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

[TxTeach79]

Not a coincidence. The funwagon knows. 
 

[dabomb6608]

https://tenor.com/UOwk.gif

 

 

Edit: Was hoping a GIF would work...

Edited December 26, 2023 by dabomb6608

[dmet0225]

Well, EFF, on the news that Maria is gone now.  I could have sworn that she told me in June that she was to be on the Celebration through January.  

[watermelonqueen99]

So looking forward to this review! 

[ggooglyboogly]

Hell Yes - Lets go! Thanks in advance for all the effort

[Stallion]

Mood Music-Celebration

 

[Etta1213]

16 hours ago, mschancey said:

What Tribe will be cruising soon? Are you in with the tribe?

The Tribe under Friends of Cruise Critic

[d-lite-n-cruisin]

I am definitely along!  Have to wait until August for the Jubilee for our next.  But this will be my mini-vacation prior to the Spring semester starting at UNT.

Hope you and B have a mahhhvelous time!

 

Dan

[ninjacat123]

20 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Up next is St. Thomas, which come to think of it, joins San Juan on this cruise as shared ports with my original Celebration cruise in '88 (St. Maarten was the third). St. Thomas was long one of my favorite Caribbean stops, but honestly I haven't had the chance to be in here in a long while! For whatever reason, it's been upwards of 15 years since I've made a stop here. In the past I've taken a tour or ferry over to Trunk Bay, which back in the day at least had better snorkeling and way less crowds than Magen's.... but, as years and interests change, I put this one entirely in B's hands (as she's never been here at all). She starting chatting with our Wyoming gals from the Pride and all of them settled on doing this Carnival excursion together: https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/st-thomas/honeymoon-beach-party-cycleboat-w-open-bar-434156

 

 

It's got good reviews, wasn't particularly cheap, and seems like a fun day; party boat, some beach time, tunes, and good vibes. Fingers crossed! We're joined in port once again by Norwegian Epic, and this time it's HAL Nieuw Statendam making three. 

I've never seen this excursion.  Looks like fun!!

[TxTeach79]

1 hour ago, d-lite-n-cruisin said:

I am definitely along!  Have to wait until August for the Jubilee for our next.  But this will be my mini-vacation prior to the Spring semester starting at UNT.

Hope you and B have a mahhhvelous time!

 

Dan

fantastic! Very excited to get your take on Jubilee, she’s not on my radar for ‘24, but hopefully soon!

[TxTeach79]

38 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I've never seen this excursion.  Looks like fun!!

I hadn’t either! St. Thomas is where B took the reins and made the call with our Wyoming pals, so I’m happy to tag along and liking the looks of their choice!

[Happy0810]

Excited to be along for the ride because I know, no matter what, it will be a good time.  Hope you and B have a wonderful time.

[TxTeach79]

Always love the Miami sailaway - it's one of my favorites and to me, the quintessential cruise sailaway.... especially if you get to do "the spin"... #IYKYK

 

Part of it for me as a certifiable cruise nerd is seeing the always expansive roster of ships in on a weekend embarkation day. Looking at the lineup on NYE, we're the big dog on the block, but there are the usual suspects of big ships in to see. Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Encore, Freedom OTS, and Carnival Venezia will be in with us on Sunday. Not sure I've ever seen Bliss in person and my next cruise on the list is on Venezia, so I'll be especially stoked to get a look at those two.

[TxTeach79]

Current lineup of reserved stuff, shipboard edition:

 

Chef's Table on Monday. We did this on the Pride in Europe, the very first group in their newly renovated Chef's Table space, and we really enjoyed it. It's long and can be a night ender, but I figured after what's sure to be a late and wild NYE and a pool heavy New Year's Day, that's not the worst thing the night before our first port. Excited to see the menu.

 

Teppanyaki on Tuesday. B and I have done Teppanyaki on Horizon and Mardi Gras (I've also done the equivalent on Norwegian Breakaway and Jade) and it honestly might be her favorite meal onboard. It's up there for me as well, we always have a great time and love the food, and we're two for two with really entertaining chefs. 

 

Pasta Master Class at Carnival Kitchen around lunch time on Saturday. Neither of us has ever done one of the CK classes. I wanted to try one out last year on MG but they all booked up super fast and I missed the boat. It came down to this one or the BBQ one, and doing BBQ in an hour just seemed sacreligious to me, so Pasta it is!

