carrieluvsgreg

We went to Jaguar Paw Resort a few years ago in Belize and did a cave tubing/zip lining excursion that included lunch. They picked us up at the Hilton just outside the gate to the port. It was a little over an hour away, but amazing! We loved it!

Highly suggest booking an excursion in Belize. We've done zip lining and cave tubing there as well as the ruins. I personally wouldn't recommend the ruins, but the others were amazing. Cozumel is our favorite port, we loe the people and the island is beautiful. We either rent a jeep for the day and scout around on our own or take a taxi to town. There is also a great park called Chankanaab. Costa Maya is always where we take the bus over and get a massage on the beach. ($20 for an hour!). Roatan was a recent new stop for us. We rented a driver for the day, he took us all over the island, we saw the beach, highest point and paid extra to go to a great little zoo where we got to get up close and personal with monkeys! The Dream is an amazing ship, we've sailed on her 2 times so far and are also going to be on board when they relocate her to New Orleans.

We just returned in December with a girl who is 18 and were still required to have a notorized letter from her parent. I'm not sure why, but it was what we were told to do, so we followed suit.

I like the eggs Benedict in the MDR. I discovered it on our most recent cruise and loved it.

If that was my only option, I'd choose main, only because it is one deck closer to everything. We've stayed on riviera a couple of times, it's really not any noisier than any other deck. On our cruise a year and a half ago we were on empress deck and it was one of the most noisy places I've ever been. We had constant "dish clanging" noise in the middle of the night. I think I deduced that our cabin steward kept supplies in a closet adjacent to our stateroom.

First, we are Floridians, so we do have the option of 5 ports that are within striking distance (6 if you count charleston, but I don't, they only go to the Bahamas.) I always look for price first, but also have to weigh the other expenses such as how much is it going to cost in gas, hotel, parking etc. prior to the cruise. The itinerary is important to us, but being avid cruisers, we've been to most ports in the Caribbean. So, recently, the ships have become much more important. (Especially since we've stayed on the spa deck on cloud 9 spa ships). We have constants we always adhere to: we always book inside cabins, portholes if available, if our kids are traveling with us, we book two cabins, if we are on a ship with a cloud 9 spa, we book a spa stateroom. Those are things that are important to us, you have to figure out the things that are important to you and stick to it.

We live just outside of Jacksonville. The place we hear great things about crab cakes is called "Barbara Jeans". They are located in fernandina beach. (Northeast of Jacksonville about 1/2 hour). You can take A1A up for a very beautiful drive or just go up to the first exit in Nassau county and head east about 10 miles.

We booked a spa stateroom last April on the Dream for our 25th anniversary cruise. We had previously sailed on the Dream in 2010 and I purchased a "day pass" for the spa. I knew then, if I ever sailed on her again, I wanted to have the full experience with my husband. It was so wonderful, we have booked for the relocation trip on April 5th this year. 9 days on the spa deck, I can't wait! By FAR this is my favorite way to cruise! The thalassotherapy pool is great and the thermo suites are wonderful! We really enjoyed the mud room too (that costs extra...)

I am always more concerned with the bottom line price than a "free-upgrade". Most often, the upgrades cost extra, if you really look. I am often offered a deal to move to another cabin for a fee, most of the time, I don't take it. (Once I moved from riviera aft to a higher deck forward, which is were I prefer to be). When I am not traveling with our kids, I have left our cabin ad "unassigned" and just hoped for the best. Every time it have done that, we have ended up higher on the ship than I ever anticipated, but I paid for the bottom of the boat, interior price...

We've sailed on both itineraries of the fascination out of Jax. (We live 20 minutes from that port...) the ship is fine for the fantasy class. I prefer the bigger ships, but the small ships are easy to navigate. We prefer the Caribbean to the Bahamas, but any cruise is better than staying home!

One of the best recent changes is the "past guests reception". They have limited it to gold, platinum and diamond guests. That was such a great choice! What used to be a overcrowded poor excuse of a party where you had thimble sized drinks and maybe one pass of the appetizer tray, now is a wonderful experience with full sized drinks and plenty of food to go around and around!

We were issued our $80 bar credit yesterday. We booked on December 20 while onboard the Paradise. We had benefited to a special "additional" obc as a booking bonus. (It was $200 for a 9 day cruise in April instead of $100). I was worried that we would lose that if we tried for the $80. However, we were able to get BOTH! It shows up on my account as $200 OBC, and $80 bar credit. So, now our gratuities are pre-paid and we got a jump on the bar tab! Loving that!

We just returned from the 4-day out of Tampa on the paradise on the 23rd of December. First, I must say, a 4 day cruise just isn't long enough for me! I need 7 days to get the whole experience! That said, the Paradise was fine. The layout of the two ships is basically the same, minus decor and some minor changes. The small ships are easy to navigate, you just don't have decks and decks of staterooms to pass going up and down to the public areas of the big ships. Of course, you sacrifice a bit of amenities with a smaller ship. We chose this particular trip because it went to Cozumel instead of the Bahamas. Cozumel is our favorite stop and we really don't care if we ever go back to the Bahamas. For us, it was a "no-brainier". The crew on the Paradise was wonderful. We were traveling with a group of 14, they worked hard to accommodate our needs, especially in the dining room. Although I prefer a larger class of ship (and a longer trip), the Paradise was a very nice ship! (Needs to be updated...)

I'm not sure about other cruise lines, but carnival holds rooms for specific numbers of travelers until the sail date is nearer. For example, if you are searching for available rooms for two travelers on a specific trip several months from sailing, you will find that the rooms that will fit 3 or 4 people will not show as available. As you get closer to departure, these rooms will show as available because they would rather sell it to 2 than leave it vacant.

We sailed on the Dream last April and booked an interior spa stateroom after sailing a couple of years earlier and purchasing a"day pass". We loved the spa and the amenities so much we knew we would book again. The thalassotherapy pool is amazing, the thermal suites are the bomb and because we were in a spa stateroom, we received a special price on the mud room- again, amazing! So, when we found out they were relocation the Dream this April, we wanted to be there! I'm pretty sure the Breeze has the same spa and amenities, so go for it!

When we traveled to the canal in 2008 on the Liberty, we went to the canal, not through. We docked at the pier and took an excursion to the canal. I can't imagine needing anything special to travel through it, after all, you wouldn't even have to disembark.