B2B Carnival Dream March 12-26 Review

[atinys]

i am soo loving your review...... looking forward to the rest

[pafam4]

Love your review, in fact it is definitely one of the best I have ever read!! I have 16 year old boy/girl twins, so I can definitely relate to your teen club incident. I know my daughter would have also been mortified if I had introduced her to some teen boys outside the teen club! Kudos to you for making the introductions and easing her way into the club!! My question to you is, did your goddaughter coming back late to the room alone bother you at all? My son does not do the teen club, it's just not his thing and I was so worried about my 16 year old daughter walking back alone at 1 am (when most of the teen club activities ended). We also had PT cabins (1 for the kids and 1 for DH and myself) on the Riveria deck on our last sailing (we left the day after you returned, 3/27/11), so it was a bit of a walk. I made her promise to have someone walk her back and she seemed to have no trouble finding some willing young men from the club to escort her back, but I just could not sleep until I knew she was back safely. Maybe I am just overprotective, but it was a definite concern for me.

 

Anyhoo, thanks for a wonderful review. I can't wait to read the rest!

I don't think you are overprotective. As many have said on these boards before, cruise ships are floating cities filled with all kinds of people. Would I let my daughter walk home in our town by herself in the early hours of the morning? No I wouldn't, and we live in a very safe community. Therefore, we don't permit it on a cruise ship. Your precaution of having her walk with someone else, I feel, is a good idea.

[libbylabby]

Thank you for such a great review. You are a very gifted writer, I look forward to every detail. We are going on the Dream in June to celebrate DS HS graduation. I am jotting down tons of notes for our trip. I was wondering what advice or hints Jenna might offer, would she consider a few words of wisdom?:D

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review!!!!

[San_Antonio_Ex]

Wonderful review! You've got great style!!!! I took my daughters on cruises for their 16th birthdays. They both made lots of friends and had a great time. What a terrific godmother you are!

[nokey81]

One of the best reviews I have read! I leave for the Dream tomorrow, and I am sad I will not be able to read the rest of yours until I get back, although I am not complaining!:p I have been reading it all week as you update it. Glad you had a good time!

[meatloafsfan]

Love your review, in fact it is definitely one of the best I have ever read!! I have 16 year old boy/girl twins, so I can definitely relate to your teen club incident. I know my daughter would have also been mortified if I had introduced her to some teen boys outside the teen club! Kudos to you for making the introductions and easing her way into the club!! My question to you is, did your goddaughter coming back late to the room alone bother you at all? My son does not do the teen club, it's just not his thing and I was so worried about my 16 year old daughter walking back alone at 1 am (when most of the teen club activities ended). We also had PT cabins (1 for the kids and 1 for DH and myself) on the Riveria deck on our last sailing (we left the day after you returned, 3/27/11), so it was a bit of a walk. I made her promise to have someone walk her back and she seemed to have no trouble finding some willing young men from the club to escort her back, but I just could not sleep until I knew she was back safely. Maybe I am just overprotective, but it was a definite concern for me.

 

Anyhoo, thanks for a wonderful review. I can't wait to read the rest!

 

I think it's a little different for me cause I'm not her mother.

 

Before sailing we had a talk - no going into anyone else's cabin, no one comes into ours (though she met a girl and her sister who had their own cabin next to their parents so I relaxed the rule for them - that Jenna could go into their cabin and hang out). Walk in groups whenever possible - if you're feeling even a little unsafe, call me - no matter where you are on the ship I will come and find you and walk you back to the cabin. If someone tries anything with you, scream - even if they say they'll throw you overboard, don't believe them, it's just a threat.

 

The only time I was anxious is there were two times she came in after 6am (I normally get up then for work so I generally woke up, would check her bed and then go back to sleep) One time her and her friends had stayed out and had breakfast and the other time they had been up in the serenity area in the middle of the night and had fallen asleep in those big round chairs. That morning she didn't get in until 8:45am and I was freaked out and ready to call security at 9am if she wasn't back.

