Category: Travel

My Carnival Liberty Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 27, 2022

And now Week 2 of my 7-week series on my 8-day fun-filled vacation on the Carnival Liberty out of Miami Florida.

So I sailed on a ship that was built between 2003 and 2005. It was my first sailing on the Carnival Liberty, but it was my 7TH Carnival cruise in a row (going back to February 2010) that was on the nearly identical Conquest class ship (Glory, Valor, Liberty, Freedom). The flagship of the class – the Carnival Conquest – I’ve actually never sailed on.

This ship definitely had its issues. It was leaking from the ceiling above on various decks / floors. With a drip-drip here, and a drip-drip there. Here a drip. There a drip. Everywhere a drip-drip. Actually it wasn’t that widespread. Just a few drip-drips in a few spots around the ship, and perhaps a few flooded cabin bathrooms and deck corridors.

I had a few issues in my own cabin. Shortly upon arrival I realized that my mini-fridge had power (a light on), but it was not cooling at all. It appeared to be completely defrosted and warm to the touch. I notified my cabin steward when he introduced himself to me on that first afternoon, and while I was enjoying my fancy steakhouse dinner up on Deck 10 my mini-fridge was swapped out and replaced with one that actually cools. Oh – and my cabin steward left behind my first towel animal of the cruise:

I also left behind a note to my cabin steward on the 2ND morning of the cruise due to barely lukewarm water coming out of the shower and faucet in the bathroom. A technician was there within a few hours, and he fixed it almost immediately. I enjoyed hot showers every day after.

I’ve sailed on Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, and Disney, and all cruise ships have their assorted problems – more so on the older ships. It’s how they respond to the problems that’s important. After 2 Norwegian Epic cruises just 13 months apart in late-2011 and early-2013 I haven’t been on another NCL cruise ship since. The 1ST Epic cruise was fantastic during the week leading-up to Christmas (2011). The 2ND Epic cruise was not such a good experience for me – due mostly to some maintenance issues in my cabin that went unresolved for the entire cruise. I also encountered condescending customer service on that cruise.

But let’s get back to my Carnival Liberty cruise. My cabin steward (Ketut) was awesome. Every time he saw me out in the hallway (which was every day) he enthusiastically greeted me by first name, and I did the same with him. Customer service all around from the cruise staff was wonderful. The “Fun Squad” was friendly. The Cruise Director – Dustin Gabriel – was perhaps one of the most visible and personable Cruise Directors I have encountered on any cruise ship I’ve been on. He was everywhere. I saw him numerous times per day all around the ship. He led many fun activities. He was funny and sarcastic at the right times, and he was also informative and serious when he needed to be. I hope he’s my Cruise Director on a future Carnival cruise !

The itinerary for this cruise included 2 full days at sea (after embarkation day) – followed by Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (in that order) – and then 2 full days at sea en route back to Miami. Sailing south and east towards and into the southern Caribbean on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday was a bit unsettling for some on the ship as we were sailing against very strong and gusty southeasterly winds the entire way due to a wide pressure gradient between low-pressure and a series of cold fronts to the north – and strong multiple high-pressure centers to the east. The ship did a little bit of rocking and rolling during this early part of the voyage, but then the winds and the seas calmed a bit as we slowly approached Aruba on Tuesday morning – Day 4 of the cruise.

I rarely get seasick on a cruise ship, and I didn’t this time either, but I was ready with the Dramamine on-hand in the event that I did. (I never had to take it.)

And so next #TravelThursday I’ll tell you all about the first port-of-call – Aruba.

Tags Caribbean, Carnival, Cruise

Blogging Food Travel

My Carnival Liberty Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 20, 2022

And I am back from another fun-filled vacation. This time it was 8 days on the Carnival Liberty out of Miami Florida. Over the next 7 weeks of #TravelThursday I’ll blog about this cruise, so let’s get started.

In order to get started we need to go all the way back to a time shortly before we all knew what COVID was.

I actually booked this 8-day cruise out of Miami to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao on February 10TH 2020. And then COVID shutdown the world a month later.

I booked this cruise 1 year and 1 week after returning from my last cruise on the Carnival Glory out of Miami. That was my 14TH Carnival cruise (in early-2019) and 22ND cruise overall since 1991. I love Carnival cruises, and I’ll share the many reasons why over the next 7 weeks.

I booked this cruise on the newer and bigger Carnival Horizon (in-service since 2018). It would’ve been my first cruise on a new(ish) cruise ship since October / November 2007 when I sailed on the Carnival Freedom out of Civitavecchia Rome Italy for its maiden voyage across the Atlantic to Miami. That Carnival Freedom cruise over the course of 14 days remains as my favorite cruise of all-time.

