While taking a cruise out of your home port is always a great idea…. it’s not always that easy. 

• Get there a day early
• Eat breakfast at the hotel
• Not rushed
• Avoid port parkings fees
• Shuttle service to the ship
• Get to sleep in

•  Leaving your car in an unsecured lot 
• Having to take a cab back to your hotel (varies per location)
• Usually an open lot, while most ports offer parking garages

If you would like to hear the show we did aboard the Norwegian Sky, you can listen to it here.

Embarkation in Miami, Florida was a breeze, we were out of the car and on the gangway in less than fifteen minutes. I thought we were going to be waiting in lines because we didn’t get to the port til 1:30 pm. The port process is really streamlined and NCL did an excellent job get people processed.

The rooms weren’t ready til 2 PM so we killed time around the pool and tasting all the drinks which the bar tender was so nice to give us the extra pours to sell us on drinks.  The rooms were pretty small but I couldn’t complain, they did upgrade us to a suite which was nice. The TV’s are still standard TV’s, plenty of closet and drawer space as well. The did show the days activities on the TV channels on the ship and you had to option to buy. Have read that folks aren’t impressed with the room size but seriously…. your on a cruise, it’s not like your in there every waking minute anyway!

There are a few speciality restaurants on board, we ate at Cagney’s (steakhouse with a surcharge of $25). The other dining times we just went to the main dining rooms (The Palace and The Crossing). The buffets on board were your standard hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, and seafood. One place I did take advantage of was the sports bar on board, it was open til 5:30′ish every morning and it made for some great after hours food.

The private island , Great Stirrup Cay was nothing to write home about. It seriously looks like the cruise line hasn’t put a dime into the island in about 20 years. It wasn’t ran down but could have been improved. One thing that I was really impressed about was the cleanliness of the bathrooms on the island. They were kept cleaner then some of the public restrooms on the ship. We had a nice BBQ on the island and went for a little walk on the nature trail afterwards.

When the cruise comes to an end, they don’t rush you for disembarkation, they just ask you to be out of your cabin by 9 am so they stewards can flip the cabin over for the next cruise. We didn’t get off the ship til about 10 am.

For my first NCL experience, it was a fun time. No real complaints.

This marks Carnival’s first full season of Mediterranean cruises in three years, as well as the first time the line has home-ported a ship in Barcelona. To commemorate the line’s return to Europe, for the first time ever Carnival is offering an exclusive pre-sale for past guests from January 19 to January 25, including complimentary two-category upgrades, along with special pricing with rates starting at just $829 per person, based on double occupancy.

For consumers new to Carnival, the line’s full range of cruise fares, including highly attractive Early Saver rates will open on Tuesday, January 26. The 130,000-ton Carnival Magic will offer a host of features popularized on its sister ship Carnival Dream, including a WaterWorks aqua park, a stunning café/live entertainment venue called Ocean Plaza; Serenity adults-only retreat; spacious, modern facilities for children and teens; and a wide range of stateroom categories.

 Several innovations unique to the Carnival Magic will be announced in the coming months. “Our past guests and travel agent partners have provided a tremendous amount of feedback in terms of their desire for more Mediterranean cruises from Carnival,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO. “This extensive program in 2011 will offer an excellent variety of itinerary lengths and options for consumers to experience and explore one of the world’s most beautiful and fascinating regions aboard the new Carnival Magic.” Cahill added, “Making the decision to return to Europe is an indicator of our confidence in the increasing willingness of North Americans to travel internationally as we move toward 2011.”

Carnival Magic’s 2011 Mediterranean schedule will encompass three seven-day departures, six nine-day cruises, and eight 12-day voyages round-trip from Barcelona May 10 – October 16, 2011.

 A special one-time nine-day voyage from Venice to Barcelona will operate May 1-10, 2011.

Each of the three itineraries start and end on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, which reflects consumers’ traditional vacation patterns and provides convenient opportunities for adding a pre- and post-cruise stay. Seven-day cruises will feature Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Livorno, Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples and Messina, Italy. Departure dates include July 3, 10 and 17, 2011. Nine-day cruises will call at Marseilles, France – the line’s first call at this charming coastal town – followed by Monte Carlo (excluding the August 26 departure); Livorno, Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples, and Messina; and Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Voyages will operate June 3 and 24, August 5 and 26, September 16, and October 7, 2011.

The special nine-day cruise departing May 1 will visit Dubrovnik, Croatia; Messina, Naples, Rome (Civitavecchia), Livorno; and Monte Carlo. The 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages will feature Monte Carlo or Marseilles; Livorno, Rome (Civitavecchia), and Naples; Dubrovnik (excluding the May 22 departure which will visit Palma de Mallorca); Venice (overnight call) and Messina.

