On a 5-day cruise, there are typically two ports of call. Cozumel is usually one of those two ports. Multiple cruise ships on the same day in this port are common.
Our first 5-day cruise, we stopped in Cozumel from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Our next five days, we stopped from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Cozumel is notorious for pier runners – people who have not kept up with the time to get back on board and are trying to make it back before the ship leaves.
Will the ship leave you? Yes, it will. Once we were on a cruise and met a couple who missed their ship because their phone switched to local time, and they didn’t realize that it was no longer matching the ship time. Our captain was gracious enough to let them board our ship.
All they had was their beachwear, so they had to buy clothes in the shop. Our ship was going back to Tampa. Their ship was going back to Port Canaveral a day earlier than ours was set to arrive in Tampa. Consequence – they had to decide if they wanted to fly home (California) from Tampa and have their belongings shipped to them or rent a car and drive to Port Canaveral, get their belongings, and then fly home. Not an easy choice, and we never knew what they decided. Expensive mistake.
If you want to see some pier runners in action, YouTube has several videos for you.
These are our Cozumel port photos from this trip:
First week –
The portOther ships in portExcursion Catamaran
Second Week –
Moon over Mexico
Travel Trivia:
Mexico
Chocolate and vanilla flavors both originated in Mexico.
Between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts, Mexico has 5,778 miles of shoreline.
Mexicans drink an average of 43 gallons of Coca-Cola annually.
Over 60,000 registered taxi cabs operate in Mexico, making it #1 in the world for the largest national taxi fleet.
There are 42 active volcanoes and thousands of dormant volcanoes scattered throughout Mexico’s landmass.
On Valentine’s Day in 2009, nearly 40,000 Mexicans came together to set a new Guinness World Record for the number of people kissing at the same time.
Corn was first developed and cultivated from a type of Mexican wild grass more than 5,000 years ago.
Tequila is only produced in one place in the world — the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Cozumel, Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico is one of eleven municipalities in the state of Quintana Roo. It is located 37 miles south of Cancun, and 12 miles off the mainland of Mexico.
The Maya are believed to have first settled Cozumel by the early part of the 1st millennium AD
There are many ruins found on the Island of Cozumel. Most were built in the Post-Classic period (100-1500 A.D.).
The first Spanish expedition to visit Cozumel was led by Juan de Grijalva in 1518.
Cozumel means the island of swallows.
Scuba diving is still one of Cozumel’s primary attractions, mainly due to the coral reef on the western shore of Cozumel. These coral reefs are protected from the open ocean by the island’s natural geography.
Cozumel is featured as one of the primary settings and filming locations of the 1984 film, Against All Odds.
Most cruise lines have a loyalty program. The more you sail, the more benefits you receive. Carnival is no different. They have the VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) rewards program. We are now at the Platinum level.
Because these were back-to-back cruises, we were each eligible to receive the benefits on both cruises. We received priority embarkation. If we had gotten off in Grand Cayman, we would have received priority access to the water shuttles (tenders), and we received priority disembarkation. Below are some of the other benefits:
1.5-quart waterA gift (kinds change each month)free laundryThe Chocolate Delight plate
The most fun perk is the party held for Platinum and Diamond cruisers. The ship officers are introduced, you watch a movie about Carnival and cheer for the ships you’ve sailed, and you receive free drinks. Music plays. And the youngest and oldest Diamond cruiser is recognized. Good times.
In addition, since we were B2B cruisers, we received a fruit basket and a bottle of champagne as a thank you.
And, last but not least, Chuck’s play in the casino was acknowledged with a plate of the large Coffee Shop cookies.
If you are going to cruise, you might as well take advantage of any perk that they will extend to you. You earned them for your loyalty.
Full disclosure – on sunny days in the Caribbean, my daytime onboard activity is reclining in a lounger by or near a pool or hot tub reading my Kindle. I did take time out of my lounging one day to win at Putt-Putt.
However, according to the daily activity program, I could have participated in trivia, corn hole, learned the “Thriller” dance, perused the shops, Built a Bear, gotten a massage, sang Karaoke, bid in the art auction, learned how to create a towel animal, or exercised in the gym (which I should have). Those are just the activities I remember seeing in the program. I am sure there were more.
Naturally, sea days have more activities than port days. And the pool and hot tub areas are very crowded on sea days. On one port day, I looked up from my book and realized that I was the only one in all the loungers around the pool and nobody was even in the pool. Never experienced that before. But that is one reason we like staying on the ship on port days.
