LIVE! Mardi Gras Redux 3/18 - 3/25 Let’s Cruise!

[TravelBluebird]

5 hours ago, gatorchinsky said:

15 hours ago, audcc77 said:

 

I was wondering is Emeril’s coffee included in the Cheers package?

I am not on Cheers but I think all specialty coffee is included.

 

Here is my Cappuccino with extra shot (order it strong) from Emeril’s this morning.  I guess you must like the taste of European espresso to love it like we do (we make N’espresso at home)

[TravelBluebird]

Slept in this morning; it was great! Also a great day to do it because it rained all morning. We didn’t really see the sun peak out until 1pm-ish. Rest of group had already got their coffee and juice; I grabbed mine and had some alone time after while husband walked the track (he loved it in the rain; it wasn’t raining too hard by then and he could walk fast!)

 

Went up to Serenity deck in between rain showers an stayed awhile in the clamshells by the pool. But then it started raining again. Decided an indoor activity would be smarter so did a group slot pull. 57 people participated; we ended up each person just losing a dollar after the whole thing was said and done. 

 

Those who wanted grabbed a quick bite (husband got gelato; I got Street Eats; really nice Chicken Satay today) hung out in room a bit and it was SUNNY! Friends had stayed out in the rain so got primo sun loungers when the sun came out. We met them on Serenity Deck for awhile and chatted, then all headed to deck 18 because the boys had BOLT tix.

 

Turns out the 3pm BOLT tix were a no go because the electrical system on the BOLT needs major drying out time after rain; so we are trying again shortly at 4:30pm. Instead we played mini golf (that is a fun course!) and the boys played some pool. I think they are playing corn hole; I’m heading upstairs in a few to watch them (hopefully) take the BOLT roller coaster!

 

Internet is MUCH better when it is not raining. This has been the rainiest Caribbean Cruise I’ve ever been on!  Looks like sun the rest of the day and in Amber Cove tomorrow.

[TravelBluebird]

Want to add for those looking for information on Vegan cuisine that my friend LOVED the salad bar up on Serenity. Lots of good variety, including olives, chia seeds, onions, greens, much more, and a nice balsamic vinaigrette available.

 

So just got back from 18, and the BOLT was a no-go. They sent a huge line of cruisers away, all who had to have their times changed from all the rain.  But the BOLT was still having issues. I’d rather have it be safe than not, so no problem. Not sure if the guys will have a chance to ride it this trip or not.

 

Resting; sunned a bit earlier on my little sun deck; put the two chairs together with one of the backs down to make a “sun lounger.” Wish Carnival had those little foot rests that fit under the chairs for lounging, but this worked.  Wasn’t exactly peaceful since there was a bean bag game going on on 8 right under my balcony, but it was sort of fun to listen in.

 

Tonight we are going to listen to Washboard Joe at the Brass Magnolia and have drinks then Rudi’s Seagrill for dinner! Sue (our vegan) has decided to not join us tonight so she is going to eat and explore on her own.

 

Then probably the Silent dance party and some comedy, but we are keeping it loose.

 

Our private van picks us up at 9:30 in Amber Cove tomorrow. Arranged it through Carnival; cost was $75 per person so with 4, pretty much the same cost as an excursion might be. I’ll let you know how that goes (and forgive me if I already mentioned that).

 

Empty Serenity Deck in this morning’s light rain

Serenity Bar (was open)

View from my balcony while sunning this afternoon.

My set up for sun lounging on my balcony (I’m short so I fit; your results may vary).

Chicken Satay at Street Eats. Never a line! Very good too.

 

As close as my husband may get to the Bolt Roller Coaster this week.

Edited March 21, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

After the BOLT disappointment, Russ and I hung out on the Lido Deck listening to the steel drummer. We were so relaxed; this is the PERFECT day on a cruise—still 3 days to go, first day we really have that totally relaxed vacation feel. Great people watching up there and at 4pm no trouble getting a lounger in the shade.

