pirate4me2

ITS CRUISE DAY!!!!

We made it to the hotel at 3:39, and the room is nice and clean and I will stay here again! The shower was awesome. I’ll take pics of everything tomorrow morning before we leave, I forgot to when we arrived…I was tired. We had dinner at a place called Flannigan’s, close by the hotel. The blackened fish tacos were delish!

I’ll take a pic of it when I unpack tomorrow! 😁

Thanks! So far the drive has been uneventful, hopefully it stays that way!

2:58 am: after a few tears saying goodbye to Furry Vampire, we left the camper. 3:13 am: after a battle with the Auss (“don’t jump on me! Leave it!”) we left Rotten Rotties, aka GrandmaPeasant’s, where she’s spending the week…and we are on our way!!

All packed and ready to go! Just gotta get thru this last workday before vacation...at 5:30, it's ON!!!!!

Good info, thank you! Chris likes to people watch, so he will probably love it.

That sounds like a fun excursion, I love catamarans. 🙂

We have a Havana aft wrap for a cruise on the Vista in 2026...I can't wait for that!! I love aft wraps, but am wondering how I will feel about the Havana pool deck being below me....I kind of like the convenience of being on the same deck as the pool area.

Making packing progress!! Chris says it won’t all fit…I say, challenge accepted!!

Pulled out the suitcase to begin packing, walked away to get items, and Divya decided to “help” me. I guess she wants me to take her favorite toy along to remember her by. I do miss her and the furry vampire when we are away.

that's the one I use as well.

At the moment, there isn’t a CCL ship I’m aching to book. As you can see in my sig, I’m pretty booked up, and all the ones I’m curious to sail on (Legend & Spirit to finish out the Spirit class) are there. The ship I want to book really bad is actually an MSC one, the Divina. The name is similar to my dog, and I’m a sucker for things like that. Hence why I had to sail Glory, she’s got the same name as my first horse. Like I said…I’m a sucker. 😂

Total of 28 emails here. I never get that many emails to my personal inbox in a day!

I love it! Our first one, that "we will only live in for 8-9 months while we build a house" was Salem. So original, she was a Forest River Salem travel trailer. But I love black cats, so I liked the name Salem. After we realized we were in this for a few YEARS because things skyrocketed, we upgraded to Monty. I love her, but I can't wait to eventually build our home.

Ummmmmm.....maybe of just the outfit, not me in it. That's a "treat" only for my fellow cruisers. 😝 I hate having my photo taken, and a photo in that outfit could be used as blackmail against me.

Ohhhhh yeah...the cruising angels are on my side! I found the most atrocious, obnoxious, glittery, Christmas-themed but also cruise themed (at least in my mind), ugly, eye sore of an outfit last year right before our Mardi Gras cruise. I bought it and paraded around on Mardi Gras in it one evening, much to Chris's horror. He HATES this outfit. Well, I went looking for it again a few months ago when I did my wardrobe change-out (downside of living in Monty: not enough closet space for this clothes and shoe loving girl!) and was devastated when I couldn't find the shirt that goes with the rest. I mean, the pants and jacket alone are awesome, but the shirt ties it all in and makes it work. I searched EVERYWHERE and begged Chris to tell me WHERE he hid the shirt so I couldn't do this outfit again. His response? "If I was going to destroy the outfit, wouldn't I take those hideous pants and not the shirt?" I finally gave up and figured maybe I somehow left the shirt onboard MG. Anyway....on Thanksgravy this random grey shirt appeared on the kitchen table in Monty. I left it there for a few days until I got annoyed, then I rolled my eyes and threw it in Chris's laundry....he is always leaving clothes in strange places. The next day, it reappeared, so I threw it BACK in Chris's laundry. C'mon boy, put your clothes away! Well, it came BACK onto the table and I got mad. "Chris, quit putting your dang clothes on the table! We may not eat here like a civilized family, but it isn't your personal laundry counter!" "Steph, that isn't my shirt. it's YOURS. In fact, its the one you've been looking for for ages." "Say what?" I raced over and whipped it open, and I about wept with joy. "WHERE did you find it?" "I didn't find it, you did. Do you not rememb....oh yeah, you probably DON'T remember." Chris rolled his eyes. "You had those vodka cranberries and decided that you WERE going to find that shirt in the storage no matter what. You tore that place to pieces, and found it in this random box of stuff. Then you had the nerve to blame ME for putting it there." I happily pranced to the closet and pulled out the beloved pants and jacket to pair with the shirt. "Guess what this means, honey!" "Oh gosh, please no! I don't want our friends to see you in that hideous getup! They will never cruise with us again!" The beloved hideous outfit is out to be packed. Tonight, I shall place it safely in the suitcase, and next week, I will proudly parade my shiny self around the ship. 🙂 This is shaping up to be the best cruise EVER.

Hey, it’s our home, and most island houses have names, right? So it only seemed fitting to name her. 😂 Granted, it’s not very imaginative, she’s a Montana, but I did the best I could. Haha. Safe travels to KW! I actually booked a cruise the other day for next year that goes back there, we loved it when we visited a few years ago.

Sometime EARLY Saturday morning…gotta get Monty (our RV we currently reside in) situated for the week we will be gone, and I have to shed a few tears as I hug the furry vampire (aka cat) goodbye. I’m aiming for 3 a.m. but in reality, it’ll probably be 4.

Welcome aboard! I’ll try and leave some fun onboard for you 🤪

Yes we are!! Hope to see you somewhere onboard!! Right?! Sounded like a great excuse to me. 🤩

That is absolutely HILARIOUS that both our hubbies had the same requests....and we both broke them. Have y'all done Stingray City before? If not, you're in for such a treat!! Even if you have, you know you're in for a treat. I was so apprehensive about doing it several years ago, and almost didn't go the day of. I am so glad I did, to this day it is one of my favorite excursions we have done. I hope your daughter loves it and you all have a wonderful time!

Pre Cruise Hotel: After my last fiasco with booking a pre-cruise hotel in Miami (see my Celebration review if you want the info on THAT), I didn’t waste any time in securing us a hotel right after booking. I didn’t want to end up paying an OUTRAGEOUS amount for the ONLY hotel with vacancy again! After discussing with the cruise grandparents, we booked rooms for the night before at the Hampton Inn & Suites Ft Lauderdale/Miramar, and will drive to and park at the port the morning of the cruise. The address for the hotel is 10990 Marks Way, Miramar, FL. Who knows, maybe this hotel can be the one I use for future sailings out of Miami….stay tuned to find out!

Welcome aboard! If you have any specific questions you'd like "investigated" let me know!

See you onboard!!