Sunshine-n-Wine

I really wanted to take my mom on her first cruise, and I chose this 4-night out of Port Canaveral because I thought it would be a good place to start for her. Date: October 3rd - 7th Home Port: Port Canaveral Parking: Park Port Canaveral (at the Radisson) $7.95/day + tax (free shuttle) Price: $520 total incl taxes - Porthole cabin R23 Ports of Call: Nassau, Half Moon Cay (private island) Embarkation Day Recommend making a parking reservation at Park Port Canaveral . Easy, cheap, convenient, and quick. They have shuttles running pretty much non-stop and nice staff. Check-in and boarding was smooth and the fastest yet!  Food Your typical Carnival fare.  The Lido deck buffett area is small, but there are still enough choices to find something to eat.  I was surprised to find out that Elegant night was the evening as Nassau (port from 12-8).  Needless to say, dinner wasn't all that crowded. Dessert suggestion on Elegant night - order Che...

The hubs travels often for work, and it was great to finally have the chance to join him over Labor Day weekend plus visit my cousin at the same time.  Here's a rundown of our weekend  - we ate a lot and the rest was family time for me so not much touristy stuff. Hotel Crown Plaza Metro - W Madison & Halstead - Hubs always stays here when he has to go to his corporate office, and it really is in a great location.  My favorite things about it?  It's close to Greektown, right off the highway, is convenient to CTA buses, and is within walking distance of Union Station.  Restaurants Amarit Thai & Pan Asian Cuisine  - Good food, reasonable prices.  600 S. Dearborn Blokes and Birds - Such a neat little pub-style restaurant just south of Wrigley Field.  I had the lamb sandwich, which was just OK.  Hubs got shepherd's pie - lamb-based.  Very good!  The service was fantastic!  We got there abo...

The Breeze ports in Miami and does several different itineries.  We chose an 8-day, which included Curacao, La Romana, Grand Turk, and Aruba. Parking in Miami Premier Cruise Parking ( premiercruisepark@bellsouth.net ), 1415 NE 2nd Ave. Parking Garage $8 per day, including tax.  Free shuttle to port.  The wait for the arrival of the shuttle at the parking garage going to port can be a little long, but it's worth it to us.  We've used this garage twice and will use it again.  I believe that it is better to prepay so you don't have to do it there. The Food The steakhouse is very much the same as any of the other Carnival steakhouses, but still very good. We also ate dinner in Cucina del Capitano - excellent food and service!  Highly recommend!  We also made use of Guy Fieri's Burgers several times - hello yumminess!  Tandoor Indian cuisine (aft pool location) and Blue Iguana burritos were also amazing.  We did not starve on this trip! ...

Date: December 14-17 (3-day) Home Port: Port Canaveral Parking: Radisson Resort at the Port $6.95/day + tax (free shuttle) Price: $340 total incl taxes - Inside Cabin 6521 Ports of Call: Nassau, Cococay (RCCL private island) We have cruised Carnival three times in the past and wanted to try another line.  This short, last minute trip was perfect!  Found a great price and booked 8 days before embarkation. Embarkation Day Recommend making a parking reservation at the Radisson Resort at the Port .  Easy, cheap, convenient, and quick.  They have shuttles running pretty much non-stop and nice staff. Check-in and boarding was smooth and fast.  I think this is pretty typical with a smaller ship, but still very nice to not have to stand in line forever. Food Really, really disappointing.  The Windjammer was closed at odd times for set-up (example - 6:15 Sunday evening).  The food in the main dining room didn't really get good until Sunday night....

Just returned from our second trip to San Fran so we didn't do as much of the touristy stuff.  I'd also like to note that I am wearing a boot right now for a stress fracture and will write a bit about my experience being slightly physically impaired in this very hilly, very busy city. To start, the boot was rough.  Along with hills, some of the sidewalks dip down toward the street - no big deal if you aren't wearing something that holds your ankle straight.  Walking across the street and over the street car lines was trickier than I thought it would be due to lack of ground feel and ability to balance.  I was up and down street cars and buses, and people are pretty patient when they see that someone is injured.  I will say, though, that the city's attitude isn't overly gracious for those who are slightly handicapped.  Not mean, just not overly nice about having to go slow.  I also don't remember more than one or two people actually getting up to give...

We spent four days in Napa as part of trip to California.  Before reading through reviews, here is a list of general tips: Don't plan to visit more than 4 or 5 wineries in a day. If you can, download the eConcierges app on your droid or iPhone.  There are a lot of 2 for 1 tasting discounts (they are denoted "2:1" on my reviews below).  Split the tastings between two people if possible.  If you taste by yourself, you risk getting too drunk too fast and not being able to continue to other wineries.  For our 2 for 1's, we split them with another couple so four people tasted for the price of one.  Great deal financially and very wise. Take snacks and water with you.  Remember that protein (like a burger) is the best thing you can eat! Wine country is very casual - so jeans will probably be the nicest item of clothing you really need unless you are planning some really upscale jaunts. Hotel Villa Murialdo Vacation Rental - Unit D - 2BR, 2BA ...

Had a great dinner in the Steakhouse on the first night as expected, and the service staff were amazing as usual throughout the entire cruise.  We went to four ports, but since I don't have much to say about Nassau, I'm not including it here. Here are a few tips about Valor: Cabin 6373 and the two on either side are right above where the band plays in the casino.  The room is super loud.  Be sure not to book near this area. Cabin 7440 is a corner room with a huge wrap-around deck just large enough for 20 or so people to hang out.  The Aft pool, Prometheus, is adults only and right next to the pizzaria. The Serenity deck is in the front of the boat and only has jacuzzis, no pool. Port Rundown: St. Thomas - Sapphire Beach Hopped a cab (JR AKA the "Road Runner" was our driver - he was great) and road out to Sapphire Beach - about 30 minutes or so.  Cost is $10pp one-way.  We took our snorkeling gear with us, rented a chaise ($7), and ordered...