I'm DREAMing of a Caribbean Christmas- Stacey's Holiday Cruise Review 12/10/1...

Hi all!

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to my review of a Christmas cruise on the Carnival Dream!

 

 

 

 

A little bit about me…I have done a few reviews on NCL, and did one on here last year, but due to some personal events was unable to finish for a couple of months and cannot find it to finish…but please don’t hold that against me LOL!! I have a good chunk of this one written, and my goal is to have it finished within 2 weeks or less…so here goes.

 

 

 

 

I am a 30 something single nurse currently living in Manhattan, and love to fritter my hard earned money away on travel. I’ve done a combo of international trips, weekend trips and cruises, both solo and with relatives/friends. This current cruise was the first that I’ve taken with my mother, but my 10th cruise overall (yay, finally in double digits! Just think ,if this was about 5 yrs ago, and all ten had been on Carnival, I’d be platinum by now…sigh).

 

 

 

 

 

My reviews tend to be a bit wordy, and I go into a lot of detail, especially with planning and pre/post cruise stuff, as I like to offer my experiences to others. I also have a very dry sense of humor and am sarcastic at times, so if that offends you, you may not enjoy this. Also, my opinions and experiences are just that- I write about what happened to me and what my thoughts were on it, so if you had a different experience, that’s great, but this review is to share mine. Overall, I like Carnival, but as I said, I’ve been on NCL which I can say I like equally well. Both lines have their pluses and minuses, and each cruise, including this one, had moments I enjoyed and experiences that I did not. I’ve yet to have a significantly negative experience on either line that has driven me away from future cruises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cruise came up kind of quick, as my mother suggested doing a getaway for Christmas-neither of us are big into celebrating it-me, because I’m kind of a Scrooge, and my mom, with a better reason- her husband died suddenly a little over a year ago, so it’s still hard for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, long story short, I came across this sailing during one of my many fantasy Vista searches. I noted that Belize was on the itinerary, which was a destination my mom wanted to see. It also left New Orleans, which is a city we both like( I actually attended school here for a semester), and the price was pretty decent for a Christmas sailing. I mentioned it, one thing led to another, and shortly after my return from my October NCL sailing, it was booked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had originally booked a balcony guarantee, and my PVP said that this was safe as “there are no bad balcony views on the Dream.” I was ok with this as November wore on, until one day I spied a vacant L shaped cabin/balcony. I did a little research, and random polling for opinions, and ended up upgrading to it for $180 total. I was even more excited, as the videos/pics of this cabin looked AMAZING!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward to Friday, December 18, which was a QUICK workday-I started super early, and finished at noon, giving me two hours to chart before my ride to Newark, so that I did not need to drag my work computer along.

 

 

 

 

 

I was successful, and finished my last minute errands and awaited my friend L’s arrival. She had graciously offered to drive for me after I 1) realized that my first plan of dragging my luggage on the subway/NJ transit/ Airtrain was insane and 2)realized that she would take less $$$ than Carmel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L arrived at 3:45, and we hit the road, running into a small traffic snarl just outside EWR, but I arrived around 4:45, plenty of time for my 7:20pm flight. I confess, I also splurged a bit here as well-United offered a first class upgrade for $79 on this route, and once you eliminate the $25 bag fee that you pay ANYWAY, it seemed like a no brainer. I was excited to explore the perks of the elite!

 

 

 

 

 

My first “perk” was priority check in.

 

 

This might have been good at ANY OTHER AIRPORT IN THE WORLD EXCEPT NEWARK. Apparently, “premier check in” is on a different level, that cannot be accessed by elevator, so I lugged my mammoth suitcase ,carryon and purse up an escalator in search of the desk. Once I found the “premier check in,” I noticed it consisted of a few empty check in kiosks and a solitary bored agent playing Candy Crush on her phone. (OK, perhaps it was Angry Birds).

 

 

 

 

 

I breezed through the check in kiosk and tried to signal her attention to , um, TAKE MY BAG, but she was now enraptured in whatever level of game she was on. I finally caught her attention by dragging the bag directly in front of her and pretending to walk away. She finally glanced up, asking, “Are you planning to check this bag?”

 

 

 

 

Um, no, I wanted to see if I could stuff it under my seat. Or do you think it’ll fit in the overhead bin?

 

 

 

With a brief glance at my boarding pass, NO request for my photo ID, and a slap of a tag on the bag, she waved me off. National security at its finest, folks.

 

 

 

 

Since I had a bit of time, I had seen that there was a Chili’s in the B terminal, so I hopped the Airtrain over there. Sadly, after walking past a duty free shop to find a giant line, I learned that Chili’s was now a diner-sigh.

 

 

 

 

With that, I headed back to Terminal C, and to security, anticipating Perk #2-Fast Security Line.

 

 

 

 

OK, previous EWR veterans, you can stop laughing now. Please.

 

 

 

 

 

No, seriously. Please stop laughing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found the exhalted premier line stuffed with about 50+ people. When inquiring with a TSA rep that this was, in fact, the premier security line, I resigned myself to a lengthy wait. I still had plenty of time.

 

 

 

 

After a few walks down the rope maze, the line dissolved into an ambiguous split into two directions. Neither direction seemed to merge with general plebian lanes, but instead sent us into opposing directions. It was unclear as to which way was correct. A family in front of me asked one of the TSA scanners on the other side of the rope, who only shrugged. With that crystal clear answer, two members of the family insisted on going to the left, while the couple took the youngest kid and went to the right. For absolutely no logical reason whatsoever, I followed the ones who went to the right.

 

 

 

 

Ten minutes later, the half-family in front of me reached the TSA passport checkpoint. He was a friendly guy, as he proceeded to have a lengthy conversation with the family, shared some jokes about the holidays, and chattered on with the father about potential Superbowl contenders. I’m not kidding. And if you think I was growing annoyed, imagine the 20 or so people in line BEHIND me.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, their bonding time was complete, and it was my turn-except, wait a second…it was shift change!! As I held out my opened passport underneath my mobile boarding pass, the guy stuck his palm upwards and said, “Sorry, ma’am- we gotta change out real quick.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sure enough, with some quick chitchat with the oncoming TSA dude, the new guy sat down, looked at my stuff, and proceeded to give me the third degree as to my travel plans. Because, you know, they need to avoid profiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think if you do a Facebook search, you can probably still find my hashtag #ewrsucks. Interestingly enough, others founded the term and it’s gathered many a post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another 15 minutes later, I emerged onto the other side of the security zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wandered around a bit in search of a place to grab a snack, and noted that nearly every restaurant/bar was packed. I also noticed that all of them seemed to have the iPad ordering system that I first saw in JFK, I believe. I found an empty seat at a bar across from my gate, and ordered a Coke and some meatballs. I didn’t want to eat too much, since I was anticipating Perk # 3- free meal and alcohol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now I interrupt my review to bring you a moment of gooey holiday sweetness to make you all feel mushy. Or, whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

As I was awaiting my food order, sitting at a PACKED bar, I noticed a young guy in army fatigues sitting across the table, a few seats down. He was in conversation with the couple in front of him, talking about going home for the holiday or something-I wasn’t really paying attention-when a server walked over to him with a large plate of tiramisu and said “This is for you in gratitude to your service. The person wants to remain anonymous.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guy blushed and looked a little teary. He asked the server to point out the person, but the server reiterated the anonymous claim. The guy asked the server to tell whomever it was thanks, and the server encouraged him to speak up and say thanks himself, so the guy stood up, face beet red, and waved thanks. Everyone clapped for the guy, and he sat down with his tiramisu.

 

 

 

 

 

It really was kind of sweet. I overheard the server telling him that military personnel almost never pay for their meals in the airport, that someone usually buys for them in secret.

 

 

 

 

As I ate my snack, I noticed people kept walking up to him, thanking him for his service. He left shortly before I did, and I waved and gave my own thanks as he walked away.

 

 

 

 

Hope you all appreciated that. Regardless of your political or war beliefs, I hope you all think of that young guy doing his job for our own protection, just trying to get home, and maybe be a secret gifter to another random military person in an airport near you.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, back to my snarky self now.

 

 

 

 

 

Once my food was finished, I walked an entire 5 steps to the d_Parture spa, and treated myself to a short preflight massage.

 

 

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Edited January 2, 2016 by sunbird21

Afterwards, I headed the few steps to my gate,as it was nearly time to board. As we wait for boarding, allow me to share a personal dilemma.

 

 

 

 

 

I love to travel, and want to hit every continent at least once in my lifetime. I want to explore as many countries as possible, see all of the oceans, hit platinum on at least one cruiseline, experience multiple cultures, landmarks, and wonders of the world. I want to fill every page of my passport. There’s just ONE problem.

 

 

 

 

 

I hate flying.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not talking about discomfort or annoyance. I have serious terror of being 35,000 above the ground in a tiny metal contraption that can and will, at any moment richocet up and down through the air like a ping pong ball on steroids with the potential of plummeting down to the earth in seconds. And in the last 15 years, you add the potential of terrorism to the mix…it all adds up to horrific flight anxiety. If I’m not properly anesthetized, I am sadly the passenger who is white faced, screaming and hyperventilating in her seat.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry if you’ve ever flown with me, by the way. I promise I’m not psychotic on land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In any case, I have found that only two things can keep me sane…Meds or Alcohol.

 

 

 

 

 

(I’ve actually had flight attendants offer to write letters of support to my MD on my need for the controlled substances).

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not proud of it, but it’s what I need, and as long as one or the other is in play, I can travel.

 

 

 

 

 

Did I mention how much I love that my last cruise left from the good old Big Apple?

 

 

 

 

 

So, I did have a healthy prescription of Meds with me for this ride….but remember Perk #3? I chose to forgo the meds, since I would be getting a nice, preflight beverage to soothe my nerves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this backstory in mind, please rejoin me as the gate agent called for priority boarding…which I guess would technically be Perk #3, but let’s just call it Perk #2.5.

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily enough, Perk #2.5 seemed to work, and boarding was quick-I was in my seat 1B within seconds. I stowed away my carryon two bins back,b/c the bin over me was already full with my seatmates shopping bags. Never mind that. I settled happily into my larger leather seat, marveled at the expanse of legroom(like I, at 5’2 really need it, but still) and awaited the FA’s appearance to request my drink preference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The FA did approach, but instead of taking drink orders, she asked the woman next to me and I if she could place our purses in the bin until after takeoff, since we were in the bulkhead. I rescued my iPad quickly and surrendered my bag.

 

 

 

 

As more people poured onto the plane, the FA was absent. Finally, she approached and asked if we wanted something to drink. My seatmate asked for a Bloody Mary, I asked for red wine, and the FA made a face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m so sorry-they loaded the galley wrong, and the alcohol cart is at the back of the plane. We can’t switch it until after takeoff.But I can get you ladies some water,” she offered lamely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thud. Newark, we have a problem.

 

 

 

 

 

As I tried to control my rapidly mounting panic, I asked to get my purse back,citing that I needed some medication. As soon as I had it, I gulped down my dosage of Meds that was far,far too late in administration to soothe me for takeoff-my worst part of the flight.

 

 

 

 

 

As I prayed for either quick absorption or a delay in takeoff, the plane finished loading and the main cabin door shut perfectly on time. We pulled back from the gate and raced down the runway, with the pilot flinging the aircraft into air in what seemed like seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

I tried to do this breathing thing I do that can get me through a quick, smooth takeoff that results in the plane leveling off quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t a smooth takeoff, as the aircraft began to perform acrobatics with the skill of an Olympian through the night sky.With each new move, I was pulled into a full blown, completely embarrassing panic attack that had my seatmate calling the FA. She quickly assessed my hyperventilating, tear stained face and claw marks on my arms, and asked if I was in medical trouble or “just scared.”

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow I reassured her that my terror was minor, and she returned to her seat, promising to “come and talk to me” after the seatbelt sign was off.

 

 

 

 

 

To any FA’s out there, I really do appreciate you, and I know you probably hate passengers like me. But “talking” and explaining does very little. I understand turbulence and aeronautics. I just need to get through it.

 

 

 

 

Finally the plane seemed to settle down, and the FA returned, asking if I needed water. I quickly explained my lack of medicating myself due to anticipating a preflight beverage,and she apologized again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the plane leveled off, I returned to normal, and started to read my iPad, logging onto inflight WiFi. Within minutes, the FA was at my seat again, with a healthy glass of red wine for me, as well as a Bloody Mary for my poor seatmate who had to endure sitting next to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Against my better judgement, I took it. Yes, I know better. Yes, I know mixing wine and sedatives is NOT a good idea. No, I haven’t done it before and do NOT recommend it AT ALL. But post panic attack and still somewhat rattled by terror,I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I knew that the dosage I had taken was minor enough that, while it wasn’t wise, wouldn’t be harmful.

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully, the flight went smoothly from that point, and after an awkward apology to my seatmate, I settled in and read. We had a little dish of a chex-mix type appetizer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The FA asked us our choice between a chicken dish and a mushroom risotto. Everyone in the first row chose chicken, and by the time she reached the third(and final) row of 1st class, her line was “So, we have a mushroom risotto for dinner…”

 

 

 

 

 

The chicken was ok, I was glad that I had the snack at the airport, though. I think I ate more out of habit than anything else.

 

 

 

 

 

The FA seemed happy that I was calm, and continued to top off my wine glass. Because it was topping off, it didn’t appear that I was consuming that much…

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, she brought by these super warm chocolate chip cookies…YUM!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was the last thing I remember from the flight before opening my eyes as we taxied to the gate in New Orleans.

 

 

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I woke myself up enough to collect my bags as soon as the bell went off, and discovered an advantage of sitting in the first row-the ability to escape quickly! I thanked the FA as I quickly deplaned, and made my way to baggage claim. The airport was pretty empty at that time, and thankfully the luggage came quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

I walked up to a porter to inquire as to the location of the airport shuttles, and he asked where I was going. It turns out the Crowne Plaza shuttle was outside at that moment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backtracking a bit…

 

 

 

 

 

When I was searching for flights for my mother and myself, I was using different combos of dates before/after the cruise as prices were pretty high(especially out of Phoenix, where my mother lives). The best option for me was flying out that Friday night. Since my mother was flying in Saturday at 11ish, I decided to use Priceline to get a close airport hotel for the night, so that I could shuttle to/from the airport, and my mom and I could share a cab to our downtown hotel on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve done the Priceline thing a few times, and I think I’ve figured out the system to closely guess the hotel. I was accurate again at guessing the Crowne Plaza, which I won for $80 for that night.

 

 

 

 

/backtrack.

 

 

 

 

 

I was the only shuttle passenger, but the driver didn’t wait, so we reached to hotel within a few minutes. I checked in,found my room on the third floor to be a decent,clean typical hotel room. I had a soft, king sized bed on which I promptly collapsed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DAY 2

 

 

 

 

 

I woke up the next morning not remembering having fallen asleep. I had read reviews on TA stating that you could hear the airport traffic and planes, but I did not have that experience at all. Of course, the wine/med combo probably helped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cleaned up, headed downstairs and discovered that there was no complimentary offerings for breakfast. Instead, there was a dining room, where I got the buffet option for about $16, which wasn’t bad for hotel buffet food.

 

 

 

 

 

After I finished, it was about 9:30. I had a little bit of time, so I asked the front desk if there were any shopping centers nearby with a nail salon. It turns out that there was a nail salon in the next complex down the road! Since a pedicure had not been in my schedule prior to leaving the city, I eagerly walked over and was taken in immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon finishing, I had only a few minutes before the next shuttle left for the airport, so I walked back to the hotel in my pedicure flip flops(it really was just on the other side of the parking lot). I had just enough time to grab my luggage and make it downstairs and back onto the shuttle. Once again, it was just me for the 5 minute ride.After some confusion as to why he was letting me off at baggage claim, he left my by the AA doors,and I made my way in just as my mom texted that she had landed-perfect timing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met up a few minutes later, but had a lengthy wait for her flight’s luggage. Once we had acquired it, we found the taxi line. I confirmed that the rate downtown was $36 for two people, and our driver, Anil, agreed. He loaded our 4+ bags and chatted cheerfully as we headed onto the I-10. I noticed happily that the taxis here had a credit card reader-my preferred method- and Anil commented on how the drivers lose 30% of their fare when cards are used. I was skeptical. As he shared a story about how difficult of a time he was having making a living, I grew even more so…hazard of living in Manhattan, I guess!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hit some traffic on the way down, but made it to our hotel, Embassy Suites Convention Center in about a half hour. As we made the last few turns before arriving at the hotel, Anil asked us when we were returning, and handed us his number,offering to pick us up for our return trip next week. We agreed, and my mother, who bought his stupid sob story, stopped me from paying with my bank card and gave him cash with a LARGE tip. Oh well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was about 1:30 when we entered the hotel, which was beautifully decorated for Christmas in New Orleans colors-if that makes sense. I’ll allow the photos to explain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embassy Suites was NOT a Priceline pick, although I did come close. We debated between being in the French Quarter or close to the port. The price was actually similar in both areas, and not horrific for the Saturday before Christmas.ES won it when we considered the benefits of the evening reception and made to order breakfast. Location wise, it was closer to the port- a few blocks north of the Riverwalk, which you can theoretically cut through and walk to the terminal. It was also walking distance to the French Quarter, if you can tolerate a 15 min walk, which is nothing for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sidenote-after we booked the hotel for this trip back in November, I ended up taking a spontaneous weekend trip to DC, where I also stayed at Embassy Suites, which cemented my decision that this would be a good hotel for this stay.

 

 

 

 

 

We were allowed to check in right away, and were given a room on the 12th floor. The front desk agent gave me a bag with two bottles of water-a HHonors perk, yippee@@

 

 

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When we reached our room, I was pleasantly surprised to find that WE HAD A BALCONY FACING THE RIVER!!!!! You could see the bridge very clearly-I wondered if we would be able to see the Dream the next morning???

 

 

 

 

 

The suite itself was large, with a large living room, pullout sofa, chair and ottoman, flat screen TV, fridge and microwave. There was a small hallway with a closet, large bathroom, then a bedroom with king size bed, flat screen TV, dresser, and chair.

 

 

 

 

 

I got the bedroom this time,which my mom would get it on our return stay.

 

 

 

 

After getting settled in, we head out to the Quarter. It was an easy walk-turn left out of the hotel, left onto S. Peters Street (which is about 10 ft from the hotel entrance) and take it to Canal Street, which is the border for the Quarter. It was about a 15 minute walk, which my mom was ok with on the way. We stopped in several souvenir stores as we meandered down the Quarter, and settled on a restaurant on Decatur Street (the Corner Oyster House) for lunch. We had po-boys and fries.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, it was getting cooler and windy- we walked north through the Quarter a bit before heading back to the hotel for the evening reception. We stopped at a CVS on Canal St where I found my bottle of wine for the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

It was definitely windy as we made our way back to the hotel, dropped our purchases off, and headed downstairs. I loved the area that the reception was in-unlike the area they had in DC, this hotel had a large venue and tables/chairs to sit at.

 

 

 

 

The offerings for the reception were sangria, hurricanes, house red/white wine, and well brand mixed drinks. For food, they had a chex mix, chips, veggies, and M&M’s.

 

 

 

 

We had some hurricanes and snacks, and relaxed a bit, discussing our shore excursions-including Belize, where we STILL hadn’t settled on anything.

 

 

 

 

Recall if you will that this was my mom’s primary location choice for this cruise? Well, she wanted to see the city as well as a beach. She had in her mind that Belize was picturesque, which it looked to be, and knew that a lot of Americans actually retire there, so she wanted to see what it was like. However, after multiple, multiple searches on TA, these forums, previous reviews,etc etc (and of course looking at Carnival’s overpriced excursions) it was apparent that it was difficult to do both options at this port.

 

 

 

 

 

We kept going back and forth, and were tentatively planning on doing the Carnival Starfish island in the morning-mainly because of the direct boat to island tender. It also finished early enough to sightsee in the port a bit. I was hesitant because Starfish didn’t have the best reviews, and some other islands looked to be a lot prettier, but timing wise, it worked the best.Also, I had come across a fairly inexpensive city tour option with flexible times, so it could be added in the afternoon. More detail for this to come on Belize day.

 

 

 

 

 

After consuming a couple of complimentary hurricanes, we headed back out, but my mom was too cold and not willing to walk to the Quarter in that wind. Instead, we headed to the Riverwalk, which was only a 5 minute walk. We also noted signs directing us to the cruise terminal, so we figured that it would be an easy walk the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

Inside Riverwalk we browsed through some stores, purchased some cheap hoodies, and found the Café du Monde, where we had some café au lait and beignets.

 

 

 

 

On the way back to the hotel, we noticed the holiday lights at the Convention Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we returned, we took note of a few last minute things we needed, and found a Super Walmart was a few miles away, so we planned to take a cab there the next morning. We didn’t see the need to hurry to the ship, as we didn’t have FTTF, which I think is useless, but I’ll save that for another post. Also, unlike NCL, Carnival doesn’t have a limited availability exclusive sundeck that you need to be in line early to purchase. So, we would have a relaxed morning, and head to the port when we felt like it.

 

 

 

With that, I collapsed on my second super soft king size bed for the night!

 

 

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Some more photos from NOLA and Day 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DAY 3

 

 

 

I woke up early, which is status quo for me. The sun was barely rising as I peeked out onto the balcony-and found this!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excitedly, I posted the pic to my roll call page on the blue and white site. We had a slow to warm up roll call, but it was getting lively the last couple weeks, and we had loosely planned a casual M&G after sailaway that afternoon. There were some other activities planned- a slot pull, formal M&G and even card games. Usually I am very involved but wasn’t sure how things would play out during the week,so I would play it by ear as to what I would be able to attend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom woke up shortly after me, and was eager to see the Dream outside our balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After getting ready, we went downstairs to the breakfast. Unlike most hotels, ES had made to order egg breakfasts as well as a full buffet of sides, pastries, pancakes, etc. Unfortunately, the line was already VERY long at 8am, when we went downstairs.

 

 

 

We grabbed a table, and my mom went for food first. I relaxed, went online a bit, and waited. And waited. And then waited some more.

 

 

 

 

 

I saw an omelet station near out table with about 5 people in line, and decided to grab one while I waited, so I took both of our purses and stood in line. 10 minutes later, my mom returned, and I was still in line But alas, I finally got my omelet.

 

 

 

 

 

After eating, we walked outside and found a cab quickly, and arrived at Walmart about 10 minutes later. The ride was $10. The cabbie told us that there were always drivers outside the store, so that we shouldn’t have any trouble finding one when we were finished.

 

 

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Inside, my mom found her preferred bottle of wine, I got my 12 pack of Coke, and we found some decorations for our door. On our way out of the store, we looked around for cabs, but didn’t see any. There was one older guy leaning against a post with a shirt with a cab company logo, so I approached and asked if he was a cabbie. He nodded, and led us to a dilapidated Chrysler circa 1985.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My antennae was raised a bit, so I quickly confirmed that the price for the ride was $10 before entering the car. He gave a silent nod, and as I sat in the front seat, he lit a cigarette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m pretty sensitive to smoke, and my mom has been recently diagnosed with COPD, so I immediately began coughing and started to exit the car, citing that the smoke was no Bueno and that I would find another cab. He just looked at me, and said, “I can put it out if you need me to.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Um, yes, please.

 

 

 

 

 

I was starting to regret this cab choice, but it was a quick ride, so I kept my mouth shut. As we turned out of the parking lot, we heard this loud rubbery sound smacking the pavement, and my mom even inquired about it.

 

 

 

The cabbie shrugged. “Yeah, my tires low, I need to fix it soon.”

 

 

 

 

 

Oh brother. I just prayed it would last a few blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully, it did, and we made it back to ES in one piece.

 

 

 

 

 

Upon entering the lobby, we found that it was PACKED. The NCL Dawn was also leaving that morning, and it seemed that this hotel hosted a large number of cruise passengers, all trying to check out at that moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting an elevator was a joke. There was a line extending back to the concierge desk to get on, and each elevator was full of people and luggage trying to escape. Once we made it on, the elevator stopped at almost every floor because of people trying to get downstairs(it was a single button system). At the 9th or 10th floor, we actually had a couple barge on with their luggage, stating that they weren’t waiting anymore and “didn’t care of the elevator was going up or down, but we’re getting on.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately ,they planted themselves right in front of my mom and I and our multiple shopping bags. My mom pointed out that we were getting off in a couple of floors, but they ignored us. Sure enough, they glared when we reached the 12th floor and we tried to exit. Unfortunately again, I had to use some of my less than polite NYC acquired techniques of exiting a crowded environment quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

As we walked back to the room, I could see the NCL Dawn through the window of the hallway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We gathered our belongings, packed away our purchases, ,including the pop, into one of the smaller carryons. Something made me change my mind at the last minute, and I figured that we needed to have our wine with us as we went through the terminal. The pop was safe, as I had checked it with my checked luggage before,and had read about others doing the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Or so I thought…stay tuned.

 

 

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Yay!! I knew you were sailing the same week I was and hopped over to see if you started your review, so happy to find it! I just finished mine for the same week on the Dawn. Hopefully your tender in Belize was better than ours! Nightmare!! Other than that, it was a great trip for us!

 

Okay, interruption done. Carry on....

We also decided, with the additional luggage(my mom purchased another rollaboard bag at Walmart) and the crowd downstairs, that walking to the terminal was out.

