Review! Carnival Dream 2/16 Western

[kellyrnh]

Just got back from our Dream cruise, 2/16-2/23 Western itinerary. To sum it up, we had a blast! If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I was going to do a full photo review, but my iphone with most of my pictures broke 3 days before getting home...so sad :( I am now the proud owner of a new iPhone 5, but my pictures are gone. We do have some pictures on another camera that I'll try to load - they are mostly port pictures though. I decided even though I have no pics I'd still review, I really loved reading reviews before I left and got a ton of great info from fellow CC'ers so I wanted to return the favor :)

 

Here we go!

 

Pre-Cruise:

We, 2 couples in our 30's, flew into Orlando with only a few small "events". Our flight from Manchester, NH was delayed slightly to a leaking fuel tank. Call me crazy, but if a pilot is going to inform the passengers of this, I'd rather not have him say "The mechanic thinks a few turns of a screw will fix it, we hope that works". I'd rather not know! Luckily that was a good screwdriver as we made it safe to Atlanta. We took one of the shuttle trains in airport to our next gate and soon after a fire alarm was going off. Turns out the train caught fire…then, while walking on the plane the talk was all about the meteor that hit Russia. Makes one wonder, what's happening next??? lol We kept saying "Leaking planes, burning trains & automobiles", all in hopes that nothing would go wrong with our rental car.

 

Luckily, we landed in Orlando safe and sound and picked up our car at Budget. Budget took forever at the airport, but once we got the car, it was a very easy 45 minute drive to Cape Canaveral. We stayed at The Radisson Resort at the Port, we got a great deal, we did the friends & family code online and it gave us the Whirlpool suite for $80 plus tax. Can't beat that! The grounds are awesome, fun pools & nice hot tubs. It was definitely a party in the pool area. We got in at 3:00 so we took some of that extra time to take a trip to Walmart for last minute supplies and the liquor store. (Yes, we had rum runners...yes, we got them in!) Then we hung out at the hot tub and had celebratory drinks, we were finally in Florida!

 

Day 1: Embarkation Day!

We got up and had to make a quick stop at Publix for some forgotten supplies (shampoo, etc), then filled up the car with gas and dropped the car off at the Budget shuttle. The shuttle was a bit of a wait, they kept dropping people off without picking people up - I guess because there were so many people waiting at the port getting off their cruise. It was a bit annoying at the time to see empty shuttles leave when we were clearly waiting, but in the end it wasn't too bad and we were dropped off at the port within about 45 minutes. We zipped right through the embarkation process - no waits at all, and were on the ship by 11:15. Super easy!

 

We stopped by the Blue Iguana for our first drinks to soak it all in, we were finally here! Woohoo! We liked the ship decor, it was nice and not too "out there". It didn't have a theme like our ship last year, the Valor, but we liked it. Everyone on board seemed to be in the best mood - and why not? We were cruisin!

 

About an hour later we headed to the pasta bar for lunch (thanks to my research here!). This definitely was the time to come here! Maybe one or two other tables were filled, it was like having the place to ourselves! The pasta was good, I added just about all the veggies and shrimp with a garlic butter sauce. We all enjoyed it. By the time we finished that up, we were ready to check out our rooms.

 

Our room was a basic interior, so not too much to report. We had an interior on our last cruise, the Valor, on deck 8 last year. This year was deck 2. Both were booked via guarantee. I was worried I'd hate deck 2, but it had its advantages - it was close to the gangway for ports and the lobby for debarkation. I was also worried about the elevators, I had heard that they were crowded and a long wait on the Dream, but they weren't bad at all. Our room steward, Apollo, was awesome. So friendly and quick to clean our room we would sometimes bump into him if we just left and realized we had to go back because we forgot something (which was often lol…sorry Apollo!)

 

Our muster station was at the Encore Theater, and was quick and painless. I like this much better than piling out in front of the lifeboats.

