Posted at 2:58 pm by taryngirl, on January 15, 2025
8/7/25
Today we docked in Kona. This is located on the same island as Hilo, just on the opposite coast. This port has a lot of shops and restaurants within walking distance.
We did have to take a tender to the mainland. I had to go pick up tickets early in the morning. From there, we had to wait for our number to be called, and then we could head to the tender.
I did some searching before the cruise. We wanted a beach day, but didn’t want to have to travel far in case my mom needed to go back to the ship. I found a cabana right at the end of the dock at Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. It was $200.00 for a cabana from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. I could pick exactly which cabana I wanted and I booked directly on their website.
We were off the ship and at the hotel by 9:00 a.m.
This was the cabana I chose:
Our attendant made up the area and brought us some bottled water and chips.
They did have chairs for hotel guests. We did sit in two of them, and our attendant said it was fine as long as our towels from the ship were not out. It never was full. The beach however, WAS full. You could rent individual chairs and umbrellas from a stand on the beach.
Also, if you didn’t want to rent any chairs, you could just come and lay on the beach. The beach wasn’t just for hotel guests. It was partly cloudy, so not the greatest beach weather!
As the day went on, this beach filled in entirely with chairs!
This is looking from the beach back towards the hotel.
The view from the cabana towards the beach:
This is the stand where you could rent umbrellas and chairs. This sign is for hotel guest information, but they did rent to anyone.
Overall our beach day was just okay. The weather was eh. It did sprinkle multiple times. We felt like we paid too much for the cabana since there were chairs for rent that we could put right on the beach. The beach area itself was super small and crowded. If we had to do it again, we would definitely go to a different beach! On a previous trip we went to Hapuna Beach and it was beautiful and fun.
We went back to the ship in the late afternoon and just relaxed some more. For dinner, my mom and I were going to eat at Moderno, a specialty dining Brazlilian steakhouse! I did make a reservation prior to getting on the ship.
Upon being seated, we met our waiter. He explained the process…we were given a little table marker where one side was green and one side was red. If the green side was up, that meant we still wanted more food.
We started at the amazing 43 item salad bar! This was SO GOOD. There were so many different vegetable options!
The meats were accompanied by Traditional Brazilian Sides…white rice, black beans, sauteed mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, fried yucca and Brazilian cheese bread.
The meats that would be coming around (sliced off of skewers!) were beef tenderloin, flank steak, top sirloin, parmesan crusted chicken drumettes, bacon-wrapped chicken breast, lamb top sirloin, pork loin, Brazilian pork sausage, pork belly.
I knew I wanted to focus on beef! I love any kind of steak, especially when I am not the one cooking it.
Here is where my picture taking went down hill! They were coming around so fast with every different kind of meat. Everything was DELICIOUS!
THIS! This was grilled pineapple but it had a sugar like coating. It was AMAZING!
By the time dessert came, I was so full!
Overall, this meal was excellent. I wish we could have eaten here every night, because I would have! Such a huge step up quality wise from the main dining rooms.
Posted at 9:45 am by taryngirl, on December 31, 2024
8/6/24
Today we docked in Hilo on the Big Island. This is where the volcano is located, and many were doing that excursion. We instead opted for a Hoppa On Hoppa Off City Tour due to my mom’s limited mobility. Also, my kids and I have been to the volcano before.
Here were the ship’s activities for the day:
Breakfast in the Main Dining Room:
Our tour departed at 9:30 a.m., so we were up early for breakfast. We got to the main dining room around 7:20 a.m.
Basket of Pastries:
I LOVED the raspberry danishes!
Mushroom, Spinach, Onion Omelet with a Side of Sausage and Breakfast Potatoes
This was mine and it was very good!
Ham and Cheese Omelet:
This was also good!
Traditional Buttermilk Pancakes with a Side of Bacon:
My daughter liked these.
Sides of Toast:
We finished eating around 8:00 a.m. and went back to the room to get ready to debark the ship.
We booked our excursion outside of the ship tours directly on the THIS WEBSITE. (Keikana Tours, Hilo) The tour was good for all ages and was 2.5 hours escorted. The cost per adult was $42 each. We were to meet 20 minutes before departure time. The tour office was located 100 yards from the ship. They did provide a shuttle if you didn’t want to walk. Our departure time was 9:30 a.m.