 

The first week she met a great group of kids and one of the boys pretty much always walked her back to the cabin (except the breakfast morning); the second week, one of the boys she met was in the cabin next to us so he (or one of his brothers) were always looking out for her.

 

I am most definitely getting a BBC!!!!!!

 

Leaving on the 16th - cannot wait.

 

I haven't decided whether you liked the food or not...hit or miss maybe - it all looks great - I am sure we will find plenty. I can see what you mean about the hours but for me it will be better so I don't eat ALL day.

 

Can you get Room Service any time?

 

Food was hit or miss - certainly some really good and some okay, some meh, and some that just wasn't worth eating.

 

You can get room service anytime but as Jenna found out, they will not deliver cheesecake at 5am (only breakfast foods). There were many times I ordered a sandwich (or two when I couldn't decide what I wanted) after coming in from the casino late at night. We also ordered room service often after coming back from an excursion - but be prepared to wait if you order then. Because most other eateries on board were not open, room service was very popular and there was often a 45 min to an hour wait around the time the ship was setting sail after a port day.

[meatloafsfan]

Dinner at Sea or Sorry, no more food pictures :rolleyes:

 

Like I said, I am soooooo sorrrryyyy. I usually take tons of food pictures but this trip, I just stopped. I regret it now cause I'm having some difficultly remembering everything I ate (though I remember an awful lot!)

 

For dinner tonight I had the smoked chicken quesadilla for my appetizer. Jenna had wanted to order this but asked if the guacamole could be left off, the server said no, they were all made up ahead of time so you could not get it without anything. So she passed on it. I offered her to try some of mine but she declined - even though the guacamole is served ON THE SIDE. It comes in a little cup with the salsa and sour cream. Inside the tortilla is the chicken and black beans, the other stuff listed on the menu comes ON THE SIDE.

 

Jenna ordered fruit again for her appetizer. I kept trying to get her to try new things but since she doesn't eat fish or cheese, the menu just didn't seem to appeal much to her.

 

For my entree I had the Penne Mariscos which is Italian pasta tossed with shrimp, calamari and scallops in a tomato cream sauce.

 

Jenna was actually very pleased tonight because green beans were the vegetable and they are her favourite. If I'd been thinking I would have asked for an appetizer portion of them on a plate for her.

 

She had the Free Range Sicilian Chicken with stewed potatoes and green beans. She ate every bite and was stuffed.

 

We had a lively conversation about what "Sicilian" chicken would be (insert mafia stereotypes here). We were having such a good time that two things happened:

 

1. I didn't notice that there was no seafood in my pasta. I couldn't figure out why I would have ordered a plain penna in a tomato cream sauce? I thought it was a little strange until I was reviewing the menus afterwards and realized that my main dish was missing it's main ingredients!

 

2. We met Ivan. Ivan was a gentleman who was sitting alone at the table for two right next to us. Poor Ivan, he was travelling with 6 women (six!) and they had all decided to eat early and then stay in the cabin to watch the bachelor (or bachelorette? whatever, he called it the "show where they hand out the roses" and I knew which one he was talking about from commericals but I admit I've never watched it - just not my taste). Ivan was a military man who had a daughter in college and at least one in high school. He was from South Carolina and he was funny and happy to join in our conversation. Jenna was getting ticked at some kids who were "mispronouncing" her name - it would come out more like "Jean - a". You know, with a thick Southern accent - for some reason, this was just driving her crazy! (I told her it's a short trip :D).

 

Once again, Jenna was out the door before dessert (and this is the kid who told me she loves chocolate! - little did I know that most afternoons when I wasn't in the cabin, she'd order a cheesecake AND a chocolate cake when she woke up - and she was taking a lactaid pill everynight because her and her friends would hang out by the ice cream machine ;)). I reminded her that we had a tour tomorrow and would need to be off the ship early.

 

Anyways.

 

Ivan and I both ordered the warm chocolate melting cake and it was once again, perfecto!

