Carnival Horizon 8 night Southern Caribbean Review

My husband Gabe and I just returned from the Carnival Horizon 8 night Southern Caribbean Cruise where we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. I have so many amazing things to say about our experience. I'll be posting each of our ports and some of the activities we did on our Fun Day's at Sea so stay tuned!.

I have sailed on the Horizon's sister ship, the Vista when in 2017. Although the two ships nearly mirror one another, my experience on the Horizon blew away all pre-conceived notions I had prior to getting onboard. Also, I was a little apprehensive about 8 nights at sea, as the longest cruise I had done until this was 7 nights and I felt that was a bit too long. Now that I am home, I wish we had more time. I cannot say enough about the staff on the Horizon and this was my favorite cruise to date.

A bit about the staff: Our Cruise Director, Cookie, was the assistant Cruise Director when I sailed the Vista in 2017. I knew already he would be a blast, but I wasn't expecting to leave feeling like I made a new friend, and that was exactly the impression Cookie left. He's good people. Our room steward I-Made was one of the best I've ever had on any ship. That side of the staff does not get the credit they deserve and I appreciate all the hard work they put in to make our vacation enjoyable. Then there were the bartenders on the ship. I yet again ran into a bartender I have met on another ship, Annamaria from Alchemy Bar. She has always been able to entertain a large group while making crazy amounts of delicious drinks. The entire group at Alchemy was a blast. We also really enjoyed hanging out at Farenheit 555 bar with Ivan, with thousands of guests, he always remembered our names and what we liked to drink. We never met a rude staff member and everyone went out of their way for all the guests.

Our Carnival Horizon 8 night Southern Caribbean Itinerary 

Our itinerary on the Carnival Horizon 8 night Southern Caribbean gave us a chance to experience 4 brand new ports to us, along with giving us 3 days to relax at sea and explore the beautiful ship. I can tell you that 3 days at sea was not enough time to conquer everything we wanted to do and I now fully understand why people do transatlantic cruises. Prior to sailing on the Horizon, days at sea were not something I looked forward to. This has since changed. Also, this was the first time I've sailed knowing I had aggressive reoccurring stage 1 melanoma, so this entire experience was different to me. I couldn't spend hours at time in the sun, which forced me to do other activities on board.

I will do a full review on each of our ports but wanted to share what a little on what did on each day.

Day 1: Sailing Day
I wasn't feeling 100% on the first day of the cruise and we had already booked a reservation at Fahrenheit 555, the ships steakhouse. I got to the point that I couldn't even drink the amazing bottle of Silver Oak we purchased for half off (huge perk of booking Steakhouse on night one). We called it an early night and watched a movie on demand in our room. Carnival offers a ton of movies for free (and some for a small charge) and there are huge flat screen TV's in the rooms. Lame, I know... but I knew we had a long few days ahead of us and I didn't want to overdo it.

IMAX at Sea

Day 2: Fun Day at Sea
On our first day at sea, Gabe and I spent the earlier part of the day at the pool, hit up a few shows, spent some time in the Casino and consumed one too many adult beverages. Due to that - he somehow convinced me to go see IT Chapter 2 at the ships IMAX theater. I've been on a few ships with full theaters before, but never wanted to spend my time at sea watching a movie. Tickets were cheap for an IMAX, $12.95 an adult. Each sailing offers 2 new releases along with a variety of other movies in their Thrill Theater for much less. The other new release movie playing during our sailing was ad astra. Truth be told, I would much rather see Brad Pitt in IMAX than Pennywise the Clown, but IT 2 was way better than I expected. I strongly suggest seeing an IMAX new release while at sea if you find yourself on a ship that offers this add-on. That night we ate at Ji Ji Asian Kitchen and I was pleasantly surprised how great Carnival worked with my Soy Allergy, and how many options I had to choose from.

Topher the Doodle of Jacks Shack

Day 3: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
We asked around for suggestions on the ports we stopped in and everyone I know said not to do an excursion while at Grand Turk - instead walk 5 minutes on the beach down to Jacks Shack, where we could get free beach chairs, drink some local beers and play with Topher the Doodle. This is exactly what we did. That night we at at Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ Smokehouse, where we would find ourselves on many other occasions.

