ardnassac79

The first Trolley stop is across the street, and left of where we were docked (we were in “dock 4” – almost positive. The trolley signs are green with a large number on them.

We were the first people there to wait, but about 10-15 others came up while we were waiting. After about 15 minutes it showed up, already with people on board, but we were able to squeeze in. It took us up and around some government and museum buildings, and it struck the both of us how well maintained this area is! Just beautiful. We were able to snap some photos while the trolley was moving – max speed on these streets is posted at 15mph!

Wednesday – San Juan

Because we had an early night, the 7:30 am alarm wasn’t too terrible. We packed up our bag of stuff we’d need for the day, and headed to lido deck for some breakfast – I really wanted to try the huevos rancheros at Blue Iguana (delish!). We didn’t have any planned excursions for the day, instead we did our research from other reviews (thank you Navybaby!) and had a good Trolley Map and plan to hop it to get to El Morro, the largest fort in the area. This was the link and map we printed:

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/free-trolley-old-san-juan/

The ship docked on time at 7am, but that was a tad too early for us – we ended up heading out around 9, and it was still relatively thin as far as crowds go.

Some pics from our balcony before we left:

Again, thank you all for the wonderful wishes and congratulations.. it means a lot that you all like what we put out here! :D I'm currently writing out San Juan, and should start getting those posts up within the hour.

Hi Guys! I feel like I know you now!!LOL...am really really enjoying your review. I am going on the liberty next year and was trying to decide between the eastern or western, but with the pics you posted of st. thomas, the choice is pretty clear!! So thank you for that!

I loved HMC and agree the music was quite loud. We actually sat in front of the boat as thats where my son's friends were and he wanted to be close.

Many happy wishes for you both!

Glad to help! Definitely book some kind of tour or excursion that will take you to the scenic areas... St. Thomas's beauty is not able to be seen by just getting off the boat and doing your own thing. San Juan is a different story as you'll see later tonight!

If you don't mind me asking, can you tell me how much the 101oz of beer costs?

 

Loved your review!

I just looked at the S&S bill, and it showed $34 and some change, but I think I added a $2 tip... so around $32! Not bad for what is technically 6 pints of beer!

Hello my pretties,

 

Love your review and all the pictures! Looks like a wonderful trip! And your wedding pictures are lovely as are you both.

 

Thanks for checking out the piano bar regardless of what you have heard. You know the old saying, different strokes for different folks. But I'm sorry you found it lacking.

 

I'm keeping an ear out to hear who will replace Joe on the Victory and crossing my fingers you get someone good. I made a little discovery the other day that suggests that the office is very aware of and may even be taking seriously things being said over on the Bar-Barians page, so there is hope!

 

I'm not sailing again until the Breeze in October, but I think I got a good one in Ben Gentry! Yay me! LOL

 

Take care you two. Perhaps we should get Cass a helmet and safety pads for every day use? LOL :p

 

Happy Cruising,

 

Laura

Hey Laura!! Really good news about the powers-that-be taking notice... changes! And yeah, I'd probably get some kind of weird plastic injury from the bubble wrap, I'm a walking calamity... it's amazing I never broke any bones!

DH loved the Red Frog beer too. Told me it was the best beer he'd ever had. Good to know that the tube of beer doesn't get too warm. However, if we ever ordered it, DH would have to drink it all himself as I don't like beer! LOL! Perhaps he could share with my BIL. We might be cruising next year with MY sister and brother-in-law. :)

Yeah it's best to share - with only one person, it may get too warm... that last glass was "slightly chilled" at best... still good though! I don't like beer all the time, but love this.. (lmao that was close to the dos equis commercials). I don't drink beer all the time, but when I do, it's Carnival's Thirsty Frog.

I have never got past the name of your thread! Congratulations to both of you and I will try to clear my head!!

LOLOL! Chris has been waiting for someone to comment on that!! (in his dreams! :p)

Connnnnnnngratulations guys!!!! Was glad to see this review on the boards, especially since it was a Liberty cruise! We loved our cruise in February, although we did the Western route. We had Karl as CD and Ben in the piano bar. He was hilarious, sorry that you didn't have a better entertainer there.

