Knights on the Beach

If I can count, Patti's surgery will be in 10 days. I know both of you are looking forward to getting that done!

Pig & Anchor is free for dinner on Excel ships but does have some extra fee items on the menu.

Just now, jimbo5544 said:

I agree on the assessment of the MDR on this class.

Actually we were on Celebration in December and were surprisingly happy with the MDR food and service. We ate there more than we'd planned to that week because we had such a good experience. And I know someone earlier said the food on Vista is superb this week but that was not our opinion during our cruises 4/14 - 4/28 so we gave up on the MDR and ate elsewhere. We love Carnival but if they're consistent about anything, it's their inconsistency in the MDR. 😂

17 hours ago, RLM77 said:

Also on the subject of food, the quick bite breakfast items in Java Blue have been cut back.  No more grab and go fruit and/or granola.  Also fewer breakfast pastries and sandwich choices.  Sure, there are other places to eat in the morning, but if you just want a light bite with your morning latte Java Blue used to be a one-stop choice.

 

What time were you at Java Blue in the mornings? Maybe it just needed to be restocked. Our son and DIL are on Mardi Gras this week and said they've definitely had fruit & granola there the past two mornings.

We aren't fans of the MDR on Mardi Gras. We went there only 3 or 4 times over the course of 4 cruises. There are so many better options for dinner on MG that it just doesn't bother us anymore. We have 2 more booked on MG and will be happy with specialty dining or even pizza or a Guy's burger just before they close.

13 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey Gang!  At this point I am going to pause because it's time for beer and baseball! I'll be back tomorrow evening to continue with our adventure. Have a GREAT Sunday everyone!! 

Great plan Jeff, I hope you and Patti have a wonderful day!

@Jamman54 you inspired us to book Venezia today! I just started reading your review and we watched a few videos and we're intrigued. We booked a balcony on Lido since our favorite location was available. 😊

19 minutes ago, Mommapadraig said:

yes this is in the Laquinta Inn on North Atlantic in Cocoa Beach.

I feel like there must be some secret hidden industry here making hotel astronauts. 😂

Wow! Spectacular pictures! While Patti was being super productive, we were not.🤦‍♀️ We went full circle, starting at the Ocean Plaza Bar in the morning for coffee (and duck hiding) and to say hi to Jeff of course. After breakfast, we hit the walking track for several laps hiding ducks here and there, then took advantage of the quiet(er) ship while people were at Half Moon Cay and jumped in a hot tub by the Tides pool. Then we just pretty much ate and drank the day away, making Ocean Plaza Bar our last stop of the night.

The Diamond lunch was amazing! Easily the best meal of the week and we enjoyed the experience and most of all, the company. Jeff & Patti were so sweet to invite us and we truly appreciated it.

At the lunch, I was drinking champagne with Peach Schnapps but Mark was drinking margaritas, so we spent the rest of the afternoon at Blue Iguana Tequila Bar. 🤣 

Dinner was pizza & buffet and we caught the sunset on our way to Ocean Plaza Bar where Setyo got special permission to add Christine's Fave (from the Golden Jubilee Bar on Celebration) to the menu for us. We had quite a few of those over the course of the next two weeks. 🙂

Embarkation day was only the first of many relaxing, lazy days and we turned in early that night. When we got back to the room, we found this letter in our mailbox. Dude, we totally went to muster - it was the first thing we did even before getting a drink and we never got cut off so . . . . 🤷‍♀️

We're just platinum so we walked on the ship about 10 minutes after Jeff & Patti. We headed straight to muster since it was in Reflections dining room right next to the atrium - couldn't have planned that any better. By 10:48 we were sitting across the atrium bar from Jeff & Patti, happy to have found seats and happy to be back on a ship. We each had a Funship (I can't remember when the last time was I'd had one of those) followed by a Miami Vice each.

