This was an unusual cruise (actually two cruises) in that Stu had no diving scheduled. Carnival seems to be backing away from those excursions, although one did pop up but since that was the only one, Stu didn’t book it. That meant he was on board at most of the ports. I think he got off at one. LOL!
We did have a good time. These two cruises were booked with a free Cheers drink package for us both. They were offered during a time when COVID was waning and Carnival was trying to get bookings. Needless to say, we enjoyed the free drinks although we never came near their daily limit of 15 alcoholic drinks. We tried a couple of new cocktails and both liked one from the main dining room, A Fresh Italian was the name. We also had unlimited fou-fou coffee and soda.
The most memorable part of the cruise was the crew members we met and interacted with. Scenic photos all seem the same, although a couple were good, so I won’t bother sharing. You can see them in our SmugMug album.
Our wait staff trio were Gede, Carlito, and Haryid. We asked for them every night we spent in the main dining room.
We discovered that Haryid was recently married and his wife, Miquela, working in the Sushi Bar. Needless to say, Stu had to try that. I opted for the fish & chips from the Seafood Shack that night. She was as charming as her name!
He said it was delicious. I thought my fish & chips were, too. LOL!
The hostesses and greeters in the main dining room were so sweet! They went out of their way to be sure we were seated with Gede’s table.
We often saw the main dining room crew working on the lido deck during the day (before dinner). They always recognized us and made us feel special.
Two of the baristas we friended were Coco and Irene. No photos but we always enjoyed chatting with them and they always took care of our needs.
We didn’t get a photo of our room steward, George, either. He was always so busy but always friendly and accommodating. Very tall, something we rarely see with the room attendants.
The last was the band in the Red Frog Pub, Alter Idem. Once we heard them, we were there almost every night to enjoy their music. All of them live in Argentina now and all but one were originally from there. I took a lot of videos of them and the dancing. Again, check out the SmugMug album for those. You’ll even see Stu dancing with the most charming lady. I only wish I could be as delightful as she was!
You may notice in several photos, the crew are holding little bags. Because it was close to the holiday, we made up a dozen gift bags with an assortment of candy and little things like mini-Chapsticks, silly holiday pens, emery boards, hand cream, a squishy Christmas item, mini-duck with a Santa hat, and a $2 bill with a thank you note. We managed to give them all away: 5 to the band, 3 to our dining room staff, 2 to our baristas, 1 to our room steward. The last one went to the bartender in the Red Frog Pub that had just received the Employee of the Month award. He had the night off for the ceremony but came in to chat with everyone. He was Stu’s favorite bartender.
All in all, we had no complaints about the cruise. The food was very good, the service excellent, and the crew amazing and hard-working. It’s an older ship and it was showing signs of needing its upcoming dry dock update, but nothing that impacted our trip.
Oh, and Frankie Portera was our cruise director. We enjoyed having him even though we don’t normally participate in the various activities. His announcements were fun without being silly and always on point. Added to our CDs we’d cruise with again (along with Chris Williams, Lee Mason, James Love & Cookie).
When do we cruise again? Heading out on the Glory from New Orleans on January 15th for another back-2-back. Oh, speaking of B2B cruises, we had to book a new cruise to get the 25% future cruise credit promised by Carnival for the cancellation of the Jubilee Transatlantic. Sooooo, we will be doing our first B2B2B on the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral in January 2024!
2 thoughts on “A little about our cruise…”
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Like so many WordPress sites, the LIKE button is inoperative, but I *liked* it anyway! ;->
Still not sure why unless it’s the browser you’re using but glad you “like” it anyway! Sending holiday wishes your way!!