Jamman54

Patti is heading back to the pool. You can get drinks in coconuts here….. Here are a few views of our cabana….. We do have a picture of Pam and Amy hanging out with us! We are getting hungry, so we head back to the cabana where it is nice and cool and order some lunch. Here are the food and drink menus….. Patti had a cheeseburger…… I had a pork belly appetizer and the fish & chips….. To be continued…..

Patti is hot and thirsty so she stops at the Pelican Bar. This is the bar that services the Grand and Ocean Cabanas…. Patti orders a Pina Colada….. You can leave a message on these rocks if you wish….. Patti checks out the Grand and Ocean Cabanas….. Here are a few views of the Water Sports Hut and the current rental rates….. To be continued…..

Patti has some more ground to cover so off she goes. Here are some views of the other side of the lazy river….. There are a ton of loungers around the pool area….. This is the children’s Splash Pool….. This is where the crew from the ship comes to relax….. This is the bottom of the zip line…… Here is a view looking up to the top of the zip line….. This is a very quiet area to relax….. From here, this is a view of the Ocean Cabanas….. To be continued…..

Patti and Pat continue exploring down by the water….. They head back to the pool area and stop to check out the CoCoCana Lounge…. Here are the food and beverage menus….. They are back at the pool….. Jim and I are on our second or third bucket of beer. Our server Wilbur would just deliver them to us while we were in the pool….. Patti didn’t want me to use that picture, but I decided to use it as a place saver for these following observations. Sitting here now, I realize that I had royally screwed up. While hanging out at the alcove, we had visits from quite a few Tribe members including Vic & Donna, Karen & Gerald, Sid, Amy, and Pam. They all stopped by to chat and have a few beers with us. The problem is that we have almost no photo records of these visits. As great a photographer that Patti is, she can’t be in two places at one time. Here’s where I kick myself. As I had mentioned in my opening, we do bring along a backup camera in case there is a problem with Patti’s primary one. It also happens to be a water camera. I should have brought that camera along with me, in fact I should have had it on my person the entire cruise, as I missed a boatload of photo opportunities because Patti was not around at the time. I have learned my lesson, please forgive me, it won’t happen again! Patti got this picture of Vic (Roscoe13) relaxing on a lounger. That’s Donna to his left. lol….. After her walk with Patti, Pat grabs a beer and relaxes on one of our loungers soaking up some sun…. To be continued……

About six hours, but that was because of traffic below West Palm Beach.

Not at all. You need a wristband to get into this area, and they do a pretty good job of monitoring.

And in Bermuda after 9pm when overnighting.

If this was done on a "regular" Carnival ship, it would have been between the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar and Blue Iguana Cantina on the port side of the Lido Deck.

I did a whole section about the al fresco dinner when we were on the Venezia. Click on the link and scroll down a bit. Al fresco dinner

Hey Ellen! Glad you made it over. It was great to meet you as well! 😀

We missed you guys! 😎

You book them through your ships excursion page. The Pool cabanas go quickly. 😎

Hey Megan! You know that we're along for the ride! 😁

Here are some Plaza views….. Looking up at the Sky Bar…. They bump into Amy (AmyJA) and Pam (pebbles1102)….. Here is where you go to meet your excursion or get a taxi….. This beach is not part of the property….. To be continued…..

Here’s some of Patti’s flora, fauna, and critters…… This is for you Megan! Patti and Pat descend from the Sky Bar via the stairway to the Plaza….. They check out the Amber exhibit…. Waterfalls and koi pond….. To be continued……

No problem Heather. Looking forward to seeing them!

Patti and Pat head up to the top of the zipline…… They really don’t want you going down hanging by your feet upside down…. This is your view from the top….. Those guys down there will catch you. Maybe…….. They head up to the Sky Bar….. Lots of nice views from up here….. To be continued…..

We meet our server Wilbur, and he immediately brings us a bucket of Presidente Beer. We head out to the alcove with the bucket. The water feels a little chilly at first. Patti is ready to begin her picture tour. The water is too chilly for Pat, so she takes the walk with Patti. Jim and I are having the first of many beers….. One of the servers that we have had in the past recognized us and stopped to say hello….. This is the entrance to the VIP area, and the going rates….. Here’s another view of the bathroom, which is right by the zero entry part of the pool….. This is the bottom of the waterslide…… Here are the waterslide rules. I don’t remember there being a charge for the waterslide before….. Here are a couple of views from the top of the waterslide…. This is one of the Hilltop Cabanas….. To be continued……

We are met at the gate by our Host EZ. He will take us to our cabana and show us around. There are only four Pool Cabanas, and we are given the Tambora Cabana, which is the second cabana from the left….. These four sets of loungers by the pool belong to the cabanas…. Each cabana has a hammock….. Here are a couple of views inside our cabana….. In addition to a television and wi-fi, we also have a safe….. These snacks, sodas, and water are included in the cabana rental….. This is our balcony….. Here are some views from our balcony….. This view will give you the lay of the land. Our hangout place will be at that alcove on the right between the main pool and the bridge. That gray building on the left is the bathrooms, which is very handy! The cushioned loungers on the left side of the picture are part of the VIP area. For about $100 you get two loungers, an umbrella, pool noodles, unlimited zipline and water slide. This is where we would go if we didn’t have a cabana……. To be continued……

Today we are sharing a Pool Cabana with Pat & Jim, so we want to get off the ship as soon as we can. After getting ready, we met Pat & Jim at Celebration Central to wait for clearance. Patti spots Sid heading over to his favorite table where he sets up his “office” for the day. We tell him to meet us by the pool later….. At 7:09am, Cruise Director Lee announces that he ship is cleared and we may proceed ashore. The pier here is very long….. Because the pier is so long, we always take a pedi-cab back and forth. There are a whole bunch of pedi-cabs lined up. We are looking for our favorite driver, and not seeing him I yell out “#11 !!!”. He pops up with a big smile and comes right over to us. He loads us up and we are on the way. Pat & Jim hop onto another pedi-cab….. As we head down the pier Patti gets this shot of the Ocean Cabanas….. As we approach the end of the pier, some musicians are playing for the arriving passengers….. Now normally the pedi-cabs drop you off at the end of the pier, but #11 continues towards this big gate. He shouts something, and the gate magically opens. It felt like the gates of the Emerald City had been opened, but I didn’t see a horse of a different color! He pedals us through the plaza and right up to the Cabana Kiosk! Pat & Jim had been dropped off at the end of the pier, so we had to wait for them to catch up before we could check in for our cabana. #11 heads back to pick up his next set of passengers. After so many trips here we still don’t know his real name. We’ll be back here in April, so we’ll make it a point to find out. We tip him $10 each way….. We have now checked in, gotten our key and other information, and are heading to the pool area….. This is the CoCoCana Lounge. This is where all our drinks and food will come from….. This is the swim-up bar in the pool….. To be continued……

Day # 3 - (January 16th) - Amber Cove - (7am – 4pm). We were up at 5:45am, just as the Carnival Celebration was backing into her berth at Amber Cove….. The sun is beginning to rise over the hills of the Dominican Republic….. Here are today’s Fun Times….. To be continued…..

I'm now 6' 5". I shrunk an inch or two over the years!

We have been to Halifax many times, and have seen just about everything. Our children loved the play area as well when they were growing up, although the playground equipment there has changed drastically. There were not many kids at all for our sailing. We've never sailed Costa. Looking at our pictures, what do you think?

We will be on the Canada leg with you. That will be the second half of a B2B for us. The first half is a seven day cruise to Bermuda. See you on board!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy! 😃