 

We did not attend BINGO today, or the King and Queen of Mardi Gras show (where they select them) early this afternoon, nor attend the morning WAVE show, nor do any of the dance classes today. What, me not dance on a sea day? Yup; felt some inflammation in my right leg yesterday so decided I’d better have a day of rest. Feeling fine now so Silent party (headphones, various music tracks to dance to; a hoot to watch!) here we come! And I mention all the rest of the stuff because there is always so much going on for the Mardi Gras!

 

Did I mention I took a photo with a giant Towel Animal today? Gosh the poor guy  or gal in that suit; it looks so hot! 

Giant Towel Animal Character

The Lido at 4pm.

 

 

 

New comics arrived today! 2 or 3; we are not sure. We also have Jimmy Della Valle

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[audcc77]

36 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

Resting; sunned a bit earlier on my little sun deck; put the two chairs together with one of the backs down to make a “sun lounger.

You can ask your room attendant to get a lounger for you.  We did.   

[TravelBluebird]

We had a perfect day in port at Amber Cove today.

 

We hired the Private Van through Carnival. As mentioned, it worked out to $75 per person, plus tips (can have up to 6 passengers, so would have been less per person if we had 2 more). We had a wonderful guide, Eddie, and Alex was our driver. We were most interested in history, a few views and stops for photography, and shopping for larimar (the national stone of the Dominican Republic; only place it is found).  If you do the Private Van, you can do anything you want—beach, lunch in town, waterfalls.  

All of that was done; went to Puerto Plata, the port, a place where they make the Larimar jewelry by hand including th silver, down to the drive along the beach, the main square, the church, etc. etc.  I’ll do a full write up of all we saw when I return.

 

The private van tour was 4 hours, and the ship is in port till so we got back in plenty of time to explore Amber Cove. Carnival has really done a beautiful job with this port—there’s a big shopping center to the right, with nice shops for tourist items, jewelry, Dominican specialties (chocolate, coffee), a coffee shop with wifi, places to get food (including a restaurant with a lovely view of the water, and of course the giant pool complex to the right with on water cabanas, water sports, big pool with swim up bar, and ziplining.  There was a small beach visible from the complex; does anyone know if that is open to all or if it is a resort beach?

 

in any event, after the van tour, we changed into swim wear and covers, had lunch at the buffet, and took back off before 2 to explore the port. It was my first time in the pool complex part, and it is extremely nice..we got in the pool, and loved the tropical resort atmosphere.

 

Shopping after that, and now we are back. It’s 5:24…a few people still straggling in for a 5:30 departure. No pier runners yet.

 

Tonight we are going to eat dinner at the buffet and stay casual. Then for the first time we are going to play Deal or No Deal, go see some of the comics, and then go to the new (well, new since last time I was on Mardi Gras)n Motown Showdown.

 

Did I mention how much we enjoyed the Silent Party at the Limelight last night? It was great, although I think Celebrity’s Silent Disco was the best one of those I’ve ever been to. If you don’t know what that is, everyone gets headphones and gets to dance to whichever DJ they feel like, usually 2 (Carnival) or 3 (Celebrity) channels.  You switch channels as you like.  Fun to dance to and fun to watch!

 

Rudi’s Seagrill last night was fantastic and did not disappoint; full review to follow.  Sue went to see the Love and Marriage Show (she loves game shows!) and we all love Kyndall Fire, the cruise director.

 

We also saw the Vegas show at Center Stage; good floor seats. I’m not a fan of magicians (part of the show) and song selection was just OK, but we were wowed by the aerialists and loved the live musicians including 3 brass, and always love the graphics on the big screen.

 

At the Amber Cove 3D sign; line to take photos! We met people in line who lived 5 miles from us back home!

Amber Cove Port

Me on the Umbrella Street, Puerto Plata. Worth the $1 tip for the umbrella prop!

