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Pirate’s LIVE “Family Reunion” on the HORIZON…Dec 3-9, 2023

pirate4me2

By pirate4me2,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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pirate4me2 "Live from...." Rare

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"And another from pirate4me2! Thank you for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic! Please consider submitting it to the site for publication as well: Click: Write a Review"

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Hello, my Cruise Critic  family!

 

I am here yet again to do my Community Service and help you all deal with either your post-cruise blues, or your “my cruise isn’t approaching fast enough” blues. How do I plan to help with those problems, you ask? By letting you live vicariously through MY cruise in this live review, of course! Sure, you have to mix up your own DOD’s, cook your own meals, and make your own bed, but seeing my crazy adventures will make you feel like you’re on vaca….right?

 

Hubby and I had originally booked the Mardi Gras  sailing the week of our wedding anniversary (November 11) as we like to celebrate our anniversary on a cruise ship. However, back in March of this year we sailed on Celebration with our “cruise grandparents” (long story, not enough time to tell)  and they introduced us to  a couple that we now refer to as our “cruise aunt & uncle.” In August, I got a random phone call from “cruise aunt” telling me that she REALLY wanted me and Chris to swap our November cruise  to the Horizon sailing on December 3 that her and our “cruise grandparents” were on.

 

Hmmmm…..I do love the Horizon, especially the Havana area (which they were booked in), but I HATE….no, wait, I DESPISE…Miami. I also love “cruise grandparents” and “cruise aunt & uncle”…but this sailing goes to Ocho Rios, which Chris made me swear we would avoid going back to at all costs. Also, this sailing happens to fall over the date of Chris’s college graduation, which he has worked SO HARD for.

 

However, upon talking to Chris about it, he was fine with cruising the high seas (well, hopefully calm seas!)  instead of walking the stage. In his words, “just book me the Cheers package so I can have a La Buena Vida or 5 to celebrate my graduation.” Ok, I guess I can at least do that for you, especially since you are not going to make me sit thru a long, boring graduation ceremony! He was also cool with sailing from Miami, although he rolled his eyes when I told him we would be driving, not flying (I have a MAJOR fear of flying) and he made me pinkie promise that next time we sail from there we will fly. Don’t tell him, but I had my toes crossed when I made that promise, so it doesn’t count. I still have not informed him that Ocho Rios is a port of call for us, I think I will wait until we are onboard to break that news to him. That could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back…

 

Upon looking at the sailing, I ran into one last conundrum…. the only Havana cabin available is a Havana Cabana suite, you say? Hmmmm…..twist my arm, I supposed I can deal with the trek to Miami, and going to Ocho Rios, if I have some “suite” (see what I did there? Hehehe!) digs to make up for it. Swap me over, magical Carnival PVP! We will claim that this is our anniversary celebration AND Chris’s graduation celebration, so an awesome room is required, right?

 

One more thing that has me super stoked for this cruise…the beginning of November, they released the Christmas decorating schedule for the ships, and Horizon will be decorated for us! YAY!!!! They also said that for the month of December, all the sailings will be Christmas themed, with special activities…double yay! I have always thought the ships would be beautiful decorated for the holidays and wished I could see it, and now I can. I also may or may not have some special decorations of my own….stay tuned for those!

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pirate4me2 "Live from...." Rare

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Excursions/Port Info:

 

This is the 6 day Western run for Horizon, so our ports of call are Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Sorry to disappoint you, but we are not doing anything that great in the ports. Well, I’m not anyway, Chris kinda is.
 

Our plan is to stay onboard in Jamaica, UNLESS I get a wild hair up my tush and decide to go check out the beach at Margaritaville. In Grand Cayman, Chris is going on a scuba dive while I stay onboard and relax in the wonderful Havana area. I got some major reading (and napping!) to do that day! For Cozumel, we have the Cozumel Bar Hop booked, which I am pretty excited about. I have heard others talk about it and how it takes you to the side of the island with no electricity, and it’s something we have never done before, so I am looking forward to it. I gotta admit tho, it is hard for me to go to Coz and not go to Paradise Beach or Mr Sanchos, those have become our usual haunts! 