 

Yeah we were hoping! And we LOVE Karl - had him on our Liberty 2012 cruise, such a great CD!

Here are the Fun Times for St. Thomas... I apologize, we tried to be diligent and keep good copies of each day, but somehow I kept the one with the tear-off portion removed... so these are missing the skinny portion with all the hourly activities... sorry! :(

Fun Times - Carnival Liberty - Eastern Caribbean - Day 4 - St. Thomas, 4/16/13

Chris doesn't have these on his computer yet, so I'm gonna chime in quick with the pics we got of our ornament :D

I don't know what's for dinner but I know what's for dessert....

Oh good lord... :o:o:o

Great job on the review! My wife and are are going again on the Liberty this next November with some friends.

 

Can you tell me about the *old* sushi place? What is it now? We kind of enjoyed it. It's not a deal killer or anything, but it was something that I think I'll miss.

 

Keep up the great work!

Thanks! It's now called the "Taste Bar" and on select nights (not all - whenever it's listed on the back of the skinny part of the Fun Times) they will have a small appetizer - usually some kind of meat/croquette, along with a little soup bowl of something yummy that you pick up and slurp directly from. I know for people like Chris it's awesome because he hated sushi, so this gives him an option for a quick bite if we're having a later dinner. I kind of missed the sushi, but the offerings at the Taste Bar were really good in my opinion, so I didn't miss it too terribly :)

And last but not least, the Fun Times for today...

Carnival Liberty - Eastern Caribbean - Day at Sea - 4/15/13

We'll have St. Thomas in the next few days... have some household stuff to take care of tomorrow night, so no promises for tomorrow, but we will get the next daily installment in within the next 2 days or so at the latest!

Beware, as picture-light as this day at sea was, St. Thomas and San Juan will be uber-picture heavy. It was our first time to both these stops, and while I know many people have been there, seen that, we were the newbies enthralled with the views!

There was a long line for the photo drop close to the Anytime dining entrance, and there was a line about 20 people deep to get to the hostess station, but it went pretty quick, and when we got up to check in, we got seated at our usual 224 “real” table for two right away.

This was the view of the MDR from our table, to give some perspective..

Although this was the 3rd night, they kept the usual formal night menu. I had the west indian pumpkin soup (I LOVE this dish) and Chris got the spaghetti carbonara as a starter… I admittedly stole a few bites…

For the main course I had lobster with extra shrimp (I know I’m weird, I like shrimp more than lobster) and Chris had the BBQ ribs (one of his favorite on board – same complaint as always… why on formal night?!) Advance apologies... we forgot to get food porn of our entrees... I know... blasphemy!! Trust us when we say it looked great and tasted even better!

We were both stuffed, and declined dessert, and our awesome head waiter, Roger, looked a bit stressed… he told us to hold on, and came back in a few minutes and explained that he was supposed to sing us “Happy Honeymoon” when they brought out dessert, but since we didn’t want any, did we want him to sing to us anyway? Awww, I felt so bad! I told him I really appreciated the offer, but not to worry about it.

We stayed in our formal ware, and headed to the casino to kill a little time before the adult comedy started at 9:45.

John Mulrooney was on first and was pretty good, but this time we stayed (while Chris went back to the room for a Room Drink – found this little guy waiting for him).

We then watched Darren Sanders again at 11… he had previously warned this would be the “dirty dirty” show (something of a grand finale as they were leaving the ship the next day) and he lived up to the promise… quite funny, dirty, and not for delicate ears.

Afterwards we donated a bit more to the casino, but I wanted to head to bed around 12:30 because we knew tomorrow would be dawning early – St. Thomas here we come!

We did end up missing our Roll Call’s meet and greet (sorry guys!) but ended up running into some people later, which was nice to place some faces to names (although I'm so bad with remembering people I meet briefly, I apologize if I walked past you later and ignored you!). Julie and Ram met up with us and we all decided to take a stab at the Brain Teaser trivia in the casino (not the best place for trivia, it’s a little hard to hear in there… just sayin’… ) and Ram, Chris and I ended up doing pretty good, but lost to someone else.. darn. :mad:

As Chris mentioned before, on the ships with the EA Bars, they do a week-long trivia and gaming challenge that tallies points between Xbox game competitions and sports trivia, and the winner at the end of the week gets a prize pack. We headed over there to partake in the second day’s events, and hahaha, Chris lost to me in a head to head NHL 2013 shootout challenge.. yeah girls can be gamers too.. :p but darn I ended up losing in the second round so no points for me. The trivia was right after, and Chris logged 3rd place points on his running tally.