Kids and adults loved the waterslidePool area – port dayPool area – sea day
On one port day; however, the ship closed one section of the pool, and they had lifeguard training for a while. Chuck offered to play the part of a drowning victim, but the coach politely declined his offer. It was interesting to watch the training.
Once each cruise, the Lido pool area was the stage of the towel animal invasion. It was fun to watch the kids get excited to see the animals all over the place.
During the second cruise, the ship decorated for Christmas and sponsored different holiday activities. The highlight – Children got to visit Santa. We attended the caroling in the atrium and watched it snow but we did not participate in the ugly sweater contest.
Gingerbread housesDecorations beginning
Chuck waving at me from across the Atrium
We enjoyed the music venues. Caribbean music or Christmas music played outside mid-ship. The Magic Motion band played at nights near the Casino. The Latin band played in Leonardo’s lounge. The guitarist played in the Atrium bar area.
We went to the comedy club in the Queens Mary Lounge to watch the 18 and over shows. The first show for the first comedian on the night of embarkation did not go well. He started getting heckled almost immediately which he handled okay. Then a woman, who I have to assume was drunk or just an obnoxious person, came up on stage and grabbed for the microphone to sing Karaoke. She had to be escorted away by the Comedy Club manager who then scolded all of us at the end of the show. Rough.
I didn’t make it to the second week comedy shows with different comedians. Chuck said they were just OK in his opinion.
We saw three main stage shows performed by the Carnival singers and dancers. I thought they were all very well done. In fact, we went back the second week to see the Epic Rock show again. I didn’t take any video because I thought taping was not allowed. Turns out I was wrong. You can tape them as long as you don’t use any flash. Not all cruise lines allow this practice.
Epic Rock80s to the MaxAmor Cubano
I did find some You Tube videos posted of the 2022 Epic Rock show.
We did not attend the Deal or No Deal game show or the Love and Marriage show.
We did have a lot of fun in the casino. For a small casino, it had several fun slot machines and more table games than I would have thought. After 9:00, the casino would be jammed packed, and you would be lucky to find a seat at any game.
Hit the fish to win the bonus $
We tried to go to the Rex nightclub, but we got carded and turned away – Nobody over 30 allowed. (I’m kidding). But it was definitely a young person’s venue.
All in all, we were as entertained as we wanted to be. And if we wanted tranquility, the Serenity pool area was always available for those over 21.
Are you a Coke person or a Pepsi person? If you travel on Carnival, I hope you are a Pepsi person. They do not offer Coke products. But not all is lost. If you want sodas other than Pepsi products or just prefer not to purchase sodas onboard, the current Carnival beverage policy states “Bringing Liquor and Beverages On Board – Embarkation
Guests are prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages that are packaged in glass or plastic bottles.
On embarkation day, a small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, energy drinks, juice, and milk), packaged in cans or cartons, may be brought on board and must be in the guest’s carry-on luggage. A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12-ounces/354-ml each or less, per person.”
On embarkation day, we saw many guests carrying a 12-pack of different sodas and energy drinks. Just remember, Carnival could change this policy at any time so you may want to check its website before you purchase beverages to bring on board.
We purchased the Cheers! Beverage package for both cruises. The package allows you to get unlimited non-alcoholic beverages and up to 15 alcoholic beverages a day as long as the beverages are under $20. Most drinks we saw were under $20 except some high-end whiskeys. We purchased the package online before the cruise and saved some money.
We always started the morning at the Coffee Bar with an order of a large Americano coffee for Chuck and a large vanilla latte for me. They were very good.
I usually got there about 8:00 and the line would be long. Typically they had two or three people working behind the counter. If everyone ordered off the menu with just simple changes like soy milk instead of whole, the line moved quickly.
But, when people started ordering complicated creations and used abbreviations (ex. Frap instead of Frappuccino) inevitably the line slowed down and more often than not, the order wouldn’t be correct, and the barista would have to start over. Sigh.
You could also get hot chocolate, alcoholic coffees, bottled water, energy drinks, and milkshakes. I stuck with the lattes.
In the afternoons, they would display delicious looking donuts, cupcakes, and large cookies. All for an up-charge. In the past, I have also seen cakes that could be purchased by the slice, but I didn’t see any this time.
For non-alcoholic beverages, since I couldn’t get a Diet Coke, I usually chose ginger ale, diet Mountain Dew, or bottled water.
