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My Thoughts on the 2022 Nissan Leaf

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After four months of owning a 2022 Nissan Leaf, I thought I would share my opinion of the automobile. This is my second Leaf. The first was a 2015 Leaf that I considered to be my favorite car up to that point. The reason I traded that car in was discussed in a previous post.

The first thing you notice when comparing a 2022 Leaf with the 2015 model is that it looks more like a normal car and less like a big frog. That means that you won’t get the attention that you might have gotten driving the older version but that could be good or bad, depending on how much attention you want. But this is not meant to be a comparison between the two cars.

2022 Nissan Leaf
2015 Nissan Leaf

I bought the Leaf SV with a 40 kWh battery. The Leaf has three models, an S, an SV, and an SL. The S is the most basic, followed by the SV, and then the SL which has the most features. If there is a “Plus” after the designation, it means it has the larger 62 kWh battery. It also means it is $5,000 to $6,000 more costly.

Since I rarely had a problem with the range of my old Leaf, which had a 24 kWh battery, I didn’t feel the need to spend the extra money. If I was going to be doing a lot of long-distance driving, then I would want the bigger battery, but 90 percent of my driving is within 5 miles of my home. Most of the rest is within 20 miles of my home. If something came up where I had to drive across the state, I would either map out fast charger locations or rent a car. Renting a car on rare occasions is far cheaper than springing for the larger battery.

The official range for the 40 kWh battery is 149 miles but that depends on how you drive. It could be more or it could be less. There is a feature on the dash that shows you where you are on the efficiency scale. It is actually a good way to challenge yourself to try to push up your efficiency rating. I often find myself driving like an old lady so I can increase my rating. I started at around 4.1 miles per kWh and eventually pushed it up to 4.4 before settling in at 4.3. I believe the calculations only count recent miles but I do not know the formula. Lately, I dropped down to 4.2, which still translates to 168 miles on a charge.

The reason I get better than average economy is partly that I drive conservatively but mostly because I drive almost exclusively around town. If I were to take a trip on the highway and drive over 70 MPH, then the miles per kWh would drop. I am not sure why but, unlike with gasoline-powered vehicles, city driving is more efficient than highway driving in an electric car. I’m sure part of the reason is that no energy is expended while sitting at a light, unlike gasoline engines which must idle.

The car has several safety features that are nice. The one I like most is a blind spot warning. If you put on the turn signal and there is a car next to you, the car gives you an audible warning, and a yellow light blinks in your mirror. Another feature vibrates the steering wheel if you start to drift out of your lane. It has collision avoidance features too that involve automatic braking but I have not had any desire to try them out.

The driving display allows you to cycle through several screen options. The one I like shows the driving efficiency, as shown above. It also shows the total miles and miles left on the charge. Another screen has the remaining miles more prominently displayed along with the power usage. There is another display that shows what you are listening to and, if you want to navigate old school, you can bring up a compass.

The media center touchscreen display allows a bit of customization but it is cumbersome to change and could use an upgrade. It does sync with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which is nice.

There are also a couple of buttons near the shift knob that helps with efficiency. Eco mode decreases motor output somewhat and also increases slightly regenerative braking. Regenerative braking essentially recaptures kinetic energy when slowing and puts it back into the battery. If you turn on e-Pedal, that is like regenerative braking on steroids. Some people call it one-pedal driving because when you take your foot off the accelerator, you can feel the car rapidly slowing down while it recaptures energy. Driving with the e-Pedal on means you never have to use the brake pedal except in an emergency. Of course, it does take a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it it will be like second nature.

The car is quiet, like all-electric cars, but I noticed a slightly louder hum than on my 2015 leaf. There was over a six-month gap between trading in my old leaf and buying a new one so my memory could be faulty. What hasn’t changed is the loud, annoying noise the car makes while backing up. I would like to find a way to muffle it a little so I can back up my car early in the morning without waking the neighbors. My wife’s Tesla, on the other hand, sounds like a relatively quiet alien spacecraft landing nearby. Nissan should do something like that on future models.

My 2015 leaf came with a home charger that plugged into a 110-volt outlet. The charger that comes with the 2022 model will plug into a 220 outlet and has a 110 adapter. This is a great upgrade, even though I only have a 110 outlet near my driveway. I have not had a need yet to add a 220 outlet but it is nice to know I can do that. I could also pay to have a home charger installed and save the portable charger as a backup.