 

After dinner, I decided that with the tour tomorrow and the stop in St. Thomas, it needed to be an early night tonight. So I headed to the casino for about an hour, and had a couple of drinks. Now when I am playing the slots - especially the video slots, I am able to block out most of what's going on around me. I get kind of in a zone - my breathing relaxes, my eyes kind of unfocus a little, I hear only my machine...... It's very "Zen".

 

At this point Ivan comes up behind me, puts his head practically on my shoulder and asks me if I'm winning.

 

Scared the crap out of me! I think I jumped about 10 feet in the air.

 

He laughed his @ss off!

 

Anyways.

 

Shortly after that I decided to call it a night. I got my last "free" drink of the evening and headed back to the cabin.

 

I packed our towels, passports, my wallet and the tour tickets. Got out my swimsuit and clothes for the tour. Put the sunscreen and our sunglasses on top of my bag for the morning and then filled out one of the door hangers for room service the next day and hung it outside. I took tip money from the drawer and put it on the desk so I was all ready.

 

Jenna had said to me she doesn't eat breakfast so I just ordered an assortment of stuff and hoped there was something there she'd at least take a few bites of. With the tour, I didn't know if or what we'd have a chance to eat.

 

I had a bit of a headache and I couldn't sleep so I took a couple of aspirins and watched Robin Hood. Eventually I nodded off to sleep. Admittedly, a little nervous about the tour the next day. Going to sleep I always seem to play the "what if" game - what if room service doesn't come so we don't wake up in the morning? What if Jenna is too tired because she gets in too late? What if we miss the tour? What if there's miles of walking? What if.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[harpersgran]

Love your review. Don't stop now. I sail in May and I want to hear the rest before I go. You are only a few days into the cruise and you have another week to go.

[paper1122]

Great review! It reads like a story, anxiously awaiting more!

[noahade]

I am loving this review!!! I can't wait daily to get on and read more. We are leaving on the 23rd and can't wait to hear about st thomas and st martin. We are still up in the air about what to do on those days..... book an excursion...or get a taxi and wing it.... I know your review will help me decide!!! thanks!!!

[CarrieAP]

You are a talented and engaging writer!! We leave in one week and I'm so enjoying your story-thank you!!

[gapearl]

I'm really loving your review! Looking forward to reading more. :)

[meatloafsfan]

St Thomas Ultimate Island Adventure or "Honey, I'm home"

 

Originally I had only planned on doing Paradise Point on this St. Thomas but I started looking at the other excursions and was debating on at least going to a beach because we were in port so long (10am to 8pm) or maybe Blackbeard's Castle (a little history and they had pools for swimming). Then I came across the "Ultimate Island Excursion" from Carnival and thought that would be perfect.

 

As usual though, I hemmed and hawed about booking it until my mother pointed out that there was the posibility that Jenna would never again travel to this island so.....

 

Here's what I booked (online, a few weeks before we left):

 

Excursion Overview

• This excursion provides all the elements for a perfect day in paradise.
  

Excursion Description

 

Your Carnival destination of Charlotte Amalie offers some of the best shopping, sightseeing and beaches in the Caribbean. This is one St. Thomas shore excursion that offers all the highlights you’ll want to enjoy while you’re here.

Your Ultimate Island Experience begins with a scenic ride along Skyline Drive for majestic views of Charlotte Amalie Harbor, the British Virgin Islands, Magen’s Bay and the surrounding cays flanked against the blue sky.

You’ll arrive at the beach at Magen’s Bay to see first hand why National Geographic rated it as one of the top beaches in the world. Magen’s Bay beach provides lifeguards, showers, restrooms, a snack counter, a bar, a souvenir shop, and concessions for beach chairs, floats, windsurfers and small sailboats. You’ll have two hours to go swimming, relax under the warm tropical sun, or go beachcombing for treasure. History notes that Sir Francis Drake anchored here and lay in wait to plunder any foreign ships that sailed in to the harbor.

Once you leave the beach, your St. Thomas shore excursion takes you to Blackbeard’s Castle, a national historic landmark, for a self-guided tour. Discover pirate hideouts, historic manor houses, botanical gardens, archaeological sites, sparkling pools, an Amber Waterfall and Museum, as well as the Rum Factory and the 99 Steps.

The Danes built the steps in the mid 1700s who found that they provided an easier way of climbing the steep hills of Charlotte Amalie. The bricks that they used were ballast in the ship’s hulls of sailing ships. If you actually want to climb the steps, there are actually 103!

Your St. Thomas tour concludes with duty-free shopping on Main Street. Search for bargains on artwork, Caribbean handcrafts, electronics, fragrances, leather goods, linens and luxury items such as jewelry, watches, crystal and china.

When you’re ready to return to your “Fun Ship” at the end of the day, a short harbor cruise will take you back.

So if you’d like to take in all the highlights Charlotte Amalie has to offer, book the Ultimate Island Experience now. It’s a truly splendid way to add fun ashore to your fun afloat.

So a few things to note before we move on:

1. The online description specifically states:

 

You’ll have two hours to go swimming, relax under the warm tropical sun, or go beachcombing for treasure.

2. There are 99 steps to walk down.

3. It states a "short harbour cruise" will take you back to your cruise ship.

Okay, so the preliminaries are out of the way.

That morning we awoke to our room service delivery. I had ordered melon for both Jenna and I (nicely sliced instead of cubed and very fresh and juicy - the lone grape on the plate though was odd). I also ordered Danish, muffins and croissants. Now the card asks you to mark off how many of each one you want so I marked 1 - didn't matter they sent two of everything. I also ordered a yogurt and a banana, two apple juices, coffee for me and a hot chocolate for Jenna.

This morning I over ordered - we didn't eat the yogurt, the banana or the croissants. I had taken the banana off the tray and put it on the desk before we left (I didn't want to waste it) but when we came back at the end of the day, it was gone with the rest of the room service stuff.

I have to say, I loved this breakfast. I'm not an "egg" person because I am very fussy about how they are cooked (not even a hint of moisture can remain but I also hate when eggs get that brown skin).

I ate my fruit and the danish (which was actually 1 cinnamon bun - yummy! and one cheese danish - mmmmmmm) and enjoyed 1 of the apple juices. I did have two of the little cups of coffee but mainly because I was desparate for caffeine. It wasn't good coffee - it was not however, the worst coffee I have ever been served. It's the kind of coffee I expect is served at every banquet hall across North America - okay but weak.

I also only take milk in my coffee (not cream - not half and half - not creamer) so I ordered a milk but did not check off the box for half and half or sugar or sugar substitute but all of those things came anyways. And they were sent every time I ordered coffee even though I never ordered them.

Jenna ate her fruit and the muffins. The one muffin was lemon poppyseed and she ate just the top of that one but the other was a chocolate muffin and she ate that entire one. Both this morning and the next morning when I ordered muffins, 1 of them was chocolate. Jenna asked me later in the trip how did I get chocolate muffins cause no one else she talked to did and when she ordered muffins one day, they said they didn't have chocolate ones.

I told her I was special and everybody knew it.

Just kidding, I explained it's the luck of the draw and it was random. I had no idea what kind of muffins I would receive (or danish for that matter).

Wow, that breakfast description took longer to type than it did to eat.

Anyways.

Even though the tour wasn't suppose to leave until 10:45am, at 10 when they allowed disembarking, off we went. This is where being on the Riviera deck (deck 1) really paid off. We were off the ship in 10 mins flat. No elevator, no huge stair line up (just joined up on our floor), quick off the ship.

We were "dinged" off the ship and there were people at the end of the gangway directing you if you had a Carnival Excursion. So we went that way and after a few minutes, were directed to one of the open air taxis. These things are really tall. It took an effort for me to climb up into them but I'm glad I did cause it was a great tour and a great day.

