Posted at 11:33 pm by taryngirl, on August 12, 2024
8/1/24
We last left off with our Dole Whip at the Dole Plantation. When we boarded the bus at the plantation, Gar had some information about the Polynesian Cultural Center on our seat. Here is the map and then smaller bits of the map closer up. This is where we were headed next.
Up close, you can see each village had cultural presentations and exhibits, and hands on activities.
On the way we learned that almost all of the employees at the PCC were college students at Brigham Young University in Hawaii.
We arrived around 11:15 a.m. and the “park” didn’t open until 12:30 p.m. So we spent some time going through the shops and then having a snack. There are several food trucks right near the entrance.
My mom and kids shared this:
Fish and Chips! And it was really good! The fish was HUGE! It was plenty for multiple people to share.
We actually felt like we were rope dropping at Disney. We got to the gates waiting for them to open! There was a bag/security check.
Did I mention yet that it was realllllly hot today? It was! Our plan was to immediately get into the South Canoe and head to the North Canoe stop.
We were some of the first people there!
We were the second boat to leave the dock!
The canoe ride was SO HOT! Everyone was melting. When we got off at the launch, there was a little hot dog stand. My daughter was hungry so we got one of those. He was grilling them up fresh on a little grill. She ate the whole thing, so I’m assuming it was good!
The first village we visited was Tahiti.
The girls tried spear throwing:
And we all got tattoos:
Next up was Tonga:
We learned how to weave with palm leaves and made little windmills that spun in the breeze.
My daughter also learned how to juggle.
Everyone in this village was so friendly and helpful!
Now I was getting hungry! So we made our way across the bridge to Aotearoa. I had scouted out food locations ahead of time, so I knew what was served where. I had my eye on something here.
This is chicken teriyaki and it was delicious!
Our last stop was Samoa. It was hopping over here! Lots of activity going on.
My daughter wanted to try more weaving and this time made a fish.
After this, we went to their cultural presentation, The Tree of Life. We were a few minutes late, but I think this was the Chief. He was very entertaining!
They showed how to start a fire, husk a coconut, and more!
The grand finale was watching someone climb a coconut tree.
We were so hot and tired! We still had an hour and a half until we had to be back on the bus to return to the resort. We decided to head to the front of the park and just sit in the shade somewhere and get a snack. My mom had back surgery less than a year ago, and she has arthritis. We wanted to make sure she was comfortable and could walk. She refused to let us get a wheelchair to push her around here!
I cannot get over the scenery in Hawaii! It’s just beautiful everywhere we go!
There is a cutie little ukelele shop.
These are the doors to a gigantic buffet. But they made for a perfect backdrop!
Once we were back on the bus, we headed to downtown Honolulu for a drive through tour on the way back to the resort.
We were back to our resort by 6:30 p.m. Our plan was to just buy dinner in the ABC Store. They DO have a microwave that they will use for you if you buy something that needs to be heated up (like my daughter did)!
A worker took this to use their break room microwave. There is a sign posted by the food offering this.
She actually loved this.
I got potstickers that were in their warming server.
These were okay. I’ve had way better!
It was time to head out to see the sunset, and my girls were dying to step foot into the ocean.
THIS SKY!
It was packed! There were people everywhere. We were lucky to find a tiny spot in the sand to put a towel for me to sit on. That stuff you see in the photo below is not mine. It’s in front of where I’m sitting!
As a result of going to bed at 6:00 p.m. the night before, we were wide awake around 4:30 a.m. We stayed in bed for awhile and then decided to get up and go to the beach for sunrise. The resort was SO QUIET! This was 6:00 a.m.:
There were some people who had the same idea as us.
Although it was cloudy, and we wouldn’t be able to see the actual sunrise from where we were, the sky was BEAUTIFUL!
Behind us was where you could see the sunrise:
There is no filter on this! It’s like a painting!
It was 6:27 a.m. and we were hungry! We had to meet the tour operator at 8:00 a.m. ish, so we had plenty of time to grab something from the coffee shop in our resort.
We decided to share a wrap and acai bowl.
The acai bowl was realllyyyyyy good! I have never had one before!
The breakfast wrap with meat:
This was also really good! We were happy with our choices.
My youngest walked to the ABC Store to get some fruit and a cinnamon roll.
