This Ain't No Disney Cruise, part 2 - My LIVE Trip Report From the Carnival Dream, January 13-27, 2024

[sid_9169]

23 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Reporting on the past few hours...

 

I had another Guy's burger fir lunch. Is this #3 or #4 for the trip? I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up. Sorry. Surprisingly, it wasn't too crowded. Less surprising that the burger and its accouterments remained solid. It's managing to keep me from being too hungry so far.

 

After lunch I found the room was ready.

 

 

After a power nap, I started streaming the Texans-Ravens football game. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was able to do so on my tablet and phone (not at the same time) with only a few hiccups. 

 

 

Alas, the Ravens smothered the Texans, which will disappoint the other half of the passengers who were rooting for them and not the Cowboys. ☹️

 

While the game was going on, Hery delivered my newsletter,  which is back to normal:

 

 

 

I don't have much planned for the day in Cartagena, and the newsletter didn't give me any new ideas. Oh well, I'll figure out something. It's still forecast to be hot and humid there. 🥵

 

After, I turned off the game, I figured out a solution to the FB thing. @sid_9169, if you're still here, it might be worth taking notes. First, I found, downloaded, and installed the app from the Play shop. I didn't have any issues with any of this. I logged in and found that FB worked perfectly fine for me.

 

I didn't have the app loaded because it's a battery and resource hog that I rarely used on land when I had it. But it's handy here and now.

 

The Packers-49ers game is on soon, and I don't think I'll be able to stream it.

 

Thus ends the interesting portion of the evening, I think. Have a good evening one and all!

Hmmm, I've never had the app, only use it with Chrome, but I think it's a problem for others to not be able to access their favorite site even with the Premium Plan... Honestly, it was nice having a little break from it, even if it was forced upon me...

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, sid_9169 said:

Hmmm, I've never had the app, only use it with Chrome, but I think it's a problem for others to not be able to access their favorite site even with the Premium Plan... Honestly, it was nice having a little break from it, even if it was forced upon me...

 

You should definitely get the app.

[Honolulu Blue]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Was it not on in the casino or you didn't check?

I didn't check.

[Honolulu Blue]

Good morning! We're closing in on Colon, Panama this morning. We should be docking soon. I'm sure some here are excited about taking excursions into the Canal. I've done two partials and one full, so I decided to pass up that opportunity. Instead, I have an excursion to Panama City that I'm looking forward to. More about what happens there in a future post.

 

I'll briefly catch up with what happened last night. I cashed my winning tickets at the cashier with no issues. The casino was busy with other activity, including broadcasts of some other football game.

 

I did go up to the trough for a light dinner - strip loin steak and a potato. It was good.

 

KC turned back Buffalo and booked a date with the Ravens next week.

 

Edited January 22 by Honolulu Blue

[Honolulu Blue]

I have a lot to go over, so those of you who aren't fans of long posts can head over to read some other excellent trip reports who probably won't have as many words or pictures. Trust me, I understand. 

 

We were cleared slightly after 9, which helped others more than me, since my excursion wasn't scheduled to start until 10.

 

The excursion asked me to meet in the main theater at 9:30. I got there slightly before that, and I found a big old mess - a long, slow moving line into the theater.  Did everyone on this silly ship have excursions that met here at the same time? It sure seemed it.

 

After what seemed like forever and a day, I got inside the theater and waited to be called. It was crowded in there.

 

Finally, this nice lady from the shore excursions team told us our group could go outside. 

 

 

So we wound our way outside to the buses. It took us a while to get on and organized. We had five buses for this trip to Panama City. I was put on the middle one.

 

 

Eventually we got moving away from the port, only a half hour late.

 

Our guide was Armando. 

 

 

I liked him. He tried to run a tight ship, as much as the people around him allowed.

 

Our driver was Marco. No picture of him, but he did a really good job too. Panama, especially the central city, had a lot of traffic and reckless drivers. Marco dealt well with them.

 

Armando was a fountain of information about Panama,  its people, and the Canal.