For those of you who have not been - St Thomas is a giant hill. These open air taxis whip up these tiny, narrow roads at incredible speeds. More than half of the buildings on the island appear to be built precariously on the sides of the hills. Jenna remarked a lot about how unstable everything seemed. Then we came to a platform hanging off the side of the hill which seemed to be propped up with hundreds of wooden boards (looked so unsafe) and I asked Jenna, "Hey, how would you like to live there?" Sure enough, two minutes later our taxis (along with the 6 or 7 already there) pulled onto this platform! This was our first stop. Who needs action and adventure when certain death is only an excursion stop away?

 

The overlook was beautiful though and there was some shopping available. I took this opportunity to buy myself a hat which I had forgotten to bring ($5 - looking back, I wish I had bought ten of the baseball caps for gifts for people back home - the hat is well made, cute, comfortable and it was super cheap!) Jenna bought herself one as well since she had left her other hat back at the cabin.

Jenna also looked around at the other shopping (she LOVES to shop - it is down at the bottom of my list of least favourite things to do - right after clean the toilet and listen to rap music). I took the opportunity to put on sunscreen.

IMPORTANT WARNING: if you buy the spray on sunscreen in a can, DO NOT RUB IT IN. I can not stress this enough. I sprayed it on my legs and my arms and my shoulders. I felt like I was soaking wet and the stuff wouldn't dry so I rubbed it in on my arms and shoulders. This apparently makes the stuff NOT WORK. I ended up with a bad burn on my arms and shoulders where I had rubbed it in (no burn on my legs or forearms - the last thing I did before getting back on the taxi was spray my forearms and there the sunscreen worked). I didn't do my back at all (my bad - I meant to ask Jenna and forgot) so I also got a bad burn there. I am usually so super careful with my skin and the sun (I am very pale and a natural redhead so I burn very easy). I can't believe that I made this error - it's the first real sunburn (other than a touch of red on my face) I've had in more than 15 years.

Anyways.

Here are some pictures from the first overlook:

They also had this poor little donkey there taking pictures. It nearly broke my heart. The thing was starved and looked worn out and pathetic. And yet, there were tourists paying to take pictures with it. Don't they get that if people stopped paying to take pictures with these creatures, that the owners would not keep buying these animals?

Anyways.

Back on the taxi. We were seated in a row with another couple and their 2 year old child. I wished we had been seated with ANYONE else. This kid kicked and cried and ended up sitting on the floor at one point. The taxi driver told the parents to keep the kid to the inside (because of the twists and turns) but he would scream so they let him sit on the outer most seat anyways. Jenna sat next to him originally but everytime we loaded back onto the taxi, she took the other outside seat. Not that she hates kids (she has two little sisters and a younger brother) but the kicking and screaming were getting to her.

The next stop was atop Magen's Bay. It was a nice picture stop but to Jenna's disappointment there was no shopping.

Looking down onto the beach where we would be heading in just a few minutes:

[meatloafsfan]

Ulitmate Island Tour continued or "I can see Paradise by the dashboard lights"

 

We arrived at Magen's Beach at 11am and the driver stated he could give us a little extra time there since we were early so he agreed to pick us up at 1:15pm.

 

Tip: If you take this tour, before leaving your taxis, check to see what is on the outside. Ours was grey and said something to the effect "God is love". At 1:15pm I was very glad I had remembered that otherwise, I don't think we would have found our taxi. There are so many of them waiting there to pick up passengers.

 

As we pulled into the beach there was a group of people who were complaining because they didn't bring their swimsuits because they didn't know we'd be going to a beach. I quote, "we booked online and it DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT GOING TO A BEACH." Ummm, I booked online as well and it most certainly did. The taxi driver ended up making a deal with them to take them somewhere else after he dropped us off (that was nice of him I thought).

 

We headed down to the beach area. The chair rental place was a ways down the beach and I thought for two hours, it probably wasn't worth it - especially since Jenna was itching to get into the water. I asked a gentleman if we could have a corner of his picnic table (he was the only one sitting there) to leave our stuff and he said no - they were a pretty large group and would need all of the space.

 

Anyways.