At this point it was about 4:30/5, and we weren’t close to being hungry due to our late lunch, so we killed some time at the slots in the casino, and then finally made our way to the room to get ready for the first formal night [insert a Chris snarky joke about me taking hours to get ready]. Chris was happy to see his first official “platinum gift” had been delivered…

I was also pleased because Chris succumbed to my pleas to pose for formal night pictures (under the agreement that it would only be at a backdrop that didn’t have a huge line)… woo hoo, we lucked out – the crowds for early seating were gone, and late seating hadn’t ramped up yet. I think we clean up pretty darn good if I do say so myself…

So I'll apologize up front that this day won't be too picture heavy... but we'll more than make up for it tomorrow with the St. Thomas recap :p

Monday - 4/15/13 - Finally a Day at Sea!

We woke up around 8:30, and it was nice out – the direction we were sailing in gave us shade in the AM on our balcony till early afternoon, so we went up one flight to Lido (love the closeness) and got some breakfast to bring back to eat out on the balcony. It was so nice out there, and we were both feeling lazy, so we both stayed out on the loungers and read, napped, and was luxuriously lazy until about 11:30am when we both had the crazy idea to go to the gym.

I suffered through the treadmill as much as I could stand (it gets really hot in there, and running in place on a moving ship probably takes a lot of getting used to). Chris sped through his routine, and we were done around 12:15, headed back to the room to shower up and then head down to the atrium to catch 90’s Music trivia at 1. Man they really need to include something other than Top 40 hits in these music trivias just to throw things off! Some Nirvana, STP, something rock!

Some shots looking up from the Atrium where the trivia was held:

We didn’t do so hot, and by this time we were hungry, so we made it up to Blue Iguana for tacos. Yum.

Hi again! We're back! Again, thank you all for the well wishes and congratulations <3!

I'll do my best to answer any questions that popped up from yesterday and then get Monday's Day at Sea going :)

RAM and I enjoyed meeting you and being part of the "table for 8."

It was a very fun cruise! We waited til the last tender to go back to the ship from HMC as the lines were long! Sat and had a beer and a Miami Vice before the line thinned enough we could walk down to the tender boat.

Glad your thumb is healing! My injury from SJ is still not healed, but hopefully soon it will be!

Hey Julie!! We both loved meeting you and Ram - I know after this first sea day we didn't end up seeing each other too much around the ship until Grand Turk :( I really hope we get to sail with you both again!!

Was there snorkeling gear available with the cabana rental? Or was it a separate charge? Well, is there even reefs to snorkel in front of the cabana or was it a different part of the beach?

The cabana rental includes snorkeling gear - they ask for the snorkel flipper size initially at the excursion desk when you check in upon embarkation to get your cabana number... admittedly we haven't ever used the gear.. there are no reefs in the sea in front of the cabanas, however I have been told there are some tropical fish that hang out way up at the beginning of the beach even before Cabana #1... as to the rest of the island's snorkeling opportunities, you may do better to ask in the Port of Call area here on CC http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 (unless any other readers know? Feel free to chime in!)

Chris and Cassandra,

First of all ... congratulations on your marriage!

 

I have enjoyed several of your reviews.... and loving this one so far. It brings back memories of our Aft Wrap on the Liberty last November and wonderful day at HMC. (The same week you were on the Breeze!)

 

When we were there, the monster condos were being built... and the noise in the water from the Pirate Bar was certainly there. Peaceful feeling in #10 Cabana... louder than anything in the water.

 

So sorry to hear about the Piano Bar... I remember your review on the Breeze where you were lucky enough to have a blast. Ben Gentry did a nice job on the Liberty when we were on her... I find that the right Piano Bar person can make a cruise!! It is too bad this person was a bore.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your week!

