Review of our b2b on the dream

[live2cruise2011]

To begin a little about us. Cruising week 1 was myself, (40) DH (54) Ds (16) and my mom will not let me tell age... ha ha the three of us live in south Texas. Alex (ds) has had 7 open heart surgeries and is developmentally delayed. Both he and my husband use electric scooters for mobility. We drove from Laredo to New Orleans we arrived about 4 am on Saturday morning. We spent the morning touring New Orleans. We stopped and took pictures at the cemetery of the voodoo queens grave. At around 9 we called the Hyatt Regency that I had booked through priceline and asked when the earliest we could check in would be. They said that we could come right over and they would get us in our room. We booked a nicer room with parking not included because this trip was to celebrate Alex turning 16 on Monday 8/25. Parking was $40 but you could go in and out as many times as you wanted. We hung out at the hotel and then Alex and I went to Riverwalk outlets while dh took a nap since he had worked all day the day before then drove to New Orleans. We came back a while later and ordered alex pizza for dinner. DH and I had reservations for one of the ghost tours in town.

 

sidenote: mom took greyhound in on Sunday morning for those taking greyhound do yourselves a favor and arrive the day before. mom left her house on greyhound on Saturday at 4 as she is a ww leader and wanted to do her meeting that morning. her bus was due to arrive sunday am at 7. fifteen minutes after leaving the bus broke down they had to wait on the side of the road with no Ac in texas heat for a new bus and then when it arrived they were running about an hour or a little more behind. which posed the major problem as the bus she was on and the connecting bus in Houston only had 20 minutes between them. so panic ensued. I called carnival and explained that mom had the travel insurance through them and asked what would happen if her bus did not arrive on time due to the fact that if she missed the connection in Houston the next bus that left to go to New Orleans would not arrive until 4pm sunday just in time for her to see the boat sail away. she got lucky the driver did not care about speeding tickets apparently lol he made up enough time that they were able to hold the other bus. and she made it to New Orleans with no further issues.

 

Hyatt Regency was beautiful. We had a wonderful room that overlooked the superdome. It was really nice this night as they were having a concert and had some great lighting effects for us to take pictures of.

 

Ghost Tour:

 

The ghost tour was through Historic New Orleans Tours it left from Pirates alley at 730 pm. in our opinion the tour was great from a historical stand point just not very entertaining. We had done a great ghost tour in San Antonio where the guide was a great story teller this gentleman in new Orleans was not he was very drab and spoke in a monotone the whole time and it made it hard to focus we saw many other tours that the guides were much better.

 

 

Parking and Embarkation: 8/24

 

we woke about 630 or so and packed up the one bag we had brought into the hotel and called down to the valet and they brought the car around we knew we would be extremely early but we wanted to have an empty port to unload luggage. we elected to all go to the garage and walk back with both scooters as we bring our own not rent the ones that are delivered. when we got there one officers said go here and unload... well he was wrong that was the taxi stand and they were not happy... but we were able to get all the luggage checked with a porter and I went to Fulton garage and parked the car. We had paid the 8 a day on line. I pulled into the garage and she explained I was there too early that they did not have the shuttle ready I told her that was ok as we wanted to walk. We walked across the street and met mom as she had just called she was there. We went into Riverwalk and had café du monde before heading to the terminal.

 

We arrived at the terminal around 10 30. Remember luggage was already checked so we just had our carryon and what ever mom had with her. they escorted us to the check in area to the handicapped line due to the scooters. we were all allowed to stay together even though mom was in a separate room. it took about 15 minutes to get through the line and to the chairs. once in the chairs they told us boarding would begin about 1130. so we sat and waited. they began boarding weddings then platinum and fttf at about 1110 or so. we stepped on board at 1130.

 

we went to the lido deck and grabbed a bite to eat about 1230 we went down and found our state room was ready and we put a few things away and then went off cameras in hand to explore until Muster.