For alcoholic beverages, I typically ordered a cape cod made with Titos. However, I did branch out and order other drinks on occasion. I love the fruity frozen drinks, but I am mindful of the sugar and calories, so I tried hard to limit them. Chuck’s preference was Blue Moon, Jameson’s, or Murphy Goode Cabernet Sauvignon. There was also a merlot that he liked that could only be found in the dining room, but I can’t remember the brand.
I had to be particularly careful on port days if I was drinking a frozen drink outside. There would be yellow jackets flying around. Once, a yellow jacket kept landing on the rim of my glass no matter how many times I swatted him away. We battled until I just gave up and set it on a counter. He could crawl on it and in it to his heart’s content. Little Jerk.
Carnival has not offered any plastic straws for frozen drinks for a while now as part of the effort to reduce plastic waste onboard. They give you a straw that I was told is edible. The first time I used one of those straws, it disintegrated into the drink. I didn’t consider it edible. I purchased a set of their metal straws and now bring those with me any time we cruise. Just don’t forget and leave one behind in your drink.
I always tried to remember when I ordered a frozen drink to tell the server not to bother with the straw. Half the time I forgot to do so. Sigh.
Different Adult Beverages Consumed:
self-explanatory 😀Spicy Chipotle Pineapple MartiniSex on the BeachKiss on the LipsMiami ViceMocha Chocolate GetawayTwilight ZoneFrozen MargaritaChocolate Martini
Outside on Sea Days, the bar servers came around the pool area frequently to take your order. Not so much on a port day. On a port day, if there was more than one server coming around the pool area, you were lucky. But it is understandable because there are not as many customers outside on port days.
If you weren’t sure what you wanted, the servers carried bar menus. The bars also had paper menus and QR codes you could scan. If there was a special drink of the day, it would be listed on the menu board or the server would know.
If you had a particular bar you wanted to frequent, the HUB app would tell you what time its hours of operation were each day. The times were also listed in the paper daily program that you could pick up at the Coffee Bar or Guest Services.
In the Lido, you could always get coffee, tea, water, and some juices for no cost. Small cartons of milk were available in the mornings. I am not sure if it was available later in the day.
Just like food, a beverage on the cruise ship was never really hard to find.
We ate breakfast in the main dining room and in the Lido buffet. We preferred the dining room because the Lido was always crowded, and the lines were long if you wanted anything other than a continental breakfast or cereal. However, the dining room service was a slow pace so if you had to be somewhere at a certain time like an excursion, the dining room probably was not your best option.
On Sea Days, the dining room sponsored a Sea Day brunch that usually started about 9:00 and ended at noon. We typically went for the breakfast items. Chuck always ordered the steak and eggs meal with a side order of corned beef hash. One time he tried a side order of grits, but he thought they were too runny. Grits must be thick enough to eat with a fork.
I usually had two eggs, bacon, and hash browns although one time I got breakfast potatoes instead of hash browns. I should have stuck with the hash browns. I would also order wheat toast, but I always thought the bread was just warmed rather than toasted. I wasn’t a fan of the coffee in the dining room, but I thought the juices were good. You could order fresh squeezed juices for $5 a glass but we never did. I liked the regular juices just fine.
The other option for breakfast was the Blue Iguana cafe which offered a breakfast burrito. Chuck got it once when he didn’t want to stand in line for the hot breakfast items in the buffet. He said it was good.
Room service is another option. They offer a free continental breakfast. I heard the other items are an upcharge. We never ordered room service so I can’t comment on the food, prices, or service.
For lunch (and in some cases dinner too), the options were Blue Iguana Cafe, Guy’s Burgers, the Lido buffet, the Deli, the Sushi Bar (an upcharge), Room Service items, and the Pizza place. We tried them all except the Sushi Bar and Room Service.
My favorite was the shrimp burrito at the Blue Iguana Cafe and my least favorite was the pizza. I thought it should have been named a pepperoni cracker the crust was so thin and hard.
Lido lunch items:
Blue Iguana Lunch Items:
Soft beef tacosShrimp burrito
Guy’s Burger Items:
Cheeseburger and fries
Deli item:
The #5 – Cuban Mixto
Pizza Place item:
Pepperoni cracker
For dessert, I tried the key lime pie (not as tart as I prefer), the chocolate chip cookies (could have eaten every cookie in the whole serving bowl but I didn’t want to be a pig, so I only took five), and the soft serve ice cream – I preferred the vanilla over the chocolate.
