Monkeys, Villas, and Quarantine on the Dawn 3/12-3/19 trip report

Hello everyone!

We just got back from another great cruise. Traveling were myself, my DH, and my 2 kids, B and C (ages 8 and 5). No grandparents or big sister (A) on this one. And yes, their names really do start with A B and C. It was my husband's idea :').

Im not doing pictures, as photobucket hates me. Anyone have a better idea for photo storage and sharing???

Trip day 1: 3/10: Dont work the day that you leave.

We decided to take an extra day in NOLA, as none of us had ever been there. So, I scheduled our flight to be around 3 pm on 3/10. We kept the kids out of school and I initially wasnt going to work, but then my nurse practitioner had to be out, so I agreed to work a short morning (7-10ish). Even with the short schedule, I still didnt make it home until about 10 minutes before we had to leave for the airport. I had packed the night before, with a couple of exceptions. It wasnt until the plane lifted off that I realized I had forgotten something important... some medication. I couldnt do anything about it at that time (obviously), so I just got to ruminate.

We arrived at MSY uneventfully and waited for a long time to get our luggage. Then we hopped in a cab and somehow managed to survive the ride to the hotel. They have "Passenger's Rights" posted in the cabs, and I think our driver broke ALL of them. We were staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites - Convention Center, and I had reserved a 1 br king suite room. We had room 313, which faced the pool. It was enormous, clean, and included a full kitchen.

Once we got in the room, I got on the phone. The medication I had left is not easy to replace - its not typically carried in local pharmacies, you wont get an urgent care doc to prescribe it, and emergency fills are generally not covered by insurance. Plus, if you pay cash, it's about 4k per dose. I tried calling my specialty pharmacy, but they couldnt help. I called my doctor's office and was told that she doesnt deal with medication issues after hours, and I would have to go to the emergency room. I had just about decided to try to deal without it, when my DH suggested we see if our baby/house/pet sitter (K) could get it to us.

After more research, Fedex does have same day shipping, but ONLY if you have an account that has already been cleared by the TSA. UGH. I finally called my brother, who luckily did still have his old fedex account open, and he let K use it. She drove to our house at 10:30 pm, picked it up, packed it, then took it to her house (they dont pick up from my zip code, apparently). They picked it up at midnight and it was at our hotel by 11 am. All for about $400, which is MUCH preferable to an ER visit + out of pocket.

So. Crisis averted. PHEW.

We walked down the street and had dinner at Mulates, which claims it's the "original cajun restraurant". It was good, if somewhat too spicy for my tastes (keep in mind Im a blue top Pace Picante gal, green top is too spicy for me). There was a live Zydeco band and dancing, which C really had fun with.

We then went back to the hotel and tried to sleep. It turns out that there were a lot of spring breakers there and several cheerleading squads, as there was a spirit convention in the convention center. There was a LOT of yelling in the pool area until about 1 am (supposed to close at 10), and what sounded like tumbling routines being practiced on the 4th floor. We did finally get some sleep, though.

Next up: exploring NOLA

Trip day 2: 3/11: Exploring NOLA

We had breakfast at the hotel - it is complimentary, and includes hot and cold items. It wasnt spectacular, but it was edible and varied. I also asked about what time the pool/courtyard was supposed to close and was told 10 pm.

I had bought tickets to Mardi Gras World, expecting to go there, but then I found out they were closed due to a convention, so I had to do some quick plan rearrangements. The weather was nice, so we ended up walking to the Children's Museum. I paid, then remembered that we are members of our local Museum of Science and History, and that sometimes they have reciprocal benefits, so I asked. They did! So that was $35 saved.

The museum was really neat. They had a (pretend everything) winn-dixie, a cafe, areas where kids can be electricians or plumbers and fix circuits/pipes. They had kid sized row homes, a great reading area, an art studio, all kinds of fun, interactive things. It was also Dr Seuss day, so there were extra activities to do also. We spent about 4 hours there. C ended up wandering off while we were distracted and it took us quite awhile to find her. Luckily, all was well!

A BBQ restaurant (the dirty dog or something) was recommended, so we walked there, but it really was a bar that served food. We werent comfortable taking the kids into a bar, so we looked around, and across the street was a restaurant named Cochon. It looked nice, but not too fancy, so we decided to try it. It was... wierd. It's apparently gourmet(ish) with no kids menu. I started with a roasted beet salad and had rabbit and dumplings for a main. DH had sliced beef with grits, B had pork ribs and C had mac and cheese. The kids were not excited, as EVERYTHING was highly spiced. Even the mac and cheese was spicy.

We walked back to the hotel after that, I picked up my package from the front desk, and then took a nap. Everybody was tired, but DH and the kids opted to sit in the other room and watch TV.

For dinner, we went to the river walk outlet mall food court, and picked up some NOLA souveniers. We let the kids play at the kids area to work out some energy, then walked back to the hotel. The kids watched the Kids Choice awards, and we went to bed. The pool area was full of cheerleaders practicing chants while swimming (?), and I called the front desk at 10:05 to see if they could get the kids to quiet down/leave. They were gone within about 20 minutes.

Next up: Boarding the Dawn!

3/12: Boarding!

We woke up to a cold, dreary, drippy NOLA day. We had breakfast, checked out, and almost froze to death waiting for the hotel shuttle to the port.

Once we got there, check in was super easy, even though the boarding number lady kept insisting we needed a boarding number (we didnt), and someone else finally told her to let us go to suite check in. It was super fast, and we went to the waiting room. B immediately went for the smoked salmon snacks, I guess he was still hungry or something. We were only there for about 20 minutes before they called the butlers to take us on board. B was excited to be the first on the ship. They took us to our rooms, where we dropped our bags, then asked us to go explore and meet for lunch in moderno at noonish. It was only about 11:10, so we went and explored. We found the Trex Pool (its a maze back there!), the spa (and got our spa pass stickers), and splash academy, where we registered the kids. They did have a sign up about max # of kids per age group and warned us multiple times that there were a lot of kids on this sailing and they might be full sometimes. They never were, but clearly, they were trying to warn people.

We headed for Moderno, where the new menus were in place (no more shrimp cocktail), and had a nice lunch.

Rooms were still not ready, so I went to the shorex desk after that to get the 10% discount, and got $55 OBC for that. We sat in the atrium listening to music until the rooms were ready.

We were in 12500, one of the 2 bedroom DOS. It was great, and would REALLY be great on my birthday (we'll get to that). Having 3 beds, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms helped so much. Our room steward was Ronaldo, our butler was Gian, and our concierge was Roel. I unpacked and laid down for a bit, while the kids discovered they could rent movies. DH quickly engaged parental controls, but FYI, either the parental controls are on for EVERYTHING or they are off. There is no picking "levels" of PC.

Muster was in the Stardust theater, then DH headed to the spa. The kids wanted to go swimming, but it was about 50 degrees outside, so I was the mean mom and said no. We watched a movie and watched sail away from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Then we headed to the library to play Uno. DH still wasnt back, so I arranged with him (via iconcierge) to meet him at Teppanyaki (we had reservations at 7:15).

We met a lovely couple who were on their first cruise - both seniors at OSU. The meal was delicious. The kids were restless, though, so we sent them to splash academy at 9 pm and signed them up for the late night fun zone, since it was Wii. DH unpacked his things (I only do me and the kids), and we watched Deep Water Horizon until it was time to get the kids. I put out the suite breakfast door hanger and we all crashed.

The movies did have a problem of constantly pausing to buffer. This happened the whole cruise and wasnt annoying enough to complain about, but was annoying enough to groan about.

Ok, I have to go to work now, will be back later.

next up: 3/13: Sea day!

I'm looking forward to your posts. I have a family group of 10 boarding the Dawn in two weeks, and we have five kids with us as well as two sons and a soon to be DIL. We are in the OS on deck 9 with both connecting staterooms for the 10 of us. I'm sure all of us will have a great time. :)

We were on this sailing too! I also have an 8 year old so I'm sure they met each other in kids club. :) Glad you had a much better embarkation experience than us - the suite perks make a huge difference there!

Following!

Following along- I have an aft balcony booked but an looking forward to see how the suite life was to see if I should switch.

Ok. Im back. Im going to try to do some photos here.

B on the plane:

B and C at Mulates:

DH and C dancing to the zydeco band:

Our hotel room:

Photobucket seems to have un-derped itself, so Ill try to do pics for the rest of this.

Here are day 2 pics:

At the children's museum:

C "cooking" at the cafe:

B showing off a house he built:

C trying to stabilize a wall:

B and C in a big bubble:

3/11 continued:

At Cochon, I tried this butterscotch root beer, and I see exactly why it's named, "Dang! that's good!" rootbeer LOL

roasted beet salad (surprisingly good):

Later that day in the mall:

Getting in the NOLA spirit:

and letting the steam off:

Pictures from embarkation day:

on the hotel shuttle to the port: (and if it hadnt been raining and freezing, it probably would have been faster to walk, honestly)

The Trex kids pool:

it has a little teeter totter under cover near the kids pool, also. The kids thought this was kind of fun.

Here is a YouTube video of 12500 after refurbishment (I couldnt find one, so I made one):

The view from our room (the master bedroom) at sailaway:

and the fun at Teppanyaki:

Since photobucket is FINALLY working again, Im uploading the rest of the pics for the review tonight. Hopefully I can do the rest justice a la Mitsugirly.

Did you by chance get any photos of the new suite menus for breakfast and lunch in Moderno?

We just got off the jewel and moderno had shrimp cocktail. I wonder why dawn doesn't.

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Following. We sail on the Dawn 04/16. Very curious about the quarantine part of your trip!

Love it, can't wait to hear about the quarantine!

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Did you by chance get any photos of the new suite menus for breakfast and lunch in Moderno?

Yes, I did. Here it is:

3/13: Sea Day

The kids got up by 8, and breakfast arrived soon after. I got up with them, then took them to the kids pool for about an hour. It was still too cold to use the slides or the 2.5 foot deep "pool" with waterfall, so they mostly snorkled in the (not so hot) hot tub. It was cute. There were little kid-sized loungers back there, too.

I got them changed and dropped off at splash academy so that we could go to the meet and greet that our esteemed host, Walt, had put together. About 20 of us attended, it was nice putting faces to names (like KlingonCruiser).

Walt:

The officers came and gave very brief introductions, then got out of there, leaving the CruiseNext hostess to field some questions. She gave us detailed Harvest Caye information, EMPHASIZING that it is a BELIZEAN PORT and that UBP and UDP DO NOT WORK THERE (which I think we all knew). Clearly, there have been many angry people complaining.

Some headed off to a slot pull, but it was time to get the kids from Splash Academy and head to lunch. As a rule, we do NOT eat in the buffet (except for ice cream cones), it just... is gross. I dont care what ship you're on.

On the menu, as some may have noticed, is a goat cheese gallette. Having attended the chef's table last March, I was expecting it to be the same as THAT one. It is not. If you like salty dry bitter flatbread pizza, have at.

DH had the double cut pork chop. He did not realize just HOW big it was going to be. He couldnt finish it.

The kids had hot dogs.

I left the kids with DH and left for the spa to spend a glorious 2 hours in solitude and quiet.

The only thing I didnt like about the Dawn was the type of tile lounger. There were shaped like an "S" on its side. I am NOT tall (5'2"), and unless you were over about 5'7", you either had to hold yourself up with your legs, or you would slide down and be pushed into a "C" shape with your chin on your chest, and your butt as high as your nose. I MUCH prefer the green ones with the little padded bit where your head goes - like the ones on the Jewel, Jade, Sky, and Pearl. These took too much work for me to really be able to relax.

When I returned to the cabin, Gian had shown up with gummy bears, cookies, and canapes, which were good. I also started making inroads on the Captain Morgan...I get a bit anxious and uptight on vacation, since Im the planner.

The Captain's party was that night, so we ordered hot dogs and pizza to the room early, then went to that. Nobody spoke, it was just a little line of handshakes, no pictures. The drinks were good, the little canapes were good, and C dragged me back out on the dance floor (another little boy dragged his mom out, too).

We then dropped the kids at Splash Academy and headed for the casino. I put in $80 to the slots, and walked out with over $650. Not a bad night.

Band on the Run was advertised as PG-13 in the Freestyle Daily, but honestly, aside from some skimpy shorts and halter tops, I think it was more appropriate than say, Second City. There was no cussing, nothing overtly sexual. I think the kids would have liked it. But we were trying to be responsible parents...

3/14: Cozumel - Nachi Cocom

We figured that Cozumel would be a hive of scum and villany with 7 ships in port at Spring Break, so we got up early and were among the first off the ship. We were docked next to the Getaway. Boy, is that ship big! We were the first arrivals at Nachi, and got a nice palapa right by the steps to the pool (opposite the swim up bar). The kids weren't enamored with the beach, though B did try the water:

C tried sandcastles with some new friends:

They ended up in the pool pretty quickly. There were a TON of kids at Nachi, and from the conversations we had with other guests, everybody was there for the same reason - they dont allow spring break partying.

Unfortunatly, due to getting up so early, C got tired. But she was wet when she went to lay down and the sun wasnt high yet, so I got to wrap her up like a burrito:

Manuel was our waiter, and did get a few things mixed up, but oh well. We had a nice lunch, and the guacamole was amazing.

B and I ended up going on a snorkel tour. It was about $80 for the 2 of us and lasted about 2 hours. We did pick up a few people from a resort down the beach also. We saw a LOT of fish, an eagle ray, 2 barracudas, a nurse shark..and B even managed to touch a fish - a lot of the pale parrotfish looking ones were swimming at the surface.

When we got back (around 3), we were all ready to head back to the ship.

Everybody had a bath, and I declared quiet time until dinner. We watched Moana (and I still have the oua oua...we sail across the sea...a brand new island every where we roam... song stuck in my head...), then headed to O'sheehans for dinner. Dh was not impressed. We had a bit more time before the magic show, so we headed to the shuffleboard area on deck 7, where we met a family with kids the same age as our kids that are from the same town! I was the only one who had played shuffleboard before, but it has been YEARS, so we showed the kids how to try to slide the pucks and let them play around against each other.

B was getting cranky by this time, and C was hyper-tired. Can you tell?

We went to Haines Magic after that, which was kind of OK. C was absolutely convinced he was doing Harry Potter level magic, and B has gotten perceptive enough to be able to see through many of the tricks.

We went to bed pretty much right after the show, since Roatan was next.

Yes, I did. Here it is:

 

Thank you for posting this! I hope this will be our menu on the Pearl April of 2018. It would be nice to have a few changes as the suite lunch menu has been unchanged for many years.

3/15: Roatan

I got up early-ish with C and went to Moderno for breakfast. They had actual smoked salmon on the buffet - i was psyched. the last 2 cruises, there was only that wierd salmon paste stuff.

We were the only ship at Coxen Hole this time around, so we got to dock (WAY nicer than tendering like last year). We arrived around 10 am. I had Maya Key booked, but B woke up looking a bit like a lobster, and C wasnt interested in more beach, so instead of doing that, we got off and I went to Victor Bodden's stand and booked the monkey tour.

Driving (or riding in a car) in Roatan is NOT for the faint of heart. The kids had a BLAST, though.

Our guide at the monkey place was Oscar, and he really helped the kids have a great time.

Capuchin monkeys were first. They played ring around the rosy on our heads, and my hair was GORGEOUS when they were done:

B got to feed the spider monkeys, but we werent allowed in their cage. One of them did manage to give my ponytail a pretty sharp tug, though:

Then on to the parrots:

And the Macaws:

DH and I both got 2 on us at the same time - one on a head, one on a shoulder.

B was happy with 1 on his shoulder, but then the other one got jealous. B was not amused:

continued in next post...

next, Oscar took us off the beaten path to the sloth's cage. He told us we couldnt hold them, but then another handler came in and helped the kids hold him:

After that, we headed out to see the island rabbits. We were informed that rabbits with long ears are pets, and rabbits with short ears are food. IDK. They look like gigantic rats to me:

Then off to see the white tailed deer. These deer are about 1/3 the size of deer Im used to seeing here. One of them had just had some fawns. They were TINY! like house cat tiny.

After that, we had a brief tour of the west end and headed back to the boat. B was DYING for a coconut, so I bought one at the port, which they opened for us. He took 1 sip of coconut water and never talked about coconuts ever again. LOL!

It was still before lunch at this point, and our steward was still in our room, so we went to the library to play Uno until Moderno opened for lunch. The kids were pretty cranky and starting to forget manners. At lunch, we had a fabulous waitress named Geraldine, who heard us correcting them and would only respond if they were polite. She also praised them when they did use good manners. I think it was a bit eye opening for B (he's the mouthier one). He shaped up pretty well for the rest of the day.

C wanted to go to splash academy, so I dropped her off, then went to the spa. The boys pal'd around and played ping pong, chess, and Terraria. DH ended up smacking his head on the metal stairs by the ping pong table. luckily, no major damage happened.

I got back to the room at 5, and we headed up to the sports court to play family dodgeball. DH and I were among the oldest and our kids were the youngest by several years. It was fun. NOBODY targetted C, so she kind of acted as a human shield for our side.

After that, we stopped by Moderno to see if there was a chance of being seated. No such luck, but were were able to get into Cagneys immediately. The kids had a coloring contest - every INCH of the kids menu was covered in crayon. Luckily, it kept them occupied.

It was Pirate Night, and B and C wanted to go - until we got there and B said no. He had been excited about it, though, so we asked him to go anyway. We went to the casino for about an hour and didnt have much luck, so went a picked up the kids early.

B was very unhappy with us for making him go. According to him, he didnt want to have every minute dictated to him and the counselors told him that if he didnt play the games, they would talk to us about it and ban him from splash academy. Im not entirely sure that was accurate, but oh well. He's not the biggest fan of SA anyway, he would much rather it be an Entourage-type situation where he could just go "hang out". Unfortunately, he's 8, so that isnt going to happen any time soon. C, of course, LOVED every second of Pirate Night.

Following. We sail on the Dawn 04/16. Very curious about the quarantine part of your trip!

well, I'll let the mystery become clear in the fullness of time ;p

3/16: Harvest Caye

I ordered breakfast in the cabin again, as I had rented one of the beach villas and wanted to make use of EVERY. MINUTE. (cause those suckers arent cheap!). We got off the boat pretty early and caught the shuttle down the 0.33 miles of pier.

I am pretty sure cabanas are assigned by who gets to the sign in desk first, as I booked ours just about the instant it was available, and we were still in cabana 6, with 2-5 full and the next people getting 7.

a quick video:

The butlers and concierges are all Belizean - NOT NCL. DH was psyched because they have Coke on the island. No regular Coke in bottles, but they do have bottled diet Coke. The cabana came with several bottles of water and a TINY fruit plate (1 strawberry, 2 slices each of mango, canteloupe, and pineapple, plus about 15 grapes). The other bonus, was a dedicated shuttle to anywhere on the island that we wanted to go.

The water at the beach was nice and shallow. A bit shell-full, but nothing horrible, and there were tons of gorgeous shells (including conch shells) that the kids found. There were some other kids a couple cabanas down, and they hung out with our kids in the water. Having 2 lifeguards was also a BONUS, though I did make C wear her Puddle Jumper, since it was the ocean.

The kids both wanted to go zip lining, and I wasnt sure if C would be able to, since the excursion said 8 and older. So we walked up to the lighthouse and asked. She was allowed to zip line the one where you sit in the harness - with an instructor with her for the first 3 (of 4) lines. She couldnt do the Superman one across the bay to the pier, though, as she was too short and their equipment didnt fit her. She was pretty sad about that, but had SO MUCH fun on the regular zip course. B and I also went, and honestly, Superman was less terrifying for me than the sit down one. They told us that the same company that made their ropes course and ziplines had made the ones for the Great Wolf Lodge chain. No wonder it all looked so familiar!

Lunch was OK, not spectacular. 4 soft drinks, 2 rum punches, a kid lunch and 3 adult lunches came to about $90, which for a tourist trap, isnt bad at all.

I took a brief turn in the hammock after lunch:

BUT THEN...

it started getting windy and spritzing, and I kept asking for weather reports, and they kept saying it was just a squall and would blow over. Around 2 pm, though, it was raining raining and they changed the story to, "It'll rain the rest of the afternoon."

At that point, we packed up. The shuttle showed up rigged for running in the rain (think oversized golf cart with clear plastic fitted around it). We also got priority on the shuttle at the pier - but once they dropped us off, no more special treatment. It was raining pretty well and the line to get back on the ship was long. I shielded C with my body, and I got SOAKED (but she stayed dry).

C asked to go to SA and also to stay for port play dinner, so I dropped her off there and went back to the room to get dry.

My hair, by this point, was almost impossible to brush, no matter how much conditioner I put in, so I called the spa to see if they could fit me in for some help with it. (it's about 12-15 inches long). They got me in at 5, and they recommended the keratin treatment, which did help...some.

I picked up C from SA around 6:45, and DH had ordered pizza and was watching Suicide Squad with B. We went to Second City at 9...and if that was the family show, I think Im glad I didnt go to the "adult" show! I mean, they were talking about private male anatomy (and using the anatomical word for it) during jokes, and making multiple thinly veiled references to sex. Wow. That was a BIT more than I wanted my 8 year old exposed to (C had NO CLUE what was going on, it was all over her head, so oh well. We do use anatomically correct words at our house, so it wasnt a new word to her).

We headed to bed after that.

3/17: Costa Maya - Maya Chan

We got up early again, had breakfast delivered again, and took advantage of priority disembarkation.

The area around the port really reminded me of the 1980s Jamaica or Dominican Republic - really really poor. There's a great pool right there, but that's not the point, right?

We found the Maya Chan people with the help of the map they had sent, and got in a taxi. That road is NOT for people who easily get car sick or have back problems.

Everyone at Maya Chan was really nice.

The lovely Peggy was our server:

The immediate delivery of rum punch/fruit punch and chips was very welcome:

DH, B, and C fought over the hammock all day (I claimed the bed):

Dh and B made a nice sandcastle (with a little help from C):

The kids made fast friends with the pets:

One of the mostly spanish speaking servers discovered that I speak spanish pretty well (not fluently), and kept coming over all day to chat. She was really nice.

DH took advantage of a massage, and C wanted to go paddleboarding with me, then flipped out and capsized us immediately.

Then it was time for lunch. HOLY MOLY was it GOOD. The pork, the steak, and the sea bass were to DIE for, and the chicken was fine:

By this time (somewhat unbeknownst to me at that point), the kids had figured out how to order drinks for themselves and had discovered Oreo Smoothies. Keep this in mind for later.

All too soon, it was time to return to the ship.

TBC...

Once back on the ship, we hung out in the room, and I took CRG to the 6:30 Elements Show. We had all seen it before, (I think on the Jade?), but she didnt remember. She LOVED it.

We met up for dinner at AQUA with DH and B.

Then things started going south. FAR south.

We had barely sat down when C announced an urgent need for the restroom, so I took her.

The regular ladies room was flooded from an overflowing toilet, so I took her to the handicapped bathroom, due to the urgency she was communicating.

Turns out, she had not made it in time, and had had an accident and I had to get her cleaned up while she was freaking out. Now, if this were a #1 accident, oh well. Unfortunately, it was NOT. I wrapped up and disposed of her undies (cause no way was I gonna hand wash them), and took her back to the table, and asked DH to take her upstairs for some new clothes, which he did.

No sooner had they returned, she had another emergency (but made it). From that time until about 10 pm, it was an every few minutes issue, and she was c/o stomach pain. No puking, just the other.

I now started questioning her, and it turns out she had had 2 fruit punches, a (virgin) strawberry daquiri, and at least 3 oreo smoothies. This in a girl who NEVER drinks anything but water, and who had had M&Ms for breakfast and didnt eat more than 2 bites of lunch.

Crud.

I sent DH to Tradewinds to see if they had Immodium, but no such luck. She was miserable, so I took her to the med center, as that was the only option. I had a nice conversation with the ship's physician about it, and he agreed it was likely osmotic (due to too much sugar) and not viral, but he still had to quarantine her to the cabin for 24 hours, and I had to fill out a CDC report form. Yay. But I did get liquid immodium and some pedialyte for her. This was around 10:30ish.

Guess what 3/18 is? that's right! my 38th birthday! woohoo....... AAAAANNNNNDDDDD...Quarantine.