Before embarking on our trip, there had been some itinerary changes in regards to the stop in Turkey. At the time of our cruise, there was a travel advisory placed on the original port of call, Izmir, due to safety concerns. This stop was initially removed from the itinerary altogether, then later replaced by the new port, Kusadasi.
While Carnival ensured that we were in no danger, my parents and I were still a little hesitant to explore Turkey as much as we would have liked. The itinerary of this trip included very little time on the ship itself, with a port of call just about every day. So we decided to explore a little bit right in the area of the port, then get back on and enjoy all the amenities the ship had to offer. We thought the ship would be pretty empty, but it seemed that others had the same idea as us.
We had breakfast at the included buffet, as we did every morning. There were so many options here that we never got sick of eating there. There was an omelet/egg bar that you could order eggs any way you like as well as omelets with a large variety of topping choices. There was also the standard pancakes, waffles, cereal, bacon, sausage, hash browns, among many more options.
We then decided to wait for the big rush of everyone getting of the ship, then made our way out into the port of Kusadasi. Right as you walk out, there was a good number of vendors set up selling typical tourist gifts. Such as jewelry, posters, key chains, t-shirts, etc. My dad and I have developed a little (ok, not so little) collection of shot glasses. Everywhere we travel to, we make sure to get one. Luckily enough, one of the vendors had a good selection and we picked ours up. We did run into several of the vendors being a little too aggressive trying to get us to purchase something, so we made our way out of that area. It didn’t bother us too much, we know they’re just trying to make a living, but we didn’t want to feel pressured into buying something.
There was a very nice walkway right along the sea that we went down a little ways. We saw a Starbucks down the path and thought it would be neat to see how it compared to the ones back in the States. I’m not a coffee drinker, but my dad seemed to enjoy it.
We sat outside at one of their tables for a bit, enjoying the beautiful views and the nice breeze coming off the water. Then we decided to head back to the ship for the day.
Once aboard, we headed up to the pool deck and enjoyed the sun for a while. Grabbed some lunch at the buffet on the Lido Deck and had a relaxing afternoon.
Our ship had several recreational activities on board, including mini-golf, bowling, and what was called the SkyRide. This was an elevated track that you had to pedal to move forward and control your speed with. My dad and I decided to give it a try. It provided beautiful views of the port as well as the sea.
Later that evening we enjoyed another trip to the dining room. We found it nice to go right when the dining room opened as we didn’t have to wait for a table and we were also able to request a table by a window. This worked out even better on some nights where we happened to be eating as we were departing the port.
The menu options were different every night, fitting to the culinary traditions of the port of call, with a few more standard options that were available every night (steak, chicken, pork, etc). I tried to be adventurous most nights, but the one thing I had every single time we ate in the dining room, the “Warm Chocolate Melting Cake”. Soooo good! Yes, I had this at least 7 or 8 times throughout the trip.
After dinner we went to one of the theaters on the ship and watched some couples partake in Carnival’s version of “The Newlywed Game”, with couples answering questions about each other. We found this hilarious.
We enjoyed some drinks while watching us set sail, then went to bed for the night to get ready for our next day in Rhodes, Greece!
It's a Magical Life 