 

at about 320 we went looking for our muster station and found it was in the theatre we were pleased. we went and found a seat. after muster we went and got ready for dinner and put away the stuff that had arrived. we had early dinner in the scarlet dining room on deck 3 aft. we were glad for the scooters as this was a long walk. unfortunately no matter what with the scooters we had to wait for 2 separate elevators since our cabin was 11 forward and the restaurant was 3 aft. after dinner we called it an early night since we had been busy the past couple of days

 

I will write more tomorrow all have a great night feel free to ask questions if I can help I will

 

night

cheryl

[Seago2]

Singing on for your review. Wowwww about your mom. That's a long bus ride, overnight, and to almost miss the ship? I would need to be tranquilized ;)

[GeauxCruise]

Excited about hearing the rest since I'll be going on my first B2B on the Dream next month.

And thanks for replying in my post asking questions about B2B! :)

[BeckyUK97]

Looking forward to the review also. We will be on the Dream in just a few weeks. Can't wait to hear all about the ship!

[cruisingfool44]

Can't wait to hear the rest of your review

[sewut]

Our first B2B is coming up in January. I'm curious about the reboarding procedure. Do they take another boarding photo?

[092306]

So glad your mom made it on time after that bus adventure! Curious as to how your mom did with food selections and weight gain on the b2b. Just curious if she has any tips and how she did as a WW leader. Thanks for posting your review!

[hello]

Cheryl, thank you for your review ... I can't wait for the rest!

[Fun, Fun 44]

Anxiously awaiting! :D

[guemmerzeng]

Singing on for your review. Wowwww about your mom.

[lostdart1]

Singing on for your review. Wowwww about your mom.

 

 

Are you still singing? You may be singing for awhile.

[live2cruise2011]

Hi all sorry for the delay. I homeschool and got caught up with Alex yesterday.

 

Mom did really well with her food choices most nights she would have the vegetarian option or the fish we went light on dessert and apps. most of the time just a few bites or split. she exercised continuously. but she did get home not gaining anything.

 

now back to the review..

 

sunday the only other thing we did besides dinner was I attended the orientation for the teen club. which in my case with a special needs child I felt was a must. and it was well worh it...

 

after that was over we went to dinner we had early dining in the scarlet lower we had the pleasure of having Wayan. He was awesome. Alex only came to dinner 1 or 2 nights and that was fine we felt that we wanted him to kind of get a taste of some independence on this trip since he really does not have any here at home. I would go meet him and he would decide if he wanted to do dinner or if he wanted me to come help him get a plate in the buffet. after dinner we went and walked the deck some and then went on back to our room and called it a night.

 

seaday 1 Formal

 

We woke up at about 8 by this knock on the door.. yep that is it.. MOM... after a few weeks of getting up at 5 we were ready to sleep in. but we got up and all 3 of us headed to the seaday brunch. I had the heuvos rancheros.. and they were yummy.. my favorite part were the cheeseballs that came on the side.. they were really good. after brunch DH and I went exploring the ship and taking pictures.. mom went and walked the deck and then ended up in the spa where she purchased the personal training package 6 days 30 min a day $209.00. I was here to eat lol working out was not really high on my agenda. relaxin was... lol so we headed up to the serenity deck where I attempted to lay on the hanging bed... and laughed as I slid down onto the deck.. lucky dh had the camera facing the wrong way and missed that pic... lol

 

we met mom at 3 at the crimson dining room for tea. we loved tea. it was the perfect little snack before getting ready for our early dinner. they had salmon and little cucumber sandwiches and sweets that changed each seaday. after tea we headed back to our rooms to get ready for formal night. we again called it an early night. we headed back to the room. Honestly we spent most of week 1 relaxing. afterall this is vacation and we were there to recover from our life.. I loved being able to let Alex stay out in the teen club and make lots of friends.. and not having to worry because they gave me one of the ship phones so if they needed me they could call me. We did not take any of the professional photos as dh and I both have Nikon d7000 cameras so rely on our own photos. and spent lots of time taking pics. the one thing that I forgot that we did today was at noon we went to the cooking demo that was in the steakhouse and it was awesome. they made an incredible mac and cheese bt the demo consisted of a mini 4 course meal. mushroom soup, then a spinach and mushroom salad, marinated chicken with a side of rosemary potatoes and mac and cheese and for dessert tiramisu all homemade in 30 min. and magnificent.

