A few days before I headed to Miami to board the Carnival Liberty for some Fun Ship 2.0 research, I had a checkup with my oncologist. For those that don’t know the backstory, I won’t go into too much detail, but a few years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. At that time, I was advised to take a watch and wait approach, as this type of tumor is not receptive to chemo or radiation. I normally have low to normal blood pressure, but right before the Fun Ship 2.0 cruise, my blood pressure was 147/85. Not good.

Stress plays an important role in overall health and I’m not sure if I was stressed because I found out my watch and wait time is at an end, or if it’s the holiday season. Whatever the reason, once I boarded my US Airways flight, I left all my stress at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport. I had no kids for this cruise, no husband, not even a girlfriend or relative for a roommate. I could do whatever the heck I wanted for the next seven days.

The embarkation process was a breeze, and instead of heading to my stateroom, I went directly to RedFrog Rum Bar for a ThirstyFrog Red, Carnival’s private label draught beer that debuted on the Carnival Magic.

I was ready to watch the SEC Championship game and went in search of the new EA Sports Bar with fingers crossed that I’d be able to watch my beloved LSU Tigers kick some Georgia butt.

Sea Day

On my first sea day, I attended a Fun Ship 2.0 media briefing led by Lania Rittenhouse, VP of Product Development for Carnival Cruise Lines. It was a great overview of all the current and future Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements, along with news of other plans in the works for the cruise line. It got me excited about the Carnival Breeze, which has an inaugural sailing scheduled for June 3, 2012 and will include even more entertainment options, for families and adults.

Once my official duties were met, I decided to dive into my research full on with a taste of Guy’s Burger Joint, a new FREE addition to the dining options on the Carnival Liberty. Granted, the burger itself isn’t the healthiest of food options, but it sure did taste delicious and put a big smile on my face. If I didn’t have a crush on Guy Fieri already, these burgers sealed the deal.

Cozumel

This was my third cruise ship visit to Cozumel but only my first to take a shore excursion through the cruise line. I stepped off the ship a bit early and sat near a deserted Fat Tuesday’s. People were still stepping off the ship, a bit quiet and subdued in the early morning. I listened to the water lap against the rocks, with a bird chirping in a tree nearby, while I people watched. Here’s a video of that moment:

I checked my watch to see that it was almost time to meet for Isla Pasion by Twister. What a fun ride that was! Once we made it to Passion Island, the relaxation was on. A few of us from the media group all met up in a shady area under some palm trees and laid in the beach chairs. The island wasn’t too crowded and I even managed to take a walk on a quiet area of the beach.

After a truly relaxing day at the beach, I made my first visit to Alchemy Bar to research the cocktails at this sophisticated venue on the Promenade deck. I started the evening with a French Kiss.

Belize

While relaxing in Cozumel, Nancy Schretter and Doug Parker talked me into taking the Cave Tubing: A FUN Adventure excursion. I gave in to the peer pressure and ended up having such a fun day filled with a little bit of adventure and lots of laughs. We ended our tour just before the bus was ready to depart back to the ship, but I had to grab some chicken nachos and a cold Belikin beer for the ride back.

Once inside the port area of Belize City, Doug and I met Phil Reimer of Ports and Bows at the Wet Lizard, a bar a grill owned by a lady from Atlanta, Georgia. We sipped on 2/$5 Belikins and snacked on conch fritters.

The evening continued with laughs after dinner at The Punchliner Comedy Club, followed by more research at Alchemy Bar. This time I tried The Youthful and Bold Berritini. Yum!

Mahogany Bay, Roatan Island, Honduras

I spent my morning at Sante Wellness Spa and Retreat, located a 15 minute cab ride from the cruise ship terminal. Sante is a private retreat area with limited capacity per day. It was amazing. I felt peaceful. After a massage, I sat in an Adirondak chair watching baby sharks play in the surf. Here’s a video of my quiet waterside moment:

I later moved to a hammock until my lunch was ready. Lunch onsite is an additional $15, and I enjoyed fresh grilled fish, rice, and a salad.

When I returned to Mahogany Bay, I decided to check out the beach. This is a private beach area for cruise ship passengers. I took The Flying Magical Chair to the beach, which is the only ski lift on a beach. The cost for the day is $15 per person, which gives you unlimited rides. After checking out the beach area, I walked back to the shopping area near the ship to make a cigar purchase for my husband. I bought him a cigar for each day I was away since he was holding the fort down while I cruised around the Caribbean.