 

I asked him a curve ball of a question about Panama's coins. He mentioned that Panamanian coins circulate beside the U.S. standard issue coins. He also noted that the U.S. mint makes Panama's coins.

 

 

Clockwise from the left is the 1 Balboa coin, the 25 cent coin, the 10 cent coin, and another 10 cent coin you're more familiar with.

 

The scenery was lovely on the road to Panama City, but Armando noted they were short of rain. We passed over the Chagres River. It's supposed to be much higher than this at this time of year.

 

 

Panama City has all kinds of buildings - ruins from the old city, rebuilt buildings from its colonial days, and high rises from the here and now.

 

We passed through some of the fancier parts of Panama City to get to the old ruins. The museum is normally closed on Monday, but opened just for us.

 

 

 

We were generously allowed to roam the ruins for a while.

 

 

 

Eventually we got going to the colonial portion of the city, anchored by a cathedral. 

 

 

We spent some time here and then we had to go. 

 

I had a good time on this tour and recommend it to those who like this sort of thing.

 

We eventually returned to the ship about 4, only a half hour late.

 

 

The ship docked near a shopping mall. The names were moatly different,  but it certainly felt like the malls I cruised 20 or 30 years ago, back when online ordering was less of a thing.

 

And getting to and from the ship required a trip through a store. It wasn't as annoying as Dufry's in Cozumel.  

 

I looked around for souvenirs, but I didn't find anything worth standing in some long lines for. Oh well, maybe next time. 

 

I returned to the room to find that it was cleaned. Thank you, Hery. 

 

 

I took some time to cool down, clean up, and work on some business. 

 

One thing I had to do was clean up the mess United made with my return flight. The first leg was on a Max 9 and United finally realized that they weren't going to be allowed to fly that plane by then. So they canceled that part and left the connection dangling in midair. 

 

I cleaned it up by going into the app and choosing the one decent nonstop out of there. It's a little risky in that it will leave at 11:45. I'll deal with what could happen when and if it happens. 

 

After that I had an early dinner at Guy's. It was as good as usual and should satisfy until tomorrow. 

 

Speaking of tomorrow,  the newsletter for tomorrow arrived in my box.

 

 

 

And now you're up to date. See ya. 😀

Edited January 22 by Honolulu Blue

[princess76021]

Thanks for giving us a daily report. I feel like I'm on the cruise with you.

 

Again thanks for taking us along!

 

Hugs from Texas

[Honolulu Blue]

45 minutes ago, princess76021 said:

Thanks for giving us a daily report. I feel like I'm on the cruise with you.

 

Again thanks for taking us along!

 

Hugs from Texas

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy my reporting.

[princess76021]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy my reporting.

I not only like it, I look forward to it!!

Hugs

[Honolulu Blue]

I had another interesting day today. It looks like it's going to be the whole day, since I didn't get a chance to post after breakfast. 

 

In fact, I didn't even go to breakfast today because I was running so far behind. I'm sorry I can't tell you if they served bacon at the trough today. Someone else will have to do that.

 

I've only had a few 7 AM port stops in my cruising history. They're not my favorites - there's too much to do in too short a time, and then there's usually an early departure,  which is also not ideal.

 

I  had to meet in the main theater at 7 for a 7:30 excursion. 

 

 

it wasn't quite as bad as it was yesterday, but the theater was quite full before they started calling out excursions. My group was the 8th one called at around 7:40. Slowly we wound our way off the ship and through a group of buses.

 

There was a small complication when I passed by my bus. A helpful guide pointed me in the right direction. 

 

My friend thought the bus was relatively comfortable. 

 

 

There was rain on and off during the morning.

 

 

I don't think it ever got too hot, which was a relief compared to our other ports of call. 

 

Our main guide was Maria. She noted that she talked a lot, and boy did she. 😝 

 

 

Our first stop was in an old United Fruits headquarters building. A gentleman named George explained some of the food items he raises on plantations elsewhere and sells here.

 

 

I learned a few things:

 

* Coffee nubs are really good when laced with caramel. My friend persuaded me to buy some.

 

 

* I'm a big starfruit fan.