Main square, Puetto Plata, from the balcony of ice ccream shop

 

Our van from above at the sqauare

 

Russ and our driver Eddie

 

The little bar at the port that has live music, food, and tables right on the water

Photo stop with Puerto Plata behind us

Cabanas on the water, Amber Cove

Pool aqua area, Amber Cove

Edited March 22, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Another fun evening on the Mardi Gras! 

 

It’s late and we have an early morning tomorrow because we want to make sure we get loungers and umbrellas at Jack’s Shack. So brief summary for now, and tomorrow  I’ll also report back on the changes for Jack’s Shack with the new ownership there.

 

Buffet dinner was fine (should have been a better desert selection, otherwise they had selected dishes from the MDR menu tonight. Tonight was supposed to have been our Chef’s Table. Since I didn’t like the desert, I had a Choclate Martini at Center Stage after.

 

After dinner we did Deal or No Deal. We won a $25 Bingo card for last day, and a $30 casino credit. Top audience prizes were $300 and $200; lots of smaller prizes. 

 

Went to Punchliner after for the R rated Russell Nagle show. Three comics aboard right now, and 2 earlier in the week. 5 for one cruise is incredible.

 

Then hit the casino.  Lady luck was not with me tonight, but I’m down less than $100 for the week so far, so I won’t complain.

 

Stopped by the Motown Party for a little while. Gosh that Kyndall Fire is one ball of energy! She had the place, well, on Fire!  The entire 6th floor of Center Stage was made into a dance area; much better for lots of people dancing than Lido so much room. So lots of dancing and singing and lots of people watching//singing along on 7 and 8. I’ll post a clip tomorrow; this party is new to me since it wasn’t yet on Mardi Gras last year.

 

Then a quick bite of pizza; would have been just as fast for me as earlier in the week (couple minutes) but I wanted just a cheese//sauce plain and they didn’t have one so I had to wait about 10 minutes. They had 7 pizza chefs working tonight!

 

See you on Grand Turk!

[TravelBluebird]

We are at Jack’s Shack right now!  Very overcast day so no sun and I can’t see those beautiful blue water hues I do love here. It’s drizzled a bit but we are under umbrellas.

 

we got off the ship at 8:15 to get loungers and umbrellas right by the water.  Almost 10–lots of loungers still available (second row).   Might be the overcast weather, or all the families are at Margaritaville.  Two ships I port We are here with a HAL ship.  
 

We watched the dive and tour boats leave and now it’s peace and quiet.  About to have a Mojito—heck it’s 5 o’clock somewhere! 😂

 

For those who have come here for years—Janet and Jack sold the shack to employees and retired to Canada!  Topher passed and they took the other dogs with them.  So no dogs today. Shack was damaged in hurricane and it’s been rebuilt—quite nice, improved bar area.  But not the same—it’s like Jack’s 2.0.  Still a great spot and worth the walk down the beach, and running the gauntlet of locals wanting to sell you a beach chair or braid your hair.

 

Two umbrellas and loungers.  $23.  Out of mint so drinking a rum punch.  Russ having the jerk chicken for breakfast—$17.  Gone up! Still good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[Terab85]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:56 PM, TravelBluebird said:

Our friends picked up their luggage exactly when we did; we met in the middle on the way to each other’s baggage claim!

 

Got a taxi at the airport (larger taxis were just sitting there, and we didn’t want to fuss with Uber. It was expensive—$130, not including tip  But considering a shared shuttle from MCO to hotels in the area would be around $25 per person or up, the extra $$ went to convenience.

 

Our hotel the Towne Place Suites is very nice! Big sitting area downstairs, pool, fire pits, restaurant, free breakfast in the morning, very nice front desk people. We ended up with a lovely room; definitely a free upgrade for being Lifetime Gold in Marriott because we booked a much cheaper room with the kitchen right in with the beds, and no view. We ended up with a lovely view of the water (not the port side) and a separate little kitchen area in the entrance.

 

We dropped off our bags, freshened up, and headed out to Fishlips for an early dinner. At first we thought of walking (25 minute walk) but when we realized we would have to walk on roads and grass, not good or safe walking all the way, we just took an Uber. Only $7.80 plus tip; showed right up (Uber X).

