Kmom Live-ish from Carnival Vista April 23-30, 2022

[MardiGras10022021]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:30 PM, Hogladyrider said:

Not sure that is a ship on a stick, looks more like a trophy?

24 kt. plastic ship on a stick   per   john heald lol

[Wanna_Cruize]

Or, as I refer to it as a 24 kt gold-colored Ship on a Stick

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Longtime Simon and Garfunkel fan, never saw this version (I know the original duo no longer communicate 😢). Thank you!!

You are welcome. The 2 of them are truly great together, 2 legends.

 

I saw Simon & Garfunkle (or as an internet friend refers to them Simon and the other guy) in a college Parents' Day Concert in 1968. I've seen Willie Nelson twice at Bethel Woods (the original Woodstock site) twice. The first time Ray Price opened followed by Merle Haggard, and then Wille. The next time Miranda Lambert (before she became a star) opened and then Allison Krause before Willie. We intend to see Willie Nelson there this summer on our wedding anniversary with several groups before him, the most prominent being ZZ Top. 

 

I can't help you with those burger places as both of us have been vegetarians for quite a while.

[Saint Greg]

59 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Thanks but I was really asking about Whataburger. 
 

Illinois is the original Jimmy John’s territory so we’ve got lots of those (I sill prefer Subway-JJ is a little better but I always spend twice what I expected to).

 

 

 

Oh gosh. Whataburger. Fast food and the big menu. Well. They cook as you order so it’s slower than most fast food places. But yeah so many great things there. 

 

Patty melt add grilled jalapeños is my favorite from the regular menu. All time favorites menu. Honey bbq chicken sandwich is great. I really miss the chop house cheddar burger. That used to be on it. Limited time items like the hatch green chile burger. 

 

For breakfast the honey butter chicken biscuit. I’m not talking about the thing Carnival calls a honey butter biscuit where it’s just a biscuit without honey butter. I’m talking a chicken biscuit dripping with honey butter.  I heard they recently got rid of the jalapeño cheddar biscuits which is disappointing. 

 

Oh use your app and every 5th visit you get a reward. Hello! That’s a free honey butter chicken biscuit every 5th visit.

 

Whataburger is one that I think is a better experience eating in. The fries are better fresh. They deliver the food to your table. Then they bring around the condiment tray where you can get all your ketchups and whatnot. The ketchup. All ketchup should be Whataburger spicy ketchup. 

 

Did I mention they’re open 24/7?

 

[LatinaInTexas]

Moved to Texas 25+ years ago from Cali. Didn't try Whataburger until about 10 years later lol. Since it's a 4 minute drive from my house we go there at least once a month mostly for convenience.

If you are a big eater, which is common in Texas this is the burger place for you. Big burgers that taste very good, hot crispy fries and even bigger drinks for a very good price.

On my restaurant group Whataburger is always mentioned in peoples top 5. I have heard murmers lately that since the sale they aren't as perfect as they used to be, I can't tell any difference.

Their headquarters are here in San Antonio so maybe that's why people here love it and are loyal.

[luvcruzing]

54 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Oh gosh. Whataburger. Fast food and the big menu. Well. They cook as you order so it’s slower than most fast food places. But yeah so many great things there. 

 

Patty melt add grilled jalapeños is my favorite from the regular menu. All time favorites menu. Honey bbq chicken sandwich is great. I really miss the chop house cheddar burger. That used to be on it. Limited time items like the hatch green chile burger. 

 

For breakfast the honey butter chicken biscuit. I’m not talking about the thing Carnival calls a honey butter biscuit where it’s just a biscuit without honey butter. I’m talking a chicken biscuit dripping with honey butter.  I heard they recently got rid of the jalapeño cheddar biscuits which is disappointing. 

 

Oh use your app and every 5th visit you get a reward. Hello! That’s a free honey butter chicken biscuit every 5th visit.

 

Whataburger is one that I think is a better experience eating in. The fries are better fresh. They deliver the food to your table. Then they bring around the condiment tray where you can get all your ketchups and whatnot. The ketchup. All ketchup should be Whataburger spicy ketchup. 

 

Did I mention they’re open 24/7?

 

Wow!  Quite the endorsement.  I guess you like it.  😀

[KmomChicago]

2 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Moved to Texas 25+ years ago from Cali. Didn't try Whataburger until about 10 years later lol. Since it's a 4 minute drive from my house we go there at least once a month mostly for convenience.

If you are a big eater, which is common in Texas this is the burger place for you. Big burgers that taste very good, hot crispy fries and even bigger drinks for a very good price.

