Cruise Like a Davis- Our Cruise Travels 2006 to present
RCCL Anthem of the Seas 2025
Chris and I took our very first cruise in Summer 2006 shortly after we were married in March. His parents gifted us this cruise with his family and we loved traveling via a cruise ship. Almost a decade later after having our two kids, Natalie and Luke, we decided to go on another cruise out of Galveston, TX and the rest is HISTORY- We were hooked! We have now been on over 27 cruises and this form our travel will remain not only our favorite but our kids favorite as well. It has also proven to be the most economical way to travel with kids in our most recent experience traveling via LAND and SEA.
We have sailed four of the biggest (and BEST) cruise lines in the world and we love comparing and contrasting each ship and cruise line as we sail. We have tried to highlight each cruise with our trip details, pictures, tips, costs and more.
What started as a way to share our trip with my grandma, has now grown into a well followed blog and I am so grateful for all of you who continue to support us by following along on our travels!
Platinum Pacific Style February 19-23, 2024 Long Beach, CA
We loved you Carnival Radiance!
It's hard to believe this was my TWENTY-THIRD cruise but here I am... Killing it on the HIGH SEAS! While 23 cruises may seem a little extreme, this is our favorite way to travel and the easiest for our family. This was also our 1st cruise, besides Alaska, that departed from a home port other than Galveston and we LOVED IT!
We have cruised 12 previous times withCarnival, 7 times withRoyal Caribbean, 2 times withNorwegian and 1 time withPrincess.
This blog will contain entries of our day-to-day life aboard the Carnival Radianceas well as a highlights from our travel days getting to Long Beach as well as specific details of our 2 new destination ports.
Throughout the blog posts, we will also share the lots of tips, tricks and insiders knowledge about cruising out of Long Beach, CA, information about Platinum perks from Carnival as well as lots of pictures and videos of our family trip!
Once again, thank you for following along and support our business! I hope this will help someone planning a cruise on the Carnival Radiance(or sailing from Long Beach/ Southern California)or planning to get back to cruising after the pandemic... Or even a first time cruiser! Feel free to reach out with any questions!
Up Next... our return to Coco Cay... This time for PERFECT DAY!
The Birthplace of the Margarita Thursday, February 22, 2024 Ensenada, Mexico
Hello Mexico... From way out west!
Morning
The girls woke up around 7:45AM only to see that the boys were nowhere to be found. We got ready and then text the boys for their location. Chris and Luke had been awake since 5:30AM due to windy conditions and the ship swaying. We ate breakfast at Blue Iguana and the boys enjoyed the Lido buffet. Natalie went back to the room to get ready while Chris and I got a few drinks from the Tides Bar in the aft. Luke enjoyed his morning Orange Crush and then went to play basketball while we waited for Natalie.
Hello Ensenada!
Luke had the court all to himself in this early morning time frame!
We were all HUGE fans of the watermelon at Blue Iguana!
We had purchased an excursion through our Travel Agent (Cheryl at Cruises Only... SHE IS AMAZING) and it did not start until 10:30AM so we didn't get off the ship until 10AM which allowed the majority of the passenger traffic to have vacated the ship! We got off and made the trek to the main street in Ensenada where we met our Tuk-Tuk driver.
The walk to town was not that bad but it was a bit of a hike!
The Carnival Radiance has been good to us!
The kids loved this walk to the town!
Another view of the main area of town from our hike from the ship!
We are loving Ensenada thus far!
This excursion was basically a private tour of Ensenada via a Tuk-Tuk with a stop at the beach and the Birthplace of the Margarita. We began by stopping at the Catholic Church in downtown Ensenada. This was a neat experience as Natalie has been studying religions in her AP Human Geography class and had recently learned about Catholicism. It was also a really special moment for our family as we lit a candle in the church for Grandma Juanita who we lost in November to pancreatic cancer. Natalie shared at DNow the previous weekend, that she was not really able to fully grieve losing Grandma Juanita so this was a good closure for her and we spent as much time as needed for her to feel as if she had truly said goodbye! We love and miss you Grandma Juanita!
They are ready for this Tuk-Tuk ride!
Let's do this!
Family Selfie #4005
The Catholic church in Ensenada!
This was a neat stop for all of us!
We love and miss you Grandma Juanita!
This one is for you Grandma!
After the church, we made our way through the town and stopped at "Vino Street" which was a new area in the center of town with a winery. This was a beautiful area of town and one that was actually maintained and well kept... however, still overran with hobos and random people. In fact, one crazy lady threw trash at Luke which was funny but we got out of there fast. Then we went to the main center strip of the town for some shopping. This was a typical Mexican street lined with shops and vendors, however, they were able to take a hint and when told we were not interested, they backed off.