Thanks as always for sharing,

Catrin

Thank you! Yeah that music while you're out in the water is anything but serene... So good to hear about other good PB Players... we have fingers crossed for a good one on the Victory in October! We were lucky enough to meet with the current Victory PBE in Grand Turk (more later) he's an up-and-comer on Carnival with all the makings of being awesome, but will unfortunately be off the ship by then.

In Chris’s words… “OMG I love our balcony!!!! This thing is friggin huge!!!” In my words… “This thing is bigger than the Blue Banana!” (Bonus points for anyone that gets that reference!)

 

I love this reference. My first thought was Kit Daluca's response: "do I have to hear this?"

 

Anyhow, haven't made it very far in the review yet. Enjoying this one as I have all the others. Congrats guys!

This just cracked me up!!! Thank you!

Chris and Cassandra, Congrats on your marriage. You two are an adorable couple.

 

We agree about the music at HMC. We were in Cabana #10 and while we could not hear the music and DJ in the cabana, it was load and clear while in the water, which is where we spent a good portion of our day. The music wasn't too bad, but when the DJ started with the " Booty Shaking Contest" and all that goes with-it, it was just a tad bit too much to listen too. I can't imagine being in a cabana any closer to the Pirate Ship than we were.

 

*** Also, the boys ended up going to Medical the night of HMC due to a really bad sunburn on thier lower legs and the top of their feet, which ended up puffing up and blistering. Again, the Dr was not in, but they rang the nurse and were given a tube of cream to take the pain away. LOL..... may be their standard approach to what ails ya. It worked out fine though, as there were not any Medical charges on the S&S, just $10 for the tube of cream. The gift shop was out of Aloe so when we ported in St.Thomas, we grabbed a jumbo bottle for $7.99. It seems that there were many on our cruise that got really bad sunburns at HMC despite using Sunscreen. Lesson Learned for a picture-perfect day on HMC ----- now my favorite port so far.

You're right, I think a lot of people got literally burned there - poor Sean and his 2nd degree burns! On our last cruise to HMC I forgot about the tops of my feet, but it never got blistered... however this time I was a sunscreen junkie and probably over-applied! I could just feel that heat from the sun and just imagined red skin! So sorry to hear about your boys, hopefully it didn't make the rest of the cruise too uncomfortable!

seeing what they did at hmc, makes me wonder

I always said that HMC was my fav stop.

it's going to be my gf's first time there on our next cruise..and I am building it up..not not so sure..lol

thank you again for the great review, and glad to hear that the hand was nothing to bad.

 

looking forward to any more you post

The beach is still beautiful, sand is like powdered sugar, and it's still got those crystal blue waters... and the further you walk down the beach the further you can get away from the crowds and music... if they had just turned it down just a notch it would have been better.

I'll definitely be back with the next day tomorrow, and then I think at least a few more days this week. Don't worry - we'll finish!

Congrats and love your reviews as always. Other than the issue at check in, did you like the Colony? We stayed down the street at the Avalon in Jan.

Yeah! It was a cute boutique-type place, not fancy... the room was very clean, but then again we ended up staying in one of their "ocean suites" not the regular room we originally booked... so not all the views are the same (or the rates!). Location was good, although I think if we ever do that again, we may try to look for a place a little up the block - more in the 900 - 1200 block of Ocean.

Just to wrap up Half Moon Cay, it was odd having a stop on the very first night of our cruise, but I'm certainly not complaining! They moved the formal night and the typical 7-day formal night dinner of Lobster to the following day, which was a sea day.

Last but not least, here's the Fun Times:

Carnival Liberty - Eastern Caribbean - Day 2, Half Moon Cay - 4/14/13

Chris and Cass...I have a question. On deck 9 aft by the pool there is the pizzeria and there use to be the grill. On the deck plans it still says grill but what do they serve there since I thought Guy's Burgers replaced the grills??:confused::confused:

Actually, not sure... I know one night late, when I was getting Pizza, Chris got a Buffalo Chicken sandwich, and they had some other "comfort" type food like grilled cheese, cookies, etc - Late Night Snacks? I don't know if they had lunch or dinner offerings out there during the day though... I'll say the Main Midship Pool on Lido now has Guy's Burgers on one side, and the Blue Iguana on the other.

Fun to relive this cruise through the two of you. Again, congrats and I hope we see you again on another FUN SHIP!

 

Julie

Hey Julie!! I'd love to sail with you and the Lunatics again! Ya'll are a blast :D

That is very disappointing about Half Moon. Those condo things were not there in July. Where did they come from and what exactly are they? Also disappointed to hear About the music. You are right, when we had cabana 5 I did not hear music, at least not that I remember so it could not have been that bad. Such a peaceful island, what a shame.

Yeah I think they popped up sometime late last year... more $$, evidently they have hot tubs in them too! Honestly the music down at 14 wasn't bad when we were actually in the cabana, but it was blaring when we were on our floatie mats in the water... the speakers are angled just right to lay the party music out across the entire beach. I get it - if you're into that thing, then just keep it localized to that smaller area of the beach... the floatie mats being my ZEN happy place were just a pipe dream this time. :(

First off, thank you so much for all the congrats and well wishes! Nothing is better than getting to marry your best friend, and I know we'll have many happy years together :)

Also, thank you for all the words of empathy, the hand is much better - I kept it iced at night, and the booze helped during the evenings LOL. All kidding aside, Chris took great care of me (I sure put him to that "in sickness and in health" part right away!) And it's almost healed up now, just a little sore when I forget and do something like put in a ponytail.

Great start!!

 

Did you guys smuggle, order Bon Voyage, or do Cheers program?

Thanks! We admittedly do a bit of smuggling, but no Bon Voyage on this trip. We honestly don't drink enough to cover the cost of the Cheers programs - we tend to not start drinks till late afternoon or early evening, and then it's only 4 or 5 each... I know Cheers works out well for a lot of people, but for us it's just not cost effective.

Well it is about time Chris and Cass! Wow Cass...your thumb looks awful! Hope everything was okay! Guess we will find what the doctor says tomorrow (Is this your version of a cliffhanger LOL)!

 

Glad to see the band by the casino, always loved listening to the live band there. Been on the Liberty twice and we are looking at the Liberty for Dec. but was going to go with Princess if no live bands. Have not made the final decision yet though.

 

Thanks for the review...can't wait for more!

Hey Ready!! Yeah I forget what that band's name was - it should be listed in the Fun Times I posted for the first day. They were a cover band, but really good. The guitarists on board were good too.

Love, love, love your review!

 

So sorry about your thumb Cass! On the Breeze it was your ankle. Chris will have to wrap you up in cotton swab! :-)

Glad that its Ok.

 

Joanne

Hey Joanne!! Yeah I'm a freaking walking calamity... almost fell down the stairs at my doctor's office today too but thankfully caught myself! Yikes! I think Chris suggested a body-bubble LOL...

Congratulations Chris & Cass from both Cindy & I. Looks like another great cruise and I'm sure this one was definitely extra special. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to do another great review.

 

Steve

Hey Steve! Thank you!! Hope you and Cindy are doing well - say hi to her for us!

Last cruise we had the aft wrap next to your room (on the Glory), and my husband slammed the balcony door on his finger - looked pretty similar to your hand!

 

Thank you for including the fun times in your review - the Liberty Eastern is our next cruise.

 

 

Congratulations on your wedding!

Those balcony doors can be dangerous sometimes! OW! I'm sure you'll have a blast on your cruise! We loved these stops!

We were actually in the Golden Dining Room and we had Early Seating. We were on the top level. I didn't really like our table. It was a table for four, which was nice, but it was next to a window with a curtain over it (that never opened) and we were kinda squished between other tables and a server station.

 

Sorry about your thumb! Man, that looks painful!

 

BTW, I said hi to you and Chris in Half Moon. We were both at the buffet lunch at the same time.

Yeah! I remember that now... it's so hard to put faces to names on here.. sometimes people will come up and say hi because they recognize us from here and I feel so bad because I think, oh no! Do I know them? I apologize if I didn't say hi to anyone!