Hilton La Romana

Day 4: La Romana, Dominican Republic
Not going to sugar coat this - I did NOT want to go back to the Dominican Republic. We went earlier in the year and didn't have a wonderful experience and this was prior to all the news coverage. Thank you Carnival for changing my mind about the D.R. We went to Hilton La Romana, which Hilton purchased 4 months ago from Dreams Resort. They are in the process of remodeling the property and you could tell they are going to make sure this resort will give you the experience you want. We would go back here if we find ourselves back in La Romana. That night for dinner - you guessed it, we went back to Guy's Smokehouse.

Caracao

Day 5: Caracao
Our day in Caracao started later than most ports. We got off the ship around 1:30 and boy was it HOT. I live in FL but this was brutal. We strolled around their gorgeous downtown, embraced the history and learned about authentic Caracao, a blue liquor I thought I didn't like prior to this trip. I want to go back to Caracao and check out the beaches! For dinner that night, we went to Bonsai Teppanyaki, a Japanese steakhouse at sea! It was delicious and entertaining.

Flamingo Beach, Aruba

Day 6: Aruba
I cannot wait to write my blog post on Aruba, a place we will absolutely go back and do a proper vacation. When I heard about Flamingo Beach, a private island owned by Renaissance Aruba Resort, I knew that's what we were going to do. I quickly learned it wasn't a cheap option. Lucky for me, I am a loyal Marriott girl and rack my points up through the year. I had more than enough Bonvoy points to secure me a room for free which have us an opportunity to see this luxurious property. Stay tuned for that experience and other options to get to this island if you aren't booking a room!

Floating Mushroom at Chefs Table

Day 7: Fun Day at Sea
On our 6th day at sea was our 5 year wedding anniversary. We spent some time at Serenity, the adults only deck, and ate dinner at Chef's Table, the gastronomic experience at sea. We took it easy and although we had intentions of seeing a comedy show that night, we opted to make it an early night and watch one of the many movies on demand.

Horizon Tides Pool

Day 8: Fun Day at Sea
I should call this - the day I almost hit my 15 drink limit on the Cheers program but that's another story for another day. We spent our last day at Sea at the Tides Pool, which is located on the back of the ship. We both enjoyed this pool over any other on the Horizon. It also made us curious to book a Havana room on our next sailing, knowing they have a private pool during the day for those staying on the deck. We watched College football in the sports bar and played a round of putt putt golf at sea. It was the perfect day!

I would 100% suggest the Horizon to anyone looking to book a Carnival Cruise. The only thing I would warn you on - if you aren't OK with taking the stairs, you may want to inquire about their elevator situation before booking. They have smart elevators, which were a little too smart. Instead of pushing a button, you told it which floor you wanted to go to, and it told you what letter car to ride up or down. Sometimes it was slower than I prefer so we did a lot of walking. According to my health app, we climbed over 150 flights of stairs over our 8 nights (I am OK with this - allows for more food and drink!!). You can find future sailings on Carnival.com or by calling 1.800.764.7419. While you're on Carnival's website, be sure to check out the Carnival Mardi Gras, who will make her premier in 2020 out of Port Canaveral!

Special thanks to Carnival for hosting me on this sailing. I was not required to write this post and all opinions are my own.

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Carnival Craft Beer now available Fleetwide

Cruising craft beer lovers rejoice! On Sunday, my husband Gabe and I headed down to Miami for a special announcement from Carnival Cruise Line on board the Carnival Magic regarding their craft beer line.

In 2016, the Carnival Vista was named the first cruise ship to have a RedFrog Brewery & Pub on board (her sister ship the Horizon also has one). This is a full working brewery where they brew their beer while at sea. When I sailed the Vista in 2017, I had the opportunity to visit the brewery and try their delicious brews firsthand.

Although I am a wine drinker, there is nothing better than a frosty glass of beer on a hot day and while on a week long Vista sailing, I found myself at RedFrog Pub & Brewery daily and even bought a growler of beer! Carnivals craft beers became famous among cruising craft beer lovers. However, when you went on a ship that didn't have a RedFrog brewery on board, you weren't able to indulge in their delicious brews.

So what does the RedFrog Pub & Brewery have to do with the announcement made on the Magic? On Sunday March 17th, Carnivals three most popular craft beers will be available fleet-wide, on all 26 ships! This includes the Parched Pig Toasted Amber Ale, Parched Pig West Coast IPA and Thirsty Frog Caribbean Wheat Ale.

Read more about Carnival's craft beers here

Not only was Carnival the first cruise line to have a brewery on board, it is also the first cruise line to keg and can their own craft beers. If you are familiar with the Florida craft brew scene, you know who Brew Hub is. The Lakeland facility will be handling the production of canning and kegging the three beers for Carnival!