And finally, we could not resist the carton of POG juice! If you have not had this, it’s the most amazing juice ever! (You can get this in Disney at Animal Kingdom Lodge too!)
(Here’s a quick little tour through the ABC Store!)
It was time to meet our tour group! We were supposed to leave at 8:30 a.m., so we were in the meeting area at 8:00 a.m. I hate being late!
We were instructed to meet by the escalators near the Ewu Tower, however, that escalator is under construction and blocked off. They still were gathering in that area, we just had to go down a different way. We checked in with one person and they advised us to just hang around the area until 8:30 a.m. They would line us up and hand out name tags (of our bus driver) and load us up. We had two buses.
The buses were amazing! Charging ports, adjustable seat, adjustable foot rest, seat belts, personal air flow and light, and storage above.
As we boarded, we were handed a packet. Inside this packet would be everything we would need for the next few days.
The boxed lunch selection sheet for our tour on Saturday:
The intro sheet:
This sheet was slightly modified from the information given to us in our online packets with our reservation confirmation.
Today’s tour was the Dole Plantation, and the Polynesian Cultural Center.
We began our drive, and arrived at the Dole Plantation. Gar was our bus driver/tour guide. He told us facts and information the entire time he was driving. There was not a moment of silence for the entire 3 days!We did learn a ton from him, but we also were exhausted at some points and just wanted some peace.
He dropped us off and we had about 45 minutes to walk around here. We did not do any kind of organized tour of the plantation. There was a train ride, a maze, and a huge shop. Of course we shopped!
The store was giant!
Guess what they had…DOLE WHIP! Both inside and then outside there was a food truck with it as well.
Yes! We got some for all of us to share!
Up next…the Polynesian Cultural Center and Sunset!
I was so excited to be going on this trip of a lifetime with my mom and two daughters. It was upon her request, as it’s something she has always wanted to do. The CruiseTour consisted of a land portion from July 31-August 3, and then a cruise from August 3-August 10. The land portion had tours to the following: Dole Plantation and Polynesian Cultural Center, Pearl Harbor and Downtown, and Scenic South Shore and Kualoa Ranch. The cruise departed from Honolulu, with stops in Maui, Hilo, Kona, and Kauai.
I found really good flight pricing through Southwest leaving from Baltimore. We flew to Los Angeles the day before the CruiseTour started and stayed over night. My hope was to ease the 6 hour time change to Hawaii (LA would be 3 hours), and then catch an early morning flight to Honolulu from LAX on July 31.
I am my own worst client when it comes to booking legs of trips. I scrutinize every single hotel and read every possible review. I settled on the Fairfield Inn and Suites Los Angeles LAX/El Segundo. It was great! I felt 100% confident once I saw several different pilots and flight attendants board our shuttle to the hotel.
Once we got our luggage, we went towards hotel ground transportation. There was a special area for this. I did call the hotel to let them know we were there and she said we should wait no more than 15 minutes for a shuttle. It arrived, and we drove about 5-8 minutes until we reached the hotel. It was very close!
Photo of the shuttle:
The front desk staff was super helpful and friendly. Our room was on the first floor which was fine with us because we had 5 suitcases! About the room itself…it was on the small side. But it was clean and we were only sleeping there a few hours, so it was fine! Across the street is a shopping complex with several food options. We knew we were headed to In N Out!
Our flight was departing LAX at 8:05 a.m. Free breakfast was at 6:00 a.m. I was so scared of not getting to our gate in time! The free shuttle left the hotel on the hour and half hour. I felt we needed to get on the 6:00 a.m. shuttle, so we breezed through to see what was ready and grabbed whole fruit and threw it in our carry ons. It was good we did, because we only had 45 minutes once we finally got through security. They only had one lane open.
The flight to Honolulu (on Southwest) was about 6 hours. Instead of the normal two snacks, they gave us these snack packs:
Wheat thins with cheese dip, fruit snacks and a snack mix.
Upon landing in Honolulu, we were advised (through our NCL CruiseTour paperwork) to just head to baggage claim, get our baggage, and then look for the NCL staff member. We looked and looked, and looked, and could not find one anywhere! I even stopped anyone that had a badge on and asked. Several of them told me that they should be walking around shouting out. We saw no one! I even walked the entire length of the baggage claim. Finally after about 30-45 minutes, someone arrived. She checked us off a list and then passed us along to someone else. No one helped us with our luggage. They took us outside to sit and wait for the shuttle. We had four other people on the shuttle with us. Two were dropped at a different hotel, and the rest of us continued on to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa. This is the hotel NCL uses for the CruiseTour.