The Leaf also comes with two charging ports, a standard J1772 port for level 1 (110) and level 2 (220) charging, and a ChAdeMO port for fast charging. I read that the CHAdeMO port is outdated but with all the cars on the road that use it, I can’t imagine that the fast chargers out there will stop offering it as an option any time soon. Interestingly, the word comes from the Japanese phrase pronounced “o CHA deMO ikaga desuka,” Which means something like “How about a cup of tea?” The reason that is used is that the charge time is about the same time it would take to have a cup of tea.

All in all, I think the 2022 Nissan leaf is an excellent car for the money. Yes, my wife’s Tesla is better than my Nissan Leaf, but for the money she spent, I could buy two Leafs and still have $10,000 left over. That is a great deal in my book.

Check back soon and I will talk about the energy costs of electric cars and the hidden reason why buying an electric car is good for the environment despite the naysayer’s reasons why it is not.

One Year Electric

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It has been one year since I purchased my first electric vehicle and I want to share my experiences so far. The vehicle I purchased was a 2015 Nissan Leaf. Though used, it only had about 600 miles on it so it was like a new vehicle.

20170319 2015 Nissan Leaf

Before I write more about the car, let me back up and explain how I got here.

 

Sebring Citicar

From Flickr.com – ilikewaffles11

I first became interested in electric cars before I was even old enough to drive. I read about a small electric car that was being produced in the mid-70s called CitiCar. These were produced by a company called Sebring-Vanguard, Inc., which was based in Sebring, Florida. The car was very small and the range was limited to only about 40 miles but worse than that, the top speed was under 30 MPH. Still, I liked the idea of a car that required no gas and had far fewer maintenance requirements.

At that time, I figured the technology would improve and in ten or fifteen years time electric cars would have the speed and range of conventional gas engine cars. I’m glad I didn’t bet on that. Even my 2015 Leaf has a range of fewer than 100 miles but it does go quite fast.

A year ago I was driving a 2000 Dodge Dakota that got about twelve miles per gallon of gas. I started a new job in February that year that was twenty miles from home so the cost of gas was killing me. My wife had wanted me to buy a new car for quite some time because the cost of maintaining the truck was very high. I kept thinking the problems would stop because I had replaced just about every part in the truck but new problems kept coming.  I hated the idea of having a car payment but I slowly realized that it might be better than feeding a money pit.

I first started looking at fuel-efficient cars but the gas savings was not enough to justify the expense. Then my mind went back to the electric car and I did some research. I looked for used electric cars for sale in my area and the cost of most were too high considering the age and mileage they had on them. Eventually, I found several cars at a nearby dealer called Lokey Nissan that all had under 1000 miles and were very reasonably priced.

As I said, I found a 2015 Nissan Leaf for a little over $13,000. Considering that the original list price was $32,000, I thought that was a deal that was hard to pass up. In addition, it was much bigger than I expected for an electric car. The Leaf is a four-door hatchback that seats four comfortably and five uncomfortably. It also has rear folding seats and a pretty decent hauling ability.

20170321_055638 2015 Nissan Leaf milage report

The cost of electricity is a factor that I haven’t fully figured out but if the official estimate is correct then it is less than $50 per month and there are ways to reduce that further which I will talk about below.

The main problem with the car is the limited range of about 90 miles or so, although the 2018 Leaf has a much higher range. This has not been an issue for me because I almost never have a need to drive more than 50 miles in a day. If I do, there are options. The main option it to dive my wife’s Mustang. The other option is to charge the car at one of many charging stations in the area. These charging stations are not nearly as numerous as gas stations but their numbers are increasing every year.

There are three different types of chargers for my Leaf:

  • Level One – This is the charger that comes with the car and it plugs into a standard 110-volt outlet. This is the slowest form of charging and I estimate that it adds about ten percent per hour of charge. This is the only charger I use at home because I have not yet found a need to invest in a Level Two charger.
  • Level Two – This Charger runs on a 220-volt system and charges the car about three times faster than a Level One charger. The only drawback to this is it usually requires an electrition to hook up a special outlet.
  • Level Three – This charger uses direct current to quickly charge the battery. It also requires a different connector. Some cars don’t have both connectors. Mine does. I found it adds about three percent to the charge per minute. The drawback to this is that it is not available for home use and it can be damaging to the battery. For that reason, it is recommended never to charge the battery higher than 80%. I believe it has something to do with the heat generated and a fully charged battery that is hot will lessen its lifespan.

There are several different companies that operate charging stations and their fees vary. I have rarely paid for charging so I don’t have a good grasp of what those fees are but I think you can expect to pay about ten cents per minute for Level Three chargers and about one dollar per hour for Level Two Chargers. There may also be a small connection fee and some may charge by the kilowatt.

I almost always charge for free for a couple of reasons. There are many free chargers that are Level Two. Some of these are in city-owned parking areas like at the airport or near city hall. Some are run by businesses and are there to entice electric car owners to shop there. There is a Whole Foods near me that has a couple of free chargers as well as one or two Publix supermarkets.

20170322_07394620170322_181110

There is also a program from Nissan called “No Charge to Charge.” With that, you get free charging on certain Level Three chargers and, I suppose, Level Two as well for the first two years after purchasing a new vehicle. Since the original purchase date of my car was sometime in 2016, I have enjoyed free charging for the past year. When I need an extra charge, I usually charge at Level Three EVgo chargers that are located at several area Dunkin Donuts. I can then enjoy a nice coffee while I wait for my car to charge. I recently traveled outside my comfort zone to Lakeland, which is 52 miles from home. Once there I charged my car at a Dunkin Donuts so I could get home.

There are several things I like about the car. It accelerates quicker than you would expect for a car like this. It is also faster than I expected. I recently tested how fast it would go and had it up to 92. It would have gone faster but I came upon traffic and I also didn’t want to get a ticket.

20180318_175106 dash

The dash is well laid out and I can see the important things like speed and miles left before empty very clearly. The radio is especially nice for me because I like to listen to my own recordings and it has USB plug as well as an audio in jack. The downside of that is that if a phone call comes in it mutes the sound but it does not pause the audio.

My favorite thing about the car is the lack of maintenance it requires. There is no engine so there is no spark plugs, timing belt, distributor, fuel injectors, alternator, or air filter to worry about.  There is no cooling system so the radiator is not an issue. There is no gasoline so you don’t have to worry about the fuel tank, fuel pump, fuel lines or filters. There is also no transmission that will cost a boatload of money to replace. I recently brought it in for an inspection and the only thing I needed was to have the tires rotated.

Of course, there are things like brakes and tires that need replacing and there is a 12-volt battery that runs the dash and other components that will need to be replaced. I think the biggest expense will come when the main 36-volt battery needs to be replaced. That could cost several thousand dollars. Fortunately, the batteries are more heat resistant than they were on the 2011-2012 models and there is a five-year warranty on the battery.

20180318_175031 shifter

One thing I don’t like is the shifter. It seems backward to me. Even after a year I still sometimes want to push it forward to go forward and pull it back to go backward but that never works out as planned.

Another thing I don’t like is the noise it makes when backing up. It sounds like a garbage truck. They say the sound is needed because the car is so quiet that people need more help noticing it but I think the volume could be cut in half. I didn’t notice how loud it was until I lent my car to my uncle-in-law recently and heard it for the first time from the outside.

All things considered, I would say this is the best car I have ever owned. I don’t know what I will do when the battery goes. Perhaps replace it or trade it in for a newer model. Either way, I can’t see going back to gas.

Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Liberty

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Our fall vacation plans started early this year, I believe it was February when my wife suggested that we go on a cruise. We had been on several cruises and I was ready to do something different but had limited options.

Last year we planned on going to Germany but Rose’s place of employment went up for sale and her future employment in question so we put off our Germany plans until this year and went on a Disney cruise instead.

This year was not as questionable. Rose got a job with the new company and all was well except taking off two consecutive weeks while working for a new company is probably not the best idea. Instead, she decided another cruise was our best option. We wanted to go near our anniversary in October so I did some searching and could find no reasonable alternative in our price range.

After many hours of searching, we both decided that a Cruise on the Carnival Liberty, which sailed from Port Canaveral in Florida to Nassau, Bahamas, and then to St. Thomas and St. Maarten in the Eastern Caribbean. We liked that because, even though we are not big fans of Nassau, the Virgin Islands and Eastern Caribbean is a place we have never been and we wanted to see somewhere new.

What I didn’t like was that it was a Carnival cruise. The last time we cruised on Carnival we had several issues that tarnished an otherwise fun time. I wrote Carnival about the problems and even included pictures as proof but was disappointed by their eventual response. I was hoping that they would at least offer us a discount on a future cruise to compensate us for the problems but instead, I got what seemed like a form letter that just said “too bad for you” in a nice way (see here). We decided that the shorter cruises used older ships that were more in need of maintenance and a longer seven-day cruise would probably be better, so we booked it.

Once we booked it, it was my job to find a rental car. Our truck is a pig on gas so, to save a little money on fuel and avoid the wear and tear on our vehicle, renting seemed like a good option. The last time we rented a car for a cruise was with Enterprise. At that time I wanted to drop off the car and pick up another car for the return trip but the drop-off fee was so unbelievably high that it was cheaper to rent it for a week and pay the high parking fee as well.

This time I found a good deal with Budget. I also accidentally discovered a trick for saving money. By scheduling my pickup time for 9:45 a.m. my cost was just over half of what it would have been if I wanted to pick it up at 8:30 a.m. So for just over $100 we booked a car for our trip over and our trip back and didn’t have a drop-off fee.

It seemed like it took us a week to pack because we had to bring everything but the kitchen sink. I want to go on vacation to relax but a cruise requires you to dress up every evening for dinner and there was two formal nights which meant I had to bring a suit and tie, not exactly vacation attire. Worse, all that extra clothes meant we had to bring a boat-load of luggage… literally.

Picking up the rental car went anything but smoothly because the rental office was moving and they had no internet access. Since it was the first day of our vacation that minor hiccup did not bother us. We had booked a hotel on Cocoa Beach and left on a Friday, the day before the cruise departed because we didn’t want the stress of driving across the state with no time for problems, should they occur. It was also a chance to visit Rose’s dad who lives thirty minutes from there.

That evening we received an automated call from Carnival saying the Liberty was delayed due to having to make an unscheduled stop due to a crew member’s illness. The message said not to arrive at the terminal before 1:30 p.m. That left us in a difficult predicament because we had to return the car by 9:45 and take the shuttle to the terminal.

Day One: Port Canaveral

The morning of the cruise we had breakfast at the hotel, picked up a few last-minute supplies, then headed to Budget to return the car. We decided to ignore Carnival’s recommendation and got on the first shuttle to Port Canaveral. Once there everything went very smoothly and we were on the ship before noon, well before Carnival told us to show up.

Once aboard I noticed the windows were quite dirty, just like they were on our last cruise on the Carnival Destiny, but the rest of the ship seemed to be in good shape. We had a room on the spa deck, #11-06 on the port side, third room from the front. It was the highest room level on the ship and our section only had a few rooms. Rose thought it was a good choice because it would be quiet and it would be easy for us to work out because the fitness center was connected to the spa. She was right about it being quiet.

The ship left port on time and shortly after we were out to sea we headed down for dinner. Getting there was complicated, at least until we learned the trick. We were on deck eleven forward and our dining room, The Silver Olympian, was on deck three aft. Our deck did not go all the way across the ship and deck three was blocked by The Golden Olympian Restaurant and the galley. So to get to dinner we went down to deck five, walked past the shops, casino and bars, and then went down to deck three.

After we checked in, we were brought to a small booth where two elderly women were sitting. Rose hates sitting at booths but there wasn’t much we could do without making a scene so she just accepted the situation and we sat down. It wasn’t that bad. The women were sisters and were quite nice and we were relatively close to the large aft window that eventually framed a beautiful sunset.

The food was also pretty good. The menu changes every day but has some items that stay the same. I was told years ago the food on cruise ships is world-class. I have not found that to be true but I am not that picky and have always been happy with the quality. It is the quantity that I am not used to. The portions are always smaller than you would find at your local restaurant, which is probably not a bad thing since I usually overeat and feel miserable when I go to restaurants.

After dinner we went to the casino. I am not a big fan of gambling because I have a medical condition called “bad luck,” but Rose likes to play the video slot machines so I will play video poker while I wait for her. I play the video poker because I have found it to be the slowest way to lose money. I have tried the slot machines but find them no more enjoyable, or profitable, than throwing quarters into the ocean.

There was no show the first night so we went back to our room. The room steward came to our room during dinner, turned down the bed, left us chocolates, the next day’s schedule, and, of course, a towel animal. We expect all that but we never know what towel animal he will make so it is always a surprise.

Day Two: Nassau, Bahamas

We got to Nassau early and had the breakfast buffet on the Lido deck. I try to eat healthily so I just loaded my plate with several different fruits, a small amount of eggs, and a little cottage cheese that I mixed with peaches. That was my breakfast almost every day.

We were off the ship at around 8:30 that morning. We have been to Nassau several times and it is our least favorite port. The Straw Market is a popular place for people to shop but it is filled with hundreds of high-pressure vendors all trying to sell you the same crap. In fact, the entire area around the port is like that.

We chose not to do a ship excursion. We just got off to see what looked interesting. The walkway is like a gauntlet, loaded with people trying to push you to spend money with them. We chose to go on a horse and buggy ride for $40.

After we got on the buggy a woman took my camera and snapped a picture of us and then asked for a tip. The ride around town was somewhat interesting but shorter than expected, about twenty minutes. We paid $49 with the tips, which was not worth it, but few things are when you are on vacation.

After the ride, we did a little shopping in town. Rose had some gifts to buy and I was looking for coffee mugs with covers because bringing two coffee cups halfway across the ship every morning was not easy to do. I could only find one store that had them but they were $10 each for cheap plastic mugs. I guess the word “Bahama’s” somehow made them valuable. We went back to the ship before 10:00 a.m. where I was able to get two nice, stainless-steel mugs, with a specialty coffee, for $8 each. I think it would have been better to stay on the ship that morning.

Early that afternoon the captain announced that because of Hurricane Gonzalo, we would not be going to our scheduled ports but would instead divert to Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. We were not happy about that since we booked a more expensive cruise to avoid going to the same places but there was not much we could do about the weather.

Rose didn’t like eating at a small booth so she got our table changed for dinner that Sunday evening and for the rest of the cruise. We were led upstairs to the second floor and sat almost directly over were we sat the night before. This time it was a large circular table with nine other people. I felt a little bad about abandoning the sisters but I’m glad we did because every person on that table was very likable.

We went to the theater that night and saw a show that involved a lot of singing and dancing. It wasn’t really my thing but Rose likes stuff like that so I put up with it. It was the only show we saw that trip except for Friday night, which I will get to later.

Day Three and Four: Days at Sea

We spent the next two days relaxing. We wanted to go to the pool but it seemed all the pool chairs were always taken. I think many people go up before breakfast, put a towel or other belongings on a few chairs, then go back to their rooms or to breakfast. There are rules against that but they are not enforced so the only people allowed to enjoy the pool are the rule breakers or the lucky few who get there at the right time.  We did find some out-of-the-way chairs on Monday and spent a little time in the small adult pool but that was the only time during the entire cruise that we did that.

We also spent a little time on our balcony, at least I did, and I was able to get a pretty close look at what I think was Havana, Cuba. Other than that, our balcony went unused for most of the trip.

That night, and the next, we watched karaoke after dinner because two of our table mates were singing. Those two also got picked for the talent show that Friday night. I’ve never been to karaoke before and I always imagined a bunch of very bad singers but most were very good and some were great.

Day Five: Grand Cayman

We arrived at Grand Cayman on Wednesday morning, which was our fifteenth wedding anniversary. Since a coral reef surrounds the area, ships are not allowed to pass a certain point, so there were several tender boats on hand to ferry passengers to shore. We had breakfast first and then got on one of the boats and headed to shore.

The last time we were in Grand Cayman we went on a Marineland Tours amphibious bus, which we really enjoyed. It took us for a tour around the island and then went into the water where we got a chance to do some snorkeling. This time the tour wasn’t available, probably because we were not scheduled to be there, so we picked an excursion that went to a sandbar referred to as Stingray City and then to the Cayman Turtle Farm.

Stingray City

We got on a bus which took us to a boat for a thirty-minute ride to the sand bar. As we approached, we saw several other boats along with many people in the water. We then all got a mask and snorkel and got into the water. The water was between three and four feet deep and crystal clear. At first, I saw nothing but soon there were stingrays swimming all around us. These stingrays were larger than the ones I have seen on the beaches near my home in Florida.

Rose and I did a bit of snorkeling even though the water was clear enough to see the stingrays while above water. It just seemed more enjoyable to be swimming with them. I had my GoPro camera with me and took videos while I swam with the stingrays.

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

After a short time the first-mate “caught” a large stingray and was bringing it to people to hold and kiss. Supposedly, kissing a stingray is good luck. Rose was able to kiss the stingray and the mate took our picture while she held it.

Later, he brought out some food which really attracted the stingrays to our group. A few large ones were swimming through the crowd causing screams from several young women. They must have been used to people because they had no problem squeezing through the dense group of humans.

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

When it was over, we hated to leave, but we had turtles to see.

Cayman Turtle Farm

Once back onshore, our bus took us to the Cayman Turtle Farm. The farm breeds sea turtles and has a large, artificial “lagoon” that allows visitors to swim with the turtles. We were given the option of going on the full tour or skipping it and the entire group elected to skip it. Instead, we went to where several tanks housed adolescent turtles of various ages.

Cayman Turtle Farm

We were hungry at this time so we decided to buy lunch at the café. We sat outside where a rooster, hen and two or three chicks wandered around the tables looking for scraps. The table overlooked the lagoon where several people were snorkeling. When we finished eating, we headed to the lagoon and picked up snorkeling gear for ourselves.

As we waded into the water I could tell this wasn’t going to be as pleasant as I had hoped. The ground seemed slippery and there was what looked like chucks of algae floating in the water. I put my mask on and reluctantly started snorkeling. It seemed like I was swimming through a green snowstorm. I just assured myself that there was a shower waiting for me on the other end.

At first I saw nothing but then a swimming turtle came into view. I swam toward it and saw him eat a couple of pieces of the algae so I assumed it belonged there. On the bottom were two more turtles resting on top of a large grate. Our time was short so after a short swim, we headed back.

We immediately took showers and then headed into the gift store where we didn’t find anything worth buying but did so anyway. Rose bought a couple of Christmas ornaments and I got a shirt without looking at the price first.

Day Six: Cozumel

The next morning we were in Cozumel. I went to the Lido deck to get coffee and saw that someone was up all night making towel animals and putting them on chairs all around the pool. I thought that was a nice little surprise for people.

The last two times we were in Cozumel, we took a cab to Chankanaab National Park for snorkeling, but this time we decided to do something on dry land so we booked an excursion called “Salsa and Salsa.”

We were given a ride ten minutes up the road to Hotel Cozumel. There we were led into a large room and everyone was given a margarita as we entered. This was a drinker’s paradise because the margaritas kept coming.

We started out by making our own margarita to go with the one we already had. The two young women who were hosting the event kept us entertained as we learned how to make several different kinds of salsa as well as guacamole.

When the food making was over, the tables and chairs were removed and it was suddenly a dance studio. The plan was to teach us how to salsa dance. It was a fun experience but I only saw one couple who really seemed to pick up on it. We decided they must have done this before.

Day Seven: Day at Sea

We spent our last day aboard the Liberty just relaxing. We cashed in what was left on our player cards at the casino and were pleased to have lost no more than $60 for the entire trip, which was great because we each spent about thirty minutes a day gambling. That means it cost us less than ten dollars per hour to gamble.

That evening we had our final dinner with our new friends and then most of us went to see Carnival’s amateur show which I believe was called “Legends.” Two of our new friends were performing in the show. One was Madonna and the other Ricky Martin. I enjoyed their performances when I saw them at karaoke but both stepped it up a notch for the show. The other performers did a great job too and we really enjoyed our last night on the ship.

Day Eight: Debarkation

We arrived at Port Canaveral early Saturday morning, and since we brought too much crap to carry off ourselves, we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy breakfast.  This trip was the first time in over ten years that we did not carry our luggage off the ship. When our vacations are over, we like to hurry up and get home, so it was discouraging to see people walking off the ship at least an hour before us.

When we finally did get off the ship, we stood at the luggage carousel for a very long time. It started to seem like our luggage was the last two pieces to leave the ship. We then had to wait around for budget to pick us up and bring us to their car rental location. Once there, things went pretty smoothly and we were on our way home.

Final Thoughts

It would be hard to rate this cruise fairly because it did not go to the ports that we chose. If I assume that the ports we went to were part of the plan, I would say that I was pretty satisfied with the experience. My biggest problem would not be with the ship or crew but with the fact that we could have taken a similar cruise out of Tampa (near our home) and saved a ton of money.