This was an early departure day, so once I headed back to the Carnival Liberty, I grabbed my laptop and headed to RedFrog Rum Bar to catch up on some writing and enjoy a beer while I worked. Winston and the rest of the RedFrog crew were always smiling as they served passengers. An added benefit of sitting at either RedFrog Rum Bar or Blue Iguana Tequila Bar is the music, be it from the DJ poolside or the live acoustic music barside.

Grand Cayman

I woke up early and headed to Blue Iguana Cantina, which serves cook to order omelettes and breakfast burritos beginning at 7am. The Cantina offers homemade tortillas for burritos and tacos until 2:30 pm. This is yet another FREE dining option on a Carnival Fun Ship 2.0 cruise.

This was a later port day, and when there are port days, there are onboard spa specials. I called the spa and was able to get an immediate appointment for the daily special. For $99 I had a full body exfoliation, back, neck and shoulder massage, foot and ankle massage, spa hydra facial, and exotic frangipani scalp massage. Can I just say that my day started out amazing?

Lunch was to be a group affair, with many of the media heading to Hammerhead’s, a restaurant suggested by Phil Reimer of Ports and Bows. The house specialty is fish and chips, which I enjoyed along with a Caybrew, the local beer.

Nancy and Doug talked me into an adventure to Hell. For $15 round trip, super-nice taxi driver Beverly took us for a quick beach stop, a visit to Hell, and then dropped us off at Paradise, where we sat watching all the cruise ships in port.

The Last Sea Day

This was a lazy day, filled with packing and chilling out. I spent most of my day poolside, editing photos and working on a few writing projects. After a lunch of ANOTHER burger from Guy’s Burger Joint, I met up with our #FunShip2dot0 media crew to research the 101 oz beer tube for a photo shoot.

Our group ended the cruise with a meeting of Friends of Ernest H. It was a good group of people that I met on the cruise and I hope to see them all again on a future trip.

The Return

I woke up early as the Carnival Liberty came into the port of Miami, with the moon still in the dark sky. We passed a few other cruise ships in port before the disembarkation process began. After my flight back into Baton Rouge, I was still in relaxed mode, something rare for me, even with all the travel experiences I’ve had.

The Monday following my cruise, I had an appointment with my neurologist. My blood pressure? 102/60. And I didn’t have one headache the entire trip.

Special thanks to Carnival Cruise Lines for hosting the Fun Ship 2.0 Familiarization cruise. The next Fun Ship 2.0 ship will be the Carnival Breeze, set to go in service June 2012. Following the Breeze, the Carnival Conquest will go into dry dock in October 2012 for the Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements. The Carnival Conquest has a new home port of New Orleans.

The movie Jack and Jill, starring Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, and Al Pacino hits the big screen on 11-11-11. The movie is a comedy and looks absolutely hilarious, especially since Adam Sandler plays twins in the film. In the movie, the family goes on a holiday cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. I can’t wait to see this movie. Here’s a bit of behind-the-scenes footage of Jack and Jill provided by Royal Caribbean.

To plan your family cruise, check out our cruise section for helpful information, including cruise ship reviews.

I was invited to New York City to meet and interview Queen Latifah, star of Zyrtec Parks Unleashed video game on YouTube. Unfortunately, an unplanned surgery kept me in Louisiana, but Queen Latifah agreed to chat via Skype.

We chatted about good food in Louisiana, allergies when we travel, Queen Latifah’s favorite trips, and her upcoming movie with Dolly Parton — Joyful Noise.

This interview opportunity was arranged by Zyrtec. No compensation was given and I enjoyed the conversation with Queen Latifah. You can find out more about dealing with allergies when you travel by visiting Zyrtec.com. You follow Queen Latifah on Twitter @IAMQueenLatifah.

Warning: If you’ve ever dreamed of going on an Alaska Cruise, these videos from Carnival Cruise Lines may cause you to book your cruise today. Alaska is one of those states I’d love to experience. This spring, the Carnival Spirit will set sail with 7 day Alaska itineraries and some amazingly affordable rates.

Now these are some dreamy excursions!

Book your Alaska Cruise on Carnival.com.

I was going through some boxes and found old movies of my grandparents’ travels through Europe. My grandfather was a hobby movie maker and could always be found with a movie camera in hand. Like then, today when people travel, they usually take photos to document the experience or have their own home movies. With today’s technology, filming and editing has become easier for the common traveler to make their own travel guides or mini travel movies.

• Video Camera or Smartphone – I have an extensive collection of electronics, including a JVC Everio HD DVC and an iPhone 4. The JVC offers a better quality video that even works for television news, if needed. The iPhone 4, however, is convenient and is easy to carry around in my pocket. The video capabilities are decent, but the sound is where I have issues.
• Microphones – I use a traditional size microphone to make some of my videos seem more newsy. With the iPhone, I need a microphone input adapter for any mic to work. Thanks to Tom Martin, I was able to easily find one for around $20. ThinkGeek.com also offers a mini iPhone microphone for less than $10. Regardless of your camera choice, you will still want to look into stepping up your audio.
• Tripod – A tripod keeps the shot from being shaky, especially when recording landscape or still shots. You’ll also need to invest in a good tripod if you plan on being a one mama (or papa) show. You can set up the camera, hit the record button, and step into your shot to start recording yourself. The Joby Gorillamobile for AT&T and Verizon iPhone 4(affiliate link) is a popular choice for many. If you’re doing things solo and on the go with any other video camera, you may want to check out the XShot Pocket Telescopic Camera Extender. Of course, there are tons of tripods out there to choose from.
• Lenses – Again, thanks to Tom Martin, I found out about PhotoJojo.com, which offers a variety of iPhone lenses. Who knew? For my JVC, I use a variety of lenses and filters.
• Lighting – It’s important to have good lighting. If you are indoors and filming editorial or interviews, be sure to bring along extra lighting. If you don’t have portable lighting, take advantage of what’s available by utilizing onsite lamps without the lampshades.

These are just a few of the basic travel video tools and gears you’ll need in your travel video supply kit. Use your imagination and be creative while having fun making your travel movies.

Cruise travel is about the common areas, the port stops, the cuisine, and for me, the staterooms. I truly enjoy the relaxation of sitting on a cruise ship balcony sipping my morning coffee and noshing on a room service breakfast. It’s a peaceful way to begin the day, with each morning having a different view.

Carnival released images of the staterooms on the Carnival Breeze, but if you want to explore the ship design a bit more, here are some virtual tours of a few staterooms. I’m thrilled at the subtle, yet colorful decor and hope I get a chance to experience these staterooms in person.

Carnival Breeze Ocean Suite Stateroom

Carnival Breeze Cloud 9 Spa Balcony Stateroom

Carnival Breeze Balcony Stateroom

If you’re interested in where the Carnival Breeze will cruise, be sure to check out our post on Carnival Breeze destinations. If you’d like to book a cruise, contact your favorite cruise and travel agent or visit Carnival.com.

We all need a bit of travel inspiration at times, even a traveling mama such as myself. Bing Travel invited me to New York City to chat about travel experiences with Dhani Jones, NFL player and former Travel Channel star of “Dhani Tackles the Globe”. I was looking forward to hanging out with a few travel writing friends and the opportunity to meet some area TravelingMamas.com readers, in addition to learning about Dhani’s new projects.

The setting was the Hotel on Rivington, a chic hotel located in Manhattan’s historic Lower East Side. A few of us gathered in the penthouse space before the Bing Travel event, catching up on each other’s adventures and planning new ones. I sat down with Dhani for a few minutes as I picked his brain about learning how to tie his trademark fashion statement, some of the inspiring trips he’s taken, and how he arrived at this one particular moment in his life.

Dhani Jones isn’t just an athlete, he’s The Sportsman, as revealed in his newly released memoir. After our interview, a large crowd gathered to learn about Bing Travel as the sun set in New York City, providing an awe-inspiring setting for this gathering of like-minded individuals. We all share a love of one thing – travel. And even after all these years of my own amazing experiences, I was inspired to dream once again of visits to far off lands in the not too distance future.

Special thanks to Bing for the opportunity to attend the event and the story development support services. At TravelingMamas.com we use Bing’s Price Predictor before making airfare purchase decisions. Be sure to check out our post on how to find cheap airfare, full of tips and tricks to save you money when you travel.

I had no idea what to expect when I was invited to experience the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino located on Condado Beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I had three things pop into my mind: cruise port, mojitos, and pina coladas. Puerto Rico hadn’t even been on my radar, but how could I overlook this beautiful island where a passport wasn’t even required to visit? I packed a small bag, boarded a plane, and headed off for a new adventure.

First Impression:

The ride from the airport to the resort brought me through the city of San Juan. I will admit, my first impression of San Juan wasn’t too positive. It looked unkempt and full of high rise buildings with balconies covered with clothing set out to dry and faded colors on the buildings. As we arrived closer to the beach areas and Old San Juan, the buildings began to look fresh and more welcoming. We turned off the highway and through a business district down Calle Caribe to be greeted by a direct view of the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino at the end of the road. I walked through the tropical chic lobby to check in and enjoyed a mojito before heading up to my room.

