Recap of my Jan "Side to Side" cruises

Here's my recap of my two short "side by side" cruises. Side by side = two ships that are leaving out of the same port.

Jan 11th, 2024 was on Independence of the Seas 4 Day with my husband. Only stop was at Labadee, their private island. We took this comped with the casino last minute, just a relaxing vacay. I didn't take too many photos, but here are the ones I found on my phone.

Found a duck while waiting for my room to ready



We had a superior large oceanview stateroom. I mean, not as good as a balcony but I did really like this room. The sitting area was huge and was a great morning coffee/breakfast spot.






Rained pretty much the whole day. Here is the Icon of the Seas! Hopefully next year I can get on that one.




Some casino wins. Didn't really play much this trip, spent a lot of time doing other things, like trivia, game shows, etc.

 

A couple more slot wins.




Watched a lot of games in Playmakers



Found another duck



Labadee





Bartender made this for me, which I hated but I had to sit here and pretend to LOVE it because he was so nice LOL



Then went to Trivia and got a mudslide.



Met up with a friend who gave me a bottle of top shelf champagne for my next voyage

 

Onto my next ship. Husband went home and I went solo for the next one, for the double points. If you sail solo, you get double points. We are trying to get to Diamond+ this year. I think as of this point now, I need about 3 more cruises, so I have a few more solo trips ahead of me.


Independence disembarked at terminal G and Freedom was embarking in terminal A. Diamond Concierge AND Guest Services told me there would be a shuttle for me at 8am to catch to terminal A. After disembarking Indy, I asked a porter about the shuttle and he said "It would be around". After waiting for 30 minutes, I asked the porter if it was possible to walk to terminal A. He looked stunned and said "Sure, but it's a mile walk". I said "Ok, is it flat and are there sidewalks like this the whole way" and he said "Yeah, totally walkable, just a loooong walk"



So at this point I decided yes, I could walk it. I had a small carry-on suitcase and a backpack, but I usually walk 3 miles daily at home so I was not deterred. Plus, had to walk off all that pizza! So I started my trek from G-A. Once I got to terminal D, which was MSC, a porter stopped me asking me if I needed a taxi and I sort of mentioned I was on my way to terminal A. He laughed and said it was so far, take the shuttle. And I asked him how long of a wait for the shuttle and he said "30 min". So I said "it's ok, I'll just walk." then I asked him "Is it possible to walk from D-A, are sidewalks like this the whole way there, I won't encounter a busy road where there isn't pedestrian path" and he said "Oh you can walk it, it's just far"



So again, I decided to continue my trek to terminal A. Once I got to C, a Norwegian terminal, I came across my first roadblock. The sidewalk ended, and it was just a dark parking garage. NCL didn't have a ship in port that day so it seemed pretty deserted. Google Maps seemed pretty confused about what I was supposed to do, and it seemed like my only option was to walk on the side of a busy road that didn't have any pedestrian sidewalks. My walking optimism was gone and just wanted to GET to terminal A, I just gave up and called an Uber to get me the rest of the way to terminal A, LOL!!

Mind you, I am doing all this ON MY BIRTHDAY. Such stress haha! Next time I will just Uber from the very beginning.

 

Freedom of the Seas, 4 day, Jan 15th 2024

MY BIRTHDAY, alone! Never have done this, but it just lined up nicely so whatever, I can do it.

Found a duck on my birthday!



Everytime I went to a bar, they must have had a notification like this on their tablet, because people were singing happy birthday to me ALL the time



I asked for a lemon drop here and it came in wine glass?! Um, ok lol



My lovely room was behind a stairwell on Deck 3, which actually ended up being really nice.







Inside stateroom. Was a last minute booking and free, so couldn't be too choosy.



Bathroom



Of course had to check out the casino before sailaway and saw this maxed out major. I HAD planned on playing it but believe me, people CAMPED out at these machines the whole cruise and I just wasn't going to do that (Even with my name haha) - I think someone did hit it on the last day.

 

Itinerary for this cruise was Coco Cay (private island) and Nassau

Here is my time at Coco Cay







Got back on the ship early in hopes of getting on that Dragon Link...and NOPE, one lady camped out there the whole day.