On my restaurant group Whataburger is always mentioned in peoples top 5. I have heard murmers lately that since the sale they aren't as perfect as they used to be, I can't tell any difference.

Their headquarters are here in San Antonio so maybe that's why people here love it and are loyal.

I may in fact be in actual San Antonio right now so this is very helpful.

[Saint Greg]

On 4/26/2022 at 7:51 PM, KmomChicago said:

It took me until night 4 of 7 to realize the desk mirror lights up. We REALLY don’t spend much time in the room.

 

I just found out and I’ve been on that ship twice and panorama twice.

[KmomChicago]

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I just found out and I’ve been on that ship twice and panorama twice.

You’re welcome my friend. 😅

[TravelGirlinDallas]

My favorite thing at Whataburger is the Dr. Pepper shake. 

[Joe817]

3 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

My favorite thing at Whataburger is the Dr. Pepper shake. 

Mine too! More so than my go to strawberry shake! 

[KmomChicago]

I didn't end up making it back over to Whataburger.  Most meals were included at my conference and people wanted something more upscale for the few that were not and the camaraderie was more important than the whataburgerie.

 

Returned home Wednesday evening to one of our indoor cats having ESCAPED - the young (about 3 years old), sweet orange male, Shiloh.  DH and the teen rode our golf cart around the neighborhood looking and calling (because that's how you catch a cat who has decided he doesn't want to be caught right now 🤣🙄). 

 

I love the cat but went with the whole attitude, he'll come home when and if he chooses to, and by about 9pm, in the dark and chill, he was clawing away at the back screen door and meowling at the top of his little lungs. Hasn't tried again, so far. Maybe he thought all the neighborhood dogs weren't worth the hassle.

 

At the rescue, Fighter cat hit a rough patch while I was away, and the director doubled down on all his meds. The meds are a cocktail of antibiotics, steroids, and pain management. She said he developed sores all over, which are now a buncha gritty scabs all up and down his back. Poor guy.  I don't want to lose him, but I don't want him to suffer on my behalf, just to delay my grief, and I tell her that regularly. 

 

He's been with us about a year now, and I get the distinct impression he has been enormously grateful to live out this last chapter as comfortably as possible, fed well (mostly Friskies and Sheba wet food, but he always has unlimited Science Diet kibble available as well), perched on a clean, dry bed (he walks around his enclosure to use the litter box but otherwise mostly rests), knowing nobody can get through his bars and harass him, and content to watch the others.  We have several enclosures around the perimeter of the rooms, and several free roaming cats. 

 

Sometimes new volunteers ask me why some of the cats are in "jail" or something like that. There are so many reasons why some are isolated or semi-isolated from the general population.  The most common is, the cats in cages are happier in the cages and don't like being around other cats. The FIV positive cats are separated, sometimes in a (large) cage, as with Fighter, or sometimes in their own room, with a screen door so they can still see, hear, and smell what's going on. The rescue is co-located at a working horse riding and boarding facility so people are coming and going a lot and many of the facility's long term clients visit the cats regularly.

 

And of course new intakes HAVE to be isolated initially to ensure they are not carrying pathogens that could kill everyone until we can get them checked out at the vet. Plus cats are usually stressed out in a new environment and our enclosures let them get used to it without feeling completely exposed. 

 

So there you go. How to run a cat rescue, by Kmom. Here at Cruise Critic. I never promised my reviews had anything to do with cruises.

[Essiesmom]

49 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

I didn't end up making it back over to Whataburger.  Most meals were included at my conference and people wanted something more upscale for the few that were not and the camaraderie was more important than the whataburgerie.

 

Returned home Wednesday evening to one of our indoor cats having ESCAPED - the young (about 3 years old), sweet orange male, Shiloh.  DH and the teen rode our golf cart around the neighborhood looking and calling (because that's how you catch a cat who has decided he doesn't want to be caught right now 🤣🙄). 

 

I love the cat but went with the whole attitude, he'll come home when and if he chooses to, and by about 9pm, in the dark and chill, he was clawing away at the back screen door and meowling at the top of his little lungs. Hasn't tried again, so far. Maybe he thought all the neighborhood dogs weren't worth the hassle.

 

At the rescue, Fighter cat hit a rough patch while I was away, and the director doubled down on all his meds. The meds are a cocktail of antibiotics, steroids, and pain management. She said he developed sores all over, which are now a buncha gritty scabs all up and down his back. Poor guy.  I don't want to lose him, but I don't want him to suffer on my behalf, just to delay my grief, and I tell her that regularly. 

