Traveling to Europe with my parents

This was written while on the Carnival Magic during her inaugural cruise. I lost track of time while writing and didn’t have time to publish while on the ship.

I’m currently sitting on the balcony of my cabin onboard the Carnival Magic, the newest ship in the Carnival Cruise Lines’ fleet. This ship is a good bit of fun and is debuting so many new brands for Carnival Cruise Lines. I’m having an amazing time watching my parents enjoy their first cruise experience, and I’m also enjoying the various conversations I’ve had here and there with fellow travel bloggers and writers who were invited to be part of this inaugural cruise.

Traveling to Europe with my parents has been refreshing and brought me back to how it must feel for people who don’t travel very often. Not only did they pack enough luggage for a family of 14, but I also see how easy it is for people to get frustrated with air travel delays. We were stuck in the Atlanta airport for a five hour layover, at a time of night when the only food venue left open was a burrito shop. I also learned how hard it is for smokers to travel long distances via air. My dad is a smoker, and I now know where every smoking area is in the Atlanta and Amsterdam airports.

Fortunately, we finally made it to our destination of Venice, Italy after 28 hours of travel, layovers, and delays. It took a day or so on the Carnival Magic for my dad to get into the rhythm of cruise travel, but I think he’s got the hang of it. He’s had a nap every afternoon and has taken full advantage of the 24 hour room service. He’s finally relaxing, which is something he’s truly needed to do for a long time.

If you’d like to see some of my post regarding the Carnival Magic cruise launch, here are some of the updates so far:

I tasted a Bellini in the home of its creation – Harry’s Bar in Venice

I watched the Carnival Magic Arrive in Venice, attended the Carnival Magic Naming Ceremony, and settled into my balcony stateroom on the Carnival Magic. It was fun knowing we were the first passengers to sleep in that cabin.

Carnival’s Cloud 9 Spa – Mom and I enjoyed spa treatments while on the ship. We also celebrated Mother’s Day in a most unusual way compared to our normal Mother’s Day crawfish boils in Louisiana.

We ate so much, from the Lido Marketplace to room service, from port stop to port stop, and at the specialty dining on the Carnival Magic – Cucina del Capitano and Prime Steakhouse. I now need to either go on an intense diet, or just buy a whole new wardrobe.

I had more than a few visits to Carnival’s RedFrog Pub.

Of course, we did actually get off of the ship during the port stops, including a visit to Dubrovnik, Croatia and The Vatican Museum.

I’m really, really a fortunate person. Not only do I get to have amazing experiences all over the world, but this time I was able to bring my parents along.