We made our way to the tour office and it was busy! They offer a few different tours, and many were doing the volcano tour. We boarded our bus and were on our way. We drove on Banyan Tree Drive which is composed of a canopy of banyan trees with plaques noting which celebrity planted the tree. Just a few were Amelia Earhart and F.D.R. This route led us directly to Reed’s Bay Beach. We stopped here and were able to get out and walk around and take photos.
It was the most beautiful day weatherwise!
There were several people out boating and paddleboarding.
One of the banyan trees:
Here you can see our cruise ship in the distance.
Our next stop was Liliuokalani Gardens, the largest, authentic Edo-style ornamental garden outside of Japan. Queen Liliuokalani, donated the original five acres of land to create a public park in 1907. This beautifully landscaped park features arching bridges over fishponds, rock gardens, pagodas, Japanese stone lanterns and a teahouse.
We were given about 30 minutes to walk around on our own and then meet back at the bus.
This was a really nice stop! The grounds were gorgeous, and I really think my mom enjoyed it.
Our next stop was Big Island Candies Candy Factory. They were very welcoming! Right inside the front door we could taste the sample of the day. In this case it was, Macadamia Nut Shortbread Chocolate Chip Cookies (THAT WERE SO GOOD), and Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Crunch (THAT WAS ALSO SO GOOD).
This was an actual functioning candy factory and we could see inside the production room!
There was also a little snack bar with extremely reasonable prices. One daughter got a smoothie (really good), and the other got a hot dog.
I ended up buying both of the free samples and some gifts for family. This was a great stop!
Our next stop was Rainbow Falls.
This was a nice, short stop.
We also stopped at the King Kamehameha Statue, but I don’t have any pictures!
Our final stop was the Hilo Farmers Market. The bus stopped here, and if wanted to get off, we could take any bus back to the tour center when we were finished. They have a “blue line shuttle” that would take us from the tour center to the Blacksand Beach.
There were so many vendors here with both fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, and souvenirs.
We shopped for a little bit and then caught a bus back to the tour center. From there we boarded a different bus to take us to the a black sand beach, Richardson Ocean Park.
Fun story…We had been to Hawaii about 8 years ago. We stayed on the Big Island in Hilo in a VRBO. Every day, we would walk across the street to this very same beach! At the time, we didn’t know how good it really was. There were tons of turtlesand people snorkeling.
Here’s the house we stayed in on our last trip!
We did a little photo shoot for the girls here. It was just breathtaking! We were slightly sad we didn’t wear our swimsuits!
We caught the shuttle back to the ship shortly after this. I have no other photos for this day! I think we ate at the buffet because we had given up hope on the main dining room. I know for sure we did our nightly sudoku and listened to some live music.
Overall, the day was great! We saw many sites in Hilo. It was beautiful!
Posted at 11:34 am by taryngirl, on December 6, 2024
8/5/24
Today was our second day in Maui. We didn’t have any tours planned, but my youngest daughter was wanting to visit a cat cafe and she found one here!
The Freestyle Daily for the day:
We got up and ate some breakfast, then got ready to walk to the Cat Cafe. I had looked how far the walk was. It seemed to be 20ish minutes, and it wasn’t super hot yet, so we decided to walk instead of Uber.
This port is an actual shipping port, so there are containers everywhere. We did have to meander a while to get out to the actual street. Lots of people were doing it though! If you need a taxi, they do pick you up right near where you get off the ship.
I found this super interesting. There were several of these amongst the shipping containers in the yard. I was curious why they were sitting here instead of Lahaina where people could actually live in them!
The walk ended up being much further than we anticipated. The location was Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Kahului, which is a mall.
My daughter is obsessed with cats. Sadly though she has had allergies since she was a toddler. We decided to give this a whirl with her meds and her inhaler in tow. I made a reservation online for the first time slot.
This cafe was SO CUTE! We checked in once they opened. We had to wear socks (we brought them along), and they had a variety of drinks we could choose from. (The “cafe” part.) There were double doors just to make sure the cats couldn’t escape. Once inside, we could go anywhere we wanted. There were different seats and tons of cat toys and beds. Each cat had a name tag.
We had a great time and my girls were happy.
All of these cats from the cafe have been adopted!
We walked around the mall a little bit when we were finished, and then we called an Uber.
We headed back to the ship and went straight to the pool! The weather was perfect.
We stayed at the pool all day until it was time to get ready for dinner.
The only food I got a picture of was dessert! A Brownie Smore:
I was so honored to be able to attend my agency’s Agent of the Year trip this year, which happened to be a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. I joined 9 other fabulous agents from my agency, and we had a blast!
