bluejay555

We ate in the dining room every night but I took very few food pics. The first night out of San Fran was so rocky that people were getting seasick left and right. Our table was at the aft window and we shared the table with another family, who didn’t even make it through the first course before leaving. We do not normally get seasick but sitting in the very back, watching the water and feeling all that motion made us queasy so we requested a table in the front of the dining room for the rest of the cruise. I hate asking for things like that but I’m so glad we moved. Carnival melting cake…we have been missing you!

We bought the Cheers package for us and the bottomless bubbles for the kids. We did not get our moneys worth on Cheers and probably won’t do it again but it was nice to not have to question whether we *really* need that expensive drink. It took the guilt away! You can get a bottled water with your alcohol drink without waiting 5 min, so we always did that. I ordered a case of water for the room but we ran out quickly (teens like to take one drink and leave it laying somewhere 😆). We also got coffee drinks from Java Blue, Monsters, Gatorade, and milkshakes, which we wouldn’t have done without having Cheers. So all in all, Cheers was a learning experience. 15 drinks per day is pretty ambitious, and we should have known better but hey, it’s all good!

Our kids stayed with us most of the time and enjoyed all the trivia and karaoke and board games. My 18 yr old tried to go into club Frankenstein (you have to be 18 to get in) but they scanned her card and said she didn’t look like her picture so they wouldn’t let her in. I was not happy and was going to go back with her but she shrugged it off and didn’t care to go back. We saw packs of kids running around and heard some of them saying them met at club o2. We had a rowdy bunch on our cruise. I heard of all kinds of sketchy things going on with the teens.

1. OK yes cabs are metered. Maybe it was an Uber…sorry we don’t use public transportation much. There was hotel staff outside asking where you were going and pairing you up with drivers. Our driver said his price was $60 and we took it. I’m sure we got screwed 😂 2. I am platinum, plus we didn’t check our luggage so we were off the ship by about 8am. Debarkation for us started at 7:30am.

During all the excitement I thought why am I not recording this?? So I managed to get a little snippet of us going under the bridge just in the nick of time. IMG_7205.mov

When we finally started moving we raced up to the top deck! Got some great shots of Alcatraz and going under the Golden Gate Bridge. The ship horn blasted for probably 30 seconds straight as we approached, and then everyone cheered as we went under. SO COOL!

One of the pools is covered and people took advantage. As the days went on people were using the outdoor pool too. Must have been heated!

Thank you!!

We were supposed to sail at 4, and the party on the lido was going strong but we didn’t end up leaving until about 5:30. I heard that a snag getting the luggage on board caused the delay. Sail Away music and dancing got us so excited! We had Guys burgers for lunch and they did not disappoint!

We had the cheers package on our cruise last week. In addition to alcohol, we got coffee drinks, gatorade, bottled water, monsters, and shakes too. We definitely ended up paying way more for cheers than we would have spent on individual drinks but we weren't sure how much we'd end up drinking and didn't want to not get a drink because of the price. Cheers took the guilt away lol- we ordered whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted! And cheers tip- you can order a bottled water and an alcoholic drink at the same time, you don't have to wait 5 min. So we did that every time! For some reason you can't order a non-alcoholic drink and a water at the same time but before I realized that, the coffee shop worker let me have them both and said he'd run my card again in 5 min.

As soon as we got on, we went to our floor and they let us drop our carry on bags in the room. We then went to the lido and waiters were really pushing the funship drinks. Muster was so easy- we found a worker with an iPad and they scanned our cards, asked if we had any questions about safety and told us we could go. But the bars were closed very briefly.

Woke up and checked on the Miracle. Looks like she’s waiting for us! It’s go time!! We took a cab to the pier and it was around $60. Totally worth it, we just walked outside the hotel and there were several lined up and ready to go. It was so easy. We had 11am boarding and got there about 10:30 and it was already super crowded. They have you line up in rows according to your boarding time: There she is!

We walked from Chinatown to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. All those docks but they choose to lay on top of each other 😂 except for this guy I should have taken more pictures. There are quite a few restaurants and shops here. We went into a Christmas store and were cracking up at the “sexy men” ornaments. There were a bunch to choose from 😂 We ate dinner at Pier 39 (I can’t remember which restaurant but it was really good) Afterward we walked back to the hotel to rest up for our big day- boarding the ship!

Chinatown was pretty cool. Lots of fish markets. squid meat anyone? not sure about the unrefrigerated bags of fish we saw laying around here and there…

After riding the entire route, we decided to get off at Chinatown and walk to pier 39 afterward. Notice gas prices there- yikes!

There’s a stop on the other side of the bridge with nice bathrooms and lots of photo ops. And you can walk across the bridge if you like.

The bus goes over the Golden Gate Bridge and they warn you that it’s a bit windy on top of the bus and hold onto your hats. That was an understatement!

We decided to ride the entire bus route once (2.5 hrs) and then figure out where we wanted to get off and explore. Let me just say this: don’t be drinking a bunch of coffee before getting on the bus because bathrooms are hard to find! I think most businesses want to keep the homeless out. We had to get off at a random stop because we had to pee so bad 😂 and we walked all over before finding a restaurant that took mercy on us. We did see a lot of homeless people with tents, or sleeping bags, or just passed out on the sidewalk. It was sad. I hope it doesn’t seem insensitive, but I’ll post a couple pics just to show you what it’s like.

OK not sure what the deal is with my pics posting upside down? But if I use the snapseed app it fixes them so here we go! 😁 So I didn’t get any good pics of the hotel but trust me, it’s nice! We had all day Sunday to tour the city and had tried to get Alcatraz tickets but they were sold out. We didn’t realize that was a thing and shouldn’t have waited until the last min. But it’s ok because the Hop on Hop off bus was a block away from the hotel. We were advised by the hotel concierge to avoid the bus because it was Pride Weekend and the bus route had some changes, and crowds would be “enormous”. We decided to chance it anyway since we really had nothing else to do, and we are so glad we did! They had plenty of buses running, and the stops they made were fine with us!

You are going to have the best time!!

I want to do it again too! We stayed at the Riu at Fisherman’s Wharf. The boarding process was pretty fast once the line started moving.

I am going to pause this review because every picture I try to attach is upside down. I have tons of pictures and it would be a nightmare to flip every single one. I'd delete the original post but I'm not allowed to do that. Oh well, I will work on the problem and hopefully come back- sorry!

We just got back from an amazing cruise and I thought I'd share. When I was researching this cruise I had a hard time finding reviews...TxTeach had an amazing one, and we felt like we were on the cruise with them! Spoiler alert, but mine won't be nearly as good as that one. I will do my best though, to give you a taste of what to expect on this cruise, with as many pictures as I have! (I always forgot to take food pics in the dining room) My husband, two teenage daughters, and I flew into San Francisco 2 days early to see the sights and stayed at the Riu at Fisherman's Wharf. This hotel was the place to be! It was near pier 39, only a block from the hop on hop off bus, and had a HUGE complimentary breakfast buffet. Just be prepared to wait in a long line to get a table for breakfast, this hotel holds a lot of people. I did meet some fellow cruisers in that line, so the wait wasn't all that bad!