July 23, 2026, we’re off to Port Canaveral to celebrate our 50th anniversary. In style-we’re splurging on a balcony room on the largest Carnival ship, the Mardi Gras. 18 decks, and we’ll be on 14. This is a stretch for me, as I normally get queasy overlooking any height greater than about three feet.
Driving to Florida, we normally don’t drive straight through, as it’s 11 hours. Sometimes we drive all the way to Jacksonville, but a couple of years ago, we discovered the Savannah Gateway, which is a spot off I-95 near Savannah, GA, where there’s a group of hotels and restaurants, almost like a little town. We opted for the Comfort Inn this trip, and dinner at Applebee’s. We split a French dip sandwich, which was only so-so.
The next day, Friday, we arrived at Port Canaveral, and stayed at the Country Inn, which is right around the corner from the cruise ports. We had discovered a nice seafood restaurant, Rusty’s, last year, and had dinner there. The crab soup is just outstanding.
Saturday, we boarded the Mardi Gras around noon. Surf & Turf for dinner at the 555 Steakhouse-small portions, but good. Our room was in a great location-Deck 14, midship, since the Lido Deck at 16, was easily walkable. Coming down, anyway. We were a little disappointed with our dining room location, as we were at a table for two. On past cruised, we had always been at a large table, where we got to meet other travelers. However, I did talk with the maitre di the next night and that resulted in a window seat. Win for Terry.
Sunday and Monday were days at sea. One evening after dinner, passing by a lounge, I heard someone singing Harry Chapins, Anywhere but Here, and was immediately drawn in and stayed for a while. At one of his breaks, we talked to the singer. His name is Kraig Whitesail. He asked us for our room number, and he sent us cookies and a nice note to our room the next day. His parents were also performers.
We caught a fantastic stage show, Voodoo Moon, with demons flying over stage, like flying monkeys in Oz. The performances we saw in this cruise were a step above what we’ve seen before on Carnival cruises.
Roatan
Roatan is an island off the coast of Honduras. The landing site is at a little outdoor mini shopping center with plenty of typical tourist stuff-jewelry, gifts, restaurants, etc. We did need a hat for Kayela, so we made that stop, then headed to the far end, where you can catch Taxis. We took a van for an island tour with Kevin, which was a very reasonable $120 (plus Kevin’s lunch), since he also had to load Kayela’s scooter. We had lunch at King Crab, sitting outside on an outside patio. It was very pleasant. We had giant coconut shrimp-it has a little strange test, but was pretty good. Kevin Would like help with his website, so I may follow up with him. He pays $250 rent, and his wife is from Honduras.
That night, we met Loy, who is also a lounge singer. While we were watching, we notice a lady sitting up front that we recognized from the night before, and she turned out out to be a friend of both Kraig and Loy. Jennnifer is a teacher in Florida teacher. And another surprise-Loy also sent cookies to our room the next day, with a nice personal note.
Cozumel
Per our standard approach, we located the taxi area, which like Roatan (and pretty much any Carnival port), and located a van for a Cozumel island tour. This time, our driver’s name was Roberto, and he was very good. The price, though was much more that the one we used at Roatan. They told us $270, but it ended up at $320,-taxes, fees, you know. I think it was fishy, but I didn’t want to pass up the tour. We stopped for drinks at a roadside stand, which was very quirky, but good, and the prices were reasonable. I especially got a kick out of the sign there that said open for 25 hours. We had a wonderful lunch at a beach restaurant,, with a Mariachi and all. The fish tacos were so-so
Since it was our 50th anniversary, we had another dinner at Fahrehheit 555 steakhouse, and we met Brenda and Chuck from Georgia. They cruise a lot, and have cruised 6 times this year so far. Kayela had prime rib-it was large and chewy, but had a good flavor. I had lobster tail, the Florida variety, and was mediocre.
The show we saw was Love & Marriage. Couples from the audience get on stage and answer questions about their spouses. Moderately funny, and we probably wouldn’t go again.
We found nice place to play mahjong, on the 8th floor, outside Cuccino Capitan. They have several tables set up as a dining area, but other people were playing cards and dominos, we we fit right in It’s right next door to sandwiches, pizza, drinks, and a restroom.
Thursday dinner was lobster tail. It was actually better than the Florida tail I had at the steakhouse. And, I had two of them.
We saw another fantastic show, called Celestial Strings, standout songs were: Nothing Else Matters; Chandelier; In the Air Tonight. We had great seats, on the floor in front of the stage.
Friday was relaxation, mahjong and lunch on Deck 8. The Hawaiian pizza was excellent.
Saturday, we debarked, and drove to magic tree. We picked up Linda at the airport-two hours late
We had lunch at sickie’s garage, Kayela loved the garage burger with bacon, and the wings with holey garlic vere also verygood
Dinner at Juicy & Crab, lobster boil, very good
Sunday
met jill at jeremiah’s. my cuban was tasteless, linda’s wings were dry, overcooked. jackie and emari were there. jill has started smoking, lost weight, and not looking good at all. still can’t walk or stand up.
Monday
dinner at black angus, rib eye so-so
Tuesday
dinner at el tapatio on orange blossom tr. seemed closer than the one in kissimmee, enchiladas and chimichanga were good.
Wednesday
– drove to canaveral, spent the day at Hilton Garden Inn with a day pass, $25, + $35 for umbrella. Jeannie, one of Linda’s friends, joined us.
– dinner at Juicy & Crab, got lobster again.
Thursday
– Lunch at Sickies, wings again
– dinner at crazy crab, got fried oysters, not good, too much breading
Friday
left at 10, took linda to the airport, got to gateway comfort inn around 4:30. ate at hooters, took some tater tots back to the room, kk not feeling well
Saturday
– on the road at 9, got home around 5:30. heavy rain in SC.
– should consider staying in manning or santee, sc next time