Christmas Cruise 2024 December 21-30, 2024
On Saturday morning Larry and I drove the car to Sanford Airport and left it for Kathy, Chad, Brian and Donna to drive to Cocoa Beach when their flight arrived. Larry and I ubered to Cocoa Beach.
The next morning after an IHOP breakfast, we walked over to Cocoa Beach. It was so cool to the spot Cape Canaveral launch pad in the distance.
There was a great little boardwalk trek to follow.
At 11:00 we boarded the Carnival Venezia all decked out for Christmas
The high
ceiling looked heavenly.
Carnival Venezia was actually a Costa ship that Carnival had bought and added to her fleet.
Our destination from Cape Canaveral…..Gran Turk; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and St. Thomas of the Virgin Isles.
Many passengers decorated their cabin doors.
Some even had blinking lights.
We kept it simple. I had purchased these six snowmen for our three cabin doors.
"Goin' where the snow don't blow."
Following the Venice theme, the ship was decorated wonderfully with unsurmountable pictures of
Venice. It sure brought back many memories of our visit to Venice.
The elevators were futuristic. You selected the floor that you wanted. The panel lit up with the lettered elevator for you to board. You got on to it and it took you the most direct way. There were no buttons to push on the inside of the elevator…a unique way of going up and down.
The Serenity Lounge on the front top of the ship. It was away from all the loud music and excitement of the other parts of the ship. A real romantic place at night….with king size hot tubs.
The ship had water slides….yes, I went down both the short and tall one.
Chad and Kathy enjoyed the high ropes course.
We enjoyed the pickle-ball court.
The pools and outdoor theater kept us busy.
Cute pool towel snowman.
A quirky bar had these fun tiles….
Kathy and Chad enjoyed the covered lounges on the top deck. Great place to read, relax and snooze....with a view.
A cool gingerbread village on the tenth deck
Chad, Kathy, Donna and I enjoyed dancing to Kelly Clarkson’s Christmas tune, “Underneath the Tree”.
We also enjoyed many of the crafting activities on our days at sea.
We enjoyed dining…with a full size gondola.
So many favorites….lobster, braised ribs, crab cakes, Emeril LaGossi delights, chocolate lava cake, mango sorbet, a whole vegan menu. The Lido Market buffet was fantastic as well.
The stop in Gran Turk was eliminated by the strong winds. Bummer! Another sea day….that was awesome! Larry and I love sea days. Between pickle-ball, playing music, the gym and exploring the ship, there is always something to do.
The crew hid some cute little ducks all over the ship. We found these little critters in the most unique places. You could decide whether to keep them or rehide them. I found a tiny one on the last day of the cruise.
The Grinch showed up Christmas Eve.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 25, 2025 Merry Christmas!
When getting off the ship we headed to old San Juan.
Chad and Kathy's friend, Justin, met us at the ship and spent the day walking the streets of Old San Juan with us. What a great guide!
We had met Justin during our last trip to Puerto Rico. We had him over for dinner and he showed us around the forestry service park where he worked.
Chad and Kathy had worked with him in Marlington, WV before he transfered to his new position in Puerto Rico.
The streets are lined with bricks that were brought over the seas from Europe. The ships replaced the bricks with gold bars to take back to the king.
San Juan National Historic Site
Checking out the guard houses.
The Atlantic Ocean was gorgeous.
I really like the colorful buildings in
Old San Juan.
Larry and Donna walked on the shaded side of the street.
Puerto Ricans are proud citizens. Painting their house in the Puerto Rican flag was colorful.
A graveyard was situated beside the old fort.
Donna and I are enjoying every minute of our time together.
Brian, Kathy, Larry looking out over the graveyard from the fort.
Justin, Kathy, and Chad
Justin and Chad
A cat statue represents all the cats that roam the city.
One area had so many cats, that I named it Kitty-Cat town. Someone was providing a huge foil container of food and a big bowl of water. They were very friendly cats.
The oldest church in Puerto Rico.
Cathedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista
Built in 1521....destroyed by a storm and rebuilt in 1529. Approaching 500 years of history.
Walking under the wall of the city through San Juan Gate
What a view on the other side of the wall!
San Juan is the home of the first Pina Colada. We found the restaurant where it was invented. Yes, we indulged. YES, it was mighty fine!
Justin treated us to a late lunch as well!
A yummy concoction of pineapple, cream of coconut and rum.
Larry and I stopped at a park and listened to this sax player. The gentleman took a break and came over to talk to us in Spanish.
I got to practice the year and a half of duo lingo Spanish.... yippee!
Anyway, he showed us his tip box and pulled a well worn hundred dollar bill out of it. WOW!
HE TORE IT UP!
Larry and I were shocked. Then he explained that it was counterfeit and if he tried to cash it, the police would lock him up. What a sad thing to do to a person on Christmas Day.
I love these Macaws. So colorful! We enjoyed watching them before boarding back on the ship
This cute little bear was waiting for us in our room.
We watched the sunset to a beautiful Christmas Day!
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands December 26, 2024
and rode over the mountain to Magens Bay Beach.
giving us some gorgeous views on the way from the city
Magens Bay Beach....What a sweet restful place!
Larry loved this beach because it had plenty of shade.
And a little snooze under the pavilion is a very relaxing island maneuver.
Donna and Brian were refreshed after a dip in the ocean.
Laying in the sun was mighty fine.
Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean was awesome as well.
Chad and Kathy hiked up the mountain before.....
enjoying a dip in the calm ocean.
On the way back into town, we had a great view of our ship....
Venezia is on the left.
After arriving back at the ship we enjoyed
a wonderful sunset sail away.
Larry, Chad and Kathy spent Sunday afternoon touring the Kennedy Space Center while Brian, Donna and I enjoyed an afternoon at Cocoa Beach and sitting by the hotel pool with a good book.
Kennedy Space Center has some nice
Christmas lights.
We enjoyed dinner at a sushi restaurant on our first night on Cocoa Beach. It was so good that we went back on our final evening together.
Chad and Kathy rose early Monday morning for a hike.
They spotted an owl and a pink flamingo during their adventure.
At 2:00 the uber shuttled the Virginia folks to Sanford Airport, while Larry and I headed down Route 4 back to Clearwater Beach. We all left with great memories of all the adventures we had during our trip aboard the Carnival Venezia.
