Willdra's Massive Carnival Mardi Gras Apr 30- May 7 Review

[willdra]

So when you gonna tell her that we did that, too?

She thinks it's special, but it's all reused

That was our place, I found it first

I made the jokes you tell to her when she's with you

 

Do you get déjà vu when you CRUISE too?

Do you get déjà vu?

Do you get déjà vu, huh?-Olivia Rodrigo with my edit

 

 

Cousins! Shake the dice, and steal the rice, Willdra’s back with another round of rabble! This time, we embarked upon Fat Tuesday herself, the Massive Carnival Mardi Gras!

 

If you've never read any of my reviews, welcome and where have you been? To catch up, there are links below in my signature. If you're already one of my cruise cousins, welcome back! You know the drill. 

 

As always this will be WAY too many words, and lots of them will be irrelevant and unnecessary. You will most likely daydream and doze off while reading this. So, if you’re like me, and need a nap, keep reading.

 

On this journey it was just W, (a guy who takes me places, buys me things, and to whom I’m married) and I. I’m happy to report that we kept our pre-cruise drama to a minimum this time. God knows what we need. We got our tests done on the Wednesday at CVS, since we’re both boosted. I wasn’t taking chances and playing games with W this time, so I scheduled my test, then sent him a screenshot, so he would pick the right one, then I checked to make sure he did it correctly. I’ve learned. Test day came fast and it was as nerve wracking as ever. Btw, is it nerve wracking, nerve racking, or nerve wrecking? Let’s go with nerve wracking. I think they all mean the same.

 

I knew we didn’t have the big C, but there’s always a chance for a false positive. Don’t want it. My time slot was 10am. The whole ordeal took about 5 minutes. At this particular CVS, they come to your car in the parking lot, then give you the test kit and instructions. A very uncomfortable minute later, you’re done. After my test, I called W to let him know that he could come early. His test was at 10:45. He was already in the area, so he got his done right after mine. At about 11:30, we got our negative results. Deep Exhale. Times two.

 

Next it was time to get serious about packing. Sort of. I pack a little every day, and it seems like it takes forever. I think it takes so long, cuz I try on stuff, dig for shoes, and perform other assorted time wasters whilst packing. It’s also cuz I have 4 closets to check for my things. Every time we go somewhere, I say “I’m going to consolidate some of this crap” but I never do. #consistent. So sometime Thursday night I finished “most” of my packing.

 

On travel day my alarm was set for my regular wake up time of 6:45. I got up at my normal 7am. We didn’t have a hard goal, so we took our time. I also like to make sure the house is super clean when we go away. There’s nothing like coming home to an already clean casa. That way when we return, all we have to do is unpack and relax. W took our little dude to the vet for boarding, while I finished my chores. We ended up leaving around 9. Just in time for Friday morning Atlanta traffic. To be honest, there’s always traffic here. I’m fortunate tho. My office is only about 8 miles from our house, so I really don’t get in traffic at all. W on the other hand, does. All of the time. As soon as he gets on the highway, it shows too. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride a'int got nothing on him. The good thing about his driving everywhere, if there is one, is that he drives, and he knows things. He is very knowledgeable about the exits on all of the major highways in GA. You name it, and chances are, he’s prolly been there. So when I say “I’m as hungry as a hostage”, he already has a plan.

Food is my love language. No shame.

 

 

We make it through GA and into FL which is not too complicated. Traffic was as thick as my thighs tho. There was also a noticeable police presence in spots. If you use Waze, it’s usually on point with letting you know where the popo is hiding. It relies on others reporting it, so we always pay it forward and either confirm, or report their hiding spots too. Keep your eyes peeled fam. They’re trying to take your cruise cash!

 

 As per usual, here are pics of W taking me places: 

 

 

 

[Jamman54]

Hey Willdra! Really looking forward to this one! 😁

[willdra]

When we made it to I95, we stopped for gas. Whoa, we couldn’t believe it was $4.15 a gallon!