 

Jenna looked at me like I was crazy for asking but I was not deterred. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

 

I asked at the next picnic table if we could have a corner of it (Jenna held back cause she was sooooo embarrassed) and they said I could have the whole table in a few minutes cause they were getting ready to leave. So we put our stuff on the back side of the table (there were the three people sitting on the front side facing the water) and we went into the water. I had made Jenna wear her swimsuit that morning (she asked me, "didn't they have a changing facility?") but I knew that we wouldn't want to wait and have to find it. She was happy at that moment that she had worn it under her clothes.

 

The nice thing was I was able to see the table (and our stuff) from the water so no real worries about our cameras, wallets etc. When the people left, I had Jenna get out and transfer our stuff to the front of the table.

 

This was the nicest beach I've ever been to. The sand was firm and white, not very many shells which made walking on it easy. The water was beautiful turquoise blue, a little cool getting in but you got used to it very quickly. There were these little jumping fish every once in a while but there was no sea grass and the sand bottom was easy to walk on. There were no steep drops that I found (at least not in our area) and the slope getting in and out was very gradual.

 

The sand part of the beach was a little crowded (though you could still find some space) but the water wasn't that crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carla and Jessica (from our Cruise Critic meet) had also booked the tour and despite how big the beach is, they found us in the water. Carla had Jessica put their stuff on our table as well. I had gotten out at one point and offered another family part of the picnic table as well.

 

The way I look at it - the more people using the table means the more people watching the table, means the less chance of anyone messing with our stuff.

 

If you're nice to people, people will be nice to you. Words to live by.

 

Around 12:45pm we got out of the water to dry off. Jenna did a little sun bathiing, getting a little crispy around the edges (a little pink). At this point I had no idea the world of pain that was to be visited upon me because I was still as white as a ghost. That's the problem with sunburns and me - they are stealthy. I can be in the sun and figure everything is okay but a few hours later I am red as a beet.

 

The facilities on the beach were good too. The bathrooms were as I would expect on a crowded beach (wear shoes) and there were a couple of outdoor showers to rinse off in.

 

By 1:05 we were back on our taxi and everyone was there so we headed to Blackbeard's Castle. Getting off the taxi we were reminded that we would not be getting back onto the taxi so we had to take everything with us.

 

Can I just put this out there? Don't go to Blackbead's Castle looking for a historical experience or to learn anything. It's really about the Rum Factory and selling stuff. And stairs, lots and lots of stairs.......

 

We started the tour outside (hot, hot, hot) and made our way into the rum factory. They give out little samples (keep your mini cup cause you can try as many kinds as you like).

 

I'm not a parent and I don't pretend to be one.

 

I told Jenna (10 days away from her 17th birthday) to see if she could get a sample. I know she wanted to but she assumed they would card her (like they do up here where the drinking age is 19) or I would freak out (her boyfriend at home is 19 and able to drink legally. I'm not stupid or blind - we were at a family party and I saw him buy her a drink).

 

She had no problems at all. They didn't even blink when she asked for a sample. Nor did they when the 13 or 14 year old boy who was also in the tour go up and ask for a sample.

 

Anyways.

 

Did I mention stairs?

 

Constant stairs?

 

Or the heat?

 

Or that we hadn't had anything to drink since the tour started?

 

Ugh. I was feeling very worn out at this point.

 

Jenna would stop and take pictures (which I still need to get from her - I keep reminding her but so far - nada) and I would stop and sit down for a rest.

 

Jenna stopped and shopped in their jewelry store (bought flip flop necklaces for her sisters and a coin for her brother) and then we continued down.

 

Along the way, I was made a rather generous offer by a local man who worked there. He had an apartment - with a bed - and a kitchen. He wondered if I might like to go and see it. He offered to show me what the island was "really known for".......bow-chicka-bow-wow.....

 

Anyways.

 

The amber waterfall was a bit of a disappointment. I guess I was expecting something more but it just looked like they had taken a door frame, filled it with amber pieces, and ran water over it.

 

Anyways, but the time we got to the bottom of the facility is was 2:30. The ferry left at 2:30pm (and we still needed to go through a bit of downtown to get to it). The next ferry wasn't until 4:30pm. We stopped and had a cold drink. And waited.