Our driver dropped us, and we had to drag our suitcases up some stairs because they were not allowed to drop us off in the front where the bellman are because it’s too busy.
I found this in the hotel!
We made our way to the front desk. Our room was ready, but it was a king. That would not work because there were four of us! She disappeared and returned and had a room with 2 queens for us.
These were some things happening around the resort:
And she also gave me this handout:
The resort was HUGE! There were two or three?? floors of shops and dining locations. The time now was 2:45 p.m. (8:45 p.m. east coast time) and we were really hungry.
Looking back at our resort from the beach:
(We LOVED having this ABC Store right in our resort!)
We decided to check out the beach quickly, and then Door Dash dinner.
It was extremely busy and crowded!
For dinner, my oldest and I went with Hawaiian BBQ and my youngest and mom went with a good old cheese pizza.
We also Door Dashed some peanut butter, jelly, and marshmallow to make sandwiches for when we were touring or needed an emergency snack!
We went to bed at 6:00 p.m. and slept until about 4:30 a.m.! None of us could stay awake any longer.
Today was the day we would be doing the excursion I was most looking forward to! Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park is a forest sanctuary which features the coming together of several different ecosystems. This area has 350+ species of birds, 700+ species of plants, 120+ species of mammals, and 250+ species of amphibians and reptiles.
We were being picked up by the tour company at 7:40 a.m. Unfortunately at this time it was pouring rain! He said we could either wait at the hotel lobby until it stopped. Or we could drive the 25 minutes to the park and wait for it to stop. Or we could just forge on in the rain.
We decided to head to the park and wait it out. All along the drive, our tour guide Orlando narrated for us. He told us things we were driving by, about the Costa Rican culture, and more! He really was amazing from start to finish. Much to our surprise it stopped raining right when we arrived and we began the tour right away. He did advise that we wear bug spray, but to spray it on outside and not in the van.
Our tour was booked with Canoa Aventura, and our guide’s name was Orlando. He was amazing! You CAN pay and enter this park without a tour guide. Had we done that, we would have never seen the amazing wildlife that we saw. He knew where to look for things!
Our first hanging bridge to cross:
It was much narrower than I was expecting! And this first one was good practice for how get across without too much movement. He told us to walk with kind of a wider stance and to hold on to the railings.
Orlando explaining some of the vegetation to us:
A snail just scooting along:
Broad-Billed Motmot:
Our guide had a special monocular that he carried all throughout the tour. He was able to focus in on the wildlife so we could all see up close! He also was able to use an older Iphone to take a photo through the lense. That’s how we got such amazing photos!
Poison Dart Frog:
There were several of these along the way. They were just off of the walkway, kind of over the side going down the hill. We never would have seen them!
Here is just a quick view of what the pathway looks like:
As we were walking, Orlando stopped and asked if we smelled something. Just at that moment, my daughter said she saw an animal in the brush. It turned out to be some kind of pig! Orlando explained that the pigs have that smell to deter predators.
I got a quick video but they were running away.
We crossed another bridge and just at the end, Orlando pointed out some tarantula holes in the dirt. We could see just hairy legs!
Our next sighting was a snake!
The Eyelash Palm Pit Viper:
This particular species loves trees, is very small, and has a wide array of color variations. I couldn’t believe how small it was!
We continued on to some more bridges.
This was just breathtaking! I can’t even describe the sounds, the scenery…
After spending some time on this most amazing bridge, we came across another friend along the trail.
This was also an Eyelash Palm Pit Viper, just in a different color.
There was an optional trek down to a waterfall, which everyone did except me.
It was just about this time, that we came across a small group of women who were wiping themselves off. We could hear a monkey screaming just prior to this. Apparently the monkey pooped all over them from up in the trees! A little bit farther into our walk, we came across the monkey! It was very high up and difficult to see.
It was just starting to rain again. Somehow, some way, Orlando spotted this chameleon! I could NOT find it with the naked eye at all.