Bruh. How’re people paying this? We rack up the Kroger fuel points at home, especially when they have the 4x fuel points on gift cards. We just buy cards for places that we shop all the time, like Carnival and Amazon. We also build up fuel points when we’re about to travel. W knows every exit in GA that has a Kroger, so we fill up strategically on the way.

 

Anywho, $80 and 2 empty bladders later, we were back on the road. I enjoy the ride from this point on. We were getting closer. When you start seeing the Ron Jon signs, it really feels like you’re in Florida. Florida has a good feel. It feels like W and I should retire there to be closer to cruise ports after the price of gas goes down, and 0% income taxes. 

 

 

 

 

W drove the rest of the way, while we listened to the Encanto soundtrack. Well, the Lin Manuel Miranda songs on the soundtrack. These songs slap for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

I mean 5 straight bangers. Now I will have “Don’t talk about Bruno” and “Dos Orugitas” playing in my head for the week. I’m not mad.

 

We made it to Port Canaveral after 4.  On the way to the hotel, we saw a report of Roadkill on WAZE. Roadkill?  Who’s mans reported the Roadkill? Was there absolutely nothing else to report? 

 

 

 

 

 

[300dtc]

Love another wild Willdra ride!

[willdra]

We were staying at the Home2Suites. It’s a newish hotel right behind the Homewood Suites that we stayed at last time we were there. I checked into the hotel on the app that morning, so I just stopped by the front desk to get two keys when we got there. The hotel is actually half Home2 and half Hampton Inn. I guess they couldn’t decide which one they wanted to build, so they did both. We went up to our room and put our bags away. We looked around a little, took a few pictures, then decided we were hungry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We rolled over to Fishlips at about 6. It was definitely popular.  When we checked in, we were told the wait would be 45 minutes. We sat on the little couches by the downstairs bar. Right as we got comfy, W’s phone went off. The wait was 6 minutes. Now we didn’t have a seating preference, and it was just the two of us, so that might have been why it was so fast. We did notice some groups waiting a long time to be seated.

 

 

 

 

 

We started off with shrimp nachos. I had a Crocodile Cool Aid and W had some boring beer. The Shrimp Nachos started a party in my mouth! So delicious! For entrees I had the Shrimp Po Boy and W had the NOLA. W said his was very good, but the shrimp had a little kick to 'em. I don’t do spicy, so I was glad I didn’t get that. I wish I could say the Po Boy was good, but I couldn’t eat a bite of it. I was already stuffed! As my mom used to say, "My eyes were too big for my stomach". I took the sandwich back to the hotel to nibble on later if I got hungry.

 

 

Our server Chris was quick and accurate, which is generally what you want in a server. We sat, ate, talked, people watched, and chillaxed as long as we could. While we were sitting and chewing, a staff member stopped by and took our picture. I’d literally just put something in my mouth when she walked up and asked. Awkward. I had to hold up the “gimme a minute finger”, cuz I thought we were there to eat. Silly me.  When I finished chewing, she took our picture. She didn’t say why, she just took the picture and left. Strange.

 

We ate as much as possible, then we got the check, and a box for my Po Boy. The picture girl came back and showed us the pictures. She just came over and said, “Here are the pictures”, then just stood there smiling.  Then I was like “oh you want us to buy those?”. I fake asked W if he wanted to buy them, and off course he said, “If you want to”, so nope, he’s not gonna get us out of this. I politely declined after that, and she gave us the complimentary one. We got out of there then, before anyone else could approach us.

 

There was a nice breeze blowing out on the water, which felt good, it definitely wasn’t hot. Weather wise, this was an ideal time to cruise from Port Canaveral.

