My wife and I decided to bounce from the US once again, and for the third time in 3 years, it involved a cruise ship. This trip also featured the first time I had cruised with Carnival, having previously sailed with Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.This cruise was a huge departure for me; Carnival had been a cruise line I actively avoided fearing a ton of pre-concieved notions regarding it. Traditional dining was always something we actively avoided. A cruise that would undoubtedly feature children had been a huge turnoff. And yet, we booked it anyways. My wife was ready to have fun no matter what, but I can’t deny that even coming up to it, I felt trepidation. Not only just for the ship, but for going to Busch Gardens on a Saturday in July.
To alleviate some of our worries, we chose to indulge. With the ship, we put ourselves in a balcony cabin. This was squarely in the middle of our last experiences (a minisuite for NCL, an inside for RCCL), and would allow us to get sun without subjecting ourselves to the insanity of Lido Deck. For Busch Gardens, we splurged and got all day eating wristbands as well as line cutting passes. We even indulged ourselves with the hotel, choosing to stay at the Marriott located inside the Tampa Airport (always wanted to nerd out and eat breakfast while planes take off in view). All those choices paid dividends.
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