Our Carnival Venezia B2B - 21 days of "Fun Italian Style" (with pics) - 9/23/23

nybumpkin · November 1, 2023

On 10/30/2023 at 5:37 PM, Jamman54 said:

As we are walking past the terminal, I am stunned at how few people are in there waiting. It must be really bad trying to get here…..

We are heading down to Passport Control where we will go through the Facial Recognition process…….

Once that was done, we were directed into a corral until we were given the okay to re-board the ship. We stood there for about a half hour, as there was no place to sit. Apparently, there was some kind of system problem which had to be resolved before we could go back on.

Once that was resolved we are now about to get back on the Venezia…..

Patti and I each pose with Patch, though I did a poor job with Patti’s picture since I cut poor Patch’s head off. That’s why she’s the professional!

Your explanation is that you know where you should be focusing!

Hogladyrider · November 1, 2023

@Jamman54....my Life Is Good birthday PKG for my other half arrived...he loves both of them.

Watch for your royalty check should cover at least one beer 🍻

AmyJA · November 1, 2023

Took me three days back and after unpacking, doing laundry, reading my mail, the newspaper and social media, I'm all caught up with your report now.

Thanks for all your and Patti’s efforts. Your pictures of the northeast brought around memories of September. I'm just sorry that we were not at the same port on the same day so we could chat a bit.

Edited November 1, 2023 by AmyJA

Jamman54 · November 1, 2023

1 hour ago, AmyJA said:

Took me three days back and after unpacking, doing laundry, reading my mail, the newspaper and social media, I'm all caught up with your report now.

Thanks for all your and Patti’s efforts. Your pictures of the northeast brought around memories of September. I'm just sorry that we were not at the same port on the same day so we could chat a bit.

No worries! We'll have plenty of time to chat on the Tribe Cruise!

Jamman54 · November 1, 2023

Day # 9 - 10/01/23 - Fun Day at Sea # 4.

Today’s installment is going to be short and sweet. I guess the camera needed a day off to prepare for the push that’s coming ahead!

We were up at 7am to another sunny and warm day. The seas are as calm as a lake……

According to the map channel, we are now as far south as Florida, and making a beeline towards Grand Turk…..

Here are today’s Fun Times…..

I went up to the Java Blue Café for my morning coffee, and then hung around with Rich, Charlie, Kathy, and Janice until they went to breakfast. I went back to the cabin to work on pictures for a while.

Patti went out to explore a little bit. She caught the Behind the Fun Tour heading to their first destination…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · November 1, 2023

There is going to be an Art Auction in the Limelight Lounge later today…..

Patti bumps into Charlie who is taking a picture of Patti, who is taking a picture of him!

I meet Patti in the Teatro Rosso for “The Wave” morning show. Today it’s Cruise Director Joey, and Fun Squad member Oliver…..

Afterwards, Patti and I head up to the casino to pick up our Fun Play for this cruise. To our horror we realize that this is another Elite Cruise, and the casino is pretty busy. We decide to check out the non-smoking casino annex and I sit down to play some blackjack, and Patti finds an open video poker machine. An hour later Patti is up $52, and I’m down a couple hundred.

We can still catch the late breakfast at the Lido Marketplace, so up we go. After we finished eating we went back to the cabin, but Edy had just started working on it. We went down to the Lobby Bar and had a couple of drinks with Valentina while we waited for our cabin to be ready. Making our way back to the cabin, we found today’s towel animal…..

We spent the afternoon reading, napping, and relaxing on the balcony. The seas are still wonderfully calm…..

To be continued…

Jamman54 · November 1, 2023

A little after 6pm we went down to the Frizzante Bar…..

Here are the menus…..

Patti had a Raspberry Bellini, and I had a Moretti beer…..

This is our bartender Andrea…..

We are soon joined by Cruise Critic member Rhonda and her husband Keith…..

After a couple of drinks, we went up to the Lido Marketplace for a bite to eat. Patti had a salad, and I grabbed a few things from the buffet line…..

We took a walk out by the mid ship pool where it was a beautiful night…..

The crowd was waiting for the Jets / Chiefs game to begin….

Patti made her way back to the cabin to read her book. I stayed and watched the game until halftime, and then went back to the cabin for the night myself.

Coming up next: Land Ho! Our day in Grand Turk!

Destiny0315 · November 1, 2023

15 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

The crowd was waiting for the Jets / Chiefs game to begin….

The crowd that Sunday in the Heroes Tribute Bar/Lounge for the Patriots/Cowboys game was decidedly filled with Dallas fans. This photo was taken right after the Cowboys had scored a touchdown off of a Mac Jones fumble. They then pulled off a fake on the extra point and passed for the two points and were now ahead 18-3. Being from the Boston area I laid low and eventually escaped quietly. 😉

Destiny0315 · November 2, 2023

I bumped into the Venezia's K9 Patrol Team later that evening mingling with passengers at the elevators near the atrium.

Princess Cruiser27 · November 2, 2023

Edy needs a few lessons on making Towel Animals. 🤣🤣

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

4 minutes ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

Edy needs a few lessons on making Towel Animals. 🤣🤣

Among other things!