I flew Frontier Airlines into Fort Lauderdale on February 3rd, and got a hotel in Aventura area. We found flights for $105.00 round trip plus $100 for checked luggage. So $200ish for a roundtrip flight was not bad at all! Flying into Miami airport was much more expensive! And the drive to Miami isn’t that bad. We lyfted/ubered everywhere. The hotel was a Residence Inn and it was very nice. It was in a great area and was very clean.
Our original boarding time was 10:30 a.m., but prior to the cruise, we were notified that our time would be pushed back one hour due to a Coast Guard inspection. We took a Lyft from our hotel to the port, which was about a 40 minute drive time with traffic. We were at the port by 10:55 a.m.
Since we were staying at different hotels, we decided to just all gather together once we were on the ship.
There were multiple ships departing today, so there was a lot of traffic right at the port. There she is! I have only previously cruised on much smaller ships through Royal Caribbean.
Our Lyft driver dropped us at the port, porters immediately grabbed our luggage (Be sure to tip them! They are not cruise line employees!), and we were on our way to the line to board.
Because we were staying in a 2 bedroom Grand Suite, we had special embarking procedures. There was a separate line for check-in where I had no wait at all.
I did still go through security screening but there was no line! (This is the main area screening as I was passing through.)
Main check-in area:
My check-in area was actually in a lounge! There were tons of seats, refreshments, and a few staff members with ipads to check us in.
I was on the ship within 15 minutes!
Every other cruise I have ever been on, I’ve entered into a big atrium. Not on this ship! It put us on deck 5 I believe, on the track that runs around the outside. This was kind of awkward to me. I found my way inside and was greeted with a mall-like setting. Seriously…it was a mall inside! This was the Promenade, filled with shops, eateries, bars, and more!
We would end up spending a lot of time here:
If you didn’t prepurchase a beverage package, you can do so onboard. I recommend purchasing in advance though because it is usually less expensive. There are specials throughout the year, and if you ever see the price go down, you can cancel and rebook.
We would also spend many late evenings here!
Another complimentary eatery on the Promenade deck:
Here were some of the offerings for lunch upon boarding:
So I forgot to mention that when we woke up in the morning, we were issued a tornado watch, and severe flooding rains… We lucked out and made it onto the ship before it even started raining. However once we got onto the ship:
The plan was to meet at the Schooner Bar, but that changed to the Suite Lounge on Deck 17. The Suite Lounge had snacks, beverages, a bar, concierge staff members, and lots of seats.
After we all met up, we had lunch in Coastal Kitchen. A restaurant only for suite level guests. This was a nice change from the buffet that I normally eat upon boarding a ship.
Today’s lunch menu:
I present to you, the best rolls ever. They call them “soft rolls,” and they are amazing!
My appetizer was from the kid’s menu….Vegetable Crudites with ranch dressing.
These were good!
My entree:
Spaghetti All’Arrabbiata–al dente pasta tossed with a spicy garlic-tomato sauce and parmesan cheese
This was yummy, but spicy! It definitely had a little kick!
My dessert:
Dark Chocolate Cookie served warm with vanilla ice cream
This was the best thing I ate the entire week! It was SO GOOD I wish I ordered three.
After lunch, it was time to head to our stateroom! I was so excited, because I mostly sail in inside cabins. One time I had a balcony, but this was a 2 bedroom SUITE!
Here’s a full tour:
This suite had a large sitting area, with a couch that folded down flat into a bed. We also ordered a rollaway cot that we put up against those windows, and just moved the chairs.
One of our balcony doors:
This tv and storage are to the left in my photo above. There was seriously so much storage in this cabin!
This was the room I stayed in. You can see the two beds that fold down from above. This room got super dark which I love!
Here you can see with the bed pulled down:
The desk area and some storage in my room:
One of the bathrooms:
I spent a lot of time on this balcony throughout the cruise! Working, napping, watching…it was so spacious!
The view of the port from our cabin:
After checking out the room, we decided to head to the promenade and check out Globe and Atlas Pub. (You can find signs like this at all of the elevators.)
(Beverage Package? These are included!)
We then did some more exploring including the casino and the theater.
Believe it or not, it was soon time for dinner! I was eating in Coastal Kitchen (reserved for suite guests only). I forgot to take a photo of the menu!
Caesar Salad:
This was absolutely delicious!
