pirate4me2

Thanks for coming along! Aw thank you! hugs back from NC! Thanks for coming along. Alaska! That’s worth the wait, I bet! We love Port Canaveral! I’m jealous that you live so close to such a good port! Hey Jeff! Good to have you along! Hey hey! Glad I could help out with the post cruise blues 🙂

Ah yes! We loved Wee Jimmy! He was hilarious.

Excursions/Port Info: This is the 6 day Western run for Horizon, so our ports of call are Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Sorry to disappoint you, but we are not doing anything that great in the ports. Well, I’m not anyway, Chris kinda is. Our plan is to stay onboard in Jamaica, UNLESS I get a wild hair up my tush and decide to go check out the beach at Margaritaville. In Grand Cayman, Chris is going on a scuba dive while I stay onboard and relax in the wonderful Havana area. I got some major reading (and napping!) to do that day! For Cozumel, we have the Cozumel Bar Hop booked, which I am pretty excited about. I have heard others talk about it and how it takes you to the side of the island with no electricity, and it’s something we have never done before, so I am looking forward to it. I gotta admit tho, it is hard for me to go to Coz and not go to Paradise Beach or Mr Sanchos, those have become our usual haunts! I will admit, I use to think to myself when people would say they were not getting off in a port of call they were crazy. WHY would you stay onboard? Find SOMETHING to do! I get it now tho…after you’ve been to a port so many times, and done all the “cool” stuff, it’s ok to skip it and enjoy the mostly empty ship. Take advantage of the things you normally would have lines for, sleep in, and just LET DOWN. I’ve been under a lot of stress the past few months, and I’m eager to let it all go and take naps and read.

Hello, my Cruise Critic family! I am here yet again to do my Community Service and help you all deal with either your post-cruise blues, or your “my cruise isn’t approaching fast enough” blues. How do I plan to help with those problems, you ask? By letting you live vicariously through MY cruise in this live review, of course! Sure, you have to mix up your own DOD’s, cook your own meals, and make your own bed, but seeing my crazy adventures will make you feel like you’re on vaca….right? Hubby and I had originally booked the Mardi Gras sailing the week of our wedding anniversary (November 11) as we like to celebrate our anniversary on a cruise ship. However, back in March of this year we sailed on Celebration with our “cruise grandparents” (long story, not enough time to tell) and they introduced us to a couple that we now refer to as our “cruise aunt & uncle.” In August, I got a random phone call from “cruise aunt” telling me that she REALLY wanted me and Chris to swap our November cruise to the Horizon sailing on December 3 that her and our “cruise grandparents” were on. Hmmmm…..I do love the Horizon, especially the Havana area (which they were booked in), but I HATE….no, wait, I DESPISE…Miami. I also love “cruise grandparents” and “cruise aunt & uncle”…but this sailing goes to Ocho Rios, which Chris made me swear we would avoid going back to at all costs. Also, this sailing happens to fall over the date of Chris’s college graduation, which he has worked SO HARD for. However, upon talking to Chris about it, he was fine with cruising the high seas (well, hopefully calm seas!) instead of walking the stage. In his words, “just book me the Cheers package so I can have a La Buena Vida or 5 to celebrate my graduation.” Ok, I guess I can at least do that for you, especially since you are not going to make me sit thru a long, boring graduation ceremony! He was also cool with sailing from Miami, although he rolled his eyes when I told him we would be driving, not flying (I have a MAJOR fear of flying) and he made me pinkie promise that next time we sail from there we will fly. Don’t tell him, but I had my toes crossed when I made that promise, so it doesn’t count. I still have not informed him that Ocho Rios is a port of call for us, I think I will wait until we are onboard to break that news to him. That could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back… Upon looking at the sailing, I ran into one last conundrum…. the only Havana cabin available is a Havana Cabana suite, you say? Hmmmm…..twist my arm, I supposed I can deal with the trek to Miami, and going to Ocho Rios, if I have some “suite” (see what I did there? Hehehe!) digs to make up for it. Swap me over, magical Carnival PVP! We will claim that this is our anniversary celebration AND Chris’s graduation celebration, so an awesome room is required, right? One more thing that has me super stoked for this cruise…the beginning of November, they released the Christmas decorating schedule for the ships, and Horizon will be decorated for us! YAY!!!! They also said that for the month of December, all the sailings will be Christmas themed, with special activities…double yay! I have always thought the ships would be beautiful decorated for the holidays and wished I could see it, and now I can. I also may or may not have some special decorations of my own….stay tuned for those!

Dr E made the old style muster drill entertaining! We actually hung out at Jack’s Shack back in 2016 with Steve and his assistant CD and the playlist cast. We had a table with lots of room and they arrived after it was getting crowded, so we told them they could sit and hang out. We had great conversations! Matt of course was so personable and friendly, you could tell he really cared for his guests and their experiences. We sailed during Irma and mom ran out of her meds when our sailing was extended, and he tried to help her find more and followed up to see how she was. Chris Williams and his singing talent…just wow!

Oh boy....I sailed MSC Seaside last year in YC and had the best service and experience ever. I sail Seashore next Sept with my hubby after talking MSC and YC up to him, I sure hope it gets better and more organized!

Thanks so much for doing the review Jimbo! Can't wait for my turn in 12 days. 🙂

Oh my gosh, I feel so bad for the staff that had to clean that up. Shame on the parents! On my cruise in August we had a few kids in the YC area and they were so well behaved, and luckily our fellow pax were too. Hoping that your experience going foward will get better!

Yay, another Poop Deck thread!!!

I like the variety that the Excel class ships offer, but my favorite ships to sail are still Vista class in the Havana area. Sooooo relaxing!

Following along! I sail Seashore next Sept in the YC with my hubby. It will be my second YC cruise, first one was this past August with my mom on Seaside. Hubby will be experiencing YC and MSC for the first time, I am hoping he will be hooked like I am!

Oh that water looks Heavenly!!!!!!

Love your St Lucia pics, they brought back great memories of our Journeys cruise on the Pride in 2016 that stopped there. We did the same excursion, it was a blast. I actually think we may do it again when we do the Journeys cruise on Venezia in 2026. Also, I took notes about your day in Barbados so we know what to do when we stop there for the very first time. Looks like a nice way to spend the day. Your reviews are so full of useful information, I really appreciate you and Patti doing them!

Thanks for the review! We have sailed MG twice in the past year, she is a big ship for sure, with a lot to offer in a week long vacation.

You're the best Jimbo!! Loving the review, thanks for taking the time to do this.

My dad is a die hard Giants fan, I am sure he isn't too happy right now!

You just described him to a T. I am so stoked now, he is one of my absolute favorites.

ZOLTAN!!!!! Is this the same Zoltan that was on Mardi Gras last November?! If so, I SOOOO hope he is there on my cruise, he made my Mardi Gras Alchemy experience the best. His creamy coconut martinis were AMAZING.

Thank you so much for finding out!

Who are the current Alchemists onboard, if you don’t mind my asking? We love Alchemy and are hoping to spend a good bit of time there!

Following along! We are booked on World America so I am sure a lot of things will be the same or similar. I am very curious to see how the YC area is.

He is now a Fleet Cruise Director. Released a video with the news yesterday.

I will miss this if it goes fleet wide. I liked to take a look at what was offered and choose my own snacks, as opposed to having a variety delivered and some of them that are not my taste wasted.

Whoo hoo! This will help get me thru until I board Horizon on December 3! I’m counting down the days until I get to chill in the lovely Havana area. 🙂

Yes! That is his go-to trick. We love his shows, and that was cute the first time we saw it at a PG one, but we learned his adult shows are much better.