 

555 on Saturday night. Yeah, we've done it a hundred times, but we always love it... and last year on two MG sailings I didn't get to it either time, so I still haven't done an Excel class steakhouse! Love the 555 bar, been there plenty, but never gotten inside! Felt like a good way to end the cruise fat and happy. 

 

We skipped Seagrill this time because it wasn't B's favorite (I love it, I'll do it whenever I'm solo on an Excel class ship), but we're pretty well stuffed as it is. Last year we didn't do a single dinner in the MDR because there was so much else to choose from onboard, so who knows what the other nights will bring. I love the brewery tour, did it twice on MG, and B even came with me the last time (she's not a beer person), but that'll be a tough sell this time around. Depending on mood and timing I may do that one solo, tbd on that.

[MeganGC1983]

9 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

Current lineup of reserved stuff, shipboard edition:

 

Chef's Table on Monday. We did this on the Pride in Europe, the very first group in their newly renovated Chef's Table space, and we really enjoyed it. It's long and can be a night ender, but I figured after what's sure to be a late and wild NYE and a pool heavy New Year's Day, that's not the worst thing the night before our first port. Excited to see the menu.

 

Teppanyaki on Tuesday. B and I have done Teppanyaki on Horizon and Mardi Gras (I've also done the equivalent on Norwegian Breakaway and Jade) and it honestly might be her favorite meal onboard. It's up there for me as well, we always have a great time and love the food, and we're two for two with really entertaining chefs. 

 

Pasta Master Class at Carnival Kitchen around lunch time on Saturday. Neither of us has ever done one of the CK classes. I wanted to try one out last year on MG but they all booked up super fast and I missed the boat. It came down to this one or the BBQ one, and doing BBQ in an hour just seemed sacreligious to me, so Pasta it is!

 

555 on Saturday night. Yeah, we've done it a hundred times, but we always love it... and last year on two MG sailings I didn't get to it either time, so I still haven't done an Excel class steakhouse! Love the 555 bar, been there plenty, but never gotten inside! Felt like a good way to end the cruise fat and happy. 

 

We skipped Seagrill this time because it wasn't B's favorite (I love it, I'll do it whenever I'm solo on an Excel class ship), but we're pretty well stuffed as it is. Last year we didn't do a single dinner in the MDR because there was so much else to choose from onboard, so who knows what the other nights will bring. I love the brewery tour, did it twice on MG, and B even came with me the last time (she's not a beer person), but that'll be a tough sell this time around. Depending on mood and timing I may do that one solo, tbd on that.

Same B, same on the Teppanyaki. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

On 12/26/2023 at 12:38 PM, TxTeach79 said:

Next stop is San Juan, which is one of my favorite stops as far as just the ease at walking right into downtown... Here, we're doing another walking food tour on our own, the Flavors of San Juan: https://www.viator.com/tours/San-Juan/Old-San-Juan-Food-Tour/d903-5584DINNER

 

 

Great pic and please remember pics of all the food with comments!  TIA.

Edited December 27, 2023 by IntrepidFromDC

[TxTeach79]

1 minute ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Great pic and please remember pics of all the food with comments!  TIA.

oh, you know it!

[sid_9169]

20 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Jumping ahead to the post-cruise plans: despite my general marginal Marriott loyalty (honestly mostly rooted in the Southwest point sharing), I can be easily swayed by price, and even MORE easily swayed by recent gains made by @HelloItsMeB. One of her good friends now works for Hyatt corporate and has designated B as one of her "friends and family" to get great rates, and we've dived headlong into it. B has already stayed at a Park Hyatt in Mendoza, Argentina, a Hyatt House in Irvine, CA, and the Hyatt Spa and Resort on Huntington Beach for Christmas. Plus, she's gotten herself a World of Hyatt credit card to maximize the perks with. Needless to say, when traveling with her, that'll probably be the move for the time being. The only reason I booked the Radisson Red on the front end is that even with her discount Hyatts were exorbitantly more on that front end 12/30 stay. 