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly, we rolled our several bags to the elevator, and waited. And waited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, we waited some more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, the ride down was slow, stopping at every floor, unable to collect any more people after about floor 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once outside. I left the bags with my mom in one small section of the sidewalk, which was full of people standing around with luggage. There were taxis lined up, and I wasn’t sure if it was a taxi queue taking people in line, but it seemed to be a free for all. I was debating going inside and calling for a specific cab, but something made me walk down the street a bit.

 

 

 

As I did, I saw a lone taxi at the corner of S. Peters and Julia. I approached him and asked if there was a line or if he was waiting on anyone. He shook his head no, and asked if I needed a ride. I directed him to our small spot, and he drove up a few feet to where my mom and luggage were.

 

 

 

 

 

I did feel a bit guilty as we loaded into the cab, but the crowd didn’t seem to bat an eye, nor did they seem to be seeking out their own cab, so I still wasn’t sure what was up.

 

 

 

 

 

At least we had a cab, though, and the ride was actually pretty quick. I anticipated a delay as we turned past Mardi Gras World as we approached the port, which had been reported in previous reviews. Luckily, that didn’t happen, and we pulled into the covered driveway by the port. My mom found a porter right away as she got out, and by the time I paid the driver, the porter had loaded our bags, been tipped and was taking it away.

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, it was 12:20 when we walked in the terminal, and it was 11:35 when we were standing at the elevator on the 12th floor of our hotel, for those interested in timetables.

 

 

 

 

 

I had previously cruised out of NOLA in 2007, and I recalled it being quick to get through, but I knew we were there at a peak time. We got through the first line quickly, where they scanned out boarding passes, before being sent up the escalators towards the embarkation photos.

 

 

 

 

We proceeded quickly through that, as there were about 5 set up at the same time. Then we were in the long roped line, which was packed.

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t that bad, all things considering-it took about 15 minutes to get up to the security machines, and then about another 15 to get to the check in desk. We got our Sail and Sign cards, pictures and first Funtimes, and were directed to a line to embark the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a bit of a cluster at the initial check in machines, as there wasn’t an organized line, so it was kind of a free for all to swipe the cards. Once we did, we were on the gangway and headed to the ship!

 

 

 

 

 

We entered on Deck 3- Lobby deck, which was the bottom of the Atrium. It was very nicely decorated!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to attempt to see if our room was ready, so we took the glass elevators up to Deck 7- Empress. We found that we were near the front of the ship, so we walked a LONG way back to the aft towards our cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we found it, I unlocked the door, and found the cabin was clean and ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I was so excited to see the cabin in person, especially the balcony, and it did not disappoint! It was definitely worth the extra $180.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is my cheesy little video….

 

 

https://vimeo.com/150553960

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we finished exploring it and squeezing over the balcony, we decided to see how we could rearrange the beds. We get along and all, but we are people who like our personal space. I had envisioned a possible layout for the beds,and wanted to try it out…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It worked out very well! I moved one of the twins along the window where the table/chair was originally, and the other bed lengthwise under the painting. The two nighstands were positioned at either end of that bed,as the outlet was on that side. I put the end table at the foot of the other bed, , and the chair against the wall by the bathroom. It all worked well, we had space, and a nice pathway to the balcony/bathroom.

 

 

 

 

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The TV was playing the embarkation video while we unloaded the wine and iPads from out bags. Fit the iPads, passports, and money into the safe with room to spare, and head out to the Lido deck for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upstairs, of course we encountered a crown, but there was plenty of seating. We settled into a booth, and took turns grabbing food. We ended up getting pizza, which had a thinner crust than I remembered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to get our first drinks, and got a wine for my mom and a DOD for me. Just as I settled down to eat, a server walked by with a tray full of glasses of champagne.He stopped to offer us some, and my mom asked if it was free. I kind of shook my head to her, but then he said, “Yes, it’s complimentary.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What?!?!

 

 

 

 

 

I still didn’t believe him until he sat down two glasses and stated that it was complimentary due to the holiday sailing.

 

 

 

 

 

Free champagne- 7 Carnival cruises, this was a first!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later, a server walked by with a tray with the DOD. My mom, still thinking it was free, took one, and was surprised when he asked for her S&S card.

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, because she had just gotten the wine and champagne, she had three drinks in front of her. I couldn’t help but to take a picture and post it immediately. It got a lot of laughs, and a few scornful comments from her other children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way through our pizza and drinks, and Champagne guy made another round through, depositing two more glasses without question.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, who am I to argue with that?

 

 

 

 

 

The pizza wasn’t really doing it for me, and I recalled the pasta station on the upper deck, so I scampered upstairs and found Pasta Bella. There was minimal wait, so I ordered a spaghetti like pasta with Bolognese sauce and mushrooms. It was ok, although the sauce amount was minimal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom did not look impressed by the pasta, but found some chicken like substance from the buffet and seemed happy with that.

 

 

 

 

 

As we tried our next dishes, Champagne Guy made his third round. At this time, we noticed a few booths around us with several glasses on it, and began talking to a coupe across the way, who claimed they had been sitting there since 11:30 collecting glasses of champagne.

 

 

 

 

 

“As long as he keeps coming around,I’m staying right here!’ she said.

 

 

 

 

 

She actually came over and sat with us and we all chatted for awhile, as the champagne just kept flowing. Before I knew it, people were getting up. I noted that it was almost time for the muster drill, to which my mom said, “yeah, they’ve only been announcing it for the last several minutes.”

 

 

 

 

Oops. Guess it was the champagne.

 

 

 

 

So we said goodbye to our new pal, and headed down to the Scarlet restaurant, where our muster drill was. We sat at a table with another couple, and chattered pretty much through the whole thing. Also, during the drill, it was announced that there were a mere 1400 children on this sailing. This should be interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once it was done, we went back to our room and balcony. On the way, in the elevator, we saw an ad for the Steakhouse, and we decided to try to get a reservation for that night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were supposed to go to the informal sailaway, but wanted to watch from our balcony for a minute. Then I went inside to call the steakhouse, and they had availability at 8pm that night, no problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom was still on the balcony, and I was feeling a bit woozy( my tolerance is clearly low to fair), so I sat on my bed and closed my eyes for a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next thing I knew, it was dark, and I could feel the ship rocking. It was 6:30- I had TOTALLY missed the sailaway party!! I felt incredibly guilty. My mom came in a few minutes later. She said that I was out cold when she came back in, so she pulled over a trash can, thinking I might get sick (LOL) and took off upstairs. She didn’t do the sailaway party, but went up to one of the upper decks and was on the phone with one of her other daughters while we took off. She said it was getting windy, so she came back and found most of our luggage outside the room. We were still missing one bag, which I called down to guest services about, and was told to wait until after 7pm for “delivery to complete.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke myself up, went outside on our huge balcony for a few minutes. Then there was a knock at the door, and it was our cabin steward, Aubrey, who introduced himself and asked if we wanted either morning or evening service. No option for both. I said that we wanted morning, but asked if we could still get the towel animals, jokingly( I do love me some towel animals). He agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I asked if we could get some ice and an extra lounger for the balcony instead of the two chairs. He made a face and said he didn’t think he was allowed to do that, despite me reading reviews of it being done before. He never responded to the ice, and it never came.

 

 

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After that encounter, we unpacked before dinner, and hung up our meager decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time to head for dinner, and it was easy to reach from our deck. We were about 10 cabins down from the aft elevators, and it was a few floors up on deck 12. The restaurant was pretty empty for prime dining time, so it’s definitely an option for those of you considering booking it the day of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We both ordered the surf and turf. We were given some “free samples” of tomato soup and a slider( although they had a fancier name).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bread service was the best found on the ship-I had a focaccia slice that was soft and warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, you do get a free bottle of wine if you dine in the steakhouse on the first night, which was similar to my last cruise on the Valor. However, you only had a choice of merlot or chardonnay for the free bottle-otherwise, you got 50% off of any other type.

 

 

 

 

 

We chose the merlot, which was okay, although I wasn’t really feeling it after all of the champagne earlier. I had just enough to taste with dinner, which was fine.

 

 

 

For dessert, I did the chocolate sampler, which was delicious!!!!

 

My mom had a raspberry sorbet.

 

 

 

We returned to our room to find our remaining bag….and an unpleasant surprise.

 

 

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Edited January 2, 2016 by sunbird21

ETA a few more food porn pics....not the unpleasant surprise, just adding d/t the wonderful six pic limit....

 

 

My dessert

 

 

 

 

My mom's

 

 

 

 

My appetizer- shrimp cocktail

 

 

 

My mom's-lobster bisque

 

 

 

 

And the menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Menu continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It had been to the NAUGHTY ROOM!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Now, my mom had managed to get a travel iron on, even though that I had told her it wasn’t allowed, so at first I figured it had been confiscated. However, as I read the note, I discovered that it was my pop that had been the victim!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was shocked, as I had checked cases of Coke twice before on Carnival, (never on NCL for various reasons) without problem. I figured that it would be scanned, sure, but TAKEN?!?!

 

 

 

 

 

As I read further, I also noted that not only was it taken, but that it was “destroyed,” so I couldn’t even get it at the end of the cruise. ***???

 

 

 

 

 

OK, yeah, it’s not like I could really drink 12 cans in a day, but still…I also hadn’t planned on paying $41 for the soda package. I called guest services again, explaining my frustration and past experience, and got a token apology along with “There were signs all through the terminal telling you that you couldn’t check it.”

 

 

 

 

 

Except, if you HAD checked it, it was A LITTLE LATE at that point!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

She finally offered to give me “a few free drink coupons” if I came down to the desk the next day when she was on duty.

 

 

 

 

 

It was something, but I was still pissed that it had been confiscated.

 

 

 

 

 

My mom’s iron, however, made it through, no problem!

 

 

 

 

 

With that , we debated going to the Welcome Aboard show, but decided to walk around the ship a bit instead before calling it a night early. Upon returning to the room, we found the Day 2 Funtimes slid under the door, but no turndown service or anything….ok, well it was only the first night, so we’ll see….

 

 

 

 

 

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I am sooooooooo enjoying your review. Although we stopped cruising Carnival years ago (it was great when our kids were young, but as we got older and the kids no longer cruised with us, we prefer a bit more pampering so we cruise almost exclusively with Celebrity). Not that I would pass up a Carnival cruise if the price/itinerary/timing was right.