Maybe the Burrata:
This was not mine, but I snagged a pic!
This was definitely filet of some sort, and it was SO GOOD!
Dessert menu:
Apple Pie ala Mode
This was mine and it was okay. Not bad and not outstanding.
Warm Honey Pear:
Not mine, but super interesting to try!
After dinner, we strolled through the promenade on the way to KARAOKE! It was packed with people enjoying the live music.
Right across from Karaoke is the pizza place! So convenient for some snacks.
Posted at 2:15 pm by taryngirl, on February 28, 2024
10/22/23
Again today, there was not a whole lot on the agenda besides laying around enjoying the ship. The one thing we did want to do was check out the Chocolate Extravaganza, located in the Lido Marketplace, from 12:00-2:30 p.m. I had heard rumblings about this but wasn’t really sure what to expect! I was pleasantly surprised!
I wanted to get pictures before it was mobbed with people, so I walked back a little bit before the opening time. They were still setting everything up.
There was a chocolate fountain with both white and milk chocolate, and tons of things to dip!
Then came THE CAKES! So many gorgeous, delicious cakes!
If you like cake, this was the place to be. If you like chocolate anything, this was the place to be. This served as my lunch this day! The cakes were different flavors, all with some element of chocolate in them.
They also had hand dipped ice cream.
This was so fun, and so good! I don’t regret any of my life choices during this extravaganza! If you are on the Venezia, do not miss this!
Posted at 10:13 am by taryngirl, on January 11, 2024
10/19/23
Half Moon Cay is a private island exclusively for Carnival and Princess Cruise Line guests. I was excited for a true beach day!
There is no dock at Halfmoon Cay, so we had to take a tender boat in order to get to the island. To get a boarding time for the tender (so there isn’t a stampede of people), they distributed the tickets for the tender beginning at 7:30 a.m. on deck 5 in the Gondola Lounge. It was first come first served. We got there at 7:30 a.m. and were group #16 to board. So YES! People do go early and line up! She estimated our call time to board the tender to be 9:30 a.m. You have to listen for them to call your group number on the PA system. This does not broadcast into staterooms though, so you need to be in a common area outside of your room to hear it. We figured we had two hours, so we went to breakfast at the Grand Canal Restaurant.
I ordered the Seasonal Melon, which was just your basic melon but still good! I consider any fruit good when I don’t have to cut it!
And the Vanilla French Toast with Bacon.
This was delicious!!
We finished breakfast and decided to go back to our stateroom and fully charge our phones, and get cold water to bring ashore with us. To our surprise, they called our boarding number just before 8:45 a.m. and not 9:30 a.m. We made our way to Deck 0. There were several crew members directing us where to go along the way. They were loading 2 tenders, one midship and one forward. Each tender seemed to hold a few hundred people. We were packed in!
You can see on this map where the tender pier is located at the bottom.
We were on the island at 9:00 a.m. We did load towards the end of filling this particular tender though so didn’t have to wait very long until we left. Once we were off the tender, we decided to walk towards the middle of the beach, closer to where lunch would be served. We found a spot right in front of the pirate ship bar.
The water was the clearest I have ever seen! Look at the fish!
To our right:
To our left:
There were 3 rows of chairs, and they were tightly packed in together. Most of the chairs were already taken up to this point on the beach. We decided to go in the third row, and we were thankful for this later! The beach area from the chairs to the water was actually very small! When the tide started coming in, the first row of chairs were kind of wiped out and stuck. They couldn’t pull their chairs back at all because there was another row directly behind them! After awhile, they started bringing out more chairs and just jamming them into any open space they could find. This is possibly my only complaint about the entire cruise! It was CROWDED on the beach. The beach was very small from the sand to the water line. And people gave no cares at all if they were crowding others as long as they had their own spot.
This view though!
I went to check out the water, and IT WAS THE CLEAREST WATER I HAD EVER SEEN AT A BEACH! I could see my feet no matter how far out I went. The water was very calm and there weren’t really any waves at all. It was slightly overcast when we arrived, and it did sprinkle the slightest bit. This in turn produced a rainbow!
You could rent these houses.
I also want to point out that there really isn’t any natural shade. While the chairs were free, if you wanted an umbrella, you had to rent it. There were several options for renting clam shells and cabanas as well.
More crowd pics! This was at 10:30 a.m.
