havanadaydreaming

Heard back from Margaritaville Caribbean desk...had a question about getting a tray of jello shots at the Grand Turk pool to give away to others. I heard the dj mention a tray last visit. Sadly not gonna happen. Its $210 for a tray. Granted there are 70 shots but i cant pull that trigger when im gonna have a bar tab for 6 on top.

Ha. Worked like a charm.

thanks, pe. spent last night watching some jai alai livestream on youtube. i dont recognize many of the young fellas on the roster and the ones i do were brand new last year. bought a new Bengals shirt for sailaway since its 1pm game that day. didnt have a white team shirt (i HATE dark shirts on sunny days) so now i do. im sure many others will be wearing jerseys for their teams the first couple days like in years past. i'll start packing this afternoon. and we bought pink flamingoes instead of ducks. ive never hid ducks before but i do see them bringing some joy to those that like finding them. maybe the kids will come up with a clever social media hashtag.

i agree with the first steps on ship off the gangway. we get to the gangway so fast now that it almost "robs" us of the anticipation of boarding while waiting in lines at the terminal. not complaining, ha!

The best way i can put it is i will only book 4+ star hotels online. But i feel the 5 star hotels dont deliver an experience i value for the cost incurred. And i enjoy Carnival. (and the other lines i've cruised) The older ships are definitely a different experience across the board. But if your glass is half full i'm sure you'll have fun. a bad day at sea is better that a good day at the office! 🙂

Have a few hours at the office this morning before i can dig into how to pay for another cabin's drink package pre-cruise. does anyone have knowledge on how to do that? (want to pay for two cabins who are part of our original booking. dont want to do in onboard since it will be a higher rate to wait) many thanks!

disembarkation in NYC is kinda, sorta like The Lord of the Flies. if you have priority debark i think you can get bags and to a shuttle at a moderate pace. consider hiring a porter for speed and convenience? i would HIGHLY recommend purchasing Carnival shuttle bus to airport. midtown madness abides once you clear the pier and trying to get a taxi/rideshare isnt for the faint of heart. Darwinism at its finest!

now we have a minivan booked from the airport. will be able to shuttle the herd to miami beach hotel. maybe hit up a supermarket for some snacks and drinks the two days before cruise for the hotel.

we really enjoyed teppanyaki last month. but i can pay $40 for hibachi on land.

You betcha Stacey. Glad to see a few positive reviews recently. I must admit i vowed to never sail Bahamas Paradise and it was sold to Margaritaville. And Freeport is my least fave port. (We booked ncl escape once upon a time solely because the had a Margaritaville at Sea onboard. We got our son, and future wife, a college gradution cruise. They tore out the Margaritaville day they embarked. Was closed all week. Ha!)

This may be evident but im a pretty big Parrothead. Probably world class. Not bragging just is what it proverbially is. Big thumbs up to CCL for including some Jimmy Buffett songs on the buffet background music. Anyone have a teeny tiny thing that is big to you? On recent long cruise i heard his songs most every day. Some were pretty deep album cuts, not hit songs. Brought a smile to my face every time. For years i failed to hear a single recorded or live Jimmy song. No biggie...like i said this is a very small thing in the big picture. But i am thankful. Fins up!

Whats your favorite CCL sailaway? If memory serves ive been to 6 departure ports. 1. Miami 2. NYC 3. Tampa 4. Canaveral 5. Lauderdale 6. San Juan (was ncl) Tampa almost bumped NYC due to A) drink package immediate B) better bridge underpass but the spectacular skyscrapers take the cake. Miami wins, surprisingly. Love the seaplane airport across the port. View of South Beach and Downtown skysscrapers. Plus, usually 3-5 other ships in port. Bonus points if a Disney ship blares its distinctive musical horn at us when leaving.

Nonissue, to me. 4 omelettes available in MDR seems sufficient. Thats gotta be a madhouse in galley so No Substitutions seems fair enough. Plus, i can get the exact omelette ingredients desired in buffet station. May not be ideal but its pretty, pretty, pretty good.

I think original font would be fine on a desktop screen. It was difficult to read on this Samsung cel. But...i have bifocals so that might be half the battle. Ha!

a couple new updates: got an 11am embarkation. we rarely make it to the port by that time, we usually wake up slow at the pre-cruise hotel and mosey on over to the port at half speed. hometown Bengals were moved to Sat 1pm kickoff, embarkation day. my alma mater Ohio University bowl game is now 11am on sailaway day. ACK. lotta local sports packed into time before we leave Miami!

and my alma mater plays its Bowl Game 11am on sailaway day.

Drinks and coffee have the 18% gratuity added. As a former bartender id take that all day every day, assuming there was enough volume. Which there seems to be at sea. I tend to tip a lil extra over the course of the sailing but i do think there is a Tipping Exhaustion phenomenon in the USA post Covid. Carryout pizza/restaurants make you decline, or add, tip on receipt now. Etc. Etc. But im kind of a Vegas midset tipper. Tip whomever you can. My thang is to tip buffet bussers. They never expect it and they work hard. A few extra bucks here snd there is nothing to me and double thumbs up if it keeps me from putting even more coin in the casino machines....

Yeah, the font got me too. TLDR. I tried. Just brutal on a cel. I made it to the steakhouse well done filet area. Historically thats a perfect set up for ridicule. (Insert catsup joke here)

I think getting rideshare in miami is a breeze. No need to rush for a noon flight.

i havent been cruising all that long but all the changes i recall have been price increases. i guess i have had an occasional free glass of milk from the coffee shop (it settles my wife's stomach when it flares up) i do remember ordered room service my first cruise just to experience it. but i dont think i've done that since. i like getting up and out of the cabin.

all these years and we've still not seen an upgrade offer.

confirmed. i've been gold for ages with my platinum wife. i get platform next cruise. hoooo uh!

looks like my hometown team Bengals were just switched to 1pm Saturday game day of our embarkation. blah. lido is usually bonkers by then but i might find my way to sports bar!

main thing, for me, would be to be aware of the debarkation process in NYC. its an absolute madhouse. we just debarked last month. chaos city. 4k people dropped on the streets of midtown manhattan. if you're going to airport highly recommend taking the Carnival shuttle.

higher deck