We were almost at the end of the tour. This was just on the way out on the path:
By this time it was actually pouring down rain! We finished the tour and it brought us out at the entrance hub.
This information is all in the hub before entering the park.
There is also food available for purchase at both this stand and a sit down restaurant.
The views from here are amazing! There is some seating here along the fence.
The volcano in the distance:
Orlando told us to meet him over at some picnic tables when we were finished taking photos and using the restroom, etc. He had this nice surprise for us…fresh cut pineapple and bananas! He literally cut them right there for us with his knife and cutting board.
It was DELICIOUS and a perfect treat after our tour. After we were finished eating, we boarded our transportation for the drive back. It was about 11:45 a.m. So the tour was a total of 2 and halfish hours.
Once back at the resort we headed to our rooms to change out of our wet clothing. We made our way to the pool and ordered some lunch. My daughter had the kid’s mini pizza again.
And I ordered a pizza with ham. It was delicious!
Since Mistico was the only excursion I was signed up for, I decided to make a pedicure appointment since I needed one before my next beach trip. On the way out I caught this fella:
I had to search it up on Google and found it to be a Great Curassow. It scared me as it scurried across the walk in front of me!
After a little bit of pool time, we went back to the room as it was starting to rain more consistently. Part of our group was taking a cooking class during the evening hours, and the rest of us were just going to go to dinner together at La Saca at the hotel.
Here’s a little bit about the cooking class! It was arranged as an excursion through our hotel. The group was picked up from our hotel and taken to the location. They cooked the meal and then ate it!
You can see this is an open air establishment. This seems to be the norm in Costa Rica!
It was pouring!
The chef instructing:
They had a drink called a Guaro Sour. We saw this on most menus!
Chicken:
Tortillas and pico de gallo:
The finished product:
Dessert was rice pudding.
They did make homemade tortillas! She also emailed all of the recipes to the participants.
For us, dinner at La Saca started with a bread service. This was actually very good, with three different butter options.
From the kid’s menu…Butter Spaghetti. My youngest is very particular about food. She eats pasta with butter at home all of the time. She doesn’t eat any sauce whatsoever. This was drowning in butter! We should have asked for it on the side.
She ended up scooping the pasta out and putting it on another plate and it was fine. This seems to be a staple on kid’s menus, as we saw it on many different menus!
Our systems were definitely still on east coast time! I think we went to bed the previous night by 9:00 p.m. Costa Rica time, and were up and at breakfast by 7:30 a.m.!
Some beautiful scenery on the way to breakfast:
The breakfast buffet here is complimentary with your stay. I took this video on our last morning there. It is HUGE! And has so many options!
Here are our plates from the first morning:
THE FRUIT! So delicious! And the gallo pinto…I ate this every morning!
The restaurant as I mentioned before, is open air. We had some visitors!
The rest of our group was filtering in to breakfast. We got together and discussed the excursions we were all interested in taking, and then a few of us headed to the lobby area to book them for the rest of our time at this hotel.
Here you can see the lobby is quite small. This desk where the girl is sitting is where we signed up for the tours.
The girl who helped us was AMAZING! Super patient since we were complicated! We miraculously got every excursion we wanted.
They did have a little beverage station that had different flavored water each day.
Once we were all signed up, we headed back to the pool until it was time for the first tour at 2:00 p.m.
The amazing view from the pool:
The kids were starting to get hungry for lunch, so decided to order from Alambique Pizzeria.
Here’s the Hawaiian pizza:
Here’s the kid’s mini pizza:
They use a wood fired oven, and these were great!
Here’s the cheeseburger:
All of the food was really good!
This was our view during lunch:
I never got tired of this view and the quiet of the resort!
The ATV Tour crew departed for their excursion. I was not going on it, so I had my lunch at the pool bar.
Beef quesadilla:
This was really good! It was not ground beef, but chunks of beef.
The tour was booked with ATV Super Quads. Here they are getting ready!
My daughter’s view through this part:
Along the tour, they did see a sloth!
They also had a chance to swim in some hot springs.
My family:
(Almost everyone declared this as their favorite tour at the end of the trip!)
After they came back from the tour, we just hung around the resort a little bit, and then got ready for dinner.
We had private transportation scheduled to pick us up at our rooms at 7:00 p.m. to take us to dinner. We did make reservations ahead of time at Jalapas Restaurant! (You can view the menu at this link.)