[willdra]

As he was driving, W said he needed sunblock, so guess where we went??? Yep! Good ole Walmart! Now I know this cruise was blessed! Every good cruise begins with a trip to Walmart, to buy I don’t know what. Walmart wasn’t packed at all. We walked in and got what we needed quickly. I didn’t even get a shopping cart. We got W’s sunblock, and I got some Zantac and that was it. I really didn’t even feel like looking around. I know! Wonders never cease.

 

Next up was Ron Jon. Another place that’s absolutely mandatory when we leave from Port Canaveral. W normally stays in the car, or he goes in for a minute, then goes right back out, but this time he joined me. I walked around looking at stuff that caught my eye. Which was everything. I really needed to get a few gifts. One of my good friends grew up in Cocoa Beach, and she remembers when Ron Jon was a tiny store. I usually get her something from there. I found a few cute trinkets, made my purchase, then walked out. W was beyond shocked. He hadn’t even given up and walked out to the car yet. #growth

 

We were out of options at that point, so we went back to the hotel. It was a whopping 8pm. It was all good tho. For us, arriving in port a day early, is about being able to relax after travel day, so we’re not stressed getting on the ship. It’s also an opportunity to check out the port and regroup. We did all of that. Plus y’all know I gotta have time to look through my suitcases for God knows what, and rearrange everything.

 

We turned in after watching crappy hotel TV, and reading.

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for condiments. Have you ever just thought about how many choices we have in condiments? There are lots!  America’s condiment game is unmatched. We have condiments to go with everything! 

[pinto18]

Love your hair! ( and your reviews )

[princess76021]

yay!!!

 

thanks for taking us along!!

 

hugs!!

 

[willdra]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey Willdra! Really looking forward to this one! 😁

 

Awwwwww thanks!!!!!! It's always an honor to have you onboard! 😍

[willdra]

12 minutes ago, princess76021 said:

yay!!!

 

thanks for taking us along!!

 

hugs!!

 

 

Thanks for joining me! 🥰

[willdra]

16 minutes ago, pinto18 said:

Love your hair! ( and your reviews )

 

Thank you!!! 😘

[cruisin from vegas]

Yeah your back!!!!  I’ve been think your must be cruising somewhere!!  Can’t wait to read all about it!!

[pcvtmom]

I ALWAYS look forward to your reviews!! Love your writing style and sense of humor, Willdra. Let's get on with this review, 'cause I'm leaving on a cruise next weekend and this psychs me up!!

Edited May 29, 2022 by pcvtmom

[TrqoisWtrs]

1 hour ago, willdra said:

Whoa, we couldn’t believe it was $4.15 a gallon!

I'm about 30 min SW of Chicago.  Saw $5.15 the other day.  Crazy.

 

Love the cruise hair!  And Golden Girls?  come on.💖

[SRQbeachgirl]

Looking forward to your review! 27 more days and I will get to experience this beautiful ship myself!

[pinto18]

52 minutes ago, cruisin*tigger said:

I'm about 30 min SW of Chicago.  Saw $5.15 the other day.  Crazy.

 

Love the cruise hair!  And Golden Girls?  come on.💖

If we saw $5.15 in California there would be a line of cars down the street !

[cruisin from vegas]

Average about about $5.35 in Las Vegas right now 

[mkcurran]

Yay! Love the color on the braids!

[jetsfan58]

Looking forward to your grand review. Did the Home2Suites have a park n cruise package? We are looking for our upcoming cruise.  

[edspec]

$6.50 a gallon here, good times!  So happy to see this, I've been wanting to book the Mardi Gras so looking forward to your always wonderful review.

[HeyJut]

So glad you’re back with a new cruise. And we already got our first prayer. I love the shirt too!

[MzShae]

I'm here for this trip. I've been waiting for this!☺️

[MJSailors]

Wildra- So glad that you are posting. I am looking forward to reading more of your review.

Sending up a prayer in thanksgiving for your being able to write like you do and for me to be able to appreciate what you write ! 😃

MJ🙋🏻

[jbhcw]

Excited to find your review this am!!   Love your writing style and your hair is awesome!