2017 Exotic Eastern Caribbean Carnival Cruise Days 1, 2 and 3

After a week back in summer reality I'm ready to share about our Carnival Cruise!

Last summer Alex and I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon. 

We had a great time and loved seeing the various ports, so we booked another cruise for this summer. 

Initially we booked through Norwegian, but the itinerary changed and we weren't so sure we wanted to visit Cuba, so we changed. 

Now I was a bit bummed that we had to give up our nice balcony room at a great rate, but I was glad to explore a new cruise line-Carnival. 

Now I've always heard that Carnival is a party ship and probably the most basic cruise ship. 

After this trip I would definitely agree. 

It's not that we didn't like it, but comparing it to another cruise line, it didn't have as many amenities and extras. 

Day 1 was a long travel day with a couple hours driving to the airport, delayed flights, missed connections, obtaining a rental car and a couple more hours to Marathon. 

We made it in time to catch some dinner. 

We dropped off our bags and headed to Sunset Grille and Bar. 

They are located right on the water before the 7 mile bridge and even has a pool. 

It was raining just as we got there, so no one was sitting outside. 

My only complaint was it took SO long to get our food. 

We were starved after traveling all day, and we felt it took forever to get our food. 

From there we went back to our hotel- Courtyard Marriott Marathon and enjoyed the breathtaking sunset. 

After enjoying the sunset and walking around the marina next door we headed to Sweet Savannah's.

They made our wedding cake, and since we had a destination wedding we didn't keep the top half like some traditionalists do. 

I was hoping they would have a small cake or some cake slices, but I settled for a hot fudge sundae instead!

Last year I got to see a momma dolphin teaching her young how to swim in the early morning. 

We were hoping this was a regular occurrence, so we went out early to check it out on Day 2. 

Unfortunately, no dolphins to watch. 

I did get to enjoy a little bit of time at the pool. 

It was slightly cloudy and we needed to check out soon, so we didn't stay long. 

Renewing our vows. ha!

On my way to check out the hotel the assistant recognized me and asked if I was the bridge from last year. 

She had helped with our wedding, and even remembered me a year later! Wow! Good memory!

I got to see and talk to Jill who is in charge of all affairs at the hotel. 

It was so good to see everyone, and then we headed back north to Miami. 

Along the way we stopped at an outlet mall. 

Alex and I love to shop. 

We found some great deals at Coach and Gap, so it was a good thing we ended up checking two suitcases instead of one. 

On our Royal Caribbean cruise last year we stayed at a hotel really close to the port. 

We didn't love it that much, so this time we stayed a little farther away, and it was right by the airport. 

It was so easy to drop off our luggage at the hotel, return the rental car and take the shuttle back to the hotel. 

We even got on the wrong shuttle. 

I knew it was the wrong one, but Alex thought anything that said Marriott was ours. 

We needed the Marriott not all of the other extensions associated with the Marriott. 

I finally was able to convince him it was the wrong shuttle, and as we stopped to let someone else on, we hopped off!

We found the right shuttle and made it back to our hotel. 

That evening we ate at Catch of the Day. 

It was nearly right across the street from the hotel. 

The meal was good but a bit pricey. 

It had a fun atmosphere on the deck.

The following morning I was up early and hit up the elliptical. 

We used Uber for the first time and made it to the port right on time. 

Alex and I tried out the Faster to the Fun pass and his parents who were going on the cruise with us did not. 

I was really curious to see how much faster we would get to the FUN!

His parents actually beat us through security and the initial check in.

We did board the ship before them, but it was only by 20 minutes. 

Our room was ready, but they didn't bring the luggage early like was promised. 

We did some exploring and grabbed some lunch.

Played a little golf.

And then Alex's parents went to the spa to celebrate their 30 Wedding Anniversary this past April.

Alex felt bad that he hadn't gotten me anything for our anniversary, so he told me to head to the spa too. 

 I got a nice hot stone massage, and I could definitely tell when we were pulling out of the port. 

I was a bit bummed that Carnival's relaxing room doesn't overlook the ocean like Royal Caribbean's did, but I'm going to do a whole post on the pro's and con's of each line later on. 

I got up from the massage and in my normal nature decided to nearly run down the 6 flights of steps to our room. 

I love to walk; I love to run. 

It was no different than I would do any other time, but I think something got to me from laying horizontal while we pulled out of the port to suddenly being vertical and running down 6 flights of stairs. 

I got to our room and felt a bit weird, but we decided to go explore some more and get a bite to eat before our regular dinner. 

I could barely sit up on the deck of the buffet. 

I told Alex that I thought I would be sick, and we headed back to the room. 

I've never taken seasick pills before, but I popped some of them and laid down. 

After about an hour I was feeling a bit better, so we headed to the regular dining room for dinner. 

It was good to get some regular, whole food in me. 

I'm not a great person for fried/greasy food like the buffet offered. 

We watched some music trivia, the welcome show and went to bed, ready to wake up in Nassau!

Tomorrow I will be doing a little home tour, and then on Wednesday I will be back with Days 4, 5 and 6!

Have a great Monday!