 

It was cool in Florida so we didn't have a very warm day, but we didn't care. We went to deck 9's "secret deck" for sail away and had awesome views there. Since it was cool, we just went exploring the ship, and walking through the casino, we pointed out this "Casino Vault" game that we saw on the Valor last year to our friends. If you don't know what it is, you have to line up this mechanical arm with a key into a keyhole to win that prize - sounds easy but you have to be spot on to win. We told our friends how we watched people play this for hours last year on the Valor without getting it. Our friend took this as a challenge, and wouldn't you know, 5th try and he walked away with $1,000 cash. Lucky devil. (only one other person the whole trip one anything else in that machine btw - only $200 I think though)

 

We checked for our luggage around 4:30, it was there! Got everything unpacked and put the suitcases under the bed for the week, we were officially "home".

 

For dinner, we opted for the late dining. We were two couples, and ended up with a nice booth for 4 in the lower Scarlett Dining room. We had nice service - nothing over the top and nothing to complain about - from our head waiter, Senvil, and his assistant I Wayan. Yes, once or twice it seemed a tad bit slow, but Senvil always had thought ahead and brought us an extra dish of food for us to try while we were waiting. Food was good on the trip. I consider myself an "advanced" cook, and we really enjoy trying things out of the box. That being said, the food isn't what I'd consider 5 star, but considering it is being served to that many people on a ship, we had some really great dishes. There were a few that were just ok, and some that stood out. This night I remember getting a seafood dish which was good and creme brulee for desert. Not the best creme brulee, but not bad either.

 

Our friends decided with their unexpected cash that they'd splurge on the Cheers program. Carnival has gotten pretty good with sticking to their ground rules - the moment I ordered a drink and my friend insisted on getting it for me, the waiter then educated him on not using the drinks for anyone but himself. I get this if it was "unlimited" - but they were very specific about 15 drinks per day. They keep track in the computer, and only once did they make the 15 drinks and they let them know he was cut off (but did allow his girlfriend to use hers for him). Our friends knew that they'd never drink 15 in one day, but wanting to make the most of paying for this, they would leave, order drinks in other bars and then bring them to us (a lot). We ended up with a very low sign & sail thanks to them! It was kind of a pain, and we never asked, but our friends are super generous. Especially port days - by the time we got back on the ship it would be dinner time and they had at least $50 of drinks each to use to make it worth while. Would I purchase the Cheers program? With a heavy port schedule like ours, probably not. I would've constantly felt like I had to order alcohol to make it worthwhile and though we enjoy drinking on a cruise, I don't want to be hungover the whole time either. If the port schedule had us on ship more, then maybe. It was convenient and nice to not have to worry about how much a drink costs, it all depends on how much you plan on drinking I'd say.

Coming next...day 3, Cozumel!

[kgj1970]

Just got back from our Dream cruise, 2/16-2/23 Western itinerary. To sum it up, we had a blast! If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I was going to do a full photo review, but my iphone with most of my pictures broke 3 days before getting home...so sad :( I am now the proud owner of a new iPhone 5, but my pictures are gone. We do have some pictures on another camera that I'll try to load - they are mostly port pictures though. I decided even though I have no pics I'd still review, I really loved reading reviews before I left and got a ton of great info from fellow CC'ers so I wanted to return the favor :)

 

Here we go!

 

Pre-Cruise:

We, 2 couples in our 30's, flew into Orlando with only a few small "events". Our flight from Manchester, NH was delayed slightly to a leaking fuel tank. Call me crazy, but if a pilot is going to inform the passengers of this, I'd rather not have him say "The mechanic thinks a few turns of a screw will fix it, we hope that works". I'd rather not know! Luckily that was a good screwdriver as we made it safe to Atlanta. We took one of the shuttle trains in airport to our next gate and soon after a fire alarm was going off. Turns out the train caught fire…then, while walking on the plane the talk was all about the meteor that hit Russia. Makes one wonder, what's happening next??? lol We kept saying "Leaking planes, burning trains & automobiles", all in hopes that nothing would go wrong with our rental car.

 

Luckily, we landed in Orlando safe and sound and picked up our car at Budget. Budget took forever at the airport, but once we got the car, it was a very easy 45 minute drive to Cape Canaveral. We stayed at The Radisson Resort at the Port, we got a great deal, we did the friends & family code online and it gave us the Whirlpool suite for $80 plus tax. Can't beat that! The grounds are awesome, fun pools & nice hot tubs. It was definitely a party in the pool area. We got in at 3:00 so we took some of that extra time to take a trip to Walmart for last minute supplies and the liquor store. (Yes, we had rum runners...yes, we got them in!) Then we hung out at the hot tub and had celebratory drinks, we were finally in Florida!

 

Day 1: Embarkation Day!

We got up and had to make a quick stop at Publix for some forgotten supplies (shampoo, etc), then filled up the car with gas and dropped the car off at the Budget shuttle. The shuttle was a bit of a wait, they kept dropping people off without picking people up - I guess because there were so many people waiting at the port getting off their cruise. It was a bit annoying at the time to see empty shuttles leave when we were clearly waiting, but in the end it wasn't too bad and we were dropped off at the port within about 45 minutes. We zipped right through the embarkation process - no waits at all, and were on the ship by 11:15. Super easy!

 

We stopped by the Blue Iguana for our first drinks to soak it all in, we were finally here! Woohoo! We liked the ship decor, it was nice and not too "out there". It didn't have a theme like our ship last year, the Valor, but we liked it. Everyone on board seemed to be in the best mood - and why not? We were cruisin!

 

About an hour later we headed to the pasta bar for lunch (thanks to my research here!). This definitely was the time to come here! Maybe one or two other tables were filled, it was like having the place to ourselves! The pasta was good, I added just about all the veggies and shrimp with a garlic butter sauce. We all enjoyed it. By the time we finished that up, we were ready to check out our rooms.

 

Our room was a basic interior, so not too much to report. We had an interior on our last cruise, the Valor, on deck 8 last year. This year was deck 2. Both were booked via guarantee. I was worried I'd hate deck 2, but it had its advantages - it was close to the gangway for ports and the lobby for debarkation. I was also worried about the elevators, I had heard that they were crowded and a long wait on the Dream, but they weren't bad at all. Our room steward, Apollo, was awesome. So friendly and quick to clean our room we would sometimes bump into him if we just left and realized we had to go back because we forgot something (which was often lol…sorry Apollo!)

 

Our muster station was at the Encore Theater, and was quick and painless. I like this much better than piling out in front of the lifeboats.

 

It was cool in Florida so we didn't have a very warm day, but we didn't care. We went to deck 9's "secret deck" for sail away and had awesome views there. Since it was cool, we just went exploring the ship, and walking through the casino, we pointed out this "Casino Vault" game that we saw on the Valor last year to our friends. If you don't know what it is, you have to line up this mechanical arm with a key into a keyhole to win that prize - sounds easy but you have to be spot on to win. We told our friends how we watched people play this for hours last year on the Valor without getting it. Our friend took this as a challenge, and wouldn't you know, 5th try and he walked away with $1,000 cash. Lucky devil. (only one other person the whole trip one anything else in that machine btw - only $200 I think though)

 

We checked for our luggage around 4:30, it was there! Got everything unpacked and put the suitcases under the bed for the week, we were officially "home".

 

For dinner, we opted for the late dining. We were two couples, and ended up with a nice booth for 4 in the lower Scarlett Dining room. We had nice service - nothing over the top and nothing to complain about - from our head waiter, Senvil, and his assistant I Wayan. Yes, once or twice it seemed a tad bit slow, but Senvil always had thought ahead and brought us an extra dish of food for us to try while we were waiting. Food was good on the trip. I consider myself an "advanced" cook, and we really enjoy trying things out of the box. That being said, the food isn't what I'd consider 5 star, but considering it is being served to that many people on a ship, we had some really great dishes. There were a few that were just ok, and some that stood out. This night I remember getting a seafood dish which was good and creme brulee for desert. Not the best creme brulee, but not bad either.

 

Our friends decided with their unexpected cash that they'd splurge on the Cheers program. Carnival has gotten pretty good with sticking to their ground rules - the moment I ordered a drink and my friend insisted on getting it for me, the waiter then educated him on not using the drinks for anyone but himself. I get this if it was "unlimited" - but they were very specific about 15 drinks per day. They keep track in the computer, and only once did they make the 15 drinks and they let them know he was cut off (but did allow his girlfriend to use hers for him). Our friends knew that they'd never drink 15 in one day, but wanting to make the most of paying for this, they would leave, order drinks in other bars and then bring them to us (a lot). We ended up with a very low sign & sail thanks to them! It was kind of a pain, and we never asked, but our friends are super generous. Especially port days - by the time we got back on the ship it would be dinner time and they had at least $50 of drinks each to use to make it worth while. Would I purchase the Cheers program? With a heavy port schedule like ours, probably not. I would've constantly felt like I had to order alcohol to make it worthwhile and though we enjoy drinking on a cruise, I don't want to be hungover the whole time either. If the port schedule had us on ship more, then maybe. It was convenient and nice to not have to worry about how much a drink costs, it all depends on how much you plan on drinking I'd say.

 

Coming next...day 3, Cozumel!

 

Thank you Kellyrnh! I am cruising the Dream in June and I am in the "can't read enough about it" phase right now! :p Your review is great so far and it is helping to take the edge off of my wait!!!:D

[kellyrnh]

Whoops! I pasted this in and forgot day 2, day at sea! lol it has been a foggy week here being back from vacation :)

Day 2, day at sea:

We actually had a fairly cool day at sea. We were still getting the effects of Florida's cold spell so we didn't do the typical lounging in deck chairs. It did encourage us to explore the ship more and to be more creative with our time, but hey, a day at sea, cold or warm, is better than a day at work! We enjoyed breakfast at the buffet, I got an omelet and thought the line was short considering it was a sea day and 8:30 am. We then spent a couple of hours that morning playing beanbag/cornhole. They had a bbq at the lanai that we took advantage of and it was good. I tried the slider and a taco, both good. A bit windy outside so we ate inside and grabbed a salad at the salad bar (that used to be the sushi bar).

 

Just to note here, service on the Dream was fantastic. I thought everyone seemed happy and more than eager to make our trip awesome. Always smiles on faces and hello's from everyone we passed. There were some complaints about this on other reviews and zero complaints here.

 

Tonight was the first Elegant Night so we got dressed up and brought one of our bottles of wine to dinner. We did this a few times between our group, and each time our waiter, Senvil, corked it for us but never charged us a corking fee. Senvil brought 2 extra lobster/shrimp dishes on this formal night without us asking (we didn't normally ask for more, but he must've known we'd like more lobster - who doesn't???)

 

After dinner we went to the adult comedy show and it was hilarious! We got there about 25 minutes early and got great seats. After that hit the casino for a bit (yes, we tried our luck at the Casino Vault game and nada) and went to bed to get ready for Cozumel.

[kellyrnh]

Thank you Kellyrnh! I am cruising the Dream in June and I am in the "can't read enough about it" phase right now! :p Your review is great so far and it is helping to take the edge off of my wait!!!:D

 

You're welcome! Glad someone is reading ;) I know exactly what that phase is like! I'd be like "C'mon...why isn't there more reviews for me to read????" it was like an obsession! That's when I decided I had to return the favor. Just bummed my photos aren't here. Hope it isn't too long winded lol

[kgj1970]

Nope! It is perfect. This will be my 3rd cruise on The Dream and I still can't read enough reviews. It almost makes me feel like I'm already there! Keep up the good work :)

[moon girl]

Keep the review coming! I too love to read about everyones experiences and advice! We will be on the Dream in 2 weeks! WooHoo!!!!!

[092306]

Enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest! Thanks for posting.

[pmoniz]

Cruising on the Dream in October. Can't wait to read the rest of your review!!

[dremn2004]

We get on the Dream this Saturday!! I can not wait!

[keene state mom]

I am so excited to finally read a review from this week on the Dream, I was booked for a back to back cruise starting the 16th on the Dream as well and my mom passed away a few days before and my sisters little boy is in icu fighting for his life with lukemia so it just was not good timing, my heart was not in it .I have to ask what airlines had the problem I am so afraid to fly I would have taken that as the sign I was not to go as I also was going out of Manchester N.H. on south West on Friday the 15th. again thanks so much for writing the review .

[west13]

Loving your review already! My family and I are on the Dream this September and cannot read enough reviews about it! Can't wait to read more!

[jym613]

Love your review, we sail on the Dream in June

[christie629]

Love your review and look forward to more. I head out to FL for my Dream cruise in 15 days!!

[kellyrnh]

Day 3: Cozumel

 

Today we got up and made it to the buffet for breakfast before heading out to Cozumel. Still no complaints about lines at the buffet, they were not bad and no different than on the smaller Valor last year. Food is decent, nothing special, at the buffet, but we always find plenty to fill us up and make us happy. I really like the omelet station, not only can you get omelets, but you can get eggs to order (over medium, etc). We stopped back to our rooms then headed to the gangway for an easy exit to the port.

 

We had planned prior on renting a car to explore Cozumel on our own. Through the Carnival and Cozumel boards here on Cruise Critic, I learned that the most reputable company to rent from is Rentadora Isis. I emailed before to our trip and was told one of their VW Bug convertibles was available. They had newer Jeep Wranglers, but we thought it would be fun to cruise around in an old VW. I had looked at other companies that claimed they offered insurance, etc (always get the full insurance in Mexico! US insurance means nothing in Mexico apparently) but was warned on CC and TripAdvisor that many that offer it are just lying, and that Isis was honest the only one that they would trust their credit card with. I went with Isis, and it was $35 total including full insurance and unlimited mileage. The owner, Margarita, takes a carbon copy of the credit card which she gives back to you to rip up after. To get to Isis you do need to grab a cab that costs about $8, but it was worth it. Isis is a great company and I would recommend them. Considering the car was probably 40+ years old, it ran pretty well! We lovingly named her "the Burrito Bomb". No issues with it, just all in good fun.

 

I had also learned on the boards of a few places we wanted to check out: Punta Sur, Rasta's and Coconuts to name a few. These were all along the coast and we decided to stop wherever we felt looked fun. Margarita at Isis also pointed out good beaches for swimming, snorkeling, etc. on a map she gave us. One that was on the map that we first passed was San Francisco beach. We decided to stop. It was a resort, and seemed nice. Our friend wanted to get a massage on the beach and they offered them for $1 a minute, so she decided to do a 15 minute massage. The workers here were very pushy on finding us beach chairs but ONLY if we bought a bucket of beers (10). We told them we were only staying for a bit so we'd order 3 beers (one for each) while our friend was getting a massage (at their resort) but the guy gave us a huge attitude. I could understand if they were busy, but their chairs were completely empty. We told them to forget it and walked next door to Carlos N Charlie's where our service was awesome, and they had no issues with us ordering single beers. Our friend came back and said her massage was… awkward. Half way through the massage, the (male) manager/boss of the female masseuse came over, adjusted her towel and massaged her for a couple of minutes then let the original masseuse finish. She thought it felt really strange. Also, they massaged her 20 minutes, and she had to ask the time as it felt over 15 minutes and told them to stop. They charged her the 20 minutes and she paid just to get out of there. Our experience at San Francisco was not good. I'd recommend many other places other than that.

 

We left San Francisco and jumped in the ol' Burrito Bomb and headed further down the coast towards Punta Sur and Rasta's (aka Reggae Bar). This part of the island does not have electricity, they run mainly on solar panels and generators, so it had a quaint local feel to it. Rasta's was right on the water and had thatched roofs and a definite reggae vibe. We loved it! It was windy and a bit cool so we didn't take advantage of the water, but we did hang out and have some quesadillas and drinks. They had some nice hammocks that we chilled in and I got lots of photos here down the empty beach (luckily on our camera - I'll try to load those later). It was like we had the place to ourselves, it was really awesome. We also brought a shirt to add to the collection they have hanging all over the bar - we all signed it and they hung it for us next to where we sat.

 

We were going to go to Punta Sur, but since it was too chilly to swim, we didn't feel like paying the park fee (I think it was $12 person, something like that), and decided to go check out Coconuts. Coconuts is a little further, and on a cliff. It was one of the coolest bars I've ever been to. You park and walk up the walkway that looks like you are about to take a jungle hike, it isn't hard or anything, but you definitely wouldn't get a wheelchair up it. Once you get to the bar it is completely surrounded by trees, but overlooks a cliff, it was like something out of a movie. We only had time for one drink here since we had to drop off the car, but I wish we could've stayed longer. It was a very relaxed, casual atmosphere and I highly recommend it.

 

We continued on and cut across the island back to the city to drop off Burrito Bomb, we had fun with her. When we paid up, I asked where we could grab a cab and the guy at Isis offered to give us a ride, so we jumped back into Burrito Bomb and he drove us back to port. We tipped him, it was really great that they did that. It saved us a bunch of time.

 

That night we enjoyed dinner at the Scarlet again - which, I have to note our food was always hot. I had a soup that I remember loving, and hate to say it, got the chocolate un-melting cake. This is 0 for 2 for me and the chocolate melting cake. I hear so many great things, I ordered it last year and it was cooked through, no melting. I figured it was just "that one". I decided to try again, and it was cooked through again. I thought it would be like lava cake and it wasn't. The taste was good, but not what I expected. Maybe I just got the 2 random overcooked ones? If this is my one complaint about the food I am happy. :)

 

We didn't stay out too late after dinner because we had Belize the next day and we wanted to get off at a decent time and it was a tender port.

 

I have to say, I enjoyed Cozumel a lot more than I thought I would. Renting a car and exploring on our own was a great decision and we got to see some amazing spots that weren't as touristy. I would definitely go back!

 

Next up…Day 4: Belize

[kellyrnh]

I am so excited to finally read a review from this week on the Dream, I was booked for a back to back cruise starting the 16th on the Dream as well and my mom passed away a few days before and my sisters little boy is in icu fighting for his life with lukemia so it just was not good timing, my heart was not in it .I have to ask what airlines had the problem I am so afraid to fly I would have taken that as the sign I was not to go as I also was going out of Manchester N.H. on south West on Friday the 15th. again thanks so much for writing the review .

 

So sorry for the loss of your mother... and I hope your nephew stays strong and pulls through! What an incredibly tough time for your family, I'm so sorry.

 

As for our flight, we were on Delta - so you would not have had the leaking fuel thing. I wasn't worried, it was just funny how the pilot phrased it.

 

I think if you heart wasn't in your cruise you made the best decision, and to be there for you sister and her son is so worth it. You will have an amazing time when you next cruise comes up.

 

By the way, I see your name is Keene State Mom, I went to Plymouth State, but lots of my friends went to Keene :)

[droy]

Loving this! Thanks for posting. We leave in 11ish weeks for the Dream

[kellyrnh]

Day 4: Belize

 

Another morning... up a bit earlier though... another breakfast in the buffet…

 

We had a private excursion so we had to meet in the Burgundy Lounge to wait for our tender. They will only give tickets to people who are actually there, so make sure if you want to be on the same tender to wait until all of your party is there. Our wait was maybe 20 minutes and we got on our tender. It was an easy 15 minute ride and we saw the Dream go further and further in the distance from us.

 

I had read that it was best to do an excursion in Belize, so we decided to try cave tubing. Through the boards, and trip advisor, I decided to book cavetubing.bz's trip. They were $40/pp which included everything: transportation, park entrance, guide, lunch, rum punch and the good tubes with linking with ropes (not the feet under armpit thing) and even headrests (we had some people floating near us on simple black tubes that said "WOAH, you must've spent MUCH more than us to get tubes like that!" I didn't have the heart to tell them the deal we got).

 

We met cavetubing.bz at the gate like they instructed us in my email. They immediately handed us bottled water which I thought was nice. We got into a comfortable shuttle van and drove out to the park. It was about a 45 minute drive. Once at the park they assure you that the van is your locker and your stuff would be safe, I was a bit nervous but it was fine in the end. If you don't have water shoes, you can rent them for $3 there, and then your guide will suit you up with your helmet, head lamp, life jacket and tube. You carry your tube through the rainforest to the cave. They aren't heavy and our guide, Jen, stopped frequently to talk about different things along the way: trees, caves, insects, etc. One of the first things we came across was a tarantula that another guide picked up to show us, he assured us they are not the poisonous kind but I took his word for it! EEEEWWW (no, we didn't see any other creepy crawlies along the way. I'm not too squeemish but a huge hairy spider? NO THANK YOU)

 

Once we got to the cave, you have to stand in line waiting to get in the water. While we were waiting, we walked over and looked over the edge to see the water and it was breathtaking! It was then I really regretted not buying a waterproof camera before the trip! To get in the water they put your tube in first then hold your hands as you drop butt first into it. Unusual I thought, but it worked! The tubing through the caves was really pretty, the only downfall to it was the other tubers. Some where screaming and yelling which echoes a lot, and in this beautiful scenery I just wanted to take it all in. After the initial excitement of tubing, the screamers did seem to tone down. Didn't ruin it by any means. Jen led us through the caves telling us about everything in the caves and even pulled us along when necessary if the water was too calm. She was really a great guide and I highly recommend her. After the caves you have about 15 minutes of free floating down the open river, it was a blast.

 

Once we got back to the vans, they brought us (and the other groups, maybe 25 total?) to the house of cavetubing.bz's owner, Valentino. His family makes your lunch and serves you in his outdoor palapa. It was stewed chicken with rice & peas and whatever you'd like to drink. We got the rum punch and they gave it to us in cups with lids (sippy cups really) which you could have as much as you want, and the lids were handy for our ride back to port :) Lunch was good and Valentino came up to say hello and thanks for supporting his family. We then went back to port with plenty of time and checked out some shops before catching a tender back to the ship. In the end, we had a great time and highly recommend cavetubing.bz.

 

When we got back we jumped in the hot tub on the Serenity deck for sunset. We did this almost every night, and we had an amazing sunset! Another picture lost on the phone, sigh…

 

Another dinner at the main dining room, I think this night I had the chateaubriand. It was AWESOME. I couldn't believe how perfect it was cooked, by far my favorite meal of the trip in the dining room.

 

Tonight, after dinner, the guys decided to call it a night early. Us girls decided to stay up a bit later and we ended up hanging out in the Piano Bar. The piano guy was Bob - we had a blast! The piano bar on the Valor was always a bit mellow last year, this was much more fun. We ended up staying out a bit later than intended, sorry boys, you missed out!

 

[jaxstiles]

Great review! Thanks for posting!

[travlngrl1996]

Nice review. We are doing this itinerary in 16 days and I can barely wait.

[Mrsdigi]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing in July. WE also booked .bz for cave tubing. About how long was the acutal tube ride? and could you bring anything with you, backpack, water, etc? (I will have my 1 year old with me) thanks! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[dvdkndy]

Keep it up! We are doing this in 15 days and we are truly pumped beyond belief! We are also doing the cave tubing so I hope I have just as much fun as you guys did.

[pmoniz]

Can't wait to read more and thank you for the info on the cave tubing. Really would like to do that excursion as well!! Keep it coming!!

[gelo7]

Nice review.

[bolk]

Keep it coming, we will be on the Dream in 30 days

[kellyrnh]

Day 5: Roatan, Honduras

 

Today was our last port, so we went and did the buffet for breakfast again because we wanted to get a full day in at Roatan. It really was cool to look off the side and see those sunken ships right there. On first look, my impression of Roatan was it was absolutely beautiful! The plan for the day was to go ziplining somewhere and go snorkeling at a beach. Nothing specific and no excursions booked. We stopped at our room, grabbed our beach bags and headed to the gangway.

 

We get to the gangway to leave the ship and were surprised at the number of people standing around. Turns out it is DOWNPOURING outside. Hmm…okay, lets wait a few minutes to see if it dies down. After about 10 minutes it was still coming down pretty good but we were anxious and left anyway.

 

It was drizzling pretty good so we walked through the shops at Mahogany Bay for a bit while we came up with a gameplan. In the end, we decided to go ahead and just zipline right at Mahogany Bay at the Zipline Express (aka Zip N Clip). We figure if we are going to zipline in the rainforest, it is actually appropriate that it rains, right?

 

Our friend had been ziplining before decided for the $60 to zipline, he'd rather spend it renting a car so after we were done we could check out the rest of Roatan. So, the 3 of us got our ziplining gear on and he went and rented a car right in Mahagony Bay (since Carnival owned, both the ziplining and car rental goes right on to your Sign and Sail account). We had to wait a bit and watched a video on how to break, etc while waiting. A truck comes up shortly, and we pile in the bed of it. Our group was us 3, a father and teenage daughter and a woman in her 70's. The woman told me that she's always wanted to do ziplining and her husband was too nervous. She figured if she died in her 70's zip lining, then she'd die happy. Dang I hope I'm like that at her age! She was awesome.

 

We drive through the rain up a bumpy road and when it stops you have a short, somewhat steep walk up a hill. Of course this is when I realize I really have to go to the bathroom. With all the gear and harness's on, it really wasn't possible so I just bit my lip and moved on. Luckily, once we started zipping, as hoped, my mind totally forgot that I had to go and that wasn't an issue. The zipping was a blast, and in the rain was actually fun. My one issue was at each platform, they tell you if you should break or not. One platform they told me NOT to break and even told me not to hold on to anything. Well, I was going pretty fast and approaching the next platform the guy there made the signal to break, which caught me off guard. By the time I tried to break, it was a little too late and I slammed into the tree. It is padded so it wasn't anything that ruined my trip, but I have some good bruises on my shoulder and shin still from it. I was just confused as I, along with the rest of our group, was told NOT to break. The guy at the platform said it must be faster than normal due to the rain. Hmm… you'd think they would know that. I am not telling anyone this to discourage you from using Zipline Express or going ziplining…I would definitely do it again. Just make sure to use your own judgement, if you feel like you should break, break :) On a side note, I think I remember that the Pirates of the Caribbean Extreme Ziplining in Roatan has a self-breaking system. That was the other zip line I was interested in trying out. In the end, we did 9 zip lines and we did have a great time doing it.

 

When we finished Ziplining, our friend was waiting for us with the car. He had already figured out which direction to go to check out some public beaches. We drive for a short bit and stop at the first one (sorry, I don't remember the name) and pay $2 US to park in a parking lot. We bought some jerk chicken for lunch from a woman cooking it right next to the beach for lunch, it was great, You can buy beers at the corner store across the street for $1 US each. After lunch, we grabbed our snorkel gear (we bought cheap snorkel sets at Walmart near our hotel before getting on the cruise) and snorkeled near the rocks. I didn't think we'd see too much there, but we had some great snorkeling! We even saw a huge Turtle, and so many different species of fish I couldn't believe how many. It was awesome.

 

After we decided to check out West Bay beach, and drove there. After we park, we are approached to get pictures with some monkeys. Our friend wanted pictures so the guys ask for $5 to do it. She agreed, and they suggested going to the beach for a better background. We go there, and the monkeys jumped on her shoulders and one wrapped its arms around her face, it really was adorable. The guys with the monkeys claimed they got us into the beach for free because we were with them, but I don't know how much truth is to that. I will say we only paid the $5 for the pictures with the monkeys.

 

We ended up finding seats at the Bananarama bar, and the seats we got were swings. Yes, swings at the bar, it was so fun! I asked for a drink "with coconut in it" and the bartender gave me what ended up being a Monkeylata. It was SO GOOD. The guys got actual coconuts that they add rum to. We had about 3 different people come up and ask if they could take pictures of us in our swings because it is just something you don't see very often. What a fun place!

 

When we left West Bay, we stopped at this tower to walk up and look at the scenery. Roatan really is beautiful, I could have spent much more time there. It is one of those places I could easily spend a whole vacation at. I really feel bad for anyone who's ship misses it due to high winds. I will say that even though Mahogany Bay's beach is nice and right off the ship, I highly recommend venturing out and exploring the whole island.

 

We drop the car off and get back on to the ship with juuuust enough time (we used up every minute possible in Roatan!). We did our sunset hot tub and got ready for dinner. Dinner was good as always, and after dinner our friends went to the Casino and we went to check out Dancing in the Streets. My boyfriend is NOT into theater, but he does like breakdancing, so I got him to go because of that. It was pretty good! Enough to keep him from complaining he was bored lol. Fun Force was awesome! And the acrobatics in the show are so good you almost wonder "where do they hide the wires???". Definitely check it out.

 

Tomorrow: Costa Maya