 

Seaday 2

 

again we woke to the knock... it came a bit earlier this morning... we did seaday brunch again and it was awesome we loved to eat in the dining room you spend the same amount of time in our opinion just instead of spending it in line we are sitting at a table getting served. and we love that. so after brunch we headed up to serenity again and then met mom for tea at 3...

 

after tea we went and got ready for dinner... lol eat and then get ready to go eat again.. and we said that since we had both had gastric bypass that we were no longer cruising for the food.. don't know who lied to us but I promise we did not miss any meals. we at breakfast had tea and then dinner and then room service everyday. lmao... amazing I only came home 3/10 of a lb heavier.. my key was that I just ate bites of what I wanted I did not finish my plate every night. I had dessert but did not overindulge. I did not feel deprived.

 

seaday 2 also when the past guest party was at 430 in the theatre. we liked the little show and dh asked and was brought a coke. I enjoyed the rum punch.. yummmm

 

Roatan:

 

We did not book an excursion our plan for the day was shopping on the pier and spending the day on the chair lift. we loved the lift and the views from there. we rode it over and over and did not get off. it was 12 pp for an all day pass.. I really did not do much shopping just mainly scoped out what I wanted next week. we had nachos at fat Tuesdays and to me they were not worth the money but I needed protein since surgery that is one level I must keep up. their nachos consisted of cheese sauce with chicken on top and a pile of chips.

Alex stayed on the boat to rest for belize the next day so we headed back early.

 

Belize:

 

We went to the buffet for breakfast and then headed to the burgundy lounge to get our tender tickets we were there just after 8 am and got tender ticket 5 we were off the boat in one of the first groups. I had booked a private cave tubing excursion through http://www.cavetubing.bz and I have to tell you they were amazing. the ship excursion from what we were told had to carry their tubes ours were waiting for us at the river as well as our biggest problem with any ship tour is they rush you. cavetubing.bz provided us a special guide for just us four (mom, Dh, Ds and myself) so that dh and ds could take breaks when needed they also took us through a couple of short cuts if you take this ask him to show you the plant that works like Gatorade.. as that was alex's (ds) favorite part now he normally does not try anything new... well he tried that plant right out of the jungle and loved it. he even had the guide get him seconds and thirds... wow.. we really loved the whole excursion it was awesome after tubing down the river we were taken to our included lunch which was chicken rice and beans.. all really tasty. rum punch was all you can drink they also had coke or water. the best part was the excursion was only 35 pp. they had us back with plenty of time to catch the tender mom went and got her passport stamped. and still had time left. we headed back to the ship as Alex was really tired we all showered and got ready for dinner as alex had decided he wanted to come to dinner with us.. a rare treat..

 

dinner and bed again.. that was the pattern for the week.. :)

 

Cozumel... ohhh Cozumel.. how I love panchos..

 

my family has known for years that my favorite place in Cozumel is Panchos Backyard.. and much to my surprise... there it was right at the pier.. wow what more can a girl want... mom had an excursion to the ruins on the mainland lucky for her she booked through the cruise line.. since I have awesome pics of her running for the ship from the ferry..

 

Dh and I went and did the horse and buggy tour we enjoyed it. It took us through some of the different areas we had not been to and then when done we went and walked through town and spent time arranging our tours for next week while riding in the carriage my lovely wonderful dh spotted a statue he said he just could not live without... lol so after we arranged the tours he said we needed to go find out how much it was.... ohhh my it was a fishbone statue of the 80s movie Predator... and it was like 2-3 feet tall.... and they guy wanted like 350 for it..... and ohhh how I hated to tell him no... but I was not paying 350 for it... not now not ever... well we haggled with him and eventually I ended up with a statue for $130.00. now how to get it back to the ship... that is right we were on foot and scooter.. so I walked my hands free and dh rode scooter and carried it back.. Now he got his statue it was time for my reward... ohhh yes.. Panchos.. lol We once again got nachos they were 8.95 and it was a large order and I am not prejudiced... but they were awesome.. after normally we each get sopapillas.. but remember that was before surgery.so this time we shared the dessert sampler.. and it was so great..

