Disney and a wonderful DREAM - Our Family Vacation 8/17 - 8/27

[Catrin]

Some pics that night....

 

When we arrived to our room, we had our Platinum Gift waiting for us with our Carnival Dream Pins. For those who are curious, the gift were coolers. A gift is a gift... better than the frames.... but.. well, I wish it was something else! They make great lunchboxes however!

[Halftocruz]

Great review!!! Thanks so much for the detail. We are on the Dream in December. We are also doing the Western Caribbean so I can't wait to see what you have in store.

 

Also thanks for the Budget tip, I just booked my car with them. Question, did you use them to get back to Orlando? If so did the shuttle pick you up at the ship and back to Budget? How did that go?

 

Thanks

Kellie

[Catrin]

Monday 8/22 Cozumel

One reason why we love cruising the Western Caribbean .. is how smooth the seas were. This cruise followed suit. The water was like glass the entire trip.. (well, except for the last night.... details coming later..).

We decided to order breakfast via room service for the morning. Simple breakfast.. cereal for all, danish, fruit etc. My boys think that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is Gourmet.. and I am surprised they did not question my request for six boxes on our Room Service card, but six arrived! This was a great decision and something we would do each morning we were in port.

We arrived in Cozumel ... to warmth and sunshine. This was our sixth visit to Cozumel... our plan was to return to Paradise Beach for the fourth time. Not the adults decision, but absolutely what the kids wanted! You cannot go wrong here. Taxi ride is $16 from the pier. Paradise Beach does charge $2 for Chairs and $12 for a bracelet for the fun toys. DH and I were happy enough with just the chairs, but the main reason we came here was for the water toys for the kids! So... $38 later, we settled in. The water at Paradise Beach is very rocky in some areas, so some advice is to keep as far left as you can.

The toys ... iceburg, trampolines, slides, jungle gyms, kayaks, bungee cords, etc. They provided vests for the little ones free, with a deposit. Waiter service was excellent ... did not hound us at all.. but were right there when we ordered some snacks and drinks. They have free internet access at the restaurant, 15 minute limit... I was able to check my mail and say hi to some friends on facebook.

I did not take any pictures of the pool, but the kids loved it there. I sat in one of those chairs that goes right in the water.. until I felt the sun taking its toll, and I returned to my umbrella!

The beach was busy, but not over crowded. In addition to the Dream, the Oasis of the Seas was in port.. so 10,000 people in Cozumel that day.

The boys climbing the iceburg.. guess who got all the way up?

[Catrin]

Great review!!! Thanks so much for the detail. We are on the Dream in December. We are also doing the Western Caribbean so I can't wait to see what you have in store.

 

Also thanks for the Budget tip, I just booked my car with them. Question, did you use them to get back to Orlando? If so did the shuttle pick you up at the ship and back to Budget? How did that go?

 

Thanks

Kellie

 

Hi Kellie,

Thanks for the encouragement.. I was wondering if anyone was reading my review!

 

 

Yes we did. It was great. The line was a little longer on the way back, we waited for about 10 minutes for a shuttle to arrive and it was a little disorganized, but once we arrived it at the agency it only took about 15 minutes for us to get the car. We would use them again.. no question!

Catrin

[Catrin]

My view! I was enjoying reading... under an umbrella.... no way I was going to get fried! (been there, done that.. not fun!)

A couple other shots.

I am not sure if you can tell, but the darker shadows are actually rocky areas at the beach. Once you get past the rocks, it is lovely out there, but if you do not want to deal with the rocks, stay to the left.

When we first went to Paradise Beach in 2003, everything was free. They just wanted visitors to purchase food and drinks. Overtime, with popularity and improvements, little by little the price has gone up. But overall, this is still a great value and a great choice how to spend a fun day in Cozumel.

[jolyroger]

Lovin the trip report so far!! Great amount of pics and review!! We must have just missed you in disney by days we got there on the 21st of Aug, crowds did die down....Glad you got to get the hubby to go, the pics are priceless, especially the ones with him and your daughter! And the Dream LOVE that ship we sailed on her last year and well our girls loved it!!! Yeah that was our first Carnival cruise and now we already got the third one booked!!! Sorry to Ramble , keep up the great work with the report! From one Rhody to another!! (Oh as a side note , your hubby reminds me of mine, always with a Red Sox shirt on or the Pats, seems it always strikes up a conversation about them!)

[Brendarudd28]

Oh count me as one of the faithful readers. I've been hanging on every word you've been writing. We're headed onto the Dream on October 29 and can't wait. I've had a small ship and a medium-sized ship. Now I want the big daddy ship! LOL

Keep the review coming. I'm loving it. And thanks for taking the time to do it. :)

[hfweather]

I'm loving your review, can't wait to read the rest. Funny thing about the bunk beds, last time we cruised, with our 3 year old granddaughter, we requested the bunk beds be down all day so when she wanted to nap it would be ready. I was told that wasn't possible, just call when we wanted them down.

 

I agree with you about the Family Welcome Aboard party for the Camp Carnival children. I think I had about as much fun at it as she did. Just watching the joy on the childrens faces pretty much put a smile on my face the rest of the evening.

[Catrin]

Lovin the trip report so far!! Great amount of pics and review!! We must have just missed you in disney by days we got there on the 21st of Aug, crowds did die down....Glad you got to get the hubby to go, the pics are priceless, especially the ones with him and your daughter! And the Dream LOVE that ship we sailed on her last year and well our girls loved it!!! Yeah that was our first Carnival cruise and now we already got the third one booked!!! Sorry to Ramble , keep up the great work with the report! From one Rhody to another!! (Oh as a side note , your hubby reminds me of mine, always with a Red Sox shirt on or the Pats, seems it always strikes up a conversation about them!)

 

Hi Fellow RI'er! Yes, those Red Sox.. he is still crying right now I think. Crying about the Pats lately too...

 

Thanks for reading!

[Catrin]

I agree with you about the Family Welcome Aboard party for the Camp Carnival children. I think I had about as much fun at it as she did. Just watching the joy on the childrens faces pretty much put a smile on my face the rest of the evening.

 

It is something we have done on every cruise since bringing our kids. We are at the point now where we cannot wait until she is 12 so she won't want to go! haha!! But you are right, all the kids LOVE it. They laugh, dance.. and thier favorite part is when the kids get to have a dance competition.. against the parents!

 

I am laughing ..finding these pics... 2004... even DS1.. who is now too cool for words.. loved the Camp Carnival Dance Party! I am going to get killed for posting these... (as I sit here giggling!!)

[loves2_shop]

Lovin the review~ great details and pics!! We're on the Dream in December~ can't wait! :)

[Catrin]

Fatigue has set in.....

I will be back tomorrow night for another installment or two!

Please feel free to ask any questions about the Dream, Western Caribbean or Family Cruising in general!

Coming up...

Cave Tubing, Zip Lining, and..... How the heck are we going to get home???

Catrin

[Mommabear5]

Thinking of taking my family of 7 on our first family cruise on the Dream so I can't wait to continue reading and hearing your final thoughts. I want you to know I am now seriously thinking about adding Disney to the front end of our vacation now too. Now that would be a Dream come true...:) Lucky you.

[momof3cruisers]

Great review! We are huge Disney fans too. Since homeschool days are right before our cruise in January we homeschool.....well, it would be crazy to turn that down, right?

[Julienatul]

Hi Catrin,

 

Loving your review! We are planning to sail the Dream next summer when the kids are out of school if we can get a good price. I met you on the Carnival Victory years ago. We were discussing Camp Carnival because my dd was only 18mo at the time. Glad to see you still here and cruising. Hard to believe our dd's are 6 now!!! I also have an almost 3 year-old. Both my kids love camp carnival as well. It sounds like you had a great vacation!!

[Julienatul]

Wow I did not know Platinum had access to their cabins earlier either????!!! Good to know :)

[GeorgiaMomof4]

My view! I was enjoying reading... under an umbrella.... no way I was going to get fried! (been there, done that.. not fun!)

A couple other shots.

I am not sure if you can tell, but the darker shadows are actually rocky areas at the beach. Once you get past the rocks, it is lovely out there, but if you do not want to deal with the rocks, stay to the left.

 

When we first went to Paradise Beach in 2003, everything was free. They just wanted visitors to purchase food and drinks. Overtime, with popularity and improvements, little by little the price has gone up. But overall, this is still a great value and a great choice how to spend a fun day in Cozumel.

 

 

I'm loving your review! We were on the Dream in April and loved it.

 

We are going back to Cozumel next year and looking for something relatively inexpensive to do. We swam with Dolphins at Chankanaab last time and just want a beach day this time. Have you been to Chankanaab and if so, would you recommend Paradise Beach over it? Our kids will be 17, 15, 10 and 8 at the time. I was concerned about the rocks at Paradise, but you're saying they can be avoided?

 

Thanks and keep the review coming!

[swimmom32]

Loving you Review and we aren't even sailing on the Dream....lol

 

Cant wait to hear and see more!!

[Frenchsnowhite]

Wow! This is a VERY impressive review;)

 

We also are a family of 5, with a 16 y.o son, and 12 year old twin girls.

 

I laught at what you wrote about your oldest getting in the cabin and you asking what did you do???? LOL Same here with my son all the time!!!!:D

[Frenchsnowhite]

Wow! What a nice review!!!!;)

[Arizona cruisers]

Great review! Sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to Orlando...we will be Dreaming tomorrow! I will take a quick peek in the morning to see if you had time to write more...excellent job :)

[rhcpchika1]

Cant wait to read the rest of the port review :)

[gelo7]

Very nice review.

[vlwalker]

Fatigue has set in.....

 

I will be back tomorrow night for another installment or two!

 

Please feel free to ask any questions about the Dream, Western Caribbean or Family Cruising in general!

 

Coming up...

Cave Tubing, Zip Lining, and..... How the heck are we going to get home???

 

Catrin

 

I'm really enjoying your review, and pics, more, more, more!:)

[oncruisecontrol]

 

 

When we arrived to our room, we had our Platinum Gift waiting for us with our Carnival Dream Pins. For those who are curious, the gift were coolers. A gift is a gift... better than the frames.... but.. well, I wish it was something else! They make great lunchboxes however!

 

They gave you pins! I'm jealous:D. We only got the coolers.:confused: Perhaps they only give them out on the Dream, now. We were on the Liberty, but we're platinum.