A word about getting to the cruise ship tomorrow. The hotel DOES have a shuttle but it doesn’t start till 10:30am. We have a 10am check in time (all in suites). We considered just taking the shuttle, but all feel like heck, we are allowed to be on the boat early, we want to be on the boat early! Hotel via phone before we arrrived said that they had some drivers they worked with and would hook us up with one when we arrived. This was not true.

 

SO, we pre-booked an Uber X for 9:45.  We hope we all fit in one with our luggage. VERY expensive; clearly surge pricing…$48!  Sigh. We decided we would just suck it up for $12 a person and take the Uber X.  Clearly we are not making smart financial decisions so far this cruise!

 

I’ll break here for some hotel//room photos, then I’ll post about our dinner and the Space X launch! Have 2 Queen beds because King rooms sold out; view is of the Springhill Suites and water beyond that. When I return home, I’ll also post some longer videos//reviews of port, hotel etc both here and on my Cruising With Dee YouTube channel.

 

 

 

 

We stayed at that Springhill Suites last April and it was very nice.  We are also Marriott Gold members and they always give us a upgrade when we arrive. We're staying at the Courtyard in Titusville in a few weeks because they wanted way too many points this year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CPL1979]

Really enjoying your blog.

 

• We are on MG on 4/1 and I was wondering if Cucina is still included.  We sailed her last year and it was free but I'm now seeing conflicting information online.  Also Carnival customer service says it is an upcharge and then another says included.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

[TravelBluebird]

3 hours ago, CPL1979 said:

Really enjoying your blog.

 

• We are on MG on 4/1 and I was wondering if Cucina is still included.  We sailed her last year and it was free but I'm now seeing conflicting information online.  Also Carnival customer service says it is an upcharge and then another says included.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

Yes, Cucina and ChiBang were included on our Mardi Gras cruise!

[TravelBluebird]

6 hours ago, Terab85 said:

We stayed at that Springhill Suites last April and it was very nice.  We are also Marriott Gold members and they always give us a upgrade when we arrive. We're staying at the Courtyard in Titusville in a few weeks because they wanted way too many points this year.

 

it really helps to be in the Marriott (or other program) for free nights and free upgrades, but I agree that more and more points are required for the free nights lately!

[TravelBluebird]

Weather was crazy on Grand Turk today!  Overcast, then sunny (got my beautiful water blues!) then overcast, then poured rain, then sunny….you get the picture!

 

Once back on board we went to Guest Services to resolve refunds for our Chef’s Table cancellations. Much better today; lines will be so long tomorrow.

 

Grabbed a bite at buffet (Schwarma for Russ, and I was weak and got Shaq’s Big Chicken. Had to have it; even though it is formal night tonight with the lobster and prime rib.

 

Trying for early dinner tonight, Voodoo Moon show, another comic, and the Rock an Glow 80s party, then maybe more gambling!  I’m staying up LATE tonight—last night without the have-to-pack-up monkey on my back, and I can sleep in tomorrow!

 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[LPut714]

On 3/21/2023 at 5:22 PM, TravelBluebird said:

Want to add for those looking for information on Vegan cuisine that my friend LOVED the salad bar up on Serenity. Lots of good variety, including olives, chia seeds, onions, greens, much more, and a nice balsamic vinaigrette available.

 

So just got back from 18, and the BOLT was a no-go. They sent a huge line of cruisers away, all who had to have their times changed from all the rain.  But the BOLT was still having issues. I’d rather have it be safe than not, so no problem. Not sure if the guys will have a chance to ride it this trip or not.

 

Resting; sunned a bit earlier on my little sun deck; put the two chairs together with one of the backs down to make a “sun lounger.” Wish Carnival had those little foot rests that fit under the chairs for lounging, but this worked.  Wasn’t exactly peaceful since there was a bean bag game going on on 8 right under my balcony, but it was sort of fun to listen in.