The water was amazing, and we spent a lot of time in versus sitting out on the crowded beach. They served lunch from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. There was a larger pavilion with several lines serving food. There were also several pavilions with picnic tables to sit and eat.
(One note here, everyone was lining up in one line. However, there are several lines right in the middle as well.)
I could not get pictures of the actual hot food as it was a mad house! The lines were crazy and I felt pressured to keep moving!
This was by far my least favorite meal the entire trip. It just wasn’t good at all. The first plate was my friend’s.
My plate:
The chips and salsa were the best part…
Here you can see some of the seating areas:
Drink stations:
All aboard time was 3:30 p.m. with the last tender going back at 3:15 p.m. We headed back around 2:00 p.m.
My favorite photo taken while walking back to the tender!
There are some little shops right at the tender area.
Once back onboard, I went up to the buffet to grab a snack since I didn’t really eat much for lunch on the island.
(Random I know. Ha!)
Don’t even ask what cake this is, I have no clue. But it was so moist and delicious!
We just chilled for awhile, napped and then showered for dinner. This was our towel animal for the day:
Tonight’s menu:
For my appetizer I had Wild Rice, Gruyere and Country Chicken Soup.
This was AMAZING!
Chrissy had the Baked Onion Soup.
Insalata Caprese:
For my main, I had the Lasagne Alla Bolognese.
This was good! Very rich.
Involtini Di Melanzane (eggplant rolled up and baked with ricotta and spinach, marinara sauce):
Torta Sbriciolata Alle Mele E Mandorle (apple crumble pie, orange peel confit, brown butter, almonds):
This was very good!
Tonight’s theme was Halloween. Some people wore costumes, some did not. After dinner, we checked out the Piazza San Marco. There was live music going on. They were really good!
At 9:30 p.m., we went to the Teatro Rosso to watch Guess that Groove. This was fun! After that it was time for Patch’s Halloween Deck Party at 10:30 p.m.
The Halloween party was fun! There was a costume contest for different age groups from baby all the way up to adults. They taught the Thriller dance, and the DJ played some tunes.
All in all it was a fun day!
SUGGESTIONS FOR HALF MOON CAY:
Get the earliest tender transfer time that you can.
Once on the island, keep walking until at least the big pirate ship for chairs.
Do not get a chair in the front row. The tide came in and was wiping those people out and they had nowhere to go! They couldn’t pull their chairs back because there was a row directly behind them.
Don’t count on the food being very good.Eat a good breakfast onboard before getting on the tender.
Posted at 11:05 am by taryngirl, on November 29, 2023
10/18/23
Nassau
We had no real plan today, except to get off of the ship and check out the new port area. We grabbed breakfast at 9:30 a.m. at the buffet, and were off the ship by 9:50 a.m.
There were four ships in port total…that’s a lot of passengers in one port! We were parked next to the Disney Wish and the Carnival Elation. The was also a Royal Caribbean ship in port.
Nassau is one of the most popular cruise destinations in the world, attracting more than 3.7 million passengers each year. Nassau Cruise Port has recently undergone over $300 million in upgrades and renovations. This includes repair and expansion of Prince George Wharf and the addition of a sixth berth that gives the port the capacity to accommodate three Oasis Class vessels simultaneously. There is also a new terminal building, a Junkanoo museum, an amphitheatre, taxi dispatch center, new food and beverage options, and unique local stores. The straw market as you once knew it is no longer!
THE NEW PORT IS AMAZING! Everything is spacious, clean, and welcoming without the craziness. There is a separate taxi and tour area, so you don’t feel like you are being hounded by multiple people. It’s organized. The straw market is now individual tiny houses in an open area. There is a huge hair braiding section right in the middle. There are also bathrooms. Besides the smaller straw market stores, there are bigger, more upscale stores as well.
After walking through the port area, we decided to venture out of the gates to a store on the corner. It was complete chaos with taxi drivers and tour operators trying to gain our business. They actually had two cops??? out directing traffic so we could cross the street.
This is on the way out of the gates of the port area:
We just went into one store across the street and then headed back to the ship. On the way back, Chrissy decided to get her hair braided.
There were so many hair braiding stations!
We were back on the ship before 11:00 a.m. This was our towel animal today!
After going back to the room and changing, I went up to deck 10 to find a chair by the pool. I wanted to get some sun, relax, and then enjoy sail away. I ate lunch at the buffet with these beautiful sights!