It was about a 20-25 minute drive to get there. I had researched restaurants off property that would take reservations. This one came up several times and had great reviews on Trip Advisor as well. The views are amazing, but we missed that part because it was dark during our reservation time!
The first thing I ordered was Coke (in a bottle)!
Appetizer…Fish Chicharrones and Fried Calamari:
Appetizer…Salmon Tartar Patacones:
Chicken Fried Rice:
(This was DELICIOUS!)
Fetticini Alfredo:
Pasta Pomodoro:
Chifrijo:
Grilled Chicken:
I can not say enough amazing things about the staff at this restaurant! Everyone was kind and welcoming. Our waitress (the owner’s daughter) even split our checks for the four families, which as we know is not an easy task! Especially when there is a slight language barrier. We were so happy they accommodated us this way!
While we were waiting for our transportation to pick us back up, we were the last people in the restaurant. The owner came out and had a great talk with us! Everything from Costa Rican culture, the restaurant business, his family, and so much more! He really was the nicest man. He also asked questions about the United States, as he has never been.
Our trip to Costa Rica has been in the planning stages for almost a year! It was a celebration for my daughter and nephew’s high school graduation. All together there were 4 different families traveling.
I heard rave reviews from fellow travel agents in my agency about Memorable Costa Rica. I reached out to Melany there, and she helped me put together the perfect vacation! We knew we wanted to see both the volcano and rainforest areas, as well as the beach. We settled on this itinerary:
June 30-July 4–Hotel Arenal Manoa (near La Fortuna)
July 4-7–Tamarindo Diria (Tamarindo)
This itinerary had us flying into San Jose and flying home from Liberia. The most difficult part of planning and booking this trip was the airfare! The pricing was crazy and we didn’t know when to pull the trigger on buying the tickets! I’m glad we waited a little bit, because the price coming home dropped over $400 per ticket!
We flew from Baltimore, and our flight was at 8:50 a.m. We left our house around 3:00 a.m., so we would be there 3 hours in advance. We parked directly at the airport. There was barely a line to check in, and barely a line for security! The line to check in did grow quickly once we were through.
Our flight was about 4 hours and 45 minutes. It was uneventful, and my family slept for most of it! Upon arrival at the San Jose airport, we headed to customs. We did not have to fill out any forms on the plane. We stood in line for over an hour waiting to clear. We got our luggage and headed outside to find our private transportation.
In our reservation confirmation, they indicated that we should exit the building with our luggage and look for a sign with my name. I should have taken a picture of the craziness just outside of the doors. Tons of “taxi” people trying to get us to go with them. My advice is to not make any eye contact at all and just keep moving! I spotted my name, and made sure the person had Memorable Costa Rica on her shirt, which it did. She gathered the 14 of us together and told us to just keep walking behind her and do not stop to talk to anyone. Multiple people tried to get us to go with them, even when they saw us following her. They were barricaded off for the most part, but leaning over the barricade.
Our bus pulled up, and they loaded our luggage for us through the back side window.
Once onboard, she welcomed us, gave us all a hat, and told us about the snacks and drinks that were available to us. She also had two little Costa Rica informational books for the 2 kids that were with us! This was a nice surprise, as I had no idea what to expect! She exited the bus and left us with our official tour guide, Alfredo.
Besides these snacks, there was a cooler filled with bottled water, beer and soda. It was a pleasant surprise and we were all thankful after a long flight!
The drive from the airport to our resort was about 3 and a half hours. We stopped part way through for a bathroom break and our group wanted to buy some beer to keep in the room. There was also a souvenir store there. It seemed to be a popular spot since there were other tour buses there.
This view was just across the street! Such a beautiful country!
Our tour guide’s name was Alfredo. He stayed with us for the entire drive. Our driver was Jennings or Jenkins?? Alfredo was AMAZING! He told us so many facts and details about Costa Rica, from the vegetation to the food to tours and so much more! He did explain that the first part of the drive was pretty flat and easy, and the second part would be windy and hilly. My family was personally prepared for this because I had read about the crazy roads. We had taken Bonine already.
