IntrepidFromDC

Tiny TVs in the sports bar

My breakfast table was near the hostess stand. I watched as Suci seemed to make everyone she encountered happier. Outstanding example of the great service Carnival provides. As a hiring manager it's clear from the consistent excellent service that Carnival knows how to select the right people and train them right. You can't train attitude and that along with 'fun' is where Carnival employees shine.

At Alchemy

A wall of $20 art, no doubt the auctioneer's descriptions will add suspiciously amazing value to each piece!

Need extra energy for all those chips I'll be lugging back to the room in a while.

To Craig's delight no doubt! 🥴

Casino was disgusting with the stench of second hand smoke. But I won $115. A guy at our table hit a straight flush going blind as he was standing up to leave.

Steakhouse was delicious and to me, worth spending the OBC on. As an added bonus I was told I can have 2 more complimentary steakhouse dinners since I turn Diamond on this cruise. Half price KJ Pinot was almost double what it costs at the wino store back home.

Otherwise, Lido buffet was pretty good. Beef carved to order was juicy and flavorful.

Carnival Lido Deck has worked magic with food again. Somehow they scored bananas that go from green to brown without stopping at GO or turning yellow.

I got one of the rooms with slightly more soft. Ironically, Faith would always comment when we got a small room, and now she's not here to enjoy the luxurious space. As an added bonus I can walk around in underwear. Not like the drones can see, as dirty as these windows are.

Watched the Cowboys lose... not a good start to the cruise but Steakhouse and Casino will make it up to me, I just know it!

My arrival time was 130-2. Faith dropped me off at 230 and our line hadn't even started moving. Both embarkation and sailaway were delayed 1.5 hours due to Coast Guard inspection.

We wound our way through a neighborhood to go the final 2 miles in a different direction. Neighborhood was interesting.

I asked navigator to route to Port of Baltimore and as we passed the Ravens game enroute I realized it was navigating us to Inner Harbor, not the Cruise Port...

Melody the rottie mix is boycotting my offer of a walk after watching me stuff the carry-on. She has never boycotted a walk before.

LOL you're going to forget what USA is like after Italy, Greece, etc. and then your next cruise. I'm curious as you start to be retrospective of last trip your afterthoughts on surprises/hidden gems like Taormina.

Agreed and agreed, sir!

This afternoon my daughter will be driving me 35 minutes to Port of Baltimore and not coming with me again on this cruise. At least I have the bathroom to myself - when she comes with me she uses every square centimeter of space on the sink-top for her epic cosmetic collection, and spends two hours at a time with the bathroom door locked to get ready for dinner. Conversations go like this... me: "Faith, I really gotta pee, you keep saying five more minutes." Faith: "Five more minutes!" me: "Faith you've said that every five minutes for the last 35 minutes, when will this makeup session saga end?" Faith: "Use the bathroom down the hall and stop rushing me you're only making it worse for yourself!" So at least I have NOT that to look forward to. But who am I kidding, all my best trips have been with my daughter. We start with three "fun days at sea", which probably translates to "lose money at sea" days since I'll have all day and all night to go back and forth between casino and other activities. I only have one excursion planned so far, full island tour on Aruba. I might do the Morgan Freeman St. Kitts tour (Sanford Grey). And I'll probably choose some Carnival excursion at the excursion desk at some point. Otherwise I walk around port, especially Curacao as I enjoy walking around Willemstad and drinking the Blue Curacao Mojitos at a couple places. I have Steakhouse tonight after embarkation so I hope to score a bottle of Kendall Jackson Cabernet at half price (aka double the wine store price). I'll probably do Steakhouse again and other pay-for food because I can only stand so much MDR and Lido deck food. My last two long trips were Europe + cruise itineraries, so this trip might feel a little flat relatively but I hope not. I have learned that for me, combining a cruise with land trips adds so much to my vacation, and makes the trips truly "vacations of a lifetime" as Carnival always promises on each and every cruise. 🙄 We are visiting my favorite four Caribbean islands and I didn't have to fly from DC for them which is a first. 8 days of glorious fun swimming in 80 degree crystal clear sea! The live report will be heavy on pics, especially of food, drink, excursions and ports. Some commentary, and let's sprinkle in some ridiculousness. 😁 🏴‍☠️ Itinerary: Lose Money at Sea Day Lose Money at Sea Day Lose Money at Sea Day St. Thomas St. Maarten St. Kitts Lose Money at Sea Day Aruba Curacao Lose Money at Sea Day Grand Turk Win Money at Sea Day Lose Money at Sea Day

And yet someone else didn't like the dining rooms. Personally I loved the dining room with the authentic, full-scale gondola. Nothing else on the ship struck me with "Italy wanderlust" like seeing that gondola up close.

Working for me too.

This is just a wild guess, that Carnival doesn't want potential negative PR if, during a trial, discovery showed that the artwork was wildly overvalued and really worth less than $100. I've seen rabid discussions about the value of Carnival cruise artwork and...

Ninjacat, would you be kind enough to write a summary of your cruise, and talk about your favorite ports and why? Having done that same cruise a little over a year ago, your comments bring memories back and might make me want to do some of the activities/restaurants/etc. that you did - that itinerary is my favorite Carnival itinerary by far so I'll be doing it again sometime. TIA and thanks again for a great live report.

14-day to Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and Grand Turk

Four days 'til mine!