Elaine5715 · November 2, 2023

On 10/30/2023 at 6:21 PM, Jamman54 said:

We continue to sail down the Hudson River…..

We are sailing past the Chelsea Piers…..

There are those golf tees again….

Here is the view from the bow camera….

At this point we leave our cabin and head to the Terrazza Area for the rest of the sail away. Here are a couple of views of the New Jersey side…..

To be continued….

What is that head and why do I get a "here is how the scary movie starts" vibe?

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

7 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

What is that head and why do I get a "here is how the scary movie starts" vibe?

I think that's New Jersey telling New York to be quiet!

Destiny0315 · November 2, 2023

21 minutes ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

Edy needs a few lessons on making Towel Animals. 🤣🤣

At least all of mine had eyes, now granted they didn't stay on for long but at least they started that way.

Happy0810 · November 2, 2023

On 10/31/2023 at 5:53 PM, Jamman54 said:

Glad to have you aboard! We still have a long, long way to go. Patti said that she bought that hoodie for Ryan at one of the surf shops in Ft. Lauderdale earlier this year. She doesn't remember the brand name.

Thanks so much for checking with Patti. Looking forward to the rest of the review/pics (although I know it will be a big time investment for you).

rwest898 · November 2, 2023

2 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Day # 9 - 10/01/23 - Fun Day at Sea # 4.

Today’s installment is going to be short and sweet. I guess the camera needed a day off to prepare for the push that’s coming ahead!

We were up at 7am to another sunny and warm day. The seas are as calm as a lake……

According to the map channel, we are now as far south as Florida, and making a beeline towards Grand Turk…..

Here are today’s Fun Times…..

I went up to the Java Blue Café for my morning coffee, and then hung around with Rich, Charlie, Kathy, and Janice until they went to breakfast. I went back to the cabin to work on pictures for a while.

Patti went out to explore a little bit. She caught the Behind the Fun Tour heading to their first destination…..

To be continued…..

Keith and I were part of that tour but I didn't see Patti taking pictures..lol

Roscoe13 · November 2, 2023

16 hours ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

Edy needs a few lessons on making Towel Animals. 🤣🤣

I was beginning to think that towel animal picture was one of those perception tests...some people see a towel animal and some people see a butter dish.

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

Day # 10 - 10/02/23 - Grand Turk (11am - 6:30pm).

We were up at 7am to a warm sunny day. The seas are fairly calm. We are still about four hours away from our first port of call, Grand Turk. Here are the views from our balcony looking forward and aft…..

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning…..

Here are today’s Fun Times…..

As usual, I went up to the Java Blue Café for my morning coffee, and then came back to the cabin to work on pictures. Around 9am we decided to go have some breakfast. I had a breakfast burrito from Tomodoro, and Patti just grabbed some things from the Marketplace buffet lines…..

Land Ho! We are approaching Grand Turk…..

To be continued…..

Edited November 2, 2023 by Jamman54

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

We went back to the cabin to pack our beach bags for the day. From our balcony we watched the Venezia pull into Grand Turk……

We went down to the Lobby Bar to wait for the ship to be cleared to debark. While there we noticed that at Guest Services it is Happy Customer Service Week. Didn’t know that was a thing!

Cruise Director Joey comes over and tells everyone that he’s giving us a head start to get off. He’s about to go over and make the announcement, so off we go……

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

Today, like we do here most times, we have rented a Pool Cabana. Patti tells me to go ahead and get it, and she’ll meet me there shortly. Patti takes these shots while walking on the pier…..

Patti passes through the duty free store and enters the courtyard. This is where the excursions meet up…..

Patti heads over to Margaritaville……

The porch of indecision…..

To be continued……

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

Patti knows exactly which pool cabana that I’ll be at. On the way she gets these shots of the Flowrider and the zero entry section of the pool…..

Patti makes it to our Grand Turk vacation home, Cabana # 9…..

Thankfully, we had booked our cabana before the price increases. They sell for $400 now, and don’t include anything extra, except a dedicated server. Here are some inside views of our cabana…..

As we are getting settled, this sweet lady comes up to our cabana and explains that she’s a Cruise Critic member, she doesn’t post, but she reads. She knew that we were going to be on this cruise, and from reading all of our reviews, she knew that in Grand Turk we would be at Cabana # 9 and wanted to meet us! How cool is that! Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to meet Sylvia……

We’ll meet Sylvia again later on in the review. I’m hoping that she will post to this thread.

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · November 2, 2023

Let’s take a look at the menus…..

This is our server. I apologize for not remembering her name or writing it down, but she was wonderful all day!

We order a bucket of Turks Head beer for me, and a couple of bottles of water for Patti…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · November 3, 2023

Patti is off and running. She takes this picture of the pool, and then heads down the beach towards Jack’s Shack…..

Patti is looking over at the Venezia…..

To be continued……

Jamman54 · November 3, 2023

Patti has made it over to Jack’s Shack. We spent time here last January because we wanted to see how the new owners ran things. They had made a lot of improvements, but our experience there was not good, mainly due to the inattentiveness of the bar staff. Many reviews on Trip Advisor were also negative for the same reasons. When we see the reviews improve we will try them again. For now, it’s just pictures…..