So next time you are on a Carnival Cruise Line, be sure to order yourself a Parched Pig or Thirsty Frog craft beer (I am a huge fan of both the Toasted Amber and the Caribbean Wheat)! Cheers!

Thank you to Carnival for hosting us in Miami for this press announcement. I was not required to write this post and all opinions are my own.

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Carnival Cruise Lines Dr. Seuss Word Challenge

Carnival Inspiration Hosts Kick-Off Event for Dr. Seuss Word Challenge With Book Reading  by Los Angeles Dodgers Player Kike Hernandez to Kids from Boys & Girls Club.

Continuing its longstanding partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Carnival Cruise Line kicked off its seagoing version of the Dr. Seuss Word Challenge with a fun book reading to local children by Los Angeles Dodgers player Kike Hernandez aboard the Carnival Inspiration in Long Beach.

Donning Dr. Seuss’s signature striped hat, Hernandez read the author’s classic “What Pet Should I Get” to more than 100 children from the Long Beach Boys & Girls Club who also enjoyed a delicious Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast featuring none other than with The Cat in the Hat and Friends and Thing 1 and Thing 2, part of Carnival’s exclusive Seuss at Sea program, available on all 26 of its ships. The festivities included in a $10,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Long Beach.

Launched in 2014, Seuss at Sea is a fleetwide program featuring exciting youth, family, dining and entertainment experiences inspired by the amazing world and words of Dr. Seuss. The program includes such fun activities as the Seuss-a-palooza Parade and Story Time, as well as character interactions, Dr. Seuss toys and games and popular movies.

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Carnival Cruise Lines announces four new craft beers for Carnival Horizon

On Sunday my husband and I boarded the Carnival Vista for a few hours to check out four new beers that will debut exclusively on the brand new Carnival Horizon in April 2018.

photo rights: carnival.com

These beers were created by Caranival's Master Brewmaster Colin Presby (who has the coolest job of anyone I've ever met) and will be featured at a new concept restaurant, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse|Brewhouse by Food Network Star Guy Fieri.

photo rights: carnival.com

The Carnival Horizon is Carnival Vista's sister ship and it will set sail in Europe on April 2, 2018. Ironically, I found myself back onboard the Vista exactly a year after I sailed her with my best friend Keri for our annual girls cruise. I was excited to show Gabe the Vista and it seemed like just yesterday that I was a passenger myself....I seriously did not want to get off that ship on Sunday.

photo rights: carnival.com

After a quick tour of the Vista, we headed over to Red Frog Pub where the beers would be unveiled in a traditional keg-tapping. When I sailed the Vista last year, the Red Frog Pub quickly became one of my favorite watering holes on the ship. Aside from being home to the first brewery at sea, this popular pub features popular pub games, table kegs and you can even go on a brewery tour. I laughed knowing if Gabe and I were to ever sail on the Vista, this would be where you would find him at all times.

Time for the beer! First a little about how and why the beers were developed. Colin Presby created these new four beers exclusively for Carnival Horizon’s Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse|Brewhouse. This will be a new dining concept that combines the best of both worlds – an onboard brewery and a full-service restaurant featuring BBQ favorites and sides developed by Food Network star Guy Fieri, who is a member of the American Royal National Barbecue Hall of Fame.

The beers names are a playful take on the line’s popular ThirstyFrog brews that debuted on Carnival Vista – are inspired by the varied barbecue offerings at Smokehouse|Brewhouse. The four new beers on Carnival Horizon include:

ParchedPig Smoked Porter brewed with in-house smoked malt, this robust, full-bodied beer offers big and bold flavors and notes of molasses and hickory smoke, providing the perfect complement to Smokehouse|Brewhouse’s BBQ favorites

ParchedPig Farmhouse Ale this lightly hopped beer is distinguished by its blond color, fruity and complex character with mild spice notes that balance the brew’s dry finish

ParchedPig Toasted Amber Ale highlighted by its rich amber color and notes of toasted caramel and biscuit, this beer is well balanced, smooth and highly drinkable

ParchedPig West Coast IPA the embodiment of a traditional West Coast India Pale Ale, this hoppy, intense beer is loaded with bitterness with a bright flavor profile and distinctive aroma of citrus and pine

“Smokehouse|Brewhouse is a unique culinary concept and we’ve created four fantastic brewed-on-board craft beers that not only showcase different tastes and brewing styles but also serve as the ideal accompaniment to the venue’s delicious array of barbecue offerings,” said Presby.