 

Tonight we are going to listen to Washboard Joe at the Brass Magnolia and have drinks then Rudi’s Seagrill for dinner! Sue (our vegan) has decided to not join us tonight so she is going to eat and explore on her own.

 

Then probably the Silent dance party and some comedy, but we are keeping it loose.

 

Our private van picks us up at 9:30 in Amber Cove tomorrow. Arranged it through Carnival; cost was $75 per person so with 4, pretty much the same cost as an excursion might be. I’ll let you know how that goes (and forgive me if I already mentioned that).

 

Empty Serenity Deck in this morning’s light rain

Serenity Bar (was open)

View from my balcony while sunning this afternoon.

My set up for sun lounging on my balcony (I’m short so I fit; your results may vary).

Chicken Satay at Street Eats. Never a line! Very good too.

 

As close as my husband may get to the Bolt Roller Coaster this week.

We just got off back to back on Mardi Gras-had a suite the second week. We went to guest services and requested a lounger for the balcony and it was delivered. Asked our cabin steward and told have to talk to guest services. Still had two other chairs and table and had plenty of room

 

[CPL1979]

16 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Yes, Cucina and ChiBang were included on our Mardi Gras cruise!

Thank you very much!

[Jamman54]

19 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Weather was crazy on Grand Turk today!  Overcast, then sunny (got my beautiful water blues!) then overcast, then poured rain, then sunny….you get the picture!

 

Once back on board we went to Guest Services to resolve refunds for our Chef’s Table cancellations. Much better today; lines will be so long tomorrow.

 

Grabbed a bite at buffet (Schwarma for Russ, and I was weak and got Shaq’s Big Chicken. Had to have it; even though it is formal night tonight with the lobster and prime rib.

 

Trying for early dinner tonight, Voodoo Moon show, another comic, and the Rock an Glow 80s party, then maybe more gambling!  I’m staying up LATE tonight—last night without the have-to-pack-up monkey on my back, and I can sleep in tomorrow!

 

 

We were at Jack's in January and everything was good EXCEPT the bar service! Had to practically beg for a drink while the bartenders played on their phones. Some others on our cruise said they waited 20 minutes to be served then gave up and left. It wasn't that busy that day. Unless we hear multiple times that this has been addressed and fixed,  we won't be back. 

[TravelBluebird]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:19 PM, LPut714 said:

We just got off back to back on Mardi Gras-had a suite the second week. We went to guest services and requested a lounger for the balcony and it was delivered. Asked our cabin steward and told have to talk to guest services. Still had two other chairs and table and had plenty of room

 

 

That is good to know! We didn’t do it this time because the last few days we knew we wouldn’t have very much time on the balcony. I do wish that all suites had at least 1 lounger just provided.

[TravelBluebird]

11 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We were at Jack's in January and everything was good EXCEPT the bar service! Had to practically beg for a drink while the bartenders played on their phones. Some others on our cruise said they waited 20 minutes to be served then gave up and left. It wasn't that busy that day. Unless we hear multiple times that this has been addressed and fixed,  we won't be back. 

 

We didn’t have a bad wait for drinks but the wait for food was really bad at lunch time. Our friend Rick ordered food at noon and it took about a half hour to get it!  My husband’s early food order was very quick, but not so for lunch.  And Jack’s wasn’t particularly busy.

 

[Guest BasicSailor]

11 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We were at Jack's in January and everything was good EXCEPT the bar service! Had to practically beg for a drink while the bartenders played on their phones. Some others on our cruise said they waited 20 minutes to be served then gave up and left.

I've been to Jacks maybe six or seven time and found your comments to be exact. Even food poising for a friend that said he would never go back.🤮

[TravelBluebird]

When you are cruising, is their anything sadder than the last night of a cruise.

 

Our bags have been taken away; I’m about to turn in for the night.  We are going to take our time getting off the ship since we are staying in Orlando overnight and our room won’t be close to being ready (Residence Inn, Orlando Airport).