Hello from "Vino Street".
There's never a dull moment with us!
We grabbed our traditional new city souvenirs (Magnet, Coffee Mug and Snow globe) and then our tour guide took us to the beach for gorgeous views of the mountains and mighty Pacific Ocean. Due to the trauma of losing Natalie's phone in the ocean just days prior, we decided that only the kids and I would go into the ocean and Chris would hold all of our belongings for safe keeping.
We really liked this excursion and loved the Tuk-Tuk!
I love seeing the ocean for the 1st time each trip... It gives me ALL THE FEELS!
Hello Pacific Ocean!
The waters were OH SO COLD but it was gorgeous!
Luke played in the water for nearly an hour!
He is our water baby- for sure!
Goodbye Mexico... Until next time!
After our short beach break, our tour guide took us to the Birthplace of the Margarita, "Bar Andaluz" in Rivera in the center of Ensenada. This was a really neat and once in a lifetime type of opportunity. The margarita was great (albeit slightly watered down) and was included with our tour costs. The kids were able to get a classic Mexican Coca-Cola as well.
The birthplace of the Margarita!
These two silly kids actually WANTED to take this picture! (I cannot get them to smile for my pictures like ever but throw a sombrero on them, and they're good to go!)
This area of the bar/ restaurant was wide open and beautiful!
This was a bucket list type moment and we LOVED IT!
These were very flavorful but not as strong as those back at home at a Tex-Mex restaurant!
Visit the Birthplace of the Margarita- CHECK!
After our margarita, we made our way to our last stop, a Taco Shop near the ship. This was authentic Baja Mexican tacos and they did not disappoint. We were able to try fish, shrimp, pork and chicken tacos and we all chowed down!
This was a quaint little taco shop and the ladies cooking were FABULOUS!
Family Selfie #40556
My Baja Shrimp Tacos were INCREDIBLE!
Luke loved his chicken tacos as well!
The walk back to the ship was HOT!
We loved the Carnival Radiance.
There were seals waiting by the ship as we boarded.
The big fat one was barking SO LOUD! We loved it!
This was a really cool sight to see!
Afternoon At the end of our tour, we tipped our tour guide and then we made our way back to the ship and made our way to Guy's Burger Bar for a quick afternoon "snack" before hitting the ropes course and pools. The ropes course did not open until 2PM so Luke played some basketball with some bigger kids while Chris and I went to the Lobby Bar for live music.
Once the Ropes Course opened, the kids did the entire course about 4 times and were up there for over an hour before finally getting off. TIP- They loved the Ropes Course and this one was well laid out over the top Sports Deck of the ship. Afterwards, Chris went to take a nap while the kids enjoyed the pool and hot tubs. We all met in the room near 4:30PM to get ready for our last night onboard the Carnival Radiance.
Evening We got ready and then went to the Alchemy Bar near our cabin before it got too busy. When we arrived at 5:15PM, it was already loaded with people and it took 20 minutes to get service. TIP- Be sure to get to the Alchemy Bar (on ANY Carnival ship) right at opening which is usually 4PM to avoid long lines. The bartenders work incredibly hard to make these very detailed and fresh cocktails and tips are always appreciated and go a long ways with these workers!
We then spent the majority of the rest of the early evening in the Red Frog Pub as Luke wanted to sing karaoke again. We played cards in the RFP lobby prior to the start of the karaoke session that began at 7PM. Once the karaoke worker arrived, Luke stood in line and was one of the first 5 people to get to perform. This time he sang "I got a Feeling" and did even better than the previous night! We are so very proud of Luke and really enjoyed hearing him sing!
This performer came out of nowhere... He has definitely come out of his shell!
"I've Got a feeling... That tonight's gonna be a good night"
THAT'S MY BOY!
After his singing we started to get hungry and decided based on the terrible service in the MDR the night before, that we would have dinner at Bonsai Sushi. We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table but the service was impeccable and night and day different that the MDR. TIP- The more I cruise, the more I understand why people do not dine in the MDR and pay extra money for dining packages and etc. The service in these "cost extra" venues is second to NONE. Plus the food is incredible. We ordered the large Sushi Boat as well as a few small specialty rolls and this was the HIT of the cruise!
Dinner Night #4
I love my little PERFORMER!
The SHIP.. We loved this sushi treat! TIP- You can also order this in the MDR for $22 and it feeds roughly 4 people!
We were all "fat and happy" and went back to the room so Luke could change clothes but he laid down instead. Before we even realized it, he was asleep. Natalie even said she was tired, so we left the kids and went back out to enjoy our last night on the ship and a late night adult comedy and the rest of our drink package. We also roamed around the ship and into the casino, but once again I did not have any luck! We called it a night around 11PM as we, too, were tired.