I literally sat right here on this chair and ate my lunch…
These were the two different menus offered at the buffet during lunch:
Here are some videos of one of the buffet lines:
And then here is a video of the other buffet line offerings:
These were the many fabulous desserts they had today at lunch:
It was hard to pick just one! This is for sure one area where Carnival excels!
We started sailing away close to 4:30 p.m. We were the first of the four ships to leave.
Here you can see Atlantis in the distance.
I went back to the room to nap and shower before dinner.
Tonight’s menu:
I had the Buffalo Cauliflower (creamy truffle sauce). It was DELICIOUS!
Polpette (meatballs, ricotta, tomato basil):
This meatball was AMAZING and I wish I had more!
I opted again for the Broiled Striploin Steak.
But I was realllllly hungry for a baked potato as well, and asked for one of those too!
For dessert I had the reliable old Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake.
After dinner, we went to the show in the theater. It was called Broadway. It was a very good, entertaining show!
After the broadway show, we went up to the Lido deck for the 80s Rock N Glow Party. It was SO MUCH FUN! The crowd on this ship was the best!
Overall, today was amazing! The port area was neat, the time on the ship was relaxing, and the show and party were SO GOOD!
Posted at 3:29 pm by taryngirl, on November 14, 2023
10/17/23
Day 4
Miami
Fun Times for Today:
Today was our Miami day! We woke up on the early side so we could grab breakfast before getting off of the ship. We really wanted to try the burrito place on the Lido Deck!
I didn’t get a photo of the menu, but you could pick from different meats, potatoes, eggs, etc.
Mine had ham, eggs, cheese, and hash browns.
It was good but not outstanding. I like that this option was available in addition to the crazy busy buffet.
Our approximate ashore time was 8:15 a.m. We had scheduled the Hop On/Hop Off Big Bus excursion through Carnival, and that meet time was 9:00 a.m. just outside the terminal. I had looked into booking this excursion through Viator, but the convenience of having the bus picking us up directly at the terminal and dropping us there after was a much better value! I didn’t want to have to mess with Ubers. This is how close the buses were to the terminal.
We debarked and headed to the bus right after breakfast. (Our bus was full before 9:00 a.m. so we left right when it was full!). There were buses lined up, so there must have been many people who booked this tour. They took our tickets and we boarded. Inside the bus there were headphones we could take. You can plug them into your seat and hear some commentary while driving the route.
We got seats on the first bus, up top. It was a gorgeous day. Chilly for Floridians, but perfect for me! 60 some degrees. It was perfect until we started driving. Then it was FREEZING and windy! I brought my light jacket and was able to put that on but I was still chilly.
Before we pulled away, the tour operator came up top and gave us instructions. He explained the route, the app, the times to be back at the bus stop to return to the ship, etc. We decided there were three stops where we wanted to get off.
This is what the app looks like. You can see live where buses are and where the stops are. It also gives you a wait time.
Our first stop was going to be South Beach, and that was for sure one stop that we wanted to explore. The sights along the way were very cool!
The architecture was amazing!
Where Miami Heat plays:
SO MANY YACHTS!
IT WAS WINDY!
We drove past our ship!
This is Star Island. Star Island is a neighborhood in Miami, located on Biscayne Bay. It has been touted as the most expensive neighborhood in the US. Many of the homes on this island are/were owned by high profile celebrities including Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, Shaq, and Rosie O’Donnell.
This is the entrance.
I couldn’t help but notice this unique house. I had to google when I got home to see what it was all about! It actually is a green-energy, luxury houseboat!
We made it to the first stop at 9:20ish. You did not have to get off if you didn’t want to. Most people did not. I’m assuming because they had no idea what was going on, and were confused by what the guide instructed us earlier. He made it sound like we should stay on for the entire loop and then go back around and get off. We didn’t have time for that!
Art Deco district in Miami Beach:
There was absolutely no one on Ocean Drive, unless they were sitting and eating breakfast. No cars! And no mobs of people either on the beach or walking.
There were so many cute, boutique hotels on Ocean Drive!
I would really love to see this at night sometime!
Between Ocean Drive and the actual beach, there were a bunch of volleyball courts, an actual fitness area with machines and weights, and a large walking path.
I really wanted to just set foot on the actual beach. It was empty! It was only about 9:45 a.m. at this point, and still slightly chilly according to Florida standards. We didn’t walk to the water.
