When I left you yesterday, the hubs and I had just spent the day running around Miami’s South Beach. Understandably exhausted, we decided to wake up a little on the late side the next morning. We weren’t in a rush because a) the check out time for our hotel wasn’t until noon (I hear people like to party in Miami;)) and b) we couldn’t start loading onto our cruise ship until 12:30.
Eventually, we made our way out of our hotel room around 10:30 and decided to head back to the same Lincoln Road pedestrian mall that we visited the day earlier for breakfast.
After perusing our options, we decided on Nexxt café.
There were definitely plenty of other options but we picked this one because I wanted a sweet breakfast. I’ve never really been a savory breakfast kind of person and this was one of the only restaurants we found that didn’t base their entire breakfast menu around eggs and bacon.
Like we did the night before, we opted to eat in the outside seating.
This time our view was even sweeter.
We had a little grass park straight ahead of us that had lots of dogs and kids playing. There’s nothing better than the sounds of children laughing.
I decided to have the banana cinnamon nut pancakes. They were huge and definitely delicious.
Mr. A opted for the breakfast burrito made of eggs, black beans and salsa. He loved every bite of it, although it ended up being way too much for him to finish.
We loved the food and the atmosphere at Nexxt but I will say that the service was painfully slow. We both drink a crazy amount of water and there were multiple times we went drinkless for over 15 minutes. So while the food was great and cheaply priced, I don’t know if I would recommend it for those short on time.
Once we finished breakfast, we headed back to our hotel (only a 10 minute walk away) to gather our stuff and head off to the cruise terminal. One 20 minute, $30 cab ride later we were at the cruise terminal.
Once you arrive, the Carnival staff takes away any bags that you don’t want to carry on the ship with you. Aka they require you to give them your large luggage so you don’t clog up their elevators and walkways. Carnival asks you to print off luggage tags designating your room location and attach them to your bags. The staff then uses these tags to help them deliver your bags to your room (usually within a few hours of arriving at the terminal).
Then, you get shuffled inside the cruise terminal for the security process. First, the Carnival staff checks out your passport versus their list of passengers. Then, you get moved on over to everyone’s favorite security shakedown. It’s exactly like an airport security screening. Your bags go through the X-ray machines and you go through the metal detector.
After making sure that you aren’t bringing on too much alcohol or any dangerous objects, you proceed to the check in line to get your “Sail N Sign” card. This card serves as your identification throughout the cruise and gets scanned every time you leave and return to the ship. It can also be used to charge food, drinks and other miscellaneous items to your room.
The line for check in was the longest of the whole process. It probably took us about 15 minutes to get through it. Once it was our turn, we went up to the computer kiosk and typed in our reservation number. It pulled up our information and then asked us to scan in our passports.
Typically, this would be an easy process but since my maiden name is on my passport (I know I should fix it) the system didn’t recognize my passport. So we had to wait in another line to see an actual Carnival employee (Note: If you haven’t changed your last name on your passport, it’s a good idea to bring your marriage license). Once they checked my passport, we got our card and we were clear to get on the boat (we were on the Carnival Valor).
Unfortunately, our room wasn’t ready yet so we headed up to the lido deck to hang out by the pool. Luckily, Carnival had their Jamaican band there to welcome us to paradise.
After an hour or so, we headed down to the room to check out our digs. The hubs decided to surprise me a few months ago by upgrading our room from an ocean view to a balcony (isn’t he sweet?) so we were both excited to see it.
Instead of showing you a million pictures and attempting to explain it all, we decided to make a little video to give you a tour of our room. For other people staying on the Carnival Valor line, note that our room was on the 6th floor toward the back of the boat on the left side (when facing the front of the boat). Please ignore the fact that the view outside is St. Thomas. We didn’t think about making a video until later on in the cruise. Hope you enjoy it!
After putting all our stuff away, we headed out to the balcony to watch the ship leave the port. It’s truly amazing to watch the boat maneuver so eloquently in tight quarters.
We sat out on the balcony until we couldn’t see Miami anymore. We knew that the following two sea days would mean a lot of staring at the big blue ocean so we wanted to soak up as much of the landscape as possible.
Once the land was out of sight, we headed down to dinner and a show at the theater. Dinner was pretty uneventful but the show was something quite different.
Before the shows begin, the cruise staff usually put on a few game shows to keep the guests entertained while they wait. This is key since you usually have to get there about 45 minutes before the show starts to get a good seat. This particular night they were holding a trivia contest and guess who got picked to be a contestant?
That’s right, Mr. A. Apparently, a good way to get picked as a contestant is to flash the Carnival staff. And no I didn’t do the flashing. That was all the hubby.
With a little cheating from the audience, Mr. A actually won the trivia contest. Check out him getting his award.
He’s very proud of this trophy (it’s currently displayed in our guest room…until I can find a way to sneak it out).
And I learned something new about my husband. Apparently, he doesn’t mind lifting up his shirt in front of strangers as long as he can get on stage. Who would have known?
We ended the night watching Carnival’s “Welcome Aboard” show (which was a little lame…just a head’s up) and headed back to our room to fall asleep to the rhythmic sounds of the ocean. The gentle ocean rocking definitely puts me to sleep. It was a great way to end an exciting day.
Up Next:
Our First Day At Sea and I give you a tour of the Carnival Valor’s Steakhouse, Scarlett’s.
Follow our newlywed journey through love, laughter and happily ever after. I'm Mr. Adam's best friend, a wedding fanatic, a health food nut, a yoga fiend, an arts & crafts-ers, a DIY-er, a wannabe world traveller, a pinterest addict and a Jesus lover. I hope you enjoy our wedding/newlywed/travel/food/healthy living/crafting adventures.