 

They're not for everyone, because they're VERY sour. But I really enjoyed both the juice (which was sweetened) and the raw fruit (which was not). I heard some complaints and I was so tempted to scream to send them my way. But I wanted to save my appetite for reasons I'll discuss later.

 

* There was several other samples handed out - some of which I tried, and some I didn't. 

 

* Some of these items were for sale after the presentation- mostly the sweetened coffee nubs and some coffee itself. I'd say there was a decent amount of business from our group.

 

* George disclosed that there were three ships in town that day. There's us, the AIDAluna that I saw docked later...

 

 

...I never did spot the third ship. What was it, and where qere they?

 

Our second stop was half an hour out of Limon at a greenhouse that mostly grew fancy flowers for sale overseas, but they also grew some other stuff.

 

 

We were taken to the dining hall and given some more samples to look at - some were edible and some were just to look at or smell. I accidentally grabbed a couple of starfruit samples and continued our love affair. 

 

BTW, this place didn't try to sell us anything other than some coconut water. Coconuts aren't my favorite,  so I passed on it.

 

The last stop was at a plantation just a couple of miles outside of Limon. This was a popular stop for several other groups as we mixed and mingled with them.

 

 

Maria and some of the others on this tour spotted a sloth in one of the trees. I tried but couldn't see it. I did see so.e pretty butterflies that were far too fast to photograph. 

 

This plantation had a small restaurant and a nice gift shop. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't do the dining thing. I did load up on some souvenirs fir myself and those that care about me back at home. 

 

After a short drive, we were given a choice of stops at the end of the excursion. First was to stop near the gate to enter the city. The second was right by the dock. I chose this latter option. 

 

I took some photos then returned to the ship.

 

 

 

 

They were doing some painting outside the ship, but I eventually got back on and was in my cabin again at 1:30. The cabin was cleaned by then.

 

 

I went by Ocean Plaza at 2:30 for some rock and roll trivia, but it was so busy there I decided to just take pictures and head back to the cabin and wait for sailaway. 

 

We were supposed to leave at 3, but we didn't shove off until 4. I didn't hear the reason for this. The ride got bumpy as we got up to speed, and it's still bumpy now.

 

There has been some maintenance work near my cabin and there's currently a blower blowing for some reason. 

 

Then came the highlight of my day - a date in the MDR. I signed in on the app right at 5, right when it started. I was worried when I got this message...

 

 

...but the wait tirned out to be about 20 minutes. I was escorted to one of the side rooms in the MDR. I never knew they had rooms like this in the MDR. It was nicely decorated and held maybe 50 people, roughly evenly split between tables for 2 and tables for more than two.  I liked it. It seemed more initmate than the usual banquet-style MDR experience that I remember (though the last time I set foot in the MDR was several years ago).

 

I was seated in a group of four 2-tops by a window.  The other six seats were filled with two couples and a pair of friends. We occasionally talked to each other and found that everyone else was from different parts of Texas and I was not. They had some interesting stories that mostly I couldn't share in.

 

Anyway, the meal was a fruit plate to start and two plates of spare ribs. My waiter recommended them after he served them to me. I have to say he was right on the money.

 

 

I was surprised that I got both plates at once. You may or may not be surprised that I finished most of both plates. I polished off the ribs, the corn (surprisingly tasty), and the fries OK, nothing special). I don't do coleslaw, so I left that alone.

 

After finishing, I bid my mates goodbye and waddled back to the cabin. I made it back about 6:45. My plan to go to the social media show was shot, since that started at 6;30. But at under 90 minutes for an MDR dinner, I didn't think that was bad at all.

 

SHOWTIME! was special just for us in this room. Two of our waiters did the dancing thing to a song I don't remember. 

 

 

SHOWTIME! isn't my thing,  but it's not the first thing Carnival does.

 

And that was the day and night of another day at sea. We'll be in Cozumel in a day and a half.

 

Thank you very much one and all!

Edited January 24 by Honolulu Blue

[princess76021]

@Honolulu Blue  hoping all is well!  I missed your assessment of today!! ☺☺

Hugs from Texas

 

I see great minds think alike!  I was just posting this!

