Dream Eastern 9/24/11-10/1/11- LONG REPORT w/ PICS and MICKEY'S HALLOWEEN PARTY

[DEERINH2O]

I just love this review. I pause every time and read parts to my hubby and then we just laugh. You are a great writer and thanks again for sharing.

 

 

Kathy

[Cruise Traveler Susan]

Jaybird - I am loving your review. I had to tell you I too hate mayo. I'm sure when you tell people that they say "do you like miracle whip" --- I hate miracle whip to LOL. Everytime I order something and say "no mayo" it almost always comes with mayo. I'm glad there is someone else out there like me.

[KrusII]

Hello Brunswick.......small world!! DH & I spent Easter Weekend on the Dream last spring. We love to cruise.

[Purplesaurus]

Jaybird, our anticipation of our Eastern cruise is growing with your review, y'all had a good time, keepit coming. I am enjoying it very much!!

[beach410]

 

Ok sidebar- Doesn’t Nebraska look like Ben Affleck? No one else seems to see it, but it’s clear as day to me.

 

 

 

I see it, I thought of Ben as soon as I saw the picture before reading your question about him. There is a similarity IMO.

[NurseW2Kiddies]

Love love love your review! By the way....a cruise is not complete until you wake up in a cabin and can't remember how you got there....hopefully it's YOUR cabin....just sayin!!:D

Looking forward to more!!!

[kshawks]

LOVE the review!

[Joie]

WHAT a review...........very entertaining. We sail on the Dream BUT not till next fall....man seems like a l-o-n-g way off. This will be our 8th on Carnival....we love to cruise.

Keep it coming

[lifeisgoodPat]

Great review…..Thanksgiving on the "Dream" is getting closer and closer…..21 days from now. We are all so excited and can't wait. Parasailing in St. Thomas and Touring with Bernard in St. Maartin……What could be better? Thanks for such a great review.

[Hockey Addict]

We miss you Jaybird.... come back to us!!

 

Today I am doing the single digit dance.... I can't wait and I am soqking up your review like a sponge!

[MileHiCrzr]

Please come back - you're causing serious withdrawal problems. We cruise on December 3rd on the Dream - the way you write, I'm sure we can smuggle you on board somehow.

[jaybird77]

We boarded the Dream on Oct 1st. I am not able to post a complete review as we like to drink alot. We did attend breakfast & lunch in the formal dining room several times. Since you are seated to fill up tables, this can be a challenge as some people talk, some don't. However we did find out that someone's room caught on fire the day before & most cabin stewards on that hall were working to clean & refurbish that room. We were on the Western Caribbean, Cozumel, Belize, Roatan (don't call me Honduras), & Costa Maya. We booked Rm 9206 which is the first room at the front of the ship on the left side. Had this room before, it's a blast. Since it is at the front of the ship...when you hit a large wave, the front of the ship pitches up, then abruptly falls back down. I think this is a blast, my husband, not so much. He puts toilet paper in the shower door tracks to keep it from sliding back & forth all nite.

Enjoying your review so much!

 

I heard sometimes you rock and roll at the top forward of the ship! Glad you had a good time!

 

What a fun review! It takes loads of work & I appreciate that you are sharing your vacation with us! I have been reading the Most amusing moments to my husband - who is also enjoying your trip!

 

Ha! Hope you and your husband are enjoying it :)

 

OMG I LOOOOOOOVED Sunny! I took his tour last month on the Valor. I remember that I love you baby Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday..... song you're talking about. It is catchy, and thanks to you, it's stuck in my head right now! LOL Did you get a cd of all the music? I did and played it for days when I got home, especially on my way to work. Nothing like a little Bob Marley when you're facing a 12 hour work day right after vacation. How about this one- follow the leader, leader, leader, follow the leader..... :p

 

Isn't it crazy how those songs get caught in your head?? I didn't buy the CD, but I thought about it, so whenever I wanted to shut my eyes and pretend I was still there I could turn on the background music!

[jaybird77]

Thank you so much for posting your review! I have done a couple and it is hard work especially when photobucket acts stupid! I'm loving the review!

 

I'm trying to keep it up! Thanks for reading :)

 

Jay, i was thinking about doing the Sunny tour in St. Thomas. I like to sightsee and bargain(straw market) shop, do you feel the stores he dropped you off to shop were any good? Would you recommend this type of excursion for my type?What about safety, did you feel safe while he drove? I know a lot of questions, sorry.:p

No seat belts?!:eek:

 

Ok, 'feel safe' might not be the way to describe it. The trick is just not to sit on the outside of the row. You will be fine in the middle. But seriously, I know they do these tours all the time so even though we might think it seems dangerous, I guess they know what they are doing! Really though you should go for it, it was really fun. And the shopping are is right in downtown Charlotte Amalie, so there were tons and tons of places to go to, and there is the little straw market area adjacent to the stores.

 

I just love this review. I pause every time and read parts to my hubby and then we just laugh. You are a great writer and thanks again for sharing.