 

I will admit, I use to think to myself when people would say they were not getting off in a port of call they were crazy. WHY would you stay onboard? Find SOMETHING to do! I get it now tho…after you’ve been to a port so many times, and done all the “cool” stuff, it’s ok to skip it and enjoy the mostly empty ship. Take advantage of the things you normally would have lines for, sleep in, and just LET DOWN. I’ve been under a lot of stress the past few months, and I’m eager to let it all go and take naps and read. 

IMG_1294.jpeg

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Knights on the Beach

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Yay, can't wait to follow along! I feel your pain on the Miami issue though. We usually cruise out of Port Canaveral since we live only a couple miles away. I'm getting really nervous about dealing with Miami for our 12/10 Celebration cruise since we haven't cruised from there since maybe 2010. We'll be in Key West the week prior to our cruise so we'll have to leave really early that Sunday morning.

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3 hours ago, pcvtmom said:

I'm following! My April Journeys cruise is taking far too long to get here, so I need to travel with you (vicariously,  of course)!

Thanks for coming along! 
 

2 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Also following.  Love your reviews.

Aw thank you! 
 

2 hours ago, princess76021 said:

Thanks for doing this!I

I vicariously live my cruises through reviews right now, so I gratefull

Hugs from Texas

hugs back from NC! Thanks for coming along. 
 

2 hours ago, maxandmolly said:

Following. My Epic Alaska cruise is almost 18 months away so reviews are my friend!

Alaska! That’s worth the wait, I bet! 
 

2 hours ago, Knights on the Beach said:

Yay, can't wait to follow along! I feel your pain on the Miami issue though. We usually cruise out of Port Canaveral since we live only a couple miles away. I'm getting really nervous about dealing with Miami for our 12/10 Celebration cruise since we haven't cruised from there since maybe 2010. We'll be in Key West the week prior to our cruise so we'll have to leave really early that Sunday morning.

We love Port Canaveral! I’m jealous that you live so close to such a good port! 
 

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

Looking forward to following along! 😎

Hey Jeff! Good to have you along! 
 

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Woo hoo!! Just coming off my Tday cruise tomorrow so this is perfect timing 👍😁

Hey hey! Glad I could help out with the post cruise blues 🙂 

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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!

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josiegracesmom

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We will be on that sailing too...and how funny...my hubby asked for two things, no Miami and no Jamaica.  Whoops!  Lol.  This was the only itinerary on a nicer ship to get us to Cozumel and Cayman.  My daughter is all about marine animals (we live in Panama City Beach), so we are doing stingray city, and in Cozumel she gets to feed and hold a manatee!!  She is going to love it!!  We will not be getting off in Jamaica either.  Hoping for a great sailing, and see you soon! 

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15 minutes ago, josiegracesmom said:

We will be on that sailing too...and how funny...my hubby asked for two things, no Miami and no Jamaica.  Whoops!  Lol.  This was the only itinerary on a nicer ship to get us to Cozumel and Cayman.  My daughter is all about marine animals (we live in Panama City Beach), so we are doing stingray city, and in Cozumel she gets to feed and hold a manatee!!  She is going to love it!!  We will not be getting off in Jamaica either.  Hoping for a great sailing, and see you soon! 

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! 

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josiegracesmom

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19 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

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! 

My hubby and I have been to stingray city a bunch of times, this will be her first.  She loves them, so I think she will be in awe.  

 

We are two of a kind 😜🤣

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3 hours ago, josiegracesmom said:

My hubby and I have been to stingray city a bunch of times, this will be her first.  She loves them, so I think she will be in awe.  

 

We are two of a kind 😜🤣

Yes we are!! Hope to see you somewhere onboard!!

 

 

11 minutes ago, SenatorsFan said:

I'm here for the fun! I absolutely approve of your suite; of course you have to celebrate your anniversary and DH's graduation. 🥂😊

 

Right?! Sounded like a great excuse to me. 🤩

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1 minute ago, Knights on the Beach said:

What time are we heading south? We're heading to Key West this weekend so we might see you on the road. 🙂

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. 

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