Edited January 24 by princess76021
Addition info

[princess76021]

5 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I had another interesting day today. It looks like it's going to be the whole day, since I didn't get a chance to post after breakfast. 

 

In fact, I didn't even go to breakfast today because I was running so far behind. I'm sorry I can't tell you if they served bacon at the trough today. Someone else will have to do that.

 

I've only had a few 7 AM port stops in my cruising history. They're not my favorites - there's too much to do in too short a time, and then there's usually an early departure,  which is also not ideal.

 

I  had to meet in the main theater at 7 for a 7:30 excursion. 

 

 

it wasn't quite as bad as it was yesterday hete, but the theater was quite full before they started calling out excursions. My group was the 8th one called. Slowly we wound our way off the ship and through a group of buses.

 

There was a small complication when I passed by my bus. A helpful guide pointed me in the right direction. 

 

My friend thought the bus was relatively comfortable. 

 

 

There was rain on and off during the morning.

 

 

I don't think it ever got too hot, which was a relief compared to our other ports of call. 

 

Our main guide was Maria. She noted that she talked a lot, and boy did she. 😝 

 

 

Our first stop was in an old United Fruits headquarters building. A gentleman named George explained some of the food items he raises on plantations elsewhere and sells here.

 

 

I learned a few things:

 

* Coffee nubs are really good when laced with caramel. My friend persuaded me to buy some.

 

 

* I'm a big starfruit fan.

 

They're not for everyone, because they're VERY sour. But I really enjoyed both the juice (which was sweetened) and the raw fruit (which was not). I heard some complaints and I was so tempted to scream to send them my way. But I wanted to save my appetite for reasons I'll discuss later.

 

* There was several other samples handed out - some of which I tried, and some I didn't. 

 

* Some of these items were for sale after the presentation- mostly the sweetened coffee nubs and some coffee itself. I'd say there was a decent amount of business from our group.

 

* George disclosed that there were three ships in town that day. There's us, the AIDAluna that I saw docked later...

 

 

...I never did spot the third ship. What was it, and where qere they?

 

Our second stop was half an hour out of Limon at a greenhouse that mostly grew fancy flowers for sale overseas, but they also grew some other stuff.

 

 

We were taken to the dining hall and given some more samples to look at - some were edible and some were just to look at or smell. I accidentally grabbed a couple of starfruit samples and continued our love affair. 

 

BTW, this place didn't try to sell us anything other than some coconut water. Coconuts aren't my favorite,  so I passed on it.

 

The last stop was at a plantation just a couple of miles outside of Limon. This was a popular stop for several other groups as we mixed and mingled with them.

 

 

Maria and some of the others on this tour spotted a sloth in one of the trees. I tried but couldn't see it. I did see so.e pretty butterflies that were far too fast to photograph. 

 

This plantation had a small restaurant and a nice gift shop. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't do the dining thing. I did load up on some souvenirs fir myself and those that care about me back at home. 

 

After a short drive, we were given a choice of stops at the end of the excursion. First was to stop near the gate to enter the city. The second was right by the dock. I chose this latter option. 

 

I took some photos then returned to the ship.

 

 

 

 

They were doing some painting outside the ship, but I eventually got back on and was in my cabin again at 1:30. The cabin was cleaned by then.

 

 

I went by Ocean Plaza at 2:30 for some rock and roll trivia, but it was so busy there I decided to just take pictures and head back to the cabin and wait for sailaway. 

 

We were supposed to leave at 3, but we didn't shove off until 4. I didn't hear the reason for this. The ride got bumpy as we got up to speed, and it's still bumpy now.

 

There has been some maintenance work near my cabin and there's currently a blower blowing for some reason. 

 

Then came the highlight of my day - a date in the MDR. I signed in on the app right at 5, right when it started. I was worried when I got this message...

 

 

...but the wait tirned out to be about 20 minutes. I was escorted to one of the side rooms in the MDR. I never knew they had rooms like this in the MDR. It was nicely decorated and held maybe 50 people, roughly evenly split between tables for 2 and tables for more than two.  I liked it. It seemed more initmate than the usual banquet-style MDR experience that I remember (though the last time I set foot in the MDR was several years ago).