I did get on the piggies though

 

That evening, I went to windjammer buffet for supper and then played blackjack for HOURS...I think two sessions, until about 2 am. I was at a really fun table and we all were having drunk fun. Idk how much I won, but I only bought in for 100.00 so I did pretty well according to my two phone pictures. Not a FORTUNE but enough to keep me going. I am PROFESSIONAL at winning the same exact amount each time HAHA

 

In Nassau, I decided to just walk to Starbucks for some fast wifi and walk around the new port area a bit. WOW, the new port area is a HUGE improvement








Starbucks was dreadful. SO busy and the wifi there sucked worse than my cellular service with Tmobile (which is BAD), so I headed back to the ship for buffet and adults only solarium time

 

I ended up falling asleep in the solarium after a couple drinks, then went to watch sailaway



We were waiting on these people, who were just CALMLY eating their takeout before boarding. At this point in time, they were supposed to be onboard 20 minutes prior. IDK why they were being so nice, I would have been pitching my food and getting my ass on that ship



My room steward was great. He left me quite a few towel animals. I do tip an extra 5.00-10.00 each day, especially when solo because I think they make way less money on solo guests. I also try to keep my room as clean as possible and I even subtly take my own trash out to the communal trash cans so their work is really light.

 

Before my windjammer dinner, I did a quick 10 minutes of blackjack with a buy in of "whatever is in my purse, which was 60.00.

Success!



After supper, I had some drinks and played this slot for hours getting many little bonuses. This was my best one.



Typically, I don't like the "pot" style of games but I am trying to expand my horizons lol.

Here is what I presume is a "Drunk Aubrey" photo



Got one last towel animal



Late night pizza on the last day! Always tastes better at night!



And that is it, it was time for me to head back home

 

I forgot how DREADFUL Miami airport is. I had a 1:30PM flight so I got to the airport around 10, was to my gate by 10:30 (thanks precheck), and this was the ONLY spot to eat



The prices here are CRIMINAL, even for an airport. A mixed drink, with half an ounce of booze, was 20.00 BEFORE tip.

*sigh* what is one to do, I couldn't deal with the worse atmosphere outside of this restaurant so I sat my butt down at the bar. At least I could watch TV



I ended up ordering a Michelob Ultra and a hamburger and my bill wasn't bad (40.00 after tip) But I did get to witness other people have ultimate sticker shock when getting their bill

God, this airport is SO gross. The bathrooms are criminally bad. Of course, most of the time I don't have a huge choice in where I fly into, esp with Ubers from Fort Lauderdale to Miami costing so much, but I do think I will try to avoid flying OUT of this airport because more than 30 minutes here and you will probably get sick from the lack of cleanliness.

Now that I am back home and have caught up on work, I guess it is time for my next cruise....which is on Sunday (Feb 4th) This one will be out of Galveston and with my husband and friends so I'll do a separate topic on that after the fact

 

I have the Capitol One Venture X which gives me some lounge access across some airports, but Miami airport, at least the domestic terminal I was in, didn't have any lounges. And in Miami airport, you cannot go into international terminal if you do not have an international flight. Believe me, I've tried it lol.

We are actually staying at an airbnb because MOST Galveston hotels are overpriced and scarce. Since we are traveling with another couple, was cheaper this was, got a 2 bedroom, 2 bath place for about 230.00. A 2 star hotel was STARTING at 160.00+, a solid pass. And I will take lots of pictures of the terminal area!

I am jealous, I'd love to go on Prima, but since Royal sends me free cruises, just can't afford to pass those up.

 

if you could have seen my face when I got the Norwegian terminal C and realized that the line ended there haha! So close, yet so far. I have since talked to other cruisers who were told the same thing I was, only to get to terminal C blockade lol

 

that is a steal on galveston hotels! I loved the Haven when I tried it in 2021 so I get it! I am not that high up on NCL, platinum only. It is nice how NCL does double points promos all the time and I'd have that raspberry mojito on a drip if I could lol

 

Getting mine ready to hide

 

I got my room cleaned once a day. My room steward preferred to do it in the afternoon!