 

Had a nice, typical, final day onboard. Had a bit of breakfast on Lido this morning; the salmon eggs benedicet and wedge potatoes were good this trip; warm, not cold, and quite good. Last year all the Lido breakfast food was stone cold, so big improvement.

 

Beautiful weather, so we were on deck a bit, Did Bingo, and attended Kyndall Fire’s Q and A. She’s such a great cruise director, and her story is so interesting. The youngest person to be cruise director in Carnival history at 22, we really enjoyed her. She was perfect for this very full ship of 6,281 (!!) passengers, especially with all the young Spring Break kids and teens.

 

Played a bit in the casino, got some photos at Pixels,  got a bit of sun, had the most delicious carbonara fries at Street Eats, and then had to PACK. Sigh.  Luggage tag boards were in several areas around the ship, which was nice instead of having them all in one location (I think I saw 4 boards).

 

We spent the evening at the Havana Bar (love the latin music although many fewer dancers there this cruise than last year), at the Alchemy Bar, and had dinner at Teppanyaki.  Sue said it was the best vegan meal she had on board the ship, and it was a nice final dinner.  Also watched just a bit of the Center Stage show before a bit more time in the casino before calling it a night. 

 

I’ve still got more to cover for this trip; will continue tomorrow at the hotel and when I’m home.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mojito, Havana Bar

Carbonara Fries, Time Fries at Street Eats

Luggage Board near Elevator

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Good morning! Our cruise is officially over, but our trip is not since we are staying the extra night tonight near Orlando Airport.

 

Why, you may ask, did we add in an extra night? We booked this cruise very late (end of January) and because it was Spring Break, there were not a ton of seats available out of MCO that would work for disembarking our cruise, and any that were left were crazy expensive. Literally $1,000 a person out of Knoxville and $2,000 a person out of Idaho.  

 

So we got creative. By flying out on Sunday we were able to more than 1/2 that from Knoxville, and from Idaho, by using Spirit Airlines and driving (5 hours) to Salt Lake (plus the day change) the fare was 1/4 of Saturday,

 

The downside? We have to wake up at 3am for our flight to Knoxville, and our friends don’t leave till much later in the day, and will arrive home at 11am (2am EST).

 

The rest of the crew is at Universal City Walk right now; I’ m stuck at the hotel because the non-profit I work for is having a board meeting at 2 pm and I have to attend that (I normally would be able to skip if on vacation, but I missed the last one).  So I’m plugged in online in the Residence Inn lounge area, waiting for my room (hopefully ready at 1pm).  At least the wi fi is great!  Next post about disembarkation this morning.

[TravelBluebird]

Before the disembarkation post, just two random interesting things that happened on Mardi Gras this week that I don’t want to forget.

 

First, we had 4 people that had to be called out on the loudspeakers on Grand Turk around 20 minuates after the final all-aboard. I wasn’t on the side to see pier runners, but evidently they found 2 of them//2 pier  ran and made it. Two did not, and I hear the ship left them in Grand Turk.  No idea what happened or why. Perhaps they fell asleep on a sun lounger (which was one way I, personally, could miss a ship) because Grand Turk is not that big; you can’t really drive and be too far away from the port!

 

Second random thing is that evidently the grill got a little vigorous cooking those burgers at Guy’s Burger Joint (was always quite the line there this trip!), so a bit of extra grill smoke caused the sprinkler system in the restaurant to go off!  Everyone eating there//on line at the time got drenched!  Had to mop up all the water//clean up and then Guy’s re-opened for rest of trip. Personally, I’ll sleep better on the ship knowing that the fire sprinklers work!  

[audcc77]

On 3/21/2023 at 12:09 AM, TravelBluebird said:

The biggest problem so far is getting the wait staff in the MDR, Chibang, Sea Day Brunch etc. to understand that there is a difference between vegetarian and vegan.

That would be annoying.  You might mention that in your survey.  Vegan is becoming more common these days.  