 

I was seated in a group of four 2-tops by a window.  The other six seats were filled with two couples and a pair of friends. We occasionally talked to each other and found that everyone else was from different parts of Texas and I was not. They had some interesting stories that mostly I couldn't share in.

 

Anyway, the meal was a fruit plate to start and two plates of spare ribs. My waiter recommended them after he served them to me. I have to say he was right on the money.

 

 

I was surprised that I got both plates at once. You may or may not be surprised that I finished most of both plates. I polished off the ribs, the corn (surprisingly tasty), and the fries OK, nothing special). I don't do coleslaw, so I left that alone.

 

After finishing, I bid my mates goodbye and waddled back to the cabin. I made it back about 6:45. My plan to go to the social media show was shot, since that started at 6;30. But at under 90 minutes for an MDR dinner, I didn't think that was bad at all.

 

SHOWTIME! was special just for us in this room. Two of our waiters did the dancing thing to a song I don't remember. 

 

 

SHOWTIME! isn't my thing,  but it's not the first thing Carnival does.

 

And that was the day and night of another day at sea. We'll be in Cozumel in a day and a half.

 

Thank you very much one and all!

Looks like we had a fabulous time today 😁😁

Hugs

[Honolulu Blue]

One last thing... tomorrow's Fun Times

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

Good morning! The ship is rocking and rolling like crazy (not in the good way 🎵🎶🎷🎹🎸) since yesterday afternoon.  I'm more weary of it than sickened by it. I'll be happier than I've ever been to see Cozumel. 

 

I didn't do anything of note after last night's post. I slept all right, all things considered.

 

I left my laundry put for Hery to pick up, then went to breakfast. It was not a surprise to see attendance way down at the trough. I only had a few muffins and pastries since I didn't have much of an appetite. 

 

I look forward to the Morning Show since we haven't had one for a few days. I also might attend America Rocks tonight IF things settle down and IF I feel like it. I saw it on the Magic in November and liked it.

 

 

I'm sure it will be a good show if it goes.

[Honolulu Blue]

Mid day update: I went to the Morning Show this morning.it was mostly the same old thing - noting the major items from today's newsletter and encouragement to go out and do new things. No giveaways or trivia this time.

 

Both Nikki and Tyler git bad jelly beans this time. 

 

 

I then spotted a bet that seemed mispriced at basketball.  I used the app this time. I could use my player bank or charge it to the room. I charged that $22 which will pay off $42 when it wins. I assume it will go into my bank.

 

I tested the fates some more by playing some more video blackjack. I lost $54, which was actually a comeback from being nearly $100 down.

 

 

I also gained about 160 points from this play. We'll see if it helps me get some offers.

 

I looked over the selection of 2 for $30 t shirts. Not bad, some looked interesting. Perhaps I'll take a closer look when the crowds die down. 

[princess76021]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Mid day update: I went to the Morning Show this morning.it was mostly the same old thing - noting the major items from today's newsletter and encouragement to go out and do new things. No giveaways or trivia this time.

 

Both Nikki and Tyler git bad jelly beans this time. 

 

 

I then spotted a bet that seemed mispriced at basketball.  I used the app this time. I could use my player bank or charge it to the room. I charged that $22 which will pay off $42 when it wins. I assume it will go into my bank.

 

I tested the fates some more by playing some more video blackjack. I lost $54, which was actually a comeback from being nearly $100 down.

 

 

I also gained about 160 points from this play. We'll see if it helps me get some offers.

 

I looked over the selection of 2 for $30 t shirts. Not bad, some looked interesting. Perhaps I'll take a closer look when the crowds die down. 

check the shirts over. We didn't and when we were home and put them on the decorations (decals) were not centered!  I wear them to The gym now. 

 

hugs from Texas

[Honolulu Blue]

3 hours ago, princess76021 said:

check the shirts over. We didn't and when we were home and put them on the decorations (decals) were not centered!  I wear them to The gym now. 

