Dream: best cruise evah!

[spleenstomper]

Dream is huge:

 

Docked at Cozumel:

 

 

 

 

View of lobby from deck 11:

[spleenstomper]

First stop Cozumel. Not many pics here. We went to Nachi and it was quiet and relaxed. I mentioned some issues in an above post; we will do something different next time. We did Chakanaab once, Nachi 3 times and Carnival's passion island twister boat excursion last time (loved it, recommend!)

 

 

 

 

I remted a float for 7.00 and snorkel equipment for 15.00 and did a little lazy smorkeling. Didn't see much, which if you have been before you know that is normal. It was still enjoyable.

 

We rented a jet ski for $65.00 a half hour and flipped in deep water. Righted the jet ski and dh was able to get back on while I couldn't. I could get on the platform but couldnt get back on the seat without flipping again. It was the end of the half hour anyway, so I had him tow me in lol lol lol

 

They did come out to us and check to see if we needed help, so that was good.

 

We were there about 4 hours.

 

Oh, a girl my son likes from their high school was on NCL Dream so he walked over to Mr, Sanchos (5 minute walk on the beach) and spent about 2.5 hours there before they kicked him out and so then he brought her over to us at Nachi to say hello.

[spleenstomper]

Belize is a tender port.

 

 

 

Sister ship:

 

 

Excursion boat to Old Belize River tour flora and fauna:

 

 

Captain Charles:

 

 

 

 

Diedre:

 

 

Jake:

Edited April 25, 2017 by spleenstomper

[spleenstomper]

Sights of Belize:

The big bird with white shouldefs is a friggate (sp?) bird:

 

 

 

Iguanas! Females are on the ground by nests. Males are in trees.

 

[spleenstomper]

Taking a break. Many many more photos.

 

Any questions?

[Thunderstruck17]

Spleenstomper, what were your impressions of the Dream?

[spleenstomper]

Loved it, and would gladly go on her again.

[runjulierun44]

Thanks for all the info and feedback. We are going on the Dream in November and can't wait! It will be our first time on such a big Carnival ship and our first time with the kids, 7&8. It looks like it's going to be an awesome time. Now, if it would just get here! LOL:cool::cool:

[spleenstomper]

Belize, continued

 

Old man iguana in tree:

 

Dolphin: hate that my finger is in the way

 

 

manatees. They only come up every 20 mins and use their snout to get air so this is all you see:

 

 

 

[spleenstomper]

Belize:

 

Local man using cast net for shrimp

 

We returned to port and ate at The Wet Lizard:

 

Meat pies:

 

Nachos and cerviche:

 

Fish tacos:

 

 

Last time we went to Belize, we did butts up! Cave tubing and we enjoyed that as well. Belize has been great both times and we have enjoyed this port immensely. I don't even mind the tender that much.

 

Pharmacy tip: all the way to the left of The wet lizard (left when you are looking straight at it), there is a pharmacy. I use hydroquinone 4% skin lightener for post acne marks and sun damage. Three 30g tubes were $24.00, which I thought was a good price.

[spleenstomper]

Thanks for all the info and feedback. We are going on the Dream in November and can't wait! It will be our first time on such a big Carnival ship and our first time with the kids, 7&8. It looks like it's going to be an awesome time. Now, if it would just get here! LOL:cool::cool:

 

I think you will enjoy it. What itinerary will you do?

[bobbismith]

Can't wait to read it all

 

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Forums mobile app

[spleenstomper]

Taking another break... so many more pictures to come!

[runjulierun44]

I think you will enjoy it. What itinerary will you do?

 

 

We are doing the same one. We have been to Cozumel many times but the other 2 ports are brand new for us.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[spleenstomper]

Roatan!!

 

3:40 am heading to Roatan and into some rain:

 

Since I was awake, I decided to look into Mohagany Bay. The last time we went to Roatan, we hired a private driver from Victor, toured the island, saw the monkeys (his monkeys were b*tchy and so I brought peroxide in case of a bite) and then spent the day on a day pass at a private resort (very nice), with armed guards every 20 feet (which was surprisingly comforting). Sounds great, right? OMG. The island is so overwhelmingly poor. Poverty you can't even imagine. The island has a 100% better way of life than the mainland-- think about that.

 

We didn't want to see a sanitized carnival disney land. We wanted to see Roatan. BUT..........It was overwhelming. I mean, I'm glad we saw it and our kids are rather spoiled (not brats though) in their way of life, so it was a reality check for them. But, it was depressing. So so depressing. When we got back to the ship, it hit us all at once and I'm still depressed about 4 years later over what I saw. We bought cashews from a THREE year old selling them for his family. By himself. Up on a hill. Exchanging money.

 

 

So I am still very conflicted about this, and I support "made in roatan". (Look it up).

 

 

We had decided to just go to Mahogany Bay. A friend of mine so strongly recommended Little French Key, which looks amazing. But, we had decided we wanted a low key, easy cruise this time and Mahogany Bay seemed to fit.

 

 

More in a minute...