The brewery takes center stage at Smokehouse|Brewhouse, which, in addition to delicious craft beers and custom cocktails, will offer a rustic, down-home décor as well as a variety of Fieri-designed favorites, all smoked “low and slow” using the chef’s signature rubs and spices. The offerings include smoked-on-board brisket, Memphis-style back ribs, dry-rubbed chicken, pulled pork, and cedar-smoked salmon, along with the chef’s own take on traditional sides and his signature sauces. Dinner menu items are offered on an a la carte basis with a free-of-charge self-service BBQ lunch buffet available on embarkation day and sea days.

Bonsai Teppanyaki - photo rights: carnival.com

A host of other dining venues aboard Carnival Horizon are also available, including the line’s first teppanyaki restaurant Bonsai Teppanyaki, Cucina del Capitano family-style Italian restaurant, Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse, the Mexican-themed BlueIguana Cantina eatery, the 24-hour Pizzeria del Capitano, and the New England-inspired Seafood Shack.

Other features include the groundbreaking bike-ride-in-the-sky attraction called SkyRide, an IMAX Theatre, and the first Dr. Seuss-themed water park at sea.

Dr. Seuss Waterworks, photo rights: carnival.com

A wide range of accommodations – from spa cabins with exclusive privileges at the luxurious Cloud 9 Spa, extra-roomy staterooms in Family Harbor to tropics-inspired Havana staterooms and suites with exclusive daytime access to a Cuban-themed bar and pool – will also be offered.

Carnival Horizon Havana Stateroom, photo rights: carnival.com

Carnival Horizon is scheduled to make its maiden voyage April 2, 2018, with a 13-day Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona – the first of four round-trip departures from that port. Carnival Horizon will reposition to the U.S. with a 14-day trans-Atlantic crossing from Barcelona to New York May 9-23, 2018.

Following its summer schedule of four-day Bermuda and eight-day Caribbean departures from the Big Apple, Carnival Horizon will shift to Miami and kick off a year-round schedule of six- and eight-day Caribbean cruises beginning Sept. 22, 2018 (which happens to be sailing during our wedding anniversary....hmmmm). Carnival Horizon will also offer a special two-day cruise to Nassau from Miami Sept. 20-22, 2018. Click here to view the Carnival Horizon sailings.

I personally cannot wait for the Horizon to set sail and check her out personally!

Thanks to Carnival for hosting my husband and I in Miami. As always, all opinions are my own.

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2017 my year in review

Although I am currently cooking something to bring to a New Years Eve party this evening, I find it impossible that we will be closing out 2017 at midnight. I say it every year, but this year has flown by. Although I didn't blog nearly as often in 2017 as previous years, my life was insanely busy. With that said, it is time for my annual year in review!

January

I said hello to 2017 with The Cancelled Walt Disney World Half Marathon that lived on. For the first time ever, I faced a cancelled race due to weather. Along with a few hundred other runners and volunteers, we made up 13.1 miles around various Disney resorts on race day (we were at Pop Century and had plenty of photo opps). It was amazing to see encouragement from visitors, made up water stations and an describable energy. It was one of my best running moments.

Following the cancelled half marathon, my best friend Keri and I headed down to Miami to board the latest Carnival fleet, the Vista on our annual girls cruise. The Vista was without a doubt the nicest cruise ship I have stepped foot on and I am itching for another cruise soon!

February 

February was when my work madness kicked in. In 2016, I took a new position in a new department within my company for events. Honestly, if someone was to ask me years ago to form my dream job, this is it. It also comes with travel, which I am perfectly fine with - but my blog had to take backseat. In the month of February, I went to NYC, Houston, Seattle and Atlanta. In between my work travel, I found time to run my first Gasparilla Half Marathon in Tampa.

March

March kicked off with back to back work weeks in Atlanta. I spent the entire month of March in Atlanta and got promoted during one of the visits! I also ran the First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon Relay with my husband during one of my weekends home. This is one of my favorite races in Florida and we have participated in it 3 times now.

April

We went to New Orleans for Easter Weekend with my husbands family. It was a busy weekend full of parades and activities and we had an amazing time.

I ended April with a press trip to Disney for a photo workshop called Capture the Bite. I spent 3 days with talented photographers where we were taught new skills. This was a great workshop where we put away our smart phones and brought out our cameras for some incredible photo opportunities - and of course great food, all while meeting new friends.