Our son is vegan and it’s ridiculous how restaurants always steer vegans to salad.  🙄
Good vegan food is actually food, not salad.  

[TravelBluebird]

Disembarkation went extremely smoothly for us.

 

Since we were in no rush, we decided to stay on ship as long as possible. Gave our Group 2 luggage tags (they deliver those right to your stateroom if you are in a suite) to someone else who needed them and picked up last group, Group 30.  

 

Wanted to sleep in as long as possible, but at 7:20 my cabin steward knocked to give me the bill. I was not pleased; first of all, I was sleeping. Second, I already looked at in my app. Couldn’t he have just put it under the door or something?

 

Even earlier than that (7am)  the announcements started. Self assist was able to head out before 7:30am.  First zones (1 and 2) were called at 8am.  These were huge zones, lots of priority guests this trip. So Zones 3 through 6 were called at 8:44.  by 9:30  Kyndall had only called up to Group 26, but employees came around and verbally said all luggage was out and we could leave. Which was perfect; we were aiming to leave around 9:30 since we thought we could easily get an Uber as Ubers with passengers to embark would be starting to arrive right before 10!

 

We left our rooms at about 8:15 and had a nice breakfast on Lido. Again, it was really nice that the food was not ice cold like last year; don’t know what Carnival did to improve that, but we appreciated it! I had an Eggs Benedict, hash browns and fruit; Rick an Omelette, Sue I think a bagel and peanut butter.  Russ, traditional breakfast foods (egg, sausage).  There was one employee at the coffee machines pouring and giving out the cups of coffee, and another one coming around with full coffee service to the seats, with coffee, cream, sugar—that was great.   Bathrooms were really busy, long long line for women’s up on 16.

 

We headed down from Lido 9:30.  No wait for the elevator and no line to exit ship.  We walked straight through with no line to the passport scanners, scanned our faces, and that was it. Didn’t even have to take out the passports (as my friend said, convenient, but also maybe just a wee bit creepy).  Grabbed our luggage and were on the street right at 10am.

 

HOWEVER, OMG those poor people who only traveled with birth certificates. That line was HUGE, and it was not moving. The line snaked back all the way up the white ramps that lead from the ship…so long, I think many people at the back of the line probably missed their early flights.  This is a big difference from last year’s Mardi Gras cruise, where there was no line for birth certificates at all. I’m surmising the difference was how many families were traveling with children this year, compared to last, plus the extra 1,000+ passengers.  I think most cruise critic readers have their passports, but if you don’t, this should serve as a cautionary tale.

 

We enquired about a taxi—$150.  Shuttle to airport $30 per person.  Nope. 

 

So we Uber’ed.  I was nervous about Uber because last year it took forever to get an Uber to pick us up after Mardi Gras (with 3 cancellations) and we had to wait out the crazy surge pricing. All those problems were evidently remnants from the pandemic, Because this year, we called the Uber and it was there in less than 15 minutes. And only $48! We ended up with a Toyota Prius though (I thought I’d pressed the Uber XL?) but that guy was able to get all the luggage in the trunk except for 1 suitcase which Rick had at his feet. So here we are; I’m waiting for my room and board meeting, and my friends are out still vacationing! 

 

You definitely would want to go RIGHT here.

Simple Lido last morning breakfast!

Edited March 25, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

Wanted to sleep in as long as possible, but at 7:20 my cabin steward knocked to give me the bill. I was not pleased; first of all, I was sleeping. Second, I already looked at in my app. Couldn’t he have just put it under the door or something?

 

Even earlier than that (7am)  the announcements started. Self assist was able to head out before 7:30am.  First zones (1 and 2) were called at 8am.  These were huge zones, lots of priority guests this trip. So Zones 3 through 6 were called at 8:44.  by 9:30  Kyndall had only called up to Group 26, but employees came around and verbally said all luggage was out and we could leave. Which was perfect; we were aiming to leave around 9:30 since we thought we could easily get an Uber as Ubers with passengers to embark would be starting to arrive right before 10!

Thats just cra cra 😬