Category: General

For all my cruise friends, no matter which line you like to cruise, I have created a new private group and a public page for finding and sharing you date specific cruise groups.  Please visit either one, as they both get you to the same information. (Links below) I know there are other groups that already do this; however, I personally find them busy and difficult to find what I am looking for because people don’t always name their groups the same way. Here all you have to do is find the cruise line and then click the link for the “Facebook Groups” link to see a list of all groups by date. To add a group, click the “Submit Read More

We spent September 21-25 aboard Virgin Voyages (VV) Scarlet Lady for the 4-night Fire and Sunsets Soirées. This was our third time on the ship and second doing this itinerary. However, this time we went to Key West rather than Nassau. This sailing had about twice the number of passengers as our first two, which put us around 1,300 sailors on the ship. This is a little less than 50% full. tl;dr version If you like cruising, but want to experience things in a whole new way, just get on the boat. Bar service can be a little slow, some of the music is a bit repetitive, take the time to get to know the crew, especially the Happenings Cast, Read More

I am just back from my first solo cruise, which happened to be my first time sailing with MSC. I was aboard the MSC Divina for 7 nights from September 4-11, 2022. I feel like I should disclose that I was given a special travel agent rate for this cruise, but it will in no way impact my review. The ship can hold 3,500 passengers and we sailed with only 1170 on board, so about 33% capacity. Needless to say, it never felt crowded. tl;dr review Of the 4 cruise lines I have now sailed with, Carnival, MSC, Norwegian, and Virgin, MSC comes in a very close third, just behind Carnival, mainly because of Carnival’s Alchemy Bar. Virgin still is Read More

Ship: Carnival FreedomTrip Name & Dates: The Bahamas June 30 – July 4, 2022Ports: Port Canaveral, Nassau, Princess Cays, Port Canaveral This was our fourth cruise since the restart and by far the fullest. In fact, it was very close to sailing at capacity or it was at capacity. We kind of forgot what it was like sailing full, since our previous three cruises were only 25-30% full. As sad as I am to see those days gone, I know it is good for the cruise lines to sail full. We have only been on one other 4-day sailing and it was part of a back-to-back sailing, so it didn’t feel like a 4-day cruise. This went by very quickly Read More

One of the best things about being a local passholder is you don’t mind heading to a park for a short amount of time. So on what was forecasted to be a miserably hot Saturday, the wife and I headed over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It started to sprinkle on our way there and fortunately the cloud cover decided to hang around so it was much cooler than expected even with the mugginess. We went in and caught the Lightyear preview. It did its job, as I really want to see it now. Walked through Toy Story Land and noticed Slinky Dog Dash wasn’t running due to the lightning in the background. Half of the Alien Swirling Saucers was still Read More

Have you ever seen a Cast Member wearing a blue name tag and wondered what that’s about?  Well, they have earned the prestigious Walt Disney Legacy Award. This award recognizes employees who have done an exceptional job executing Disney’s mission to dream, create, and inspire. This award is the highest honor a Cast Member can receive and will hold onto that honor for the duration of their employment at Disney. One thing that adds to the prestige of the award is a Cast Member must be nominated by a fellow Cast Member. The award is extremely selective, with only a few hundred honorees out of a staff of over 200,000. The panel of judges who review and select winners is Read More

Don’t you just hate it when you want to go somewhere, but there is no one to go with? Or maybe you just want to get away from everyone you know for a bit. Many cruise lines are now offering solo rooms (or cabins, or staterooms, or studios, or whatever else you may want to call them) just for those moments. Because these rooms are designed for the solo cruiser, there is no single-supplement, like you would find when booking a traditional cabin for one person. Of course, these rooms will be smaller than standard rooms and depending on the cruise line and ship, the number of these can vary and are rather limited. Most of us know each cruise Read More

These are all the free, Walt Disney World provided ways to move about the property. The best part about these is they don’t just take you to and from your resort to the parks, they take you anywhere on property. Although, it may take a little planning to get from point A to point B depending on where are starting and ending. The Skyliner The newest transportation option with dedicated resort stops at the Riviera Resort, the Caribbean Beach Resort, a shared stop for the Pop Century and Art of Animation Resorts, and two of Walt Disney World’s Theme Parks, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Because the Epcot stop is at the International Gateway entrance, you have easy access to the Read More

I had someone ask me recently how I would compare Carnival to Virgin Voyages, knowing I have sailed both lines. My initial reply was that it wasn’t easy to do because they are so different. tl;dr: Both lines offer great vacations, but different experiences. Yes, at their core they offer the same function and purpose, a “hotel” that takes you to different places and provides food, some drinks, and entertainment along the way for one price. It’s the implementation of how they do these things as well as the extras (free and at a charge) they offer. A lot of people refer to Carnival as the Walmart of cruise lines. While I get that, because they tend to offer cruises Read More

Recap of our first ever Back-to-Back cruise and first time of the Virgin Voyages (VV).Ship: Scarlet LadyTrip Name & Dates:Dominican Days April 1-6, 2022 (Approx. 680 passengers)Fire & Sunset Soirée April 6-10, 2022 (Approx. 630 passengers) Too Long; Didn’t/Won’t Read version:It was different (by design) from every other cruise we have been on in the most wonderful ways. As long as you aren’t ultra conservative with regards to those of alternative lifestyles, and open to new experiences, you should have a great time. If you are looking for the traditional Caribbean cruise, you will be disappointed. With both the 4- or 5-day cruises, you will most likely leave wanting more, as you can’t experience all this ship has to offer. Read More