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

[TravelBluebird]

This morning I woke up to the blasts of the fog horns. In my semi-awake state, I thought I was hearing whales. This makes more sense when I tell you that people have seen whales from the ship the last two days! I am not one of those lucky people.

 

So we have had quite a patch of fog this morning. It’s 10:33 and we just blasted the fog horn again.  It’s also very chilly out—53 F—which made me feel like a very smart person for pre-buying my Venezia sweatshirt for when the cold weather hit.  This weather seems appropriate as sometime, I believe within the next 2 hours, we will go right over where the Titanic lays. The captain says he will announce this on the loudspeaker.   Not sure if that is delayed a bit as, due to the fog, we are going 11 knots not 12.

 

Ran into a gal who was green from the boat motion last night. She was just venturing out to get something  to eat for the first time all day.  I always feel bad for people who get motion sick and wonder why I am impervious to boat motion.  

 

 

 

 

[TravelBluebird]

Our current views from the ship!  Sun is trying to burn off the fog finally.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

So if anyone is super bored, has questions for us that we haven’t answered yet, or just wants to say hello  as we sail the North Atlantic, Russ and I are attempting a LIVE YouTube broadcast from the ship tonight, at 8:30pm EST and 5:30pm PST (that is 10:30pm ship time, at least tonight). That link should work but if it doesn’t for some reason, we will come here and post the link when the time comes.

 

 z

[TravelBluebird]

We are about to pass 30 nautical miles from where the Titanic lays. Evidently this is as close as we can get due to restrictions around where she lays.

 

See, I told everyone that it was actually aliens that took her down…..LOL, wrong forum! 😂

 

OK we pass her in 1 minute, here is the map and then I’m heading outside for a minute of silence.

[TravelBluebird]

Next on my list for today is to try the Chinese Buffet for lunch that is at the Seafood Shack!  I only found out about this yesterday; I will report back.

 

Russ had the Cuban Mixto at the Deli a bit ago; it is panini style and he really liked it. He is off with his book.

 

Plans for this evening are early dinner, Deal or No Deal, Italian Fiesta party//festival on the Lido Deck (I believe this will also be held for the voyages out of New York) and then our Live YT broadcast. We are going to have a lazy afternoon. Temp has risen to about 57 degrees.

[melsmom303]

i booked a sideway interior do you know if they are more space then a regular one . also how big is the casino ty

 

[TravelBluebird]

9 minutes ago, melsmom303 said:

i booked a sideway interior do you know if they are more space then a regular one . also how big is the casino ty

 

I did not see a sideway interior; I’ll see what I can find out. I’m not going to lie, the regular interior looked very tight to me—both sides of King bed with narrow walkway, only 2 closets not 3, etc.  

 

As for the casino, very large! Unfortunately for me also very smoky—smoking and non smoking areas are just across a walkway. There is also a totally non-smoking annex but I couldn’t find a machine I liked there, and it was just not as much fun for me, so I just bring my asthma inhaler down with me and take a claritin and off I go. Luckily have not had a heavy smoker sit down next to me even once so far, so that is good!

 

My fav machine is on the smoking side. C’est la vie!

 

Here is one photo I pulled from the video so you could see the interior bed; sorry it is not a bit clearer.

[melsmom303]

ty so much

 

[TravelBluebird]

So my brief “run up and try the Chinese Buffet” ended up in a nice odyssey.

 

First of all there was a huge line for the buffet!  Like Teatro Rosso entertainment line long. Evidently everyone just found out about it like me, OR its just popular!

 

I got tasting size portions of the Pork Stir Fry, the Vegetables, the Shrimp Lo Mein and the Orange Chicken. Menu below. It is served to you by the servers (you don’t plate it yourself) which is nice.  Line went quickly.

 

And it was quite good! I’d love some chinese mustard or something around to spice it up a bit, but as good as my local Chinese take out!

Then as I wandered back to my room, I came across the Lido all decorated for the Italian Fiesta tonight, plus the ice carving! Dolphin in 17 minutes. Quite fun. And popular.

 

Also ran into Derek from Island Time on YT. Genuinely nice guy! 

 

Ran into Intrepid from DC a couple nights ago. He is doing fine and enjoying his cruise.