I’ve actually sailed on the Carnival Freedom more nights (29) than any other cruise ship. I sailed 2 more times on her in 2010 and 2014. That 3RD Carnival Freedom cruise in 2014 was not such a great experience, and I thought that it would be my final Carnival cruise ever.

I gave Carnival another chance almost 5 years later in 2019 on the Carnival Glory, and that turned out to be an excellent cruise; hence, my booking of the January 2021 cruise on the Carnival Horizon.

Well COVID canceled that cruise, and in lieu of getting my money back from Carnival I simply rebooked it for exactly a year later with a generous financial incentive included.

This past November the Carnival Horizon began experiencing propulsion problems with its maximum cruising speed. It was pulled from service and sent to an urgent extended dry dock over in Palermo Italy so that it could be repaired and also freshened-up a bit. It was replaced by the Carnival Sunshine for some of its December sailings – and the Carnival Liberty for some of its January sailings. Again – I could’ve chosen to cancel this cruise (due to the ship change), but I chose to sail on the replacement ship for even more financial incentives. I could’ve canceled this cruise at any time up to the day of sailing for no penalty at all (due to the CDC’s warning against sailing on cruise ships), but I kept this vacation intact.

And so I sailed on the 16½-year-old Carnival Liberty with an embarkation date of Saturday January 08TH 2022. I arrived at PortMiami shortly before 10:30 AM EST, and I stepped foot on the ship less than 45 minutes later. (It took less than 15 minutes to actually check-in at the terminal, but customers weren’t allowed on the ship until just after 11 AM.)

As this was my 7TH Carnival cruise in a row on the mid-2000s Carnival Conquest-class cruise ship (Glory, Valor, Liberty, Freedom) I knew where everything was on the ship. Of course it’s been almost 3 years, so I was confused at times. That just increased my steps on my Fitbit.

The ship set sail at 6 PM on that first night (about 2 hours late due to an unspecified maintenance issue that was awaiting a part). At that time I was already halfway into my dinner at the upscale steakhouse on deck 10. It’s a $38 upcharge to eat there, and that’s a bit steep, but they do serve the best food on the entire ship (and the biggest portions). Check out my cheesecake dessert !

After dinner (and that ENORMOUS slice of cheesecake) I enjoyed playing my first round of BINGO (3 games) – followed by the main show in the main lounge (which seats 1,400). I actually attended (and enjoyed) every main show in the main lounge during the course of this 8-day cruise, and it was never more than about 25% full.

This was a cruise for the fully-vaccinated, and you had to present proof of a negative COVID test taken within 48 hours of cruise embarkation in order to get on the ship. I believe that the cruise ship sailed at about 40% to 50% full. It’s my first cruise ever that wasn’t at or near 100% full. It was at less than half capacity more so for the change (downgrade) in ship rather than the strict COVID vaccination and testing rules. Nobody booked this ship. Carnival rebooked everyone (who didn’t cancel) from the Carnival Horizon. The Carnival Liberty was actually out-of-service for almost 22 months during COVID, and it was brought back into service a month earlier than planned to fill-in for the Carnival Horizon. After almost 22 months of inactivity there were most certainly maintenance and repair issues on this ship. I’ll explain some of those issues next #TravelThursday.

Tags Caribbean, Carnival, Cruise

Blogging Christian Driving God Music Travel

My Concerts – 2021

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 17, 2022

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back 40+ years.

My chart is offline for this week’s edition. It will return next Monday.

Today it’s a #CountUp special. It’s a look back at my concerts from 2021.

I attended 3 concerts in 2021. That’s a slight uptick from 2020 (Pre-COVID) when I managed just 2 concerts. By comparison I attended 12 concerts / LIVE events in 2019, 5 in 2018, and 5 in 2017.

3 months ago in Tampa Florida I saw MercyMe, Micah Tyler, and Sam Wesley and his band. Sam is Bart Millard’s son, and he also plays guitar for MercyMe on tour.

The next night I drove down to Estero (between Fort Myers and Naples), and I saw Casting Crowns and Matthew West in a show that was postponed twice during COVID in 2020. I had a ticket to the show for 21 months. It was well worth the wait. It was my very first Matthew West concert. My second Matthew West concert may be soon !

