Nicely done. Thank You Goddess.

Yes, I certainly was. Had an Aqua class on deck 9 I think, but leaks from the repositioning cruise made it uninhabitable. The Hotel Manager moved us to a lovely aft view cabin. Most excellent.

Those wacky guys n gals in the Celebrity marketing department had to get something on the web site so they can start their long Labor Day Weekend.

I'm so old, I can remember at the end of the pandemic they were begging for business. As you boarded they greeted you with a welcoming crew clapping and a glass of champagne. 

I still enjoy sailing with Celebrity, so Bon Voyage to all my friends. Don't sweat the small stuff. It's your time  aboard that counts.

I'm still pretty upset they made me get off at the end of my cruise.

"'Un-Sophisticated Traveler,"  It's in the dictionary, I swear, look it up. "Uses birth certificate instead of Passport." 

https://www.porttb.com/posts?id=C628FBC2-348E-4F25-AA2B-17AEDD93AEC5

Lay down $50at the roulette wheel and

laissez le bon temps rouler

Let the good times roll.

Go. Budget. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't expect anything extra. It's so much sweeter when good things happen to sailors. 

I've never won anything or had an upgrade, but I' so grateful to be able to sail with my friends on Virgin.

And I met Sir Richard on a June 2nd Valiant Lady cruise. He is most approachable and awesome. I even let him win, when we played chess in the afternoon at the outside bar of the wake. Ha! (He cleaned my clock)

Enjoy your cruises. The staff will help you thru the morning where you return to port and then re-embark. You're going to have a blast!

Suggested names for Carnival ships: 

Carnival Oops -- I did it Again

Carnival I Love Rock n Roll

Carnival Love Shack

Carnival Buy Me A Boat

Carnival It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Carnival Luck Be A Lady

Geeze, wouldn't it be amazing if people stopped worrying about matching status benefits, and sailed on Virgin to try a new and totally cool cruise experience?

Imagine sailing on a cruise line like Virgin and not getting up-charged for every silly dining venue, or a tea bag in the buffet. Having WIFI and gratuities already figured into the cost of your cruise.

Imagine not basing your cruise on a few comp drink tickets. 

Imagine not sweating the small stuff on a cruise vacation. 

Imagine a cruise staff that is happy, because the company treats them like family.

And then the dog barked and I woke up. 

You're rocking some great photos Mom!

Visit with the Maitre de, slip him a $20.Thank him for looking out for you. See what happens. You'd be surprised how cash trumps cruise line status. The mans working to support his family. If it's a longer cruise, hit him with another $20. The mans looking out for you.

Geez, these kids today, I gotta explain everything.

I hated that I had to get off, it was a humid June morning in Miami. Oh, the horror. 

Mom, we sailed June second with a 3:15 check-in.  They moved our line inside and up the escalator's at 2:05. Don't sweat it, you're going to have a fabulous time. Sail away on the pool deck is fantastic. Waiter's with trays of champagne and very liberal with passing it out. All you care to imbibe. It's a great party. I'm very excited for your trip. Bon Voyage.

Essiesmom, I've enjoyed your comments on Celebrity, MSC & Carnival. Looking forward to your thoughts on Virgin.  We've sailed a good bit on Celebrity but enjoy many of the things Virgin does better.

You should expect a fabulous cruise and I believe the crew of the Valiant Lady will deliver.

Carnival Paradise departed Tampa this afternoon, skipping Cozumel and bound for the Bahamas.

I was a young lad on September 10, 1960 when Hurricane Donna wiped out our beach home on Ft Myers Beach.  The lesson, if you live on the beach, don't become attached to your possessions, because mother nature can be a cruel house cleaning service.

Sorry Jimbo, not everyone is on FB. Enlighten us.

Hurricane Beryl steaming towards the Western Caribbean.  Will your cruise itinerary be changed? What have you heard from the cruise line?

With Virgin, most check-in drama happens on the app before you even get to the port. The check-in agent confirms your passport. Issues you a wrist bracelet and moves you along. 

They won't have 20 agents twiddling their thumbs waiting to comply with boarding times. They'll move everyone expeditiously through the process and onto the ship.

The first cruise departing a new port might slow things down a bit until everyone gets up to speed, but Virgin is a very hip passenger centric cruise line. 

Show up, go up, check in and get your party started.  The sail away party is most awesome. Everyone is part of it. Not like some so called luxury lines that offer a bow deck party to members of a particular cabin class or loyalty perk.

Miami, Valiant Lady

What a fabulous cruise line. We had 3:15 boarding on June 2nd.   

We parked in the parking garage about 1:30 just ahead of some tropical rain. I was worried about finding a space but, no problem. When we sailed later at 6, still plenty of spots on top of the garage.

A lovely Longshoreman woman porter took  our bags and afixed tags. Very easy. We watched them trundled off to the security almost immediately and onto ship.

Started boarding groups and by 2:10, our 3:15 group were riding the escalators to the 2nd floor Virgin check in. They had at least 20 agents checking in passengers. People ahead of us were already aboard. So quick, so easy.  Shoreside staff was most excellent.

I've sailed a lot of cruise lines including Celebrity out of the adjacent terminal to Virgin. Nothing compares to Virgins most excellent embark.

Don't sweat the parking, like I did. Park, check  your bags and go up and get the party started.

Spend a couple of bucks. Enjoy the anticipation of going on your cruise. Life is uncertain and short. Bon Voyage.

My wife asked a casino host what hetheough the machine with the best payout was, "It's  that one over there by the wall. You put your card in and money comes out. We call it the ATM."