Carnival recently changed its rules about 24/7 soft serve availability. I think the hours on the Paradise were 11:00 a.m to 11:00 p.m. I heard some grumbling about the change but not much. Probably would be a mutiny if they changed the hours of the pizza place however. It stayed open until 4:00 a.m. every morning. I never saw the late-night line for pizza, but I heard it was always crazy long.
I did appreciate how hard the staff worked to remove dirty plates, clean off tables, and sweep the floors so people could find clean places to sit both inside and outside. They were also quick to help anyone who seemed to be having difficulty taking their plates to their tables. The dining managers were constantly circulating and checking with customers to be sure all was well.
The buffet was primarily self-serve except a staff member at the carvery area would slice the meat for you and a staff member at the dessert area would slice pieces of cake for you. I always kept wet sanitizing wipes in my purse to use after handling all those serving utensils.
At the other venues, staff made your sandwiches, etc. and handed you the plate.
One challenge to remember on embarkation days. If you choose to eat outside, watch your plate because the local gulls will swoop and grab if you are not vigilant. From what I could see, they consumed many french fries from the lunches from Guy’s Burgers.
You know you are on a cruise when the topic at breakfast is what will you have for dinner. We always ate dinner in the Elation Dining room. We chose any time dining instead of the scheduled dining, so dinner is served in that room. The two scheduled dining times were held in the Destiny Dining room.
I really like how Carnival does the anytime dining. Once you are ready to eat, you use the Carnival HUB app and request a table. You can request a table just for your party or select the “share a table with others” option. If you don’t have the app, you can go to the maître de and he/she will seat you when a table is available.
The app will tell you approximately how long a wait for your table will be and then announce when your table is ready. If you change your mind about the time, you can cancel your request.
Once the app has announced that your table is ready, you have 10 minutes to go to the dining room or they will give your table away. Only once did we have a wait for a table that was longer than 15 minutes. We like the flexibility of going to dinner when we want to go.
The menu for the dinners is also on the app, or the waiter will give you a paper copy on request.
I know food is subjective and what I thought tasted good, others might not, but we were pleased with our dinners in the main dining room.
I did hear people complaining. Typically, the complaints I heard centered around the small portion sizes. Also, people were complaining that you had to pay $5 for every entree you ordered over two. Personally, I thought the portion sizes were fine. I did witness some people ordering more than one entree. However, they usually didn’t finish either entree, so food waste was an issue. With food costs continuing to rise, I can see why cruise lines are trying to find solutions to waste.
Because we had anytime dining, we were seated in various sections of the dining room over the course of the cruise. We only had the same servers once or twice. I thought they were all very friendly and did their jobs as fast as possible. I don’t know how they carried so many dishes back and forth to the kitchen without dropping them especially the nights the ship was really rocking.
If you want the same table every night or the same servers and you have anytime dining, you can make the request to the maître de, but he/she may or may not be able to grant the request or you might have to wait for it longer than normal when you are ready to eat.
In addition to all the work the waiters do to serve the guests, periodically the lights dim and the waiters are called upon to perform. I don’t know if the performance happens every night, but we saw it on two different occasions.
The dinner menus repeated themselves on the two cruises, so I was able to choose different meals. The only meal that I repeated was the pork chop dinner. It was so good the first week, I wanted it the next week too.
I only received one meal that I didn’t order, and it was on the last night of the cruise. I could have sent it back, but it had been my second choice on the menu, so I kept it and enjoyed it.
The Paradise doesn’t have a separate Steak House like some of the other ships, but you could order some selected “Steak House” items for an upcharge – lobster tail, lamb chops, or steak. We didn’t order any of these items so I can’t comment on their taste.
Various appetizers we ate:
Shrimp Cocktail (I had it most nights)Fried oystersSpinach saladBroccoli and Cheese soup Bar-b-que chicken flatbreadFried Calamari ringsBeef QuesadillaCaprese salad
Various Entrees we ate:
Beef brisketGrilled Mahi MahiGarlic ShrimpGrilled Sea BassChicken Supreme (stuffed with cheese and spinach)Jerk porkBlack bean enchiladas Chicken ParmigianaGrilled Pork ChopLasagna
Most nights we skipped the dessert offerings, but we did order the cheese plate a couple of times and I ordered the grilled pineapple twice:
Cruise attire is a hot button issue with some cruisers. Every cruise line we have traveled so far publishes their information on clothing. Some ships adhere to their information. Others do not.