My Room:

I opened the door to my 11th floor Double Oceanview room and set down my things. I looked around, at the room, which was clean and comfortable, but then headed out to the balcony to get a view of the beach and water.

I tweeted a photo of the view of @SanJuanMarriott and mentioned something about wishing I had a glass of wine. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, with room service delivering a bottle of wine along with some cheeses. Here’s a video clip of my experience:

The Resort:

This beachfront resort has 513 rooms, 12 suites, onsite spa, plenty of space for a wedding or convention, restaurants, bars, and even a casino. The pool area was my favorite place to hang out and I’ll admit, I had a few poolside drinks while relaxing in the sun poolside.

The Dining:

I didn’t eat at every venue, but did enjoy a nice dinner one evening at Ristorante Tuscany. My favorite there was the pasta station where I was able to choose my pasta type, sauce, and the ingredients I wanted included. It was cooked right there in front of me and was a comforting meal after a long day of research and travel around Puerto Rico. One afternoon, I did enjoy some poolside grub at La Isla Grill and Pool Bar. The service was fast. Because I was scheduled for activities almost the entire visit, I took advantage of breakfast in the executive lounge, which offered a continental breakfast with balcony tables to enjoy the outdoors.

The Spa:

A visit to a resort just wouldn’t be complete for me without a visit to the Ocean Club Spa Pool and Fitness Center, which offers a few treatment rooms for basic spa services like a massage or facial.

Other Fun Activities Onsite:

The San Juan Marriott Resort is connected to Stellaris Casino, a decent sized gaming venue with slots and table games. If you are more of a morning person, Yoga takes place in the mornings for a $5 per person charge. On Friday and Saturday nights, there are free salsa lessons in the lobby bar which is one of the hot spots in the neighborhood. There are other scheduled activities, for all ages, throughout the week. I highly recommend stepping out on the beach to feel the sand get in between your toes.

Be A Star:

A really fun activity the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino offers is a YouTube Concierge. Guests get the chance to record a 30 second video on property and can view the video later that evening on the resort’s YouTube channel. This is a fun and innovative way to share your visit with family and friends. Be sure to check out the San Juan Marriott on YouTube.

Overall I found the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino to be a great choice for family travel, romantic escapes, or a girlfriend getaway in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Special thanks to the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino for hosting my visit to Puerto Rico.

Last week Disney Parks debuted ‘Star Tours – The Adventure Continues’ inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. Themeparkmom was there to experience the opening in person, but for those of us unable to attend, Disney Parks released a video of the opening ceremonies, with special appearances by Bob Iger and George Lucas.

I can’t wait to personally check out ‘Star Tours – The Adventure Continues’ with my teen son. We’re planning on a quick trip to Orlando next week specifically to experience this new and updated attraction at Walt Disney World. He’s a big Star Wars fan and we’ve been watching this attraction during development. Plus, the next few weeks also offers the added benefit of Star Wars Weekends.

Here’s a a behind the scenes look at the music development for the queue line for ‘Star Tours – The Adventure Continues’ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios which is open now, or at Disneyland, which opens June 3, 2011.

For more behind the scenes, be sure to check out the Disney Parks blog.

Orlando

If there’s one thing Carnival Cruise Lines has down, it’s fun on a cruise ship. They don’t call their fleet the “Fun Ships” lightly. They take fun seriously, not just for kids, but for all ages. While on the Carnival Magic inaugural cruise, I took some time away from touring, eating, and exploring the ship for a different kind of research – the wet kind.

Last summer I took a family cruise with my kids and husband. One aspect of the Carnival Fantasy the kids loved was Carnival’s Waterworks. It’s a cruise ship sized waterpark with waterslides and splash zones for passengers. Parents can sit back in a lounge chair and relax as the kids go up and down Carnival’s Waterworks again and again. But Carnival’s Waterworks isn’t just for the younger passengers, adults are welcome to get in on the action.

I couldn’t help myself. Each time I stepped out on the Lido Deck of the Carnival Magic, I could hear the bell ringing on the Power Drencher as the bucket filled, getting ready to dump water on cruise guests standing below. I caved in, put on my swimsuit, and set out to experience the largest Carnival Waterworks on the seas to date.

Carnival’s Waterworks is only one of the many fun and adventurous experiences cruise passengers can check out on the Carnival Magic. It was a fun ride down The Twister and gave me just the burst of excitement I needed. I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling. The Carnival Magic truly is a “Fun Ship” that offers something for everyone.

Special thanks to Carnival Cruise Lines for hosting my cruise experience on the Carnival Magic.