Having see the "trailers" on social media, so nice to see the full feature:) That aftcabin is certainly the spot on the Liberty. Those cocktails in MB are the ones to have when you're only have less than one.:D So will now subscribe. And as Erm and Deb say, Keep calm and Rum On!

 

Crew

Hey Crew! Yep RUM ON is right! Yeah that balcony was the best!

I see that you are going on the Sunshine next year. DH and I will be on her as well in March. I was wondering if you are staying in New Orleans before and after your cruise. I found a hotel for the night we get into New Orleans, but having problems with the one night after our cruise. Have a wonderful time and looking forward to your review once you get back!

We are flying into NO I think 2 days before to be able to spend a full day there before cruising, but we'll be hopping a flight home the day the ship gets back... I actually can't remember the name of the hotel because someone else in our group booked it for us, but I think it's close to the French Quarter area.

did you have any trouble asking for a more private table for two? haha, we learned on our last trip about those smushed together tables for 2. ;)

Nope, absolutely no trouble at all - We asked for it the first night, and then they knew for the rest of the nights. We were prepared to wait for them, because we knew that's what we wanted, but there wasn't any wait once we actually got up to the check in station. The tables are 227 and 224 - and there are a few others around the middle staircase as well.

To Chris & Cassandra:

 

Congratulations on our wedding and wishing you both many year of health, happiness and cruising together! :D:D

Hey Froufie! Thank you! I must say, your Eastern Liberty review inspired us for St. Thomas, I'm sure you'll see a familiar face when we get to that day!

Unfortunately, that's all for today - we've got some house stuff to get taken care of... but we'll be back hopefully tomorrow with Half Moon Cay!

I'll leave you all with the Fun Times for Embarkation Day... I apologize for the lower quality - didn't realize the scanner was set to a lower resolution... the rest of the week's documents are clearer...

FUN TIMES - CARNIVAL LIBERTY - EASTERN CARIBBEAN - 4/13/13 - EMBARKATION DAY

We headed back to the room, made some Room Drinks, and decided to brave the Piano Bar and check out Peter Brenner. We went in with some trepidation, because unfortunately we hadn’t heard anything good about Mr. Brenner… however we had promised our friend Laura that we would give him a fair shot and report back with an honest opinion.

He was just starting when we got there and explained that he would start with a few of his own songs, then take a few requests, then do a few more of his own.

He was OK at best… he’s a decent piano player, but his tempo on everything just seems fast. We tried our best to be engaging and talk to him in between songs, but during songs he would absolutely zone out and not engage the crowd (all 5 of us in there at the time) at all. There were some times where he would either try to improvise and it just came off awkward, or he’d switch into this really low grumbly voice, and that was sorta brutal.

Julie, Ram, Alan, and Gayle came in, and we had fun with them (Poor Julie needed 2 Long Islands just to stand it).

We asked if he did any sort of “late night” material after 11 or 12, and he flat out said NO, he didn’t do it, and refused. Alrighty Then… no real reason for us to stay in there and have fun in the late hours of the evening, that’s for sure.

Yes, this shot was taken in the height of what should be optimum Piano Bar time... pretty empty...

With the slow transformation to re-brand the Carnival Piano Bar scene, we are both hoping Carnival starts to take guest opinion into consideration when this guy’s contract comes up for renewal. Just Sayin…

We left, each lost a quick $100 at the Let it Ride table, and decided to call it a night… I headed up to get some pizza to take back to the room for us to share out on the Balcony. We had the fun "seal" for the first night's animal... this one cracks me up every time...

While I was getting ready for bed, Chris fell asleep outside on a lounger, and I came out and cuddled up next to him. We both fell asleep out there… and then the night got interesting… (get your minds out of the gutter, lol!)

We both woke up and in my half-asleep state, I went to push myself up off the lounger with my right hand on the side, and my hand slipped, and all my weight went into my thumb and it got bent backwards… now I’m an admittedly very clumsy person in general, so usually I’ll run into something, trip over something, etc, and not think anything of it… this was different.. I knew something was wrong and actually thought I dislocated my thumb. It was late, I could barely wiggle it, and it was blowing up like a balloon... Well damn.... We went down to the Medical Bay, but they told us that since it was so late, we’d have to go to Guest Services first so they could call the night nurse first. We went up to 3, then back down to 0… she took a look, said that because I could move it at least slightly, it wasn’t dislocated or broken… she gave me lots of plastic bags with Ice, and I got a shot in the butt for pain and swelling… Fun times!!!