The suggested attire for the evenings is found on the Carnival website and the daily program (either paper or on the app) will let you know what type of night it is – casual or dressy. I can tell you that I saw all types of attire, except swimwear and obvious sleepwear, in the dining room every night.
For casual nights, we both wore shorts and a shirt. For dressy night, I wore a sundress and Chuck wore khaki slacks and a sports shirt. The most interesting attire I saw was a large group who came in one night dressed in hippie clothing – bell bottoms, stacked shoes, long flowing shirts, fringed vests, mini dresses, maxi dresses, and lots of beads. All the men in the group had long, flowing obvious wigs. They were having a good time.
The only other change I noticed in the dining room was that there were no tablecloths on dressy night. They used to have tablecloths every night. Then they changed it to only on dressy nights. Not sure if they have been eliminated completely or just on the short cruises like these were. Know it must save on laundry time and costs not to have the tablecloths.
After a surprisingly restful night’s sleep, I was up at 6:30 on Monday excited for another cruise. The Hyatt had a nice selection of hot and cold breakfast items, and they were serving Starbucks coffee. It was also 70 degrees and sunny with a forecast of a high of 80 degrees. Nice start to embarkation day.
Our check-in time at the port was scheduled for 10:30 – 11:00. The hotel shuttle was going to charge $30 to ride in their van. We decided to get an UberXL and it arrived in less than 5 minutes after the request. The cost for it was $20.
The port is about 6 miles from the hotel. Only problem I had with the Uber app is that I wasn’t able to find which dock the Paradise was berthed. If it was listed on any paperwork that I had, I never saw it. I chose berth 2 but the ship was actually at berth 3. I offered to change it on the app for the driver, but he said it was no problem. I was glad they weren’t too far away from each other.
We arrived promptly at 10:30 and were allowed to enter the port facility. I was glad to see that they had aisles roped off according to check-in time so if you arrived early for your appointed time, you were directed to your appropriate aisle. Keeps the crowds down. There are a lot of restaurants and even an aquarium around the port so if you have to arrive early, you can drop off your luggage and go have a look around. You don’t have to just stand in the aisle if you don’t want to.
We were through security and seated in our section by 10:40. We were the second section allowed to board. It was 11:15.
Our first stop was our Muster station which was the Leonardo Lounge. The person in-charge scanned our boarding passes and then we watched the life jacket demonstration. It was very easy. We were then instructed to watch the safety video on our room television and then dismissed. It is a very easy process and should be done as soon as you board. However, the cruise director had to make several announcements throughout the afternoon requesting people to go to their station. The ship is not supposed to sail unless everyone has checked in. If they have to track you down and you refuse, you can be disembarked.
As Platinum Carnival cruisers, we could have gone straight to the cabin and dropped off our backpacks. However, we know that the crew is working hard to get the rooms ready, so we waited until the 1:30 announcement said the rooms were finished. When we arrived, our room keys and luggage were there. Plenty of time to unpack before sail-away. Staff were bringing in the luggage by the cartful as quickly as they could.
For this cruise, we had an inside cabin. When our Carnival consultant booked it for us, he made sure that we had a room that we could keep for both cruises. Otherwise, we would have had to pack up the room at the end of the first five days and take it all to another room. I don’t mind inside rooms for short cruises.
Our cabin, M163 on the fifth floor (Main), was in a nice location – midship around the corner from the mid-elevators. It was sparsely furnished – king-size bed, desk with mirror and shelves and a stool, one bedside table, a small refrigerator, a safe, and a large mounted flatscreen TV. There were two closets and a number of shelves. We had one outlet and 4 USB ports.
Bed with luggage mat for unpacking
However, I didn’t realize that this particular room was an adjoining room. Adjoining rooms are great if you have family or close friends next to you. They can be problematic if there are strangers next to you. The first thing I discovered was that the door between the rooms was unlocked so we had to immediately tell our room steward and he called Security. He came promptly and locked the door. Most of the time we have found that unless a person is yelling in the next cabin or has the TV on at full volume, the sound is muffled between the rooms. However, in an adjoining room, the sound leeches through the door and you can hear normal conversations.
