For quite some time, I had been keeping my eyes on cruise prices; none of us have ever been on one, and I knew that it’d be a fun adventure at the very least. When Carnival finally dropped a last-minute deal on a balcony room during a week that the girls were out of school for winter break, I pounced. I had my doubts, to be honest. I thought we would be cramped in a small, sub-par room for 5 people, with sub-par food and kitschy entertainment, packed on a boat with thousands of other people with nowhere else to go for 4 nights. But I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Glad I did.
Our cruise departed from Miami, and it just so happened that direct flights out of Philadelphia were super cheap on my loyalty airline of choice (American). At the very least, I told myself, it was a way to rack up miles ahead of our anniversary trip. So I booked flights out of PHL to MIA, and then grabbed a cheap Amtrak from Penn Station to Philly. Total cost was less than our flights out of NYC would’ve been, counting taxis to and from the airport. Who knew?
NYC to Philly to Miami
The train was great as usual (one of my favorite modes of transit), and after a stop at Barnes & Noble to get some trip reading for the little ones, we headed to one of my personal delights in Philly: Tony Luke’s. You should definitely visit the touristy spots (Pat’s, Geno’s), but for my money, Tony Luke’s is the best cheesesteak in town. The wait was insane, though, but still worth it.
Crashing at the Admiral’s Club in PHL for a couple of hours was great as well, and gave us a break before jumping on a nearly three-hour flight to Miami. Was a fairly smooth flight, albeit long. We checked into our hotel for the evening (again, a loyalty spot at a Hyatt near the MIA airport), and I headed out into the humid Miami night to find food. The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, stopped by Books & Books to get some additional trip reading for me, and then headed to board the ship.
Boarding in Miami
We boarded the Victory and went straight to lunch on the primary open air deck. It was then that I began to think that we got more than we bargained for, in a good way. The tacos I had from the Blue Iguana cantina were legit: fresh made tortillas, cooked right in front of me, with well-seasoned meat and a serious hot sauce bar. Color me impressed. We shortly left PortMiami, with the Miami skyline slowly fading in the background.
After dropping our luggage off at our room (which was only slightly larger than expected, though the balcony was great), the family and I took a tour of the ship, including the kids’ club, called Camp Ocean, and the spa. The spa reeled me in with a men’s haircut & shave offer that also included a much needed skin care treatment. My generally dry skin betrays me most in the winter months. Plus, I look great wrapped in towels.
Throughout the trip, dinner was what solidified my opinion on the food. Night after night, we had exotic bites (rabbit, ox tongue, strawberry soup) paired with well-executed entrees (filet mignon, grilled pork chop, BBQ brisket) and delicious dessert options. The tiramisu was legit great.
Key West
After a good night’s sleep (the king bed was fairly nice, though the pillows a bit thin), we awoke to being docked in the southernmost area of the continental US: Key West. We skipped the shore excursions, and opted instead to spend our half day wandering the Key ourselves.
We walked around for a bit, enjoying Cuban Queen coffee and meandering in and out of the small businesses lining the warm sunny streets of Key West. Eventually, we made it to a semi-educational phase of our cruise.
One of the highlights of the entire trip, at least to me, was our visit to Ernest Hemingway’s home in Key West. He’s an author that’s pretty fascinating to me, in that I care more about him and his life than his actual works. Until this past week, I don’t believe that I had actually read anything by him. I changed that by picking up Old Man & The Sea, which was worth the hype, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing his creative space, his pool, and his home. While his death was tragic, his life seemed to be frenzied, enjoyable, and productive. The girls enjoyed the home as well, and Ava is currently reading Old Man & The Sea.
We had to re-board the ship fairly early in the day so that we would make the trek to Cozumel for the next day. I snapped a pretty majestic picture of the Carnival Victory, and after grabbing some lunch and key lime pie, we headed back to the pools for an afternoon in the sun.
Cozumel
Ah, Mexico. While Cozumel wasn’t our beloved Merida or Playa Mujeres, it was still great to be back within our warmer southern neighbor’s borders. Again foregoing the Carnival-sponsored shore excursions, I had booked us a beachside cabana at a park on the island. These things can often be hit or miss, and this one was a shot out of the park. We loved it.
The ladies seemed to have a great time as well, with them splitting time between reading in the hammocks, building sand castles with the provided sand toys, and finding adventure. Ava particularly enjoyed the hammock, though I’m not sure it enjoyed her.
Our hosts for the day were wonderful, and they took to the girls well. Freshly-made guacamole and ceviche kinda helped the ambiance as well. Loved our time there, but wrapped up after a few hours and headed into the town of San Miguel before we had to be back on board. I introduced the girls to fresh churros and a marquesita, which is a Yucatan specialty, comprised of a cheese-filled crepe with Nutella. We found a local taco spot (recommended to us by a local where we picked up the marquesita), before heading back to the ship. The tacos were good, but they honestly didn’t compare to the ship’s tacos, much less the tacos al pastor of Merida or the late night tacos suadero of Mexico City. But still: it was February, snowing in New York City, and we were eating tacos in Mexico.
The Return
Our last full day on the ship was a “fun day at sea”, and while we battled a bit of waves on the way back, it wasn’t strong enough to detract from our enjoyment of the day. I read a lot, we swam a lot, and overall enjoyed the open ocean. We got into Miami early Friday morning, and began our trek back to NYC via plane and train through Philadelphia again. Overall, a very successful trip, and the girls slept great.
Recap
Would I do it again? Absolutely. My family enjoys traveling, they’re good at it, and the cruise was a welcome escape from the twenty-degree weather we have been having here in the five boroughs.
What I Read
- A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins
- A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
- Old Man & The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Week’s Soundtrack
- Tourist’s new album, Everyday.
- Denzel Curry’s latest, TA13OO.
- Maggie Roger’s latest, Heard It In a Past Life
Highlights
- Tony Luke’s cheesesteak
- Books & Books in Miami / Coral Gables
- White Rose Coffee in West Miami
- Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West
- Our stateroom’s balcony
- Many more memories & smiles with the girls
Until next time, here’s a GIF of Ava being Ava in the Miami airport.