The first of the three concerts occurred in February. Here’s what I wrote about it back then:

Last Sunday night (February 14TH 2021) I attended TobyMac’s “Hits Deep Tour 2021” at the BB&T Center here in South Florida (Sunrise). It was my first LIVE concert in over 11 months (since just before COVID shut-down America), and it was my first LIVE concert at the BB&T Center in over 15 months. It was also my 3RD TobyMac concert in mid-February over the past 4 years.

The wearing of face masks was mandatory and strictly enforced by staff. The arena had socially-distanced seating. Individuals and groups were more than 6 feet apart from others both in the standard (elevated) seating as well as the floor seating. Arena seating (usable for the concert) was probably no more than about 20% to 25% full. It was one of the best concert experiences I can ever remember for the simple reason that I had plenty of room to stand-up and dance all around my seat on the floor, and I did just that. Everyone had their own personal dancefloor !

I was seated along the right-edge of the floor in the center of the arena. There were two stages – the main stage up-front – and the center stage to the left of me (by about 20 feet or so).

Unspoken kicked-off the show from the main stage, and then Terrian performed from the center stage. We Are Messengers were up next from the main stage, and then Cochren & Co. took over from the center stage. Tauren Wells performed from the main stage. The first 5 artists split (almost evenly) 1 hour and 20 minutes (about 15 minutes apiece). They were all great. We Are Messengers are my personal favorite of the 5, so naturally I was singing and dancing along through all of their hits. I liked when Chad Mattson (lead singer of Unspoken) guest-performed “Echo” (the Elevation Worship song) with Tauren Wells.

After a 35-minute sermon and fundraising push (Food For The Hungry) TobyMac took center stage for “The Elements”. He performed non-stop hits for the next 1 hour and 35 minutes – performing about half of his set from the main stage – and half from the center stage. The guy has so much energy for his age. (He’s 56.) He’s also from one of my childhood hometowns of Fairfax County Virginia.

Terrian was with Toby for many of his hits. (She’s a back-up vocalist with Toby’s Diverse City band.) Michael Cochren assisted Toby with one of his hits.

What a great night to praise and worship my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ with my instant church family for the night.

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend – with 4 new entries on Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I don’t blog on Saturdays. That’s my day of rest.

Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. I’m also on Twitter and Flickr.

Be blessed my friends ! May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Blogging Driving History Military Travel

My November Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 13, 2022

#TravelThursday continues now with Part 7 of my 7-part blog series on my recent 18-day road-trip between South Florida and North Texas.

Last week I left-off at the end of Day 17 at my hotel destination in Crystal River Florida – about 6 hours from home. Had I not stopped for the night in Crystal River and I continued all the way home – I probably would’ve arrived by 12 Midnight. (Remember I started the previous day in Hattiesburg Mississippi, so that would’ve been an almost 850-mile drive for the day.)

I can’t drive 850 miles in a single day. I used to be able to. I once drove 1,095 miles in a single day from Northern Virginia to South Florida – only to be stopped just shy of the main gate of Homestead Air Force Base because the base was in a short lockdown at the time (almost 3 AM) due to the arrival of Manuel Noriega from Panama. #PerfectTiming

Nowadays 600 miles in a single day is my maximum, and 500 miles is closer to my comfort level. Driving to Texas I had a 519-mile day. Driving from Texas I had two back-to-back 523-mile days. I’m too old to drive much more than that in a single day.

So the drive home – I took Florida State Road 44 eastward to U.S. 27 in Leesburg (a northwestern suburb of Orlando). Leesburg is a city that I’d like to visit for a few days to explore. I’ve only driven through a small portion of it (many times). I think a lot of retired people live there (I know at least two), but as the Orlando Metropolitan Area continues to expand (especially northwestward) I fear that it will experience a population explosion in the next couple of decades and lose its small-town charm. Mount Dora is nearby (about 15 miles from Leesburg). I’ve heard a lot of good things about Mount Dora. Maybe I need to visit the area for more than a few days.

I took U.S. 27 southward for over 240 miles on that last Sunday morning of November through Clermont, Haines City, Lake Wales, Avon Park, Sebring, Lake Placid, Moore Haven, Clewiston, South Bay, and then into West Broward (County). I then picked-up Florida State Road 997 (Krome Avenue) just south of the Miami-Dade County line, and I took that straight into Homestead. I arrived home at exactly 1 PM on that 18TH day of my road-trip.

I drove 325 miles on that final day for a grand total of 2,822 miles from Thursday November 11TH through Sunday November 28TH. By comparison – in the previous 174 days combined I drove 2,823 miles.

Next #TravelThursday – I’m leaving the country.