shadowmeboy

We hung out in the Atrium to watch the fruit carving demonstration. He did an excellent job!

Susan got the Fruit Salad I got the half grapefruit and asked for cottage cheese. The server we had, acted like they were going to have to row a boat back to Miami to pick some up. I have never had an issue getting cottage cheese before. I might get a small ketchup sized ramakin of it, but they brought some. Susan got the french toast with bacon I got the eggs benny with bacon, ham, and hashbrowns! As we were leaving the MDR, we ran into Jay. He asked us how breakfast was was. I said the food was excellent, the staff was friendly, but I mentioned the cottage cheese. He apologized and I said it was really not that big of a deal. I like to have it with my grapefruit, but its not the end of the world. He mentioned that he would make sure there was cottage cheese available in the MDR. I thanked him and we headed towards the atrium! Card Room/Library Atrium pano!

Pano - Hard to get a good pano while underway Really quiet out on deck! I found a spot and enjoyed the sea rolling by! Ship in the distance I did come prepared for morning like this! I brought a few magazines including the latest Great Northern Historical Society Great Northern Goat Magazine! It was amazing smelling the sea air, listening to the ocean roll by, and just relaxing! Another ship! Someone finally woke up! Time to head to breakfast! We headed to Savor this morning. Chocolate croissants!

Day 2 - Sea Day December 24th, 2022 - Christmas Eve Location: Caribbean Sea - North of Cuba Day 2 Daily Good Morning from the Caribbean Sea! What a fine way to greet the day on Christmas Eve! It was a wonderful 70 degrees this morning. Home was 5 degrees; Miami was 40 degrees; Edgewater was 35 degrees; I was glad to be on the ship!

We were really full after Los Lobos! So we did the slow walk forward on the ship. We both didn't want to go to bed yet since we were so full. So we headed for the DBH to hang for a bit. It was fairly calm in here tonight. I think it was the fact it was the first night and people wore themselves out on the first day and crashed early. I had a hard cider and Susan got a drink she did not like at all. she literally drank two drinks. This is why I like having the drink package. I can try things without regretting my purchase if I don't like something! I also like trying new foods on cruises. I fell in love with gnocchi aboard a cruise ship. Would I have bought it in a grocery store and tried it? Would I have taken a chance in a restaurant? probably not on both questions. Needless to say, we crashed when we got up to the room. End of Day 1 Sea Day tomorrow!

I will admit it was really cool!

It was the first time for us as well. Glad we are done with that up here in North Central! We were totally fine with doing the POA until we saw this one! Perfect itinerary especially only having to go one way to Hawaii! Let me know if you book the Spirit. I wouldn't mind hanging out onboard

Thank you!

Quesadilla de Tres Quesos con camarones - Shrimp three cheese quesadilla Aguachile de Camarones - Shrimp Ceviche Enchiladas de Mariscos - Seafood Enchiladas Arroz y Frijoles - Rice and beans Huachinango a la veracruzana - Veracruz style snapper Tamales - Pork tamale Elotes - Mexican Street Corn Dessert Menu Bunuelos de la abuela - Grandma's Donuts - fried beignets with brown sugar syrup and guava Tres Leches Cake - 3 Milk Cake Dinner at Los Lobos was awesome like normal. Our server Kim was outstanding! The food was excellent!

We did get the suitcases unpacked and put away! We then got ready for dinner and headed out. We headed down to deck 6 to see if there was a photography station the first night. There was, but we didn't choose any of the shots from that night. Another view of the gingerbread display on deck 6. Time for dinner! We always like dining in the Specialty Restaurants on the first night as its often very quiet and not very full. It also gets us into cruise mode faster! See how empty Los Lobos and even Cagney's is Guacamole Time! We sipped our Margaritas as they made the guac! Susan got her margarita blended. I got mine on the rocks. Finished guacamole

Looking back at Miami. See you in 11 days! Small container ship entering the Port of Miami Pilot boat waiting to pick up our pilot My view of the pickup was blocked by the DBH Pilot successfully picked up and off they go! Below is the time-lapse sail away video!

Coast Guard Station It was cool seeing the walkers waving their cell phones with the light on as we passed! The beach was quite empty, go figure!

The fuel bunkering barge passed by us. The MSC Divina was next to depart I noticed the police boat had gotten in position for us! Night Balcony Pano We started out of our berth

Carnival Spirit was the first to depart Miami. We last saw this ship in July when we got off the Norwegian Spirit. It also ported in Juneau and Ketchikan with us. Once Carnival Spirit got past Freedom of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas headed for the turning basin. Finally a clear view! Once Freedom of the Seas got past the Norwegian Sky, the Sky pulled out of its berth. We would see the sky 11 days later when we returned to Miami. The Sky is one of the NCL ships we have yet to sail. We will just have to couple it with a longer cruise out of Miami. Freedom of the Seas got turned and made its way out to sea.