She said to come back the next morning around 8 when the doctor would be in, and we were sent on our way… I swear it’s always something with me! We made our way back up the room and set our alarm earlier than we wanted, due to the new 8am apt with the Doctor…

This is what it ended up looking like after a day or two...

I think most people eat late on embarkation day, because there was no wait at this time for Anytime. We knew to ask for a more “private” table for 2, and sat at table 224 where we would end up for most of the nights we ate in the MDR. These are true tables for two – not a 2 person table squashed in between other tables, where you are sitting closer to someone else than the person you are dining with. This was the standard day 1 menu for a 7 day cruise – I went boring with a regular salad for an App,

Chris had the Chicken Tenders… we are pleased to report the heavy breading has gone away, and is now a lighter, yet crispier breading… closer to the way it was originally, but better than that heavy fried breading we had last year.

For entrees, I had the sweet and sour shrimp and Chris ordered the beef brisket in gravy.

Both were yummy, but we also saved room to share an obligatory warm chocolate melting cake.

Every night in the MDR they would come around with pre-made shots in collector glasses to purchase… why not, it’s the start of the cruise! And yeah, I was lazy and didn’t change into “dinner” clothes… meh, it’s embarkation day, who cares?

Have to take a quick moment to say dinner service was a little longer than we were used to some nights. This was one of the nights where it felt like each course just took about 5-10 mins longer to get than usual. It wasn’t consistently slow every night, but this was one where it was just slow enough to be slightly annoying. Regardless, the food was good, and we rolled out of there stuffed.

Then we headed over to the Alchemy bar for a pre-dinner drink.

We made quick friends with Miro the bartender – really cool guy, who we are hoping we’ll get to see again on the Sunshine in December!

He made Chris an awesome “Perfect Storm” and I had a Cucumber Sunrise.

I'm a big dork and took a short video of him making it... with flair!!

Some other FB Lunatics showed up and we chatted till we decided to head to dinner around 7 or so.

And just a few more ship pics...

Deck 5 - Cherry on Top Candy shop and formalities:

Atrium Lighting from Deck 5:

Looking down to Deck 3 Atrium Lobby from Deck 5:

Upward-facing Atrium shot:

Main Theater - Venetian Palace

After sailaway, we made our way down to deck 5 – stopped in at the Taste Bar (which was previously the Sushi Bar… sadly I didn’t see any sushi on the cruise other than the app the one night in the MDR… not sure if they ever had any for dinner in the Lido, but they certainly replaced Sushi with the Taste Bar offerings).

Tonight was a spicy pork thing with a yummy tomato-based soup with chicken in it.

Here's some more rand***** ship pictures we snapped earlier in the day as well.

Club O2 Lounge for the teens:

There were a few weddings on board and in the ports this week, one was on Embarkation Day:

Internet Lounge... sorta hard to find, tucked away behind one of the lounges (The Cabinet) on Deck 4:

Silver Dining Room - for the Early and Late Seating folks... Anytime is in the Golden Room, midship.

Woo hoo!! I'm SO glad you've started.... subscribing right now! ;)

Hey Leslee! Thanks!! Boy how I wish we were back on board!! :o

I know, most of us have seen a Miami sailaway, but it really does have some great views.

Disney was leaving behind us:

It was cool to try to figure out where our little hotel on South Beach was too.

Luckily the rain subsided, and we went back up to our Balcony for sail-away. I cracked open our bottle of pink champagne, and we enjoyed some Champagne and Strawberries – ahh this is the life.

We got to talking to our neighbors in the Aft Wrap and turns out they were also on the 2 and 8 Day Breeze US Inaugural – what a small Cruising world. They were on their 55th cruise, all Carnival, and were really nice people. They invited us over to check out their balcony and get some more pics from the side of the ship. They had friends in the next room over, and with the divider open, it was quite impressive!