Alfredo was not kidding! After this stop, we resumed driving and it was super windy, and super hilly…up, down, and fast! Some people started not feeling great and we did have one victim. They did have sick bags on the bus for us, so that should have been our first clue! Ha! Our driver seemed to slow down some after this incident.
We arrived at our hotel around 4:45 p.m. Hotel Arenal Manoa is in a serene and secluded location surrounded by breathtaking views of Arenal Volcano. It has four different types of suites, a hot spring pool and a regular pool. There are three different restaurants as well, one that served complimentary breakfast each day.
Everyone needed to show their passport to check into the hotel. The staff at the front desk was super nice, friendly and informative. They let us know about two happy hours that happened every day. 4-5 p.m. at one location on property, and 5-6 p.m. at another.
She confirmed the rooms with me, noting that two of the rooms had recent high school graduates and one room had a birthday. That would be important later! I only conveyed this information one time to my contact with Memorable Costa Rica, Melany. I took a photo of the map at the front desk. There was a QR code for the wi-fi and the restaurant menus and tours.
Each building pictured, houses two suites, each with their own private patio.
They loaded all of our luggage into a van and transported us to our rooms. That is one thing that I loved about the resort. If you needed a ride anywhere within the resort, you could call and they would send someone.
We arrived to our rooms, and before we even got into our rooms, we saw our first sloth! The drivers ushered us over and they had binoculars with them in the van.
We were staying in a Junior Suite. The suite featured two queen beds, air conditioning, complimentary wi-fi, flat screen tv, safe, mini-fridge, and a private furnished terrace. It was very clean and spacious.
Immediately upon opening the door, we found this little treat for my daughter!
There wasn’t anywhere to put our luggage really, and there wasn’t really any storage. So we put one suitcase on the chair, and other on the small table.
One important note, you can’t flush toilet paper in Costa Rica, in most places! This hotel included. So all toilet paper went into the trash can. Their systems just can’t handle it. I was dreading this, but it actually was fine. They emptied the trash can each day.
The bathroom was huge!
The view from our room was AMAZING! Every room in this resort had a volcano view. Here the volcano is covered with clouds. Later in the week we could finally see the entire thing!
It was my father in law’s birthday during this part of our stay. This was waiting for him in his room!
Such a nice surprise!
The grounds all around the resort were BEAUTIFUL! This was just outside of our room.
The entrance to the spa:
The walk over the bridge to the restaurant:
We were really hungry, so we decided to check out La Saca, one of the sit down restaurants, right on property. I think dinner hours were just starting, because we were the only ones there!
This restaurant is open air, and ala carte off of a menu for lunch and dinner. The scenery is amazing!
Let’s have a quick talk about water…
They will ask if you want still or sparkling water. Still water is bottled water. If you want tap water, you have to ask for tap water. There is a charge for bottled water. After this trip (and several others to various countries), I will say to go with the bottled water if possible! The tap water here in the La Fortuna area was good, but once we got to Tamarindo…not so good! The bottled water is worth it, trust me!
Here is the dinner menu:
My youngest daughter ordered the chicken fingers and fries. She liked this!
My oldest daughter ordered the Tagliatelle with cilantro and basil pesto. She loved this!
I ordered the Rib eye. It was delicious! The chimichurri was reallllllly good, and I loved the vegetables!
My husband ordered the Albardado seaweed tuna. He liked this!
Because the restaurant was open air, it was humid. Just keep that in mind! It also can be slightly buggy. So wear your bug spray, and I travel with a mini handheld fan always, sooooooooo…
We finished dinner, then met up with some of our group. They had gone to happy hour and then to the pizza restaurant on property. The pizza place has all outdoor seating. We got a kick out of the little lizards coming out onto the tv screen to try and find bugs!
We were super tired, so headed back to our room to get a good night’s sleep. Costa Rica is a two hour time difference for us. We also knew we had to get up early and figure out our excursions since we didn’t have anything booked yet!
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 10:42 am by taryngirl, on February 18, 2024
10/21/24
Fun Times for today:
Today was a sea day, and there was a whole lot of nothing on the agenda! We started our day at the buffet for breakfast.
I had a made to order omelette, sausage, potatoes, and a bagel.
It was all very good!
I spent the time from breakfast until lunch, just laying out in the sun on a chair!
At lunch time, I went to see what was on the buffet. This was in one line:
And this was in the other line:
It’s nice that they provide a more “ethnic” option, and then comfort foods as well. I loved the variety!