This final day onboard the Carnival Radiance was loaded with a new port and a great fun-filled day of ship activities.
Up Next... Disembarkation and a Travel Day back to God's Country!
First Place Wednesday, February 21, 2024 Catalina Island (Avalon), CA
We LOVE new ports and this one was AMAZING !
Morning Our alarms went of at 7AM and we were up and out the door to the Main Dining Room for breakfast by 7:30AM. TIP- We really enjoy port day breakfasts in the MDR on most cruise ships. It is MUCH less crowded than the Lido deck buffet and typically the service is fair reliable. I would say that the service on this day was just that- Fairly reliable. It seemed a little slower than usual but the food was good and we enjoyed the non-rushed feeling. During our slower and delayed MDR breakfasts, the tender boats were supposed to be already taking passengers to Catalina Island but we learned there was a delay so we literally missed NOTHING.
Natalie and Chris enjoyed the slower pace of the MDR!
Catalina Island is a tender port and that means if you want to go ashore, you will need to travel on a tender boat, or smaller boat (even a life raft in some cases), to get to your destination. TIP- With PLATINUM benefits, you can get priority tender service at any time, This time we had to meet in the forward dining room and wait for a small amount of people before a Carnival worker took us all to the front of the line and we got right on a tender boat.
I personally LIKE tender boats, solely for the view of the cruise ship and the pictures that can be taken of the ship. However, most passengers (including my family) does not like the process as it is SO MUCH EASIER to just walk right off the ship! Our tender boat ride was short and sweet and we were on Catalina Island by 8:45AM.
Our first "real" view of Catalina Island and we were already in LOVE!
The Carnival Radiance anchored off shore Catalina Island!
Luke and I were enjoying the tender boat ride to shore!
Welcome to Avalon!
This was a very easy Tender Boat ride into Catalina Island!
We got off the boat and made our way to the downtown Catalina Island area for the starting point of our excursion. We opted to do the "Amazing Catalina Island Scavenger Race" offered through our travel agent as our excursion. Chris and I have done the "Amazing Cozumel Race" on our 2nd cruise and we LOVED it. You can read about that HERE! We thought the kids would LOVE to try and solve puzzles for clues and find unique things on the island.
The thrill to be a kid again. "Can I go swing"- Of course!
We have arrived in Catalina Island!
Reading our first clue...
This excursion had 21 different clues and you had to solve each clue before getting another one. It took place all over the island but covered approximately 3 miles. It was a digitally enhanced race where you had to enter the answer for each clue into the website before it generated the next clue for your group. If you mistyped a word, or left our other details, it would count it as wrong and not advance your group. In addition, you could ask for hints or other help along the way. We answered the first 5-6 clues very easily and made our way to the "casino" area at the far west side of the Island. It was here that 2 odd things happened: 1) we got stumped and made our only mistake of the race by a MATH clue of all things and 2) someone from the ship stopped and spotted Natalie from the comedy show saying "Hey, are you the girl who lost her phone in the ocean?". Luke and Chris could not stop laughing that someone actually recognized Natalie.
On our way to clue #4 with a brisk .8 mile walk to the Casino area of Avalon!
We made it to the "beach" area behind the Casino and got a great view of our ship!
Another clue reveal...
We answered those clues and continued our race and found a coffee shop inside the US Post Office. These were incredibly high priced at $9.75 PER COFFEE and I made a note to plan for high prices like that for our April land vacation to Los Angeles to see Dodger Stadium and Angels Stadium in our quest for seeing all of the MLB stadiums. (And it was not even good coffee). We made our way to a clue at the mini-golf course and it was closed so we googled with no help but found a local tour company worker who knew the answer and we took no penalty.
Overall we scores 675 points, took 2 hours and 11 minutes and came in first place for the day. In fact, we were first place for the past 30 days and even now as I am late in writing this blog, we are still FIRST PLACE in this race!
We made it to the finish line!
FIRST PLACE- WE are the Champions!
This was such a great excursion and only $50 TOTAL!
We got some souvenirs from this new port and we were back on the tender boat by 11:45AM and back on the Carnival Radiance shortly after noon. We went straight up to the Lido deck for lunch as we know on port days, 12pm is often when people start getting back on the ship and we did not want to have to wait in lines. We ate and Big Chicken and Blue Iguana. HINT- I think Blue Iguana LUNCH options get lost in all of the other amazing food venues on board the Carnival Radiance. The breakfast burritos are still a hit but the lunch just fell a little short to me.
For 30 years, the Chicago Cubs had their spring training in Avalon so there was CUBS stuff EVERYWHERE!