 

after that we headed back to the ship. time to get ready for the second formal night. we got ready and then headed out to the deck to see about getting pier runner pics.. I love those.. little did I know. that I would get my best shots on this day.. mom running for the boat.. ohhh that was so funny I waited a few min after I knew she was on board and called and asked her why she wore orange instead of green.. she said wait.. I have not seen you all day how do you know what I was wearing.. and I told her of my new awesome 1000 mm lens.. and my pics of her from ferry to ship.. and then told her we would see her at dinner. after dinner we snuck in a few min of 8 more seconds and determined we wanted to see the whole show. mom said she was gonna stay for the ending and head to bed. we went upstairs to wait for the show and ended up falling asleep oops no show tonight..

 

final seaday cruise 1

 

we woke Saturday am and yep you guessed it.. seaday brunch. once again it was lovely.. after brunch Dh went to lay out again mom and I went to wake Alex and then we headed to the ship life q&a which was very interesting. mom had seen them take off a bunch of mattresses in Roatan and wondered what happened to them.. well it turns out that they donated them to the needy and the orphanages in Honduras. and found out lots more interesting things like each voyage they go through like 36000 slices of bacon... that's a lot of piggies.. poor piggies.. well at least I know one is safe since ours currently in my bed sleeping under dh pillow.. lol just barely a nose sticking out.. ha ha so after question session we headed back brunch with Alex and got him something to eat. I had the caramel cheesecake.. it was pretty good.. also had a mocha chocolate getaway with my gold coupon... and that was pretty good too..... yummm after brunch it was tea time again.. and so mom and I headed to tea.. food food food... hmmmm after tea mom went to get ready for dinner and to pack.. the one thing we did not have to do this week... yippee.. that is one awesome thing about knowing that we are in the same room next week..

 

up next disembarkation/reembarkation

[live2cruise2011]

Wow sunday already.. once you get on the ship time just flies.. well we woke up about 7 to the mom knock... well we got a bite to eat and by 815 or so all of the self carry people were off and mom had number 23 and she was off by 915 we were told to be in the lobby outside guest services by 10 well mom had left her sunglasses and knowing they were prescription I ran to see if I could catch her and got there right as she was about to exit. and found out that disembarkation was about 30 min ahead of schedule.. so we sat in the lobby and waited. we had a group of 11 b2brs. and 8 of us just did the turnaround.. so it was about 945 and we walked off the boat through customs and right back on.. and when we reboarded they were waiting for us with champagne, mimosas, and ginger ale.. ohhh how lovely. they took our picture and it was delivered to our cabin later in the week after this we were free to roam our empty ship.. we took more pictures.. I have not uploaded yet.. and then we headed up to lido.. dh went to the burrito bar to be the first in line and me and one of the other b2brs grabbed an end each of the Mongolian wok.. it was really good and one of the healthiest lunches you can grab on board. after eating we walked around some more.. we then went and got ready for muster once again.. after muster we got ready for dinner early dining this week we had ricardo and a shared table.. We met a great family that we shared a table with and ended up going to the shows and doing other things with them as well this week and have been e mailing them now that we are home. Alex came to dinner 1 night this week and when we got back to our room we had a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries from the hotel director.. we skipped the welcome aboard show again tonight though..

 

hope you are all enjoying if you have questions let me know.. and I will try to help ya out..

[mtyduck1]

Really enjoying your posts! TFS!

 

 

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[live2cruise2011]

Monday Labor Day...

 

2nd first formal night...

 

We took the opportunity to sleep in waking for brunch at about 10. we went to brunch at around 11 which seemed like a good time it was fairly empty at that point. after brunch we went and used the spa some and went up to the serenity deck. we came in to get ready for formal night at about 4 or so. we went to dinner and then we went to the second seating of the show which was good we got there about 8 to get seats for us and our dinner friends.. the show was Get Ready! it was ok.. after showtime we headed back to our room for bed.

 

Tuesday Sea day.

 

yup today slept in again.. we went to brunch when we woke up. we did some walking and taking pictures. but really just stuck to relaxing the serenity deck was one of our favorite spots as well as the spa. we headed to dinner for our 6 pm seating and then we called it an early night. (rather unintentionally) we met to go meet our friends for showtime... or comedy.. oops..

 

well I will write more tomorrow going to head to bed for the night.. hope all is well with everyone.