We met the guys who had the room adjoining us. They were part of a group of 8 who were excited to be on this cruise as their boss had given them the trip as a “thank you” for all their hard work and dedication. We just gave them a “heads up” that we would be able to hear each other’s conversations. We wished them a fun cruise.
The first night, we were awakened by one of the guys who was mad that his roommate woke him up coming in the room. Think it was about 2 a.m. Next afternoon, we heard that same guy say (I assume to himself) that he was glad he now had the room to himself. That evening, he was talking to his girlfriend and saying he hated the ship, all the guys were drunks and had no class, and he wished he was with her on the ship. The next night was the worse one. He and his girlfriend were calling each other and arguing. He would tell her to stop calling and then would call her. Went off and on all night. We could have gone over there and asked him to lower his voice or called Guest Services, but we didn’t. We felt sorry for him. He was not having a good cruise. He had a falling out with his work buddies and now fighting with his girlfriend. He would have been better off with a bonus check from his boss.
I hope they were using WhatsApp or something with all the phone calls because he may have found himself with a huge phone bill when he got home. Our service provider said it would be $3 a minute to phone from the ship. I assume it might be the same with other carriers. We didn’t hear anything out of him on Thursday night. However, on Friday night, he left the TV on all night which was more annoying than the arguing. He was up and gone early on Saturday. I assume he took advantage of self-disembarkation and took off as soon as they allowed. I hope he and his girlfriend made up, but they sure said some harsh things to each other. We could hear parts of her conversation on that night, so we assume she was yelling into the phone.
We held our breath for the next week. However, we heard nothing the whole week from the new occupants. In fact, if we hadn’t seen the snooze sign on the room doorknob periodically, we would not have known anyone was even in the room. I hope that person(s) wasn’t annoyed with us.
The bathroom had only a shower which was fine with us. I was glad that it had good pressure and had plenty of hot water. Each shower is equipped with shampoo and bath gel. You need to remember to take your own conditioner. The shampoo might have conditioner in it, but my hair felt better when I used my conditioner too.
We had plenty of room to store our stuff and we could put the luggage under the bed. The room can also be set up with the beds separated.
The only issue is that I thought the room was on the warm side. Unlike newer ships, the Paradise didn’t have a thermostat, and you could only adjust the vent at the top of the room. I was glad that I had brought my small fan. It cooled me off enough to sleep.
Our room steward for the first week was Agus. At the end of the week, he was getting to go on a well-earned vacation. So the next week, Japhet took care of us. They were both efficient and friendly. They cleaned the room once a day, always provided us with ice, and left a cute towel animal. We tried not to be messy. As we walked down the hall, if the room door was open, we could see some rooms looked like hurricanes had hit them.
Some of our towel animals during the 10 days:
Once we got the room organized, we were ready for sail-away from Tampa. The music was playing, and the cruisers were dancing. Fun times.
Travel Trivia
Tampa, Florida
After purchasing Florida from Spain in 1821, the United States built forts and trading posts in the new territory. Fort Brooke was established in January 1824 at the mouth of the Hillsborough River on Tampa Bay.
When the pioneer community living near Fort Brooke was incorporated in 1849, it was called “Tampa Town” and the name was shortened to simply “Tampa” in 1855.
During the first few decades of the 20th century, the cigar-making industry was the backbone of Tampa’s economy. The factories in Ybor City and West Tampa made an enormous number of cigars—in the peak year of 1929, over 500 million cigars were hand rolled in the city.
Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders sailed from Tampa to fight in the Spanish-American War.
The University of South Florida was established in North Tampa in 1956.
Downtown Tampa’s Bayshore Blvd, at 4.5 miles long, earns the title of “the world’s longest continuous sidewalk.” It is lined with palm trees and features views of the bay.
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival, a large festival celebrating the legend of pirate Jose Gaspar, dates back over 100 years.
Movies filmed in Tampa include Edward Scissorhands (1990), Goodfellows (1990), and Magic Mike (2012).
In April 1919, during a spring training game of the Red Sox vs. the NY Giants in Tampa, Babe Ruth hit a record breaking 587-foot homer.
Trivia provided by Wikipedia and Tampa tourist literature
In early 2021, Carnival offered Chuck a 10-day free casino cruise that ultimately got cancelled. However, we were given future cruise credit (FCC) for the booking amount plus generous onboard credit (OBC) because of the cancellation.
The deadline to use the FCC or lose it was the end of 2022. Even though we have been to the ports several times before: two back-to-back (B2B) 5-day cruises leaving out of Tampa worked in our schedule, so we booked them as the replacement.