We then popped down to the Observation lounge. So after walking the buffet and observation lounge, we headed back to the stateroom to check for luggage and get ready for sailaway!

We made our way across the pool deck to check out the pools and to see the buffet. These performers were good, just not my cup of tea! Okay, time to brave the masses to see the buffet. They had another massive gingerbread display in the Garden Cafe The Executive Chef was wandering around the buffet. The Garden Cafe was set up nicely, but it was way too busy for my liking.

Thermal Suite Well hello Norwegian Sky! Susan enjoying the lounger Exercise Room

We decided to go exploring. Onda - Deck 8 mid My ship compass! Sugarcane's Menu The top one is my favorite! 1st of many Raspberry Guava Mojitos!!! After getting a Mojito in us, we headed down to the Spa to do the tour. Spa menu from the cruise

The weekend got a little busy, so I didn't have a chance to work on this over it. I hope everyone had a good one! -- So after lunch we made our way up to our stateroom for this trip. 9172 is a BA located right over the District Brew House. This for the most part was not a problem, but it did create a problem falling asleep several nights due to the music. Once we fell asleep it was not an issue. I would not suggest it for a light sleeper. There she is! Standard Breakaway class ship bathroom Since the room was over the district brewhouse, it did extend father out than the balconies above us. You could also look down into the DBH and see the people stilling on the couches by the windows. Poof! Our things magically appeared! Pano from the Balcony while sitting at the dock in Miami

Thank you

We checked in at the CruiseNext desk for the Latitudes Party info Took a look at the Atrium area while we were there Busy Shore Excursion line We decided it was time to go get some lunch at the MDR Susan got the Cobb Salad. I got the Wedge with no blue cheese or blue cheese dressing. I added cheddar and ranch dressing. Susan got the Tuna Salad Sandwich I got the burger but added bacon. Susan got the Five Spice Mango Tapioca Pudding I got the Creme Caramel While we were at lunch the announcement was made that staterooms were ready. So once we were done, we headed up to the room. ---- I am going to stop here for now.

We headed to the Social to make some Show and Comedy reservations. This is the awesome gingerbread display they had up! It even had a running train on the display! You will see multiple pictures of this, sorry! Then we needed to fix one restaurant reservation, so we went across to Teppanyaki to fix the reservation. Menu's outside Teppanyaki for people to look at Show reservations ✓ Restaurant reservations ✓ Vacation mode ✓ Coco's So as we were talking outside Coco's, making sure we had everything situated, we saw a familiar face. Jay Hizon, the Restaurant Manager, who we had sailed with in 2017 on the Escape. Below is a picture of Jay, he is the one holding the mike. We said "Jay" and his faced lit up as he remembered us from that cruise. We talked for a few minutes before he had to scurry off towards the MDR's

Hanging out waiting to board! Here we go! Finally aboard! Day 1 Daily - Can you spot the error on the daily? Somebody forgot to update it from the previous sailings the encore had been doing. Note: On the dailies I scan all of the pages, that way you can see what inserts get added when, etc.

We loaded up the car one more time. Yes, the song just played in my head as I read that back. Did it for you? Ah! Miami traffic! On our way to the cruise terminal! As we got closer to the Port, the tunnel was open. Then right as we got to the entrance, the tunnel closed. We had to get turned around and go the other way. I see her! We finally made it to the drop off area. We unloaded the bags and handed them off to the porter. Time to head into the terminal! Time for Security! Check-in was super fast! Boarding Photo time! Our route map for this cruise!

December 23rd, 2022 Miami, FL Embarkation Day - Cruise Day 1 So our dinner at Ihop was ok. So we decided we didn't want to go back. I found a local chain restaurant that served breakfast that I thought we should try. We headed to Caribe Restaurant Breakfast menu Cafe con leche! Susan and I really enjoyed this. The bread with breakfast! The Cuban sandwiches are made with this type of bread. I loved it! Bistec a caballo con dos huevos fritos o revueletos - steak and eggs el mazclado jamon y huevo mixto - scrambled eggs with ham Mom and Dad also got the steak and eggs Breakfast was really, really good! I would go back in the future. When we walked in, there was a table full of cops (8-10) sitting and and eating breakfast. In my experience, if the cops are eating at the restaurant, then its generally a good restaurant to eat at.