May 

May started my crazy work schedule again with trips to Atlanta, Nashville and Ponte Vedra. Somehow I was able to keep everything in line and have some free time to do fun stuff. The day I got home from Capture the Bite, I received a text from my friend and neighbor Heather who invited me to be her plus one for a Disney press trip. I couldn't believe it - two Disney press trips in a week?! As Heathers plus one, I got to experience The World of Pandora, the new Avatar land inside Disney's Animal Kingdom prior to it opening. We rode all the rides, took plenty of photos and had a relaxing time in this beautiful world before all madness set in when it opened.

June

June was chaos upon an already chaotic year with work trips to New York, Atlanta and Hollywood (FL) - and my birthday of course. In fact, I didn't blog once during the whole month of June - and recapped everything here. We had an unexpected loss in our little family. We had to suddenly and unexpectedly put down our beloved 13 year old cat Boo. He started breathing funny and after taking him into the vet, we learned he had an advanced stage of cancer. We made the hard life decision to make him comfortable and say goodbye. June, a very eventful month, was very tragic for us.

July

Not to broadcast my age - my 20th High School Reunion was in July. How in the hell did that happen?! I swear we were just at our 10th Reunion. It was great to see so many people we spent a big chunk of our lives with. It was fascinating - one thinks they know everything going on in everyone's lives because of social media - but interacting on Social Media is far different than catching up in person. We almost didn't go, and booked our tickets a few weeks prior to the reunion. It was a great memory and I encourage anyone who is on the fence about attending their reunion to book your ticket and go!

After shedding far too many tears, we decided  it was time to rescue another cat and give him/her the life that we gave Boo. Enter Baloo! We found Baloo through a local foster group and after a week of back and forth, we finally got the approval to bring him home! He is a perfect fit to our little family. This crazy kitten loves to play fetch and is the biggest snuggler I have ever encountered. We are madly in love with this little guy!

August

August is the month that I named "the calm before the storm". We took Baloo on his first road trip to St. Augustine Beach and found out he is a wonderful traveler. My Cousin got married in St. Pete Beach and we got to spend the weekend with my parents. August also kicked off the craziest 4 months of work I could ever imagine. The craziness started with a Florida based roadshow, then I headed back to Atlanta. We were also finalizing a 9 city, 2 country roadshow that began in September. Hold on tight, here we go....

September

Although I knew September was going to be VERY busy, we were not expecting Hurricane Irma to be part of it. Luckily, our house was damage free in Tampa but we did evacuate last minute to my parents in Daytona (only to lose power there). The hurricane had potential impacts on all of my September events and honestly, this was not something I had done a crisis plan for. Once Irma came and went, I found myself in Nashville for a client event, then flew directly from Nashville to Orlando to kick off our 9 city road show. This was a first for our company and between me and my counterpart, we each went to 8 of the 9 locations (I skipped London, she skipped Orlando). Following the Orlando event, my husband and I headed to Fort Lauderdale to go on a Carnival Conquest celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. I did something on this cruise I had never done before - I left my work computer at home and only checked my work email once. Baby steps!

October

Oh October........ Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Portland - or as I nicknamed it, the tour of city skylines. Although I was gone the entire month, we did have an opportunity to check out some pretty great restaurants and I crossed one off my bucket list - Girl and the Goat! I have a ton of blog posts to write about my city adventures, I just need to find the time to do so!

November

My Portland trip ended the road show and I took a red eye so I could make it to packet pickup in time for runDisney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I'm not going to sugar coat it, this was one of the hardest races ever. Between being totally exhausted from being on the road for 6 weeks straight and not having much time to train, my 13.1 miles were a total disaster. I did push through and finish but it wasn't pretty.

December

December was a very nice, much needed slow month. Gabe and I went back to New Orleans. This was a trip rewarding myself for all the work craziness over the past few months. We spent 5 days in the city, eating a ton of delicious food and enjoyed all the Christmas decorations. We even saw snow in the French Quarter!!! We closed out 2017 with a trip back home for Christmas and enjoyed quality time with our families.

Overall, 2017 was a good year. It surely had it's ups and downs but looking back, I would say far more ups. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years eve and that 2018 is the best year ever.

xoxo

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Win a free cruise with Carnival #OpenFun

If you're in NYC today or tomorrow, head over to Greeley Square Park to take part in one of the coolest pop ups I have heard of by Carnival Cruise Line (and for a chance to win a free cruise)! If you aren't in NYC, there is also a chance for you to win, read below for more details.