Here’s a quick scan through video of one of the lines:
Buttttt, I had heard through the grapevine, that on sea days, ironically The Seafood Shack served CHINESE! So I was all in for that obviously…
This was delicious!
About an hour later, an announcement came over the PA system that a small boat was spotted and we were turning around to check it out. I decided to go scope things out and walked to the front of the ship.
The bridge with binoculars:
This went on for a little while. We had to keep turning and trying to get closer. And then they inspected from the bridge to see if anyone was onboard. It was determined to be an abandoned boat, and we were back on our way.
After this I did my typical afternoon nap and shower before dinner.
Tonight’s menu:
ScreenshotScreenshot
We had a special guest at our table for dinner tonight, Monica Doria-Trujillo, who is a Strategic Partnership Specialist for Carnival Cruise Line. We had a great time learning more about Carnival, and providing our feedback as well.
She brought us little goodie bags with Carnival branded items. So thoughtful!
Now, onto the food!
Cream of Mushroom Bisque:
As usual, the soup was amazing!
Broiled Lobster Tail:
This was definitely not mine because I do not eat any seafood!
Spaghetti Alla Carbonara (with a side of grilled chicken!):
This was mine and it was delicious! I really wanted some protein, so asked if I could add grilled chicken. They had no problem doing that for me.
We all had a shot, courtesy of Monica. I have no idea what it was, but it was yummy!
(During dinner, someone comes around with a “shot of the day” type thing and you can purchase on the spot.)
Vanilla Creme Brulee:
Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake:
Again, SO GOOD!
There was some entertainment in the dining room tonight. This man was a waiter at a neighboring table. He was fantastic! He was so happy all of the time, very attentive, and funny! He was all in during the entertainment.
After dinner, we headed to Playlist Productions: Epic Rock show in the Teatro Rosso. Monica had secured us front row seats!
Posted at 5:13 pm by taryngirl, on January 31, 2024
10/20/23
When we booked this cruise, we were traveling as Travel Agents, scoping out this new-to-Carnival ship, leaving from a port very close to our homes. I wanted to be able to share as much information as I could about the port, the ship, the destinations, etc. I get inquiries, (almost weekly!), for all-inclusives in the Bahamas. Sadly, my research has not produced great results unless you are going to a Sandals. This led me to research day passes to resorts that were close to Freeport!
We were up early today because we were going to be getting off the ship for an excursion. We went to breakfast at 7:45 a.m., as we were getting off the ship around 8:30-8:45 a.m. We ate in the Grand Canal Restaurant. We did make a reservation on the app and the wait time was under 10 minutes. It was the same menu I posted for a previous morning.
Breakfast beverages of champions…
I had the melon again. Nice and fresh!
I also had the same Vanilla French Toast again! It was so good.
We had an excursion planned here today with a tour operator named Leo Wells Jr. I met him in our cruise Facebook group. We were going to visit Lighthouse Pointe at Grand Lucayan Resort. He was charging $20 roundtrip per person for transportation, and the cost to get into the all-inclusive resort was $75.00. The ship did also offer this excursion, but their pricing included 2 drinks and 1 meal. Ours was unlimited and we had more flexibility with time. You can also buy tickets on resortforaday.com, but we just bought direct once we got there.
We were off the ship at 8:30 a.m. It was overcast…booooooo.
The port area was cute with a bunch of shops and stands. There is plenty here souvenir wise for sure! No need to venture away from this area if you are just looking for souvenirs.
Once off the ship, we easily found him. He had communicated prior to the cruise where exactly to meet him.
There were 8 total people going on the excursion. He did give us flexibility on pick up times to return to ship. 4 people wanted to go back at 1:30 p.m. and the other 4 at 2:00 p.m. The drive was about 20-25 minutes. We were at the resort by 9:15 a.m.
The lobby:
It was early and empty! There was no one to be seen anywhere except the front desk staff.
They do have a Senses Spa here, but I didn’t see it beyond this sign.
Dining here seemed to be very limited. From what I can see on their website these are the dining options:
Here is the menu from Portobello’s located near the lobby of the resort.
The inside of Portobello’s:
The pizza place:
This was outdoor seating for one of the restaurants, but I’m not sure which one!