Ok, I'll take a closer look if and when I decide to purchase them. Thanks for the heads up. 👍

[Honolulu Blue]

Evening update:

 

Because I'm a gambling fool and a glutton for punishment, I took another run at the same machine. I tried out betting all three available spots starting at $3 per. They got up to $10 based on some progression that's too silly and complicated to mention. The long and the short of it is I won $86.20 with it and gained another 60 points. Here's a hand where I got two blackjacks. It would have been even sweeter had they paid 3:2.

 

 

I did a little of this and that before retreating to my cleaned cabin. Thanks Hery.

 

 

By now I was getting a little hungry. I initially tried to order room service from the app, but for some reason it wouldn't take. So I ordered it the old fashioned way - on the telephone. 

 

Someone in this thread or elsewhere noted that the chicken tenders were really good, so I had that. I added a brownie. 

 

The good news is that the delivery took about 20 minutes and was delivered with plates, covers, napkins, and silverware. And the tenders came with some solid curly fries. The description didn't note this and they probably should have. 

 

The bad news was the rest of the order. The chicken tenders were all right. I would have preferred real fried chicken to this, but that was not available. The brownie was big and good, but not really $5 worth of good, IMHO. It's unlikely I'll order it again. 

 

This order cost me $13 including the included gratuities. 

 

I took a power nap and woke up to much calmer conditions at sea, which continue as of now. 

 

I also woke up to Tyler's announcement. He said that debarking options were available now, and so they were. The Dream is one of the ships that are trialing a program where you choose your disembarkation options through the app. I did this, and after pressing some buttons, this is what it came up for me:

 

 

BTW, it's interesting that they expect us to get back to Galveston at 6 AM, rather than 8 as was on the original itinerary. 

 

Also interesting is that I didn't see any debark items for my Platinum status. I'm sure they will show up in my mailbox in a couple of days as usual. 

 

I grabbed an 8 AM shuttle to the airport (IAH) from the shore excursions desk. I tried booking it in the app, but it gave me some nonsense about not having the funds for it. The desk had a little trouble too. Their computer was glitchy and slow. But we got it done, and that's the most important thing.

 

BTW, United still has not yielded to reality and put up a travel waiver for their Max-9 flights beyond the 24th. It's a moot issue for me now, since I changed it a couple of days ago. 

 

My clothing has not been returned as of now. It would have been a stretch to have them come back this early.

 

But tomorrow's newsletter dud come in on time. 

 

 

 

I'm going to skip America Rocks this time around. Oh well. ☹️

 

i think that's a wrap for tonight. Good night everyone!

Edited January 25 by Honolulu Blue

[Honolulu Blue]

This is day 13. Only one more full day at sea to go.

 

Last night was relatively smooth. I slept well and dud some other boring stuff.

 

Today is bacon day at the trough!! The bacon was looking a little rough, but it still tasted good. 😛 I also had ham, an apple pastry, scrambled eggs, and apple and passion juices.  It still tasted good.

 

We're still docking. We saw Voyager OTS on our way in.

 

 

I also saw an abundance of towel animals on the loungers by the forward-most pool:

 

 

I don't have many plans for today. I'll probably get off for a brief visit, since curiously I have 5 more cruises scheduled this year and NONE stop in Cozumel. 

 

I'll try Billy and Elton trivia at 11, and then there's nothing else for me. Have a great day!!

[princess76021]

Whatever you decide to do I know we will have a great time! 😁😁

 

Enjoy our day!  be back later!!

 

Hugs from texas!!!

[Honolulu Blue]

Noon update.

 

I went into Puerta Maya to take some pretty pictures and look at some souvenirs. 

 

 

This is a picture of all three ships. The Sky Princess was nearby. Paradise was later than the rest. 

 

 

It was docking as I returned to the ship slightly before 10. We were blocked from moving while they finished placing the ropes in a safe place. After a few minutes, they let us continue ti the ship.

 

 

Before I get to that, let me loop back to my least favorite choke point in the Caribbean. If you've been here, you know what I'm talking about.

 

 

I should note that it wasn't too bad today, especially coming back to the ship.

