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Thanksgiving Cruise: What a Dream!

tuscandream

By tuscandream,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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tuscandream

tuscandream

Posted
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My review of our Thanksgiving Cruise aboard the Carnival Dream.. We started planning this trip in March, we are a family of 4 and my kids were planning on bringing friends along. I have a 19 year old son and a 16 year old daughter.When it came time for final pmt my daughters friend couldn't come up with the money so she backed out so our 2 rooms we booked on deck 10 we ended up changing to an ocean view suite room 1403. We were told this was an upgrade but I was concerned it was a downgrade due to moving from deck 9 to deck 2. But to my surprise this was a fantastic room it accommodated 5 guest and it had a bathroom with a shower and it also had a jr bathtub. It was a nice size room.

 

We drove from Pittsburgh to Cocoa Beach, we left for our long drive on Thursday 11-17. We didn't hit any bad weather which I was glad because my husband drives fast and makes me nervous. Due to his lead foot we did get a speeding ticket in South Carolina. We bought a new Yukon Denali XL in May and he said I didn't realize we were going 83 mph... Yeah right... Lol. We ended up staying at the Marriott which was very nice, it was a short ride from their to the pier. We arrived at the pier around 10:15 of course I overpacked again and we had way too much luggage, you always need back ups for your backup. So we dropped off our luggage and my husband parked the car and off we went thru security and Checked in, there was no lines at that time.

 

We were zone 3 and onboard maybe 40 mins later. The ship is gorgeous. I was a little worried reading all the negative reviews and I wasn't sure what to expect, but you can't always believe what you read. We headed up to the lido deck and had a great lunch, I took the advise of others and checked out the pasta bar. Let me just say this was my first of many lunches up there. The pompadoro sauce is out of this world. This was my son's friends first cruise, he is going to culinary school currently so he was so amazed with all the food. After lunch we found some chairs out by the pool and took in the sun.

 

The boys and hubby decide to check out the boat while me and my daughter take in the rays. Needless to say the boys got my husband drunk and fed him several Long Island ice teas. He comes back to the lido drunk as a skunk. The muster drill was painless. We had early dining and was seated in a booth with a chair added to the end. We had excellent service the staff was very efficient our glasses never were empty. We were on the valor last Thanksgiving and the service we had was really bad, half the time you had to eat your meal with no water. You had to ask for bread they never brought it. I was a little worried about the new menu, but all was good. My daughter met a friend on the valor last year and she kept in touch with him via facebook since than. He is from Las Vegas and he was going to be on this cruise, so she had someone to hang out with which was great.

 

Sunday we arrived in Nassau since it was a short day in this port we went to the Sheraton this day. I read online here to catch the #10 jitney which had a hard time finding it we walked thru the vendors that were lined up on the street past senior frogs down the street and hung a left not realizing we were almost there we ended up taking a cab can't remember how much it cost. But we were on our way. The resort was very nice, it is 25.00 per person to use their facilities, they do give you a wrist band. The pools were really nice, it wasn't crowded at all. They had a big blow up slide on the beach. The ocean water was cool. We just hung out at the heated pool. We did walk over to the Wyndham which was a short walk away, their pool was nice with a nice water slide. We headed back to the ship around 12:15 we did catch the jitney back which you walk out the front of the resort and down the driveway to the left. They come about every 20 mins or so is what I heard. We wanted to stop in senior frogs but it was really crowded. We bought a sorong, my son bought some sunglasses, daughter got a pair of channel earrings and a louie vuitton scarf. Back to the ship we went. Their were a lot of people heading back at that time so we did wait in line for security check. Once back on the boat we ate some lunch and went to the back pool and laid out for a little bit until it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

The shows were really good, you do need to arrive about 45 mins prior to get a good seat. The ships layout is really easy to navigate, we did visit the casino on several occasions. Next day was our first sea day I woke up about 7:30 got ready and headed up to the lido deck, I liked it back at the aft pool, grabbed some chairs and waited for my daughter to join me. We had a beautiful day we never went in the pools, did check out the lanai for Lunch they had tacos, sliders and chicken quesadilllas. It was good, I went to the pasta bar, daughter wanted the burrito bar. We never had a hard time finding a seat in the gathering, I was expecting the lines to be outrageous but they weren't that bad. The staff was friendly, they were always working so hard making our vacation wonderful. This night was our first elegant night which you did see all different types of people dressed up, some were really formal, some not so. But it doesn't bother me what people wear. This night was lobster night and Prime Rib, everything was delish the boys and hubby had some extra entres this night.

 

Before our trip I thought I booked us the steak house on Tuesday, but I never got a confirmation email and I didn't know you had to double check your reservation once you board. That Tuesday I had hubby go confirm our reservation because I never got a card delivered to our room. Needless to say they were booked that night and they didn't show our reservation which I was bum bed because I did research and found that this night was a night we wouldn't miss much in the main dinning room. So word to the wise when you first board the boat confirm your reservation. They had other nights available but we passed. Next day was St Thomas we went to emerald beach which was very nice, it was about a 20 min ride from the pier. It did rain briefly this day, be careful and allow enough time to get back to the ship, traffic was buisy. For those of you that like to drink they make this mango rum on the island which I wanted to buy some. We ended up buying the 5 pack of cruzin rum which had different flavors of rum. I don't know what size you would call them it was a 5th and it wasn't the small bottles you get on the plane it was in-between. But we ended up smuggling this on the boat by putting the bottles in the boys pockets in their swim trunks. They had plastic lids went right thru security. My sons friend was 21. They decided to go back to the room and change and put cargo shorts on and go back and get more booze and did the same thing put it in the pockets of the shorts.

 

Next day was St. Martin which is my favorite we went to Mr. Bugsby which is by oyster bay. Very nice beach day. Daughter and I got dropped off in town and shopped a little bit bought 2 Juicy couture purses. Love them!

The comedians onboard were funny. We enjoyed their shows, I liked the piano bar, we love going to watch karaoke, which they had this often. I always wanted to do this but never built up enough nerve. This was my 10th cruise and I must say this was one of my favorite ships. I will admit this ship does rock a lot, I am glad I didn't get sick, they did have barf bags hanging out on some days. The captain did announce we had 10 ft seas and it was windy some days. I never smelt the infamous smell. My daughter ended up falling in love with the guy she met on the last cruise that happened to be on our same cruise, my son's friend is now addicted to cruising. Everyone had a blast can't wait to plan my next dream cruise. We did buy the future cruise voucher which I can't wait to use. All in all loved this ship, service was excellent, food was great, entertainment was great. Carnival out did themselves with this ship... Can't wait to sail on her again.

 

Dear daughter has been sky ping with her new love since we embarked, she went to visit him in Vegas this weekend. So not only did we have a wonderful cruise we met wonderful people who we will be in touch with for a long time. I envy those who will be sailing on her soon. Don't worry about some of the bad reviews go enjoy yourself and have a wonderful time. I hope you enjoyed my memories of our trlp if there are any questions you may have I will do my best in answering them.

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shootr

shootr

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your daughter is 16 and you let her go to vegas to see some guy? wow.

 

What, you can't trust YOUR daughter in that situation? That must suck...

 

Great info, didn't know that about the steakhouse - another tidbit of helpful info gleaned from a considerate reviewer. Thanks for taking the time to tell us about it.

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HazyDavy

HazyDavy

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What, you can't trust YOUR daughter in that situation?

 

I would trust my 16 year old daughter to do exactly what I would have done in that situation when I was 16 years old. I just wouldn't expect my parents to facilitate it or publish it in a public forum.

 

To the OP, thank you for your review, very informative on the ship and port information.

 

Maybe next time though you might want to leave out the personal info. We don't really need to know about your husband getting drunk the first day before the lifeboat drill, about you encouraging your 19 year old son to smuggle alcohol on board while in St Thomas and then letting him go back out for a second load, or about your 16 year old daughter flying off to Vegas to visit the new boyfriend she's been skyping with.

 

Not judging any of these things but why publish this info in a public forum?

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MsTabbyKats

MsTabbyKats

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I would trust my 16 year old daughter to do exactly what I would have done in that situation when I was 16 years old. I just wouldn't expect my parents to facilitate it or publish it in a public forum.

 

To the OP, thank you for your review, very informative on the ship and port information.

 

Maybe next time though you might want to leave out the personal info. We don't really need to know about your husband getting drunk the first day before the lifeboat drill, about you encouraging your 19 year old son to smuggle alcohol on board while in St Thomas and then letting him go back out for a second load, or about your 16 year old daughter flying off to Vegas to visit the new boyfriend she's been skyping with.

 

Not judging any of these things but why publish this info in a public forum?

 

And one wonders about "Walmart of the Sea" nickname!

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sjn911

sjn911

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Thank you OP for your review...no one knows enough to judge...this is a friendly forum...sometimes..I for one am embarrassed of harassers here talking like this and quite frankly that kind of talking is alcoholic and or dysfunctional judge all the time behavior..I have lived with the down side of alcohol in many people for a long time...not so with others whom I now very occasionally have a drink with because of all considerations. I have aged and learned about alcohol with good people on all sides of the spectrum...no judgmental ones..some were "black and white" thinkers..but NOT judgmental.

 

 

Thanks OP..I have really enjoyed the fact you had a positive trip, glad after a long time you found you could trust this person or run the risk as all families know how it is.. it always is with kids and dating and it is not as easy these days..kids have much more power like it or not because of where society is...and you are only one who can grow and learn with your kids as we all do...

 

Just happy to hear Happy Thanksgiving reviews..want to do it sometime...Sarah

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sjn911

sjn911

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Glad you and your family had a great time! I wouldn't pay much attention to the negative trolls that think they have to police these message boards. Who cares what an avatar with an opinion thinks?

 

Happy sailing :)

Back at you blueswhennocruise......love your name:).

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MsTabbyKats

MsTabbyKats

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You people are very judgmental.

 

1. Got a speeding ticket...and wife gets nervous driving with him

2. Gets "drunk as a skunk"....right away

3. Lets 16 year old daughter visit new bf in Las Vegas

4. Encourages 19 year old son to smuggle alcohol

 

I'm not judging...just stating the OPs facts.

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abitaturbodog

abitaturbodog

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Thank goodness it wasn't just me! Although I enjoyed the review and even giggled about the dad getting drunk with teenagers, I COULD NOT believe that the 16 year old daughter went to Vegas with an almost-stranger!

 

Just a tip for the OP, if you don't want to get comments like this, don't share such SHOCKING information regarding your parenting. :eek:

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sjn911

sjn911

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Again, I LOVE the part where the hubby promptly got "Drunk as a Skunk"

 

Reminds me of one of my own trips to Hawaii..when one finally gets the car and drives oneself to one's favorite little condo rental 45 minutes..after all the travel..and not enough food...the vodka chi chi can be too strong..thank God it is just me on my balcony, a plate of order in..and off to bed..LOL, blame it on the fruity drinks LOL...Sarah

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ithaca gal

ithaca gal

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I'll second that!

 

Why in heaven's name would you post on a public forum that your son smuggled alcohol onboard ..... twice?

 

And for those who think this is judgmental, too bad -- why in heaven's name would you let your 16 year old daughter fly to Vegas to be with her new love?

 

Holy cow!

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mondello

mondello

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Thank goodness it wasn't just me! Although I enjoyed the review and even giggled about the dad getting drunk with teenagers, I COULD NOT believe that the 16 year old daughter went to Vegas with an almost-stranger!

 

Just a tip for the OP, if you don't want to get comments like this, don't share such SHOCKING information regarding your parenting. :eek:

Definitely not defending OP but, I had to go back and reread the review. Daughter had met the young man the previous year on Valor and they'd been corresponding. I'm sure it was no coincidence he was aboard this cruise the same week she was. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. After the initial shock wore off, I had to laugh and wonder if this was posted in jest. The truth is stranger than fiction.

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mondello

mondello

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I always get suspicious when someone write a lengthy review and then they never appear again to give it any reply's or validity? Just sayin

With all the characters in that family, I'd bet she's too busy puttin' out the next fire.

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BoooBooKitEFk

BoooBooKitEFk

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Dear daughter has been sky ping with her new love since we embarked, she went to visit him in Vegas this weekend.

 

I've read everyone's slams to OP about this, and to be perfectly honest, once I read that line, I DID go back to the beginning to see if I'd remembered the DD's age. I did, and initially was taken aback. Then, I thought about it in the context and then me with my daughters. Even though OP didn't say so, maybe Mom/Dad went with said DD to Vegas? Maybe new BF's parents were there? We don't know the whole story, so we really shouldn't judge on that point. I took my (now 26) then 14 yr old daughter to Amarillo to see a boy she met at a church function the year prior. Does that make me a bad Mom? Certainly NOT! Does OP get points taken away because she might have worded things wrong? I don't know the OP, but I'm just sick of all the judgmental people on here who can't accept things for what they are... a review of HER trip. Like it?? great.... don't like it?? leave and don't put a pissy comment just because it wasn't to your liking.

 

It's honestly no question why OP hasn't posted since opening the thread... look at all the judgement and crap-fest thrown her way!!!!! Maybe she shouldn't have given such personal info, but she did, and she wasn't asking for tips on parenting.

 

Some people are so freakin' quick to judge without knowing ALL details. I wonder what people would find if they looked in YOUR deep, dark closet?

 

JMHO.

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