 

 

Kathy

 

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I can keep up the pace:)

[jaybird77]

Jaybird - I am loving your review. I had to tell you I too hate mayo. I'm sure when you tell people that they say "do you like miracle whip" --- I hate miracle whip to LOL. Everytime I order something and say "no mayo" it almost always comes with mayo. I'm glad there is someone else out there like me.

 

Yes! I do not like Miracle Whip or any of that, and why dod people still insist on putting mayo on your sandwich when you ask them not to!?!!

 

Jaybird, our anticipation of our Eastern cruise is growing with your review, y'all had a good time, keepit coming. I am enjoying it very much!!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

I see it, I thought of Ben as soon as I saw the picture before reading your question about him. There is a similarity IMO.

 

Thank you! Finally vindication!

[jaybird77]

Love love love your review! By the way....a cruise is not complete until you wake up in a cabin and can't remember how you got there....hopefully it's YOUR cabin....just sayin!!:D

Looking forward to more!!!

 

Thanks for keeping up with it! and for the record, i did always wake up in my OWN cabin! ha

 

LOVE the review!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

WHAT a review...........very entertaining. We sail on the Dream BUT not till next fall....man seems like a l-o-n-g way off. This will be our 8th on Carnival....we love to cruise.

Keep it coming

 

It might seem like a long time, but just keep yourself immersed in CC and the time will pass like nothing!

[jaybird77]

Great review…..Thanksgiving on the "Dream" is getting closer and closer…..21 days from now. We are all so excited and can't wait. Parasailing in St. Thomas and Touring with Bernard in St. Maartin……What could be better? Thanks for such a great review.

 

Awesome! We did Bernard's Tour so you will see that part of the review hopefully tonight!

 

We miss you Jaybird.... come back to us!!

 

Today I am doing the single digit dance.... I can't wait and I am soqking up your review like a sponge!

 

Yeah for you, wish I was going. I'm going to try and get another update tonight!

 

Please come back - you're causing serious withdrawal problems. We cruise on December 3rd on the Dream - the way you write, I'm sure we can smuggle you on board somehow.

 

I'll fit nicely in your carry on I'm sure!

[Jilldo33]

Yay you're bacK.

 

We're cruising the Dream in May. Can't wait. Loving the review.

[jaybird77]

I'm heading out to dinner but I should be getting an update posted tonight of all the St. Maarten goodies!:D

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Where is the picture of Amy? I could look at her all day.....

[jaybird77]

Yay you're bacK.

 

We're cruising the Dream in May. Can't wait. Loving the review.

 

You'll love the Dream. Hope you have fun!

 

Where is the picture of Amy? I could look at her all day.....

 

The only one I got was her doing the bingo game that night :( She really does look like a supermodel!

[jaybird77]

Day 6- St. Maarten- Benard’s Tour and Naked peoples!

Somehow, Bryon, who I’m pretty sure was on the drunk side of tipsy the night before also, managed to leave us a wakeup call for around 8am the next morning. So I woke up to a loud ringing phone this morning and stumbled over to answer.

I awoke with an engorged uvula. Does this happen to anyone else? Like that little hangy down thing in the back of your throat swells up and it feels like you have a hunk of something in your mouth? Anyway, when this happens it usually means I am really dried out, so I attempted to hydrate, but we only had a little time to dress and get going. We ate a quick breakfast and headed out to snap some pics and meet up for our tour.

 

We had already booked a tour through Bernard’s Tours. The cost is $40 per person, and the set up was similar to Sunny Liston. You take a little driving tour of the island. On the way you get a 2 hour stop at Orient Beach, a stop on the French side for a little shopping, a stop at Maho Beach to see the planes land and then back to Philipsburg to shop. We met up near the information booth at the shopping area near the pier. Oh yeah also, I forgot the best part. This tour includes rum punch and beer!

St. Maarten has a nice little area near the pier with touristy shops and bars and info booths. We are pretty sure they have built another pier since we had been here last. So after we met Bernard and paid for the tours (you can pay online ahead of time or pay the day of the tour) we were led to vans in a little roundabout. Now these were actual vans- with air conditioning. They were however, not necessarily American sized. There was a little cut through the middle and it seemed like for every stop we made either I got bigger, or the walkway got smaller. Anyway, I had to squeeze through like nobody’s business to get to our seat toward the back of the van. Our driver’s name was Junior and he was great. He was nice and funny and made sure I had beer whenever I needed it!

 

 

 

 

Junior drove us around the eastern end of the island and then just over the French border, we stopped at a lookout point. The view here was just stunning. Sometimes I just have to pinch myself, because it’s so hard to believe sometimes I am actually getting to see what I get to see. My pictures can never seem to really capture how pretty something really is.

 

 

 

[jaybird77]

 

 

 

After we had some picture time, we went back to the van and this is where Junior broke out the alcohol.

Ok, the rum punch is not so much rum punch as it is, a rum shot with a splash of punch. He served it in little shot cups, like the ones you use to rinse your mouth out after brushing. I decided to stick with the beer. They were serving Carib beer. This was a lager beer with 5.2% ETOH. I liked it a lot.

 

 

Also, at this point Bryon was not feeling well. Later we would understand this was the beginning of him getting sick, but I just figured he was a little hung over. Anyway, he was not feeling great and the roads on St Maarten leave much to be desired. So there we are just bouncing around all over the place. Bryon is just barely hanging on, then of course I’m beside him drinking again. Thank goodness the next stop was right around the corner. Bryon was able to get his second wind at Orient Beach.

[australian_girl]

Loving your review. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. :D

[jaybird77]

So we stop at Orient Beach.

Orient Beach is a nude beach on the French side of St. Maarten. Apparently all beaches in St. Maarten are topless, but only a few allow complete nudity. There is a clothing optional resort on the nude end of the beach. Then there is a little sort of rock jetty that separates the beach and the other side is just topless only. Junior dropped us off at a little beach shack called Pedro’s which was right at the dividing line between the nude beach and the not so nude beach, so we had a choice of where to go. Um, is there any question where we will go?

 

 

 

So, since we are people that can learn a lesson, we decided to take advantage of Pedro’s chair deal, which was this: 2 chairs with an umbrella, 2 rum punches, and 2 bathroom passes for $15. I thought this seemed like a bargain and we were very happy to have chairs! Bryon wanted to just sit for a while and try to feel better, so I left him at the chairs and went to have a nice little stroll to see the ‘sights’ of the beach.

Ok, so I am walking on the beach and out of nowhere, this big burley looking guy appears in front of me. You are not allowed to take pictures on the nude beach, of course, but this guy’s job was apparently to make sure there was not even one camera on the beach. He said ‘You have to put that camera away’. I said ‘Well, it’s off. I’m not taking pictures’. He said ‘It has to be put away, no pictures!’. So I had to trudge back to the chairs and leave my camera. So just FYI, if you go here and walk on the beach, you will have to grab your bag and bring it with you, unless you want to leave your camera at your chair unattended.

 

So this was my first time being on a nude beach, and the weird thing is this… it’s not so weird. After about 5 minutes, you are rather used to it and it’s not really so novel of a thing. I was surprised at the number of people who were actually naked on the beach. I thought we might see one or two, but there were like 50 people! I was also surprised at the kinds of people we found there. I expected it would be 80 somethings and images would burn into my corneas that would forever terrorize my dreams. But honestly I found a lot of people who, well… didn’t have any reason to be ashamed of being naked. I mean, we’re not talking supermodels here, but there were a number of people in good shape. Bryon and I decided that if we ever went back we’d probably go ahead and join in. I’m sure I’d probably chicken out though J

 

We tried for a little snorkel here, but there wasn’t much to see. Then we just relaxed and laid out for a while. There were these little diving platforms out in the water so we swam out there to those. Well Bryon swam and I just sort of doggie paddled/floated out there. I am a terrible swimmer. These platforms were a nice little area and I wish we had gone out to these a little earlier, but it was getting to the time when we needed to get back to the chairs and dry a little before we got back in the van.

 

 

 

We also needed to use our rum punch coupons. Bryon didn’t want anything to drink, so I used his and sucked those two rum punches down. Pedro’s also had food, but we didn’t get anything to eat. Bryon got a pic of the menu.

 

 

Then we packed up and went to use the restroom. Now there is a 50 cent charge to use the bathroom here (which is apparently a very European thing), but since we had purchased the little chair package, we had two bathroom passes. There was an attendant there to make sure you paid. This bathroom was not great, but it wasn’t bad either especially for a beach shack bathroom.

 

We really loved this beach and would not mind just having a whole day over here the next time we come.

[jaybird77]

Back to the van we went, and headed across the north side of the island.

By this time, it was starting to rain. We went by a pasture and Junior made this little joke which I thought was funny about what a cow says on the French side of the island- Le Moo!

 

 

Our next stop was Marigot, the capital of the French side of the island. We were to have 30 minutes to shop around, etc. This was not enough time. We ended up not being able to shop at all. Bryon used the public bathroom, which he said was not so great (but at least it was free!). We were a little hungry and decided we shouldn’t make the same mistake and not eat. Junior mentioned a French Pastry shop before we got out of the van and said it was excellent. This place had the most wonderful looking pastries in their display cases. The line moved slowly, but we finally got our little chocolate cake rectangles. You could pay in either Euros or Dollars here, and you had to use cash unless you spent over $10. Thankfully, our two pastries were not over $10. We headed over to the water and dug in to the chocolate cake. It was….TERRIBLE! It was dry and tasteless. Oh well, maybe we just chose the wrong thing. We both took one bite and threw the rest away. After this, our time in Marigot was basically over.

 

 

 

 

Innocent Bryon- posing with our chocolate pastries before the ugly truth... they sucked