 

At 3pm I asked if there was any other way to get back to the ship. Couldn't we pay for a taxi? They guy at blackbeards tried his best to talk us out of it. He said by the time we found a taxi, waited for it to fill up and then sat in traffic for 45 mins to an hour (cause the roads were all messed up at this time of day) it would actually be faster to wait for the ferry.

 

So we waited.

 

At 3:20 I decided nuts to this. I'd take my chances looking for a taxi.

 

We headed down out of the castle complex and made our way to the harbour area. Sure enough there were taxi's there (like we had taken on our tour) offering to go back to the cruise ships for $4 a person. Up we climbed, sat down and enjoyed our quick 15-20 min trip back to the ship. The driver seemed to take a lot of back roads but drove a pretty good pace (nice breeze). There was a bit of a walk through the shopping area back from where the taxi dropped us off (between the Carnival and RCL ships).

 

We got dinged back on the ship and headed back to the cabin. We ordered room service (tuna for me, blt for Jenna and cheesecake for both), grabbed a couple of cold drinks from the wet bar and relaxed. It was 4:30pm when we arrived back in our cabin. I pointed out that if we had waited for the ferry, we just would have been getting on it now.

 

Room service took 45 mins but it allowed both Jenna and I the opportunity to shower and resume feeling human before eating.

 

My burn was really starting to show so I lathered myself up with lotion to try to put some moisture back into the skin before it got too bad (it didn't work this time or at least it didn't help much).

 

I don't know if it's cause we were super hungry but those sandwiches were awesome! And the cheesecake - oh so good. I highly recommend on any Carnival cruise to order the cheesecake and chocolate cake from room service - other than the warm chocolate melting cake, I found them to be the best desserts on board (that didn't have an extra charge).

 

We just relaxed and watched a movie in the cool darkness of the cabin for the rest of the evening.

 

Dinner was again around 8pm. And I'll pick that up in another post.

[CruiseLiz]

sounds like a great day (except for the sunburn!) I love Magen's Bay too!

[lorijm23]

You don't give yourself credit...you are WAY cool. Just booked the Dream last night after debating for the last 2 months and this is getting me really excited. I myself am also a lover of the casino and it's always our main entertainment aboard any ship. So I have to ask after your many hours and dollars...how did you fare? Any decent winnings or are they very tight?

[raylene5]

 

Back on the taxi. We were seated in a row with another couple and their 2 year old child. I wished we had been seated with ANYONE else. This kid kicked and cried and ended up sitting on the floor at one point. The taxi driver told the parents to keep the kid to the inside (because of the twists and turns) but he would scream so they let him sit on the outer most seat anyways. Jenna sat next to him originally but everytime we loaded back onto the taxi, she took the other outside seat. Not that she hates kids (she has two little sisters and a younger brother) but the kicking and screaming were getting to her.

 

Yeah, I would never take a kid on a touring excursion like this. With small kids, the best thing is to find the closest beach and get there fast! :)

[pafam4]

I'm just loving this review! When I'm done reading each post, I'm so anxious for the next installment! Great job, I feel like I'm back on The Dream!

[mcampb2811]

What cabin # were you in? I was in 1207 on my last cruise on the Dream, which was a PT cabin - I loved that cabin. I agree - very spacious! Love the decorations. Makes me want to order the anniversary decorations for my upcoming cruise!! I'll be sailing the Dream for a second time but all the PT cabins were booked so we have a deluxe OV cabin this time around.

 

We are in this cabin for our upcoming Dream cruise.

[splintz]

great review. i am looking to book the dream next year. but in 8 days i will be on the pride. (yeah) st thomas is one of my favorite places especially magens bay. we also went to a bar on top of the hill over looking the boats.

looks like you are having a good time. your review is very detailed. going back to the beginning i would have been very upset with the sedan driver not helping you with the luggage since this is one of the perks of hiring a sedan service and not using a shuttle. it would have definitely reflected in my tip. i have been looking for limo/sedan services from orlando to port Canaveral and will not use that company.

[mcampb2811]

I don't think you are overprotective. As many have said on these boards before, cruise ships are floating cities filled with all kinds of people. Would I let my daughter walk home in our town by herself in the early hours of the morning? No I wouldn't, and we live in a very safe community. Therefore, we don't permit it on a cruise ship. Your precaution of having her walk with someone else, I feel, is a good idea.

 

I also don't think you are overprotective. I worried about this a lot on my last cruise with my only child (son). I would not let him walk back alone so I always met him outside the club at the end of the activities for the day. I will be doing the same again on our upcoming cruise.

[lorijm23]

I also don't think you are overprotective. I worried about this a lot on my last cruise with my only child (son). I would not let him walk back alone so I always met him outside the club at the end of the activities for the day. I will be doing the same again on our upcoming cruise.

 

I'm glad it's not just me. Everyone thinks I'm crazy because they say it's a ship and where can he possibly go. Ummm, overboard???!!! HELLO????

My son is 16 and 6'2" and looks 18 so I'm not as concerned about him walking back to the cabin by himself as I am about him getting around other guys and rough housing around and somehow ending up overboard. We always give him a 12:30 curfew and I can never rest until he is safely in the cabin. There was once that he was 10 minutes late and I went into a panic and my husband was getting dressed to go look for him when he walked through the door. I think it's just natural being a parent and is not overprotective at all.

[mcampb2811]

I'm glad it's not just me. Everyone thinks I'm crazy because they say it's a ship and where can he possibly go. Ummm, overboard???!!! HELLO????

My son is 16 and 6'2" and looks 18 so I'm not as concerned about him walking back to the cabin by himself as I am about him getting around other guys and rough housing around and somehow ending up overboard. We always give him a 12:30 curfew and I can never rest until he is safely in the cabin. There was once that he was 10 minutes late and I went into a panic and my husband was getting dressed to go look for him when he walked through the door. I think it's just natural being a parent and is not overprotective at all.

 

LOL! I am laughing because that so sounds like me. My panic was on the first night when I went to pick him up at midnight and he wasn't there. I didn't even think about them being able to "sign" themselves out. I was panicking and walking briskly up and down every level. Then I went back to the room to call security and low and behold he was sitting in the room watching TV wondering where I had been the whole time. Needless to say I bought a set of walkie talkies the next day in the gift shop and told him to stay at the club until he saw me outside.

[mcampb2811]

Meatloafsfan - thanks so much for the review. I can't wait until we set sail in 3 weeks!

[alreadypacked]

Mmmm, Dessert

 

 

 

I got my "free drink card" and started ordering drinks. Now, here is where I start to soak Carnival cruises. When I had to pay for my drinks (or used my prepurchased drink coupons) I ordered simple things like vodka and cranberry, jack daniels and gingerale or malibu rum and pineapple juice. When Carnival was picking up the tab? Well, it became Long Island Iced teas, Blue Martinis, Cosmos, and Mocha chocolate getaways (oh, they are so good).

 

So I sat down in the casino and proceeded to drink myself silly. Note: silly not stupid. Once I had that free drink card, it was like the bar servers in the casino were tripping over themselves to serve me. Every 15 mins I had a new drink. It was pretty cool.

 

Most of the time I sat in the non smoking part of the casino but tonight I got a "feeling" about a machine in the smoking section so I was there just long enough to build up my players bank but I had to take my money and run because my throat started getting irritated because of the smoke.

 

I called it a night around 2am and headed back to the cabin.

 

 

 

.

 

Loving your review. Thanks!:)

 

Just curious...I play the slots a bit, but usually don't spend a whole lot. Do you have any idea how much money you spent to get to 1500 points?

 

And, were you playing $1 slots, $.25, $.05, pennies?

 

And, once you hit 1500 points, are your drinks free for the remainder of the cruise only when gambling in the casino or everywhere on the ship ("everywhere" is probably unrealistic, but I had to ask:D)?