 

Now I’m back sitting in my hammock. It’s still overcast and chilly; the fog has mostly lifted. Couldn’t sit on the loungers cause the pads were wet, wet, but the hammock is dry, so I’m cross-legged, wearing my nice warm sweat shirt, and typing this to you on my iPad. Which is why the spelling is good. When I mis-spell everything you can be sure I’m on my phone with my fat fingers and bad vision.

 

Internet continues to be overall AMAZING. This Starlink is the best internet I’ve had on ANY ship on ANY cruise line. Ever!  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[smeesme]

Enjoying the review.  Is the Chinese lunch buffet free or is there a cost?

Is it every sea day?  Thanks

[TravelBluebird]

2 minutes ago, smeesme said:

Enjoying the review.  Is the Chinese lunch buffet free or is there a cost?

Is it every sea day?  Thanks

 

Free! And I believe it is every sea day, but I have to confirm that for you (since I found out about it yesterday!)

[TravelBluebird]

Ok its sill overcast and chilly at 2:30pm.  Only 55 F.  Hands haven’t warmed up from being outside; time to go get some coffee.

[luvcruzing]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

Ran into Intrepid from DC a couple nights ago. He is doing fine and enjoying his cruise.

Good to know.  Thank you.

[PammyMouse]

Great review!  I’m curious about the Ocean Suite you mentioned.  Could you please post a still or two?  We have one booked for 2024.  Thanks!

PM

Edited June 8, 2023 by PammyMouse

[TravelBluebird]

Heading out for an early dinner so we can do Deal or No Deal and also the Italian Festival on Lido afterwards.

 

Dinner last night was OK. Not bad or anything, but also nothing to write home about.

 

We had the wild boar appetizers, and my husband had the carpaccio. Wild boar appetizer were tasty but not hot. No photos of the wild boar because we were hungry; it was cut in pieces with barbecue sauce.

 

For mains, I had the Spaghetti Vongole.  It had 3 clams—yep, 3.  Tasted fine, was hot and spaghetti properly al dente.  Russ had the Pollo Diablo—it was hot and tasty; as mentioned before, they do chicken justice on this ship and no “unidentified” chicken parts.  The dessert, a shared Torta al Miele e Polenta was very nice; part of the Italian specialties, it was a no-added sugar desert and i really liked the citrus and almond flavors and consistency of the polenta base.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

13 minutes ago, PammyMouse said:

Great review!  I’m curious about the Ocean Suite you mentioned.  Could you please post a still or two?  We have one booked for 2024.  Thanks!

PM

 

It was lovely! Walk in closet, lots of closet space, bath tub, larger balcony.  Eventually I’ll get the videos up, here are a few stills—evidently there are only 24 suites on the ship, so you are lucky to have it!

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Prime Rib in MDR tonight and it wasn’t a formal night!  I did ask for Medium Rare and got “possibly able to walk off the plate” rare.  They did say they would re do it but would take time and we didn’t want to wait.  So I slathered on the Horseradish and went from there. Served with nice baked potato and fixings and a coiple broci sprigs

[TravelBluebird]

The siren song of Deal  or No Deal has called.  We have avoided Bingo though.  
 

also a photo of the rare roast beef. 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Rest of meal—braised rabbit in puff pastry extra yummy, soup was nice, dessert very similar to last nights and no rum taste

[latebloomer56]

56 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

The siren song of Deal  or No Deal has called.  We have avoided Bingo though.  
 

also a photo of the rare roast beef. 

 

Wow no way would I eat that raw meat, your brave 😊. Would of had to order something else.

Thank you again for such a great review love your pictures.

[Hogladyrider]

@TravelBluebird...I am sorry but that prime rib does not look edible in my book.

[TravelBluebird]

18 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@TravelBluebird...I am sorry but that prime rib does not look edible in my book.

 If we did not have to be somewhere I would have sent it back.

 

DH likes it that way so I knew it wouldn’t! kill me, but chefs//waiters need to learn the difference between rare and medium rare ASAP!

[phoneman69]

Easy Question i hope. Did you get the try fold ship deck plan when you got on? I am sure you know they show the ship and all the levels.

[phoneman69]

Watched the live chat. Some very nice info. Could not figure out how to post a chat message. Wanted me to create a site and add a photo which i did but nothing ever happened. Very glad internet is so good. Sailing June 19th. 8 Days to HMC and Amber Cove

[Qextor]

2 hours ago, phoneman69 said:

Did you get the try fold ship deck plan when you got on

I didn't know Carnival even did those.  I always just used the app.