sweetcurves

Some of the professional pictures from our manatee swim. I didn't include them all as there are 30 or so and it's all the same thing. The manatee swim was a lot of fun though. You had to constantly feed the manatees in order to keep them interested in spending time with you. So I think I fed them like 10 heads of lettuce each by the time we were done. Most people do the dolphin swims but my sister has always wanted to swim with manatees so we did that instead. It really was worth the money we paid (it wasn't all that expensive). The photos were such a rip off but I like having the pictures to remember the event.

Ship from dock in Cozumel.

My sister and I in the shopping area of the port.

Inside Chankanaab Park.

The next day was Cozumel. I always do a ton of research on excursions and have yet to book one through Carnival. I booked us a swim with the manatees at Chankanaab Park. Our swim was booked for 2 pm Cozumel time. Ok the whole ship time thing totally screwed me up and we got to the park way too early and were SO bored.

Before that though, we had to make our way through the port village and say “no, gracias” about 4,568,906 times. I HATE having to say no so much, but the shop keepers can be VERY pushy. My sister did end up buying a ring and managed to bargain the shop keeper down really low. My sister is a born bargain shopper though. I don't have the patience or the will to care.

Anyway, at Chankannab park, we got our bracelets and bought some sunscreen that was safe for the water in the park ($21 later). There was a school group at the park so the pool was packed full of kids. It was a REALLY hot day (although from what I understand, it's always super hot in Mexico, lol). We sat under the umbrellas, shared a diet coke light, used the free wi-fi and people watched. Our manatee swim was awesome and totally worth the price. I would recommend it. Now the big sticking point is...if you want photos of your totally awesome experience, be prepared to pay for them. The disk of photos (which were great quality—I will post some below) was $120. Seriously. We figured it was once in a lifetime and we weren't doing any other super expensive excursions so why not.

We did our swim with a Mom and daughter who were on the Dream with us so we cabbed it back to the port with them and with another family. The taxi ride was $11 each way and is no longer than 10 minutes. But no a/c, just the incredible breeze coming through the windows while flying down the road at 70 mph.

We got back on the boat pretty much right away as we were both exhausted and just wanted to change into a dry swimsuit and lay out on Serenity and do nothing. And that's what we did. That night we hung out with the boys some more, spent time with them in the casino etc. I can't remember if there was comedy that night or not. I'm thinking there wasn't as it wasn't usually two nights in a row. We may have gone to karaoke. I really can't remember. I also can't remember if we ate in the dining room or not. Sorry for the lack of details.

Pics below.

At the Motown trivia/sing/dance along.

New towel animal.

The beginning of our towel zoo.

Ready for dinner.

Sunset.

After dinner on deck.

Sunning on deck 5 near the lanai.

More sunnin.

BBQ set up on the lanai.

The next morning at breakfast (first full day at sea), we ate on the Lido deck. We always eat at the buffet. I don't know why but we never seem to make it to the MDR for anything but dinner. Anyway, I always have some eggs, some sort of carbohydrate, and a few slices of bacon. I sometimes have cereal as well. Later in the week I discovered the omelette station never had a long line and fell in love with the bacon and cheese omelette, so much so that I had one every morning for the rest of the cruise.

At breakfast we noticed the two guys from karaoke. My sister swore to me that they were on our last cruise. I told her that was impossible but if she was so sure, she should go ask them. She chickened out, so I grew a set and went over to them. I said, “I have a question for you guys” they said “sure”. I said, “were you on a cruise in October?”. They said yes. I asked if they were on Freedom. They said yes. So I told them we were on the same cruise. We confirmed dates and then had a good laugh at the craziness that we ended up on the same cruise. Turns out they were from Ohio but lived in Kentucky and were brothers who cruised every 6 months. We went our separate ways after they joked that we were stalking them. We were not, I might add. LOL

Anyway we headed to Serenity and who comes by not an hour later? The KY boys. So we did formal introductions and chit chatted a bit. A few hours later we ran into them again in the casino and we decided to ask them about dinner. They had early seating, we had YTD. So they said they would talk to the maitre' d and see if we could join them for dinner. That night was the first formal night. We agreed to meet at their dining room at 6.

We ate lunch out on the lanai where a bbq was set up. There was bbq chicken quesadillas and mini sliders along with some salads. It was pretty delicious. I have pics below.

After some time up on Serenity we got ready for dinner and then joined the boys at their dining room. We really got to know each other well over dinner. I had the spaghetti carbonara (which I'd had on Freedom and enjoyed). I also had WCMC for dessert. After dinner the guys had planned on karaoke, and my sister and I had planned on going to the Motown Trivia/Sing a long on deck 5 (near the lanai). So we made plans to meet up with the guys and go to comedy after and possibly join them in the casino as they had taken an interest in playing 21.

We went with the guys to karaoke for a bit and then we went to the sing along and enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was something we'd done on Freedom and we loved it. We then met back up with the guys and we went to comedy while they went to the casino. We met up with them again at the casino after comedy and I quickly became a good luck charm for one of the guys as after I sat on his right side, he got two Blackjacks. So from then on if we were in the casino together, I was on his right side, and he ended up doing very well over the entire cruise.

Carrie and the big comfy couch?

Melissa and the big comfy couch?

Gorgeous sunset. I swear sunset from a cruise ship is magical.

The Disney ship following us.

At karaoke, giggling at and with people.

First towel animal.

Mid-ship pool. This was the ONLY time the deck was empty. Both pools were packed pretty much all the time and we never set foot in either.

Main lobby from above.

View aft, towards another Carnival ship as we were leaving port.

Leaving the port.

Line dancing on Lido.

Lunch on Lido.

Midship pool.

Bottom of one of the waterslides (which I never went on).

I believe this was the Disney Fantasy?

Aft pool.

My sister and I flew into Orlando on Tuesday, April 23. We flew Southwest (I'm a giant SW fan and will fly them until they go out of business or kick my ass off one of their flights for just loving it too much). Flight was uneventful and on time.

My father, step mother and half brother live in a suburb of Orlando so we stayed with them for 4 days pre-cruise. They drove us to the port the morning of the cruise. We had secured Faster To The Fun but still got that stupid e-mail that says don't come to the port until 1 pm blah blah blah. Although this time they said it was something about an inspection so I thought it was for real and even after calling Carnival, still felt it was REAL and we didn't get to the port until around noon. Faster To The Fun was still worth it as we had NO line and were on the ship eating lunch within a half hour. So I do recommend FTTF. Well worth the $50, in my opinion.

So first thing we did was dump our luggage into our cabin. We'd chosen cabin 1438 which is a double wide, on the Riviera deck. It's right behind an employee staircase which I wasn't too worried about. The cabin is HUGE. I mean HUGE. More room than we knew what to do with. I probably wouldn't get it again simply because the noise from the anchor and the engines was absolutely insane and I think I'd rather have a regular OV with a sofa. We don't spend that much time in the cabin so all the space wasn't really necessary. It would be different if we were traveling with a large group and wanted to have somewhere to hang out and have parties. Seeing as how that will likely never happen, this cabin went to waste on us.

Anyway, we dumped our bags and headed up to Lido to get some lunch. We fell in love with the Burrito Bar. Freedom did not have anything like this. It was wonderful. The chicken was flavorful and tender and even one burrito was too much for this girl's belly to handle (it was big). We then wandered the ship and tried to get a feel for the layout. We visited the two pools and of course walked through Serenity (where we knew we'd be spending a TON of time as we like to be away from the kidlets as much as possible). Don't get me wrong, kids are great, they are just better on any ship but mine, in my opinion. First thing we noticed about Serenity—NO HAMMOCKS. This was something we enjoyed immensely when we were on Freedom. I saw the hooks for the hammocks but no hammocks themselves. I thought maybe they just didn't put them out yet but they were never put out. That was a bummer. So we wandered the ship for a while and figured things out. For dinner we just ate at the buffet as neither of us felt like dressing up and going to the dining room. I'm one of those people who likes to dress up for dinner in the MDR. I love formal night and participated in both of them on this cruise.

Because it was so long ago, I really don't remember what food I ate save for a few meals. I will do my best to try and remember.

Later that night we went to karaoke and laughed at a few people. Sorry but karaoke is one of those places where I can't stop laughing, out of nervousness and well, just because some people really can't sing. Sorry but I just can't help it. Anyway while at karaoke, a pair of guys got up to sing and my sister said they looked really familiar. I said they seemed like two regular guys and that's probably why they looked familiar. Thought nothing of it.

My sister and I up on Serenity I believe.

The long hallway from the door of our cabin into the actual cabin itself.

The main cabin.

Other view of the cabin. The door on the left is to the bathroom.

The mid-ship pool.

I am WAY behind in posting this review but I went into a deep depression after coming home from this cruise (lol, don't we all) and I didn't want to think about writing about how great of a time I had.

My sister is my traveling buddy (and it's looking like she will be for the rest of my sad, single life). This was our second cruise. Our first was in October 2012, on Carnival Freedom (Western Caribbean-Key West, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios). My review is here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1725970&highlight=carnival+freedom+october+14 if you'd like to read it.

Forgive me now, but I am not one who takes pictures of her food. I don't want to be the chubby girl taking photos of her bacon mac & cheese in the MDR while wearing a really pretty cocktail dress. Just feels weird to me.

Anyway, here goes.

So are there any places in Mahahual that have a pool? Just curious. I love the ocean but sometimes am more comfortable in a pool.

I don't blame you one bit! Loved your review and will be doing this this same cruise on the Freedom in 11 days. Ill be with my hubby and teen kids but also with my sister who is also my best friend :). I hope we run into Milan, he is hotttt!!

You and your sis seem like You would be a hoot to cruise with.

Funny, this is our second cruise and our first was the same Dream cruise you're going on soon. We absolutely loved Roatan, so much that we went back there last year for 2 weeks.

Haha you're awesome! And if you do happen to run into him...lol, nevermind.

Is it terribly sad that I just re-read my own review so as to re-live all my favorite moments?

I stayed in FLL at the Hampton Inn Ft Lauderdale Airport North Cruise Port. Got a great rate directly through the hotel's site. They have a free airport and cruise port shuttle. Free breakfast also. There is a grocery store, dollar store, and multiple fast food outlets within a 2 minute walk of the hotel.

My sister and I (both single) are booked on the Carnival Dream, April 27, 2013.

I really want to meet new people this time, but I'm so incredibly shy and my shyness comes off as being unapproachable.

Great review! I have a soft spot for the Freedom as she was my first.

Aww thanks! Nice to see this review is still living on! :-)

This trip was incredible and a large part of that was due to my experiences on the different islands. What are you planning to do now in Belize and Roatan? What do you have booked already?

It's my sister and I traveling together so I'm always afraid about going out on our own and like to book with really well-reviewed tour companies. I booked cave tubing with viv tours for Belize, and horseback riding with a ranch on Roatan.

What I'd like to do is get a private tour on Belize, be able to see the good and bad sides of it, and do a little souvenir shopping.

And on Roatan, I think I want to go down to West End/West Bay and see the beaches and shop at the little shops.

I really want to stay away from the tourist malls and get an authentic experience of both countries. I'm just on a tight budget.

Best. review. EVER!!! I quit at page 21 but only because it's 3:30 am.

Your pics are beautiful! And you seem to have made some lasting friendships with people you met on the cruise (I really want that to happen for me!). I'm on the Dream in April 2013, same itinerary. I have all my excursions booked but now you've made me want to change my Belize and Roatan plans!

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your review!

Anyone have any online promo codes they've used recently for either cozumel tours or dolphin discovery directly? I'm looking to book the manatee encounter.

Also, anyone remember the cost of a cab to get to Chankanaab? I know I should agree on price before I get in, but if I have no idea what is the correct price, how can I agree? LOL

This single will be on the Caribbean Princess, Dec 22-29th 2012.

 

 

While the numbers say that there will be quite a bit of Children on board (587), hopefully there will still be some singles on board!

Oooh how do you find that out?!

April 27, 2013, Carnival Dream.

Myself and my also single, 29 year old sister.

I've been curious about the Breeze for a while but your review has convinced me and I think she's going to be my college graduation gift to myself. Now c'mon Carnival, release those may/june 2014 cruise dates!

You should do that for every cruise.

LOL I don't disagree.