TxTeach79's Ringing in '24 LIVE - Celebration NYE!

[TxTeach79]

Well well well! We meet again!!

 

 

I'm excited to be taking you all along as best I can on this year's NYE sailing onboard the still-pretty-new Celebration! This time last year, my better half @HelloItsMeB and I somehow lucked into a casino freebie on the NYE sailing of Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral, and though I'd been cruising almost my whole life I had never experienced a NYE sailing. Well, needless to say we had an absolutely PHENOMENAL time! So much so, we essentially agreed to make it a yearly tradition whenever possible. Hell, we already have Magic booked for NYE '25! 

 

 

So, being a high demand sailing there was definitely no casino promo to be had this time around... we paid full price on this bad boy, but the good news is on my two sailings on MG last year I kinda fell in love with the quirky square interior cabins. B loved them too (she's a cheap date - she loves inside cabins and calls them her "sleep chamber"), so we're up on deck 14 in a square interior yet again to save some $$$.

 

In case you'd like a taste of what we're in for, here's last year's NYE sailing on Mardi Gras, which includes a couple days at Disney pre cruise and the full effects of the great Southwest Airlines meltdown of 2022:

 

 

On this sailing, we'll be joined by a few friends; one of B's good friends and her husband who we see once or twice a year and live in Arkansas decided to fly out and join us, and a couple of incredibly sweet and adventurous retired sisters from Wyoming we met and bonded with on our Pride Europe cruise last summer are joining as well! We've already got stuff booked together in San Juan and St. Thomas with them! Here's the Live from that amazing 12 day:

 

So despite the fact that it's quite the opposite of a solo where I'm completely devoted to my Live thread, it's a group of people who love to do their own thing and B enjoys chiming in on the thread and when I catch up and stop bothering her for a while, so I feel pretty good about the potential here. Time will tell! Regardless, thanks in advance for following along - less than a week to go!

Edited December 25, 2023 by TxTeach79

[TxTeach79]

In case you missed it and you're interested, my last Live over thanksgiving was over on the Princess board, Regal out of Galveston:

 

Before that was Dream out of Galveston in July....

 

And Glory out of NOLA Spring Break...

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by TxTeach79

[TxTeach79]

[JandPB]

Here for your adventures! Have a great trip!

[TxTeach79]

[Haljo1935]

So excited for you both and looking forward to @HelloItsMeB insights, as well.

Merry Christmas🎄 and Happy New Year 🍾from somewhere in the Pacific, Hawaii bound.

Yay - another installment of Flags at Sea!!🇨🇱

[Jamman54]

Here we go! We'll be following along,  and on board in three weeks! 😁

[Knights on the Beach]

Yay, another Live!! We were just on Celebration earlier this month and we loved it. Our favorite bartender on the ship was Anna at Bar 820 - we visited her every morning for coffee and more. Still hate cruising out of Miami though, so our next few will be out of Port Canaveral. 🙂

[lazydayz]

Hoo to see you in the ship. It is getting close.

 

i expect the casino to be busy, as this is an Elite cruise.

 

[TxTeach79]

21 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

Hoo to see you in the ship. It is getting close.

 

i expect the casino to be busy, as this is an Elite cruise.

 

 

I saw that - fully expect the casino to be bonkers. I'll try to play at "off hours" as much as possible.

[TxTeach79]

53 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

So excited for you both and looking forward to @HelloItsMeB insights, as well.

Merry Christmas🎄 and Happy New Year 🍾from somewhere in the Pacific, Hawaii bound.

Yay - another installment of Flags at Sea!!🇨🇱

 

Ooooh, fantastic! That cruise is definitely on my list! Enjoy!!

[TxTeach79]

So a bit of a special note to this whole thing.... when I was 9 years old in 1988, fifty some odd cruises ago.... this was my first... the lady that started a lifelong love..... 

 

 

So yeah, even though I had sailed on the original Mardi Gras and felt great sentimentality there, this one matters to me personally just a little more. 

[Roscoe13]

Oh boy! 

I've been waiting for this. 

So nice of you to go 2 weeks before we do!

 

Your assignment, should you accept: 

1.  Have fun and document everything 

2.  Make sure she's in ship shape for us!

[TxTeach79]

4 minutes ago, Roscoe13 said:

Oh boy! 

I've been waiting for this. 

So nice of you to go 2 weeks before we do!

 

Your assignment, should you accept: 

1.  Have fun and document everything 

2.  Make sure she's in ship shape for us!

 

1. I'll do my best

2. No promises, but I have full faith that y'all will be just fine

[LatinaInTexas]

I loved the Celebration so will be nice to revisit her again. Will be back from Vegas just in time to catch your sail away! 

[Mrhubbabubba]

Excited to follow along again. I hope your semester ended as smoothly as possible and that you all had a great Christmas! 

[TxTeach79]

2 minutes ago, Mrhubbabubba said:

Excited to follow along again. I hope your semester ended as smoothly as possible and that you all had a great Christmas! 

 

It did! No complaints... fingers crossed we make it through the spring!

[TxTeach79]

14 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I loved the Celebration so will be nice to revisit her again. Will be back from Vegas just in time to catch your sail away! 

 

Awesome! Where did you stay in Vegas? That's my next trip for my buddy's 40th in January...

[LatinaInTexas]

3 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

Awesome! Where did you stay in Vegas? That's my next trip for my buddy's 40th in January...

I have stayed at my most properties on the strip from lowly Excalibur to Caesars Palace, no complaints on any. This trip is Mandalay Bay, not a favored location but I really like the property.

[TxTeach79]

So, despite the fact that @HelloItsMeB has traveled half the planet, she's somehow never made it to Miami. We've been to Ft, Lauderdale multiple times (where I lived for five years), but she's never spent time in Dade County short of us Ubering to the Horizon a couple years ago. SOOOOO, we're flying in a day early and I've got a small SUV on order from Hertz waiting at FLL. We're flying Southwest per usual when we go domestic, and will have a few hours to kill once we land, so I fully plan on taking her on my south Florida trail of tears. 

 

As for the first night hotel, this one was on me, the Marriott guy, but Marriott properties were stupid for 12/30 and didn't make a ton of sense. So considering that I'm planning on dropping the car at MIA and Ubering to Dodge Island on cruise day, I found a steal on Priceline at the Radisson Red MIA...

 

 

 

We'll see. It was cheap, parking is free, people seem to like the bar, and it's next to MIA. We'll see what happens. 

[TxTeach79]

5 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I have stayed at my most properties on the strip from lowly Excalibur to Caesars Palace, no complaints on any. This trip is Mandalay Bay, not a favored location but I really like the property.

 

Same. I LOVE MB. If it was anywhere else, it would be everyone's favorite!

[RenoNanaOz]

Can’t wait!

[blarko]

Here and following.

[BohJang]

Hey Teach- I’m here following. Hope you have a great cruise and lots of fun. I’m sure if there are any shenanigans & Bellini Bar type of drama you we find them & report back. 
 

Michelle & Matt say hi. They gave me some Carnival Cruise Cash for my Christmas gift. Can’t wait to use it in 19 days on the Tribe cruise. 

[rwest898]

Looking forward to your review!