Edited April 26, 2017 by spleenstomper

[spleenstomper]

Ok, so when I was up and reading, I ran across the posts for Daniel Johnson's monkey and sloth hang out. SLOTHS. Sold. At 8 am the next morning I asked who wanted to go with me and my daughter wanted to, so I messaged him through facebook that we were in port, wanted to just have transport and entrance to the hangout and that if I didn't hear from him, we were going to take a taxi. (He offers packages that also can include tours of the island, snorkeling, etc)

 

I checked about 30 minutes later during breakfast, and he had already booked us a package AND had a driver waiting for us!!!!! That is how you do business, my friends. I like this Daniel Johnson already. Apparently his hangout is fairly new (he gets tshirts in August); he was an animal lover who rescued animals and with urging from friends and family, decided to open in order to help care for the animals. Oh, Daniel's mother also works for him-- gotta love that.

 

So our family split up: DH and DS went to the beach at Mahogany Bay and DD and I went out the port, up that dang hill, down that dang hill and found our driver and the rest of the group.

[spleenstomper]

Be back later-- asthma attack

[evandbob]

Roatan!!

 

3:40 am heading to Roatan and into some rain:

 

Since I was awake, I decided to look into Mohagany Bay. The last time we went to Roatan, we hired a private driver from Victor, toured the island, saw the monkeys (his monkeys were b*tchy and so I brought peroxide in case of a bite) and then spent the day on a day pass at a private resort (very nice), with armed guards every 20 feet (which was surprisingly comforting). Sounds great, right? OMG. The island is so overwhelmingly poor. Poverty you can't even imagine. The island has a 100% better way of life than the mainland-- think about that.

 

We didn't want to see a sanitized carnival disney land. We wanted to see Roatan. BUT..........It was overwhelming. I mean, I'm glad we saw it and our kids are rather spoiled (not brats though) in their way of life, so it was a reality check for them. But, it was depressing. So so depressing. When we got back to the ship, it hit us all at once and I'm still depressed about 4 years later over what I saw. We bought cashews from a THREE year old selling them for his family. By himself. Up on a hill. Exchanging money.

 

 

So I am still very conflicted about this, and I support "made in roatan". (Look it up).

 

 

We had decided to just go to Mahogany Bay. A friend of mine so strongly recommended Little French Key, which looks amazing. But, we had decided we wanted a low key, easy cruise this time and Mahogany Bay seemed to fit.

 

 

More in a minute...

 

 

Part of supporting Roatan for us is to buy some Honduran coffee for $8/lb, up from 6. When we cruise or do a land vacation here, we usually visit Tabyana Beach or stay at Infinity Bay hotel next door. We spent several days at Little French Cay prior to it's "troubles", and have enjoyed Maya Cay. We used local drivers like you did for getting around the island.

 

What we don't do is shop in Carnival's cookie cutter corral, or stay at the ugly (IMO) man made Mahogany Bay beach. Most of the dollars spent in these places goes to Carnival, very little remains on Roatan.

 

We'll be on the Dream in October for the 1st time. We sailed Magic about a year and a half ago. Looking forward to another good experience!

[spleenstomper]

Yeah. I figured I was getting ripped off when I bought 15$ a pound coffee at the port, but we were due back on the ship and so I bought 45.00 of coffee. Uugh.

 

Going to lie down... will be back..

[As You Wish]

Loving your review. I'm really looking forward to your thoughts on Daniel Johnson's. We will be on the Dream in September, and I'm hoping to visit the sloths and monkeys.

 

Would it be possible to do Little French Key and Daniel Johnson's the same day? Are they in safe walking distance of each other?

[runjulierun44]

Loving your review. I'm really looking forward to your thoughts on Daniel Johnson's. We will be on the Dream in September, and I'm hoping to visit the sloths and monkeys.

 

Would it be possible to do Little French Key and Daniel Johnson's the same day? Are they in safe walking distance of each other?

 

 

Great question. I'm wondering the same thing for us in November. We were planning on LFK but my kids would LOVE sloths and the monkeys!

 

 

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[spleenstomper]

I think you could do both. I would next time.

 

Pulling into Roatan:

 

Shipwreck. Don't know the details.

 

 

Ok. Here is the story of the hill for those who haven't been to Roatan before. The port area has taxis. Tour groups cannot get into the port area. You can either take a taxi to the tour groups or walk. There is a hill. It's not big. It's hot and it's steamy in Roatan, so it's not a "dry heat". If you are a person of size (remember that phrase, it will come back later when I talk about ship activities lol) or you are lazy or dehydrated or whatever... the hill can be a witch. It's just not fun. It is a mind issue. You just have to do it if you don't want to pay for a taxi. If you are 20 and in shape and love the idea and you are a morning person and you like healthy breakfasts, it will be fun.

 

My daughter on the decline:

 

The tours can bring you back into the port when the tour is over. They just can't pick you up there. Why? I have no idea.

 

Scenes of Roatan:

 

 

 

Little French Key from the sloth hangout:

 

 

I have to go to bed. I promise, there will be monkeys and sloths tomorrow.

[spleenstomper]

I am ready for monkeys and sloths, but photo bucket is having maintenance issues today.

[spleenstomper]

Anyone use vimeo? My videos won't play. Anyone know why? Its just spinning blue concentric circles

[spleenstomper]

Ok. It just needed time to upload. Here is a short clip of me trying to get my barrette back from the monkey lol.

 

And trying to trade a ball for the barrette:

 

 

He lost interest in the barrette and I was able to use my ipad to whack it down from the ledge (the barrette not the monkey).

 

Currency:

 

Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth hang out:

Edited April 27, 2017 by spleenstomper