 

I didn't buy any souvenirs despite seeing some nice prices (one store was selling 6 tees for US $20). Nothing particularly caught my eye. 

 

But as a shutterbug in training, a couple of items caught my eye:

 

 

 

I let my friend sleep in today. 

 

I watched the crew go through some drills near Sam's, then it was time for Billy and Elton trivia.

 

Quick history - I did this on the Breeze back in 2020 and almost stole a prize. I got 18 out of 20 and the winner got 19. Keep those figures in the back of your mind.

 

Back to today, there were about a dozen people at Ocean Plaza doing this trivia. But it was clear that one couple was going to be stiff competition for yours truly. They seemed to have almost all the answers.

 

 

I didn't catch our Fun Squad host's name. My best guess is Dee, so let's go with that.

 

She was fun and played along with many of the songs.

 

 

The competition was 20 songs long. We only had to guess the title,  since we pretty much knew the artist already.

 

The snippets Dee played weren't very long, but mostly they were long enough. A few of the Elton John songs were very obscure. I suppose some of the Billy Joel songs were too, but I got all those right.

 

Maybe 6 to 8 songs were repeats between the trivia sessions.  I got all those correct too.

 

Ok, so how did I do? This time I got 16 out of 20. I'm still kicking myself for missing one of Elton's songs that was popular in both the 70s and 90s.

 

And that was the difference. Nobody else got more than 10 other than me and that couple. They got 17. End of story, right?

 

Wait! They asked me if I had won a Dream trophy before on this trip. I said no. They let me have the honor, since they had won three already. Dee gave them a medallion instead, which they seemed happy with.

 

We both got introduced to the sparse crowd by Dee. And I introduced myself to the couple and said thanks. And here's my trophy with a huge asterisk beside it.  Can't you see it? 🤔

 

 

Just another day on the Dream. 😃

[VentureMan_2000]

18 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Evening update:

 

Because I'm a gambling fool and a glutton for punishment, I took another run at the same machine. I tried out betting all three available spots starting at $3 per. They got up to $10 based on some progression that's too silly and complicated to mention. The long and the short of it is I won $86.20 with it and gained another 60 points. Here's a hand where I got two blackjacks. It would have been even sweeter had they paid 3:2.

 

 

I did a little of this and that before retreating to my cleaned cabin. Thanks Hery.

 

 

By now I was getting a little hungry. I initially tried to order room service from the app, but for some reason it wouldn't take. So I ordered it the old fashioned way - on the telephone. 

 

Someone in this thread or elsewhere noted that the chicken tenders were really good, so I had that. I added a brownie. 

 

The good news is that the delivery took about 20 minutes and was delivered with plates, covers, napkins, and silverware. And the tenders came with some solid curly fries. The description didn't note this and they probably should have. 

 

The bad news was the rest of the order. The chicken tenders were all right. I would have preferred real fried chicken to this, but that was not available. The brownie was big and good, but not really $5 worth of good, IMHO. It's unlikely I'll order it again. 

 

This order cost me $13 including the included gratuities. 

 

I took a power nap and woke up to much calmer conditions at sea, which continue as of now. 

 

I also woke up to Tyler's announcement. He said that debarking options were available now, and so they were. The Dream is one of the ships that are trialing a program where you choose your disembarkation options through the app. I did this, and after pressing some buttons, this is what it came up for me:

 

 

BTW, it's interesting that they expect us to get back to Galveston at 6 AM, rather than 8 as was on the original itinerary. 

 

I grabbed an 8 AM shuttle to the airport (IAH) from the shore excursions desk. I tried booking it in the app, but it gave me some nonsense about not having the funds for it. The desk had a little trouble too. Their computer was glitchy and slow. But we got it done, and that's the most important thing.

 

BTW, United still has not yielded to reality and put up a travel waiver for their Max-9 flights beyond the 24th. It's a moot issue for me now, since I changed it a couple of days ago. 

 

Please report on your Carnival Shuttle Ride from the port to IAH.  I have purchased the 8:00am shuttle to IAH for my cruise in October.  I'd like to know what to expect.

i.e., What time did you board the shuttle ?