Carnival Cruise Line is giving consumers a “whiff” of their next vacation in a unique and unconventional way, with a one-of-a-kind “scent-sory” experience featuring an immersive heated tropical tent, a steel drum band and a groundbreaking vending machine dispensing air canned directly from the Caribbean.

The “scent-sational” event also provides consumers with a preview of Carnival’s newest ship, Carnival Horizon, while offering a chance to win a cruise on the 133,500-ton ship which makes its U.S. debut in New York in May 2018.

The cans feature scents of Carnival Horizon’s Caribbean destinations, including Wild Banana Orchid from Grand Cayman, Puerto Rican Coffee from San Juan, Fresh Guavaberry from St. Maarten, Sugarcane Rum from St. Kitts, Island Coconut from Cozumel and Ocean Breeze from the sea.

Carnival designed this activation following a recent survey, conducted by the cruise line, that found that 95% of Americans agree that scent can trigger vacation memories and 56% agree that a particular scent has motivated them to plan a vacation.

In conjunction with the New York City promotion, Carnival is hosting a national sweepstakes on their social channels (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) from Dec. 12-16, asking people to share what scent inspires them to vacation using the hashtag #OpenFun for a chance to win a cruise.

Visit www.carnival.com/awaywego for more information.

WHEN:
Tuesday Dec. 12, 2017 12pm-6pm
Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017 12pm-6pm

WHERE: Greeley Square Park
Located at Broadway and Avenue of the Americas between 32nd and 33rd Street
or online from Dec. 12 - Dec. 16 Twitter | Instagram | Facebook using hashtag #OpenFun

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Visiting Cozumel Occidental Grand Beach Resort, Carnival Conquest

Never in a million years did I think I'd be back in Cozumel this year. When we went in January, I was very sick (and it wasn't from drinking). I had a fever, flu symptoms and didn't want to look at Mexican food or margaritas, which is how you know I'm truly sick. Although I made the best of the day, truth be told I was pretty miserable.

Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria put me on a path to visit Cozumel twice in a year. On our recent cruise on board the Carnival Conquest, we were supposed to stop at Turks and Caicos for our last port - instead we were Mexico bound (in the meantime, Turks is close to reopening their port)! I personally love Cozumel and was excited that Gabe would get to visit it for the first time.

Since this was Gabe's first visit to Mexico, we decided to book an all inclusive. I did quite a bit of research and found the Occidental Grand Beach Resort. Since we had a last minute port change, the only way we were able to book excursions through Carnival was on the ship - so we ended up booking through Shore Excursioneer.

I am usually a little hesitant about all inclusive resorts. They water down the drinks, the food is not great, they're over crowded. NOT the case at Occidental Grand Beach Resort. There were multiple pools to lounge at if the beach wasn't your thing (including an adults only pool).

The food was good!!! There was a wide variety of options including Mexican food, pizza, salad bar, hot dogs, fresh fish and grilled burgers. I was very impressed. We consumed more margaritas than we probably should have. They were delicious and made with premium tequila. Although we both took a 3 hour nap and missed dinner, neither of us woke up with a headache.

We nearly had the beaches to ourselves. We went swimming and could have gone snorkeling - but preferred more margaritas. Overall, Occidental Grand Beach Resort WAS GORGEOUS. The staff was beyond polite and we had a really great time and we would consider coming back and staying for an extended period of time. The only negative, which became a positive, was no wifi. We would have had to pay for a package. This annoyance turned into a blessing as we were able to 100% shut off, something I haven't done in a very long time.

The taxi ride was $20 each way and this isn't a common place for cruisers to visit. We paid $60 a person for the excursion. Considering the amount of margaritas we consumed, we more than got our money back. I strongly suggest Occidental Grand Beach Resort as an all inclusive option while visiting Cozumel!

Once we got back to the Puerta Maya, before we headed back to the boat we made a quick stop to  stopped at Pancho's Backyard for a margarita. I am quite partial to the margarita's at Pancho's, made with fresh lime, cointreau and premium tequila. Their food is pretty decent too. On my first visit here, we were hesitant it was a tourist trap with the proximity of the pier, but it isn't. I suggest a stop in here if you are at the port.

Special thanks goes out to Carnival for hosting me and my husband on this cruise. I was not compensated to write this post and all opinions are my own.

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