pirate4me2

It's FRIDAY, yahoo!!! Anyone have any fun weekend plans? My uncle who works on DG stores comes into town today (he's only home about 8 days a month!) so we will be hanging out with him for sure. I think the plan is to hit up Sierra Nevada, his favorite brewery, tomorrow afternoon. They do have a dang good soft pretzel with beer cheese. Then it just hit me....my Vista cruise is in 22 days, and I am not packed! I gotta get started on that! So those are my exciting plans. 

2 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Good morning Tribe Family! It's a big day today as Patti is having the surgery to fix her left foot. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Her surgery is at noon, and I will check back in after it's over. ♥️ 

Sending good, healing vibes Patti's way!

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

This is it. It's already bonkers. 7 hours to glory. Hold tight. 

You got this!

We loved the little mini sandwiches on Seaside last August! Who knew a cucumber sammich would be so delicious? LOL. 

@Roscoe13 i literally just spewed tea all over at the "Megan's Staples" comment. You win the award for best post of the day! 

And I am gonna have to try that cocktail....I love diet root beer and never thought to mix it into a drink before!

I foresee myself on here asking you all for wisdom about NCL and Celebrity. I'll be like a fish out of water!

16 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Tonight we are eating dinner at JiJi’s…..

 

 

 

 

Here is the menu…..

 

 

 

These were our selections…..

 

 

The Chefs are hard at work…..

 

 

 

I’m enjoying my Sake Sangria…..

 

 

Chicken rolls….

 

 

Pork belly…..

 

 

Kung Pao chicken with shrimp fried rice…..

 

 

Hakka noodles…..

 

 

Sweet and sour shrimp…..

 

 

For dessert we had the crepes and fortune cookies…..

 

 

 

 

This was easily the best meal of the cruise. Once again we were in a food coma so we made our way back to our cabin for the night.

 

Today’s Cheers count: Patti = 3, Jeff = 8. For the day (-1), for the cruise (+17).

 

Coming up next: Another great sea day as the Carnival Vista sails to Aruba.

Alright, you just convinced me to try Jiji's next month. I am booking it for the last night of our cruise lol. That Kung Pao chicken looks DELISH!!!!

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey Cruise Critic Family! We won't be posting anything new for the next couple of days. Tonight we're going to the Somerset Patriots game,  and tomorrow Patti will be having her foot surgery. We'll be back on Saturday to continue with our journey. 😎

Best wishes for a successful surgery and speedy recovery for Patti!!

I think I have lost my mind....I just canceled one of my Vista cruises for next year in order to book TWO new cruises, on new-to-me cruise lines. 😲 I LOVE the Vista and the Havana area, what am I thinking?? Oh wait....I am thinking that I really want to sail to Tortola, it looks BEAUTIFUL, and I found a cruise on NCL's new ship, Aqua, that goes there from Port Canaveral. So, I booked that. But I also have been curious about Celebrity, and I saw that Beyond has some sailings to Tortola and Antigua for next November....so I booked that too. I think I may have a cruise booking problem...

2 hours ago, bar1068 said:

Please define, "recent Diamond member"? Do you reach "Diamond Status" on the Vista cruise you mentioned, or already have Diamond status looking to use that awesomely wonderful, one time...umm..."perk" of complimentary specialty dining?

 

Just being curious as we leave on the Venezia on the 27th, which is our "Diamond cruise" for both my wife and I, and have not seen that letter, unless it's something they provide onboard.

51 minutes ago, GB Chicago said:

I will turn Diamond on my upcoming cruise so I thought I'd turn to the experts here to tell me what happens when you hit that level 4 days into your cruise?

I reached Diamond on my last cruise, on the last sea day. Upon boarding, waiting in my cabin, was the passport holder and the Diamond letter, and I had a Diamond card the whole cruise. 

@KmomChicago safe travels!!

2 hours ago, Roscoe13 said:

Or Semisonic's version...

 

Closing time, open all the doors
And let you out into the world
Closing time, turn all of the lights on
Over every boy and every girl

Closing time, one last call for alcohol
So, finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time, you don't have to go home
But you can't stay here

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home

Closing time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from
Closing time, this room won't be open
Till your brothers or your sisters come

So, gather up your jackets, move it to the exits
I hope you have found a friend
Closing time, every new beginning
Comes from some other beginning's end, yeah

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home

Closing time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home

Closing time, every new beginning
Comes from some other beginning's end

Love that song! 

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

or maybe call the Diamond Desk...

Unfortunately their hours are not working with my work hours at the moment, but thanks for that suggestion. 

17 minutes ago, cruise4hobby said:

You can prepay and when you are on board, show them the letter and they will credit the steakhouse amount back to your credit card.

 

 

Thank you so much for the quick reply! That works for me. Now I can make sure I secure a spot on his bday. 🙂

Hi all!

As a recent Diamond member, I received a letter that says I get a 1 time free meal for 2 at a specialty restaurant. I was thinking about using it on my Vista sailing next month to take DH to the steakhouse on his birthday. My question is....when I go to book online, I see I have to pre-pay. There is no spot to show that it is a Diamond meal or anything. If I was to pre-pay, then  show up with the letter once onboard, would they refund the price to my onboard account? Or should I just try and wait and book once onboard? Thanks for any help/insight!