 

THEREFORE, with airfare being considerably less flying home on Monday instead of Sunday, we'll be staying one night post cruise at the Hyatt Centric Brickell.

 

 

The deal was phenomenal, Brickell is a great spot, and we aren't planning on getting a car or moving around much that last day, just taking it easy with a ton of food and drink options in walking distance. From the looks of it, I don't hate the idea of getting some pool time in on that last day....

 

 

So the plan in my head is to stay on the ship late, take a casual Uber a very short distance to the hotel, and drop our bags and explore until the room is ready. There's a Cuban bakery nearby I wanna try. Never stayed at a Hyatt Centric before, and we have the Hyatt Centric Murano booked for Venice on our summer Norwegian Pearl cruise (I get the friends & family rate with NCL, I do my part!), so this is a solid test run. 

I've stayed at the Hyatt Centric Brickell a couple of times, and it's nice, and in a great area. Walking distance or free Metro Mover distance to all of downtown and Brickell...

[TxTeach79]

Just now, sid_9169 said:

I've stayed at the Hyatt Centric Brickell a couple of times, and it's nice, and in a great area. Walking distance or free Metro Mover distance to all of downtown and Brickell...

 

Perfect! Looking forward to an easy day in Brickell to wind things down...

[xkritter]

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

Current lineup of reserved stuff, shipboard edition:

 

Chef's Table on Monday. We did this on the Pride in Europe, the very first group in their newly renovated Chef's Table space, and we really enjoyed it. It's long and can be a night ender, but I figured after what's sure to be a late and wild NYE and a pool heavy New Year's Day, that's not the worst thing the night before our first port. Excited to see the menu.

 

Teppanyaki on Tuesday. B and I have done Teppanyaki on Horizon and Mardi Gras (I've also done the equivalent on Norwegian Breakaway and Jade) and it honestly might be her favorite meal onboard. It's up there for me as well, we always have a great time and love the food, and we're two for two with really entertaining chefs. 

 

Pasta Master Class at Carnival Kitchen around lunch time on Saturday. Neither of us has ever done one of the CK classes. I wanted to try one out last year on MG but they all booked up super fast and I missed the boat. It came down to this one or the BBQ one, and doing BBQ in an hour just seemed sacreligious to me, so Pasta it is!

 

555 on Saturday night. Yeah, we've done it a hundred times, but we always love it... and last year on two MG sailings I didn't get to it either time, so I still haven't done an Excel class steakhouse! Love the 555 bar, been there plenty, but never gotten inside! Felt like a good way to end the cruise fat and happy. 

 

We skipped Seagrill this time because it wasn't B's favorite (I love it, I'll do it whenever I'm solo on an Excel class ship), but we're pretty well stuffed as it is. Last year we didn't do a single dinner in the MDR because there was so much else to choose from onboard, so who knows what the other nights will bring. I love the brewery tour, did it twice on MG, and B even came with me the last time (she's not a beer person), but that'll be a tough sell this time around. Depending on mood and timing I may do that one solo, tbd on that.

I did the pasta class on Mardi Gras with my son and we both loved it.  I came home and bought a manual pasta roller and we still use the recipe and make the noodles and sauce when he is home from college.

[TxTeach79]

Just now, xkritter said:

I did the pasta class on Mardi Gras with my son and we both loved it.  I came home and bought a manual pasta roller and we still use the recipe and make the noodles and sauce when he is home from college.

 

Awesome! Love to hear that. Looking forward to it!

[TxTeach79]

[BohJang]

4 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Same B, same on the Teppanyaki. 

I've never done Teppanyaki.  Hoping to try it in January.

[MeganGC1983]

2 minutes ago, BohJang said:

I've never done Teppanyaki.  Hoping to try it in January.

Sooo good! 

[TxTeach79]

41 minutes ago, BohJang said:

I've never done Teppanyaki.  Hoping to try it in January.

it’s really great. And the Excel class ships have way more tables available than Vista class, plus you can always do it for lunch if you’d rather (but that would put me out for the whole afternoon into the evening). Helps if you have a fun table and chef. Or, like on the Horizon, when we had a picky couple at our table and they basically used us as their personal dumpster for all the “fancy” stuff they didn’t like (almost everything). They may not have smiled once the whole meal, but I sure did. #doubledinner