We went back out to Ocean Drive, because the only other thing I wanted to see here was the Gianni Versace house, which is now a hotel. It actually seemed like they were renovating it. There were workers all over the place! I am a true crime addict, and had seen the documentary about his murder. It happened right on the steps at his front door. Such a senseless tragedy.
We walked back to the bus stop to reboard the hop on/hop off bus, and get to our next stop. Some more views along the way:
The architecture is just AMAZING!
We drove through the Fashion District.
Our next stop was Wynwood! The art throughout this city is just unbelievable. Wynwood is known for its murals and art, restaurants, nightclubs, breweries and more! We spent some time walking up and down the streets here.
This is just SOME of what we saw!
Each mural was totally different. Most of them had information about the artist somewhere on the wall.
We went back to the bus stop, and waited about 15 minutes for the bus to come. It was getting noticeably more crowded at this point. There was a line for the bus and the bus had many people on it already when it pulled up.
Our next stop was Little Havana. I had stopped here before and loved this little section of the town. The bus stop here was right in front of a bakery. I hopped in immediately to check it out. LOVEEEEEE! I knew this is where I wanted to eat!
This reminded me so much of France in Epcot!
I did a quick browse, and we headed on down the street to check out everything else.
There were several tour groups from other cruise ships with an actual tour guide. The area around the bus was consistently crowded with those arriving and those trying to get back on. There were several shops and restaurants on this little strip.
I love this little park where they still come to play dominos!
This sign is not wrong…
My friend Chrissy reallllly wanted a Cuban and a mojito! So this was her lunch:
I walked back to the bakery, and this was my AMAZING lunch:
Crossaint with ham and cheese, and whatever that fabulous dessert was! I actually couldn’t decided on a dessert. There were too many that looked good!
Chrissy also got this dessert:
It was all so delicious!
After eating, we got in line to get on the next bus. We were done with our stops and heading back to the ship. To do so though, we had to take a bus to Bayside Marketplace and then get on another bus there to bring us back to the ship.
Bayside Marketplace has several restaurants and many shops! It’s not a bad place to explore if you just want to hop off the ship and have nothing planned. You would just have to take an Uber there.
We made it back to the ship around 2:30 p.m. This was waiting for us in our room!
I took a nap and showered for dinner.
Tonight’s menu:
We started with this warm and perfect bread.
Italian Wedding Soup (herbed beef and pork meatballs, vegetables, parmesan, orzo).
I LOVED THIS! It had such great flavor. I was actually so impressed with their soups this whole week!
Caesar Salad:
I was not feeling any of the menu items how they were pictured on the menu. But the Bucatini Alla Crema Di Aglio (pasta, garlic cream, zucchini, asparagus, zesty Provencal crumbs) sounded amazing. It was just missing chicken! So I asked if that could be added and our waiter said yes, no problem.
This was SO GOOD! It may have been my favorite thing from the entire week!
Posted at 2:03 pm by taryngirl, on October 30, 2023
10/16/23
Day 3
After doing our own little self-led ship tour on Deck 5, we went back to the room to rest for a little bit before it was time to go to Tea Time in the Canal Grande Restaurant. The Tea goes from 3:00-4:00 p.m. I’m not sure if it was on every sea day or not. You have to check the Fun Times to see! It is complimentary and included with your cruise.
We went right at 3:00 p.m. and there was a long line of people already. They led us all to one area in the back of the restaurant and we could sit wherever we wanted. These were the place settings:
They immediately started coming around with tea sized treats! I don’t eat any seafood, but this was the first plate to come by our table:
Macarons:
These were coffee flavored I think?? It was good, but I’m not a coffee fan.
Cucumber sandwiches:
These were my favorite! I did have to wave someone over so I could get one more.
Scones:
Cream for the scones!
These were delicious and the cream was heavenly!
This was some kind of vanilla cake with lemon frosting.
It was actually delicious and my second favorite thing that I had. It was super moist and I loved the filling.
At this point, we were still waiting for our tea! We flagged someone down, and after 15 minutes we were served.
This was some kind of peach crisp:
I didn’t taste it, but Chrissy didn’t love it. It was very dry.
They also served fresh strawberries.
There really was no rhyme or reason to the order that they brought things out. Each waiter was just given a plate to walk around to the tables. A few waiters were in charge of the tea to distribute. In my opinion, they should have done this first to make sure everyone got some! We waited forever and actually had to flag someone down to get the tea. It was a little disorganized, but the crew was very polite and accommodating. There was more served than what is pictured here, but not everything made it over to our table. I think if they would have had certain waiters assigned to certain areas, it would have been better, and everyone would have been taken care of. It was a nice treat for the day though and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
We were still hungry though so we went to get some pizza on Deck 10! These are the choices, and you can get as many slices as you would like. This is complimentary and included in your cruise.