The view stepping out of the lobby building towards the beach:
It was cloudy, but not raining, and not humid.
The view walking from the lobby to the pool and beach area:
They did have a small lap pool. It didn’t look the best.
View of some of the rooms:
The pool! It’s located right at the edge of the beach. It wasn’t the cleanest…
There is a small hot tub here in the corner and there was a huge sign that said NO KIDS ALLOWED IN THE HOT TUB. There also was a towel hut if you needed a towel.
View of some of the other accommodations. This section was not open. This resort suffered hurricane damage years ago, and still has not recovered! That was not disclosed anywhere prior to arrival.
We made it to the beach and had our choice of seats!
The beach was beautiful! The sand was super soft.
Looking back towards the resort:
This was literally my day! I loved every minute!
There was a lifeguard on the beach. They had kayaks and paddle boards you could take out. You just had to sign a waiver.
The bar was opening, and that was included with our all-inclusive package for the day, so I went to check it out.
Here’s a look at the menu:
The drinks actually all sounded amazing! I love fruity sooooo….
I don’t even remember what this was, but it was good!
One thing to note…the vendors on the beach. From the second we sat down, there were vendors coming up to us to buy whatever they were selling. Keep in mind, there were not many people there at all, and some of the vendors were selling the same items. They did not stop when we said no. They just told us, “It doesn’t cost anything to look.” I was firm in my nos but my friend was not! This went on until about lunch time. They approached every new person that came onto the beach. This stretch of beach is so small, so that was overwhelming to me.
You can see here, they did have a security guard. The others are vendors.
I decided to take a walk down the beach. This is part of the resort that is not open.
It was a nice walk and beautiful scenery!
Also not open and looking extremely run down:
Looking back towards the part of the beach where we were sitting:
We were hungry for lunch, so we ordered! These were the boneless wings…
They actually tasted like McDonald’s chicken nuggets.
Fries:
These were okay.
Another drink:
We were being picked up at 2:00 p.m. to head back to the ship.
We met our driver out front at 2:00 p.m. and were back in the port by 2:20 p.m. I wanted to get back onto the ship to chill by the pool for a little bit.
We buzzed through the port area looking in the shops.
I went directly to the pool at the aft after browsing the buffet first. My previous lunch was eh.
Nothing here looked good to me either!
DJ Cue was playing and people had clearly been taking advantage of their drink packages! I went back to the room around 5:00 p.m.
I brought some pizza back with me because I was starving at this point.
I took a nap and then showered for dinner.
Tonight’s menu:
Fried Mozzarella:
This was really good!
Baked Meatballs:
These were Chrissy’s, but I tasted them and they were delicious! I wanted more!
Our other tablemate Dana ordered the BBQ Pulled Wild Boar:
I also got the Roasted Broccoli & Three Cheese Soup:
This was also so good! (Carnival wins the soup award of all cruise ships I’ve been on!)
Linguine, Salsiccia Italiana:
I think this was Chrissy’s! She ate it all, so it must have been good!
Southern Fried Chicken:
I really wasn’t very hungry, so I ordered the Grilled Chicken Breast:
Was perfect!
These might have been Salmon Cakes that Dana ordered?!
Bitter N Blanc:
I got some fruit!
They did some dancing for us tonight!
After dinner, we went to see the Love & Marriage show. IT WAS SO FUNNY! They picked the perfect couples! I laughed so hard! I highly recommend it.
Thoughts on Lighthouse Pointe Grand Lucayan Resort:
This resort is not super crowded. It is not a 5 or even 4 star resort in my opinion, but a 3 star.
I think this is perfect for a quick 3-4 day getaway with friends who have low expectations regarding food.
The drinks were GREAT! Food options were varied.
There is no real entertainment aside from some music beach/poolside, so it’s a good location if you want to relax by the beach/pool.
They was 1 kayak and 2 paddleboards, all complimentary. You did have to wear a life vest and sign a waiver.
They did have life sized chess, connect 4, and cornhole.
There is some shopping across the street.
The beach and water were both great.
Review of Leo Wells Jr. and his tour service:
5 stars! He was super nice when we initially met him. He was very easy to work with and communicated before and after the excursion. We paid him directly the day of for his transportation services, and paid the resort directly. I would highly recommend!
Taryn Travels 