GothOnAShip

So glad to have you along! Welcome! Great to have you here! You’re going to love the Mardi Gras!!! Haha thanks! Welcome aboard! Glad you’re here!

We got pizza. They gave me two slices but I started eating before I remembered to take a picture. Carnival security was IDing people that looked like they were under 21 because of the curfew. Nothing says you’re almost 35 like Carnival security looking at you and saying “you’re good”. Welp.. I’m going to eat my pizza and watch TV in my room until I fall asleep like the nearly 35 year old that I am. Talk to you in the morning People’s Republic of Cruise Critic.

Hi there People’s Republic of Cruise Critic! This is our first cruise with the Cheers! package (with the RU 4 code, not DOU, I don’t gamble) and I’m not sure if it’s of interest to anyone else but here’s what I drank today for the purposes of deciding if it’s worth it next time: 1 spicy chipotle martini.. $14 5, maybe 6 black cherry white claws in the Piano Bar… $7.75 each 3 cans of soda.. $3.25 each 2 small water.. $2.25 each 1 large water.. $4.95 1 soda “draft”… $3.25 1 lemonade (homemade blackberry syrup).. $9.25 I’m too drunk to math, but I think I broke even. Mr. goth on the other hand… 1 fountain soda… $3.12 1 small water.. $2.25 1 white claw.. $7.75 1 more fountain soda…$3.25 1 can soda… $3.25 We’re going for 1am pizza. Probably see you all tomorrow morning.. maybe early afternoon.

The piano bar is good fun. Brad Alexander is the pianist the week. He’s wonderful. I could sit here all week. The bar staff is exceptional. I’m going to need a thesaurus to find more words to describe things this week. I’m running out of the ones that mean amazing, but so far everything has been great!!!

After Alchemy and the safety briefing, we unpacked and I fell asleep. lol. We had reservations at Bonsi Teppanyaki for dinner. It was AMAZING. John was the chef and he was so entertaining. The food was delicious. I had the filet. It was great! It started with appetizers spicy tuna, asparagus wrapped in pork belly, shrimp, miso soup and ginger salad. I only took pictures of the tuna; probably because I didn’t eat the tuna since I’m not really a tuna person. The rest of the appetizers were so phenomenal I forgot to take pictures. Then they gave us the rice. It was so, so, so good! Then veggies and entrees. Mr. Goth and I both did the filet. Again, it was phenomenal. Then the desert bento box. Also fantastic! The desserts are green tea ice cream (The server told me it was wasabi ice cream and I totally fell for it, lol), pistachio cake, chilled pomegranate soup, a baby crème brûlée, a chocolate of some kind, and a chocolate covered strawberry. The baby crème brûlée was my favorite, but everything was wonderful. Now we’re at the piano bar waiting for the show to start. I’m very excited. I love a live piano player and we were never able to get a seat last time we were on the ship. I also booked a Steakhouse reservation because I want to try all the specialty dining on board if I can, just based on how amazing that dinner was… except Rudy’s. I can’t go to Rudy’s. The plates freak me out.

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you! I somehow quoted your post twice, so I guess I’m double glad to have you along! Thank you! Glad to have you aboard! Thanks for following! If you have questions about the ship let me know and I’ll try to answer them. It’s an amazing ship and you’re gonna love her!!

Exploring led us to Alchemy for a spicy pineapple martini. Safety briefing completed and the last minute pleas for everyone to complete their muster have begun. Sail away is upon us.

On the ship!!! Embarkation was so easy. I was going to live that process but we didn’t stop moving. Ray at check in table 32 was very personable and friendly! Went directly to the muster station on deck 8 in the Palm Dining Room and it took about 2 minutes. We walked up the stairs to deck 10. Elevators were empty, but we’re planning to eat a lot this cruise and hoping taking the stairs will offset some of that. Then we dropped things off in our room and picked up our sail and sign cards. Made it all the way to red card status, which I’m embarrassingly excited about. We went to Pig and Anchor for lunch. I got pulled pork, sausage and Mac and cheese with a blackberry homemade lemonade. All delicious. Returned to the room so I could call my parents and let them know we made it here. Super fun surprise… we were on this ship for our first cruise about a year ago and we had a balcony room that we liked a lot. I booked in pretty much the same area of the boat, just a few doors down and the balcony is like triple the size. Did it grow? No judgement Mr. Balcony. If I were on this ship for a year, I’d triple in size too. We’re going to go explore the ship and maybe get a drink. We’re eating at teppanyaki tonight! So excited! Here’s a picture of our first look at the ship… not a great picture, but an exciting one!

Thank you!!!

Good morning to the People’s Republic of Cruise Critic! It’s cruise day! So excited! Since we live so close to the port, we typically use the morning of cruise day to make sure the cats are squared away and get in some last kitty cuddles before we board the ship. My husband and I usually like to leave the earlier check in times for those that have to check out of their hotels, so our check in is between 1 pm and 1:30pm. That’ll give us just enough time to board and muster before staterooms open, so we don’t have to lug our stuff around for long… No platinum or diamond benefits yet, so no dropping stuff off at our room unless we pay for fttf. That’s okay, we’ll get there! For now, I’m excited to be moving up to red card status for this cruise. After all, we all know that free bottle of water is the perk we’re all after 😉 Alright, kitty snuggles, last second packing, a jaunt to Port Canaveral and before you know it…. MARDI GRAS!!!!

Ahhh!!!! She’s beautiful!!! So excited!!! Thanks for the picture. Any sign of the Vista yet?

Thanks for following along. Glad to have you!

I’m so excited to try all these drinks!!! Thanks for the suggestions! I googled the New Moon already and it’s looks amazing! It’s so pretty, even if I don’t like it, I’d be tempted to get one just to carry around and look at.

Great to have you along!

Just finished my last day of work before the cruise! I love cruises, but the last work day before them, not so much. Making sub plans for the whole week is no joke. Now, I have to start packing. Tomorrow... Mardi Gras!!!

Just caught up! Looks like a great start to your vacation. I'll be live on the Mardi Gras this week, but looking forward to following along with your adventure as well!! Hope you have a great time!

Welcome aboard! Thanks for following!

I was on the Mardi Gras last year and somehow never tried the drinks from there! There were just so many bars. I have cheers this time though, so there will probably be a lot more trying different drinks! Any recommendations from the Fortune Teller? Glad to have you along!

Welcome aboard! Thanks for following!

Thanks for following along! Glad to have you!

Thanks for following along! We were on the Mardi Gras just about a year ago and loved it so much we had to go back! I loved Emeril's, but I didn't try the shrimp and grits. I'll have to try that one this time around!

Thanks for joining! Glad to have you here!

Lol, fair enough. I guess I should have said we'll be making the long trek from sunny Orlando, Fl all the way to sunny Port Canaveral. Thanks for following along! So glad you're here!

I've read so many of both of your cruise reviews! They're so much fun to read that I wanted to try writing my own. It's an honor to have you both aboard!!!

Thanks for following along!