How long were you waiting on the shuttle before it left for the airport ? 

What time did your 8:00am shuttle actually leave ?

How long was the ride ?

Did the shuttle encounter any noticeable delays due to traffic/construction ? 

What terminals do they drop you off at ?

[satxdiver]

We were notified before we sailed that platinum and diamond will not get the priority boarding or deboarding in Galveston due to the high number of those pax aboard.  So no special deboarding for them.  We drove to the port and so getting off is no big deal.

 

we sent our laundry out Monday and it was on our bed Tuesday morning.  The bag we sent was full to the brim so a lot of laundry.  We have enough now to return home. 

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Please report on your Carnival Shuttle Ride from the port to IAH.  I have purchased the 8:00am shuttle to IAH for my cruise in October.  I'd like to know what to expect.

i.e., What time did you board the shuttle ?

How long were you waiting on the shuttle before it left for the airport ? 

What time did your 8:00am shuttle actually leave ?

How long was the ride ?

Did the shuttle encounter any noticeable delays due to traffic/construction ? 

What terminals do they drop you off at ?

I'll do my best to answer your specific questions when I board the shuttle on Saturday. This will help remind me.

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, satxdiver said:

We were notified before we sailed that platinum and diamond will not get the priority boarding or deboarding in Galveston due to the high number of those pax aboard.  So no special deboarding for them.  We drove to the port and so getting off is no big deal.

 

we sent our laundry out Monday and it was on our bed Tuesday morning.  The bag we sent was full to the brim so a lot of laundry.  We have enough now to return home. 

Thanks for the embarkation and disembarkation notes. Lots of Ps and Ds here, that's for sure. I still think there will be a little something for us that will be revealed tomorrow.

 

I'm glad you had a good experience with the laundry. Mine was similar, as detailed here - except for the last bag, which i will discuss a little later.

 

Since you're obviously onboard, I'll give you the microphone. How has your experience been? How dud you like the ports? How did you survive the pounding we took??

[Honolulu Blue]

Now I will cover the afternoon and night of day 13 of our cruise.

 

We left Cozumel about 2 1/2 hours ago. Soon after that, Captain Francesco made his announcement. The weather conditions looked to be favorable for a 6 AM arrival in Galveston on Saturday. We also had a considerable tailwind to help us along.  It's starting ti feel bumpy again. No wonder! We're going 23 knots!!

 

 

I can't recall ever going this fast on a cruise ship before. I've seen 22 for brief periods or when we had a medical emergency. I have heard of no such thing onboard now or at any time on this cruise (thank goodness). That's all I'll say about this,  except that I hope it calms down soon.

 

Let's go back a few hours. After my triumph at Piano Dudes Trivia,  I went back to my room and found it made up. Thanks Hery. I also found my laundry made up. No issues; I think they did an excellent job again.

 

I took a power nap and watched part of the departure from Cozumel.  I was on the wrong side to see anything much, since we docked starboard. 

 

Later on I went to the trough for dinner. It was tough going considering the ship's motion and how busy the elevators were. 

 

I found this movie playing for the third time this cruise:

 

 

Like the MDR, there was a Mexican theme going on here. I wasn't impressed. I settled for some chicken and added pineapple to it. Both were very good. I've been impressed with how good the food has stayed at the buffet through an unusually long cruise for Carnival. 

 

After dinner I settled down and reviewed my correspondence. 

 

First was my Diamond and Platinum gathering invitation:

 

 

 

I'll have to add this to my personal calendar, since it doesn't show on my app. I'm not sure if I want to go or not.

 

I'm surprised that Diamonds have to share a party with us lowly Platinums. And I'm surprised I haven't heard about split parties.

 

The second piece was the debarkation letter. It looks like standard stuff, except for the constant references to the app. Oh, and the Texas sin tax declaration. Gregory Abbott wants to shake us down again. 😁

 

Last, but not least, is the final newsletter of this cruise. 

 

 

 

That's it for the night. Good night. Don't let the bedbugs bite.

Edited January 26 by Honolulu Blue