We did have a good time, and that is the important thing. We very much enjoyed going to Stingray City and we met so many nice people on this cruise. Perhaps next time we will make it to the Virgin Islands.

If I were to do something different, I would pack less. Rose convinced me I needed to dress up every night for dinner so I had to bring several dress pants and shirts. In addition, I had to bring a suit for the formal nights. That was half my luggage in dress clothes and it wasn’t necessary. Formal night exists just so the cruise lines can sell you pictures and you are not punished for dressing like you are on vacation. In addition, many people went to dinner wearing a decent pair of shorts and a Polo shirt or something similar. All our extra luggage meant that we had to let Carnival remove it from the ship and ended up with a broken suitcase because of it.

I also would get a room with a window but skip the balcony unless the prices are very close. We spent very little time on the balcony during our cruise. Smokers might think a balcony is worth the extra money but smoking is no longer permitted anywhere except certain designated areas of the ship.

Let me know what you think Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts or tips for other travelers.

Note: I have videos that I have not had time to process but will try to add them to this post within the next few weeks, so check back again.

Abraham Lincoln and Getting Old

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Rose and I went to see the movie Lincoln yesterday afternoon. I wanted to see it because I have always admired Lincoln. I read several books about him and thought of him as somewhat of a role model because of his great character. Rose also wanted to see it, but not as much as me, and since I saw Breaking Dawn with her Saturday, we decided to see Lincoln on Sunday.

I quickly looked it up and found that it started in twenty minutes so we hurried out the door without doing something I should have done first. I did not read what the movie was about. I assumed that since it was titled simply “Lincoln” that it was about the life of Abraham Lincoln, from birth to death and all that meaty stuff in the middle.

I assumed wrong. This movie is about securing votes to pass the Thirteenth Amendment in the House of Representatives at the beginning of 1865. Sure, it’s a good history lesson but if the producers wanted to put people to sleep they could have made a movie about the passage of Obamacare and saved money on costumes.

Don’t get me wrong. I was happy to learn things I did not know before. I just would have been happier learning it a from Redbox a few months from now. If I am going to pay big bucks to see a movie at the theater, I want to be entertained, and if I can be educated at the same time, that’s even better. Apollo 13 was an entertaining and educational movie. This was an educational movie. See the difference?

I noticed something else about the movie that disturbed me. Almost everyone there was older than me. Considering that I will be fifty years old next July, I think that says something about the type of people who are interested in a movie about Lincoln. I am one of those people! Does that mean I am entering into old age?

If I start driving slow in the left lane during rush hour with my blinker on when I really have nowhere important to be, you have my permission to slap me.

Vacation part 2: Carnival Destiny

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When we got on board the Carnival Destiny, we got a good table by the window and had lunch. It was a nice view but the windows were very dirty. It looked like Godzilla had sneezed on them and nobody bothered cleaning them. The curse, of course, was that since we could not go to our cabins until 1:30 or so, we were tethered to that table, lest we lose it to someone who was not as prompt as us.

Our room was actually ready after 1:00 but our luggage did not arrive until 5:30.  Despite the late luggage arrival, we managed to get to dinner almost on time. Fortunately it was casual night.

After dinner Rose wanted to gamble, so I gambled too, even though I have no luck for games of chance. Rose won a little and I, of course, lost almost as much. This was how it went the entire trip except sometimes Rose would lose too.

I must say that, for me, playing the slots is about as exciting as watching grass grow, and significantly more expensive. I usually played video poker. At least there was some strategy to that and I could keep my losses to a minimum. Between the two of us, I don’t think we lost more than $50 the entire trip.

The next day we sat through a show about the shore excursions and other things to do which was basically a big pitch from Carnival designed to steer your money towards them and their affiliates.

Every cruise has at least one formal night and our cruise was no different. It is something that I hate because I am on VACATION and I shouldn’t have to lug a bunch of extra clothes with me so I can pretend I am at a business meeting.

They do it for one reason only. THEY WANT TO SELL YOU PHOTOGRAPHS. So even if I do not want photo of me, I still have to dress up or I wont be allowed in the dining room. I would only be allowed at the buffet upstairs, which is fine by me, but the formal dining does give you a better opportunity to meet new people.

After the formal dinner we went to the theater to see the show, which was singing and dancing. Rose loves that stuff but she actually found it boring and I was more than happy leave.

Next time I will talk about our first stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.