 These voyages will depart May 10 and 22, June 12, July 24, August 14, September 4 and 25, and October 16, 2011. On the Carnival Magic’s Mediterranean cruises, guests can sample the region’s renowned cuisine, experience unique sightseeing opportunities, view stunning architecture and visit centuries-old historical landmarks and museums. All three itineraries will operate round-trip from Barcelona, a bustling, cosmopolitan city whose modern cruise terminal is considered one of the finest in Europe.

As the line’s newest ship, Carnival Magic will offer a host of on-board amenities and facilities, including Ocean Plaza, an indoor/outdoor café and live entertainment venue with full bar service, a patisserie and a dance floor; Serenity, an exclusive adults-only retreat offering magnificent sea views; and The Lanai, a wrap-around promenade encircling the ship with cantilevered whirlpools that will extend over the ship’s sides.

Carnival Magic will also build upon the line’s distinction as the family cruise leader, with dedicated facilities and programming for children in three age groups – Camp Carnival (2-11), Circle “C” (12-14) and Club O2 (15-17) – along with a miniature golf course and an expansive WaterWorks aqua park with multiple water slides and other features. Extensive formal and casual dining options, including two two-level main dining rooms, an expansive poolside Lido restaurant, an elegant steakhouse serving U.S.D.A. prime dry-aged beef, a sushi bar, and complimentary 24-hour stateroom service, will also be available.

High-tech features aboard the Carnival Magic will include the Fun Hub, a comprehensive intranet portal and shipboard social network, along with ship-wide Wi-Fi access. Health-conscious guests will enjoy a 23,750-square-foot Cloud 9 Spa featuring a thalassotherapy pool, thermal suite and elaborate spa and gymnasium facilities. Carnival Magic will also feature 1,845 staterooms – the most ever on a Carnival ship – and will offer a wide range of accommodation categories. These include the affordable cove balconies, located on Deck 2 and closer to the water line, and a wide range of staterooms including deluxe ocean views with two-bathrooms, some of which feature five berths. The past guest promotion is capacity controlled and available until midnight Monday, January 25.

A valid past guest number is required at the time of booking. The promotion applies to new individual bookings for stateroom categories 4A and higher. Offer is capacity controlled and certain restrictions apply. Upgrades are available within specific stateroom accommodation types (i.e., interior to interior, ocean view to ocean view, balcony to balcony, etc.). Ship highlights and itinerary details are available at www.carnival.com/magic. Itineraries for Carnival Magic beyond October 2011 will be announced at a later date. For additional information and reservations, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.

Here in Jacksonville, Florida it has been just as bitterly cold. I wake up every morning at 3:45 to get ready for work and there is nothing like stepping outside and waiting for the car to warm up in sub-arctic temperatures! I find myself doing a dance sometimes outside my car while the car warms up (luckily no one is up that early).

Just to give you an idea of how cold it actually was around the state, check out these record breaking temperatures:

Miami: 37 F
Tampa: 25 F
Orlando: 29 F
Key West: 42 F
Tallahassee: 14 F
Jacksonville: 17 F

You can only imagine how this effected the power grids in all these communities across Florida (we usually has temps in the 60′s this time of year).

On Saturday night, I refused to go out. My digital thermometer on my porch said 27 F and that was at the beaches!  Okay, I will stop complaining. My best friend lives in Indianapolis and he has been getting dumped on with snow.

Additionally, Carnival will be the exclusive cruise line advertiser during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with the new spots running throughout 17 days of the Olympic broadcast period on the NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and USA networks.  Carnival will also be the exclusive sponsor of the athletes’ section on NBCOlympics.com, featuring custom videos of the Olympic competitors.

The first TV spot showcases the fun of a Carnival cruise through the eyes of a teenager who watches as her father leaves his email, computer and cell phone behind, getting lost in the joys of dancing, poolside shenanigans and family fun, Carnival-style.  

Another spot, “Gangway,” captures the moment of transformation that happens to a Carnival guest when he/she crosses the bridge and goes from land to sea, leaving the everyday worries and routine of today back onshore.

“Everybody In” celebrates the one-armed photo — that photo everyone wants to be in, so someone ends up holding the camera with one arm while posing with the group — all with the goal of highlighting the feeling of fun that is true to the Carnival experience.

“The new work does a great job of portraying the social and participatory nature of the Carnival vacation experience, capturing those moments that make our cruises so uniquely memorable and enjoyable for our guests,” said Jim Berra, chief marketing officer for Carnival Cruise Lines.  

“We leveraged truisms about the brand and about our Carnival loyalists to communicate moments that capture quintessential Carnival fun,” said Pete Favat, chief creative officer at Arnold. “People who want to have pure fun on a vacation will see themselves in the work, and that connection should help propel interest.”