This cruise was a different one for us as we made the decision not to get off the ship at the ports unless absolutely necessary and just treat the ship as a floating resort. For my blogs, I typically discuss each day and its activities – some days are busier than others. Because each day of these two cruises were planned as eat, drink, and be merry, I am going to organize this blog more by topic rather than by date.
Left the house at a little before 7:00 a.m. to catch our 8:00 shuttle to the airport. Our flight was not until 2:00 but since it is the Sunday after Thanksgiving (the busiest travel day of the year according to some reports), the shuttle service said we had to go this early to ensure we made the flight in case the traffic was slow. Okay.
We typically drive to Tampa but the last time we drove home from there, it took 11 hours because the traffic in Tampa and Atlanta was so heavy. Flying can be a hassle, but I was hoping we could get to Florida without being so stressed and achy in case the drive down was again 11 hours instead of the 9 it is supposed to be.
We left right on time and did not have to make any of the auxiliary stops that the shuttle company sometimes has to do. The traffic was heavy, but the shuttle driver was able to take all the HOV and Express lanes and got us to the airport a little before 10:00. The traffic did slow to a crawl as we neared the drop off point at the airport.
Again, from all the news reports, I expected to see long lines of aggravated people waiting to get through security. The CLEAR line was long, but it moved quickly. We were through security by 10:20 and at the gate by 10:30. Way earlier than I expected and easier than some other airport experiences we’ve had.
We had a McDonald’s breakfast at the food court and then settled in with our books until the flight started boarding at 1:15.
Was a bumpy take off but a smooth quick flight. I could not finish the movie before we landed. 75 degrees and sunny in Tampa.
The Tampa airport was easy to navigate and once we got our luggage, we called the hotel for a pickup. I had a digital key, so we were in our room by 4:15. It was nice not to be exhausted upon arrival.
I like this Hyatt Place. Not only is it near the airport, it is near Olive Garden, Longhorn, and Ruth Chris restaurants. The shuttle will also take you to the nearby International Plaza mall. It also has a small bar and does offer some sandwiches and salads for sale. Today, it is somewhat decorated for Christmas.
We had intended to walk down the street to see if we could find the sports bar we’ve visited before. But before we got started, we heard thunder, and the sky looked threatening. We decided to stay close and walk to Longhorn’s.
When we got near it, we spotted a small Mexican restaurant called Lolis and decided to try it instead. The food was fine and filling but nothing exceptional. I had the vegetarian quesadilla which was mostly cheese and Chuck had the carne asada quesadilla. Washed down with Dos XX beer. They didn’t have very many eat-in customers but seemed to do a brisk take-out business.
I was glad we stayed close as the skies opened up and it poured while we ate. But, as Florida does, it soon became just a drizzle allowing us to get back to the hotel relatively dry. We were in for the evening. Looking forward to embarkation.
Travel Trivia
Florida – The Sunshine State
Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida ([la floˈɾiða] for its lush greenery and the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish).
Florida became the first area in the continental U.S. to be permanently settled by Europeans, with the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, being the oldest continuously inhabited city.
On March 3, 1845, only one day before the end of President John Tyler’s term in office, Florida became the 27th state.
About two-thirds of Florida occupies a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, spanning approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands.
Florida’s is the only state besides Hawaii to have a tropical climate and is the only continental state with both a tropical climate (at the lower tip of the peninsula) and a coral reef.
Florida has several unique ecosystems, most notably Everglades National Park, the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. and among the largest in the Americas. Unique wildlife includes the American alligator, American crocodile, American flamingo, Roseate spoonbill, Florida panther, bottlenose dolphin, and manatee.
Central Florida is the lightning capital of the USA.
Florida’s Venice Beach is the shark tooth capital of the world.
The Walt Disney World Resort is in Florida. It is the planet’s most visited and biggest recreational resort. It was established in 1971 and is about the same size as San Francisco, California.
The U.S. state of Florida is also home to the world’s most dangerous tree – the Manchineel tree. All parts of the tree contain strong toxins. Mere contact with the sap from this tree can cause blisters on the skin. The tree is also known as “the beach apple” and “little apple of death.
Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in Florida. It is also the third largest freshwater lake (after Lake Michigan and Alaska’s Iliamna Lake) located completely within the United States.
Trivia provided by Wikipedia and Florida tourist information.