 

Your description of your flight was hysterical. I, too, am a nurse and I love to travel, but hate to fly. It had gotten to the point where my husband said if I didn't see a dr and get some meds, he wouldn't get on an airplane with me anymore! So a low dose Xanax (or a double Bailey's on the rocks) works like a charm. I still don't enjoy it, but I can tolerate it. Heck, we flew to Rome last month on an overnight flight from Philadelphia (I really don't like flying in the dark) and I didn't even take meds. Okay, so we did book first class seats that turned into beds, and the FA was very generous with pours of my Italian pinot grigio. I told DH that I think flying First Class helps a lot!!!

 

Anyway, I'm really enjoying your style of writing and am looking forward to the next installment.

Day 1 Funtimes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Day 2 Funtimes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DAY 4

 

 

 

If anyone has read my other reviews on NCL, especially the last one, you know that I wake up early, despite my best efforts, and today was the same. I got cleaned up and went out to the balcony, where I got a pic of the sunrise and read for a bit until my mom woke up.

 

 

 

 

 

Once she was ready, we headed down to the Seaday Brunch, which was just getting started in the Scarlet dining room. There was a short line to get in, and the hostess asked if we wanted a private or shared table, which they did at each subsequent dining option. We chose the private table-not that we are antisocial, but my mom is like me, doesn’t want to socialize over a meal necessarily.

 

 

 

 

 

The menu for the brunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got the cheerios French toast and she got the blueberry pancakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once breakfast was done, we went upstairs, got changed into our swimwear, and headed off in search for the Serenity deck. We walked through the Lido deck, which was looking pretty full ,despite the relatively early hour.

 

 

 

 

Serenity was also pretty crowded, but we found a clamshell chair to share on the port side, and settled in for awhile.

 

 

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Loving the review, and the snarkiness! I can totally relate. :D

There were plenty of people in the hot tubs, and the servers walked around offering drinks. We declined the first few times, then got a frozen drink as time went on. The server, I Neoman, was super polite, addressed us by name and continued to check on us.

 

 

 

Around noon, we returned to the cabin to see if the soap opera that we watch would be broadcast. I know, I can see people rolling their eyes, but hey, we like it and it was one hour out of our vacation, plus a break from getting too fried on the first day.

 

 

 

Once it was done, we went down to Deck 5 to look around the stores a bit, and found one of the $10 sales. My mom found a beach bag similar to mine, and we found these really cool iphone cases(but only for the 5 series) that hold the phone and credit cards/cash.

 

 

 

 

After shopping for a bit, we saw the barbeque outside on the Lanai, so we ventured out. There was a line, but wasn’t terrible. The offerings included bbq chicken, kielbasa, pulled pork sandwiches, grilled veggies, potato salad, and coleslaw.

 

 

 

 

 

We found a table quickly, and I bit the bullet and went inside to the bar and purchased the soda package. We ate in the sun, and although we weren’t too hungry, it was decent. My mom really liked the potato salad.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we returned to the Serenity deck for awhile, and I Neoman did deliver us another frozen drink. I got a Mocha Chocolate Getaway, which I remembered from my last cruise,and it was as delicious as I recalled.

 

 

 

 

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A couple hours later, we returned to get ready for elegant night. Despite being late in the afternoon, the room hadn’t been done, so we straightened up a little bit before getting ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Upon leaving, I did stop by guest services as I had forgotten to earlier, and received 4 $9 drink credits for my stolen(um, I mean, CONFISCATED) pop. We headed from there to the Crimson dining room, where we hat Your Time Dining, and waited in line….and were given a pager to wait for 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

As we head out, one of the photographers caught us and we took some pics. Then we used two of my credits to get a cocktail at the Atrium bar and waited another 10 minutes or so before the pager went off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once inside, we were seated at a two top. It turns out it was lobster night, but since we had surf and turf the night before, we chose other options.

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot to photograph the dinner tonight, but I had prime rib, and she had meatloaf.

 

 

 

 

 

I did remember to capture dessert, though! I got the cherries jubilee and chocolate metling cake, which I’ve combined before after reading another review suggesting it (I think it was GAPearl). It’s definitely a thumbs up!! It tastes like a warm black forest cake.

 

 

 

 

My mom got some caramel tart thing…

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we walked around a bit and then headed to the Burgundy Lounge for a couple of the comedy shows. The one that we saw with Derrick Easton was hysterical, even being a PG show!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I do have pics of the menu from that night!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom wanted to go back to the cabin after that, but I felt like walking around some more, which I did. I went up to the Lido deck, but there wasn’t anything playing on the big screen at that point.I toured through the Red Frog and Blue Iguana bars a bit but didn’t get anything. It actually seemed kind of quiet on the ship, so I headed back to the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was happy to find that we had finally had the cabin serviced along with turndown service and this little guy!

 

 

 

 

 

I headed out to the balcony to read for awhile, and discovered that the light wasn’t working. Oh well, at least my iPad had a light, so it worked. It was quite relaxing, listening to the sea and seeing the stars, relaxing on the lounger.

 

 

 

Then I headed to bed, ready for another lazy day at sea!

 

 

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