After we grabbed a couple Guy's burgers for lunch, we headed to our room (10295 - the first inside room on Lido) and unpacked. More than once we'd kicked ourselves for not booking a balcony for these two weeks but this room was in the perfect location so we got over it. 🙂

Next up was Red Frog Pub where we enjoyed talking with Jeff & Patti until sail away time. At that point we headed to the Tides Bar on deck 10 aft and eventually had pizza and deli for dinner later on. Precious the deli lady (never did find out her name) was barking at everyone but it didn't take as long as I thought it would to get our orders filled. I had the grilled ham & cheese which was actually pretty good. Mark ordered a cheese steak - which as it turned out didn't have any cheese on it and it really didn't even have much steak on it either. 🤷‍♀️

I'll jump in here with a few thoughts and pictures from embarkation day. We live 3.5 miles from terminal 6 and we prebooked a taxi ($20) to pick us up at 9:00 am. We had a 10:00 - 10:30 arrival time but we've seen those traffic backups for the last few months. It was an entertaining ride and the driver got a little feisty when someone cut her off but we arrived at 9:08, dropped our bags with the porter and were first in the priority line.

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

After checking out that cabin we decided that it's not for us. Don't like the location of the television. 

I thought the same when I saw the picture.

4 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

 

Bye bye home - see you in two weeks! 

1 hour ago, ober134 said:

Reporting for duty to a Jamman watch party. We've been looking at Havana cabins on Vista class but haven't pulled the plug yet. I hope this review pushes us over the edge.

It totally should and this is coming from someone who did NOT have Havana on Vista the last two weeks and wished we did.

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

The Carnival Freedom, (Ol’ Stubby II), departs Port Canaveral…..

 

 

To be continued…..

Speaking of ol' Stubby, we saw her go out today. We were out on the balcony admiring the gorgeous blue water, so pretty this afternoon! And then I went back inside and took a nap! 🤦‍♀️

51 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

I think every hotel in Port Canaveral has one of those. 😁

There's definitely one at the Radisson. 🧑‍🚀

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

These are the stairs up to the rooftop bar…..

 

 

We sit upstairs when we go to Ryan's - we were there on St. Patrick's Day!  🍀

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey Beth! It was a pleasure meeting you and Mark aboard the Vista, and sharing a "few" cocktails over the course of two weeks. As I mentioned to you on board, don't hesitate to share your thoughts, experiences, and pictures as the review progresses. We love to see things from a different perspective. 😃

We truly enjoyed spending time with you and Patti! My pictures won't hold a candle to Patti's but I'll pop in from time to time and share some as well. Looking forward to reliving our 2 weeks! 🙂

Yay, I made it here before you got on the ship!!! 🤣 I hope I can keep up, this week is killing me. 🤦‍♀️

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

There will be more coming, this was only random thoughts to pass the time. Oh, another change that I saw- no more Cheers stickers on Sail and Sign cards.

On our last several cruises, it was random. In December, they put a sticker on my card but not my husband's. Last week, I heard a bartender tell someone they were out of the stickers.

@Jamman54 so sorry we didn't get to say goodbye! We had a great time with you two and enjoyed getting to know you and Patti. Safe travels home!

Shoot, I made it a point to look for ornaments in port, but forgot to buy one on the ship.🤦‍♀️

9 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Couldn’t be remember if this ship still had the bar or it. It does. Last time I was on vista they didn’t let people sit there. May have been a Covid thing. It was a few months after the restart.

 

 

 

People were sitting at that bar last night on Vista.

9 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Next stop skybox sports bar.

 

They have one TV on the draft but the audio is some Caribbean music. And no bartender 

 

 

 

 

 

On Vista this bar doubles as the meat locker. We tried to watch the draft there Thursday night but it was already packed an hour prior. We ended up in Red Frog Pub. No sound there either but did have bartenders.

8 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

On the 2nd leg of our B2B,  I got flagged after one drink. Patti and our friends Beth and Mark got their 2nd drinks no problem. We normally get the muster out of the way no problem,  but I was surprised that I got  flagged. I truly believe that you should not get any drinks until you go to muster! 😎

Mark and I tried to go to muster first (since it was in Reflections right next to the atrium bar) but our new cards wouldn't scan.😂

13 hours ago, Sgwscruiser said:

Just request what you want.  The bartenders can not read your minds

Thanks for your very helpful response but that wasn't my question.