 

He's been with us about a year now, and I get the distinct impression he has been enormously grateful to live out this last chapter as comfortably as possible, fed well (mostly Friskies and Sheba wet food, but he always has unlimited Science Diet kibble available as well), perched on a clean, dry bed (he walks around his enclosure to use the litter box but otherwise mostly rests), knowing nobody can get through his bars and harass him, and content to watch the others.  We have several enclosures around the perimeter of the rooms, and several free roaming cats. 

 

Sometimes new volunteers ask me why some of the cats are in "jail" or something like that. There are so many reasons why some are isolated or semi-isolated from the general population.  The most common is, the cats in cages are happier in the cages and don't like being around other cats. The FIV positive cats are separated, sometimes in a (large) cage, as with Fighter, or sometimes in their own room, with a screen door so they can still see, hear, and smell what's going on. The rescue is co-located at a working horse riding and boarding facility so people are coming and going a lot and many of the facility's long term clients visit the cats regularly.

 

And of course new intakes HAVE to be isolated initially to ensure they are not carrying pathogens that could kill everyone until we can get them checked out at the vet. Plus cats are usually stressed out in a new environment and our enclosures let them get used to it without feeling completely exposed. 

 

So there you go. How to run a cat rescue, by Kmom. Here at Cruise Critic. I never promised my reviews had anything to do with cruises.

But so appropriate for a Caturday.  Our family text group is full of cat pics on Caturday.  EM

[ontheweb]

to @KmomChicago, you did say you would review excursions after the cruise. So, I hope there is still more to hear from you about the cruise.

[KmomChicago]

OH yeah @ontheweb. So the lady who collapsed in Lamanai with the hypoglycemic event was, actually, me.

[KmomChicago]

I have some video of the riverboat ride portion of the trip which I will upload later today; sorry for the delay.  We did expect a slow, meandering, nature boat and this was a jet boat just flying IN THE RAIN. We were all drenched, pelted at high speed with raindrops, laughing at the sitcom that is apparently not only my life but all my Lamanai friends' as well. 

 

The footage is only on the way there, as are my photos. After my unfortunate event the photos abruptly ended.

[ontheweb]

4 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

OH yeah @ontheweb. So the lady who collapsed in Lamanai with the hypoglycemic event was, actually, me.

OH, NO! 🤦‍♂️

 

I guess you enjoyed Lamanai a lot less than we did.

[KmomChicago]

2 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

OH, NO! 🤦‍♂️

 

I guess you enjoyed Lamanai a lot less than we did.

 

I enjoyed it quite a bit. I felt it coming on but didn't recognize it. It was brought on by heat exhaustion. It was an important learning moment for me and I am doing fine. 

[ontheweb]

1 minute ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I enjoyed it quite a bit. I felt it coming on but didn't recognize it. It was brought on by heat exhaustion. It was an important learning moment for me and I am doing fine. 

Glad to hear you are doing fine

 

Did you have to visit the medical people when you got back to the ship?

[KmomChicago]

26 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Glad to hear you are doing fine

 

Did you have to visit the medical people when you got back to the ship?

No, I don’t think they reported it to Carnival. No mention of it to me whatsoever.

[Ilovesailaway]

On 4/30/2022 at 7:40 AM, KmomChicago said:

The floor in our hallway is spongy and my husband says something is very wrong and  it’s gonna collapse eventually.

😧

[KmomChicago]

41 minutes ago, Ilovesailaway said:

😧

Yeah, I thought it was fun, kinda bouncing along. 

[KmomChicago]

So Lamani, Belize. The ship docked way far from shore. The tender was huge and took quite a while to load. Then it took quite a while to get to port, then get us all off. 
 

Then we found our meeting point and had only a minute or two to use the public restrooms and buy ponchos as it was sure to rain per the forecast. 
 

Our 90 minute or so bus ride was narrated by friendly guides. 
 

The only video game I really ever play is Tropico, and many of the buildings looked right out of the game as we passed through rural villages toward the rain forest.

[KmomChicago]

The end of the road is Ayin Ha, where you visit a bar if you’d like, small gift shop, board the river boat, then have lunch after visiting the ruins. I bought some crazy home brew wine which was nearly indescribable. One bottle was very syrupy and the other slightly carbonated. I’m not sure that’s how either were supposed to turn out. 😝

 

 

 

 

 

[KmomChicago]

 

We boarded the boat to the left and soon we were like this: