard team. One idea from the thread - is there an off list supply aboard? I can try to ask. Decision time on docking off Bimini. We are getting a little help from the island on the 3' waves. The channel is narrow, but there are no whitecaps and more like 1-2 footers by the pier. He paused a bit but is backing in. Forecast is 5' dropping to 4'. 🙂

Hint of wind and weather ahead from our Captain. The dock in Bimini is open to the sea.

Storms in the area. On the Summit, The Captain just said on the PA to expect strong winds later on our run Key West to Bimini and hinted there may be "an update." And "the safest place is at sea." This is a hint that docks and harbors are usually not the best in storms. The pier at Bimini is IMHO based on last time exposed to seas and not in a bay. Tendering in high winds/seas is unsafe and you risk stranding passengers ashore.

Does anyone remember scones appearing in the buffet at 3:30?

Key West was good again. And not 95F. We took the free city bus to the Southernmost Beach Cafe. Where you are on the beach. Yummy food as always. We walked over to the marina area. So leave the ship, go straight and gently left. Lots of nice yacht harbor bars on the docks or nearby. Most opened at 1130. The menus looked good. If it is beach wear shopping you seek, Key West is the place. We stocked up on flag belts and sun hats. Back aboard, the updated cabin layout is amazing. Note there is just one hand towel bar, and the right hand bedside light switch is too far to reach from bed. The deck plan has an error- the promenade deck is on the sides only and does not include the bow.

Scones were observed in Sunset at 3:30 exactly....

So the good news - the updated areas are nice. The bad news- the library has poofed. It is a bank of new inside cabins now. The iCafe has moved to three. It may not (and the meeting areas on three) be a refuge from piped in music. The passenger vibe is way different. This is a five day cruise. Not many kids, but more first timers. More energy certainly. Wine prices are up vs. Connie. A guess is beverage sales are up 🙂

Our room, on the same floor, two, was updated. More outlets, and good changes.

We liked the Indigo and Brickell area of Miami. The hotel has a cute rear patio/pool. Breakfast was good. Room windows opened which I like. Back in the day we liked the Mariott South Beach. Boarding was effort and largely line less. The Sunset Grill seemed updated vs the Connie. Some key food groups were found. PIzza can be ruined by not being hand tossed. Not here. No stage in Reflections.

One of my favorite "Live From" bloggers @MeganGC1983over on the Carnival board is a hard act to follow. She is a good writer, but flies in or drives in day of departure, and maxes out the beverage package. I am too old for both of those activities. We were in Florida for a lovely cruise on the Connie and just got back. 12 days is nice, 14 is better. I was of course cruise shopping based on price and spotted this run- excellent ship and ports and $249 Ocean View. I was able to find decent one way flights back, and waited until we got to Tampa to cancel the back half of our cheap round trip tickets. Airlines hate this but I was surprised to get half our fares back. The idea was to rent a car at the Tampa port and drive down. Avis was 15 cars short due to late returns. Hertz filed police reports on these - I get why 🙂 Anyhow we made it, and are at the lovely and hip Hotel Indigo. Dinner was yummy - hand made pizza (note the correct lack of a uniform 1/2 inch layer of cheese) and appetizers from Venezuela. The chef was so surprised to get an order he came out to see us. Indigo Hotels are required to serve up to date locally inspired food but people assume it is 1987 hotel cuisine. Speaking of 1987 we missed the memo to pay extra to be on a newer ship.

Yes. Larger tenders, calm seas snd using two gangways at once can speed things up. Speaking of prices, we did miss the large duty free mall in Colon.

All in all a relaxing 12 days. CBP was a little backed up but we were out and about by 0930. The next task- off to Miami for another cruise, this time on the Summit tomorrow. The NCL Jade is in port with us. A similar ship, one that has earned high ratings also despite not being new and shiny. Abdul says to say hi to the F&B Director on the Summit 🙂

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/closed-loop-cruise

This ship is a cut above Radiance Class. More like a world cruise liner. Quieter and less crowded.

Sea days are supposed to be chill. They are. We have decided breakfast aboard is just right. The basic food groups are well represented - waffles, poached eggs, cruise line rolls, etc. The Corporate Menus are otherwise in need of updates. A tray of such rolls needs to appear earlier each morning somehow. So 0530 or 0600. Requests were the ticket for the Lucky Band. We got the snack mix sorted. A better grade of NA beer was reported to be aboard. Odouls is just nasty. Some item will soon appear on ice 🙂 Cozumel is low key. Palm trees are a plus. A guess is they are not upset at overtourism. Sunset Bar continues to impress.

Yes. Latin Dance, 70s, Howl at the Moon so far.

A nice day at sea. One more tomorrow. This is classy ship and is riding a gentle swell. MDR lunch was good. Our cabin is quiet, roomy and in good repair.

Minimal masks or caughing noted aboard. We are avoiding tables for eight and elevators for eleven. I think we read infections aboard percentage wise mirror the general population. DW did inform me yesterday I was in line in one of the shops behind and ahead of people buying cold medication. 😞

To answer our own question, there is a good craft market (50+ stalls) in the secure port area. Downtown felt safe and has lots of shops, none high end. I got a belt and iPad case. They take dollars readily. We did not see an obvious lunch place but that was not my goal.

The pizza has been fine. A bit more cheese than in Italy, but Americans prefer that apparently. We walked all over downtown in search of older iPad case. We did finally find one. The biggest hazard- uncovered sidewalk utility boxes - watch where you step. They took dollars readily. Many offers of taxi tours- one hour $20pp was a quote by the park. Plenty of police. The economy is a bit sluggish it seems. The best stock of handicrafts, hats, bagged coffee etc. was in the very secure in port shopping area. Some nice carved wood. War on pesky surface rust aboard.

I prefer longer cruises. It takes a while to decompress. Finally today we have our "duty station" sorted out- 10 aft. It is outdoors, often shady, looking aft is always good. We are near the waffles and poached egg department as well as pizza. There was a large supply of whole fish on ice in Ocean View few days back. I was baffled what that was about. Usually, cruise ship food comes in a convoy of containers from Miami. Abdul reported those were purchased locally and served fresh. His bio says he managed a beach hotel. This is good training 🙂 We met the chef or a chef and thanked him. Turkish Night was yummy. The guest survey was mentioned by someone. If we want our team looked after - 10s are important people. I know I'm chill when a guy started asking for a bartender at 0600 and we could see palm trees and this seemed appropriate. The decorations have appeared. The stair ones seem cute but hazardous. The end cap sweet rolls are safe again 🙂 Based on anecdotal reports of danger and crime we are certainly headed ashore again to wander and shop.

Good question. You can /do get them when buying a shore excursion. Often the Shore Excursion Desk has these. Butlers possibly can fetch them. The tickets reduce lines.

2000 people, 150-200 per tender, 15 min to load, etc. It takes a while. On a larger ship we got good at math in ports -4000 people, 66 passenger buses, slow loading. I recall waiting an hour for tenders in a theater once.

Based on all the CC posted warnings we raced ashore in Colon. The port area was well secured and felt 100% safe. We liked the selection of electronics and US pricing. There were some shops open in the big modern mall, more in the Casino mall next door. Super 99 Market had everything - I found socks. You can get change in US even coins. The crew must love this port. I was grossed out by hazelnut rolls and busy fingers touching food in the buffet but found the poached egg station and supply of waffles all the way aft.