Post Review - Carnival Radiance Feb 2 -5. A Carnival do-over.

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Despite my intentions, I still didn't manage to sleep in. I did get a picture of the Queen Mary while it was all lit up so there's that. 

 

I did manage to sneak a few more winks after taking that pic tho. 

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Then it was time to vacate and let the crew do their thing to get ready for the next set of passengers. I had learned from breakfast the day before that I could reserve a table from the app, so I set that as we were just about done gathering our things. We headed to the elevators where we found a crowd full of people waiting to take the elevators all with luggage in tow. Oy okay it's just gonna be a day to pack some patience. We made our way to the aft elevators guessing correctly that these would be less crowded and finally made it to the Sunset. I pulled out my phone and saw the notification that our table was ready. Yeah! Oh but wait, where did it go? It disappeared from my screen. Did it time out? The host is telling everyone they have to get back on the elevators and head to 5 to get to midship, then go back down to 3. I guess we were the only ones wanting breakfast over here. But as it turns out even though it says it's open til 8:30 at some point they stop seating because at 8:05 I couldn't request another table. What?! So we headed back up to Lido. We spotted people leaving a table almost right away. Phew. It was a two top, which works out just fine, and near the food and drink station. In case you were wondering no I didn't get a burrito. At that point I was just happy to have found a place to sit and not really all that hungry. 

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At about 8:30 we were ready to head out and we'd just heard the announcement that all self-assist were clear to debark. The elevator waiting area by midship was packed. I looked at the #of people and their luggage ahead of us and judged at least 3 maybe 4 elevator calls before we got our turn. Nah. At least the forward elevators have 10 in the bank. Mid is only 4. So L and I made a mad dash to the other side of Lido through the pouring rain just because I'm not a patient person. Like at all. From there it was relatively easy and quick to get off the ship. Once on the ground floor they separated us into two lines. Those with a passport, etc and those traveling with just their birth certificate. This made me happy. It really irks me when I have to wait in a long line for something and then when I finally get to the front what I need takes all of 10 seconds. I know it's rude to line cut but there are times when I really wish I could just be like, "hi yeah this'll just be...oh look see I'm through already." But having the separated lines makes so much sense. Sure enough we never stopped walking getting through and out of the port. One family traveled with their toddler, and although they had passports their toddler did not and were told to go to the other line. Ooh too bad but yay no delays in my line. 

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Before heading home we did make two stops. One, Portos. It's kinda well known and tends to be ridiculously busy. 

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The Buena Park location is huge. 

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The second stop was The Hat for pastrami. DS loves pastrami. This place reminds me of my dad. He would always stop here if he drove up north. Then it was truly over. We drove up in the rain, drove back in even more rain, but somehow managed to squeeze in some beautiful sunny weather in between. It was an amazing trip. The only bummer is that I ended up getting sick and I think it took me longer to get over it than the time we spent onboard. Even today I was still clocking 102°. But even with that, it was just so amazing to have a vacation that was 100% vacation. In 10 years, when the kids are grown, this kind of trip will be a matter of habit. For now, I'll look back fondly on this trip. Maybe sometime soon I'll get another chance to do it again. I liked the Radiance though. Besides me getting turned around a few times, the vibe was super upbeat. Maybe it's having sailed out of Cali, but I was never bothered by cigarette smoke. I liked that camp ocean is right by Serenity. I could envision dropping the kids off while the hubs and I share a pitcher of sangria next door. It has slides, mini golf, and a ropes course. The ship didn't feel too big. I like the multi level deck chair layout and I could actually hear the movie as we walked through the area. Yeah I could see spending some family time out there. Maybe we'll sail her again, if she does anything longer than a 4 night route. 

[carohs]

PS my skin on my face is still very soft.