This was a view from our ship! If you look really closely, you can see Downtown LA!
Afternoon The kids wanted to do the Ropes Course so they went up to the Sports Deck on Deck 10 to get in line as the Ropes Course opened at 1PM. Chris and I waited at the Tides Bar until it was time for them to actually go on the course. They both went all the way around the Ropes Course (even the "plank") 3 times and were able to do every single part, easy and hard, of the Ropes Course! TIP- Be sure to check the Carnival Hub app or the paper FunTimes for open times of the Ropes Course and get there RIGHT when it opens. Our kids had to wait for about 20 minutes for them to actually be ready to open but got first dibs on the course and got to go around several times. The line grew as it got closer to the time of opening and those people who were 20 people deep were not even on the course after my kids were on it for 30 minutes or so. GET THERE EARLY! Although, I will say that the times were not as clearly marked as other cruises with Ropes Courses... I had to dig to find the open times!
After the Ropes Course, we all went back to the room to change clothes before spending the rest of our afternoon on the decks of the Carnival Radiance. Chris and I then spent the majority of our time at the Atrium Bar on deck 3 while the kids did the water slides and hot tubs all afternoon. Around 4pm, Natalie and I went and showered for the evening while Chris took at nap and Luke went back to the hot tub.
Evening One of our souvenirs was a deck of cards from Catalina Island and Natalie and I got ready and then went to Alchemy bar lobby to play a few games before the boys joined us. The Alchemy Bar does not open until 4PM and I was there at the opening but the service was exceptionally slow with only 1 bartender for a while. We all chilled and played cards in the Red Frog Pub before the crowd for karaoke formed. Luke said "I want to sing karaoke" and we all looked at each other and kinda laughed saying "umm ok". But sure enough, he went and stood in line and put in to sing a song. Mind you- This child is VERY reserved and usually stays in his shell, so to speak. And he has never been one to sing in public (not even church). He was the 3 person to sing and we had no idea what he was singing.
Us girls are READY for another great night onboard!
Luke got up to the stage and... RICK ROLLED us all! He sang "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley and it was a HUGE HIT with the crowd. He made even more friends as other people recognized him later in the cruise "Hey Luke, what's up". Chris and I were completely dumbfounded as to how much he came out of his shell on this cruise - AND it wasn't even over!
Having NEVER done Karaoke before, he did exceptionally well!
And his smile says it all!
Where did this guy come from????
We then made our way to Deck 4 aft to get in line for the PG comedy starting at 6:30PM. We were able to get another front row seat and Luke was able to go up on stage and tell another joke but he did not win another medal as many other kids were on stage as well. The comedian was funny but did not pick on the kids as much as the other comedian did the night before. We enjoyed the show and then went to the Limelight Lounge for the Deal or NO Deal gameshow. We did not buy cards as we did not know if the kids would like this but we should have! It was a lot of fun, even just to watch! TIP- Carnival sells these cards for only 30 minutes prior to the game show for $25 per card.
Waiting to get into the MDR for dinner on night #3.
We then made our way to the Main Dining Room for our 8PM seating. The service was somehow even WORSE than the previous night, which was FORMAL night. Yet this night, the dining room was only about 65% full. In fact, there were empty tables in our section and we still had atrocious service. The head waiter came and explained that the assistant waiter(s) were helping on Lido instead of the MDR, which made no sense. The maitre'd came and apologized, which was good customer service but once again, this was some of the overall worst service we have EVER had on ANY cruise line in the MDR. IT took 75 minutes just to get our appetizers and a total of 2 hours and 25 minuets to get in and out of the MDR. I am NOT a buffet fan but I can see why people just eat there, the wait is just not worth it!
After dinner we ran upstairs quickly so Luke could change as he wanted to watch the 80s Rock and Glow party from the hot tub. Chris, Luke and I went up to Lido deck to enjoy the party and Natalie was behind us after she changed. The party was good but not near as fun as the parties with Kyndall Fire. Luke was able to get on the big screen (in and out of the hot tub) multiple times and he LOVED it.
Luke living his BEST LIFE in the hot tub during the Glow Party!
Shortly after the party, the kids opted to go to bed as it was nearly midnight and Chris and I made our way back to the Alchemy Bar (I told you it was my favorite) and then eventually the Casino. The Alchemy Bar closes at midnight so we grabbed a few drinks and shut it down before going to the Casino Bar and the Blackjack tables. I lost all of the Platinum perk of $25 free play within 4 hands at the Blackjack table. We were back in the room before 1AM.
It was a GORGEOUS day on Catalina Island and evening on board the ship. Stay tuned for our last day and our first time in Ensenada, Mexico!
