LIVE! Venezia Maiden Voyage 5/29 - Let’s Cruise!

[TravelBluebird]

5 hours ago, cc31063 said:

On 6/2/2023 at 4:05 PM, TravelBluebird said:

 

Are you able to stream with it?

Yes—have watched YT videos no problem.  Will try a livestream Q and A if possible on a sea day

[TravelBluebird]

Dinner tonight was…..lengthy.  We sat over 40 minutes till our order was taken and over 1 hour till we got any food.  Entire dinner took over 2 hours.  
 

Food quality was mostly fun except  for barely warm crab cake and terrible fettuccini Alfredo-tasteless and not enough clumpy sauce.  The stuffed mushrooms were excellent, very nice thick medium rare filet. Panda Cotta and Grand Mariner Soufflé good

 

App wait was fine—15 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

We are awaiting the Vintage Pop show.  We also attended Punchliner and saw Joe Marlotti—very funny, PG show 

 

Before Punchliner I had a GREAT nap in my cabana.  I never nap, so it was lovely and needed after 3 busy many step port days!

[TravelBluebird]

One funny thing about our king dinner is we hit both It’s Sssshhhowtime performances of That’s Amore 😂

[TravelBluebird]

Really loved the Vintage Pop show—first time we’ve seen it—7 piece live music band and a great blending of old and new pop songs.  Give me a live music show every time, and this one fired on all cylinders.  After party in the Atrium 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

We are in the Azores!  Off to the Hot Springs and Botanical Gardens on Carnival excursion then individual exploration since all aboard is 7:30

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[happycruiser220]

On 6/2/2023 at 12:05 PM, TravelBluebird said:

Also, overall just wanted to say this is the BEST internet I’ve ever had on a ship. Starlink is amazing!  

Good to know Venezia has Starlink. I've been on the fence whether to purchase or not. Didn't have the greatest experience last year.

[TNVolnteerCruiser]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:19 PM, TravelBluebird said:

from Knoxville, Tennessee.

Hey, neighbors! Knoxvillians here as well.  Following along…a little later but better than never.

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, TNVolnteerCruiser said:

Hey, neighbors! Knoxvillians here as well.  Following along…a little later but better than never.

 

Hey fellow Vols! Nice to have you along! It’s been a great cruise so far—enjoy! 

[TravelBluebird]

@happycruiser220  Surprisingly good so far! We’ll see how the internet holds up crossing the Atlantic—I know it can be very variable, so I”ll report back.

[TravelBluebird]

Ponta Delgado, Portugal in the Azores. I can’t believe we got to visit here today—one of those tiny dots on the globe you think you’ll never get to actually see!

We did a comprehensive tour through Carnival, which included a small town, one of the crater lakes, the botanical garden and the hot springs. 5 hours (advertised as 4).

 

Here are some photos; this is a gorgeous island. I’d have even more great images but it rained on our way back so I missed getting a bunch of vistas on the South side of the island.

 

I’m terribly fascinated by earthquakes, volcanos, and the like, so I love islands that have been formed by volcanic activity. I’ve visited Hawaii, New Zealand and now the Azores—here I really enjoyed the hot springs area—boiling water straight out of the ground, steam, sulfur smell—incredible!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

We got back to the ship in that awkward time between 4 (buffet closed) and 6 (buffet open for dinner). We were really hungry—had a small continental breakfast while watching the sail-in, and the tour had no time for lunch. 

 

We decided to finally try a Seafood Shack. We were surprised to see the Lobster Roll was $18, but then found out that was for 2 rolls. We also got the Clam Strips ($8). Both came with frie. It wasn’t a Maine Lobster Roll where you get the big pieces of lobster with the mayo on the bread—pieces were small and the mayo sauce was mixed in, but it was good! Clam Strips were decent—hot and tasty with cocktail sauce, not giant pieces of clam however.  

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

After our Seafood Shack we had Swirls—first time all week!  Then off to the Terrazza Carnivale area for Sail Away and sunset.  Gorgeous.

 

And GOODBYE TO LAND for 6 days!

 

 

 

 

[SenatorsFan]

That's a beautiful sunset. 😀

[kwokpot]

23 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Really loved the Vintage Pop show—first time we’ve seen it—7 piece live music band and a great blending of old and new pop songs.  Give me a live music show every time, and this one fired on all cylinders.  After party in the Atrium 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Vista Class ships for this show they have several tables setup in the front of the theater(Remember on the Vista Class the theaters have moveable seats) so it looks like a faux 1920's niteclub. If you volunteer and are chosen to sit in one of those tables they give out some props to further the 1920's Cotton club vibe. 

[TravelBluebird]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

On the Vista Class ships for this show they have several tables setup in the front of the theater(Remember on the Vista Class the theaters have moveable seats) so it looks like a faux 1920's niteclub. If you volunteer and are chosen to sit in one of those tables they give out some props to further the 1920's Cotton club vibe. 

 

That sounds marvelous!

 

There are removable seats in this theater too—I wonder if they may also do that on the Venezia down the line?

[TravelBluebird]

Not much to report other than I’ve been int he casino.

 

Winning in the casino, which makes up for losing in the Casino the other night!

 

Now I am eating my celebratory (and delicious) authentic Italian Carnival pizza before bed time.

 

Prior to gambling we listened to the music in the Gondola Lounge; the “rock” band is the 7 piece band that played in Vintage Pop with 2 singers.  They are very good; the Lounge was standing room only; lots of dancing; people even broke out into a line dance.

 

We also sampled some items from the buffet for late “snacks” before it closed at 9:30,

 

A lovely start to our Atlantic crossing!

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

The only other entertainment tonight (besides other music at bars and lounges was Family Feud, which really isn’t my thing. 

[TravelBluebird]

Woke up to rain this morning, but still calm seas—maybe 2 to 4 now, so a bit more than around Europe, but still pretty darn smooth.

 

Breakfast in the MDR was a 50 minute wait, so after our Terrazza Carnivale Macchiattos  (the espresso kind not the Starbucks kind) we went up to the Lido Marketplace buffet. Was not that crowded; just wanted fruit (delicious cantaloupe this morning, the slice kind) and hash browns (they were hot).

 

Rain permitting we are going to try the La Strada Grill for lunch.  In the meantime, its reading and working on videos and chilling. Let the sea days begin!

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[steveknj]

6 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Woke up to rain this morning, but still calm seas—maybe 2 to 4 now, so a bit more than around Europe, but still pretty darn smooth.

 

Breakfast in the MDR was a 50 minute wait, so after our Terrazza Carnivale Macchiattos  (the espresso kind not the Starbucks kind) we went up to the Lido Marketplace buffet. Was not that crowded; just wanted fruit (delicious cantaloupe this morning, the slice kind) and hash browns (they were hot).

 

Rain permitting we are going to try the La Strada Grill for lunch.  In the meantime, its reading and working on videos and chilling. Let the sea days begin!

 

 

 

 

 

That's for letting us tag along and giving us this great info.  I'm curious what time you went to breakfast that it was a 50 minute wait?  One of our cruise pleasures is eating a sit down breakfast in the MDR.  But having to wait 50 minutes to do so would sort of ruin it for us.   We will be on the ship in late July so maybe whatever kinks they are having now will be worked out by then, or, perhaps these ships are so crowded now there's no hope that this can be rectified.   We'll see.

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, steveknj said:

 

That's for letting us tag along and giving us this great info.  I'm curious what time you went to breakfast that it was a 50 minute wait?  One of our cruise pleasures is eating a sit down breakfast in the MDR.  But having to wait 50 minutes to do so would sort of ruin it for us.   We will be on the ship in late July so maybe whatever kinks they are having now will be worked out by then, or, perhaps these ships are so crowded now there's no hope that this can be rectified.   We'll see.

It was the Sea Day Brunch.  We are going again tomorrow so I will tell you how that goes.  For dinner tonight at 6 for MDR no wait at all.

[TravelBluebird]

The Sea Days broke us—we just purchased the middle Internet package so we can sometimes both be on together.  Marital harmony and all that.

 

Duper Chill sea day.  Really enjoyed the La Strada Grill for lunch—delicious and great variety!  LING line at noon but went quickly.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[pcrum]

On 6/3/2023 at 9:00 AM, TravelBluebird said:

After brunch we (well I) decided to do some shopping. Left my tumbler for ice and drinks at home, and decided that already the late sea days have been cold enough that I wanted a sweatshirt or jacket. Plus I wanted my very first ship model, to have on shelve in my office where I tape the “talkie” part of my videos at home.

 

SO $128 later, we had 1 Carnival Venezia sweatshirt (cheapest but soft and hopefully warm one we could find—$49), one red Carnival tumbler for water and ice so I don’t have to keep buying water bottles ($16.95–they were $12.95 the day we boarded but those prices were crossed out and this is the new price) and the standard ship model at $59.95).

 

The glass inaugral-only model is really, really nice, but was $129.95 and very heavy.  Would look great in my office though…maybe I should do a return//exchange and pay the extra?  Can’t decide.

 

I lost my eyelash curler and although the makeup store is extensive, no eyelash curler. So if I look extra sleepy in videos this week you’ll know why 😂

 

Finally, the makeup store had a good selection of Sundry items, unlike the Carnival Mardi Gras in March. Photo below.

 

 

 

 

They used to give those tumblers to you for free when you purchased a soda package.  I had a bunch from when my kids were little that I just donated. 

[TravelBluebird]

7 minutes ago, pcrum said:

They used to give those tumblers to you for free when you purchased a soda package.  I had a bunch from when my kids were little that I just donated. 

I remember that!  I have a couple from getting the Fun Ship drink the first day—just didn’t pack one

[NitsirK21]

I'm enjoying following you along. We're going to be in a cabana in December. I was wondering about the seaday brunch for the terrazza area. Have you had that? And are the hot tubs busy in the terrazza area?