My favorite ended up being the Quattro Formaggi. It was delicious! This pizza location is open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 a.m., so if you need a super late night snack, this is the place to go!
After our snack, we went back to the room to nap and shower before dinner. It was about the time I was getting into the shower, when I was feeling SO FULL. We had eaten so much between tea and the pizza. I was dreading having to go to dinner!
Tonight’s main dining room dinner menu:
Lentil, Pumpkin and Chorizo Soup:
Chrissy ordered that. I didn’t order any appetizer tonight. I still was not super hungry at all.
Casarecce (short twisted pasta tossed in beef Bolognese, white wine, olive oil and parmesan bread crumbs)
Roasted Leg of Lamb (Dijon potatoes, skillet brussel sprouts, au jus)
Our table partner, Dana, ordered this. She liked it! We ended up loving our tablemate who was randomly assigned with us! We hung out after dinner sometimes and had a blast.
Grilled Chicken Breast (garlic & herbs, sauteed vegetables, buttered potatoes)
This was mine and I loved it! It might not look like much, but the flavor was wonderful and it was the perfect serving size.
Zuppa Inglese (cocoa trifle, orange custard). Funny story about this! None of us thought this sounded particularly good at all. The orange custard sounded gross, etc. etc. We told our waiter this and he said he would bring one to us anyway.
We ended up liking it!
Cheesecake (strawberry sauce)
Chrissy ordered this and liked it.
Fresh Tropical Fruit
I ordered the good old fruit! Fresh and good as always.
On this particular night, the Phillies were playing. Chrissy lives in Philly and wanted to catch some of the game. So she headed to the Heroes bar where it was playing. There were a lot of Philly fans on board! This is the hallway just outside of the bar.
The one activity we were looking forward to was Silent Nights, a silent disco! We have so much fun with these!
At a silent disco, everyone is given a pair of headphones. There are 3 music channels you can switch between. So what you are listening to, your friends may not be hearing. Everyone just sings and dances to their own song!
The party went from 9:30 p.m. until midnight! In the past, other silent discos I have gone to have been about an hour. This was nonstop for 2 and a half hours and it was a blast!
Carnival also offers Late Night Snacks on the buffet every night. I haven’t really seen this on any other ship either! Here’s the menu:
After our snack, we went to the Casino for a little it.
Posted at 10:35 am by taryngirl, on October 27, 2023
10/16/23
Day 3
Fun Times for the day:
We had a super late start this day! We decided to go to Sea Day Brunch again since it was an in between time. As a reminder, this was in the Canal Grande Restaurant. I also realllly wanted to try Tea Time at 3:00 p.m.
This time we tried the Skillet-Cake (whipped ricotta, guava preserve, marshmallow, maple butter). This was like a giant, thick pancake! It was good, but I really only ate a few bites because I was so full after eating my omelet.
My veggie omelet, with bacon and brunch potatoes. So good!
When we came out of brunch, we decided to check out Deck 5. I had heard great things about this deck and we hadn’t really had a chance to see it yet.
The first thing we saw was this beautiful bar! This is where they had karaoke every night. It’s also located near the Terraza Suites.
From there we just strolled down Deck 5 on the inside.
On the left here is Pixels Gallery, where you could access all of the photos you had taken around the ship.
This is the Gondola Lounge. Lotsssss of activities happened here throughout the week. Live music, games, trivia, etc.
From there, we went outside because I had heard about some great seating areas on the deck.
There’s also a quick service grill outside on this deck. Sadly I didn’t even get a chance to try it! It’s open on sea days.
We ended up stopping here and I did some work.
Back inside to another bar, Frizzante!
There are also some more upscale shops inside on Deck 5.
Another bar! Amari!
You can also peek down into the Casino from here.
There are a few premium, upcharge restaurants onboard. They are all located right here on Deck 5.
The Piano Bar is also on this deck.
This shopping area reminded me of a shopping mall!
In summary from this part of my day…there is no shortage of seating areas, bars, shopping, or places to eat! This ship is amazing, with so much to do, and the crew is one of the friendliest I have encountered.
I had to break this up into two parts because I have so many pictures and videos!
Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures 