Review Dream 8/31- 9/7 exotic western

[wannago35]

yes they speak english in Belize.Not a great port area ,but make of it as you want it to be ,or just stay on the ship.

 

We were going to do cave tubing there I think, seems to be the primary attraction.

[beachsidescott]

Next up was Roatan. Carnival built a huge beach/resort area here at the port. There are the usual bars, same shops and a big pool. It's quite impressive but reminded me too much of Disney or those new outdoor malls they are building everywhere. I wanted to explore this beautiful island.

 

We booked the Victor Bodden tour. It was a little confusing to get out of the port, but we walked out of the gate to find our guide, or so I thought. We had to keep walking to another gate then walk down a paved hill. Once we got to the hill, there were several hundred taxis, tour operators and guides.

 

 

Carnival makes those who don't have taxi contracts stay outside of this second gate. My guess is that about 80-90% of the passengers stayed in Mahogony bay for the day, too bad for them. OK, back to the tour, we saw the Victor Bodden sign and met our driver for the day, Humor, pronounced more like Homer. I believe the price was $40 each and we had Humor for the entire day. He drove us all over the island, stopped at all the scenic spots, it was beautiful.

 

 

We went to the iguana farm, $7 each. It was crazy how many iguana were there. Humor told us stories about how they go into the mountains and hunt the iguanas with the help of dogs. He said it's even a common local cuisine, iguana with beans and rice. I'm definitely not brave enough to try that. Here's a pic of me feeding them a leaf from a banana tree

 

 

Then we walked down to see the monkeys, then to this little pier. They had a large netted in area showing the fish they catch on the island.

 

 

Then another photo op, this is a magnificent island. Here's me and lovely GF

 

 

Humor drove us around to see more of the island then it was off to West Bay Beach. I was looking forward to this, I'd heard this was one of the most beautiful beaches. And it was!

 

 

This is a pic near the end of the beach. More to come, stay tuned

[jeaniebelle]

Day 3 Cozumel:

We had cloudy overcast skies and even some rain this day. We'd both been to Cozumel before so I bought us a day pass at the Cozumel Palace. We had a wonderful time here. The resort is beautiful and the food and drinks were excellent. After asking the front desk, they even gave us a complimentary room for a few hours. Here's a couple pics of the pool, swim up bar and the restaurant we ate breakfast and lunch

 

 

 

 

Can you give more information about the Day Pass, price, what it includes and how to book ?

 

Thanks,

Regina

[beachsidescott]

It was a pass to use the resort. All inclusive, so food, drinks, pool, lounge chairs and they gave us a room for a couple hours to get cleaned up in after the pool. I'm not sure if that is something they always do, I asked and they said not problem. I booked through this site, but I think you can just go there that day and pay at the front desk

 

http://www.cozumelforaday.com/Cozumel_Palace_Day_Pass.html

[Winterstale]

Loving this review!! Keep it coming! We're sailing in 6 weeks -- we have the room across the hall - love the spa cabins - hoping the upsell fairy calls for the balcony opp :D

[duckofurl]

Was the Iguana Farm in Roatan wheelchair accessible?

 

Thanks!

[shawne71]

It was a pass to use the resort. All inclusive, so food, drinks, pool, lounge chairs and they gave us a room for a couple hours to get cleaned up in after the pool. I'm not sure if that is something they always do, I asked and they said not problem. I booked through this site, but I think you can just go there that day and pay at the front desk

 

http://www.cozumelforaday.com/Cozumel_Palace_Day_Pass.html

 

Awesome! Thank you. :D

[beachsidescott]

I would say that most of the iguana farm would be wheelchair accessible. It may be a little difficult unless there was someone to assist since the entire place seems to slope downhill. I believe there were steps down to the little pier so it may be difficult to get out there in a wheel chair

 

This pic may give you a better idea of the grounds. As you can see it's paved but sloped

 

[echo]

Good review.

[pmoniz]

Keep it coming!! Loving the pictures!!

[wantocruisemore]

Enjoying the review! We will be on the Exotic Western Carib itinerary in a few days on the Liberty. Same ports, and will also do the Bodden fun n sun tour. Looks like you did the private.

 

Looking forward to more!

[mitsugirly]

Loving your review. Thanks for sharing and especially the pictures. :)

[mchlhaystead]

the next morning we woke up to room service. Actually we did room service every morning. Another cloudy day but we hopped on the tender to explore belize. The plan was to take the water taxi to caye caulker.

 

On the tender i was conversing with the woman next to me asking what their plan was for the day, she mentioned they were just going to shop at the port. Her and her husband had been to belize on a past cruise, they were too afraid of the locals to go beyond the gate. I guess i gave her a perplexed look so she added this gem "well the mexicans or whatever they are can speak english, but just enough to get you out of the gate and steal your money" conversation over, sometimes it's no wonder americans are so hated by some. Sorry for the small rant, back to belize. We walked out of the gate and headed to the water taxi. After a few minutes, the 9:00 taxi was ready. It was about a 45 minute ride to caye caulker, i was surprised it took so long, the boat wasn't as fast as i expected. Here's a tip, get on the water taxi early and sit up top. This one was a diesel and the fuel smell was heavy on the lower level. We get to the caye and it was just what i read, no cars, some golf cart taxis and bicycles.

 

 

we spent the day walking around the island, again a cloudy day so we didn't snorkel but at one end (i think this was what they call the split) we sat on this concrete pad and saw every fish. It was awesome

 

 

then we ate lunch, this is what i was waiting for. Grilled lobster and bread fruit, it was amazing!!

 

 

caye caulker would have been amazing with a little better weather, we could have done some snorkeling but i'm glad i got to see it. That evening another fun dinner in the dining room with onesimo then we hit the comedy club. The comedy was really good on this ship

we are going to caye caulker in october, where do you get this lobster? And the cost? Thak you

[cocacabana]

we are going to caye caulker in october, where do you get this lobster? And the cost? Thak you

 

I would like to know this too! Looks delicious!

We plan to do the same as you, take the water taxi ourselves and go to CC. Our ship is scheduled to leave at 5pm, which I believe is 2 hours ahead of local time, so it seems we would have to take the 1.30 pm (Time in Belize) water taxi back. Is this what you did? How much was the water taxi? Minus alcoholic beverages, we are hoping to spend around 80-100 USD in Belize.

Also, would you know how much snorkeling costs?

 

Thank you for your review, the pics look great :)

[wannago35]

Thanks for the info re: Victor Bodden, we're booked to take a tour with them as well. Hope you return to tell us more!

[scheible32]

Nice review. KCCO!

[Robkatcruisers]

Not Flagler, it's Satellite Beach. We live about 30 mins south of Port Canaveral

 

 

Scott

 

Great review!!

 

Yeah definitly not Flager...that would be a couple of hours north... :)

 

I am a land lubber....over here in beautiful exciting Palm Bay....:rolleyes:

 

We are doing that exact itinerary Nov 9 2013 with friends...

[careycouponer]

Subscribing so I know when you come back to finish. Enjoying your review!

[beachsidescott]

Hey guys- finally got some time to write a bit more.

 

A couple of you had questions about the lobster and Caye Caulker. It was delicious. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the place. It was near where the water taxi drops you towards the split. A building right on the water and it was a woman's name. Maria's?? Sorry can't remember, the lobster dinner was about $15. Also you need to take the 1:30 taxi back and you'll be back at port in plenty of time.

 

OK, back to Roatan. Humor dropped us at West Bay Beach right near the Banarama resort. Beautiful GF and I walked the entire beach, it was a sunny day and the beach was beautiful. We ended up going back to Banarama and renting a couple chairs. I believe it was $10 each, we had a few cocktails from the bar and just enjoyed the day. The water was fantastic, they had a trampoline you could swim out to and some type of floating platform that we laid out on. It was a great beach day, my photo skills were not so great this day but here's a few pics

 

 

 

 

 

We left the beach a asked humor to take us to a local spot to eat. We ate some fried snapper and beans and rice. Delicious. Then I asked Humor to take us to a store to buy some rum, I bought a bottle of rum at every port. We went to the supermarket then he took us back to the boat. I thanked him a gave him a nice tip. It was really cool to be driven all around the island and hear about life from his perspective. I recommend the Bodden tours for sure.

 

Back on the boat, we sat on the balcony and watched the ship leave port. Had fun in the dining room then another comedy show. Here's a pic of lovely GF giving me a shy look in the dining room and more pics with the towel animal for me

 

 

[beachsidescott]

Next up was Costa Maya. The plan for the day was Nohoch Kay beach resort. Again we had to walk out of the gate at the port and walk quite a ways before we got to the area they allowed the taxis. A short ride and we were at Nohoch Kay. This is a small beach resort at the end of the strip. Here's a pic of the beach(notice the waitress serving drinks to the people in the water!)

 

 

This was a nice day, small beach and the water wasn't as good as the day before in Roatan but still excellent. We had fun, the food was good. The owner Himay, was very nice and accommodating. Tip- ask for the shrimp or fish to be grilled instead of fried like the menu states, it was great. We spent the day hanging out, chatting with some of our roll call peeps, we used one of the kayaks and paddled around for a while. Not many fish in the water this day. We also took a walk down the boardwalk and checked everything out. More bars, restaurants and shopping. I really enjoyed Costa Maya and would like to go back again.

 

This is the strip

 

 

I bought a hat!

 

 

Then we grabbed a taxi to head back to the ship. I really wish the day wasn't so short in Costa Maya. I'm not sure why Carnival wants to be back on the ship at 1:30. We stopped for an "I do what I want" photo

 

 

That evening we hit the dining room again, I think we watched a show in the main theatre and they had latin dancing on the Lido deck. Another great day. I'll leave you for now with another towel animal pic and come back later to wrap up this review

 

[afreetdragon]

Thanks for the info re: Victor Bodden, we're booked to take a tour with them as well. Hope you return to tell us more!

 

we've booked with them before and its like having your own personal driver for the day. It's great!

[beachsidescott]

The last day was a sea day as we headed back to Port Canaveral. Lovely GF and I ate breakfast in the Lido deck and spent the majority of the afternoon at the Serenity deck or near the pool. Dinner again that evening in the dining room and we caught the comedy show again.

 

The next morning we woke up early and were hustled off the ship. I didn't think there was a rush to get off the ship, but that's not the case. Don't plan on taking your time, having breakfast. The CD gets on the intercom starting about 7 and about every 15-20 mins after that. Also the room stewards are anxious t get you out of there asap, since they need to prepare for the oncoming guests. None of this is a big deal, just something I wasn't expecting.

 

OK, so here's some final observations and a few more pics:

- the ship is beautiful, feels new and is very clean. I was really impressed. Here's a pic of the lobby bar and atrium area, very nice

 

 

- also impressed with the staff, everyone was hospitable and hard working

- as I mentioned earlier, the food was just ok, not bad but not really good. The steakhouse was excellent!

- the bar drinks were just OK as well. All the mixes are very sugary. I had a blue margarita and a whiskey sour that were both pretty bad. Rum and cokes were fine and the pina coloada were ok to when I ordered another shot a rum to cut down on the sugary taste.

- normally the ship wasn't crowded, but the area where the photos were and the walkway to the piano bar and comedy club would get very crowded

-didn't spend much time in the casino, but it wasn't especially smoky. As an ex smoker, I'm sensitive to the smell of smoke and it didn't really bother me

- If you can afford it, definitely get a balcony. This was my 1st cruise with a balcony. It was nice to have a retreat and sit on the quiet balcony to enjoy the views. GF said it would have been a different cruise without the balcony room

-we weer in a spa room and the spa was excellent. the thalasso pool was super nice but a bit warm for me, they had fresh water with lemon, limes or oranges all day long. I filled up my sports bottle throughout the day. Also the bathrooms were excellent. I showered and got dressed every night there leaving beautiful GF to have the cabin to her herself. Here's a couple pics of the spa bathroom

 

 

[beachsidescott]

-the serenity deck was really nice. comfortable seating and lots of it. It was never really crowded there

 

 

 

- our cruise was the week of Labor Day and there were not many kids on board. If you want a cruise without too many kids, I would recommend this week. As for the passengers, everyone was mostly friendly. I did see an argument in line for the lanai BBR one day but other than that everyone seemed cordial to each other. Another observation on the demographics was the vast majority of the passengers were from the white, from the southern states and roughly between 20 and 40 years old. There was not much ethnic diversity on this cruise. I don't have an opinion either way about this but it was interesting and a bit surprising. I expected much more geographic, ethnic and racial diversity.

-the one thing I would love to change about the ship is the pools. There are 2 pools and they are very small, I mean very small! On the sea days they were really crowded. Both sea days were very hot and it would have been nice to spend time in the pool. Even just to get in to get wet was difficult. Also, it's a little gross to see that many people packed into a small body of water. If you have children and expect them to play in the pool all day, it's going to be tough. There wasn't enogh roo to jump in the pool. Just climb down the ladder and try to find an empty spot to stand in. The main pool on the Lido deck should really be double it's size. Here's a pic showing part of the aft pool, late in the afternoon when it wasn't crowded

 

 

-the aft bar area was really nice. It seemed quiet back there and the view was awesome. The aft bar is a nice place to sit and watch, here's a not so good pic of the aft bar

 

 

My overall thoughts are it was better than I expected. I had low expectations from reading lots of negative thing on the board, so maybe that helped me. GF has expensive tastes and she really liked it. She was a big fan of the balcony room, spa, comedy club and the overall cleanliness. By the way, the spa area smells fantastic. I don't know what they use for air fresheners but I would love my house to smell that way.

 

The big question, would I do it again? For the price, absolutely YES! Our cruise not included tips or the onboard expenses was less than $1800. To be in a nice balcony room with a view for a week with 4 ports was a great deal. Had it been more expensive the negatives that I mentioned may have bothered me a bit. So for the expensive, the cruise was great. Also we had a fantastic vacation in general. Our times in port were amazing and we had a lot of fun on the ship!

[pmoniz]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Dream!! Looking forward to cruising her in a few short weeks!

[wannago35]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, thoughts and pics. You've made me even more excited to board the Dream in 22 days! :)