Awesome review, as always. Thank you for putting it together! I hope Karl can learn to SCUBA so he can enjoy it as much as you all do. I love seeing all your underwater photos with the colorful marine life!

@TravelE prayers for your son and his GF's emotional/mental health while dealing with this. I cannot imagine the range of emotions flooding thru them right now. I would be a wreck. 

@MeganGC1983 I cannot imagine 5 people in a stateroom....3 on my last cruise was rough, and we were mostly just in there to sleep! 

19 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I meant to say he's sick AND here at work AND peeing on the floor... 

🤢 Ugh that's awful. I hate when coworkers come in sick.

Happy Monday Tribe!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I missed the Northern Lights on Friday, which disappointed me....apparently we had a really good show in my area, the neighbors all had gorgeous pictures. oh well, my good night's sleep was more important I guess. 

Saturday we were up early to go to a dog show. Miss Divya flunked out of the event I took her for, but had SO MUCH FUN in another event....sheep herding! She has been around our horses before, but never sheep, so I wasn't sure how she would do. She loved it. She would group them all together and bring them to me or Chris and just wiggle and smile, you could tell she was proud of herself. She did 2 runs of it and got her AKC certificate.

Yesterday I spent doing a deep clean on the camper (my cleaning skills have been pretty lax, so it needed it) and then we went and got 80 bales of hay for the ponies. Oh how I love the smell of fresh cut hay! Loading and unloading/stacking it in the barn tho.....ugh. These were pretty hefty bales too. The ponies love it though, and we got a great price on it since we picked it up out of the field. We will be getting 100-200 more from the farmer in the next few weeks. We need about 650 bales to get us a year's worth of hay in the barn.

Looks like it'll be a dreary, possibly rainy day here. I have an amazon order at the PO I may go pick up on my lunch. I logged into my account, and apparently the other night after having a little too much tequila I decided I needed a new countertop ice maker. I remember debating if I wanted/needed a nugget ice maker instead of just using ice cube trays in the freezer after I killed our old ice maker. The tequila decided I did. And I am not disappointed in that decision. 

I will absolutely love whatever you post. It’ll bring back memories of my time onboard Celebration last year. 🙂

Oh heck yes, I would love to try some of these if they're available on my September sailing!

4 hours ago, Mommapadraig said:

Absolutely love it. By far the best cruise we’ve ever experienced. Im currently sitting at the bar in the top sail lounge with an expresso martini eating their wonderful homemade potato chips. Tomorrow is Cozumel. We may stay on board

This is awesome to hear. I love expresso martinis, and the “nibbles” on Seaside last year were great (I discovered cucumber sandwiches for the first time in my life, and love them…yes Ive been living under a rock) but I never tried the homemade chips. I’m making note to try them in September! 

3 hours ago, figmentfreak said:

I used to volunteer for my daughter’s choir.  Usually we had a beer but and a few times I was solo at a tea/lemonade stand. AKA the Arnold Palmer booth.  
 

i did learn the important lesson that is takes 7 minutes for an aluminum can of beer (or soda) to become fully chill in a tub of ice. 

Hey, that is awesome, useful, summertime  knowledge, thanks for sharing!! 

What. A. Day. 

They finally made the call today to let one of my coworkers go that they have been dragging the decision out on for way too long. It was hard, I have worked with this person for 12 years so I hated to see them go, but then again, they did mess up a lot. But still...it stunk. 

Now I am just trying to make it to 5:30. I am going to go home and have a nice glass of red wine to help mellow me out, and enjoy leftover BLTs. NomNomNom. 

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

Love seeing places I’ve been on the show.

 

 

 

same here!!! It brings back good vacation memories.

@LincolnLegend my horses are just not right in their heads, i swear....they all have access to stalls/run in sheds, but do you think they utilize them during storms? Nope, they would rather stand out in the pouring rain/wind/etc. If we do put them in the stalls and shut them in they absolutely hate it and pace and whinny. So, we just let them make their choice.

@TxTeach79 I really, really hope they don't name a new ship Fantasy. I mean, the original Fantasy is just retired! Ok, sure, its been a few years, but still....it's too recent. And I really wish they would come up with fresh new names for the new ships instead of recycling names.

@sid_9169 Yay for the 10:30-11 and A03! 

@Mommapadraighow are you liking Seashore? I sail on her in September for my 2nd MSC cruise, and hubby's first. I am hoping it's as awesome as my Seaside experience was last year. We will be in YC as well. 

30 minutes ago, TNVolnteerCruiser said:

We had one round earlier today then sun heated up the atmosphere.  Another round moving in now then another round coming later tonight. One round moving from the southwest merging with a round dropping from the northwest so who knows what that will do.  Stay safe, tribe!

You stay safe too!! 

Just now, AmyJA said:

Trying to empty the fridge before Saturday when I leave for New Orleans. So, the avocado has to go. Grilled cheese with avocado, last of some chips and veggie sticks.

Good plan! I always try and empty ours before vacation too. It drives the hubs crazy. 

Grilled cheese with avocado is yummy!