wms99

2 minutes ago, Dippy Dawg said:

So with FTTF we can arrive earlier than our "window" time?  Our window is for 12-1230, if we get there at 11 can we board then?

FTTF means you can show as soon as they open the doors.

16 hours ago, ImANewfie said:

There needs to be a level above Diamond.  I am just under 500 and have 11 other cruises booked...   

What would be above a Diamond? Adamanthium? Uru? Mythrial? Vibrainium? I ask in a serious way.

I got the letter for 3:30 departure out of NOLA on the Glory in May. There is a very large upside to this. An extra hour of daylight to enjoy the river section of the cruise is OK by me.

4 hours ago, Mommawo said:

I’m such a coffee snob. I buy fresh roasted from a local roaster and grind myself before use.  Omg if you have never had fresh roasted coffee you must try it.  Anyways I was worried the coffee would be bad. Will they allow a coffee pot ? Lol I am bringing my own creamer so figured maybe that would help a bit 

I am not a snob, but I do grind my own and like a good cup in the morning. With that said, the coffee they serve on Lido isn't at that level. Not even close. Average at best. But, and this is a big BUT, you get your cup and sit out on the aft deck and watch the sun come up over the gulf, or other water. That is something that makes up for a lot of average coffee. By day 2 or 3 you start looking forward to it. Plus there is the pay for good coffee place, Starbucks of the seas.

My wife puts the behind the ear patch on before we get on the ship. She leaves it there and as it wears out she gains sea legs. So each cruise is a one patch thing for her. I don't get sea sick.

Love the cove. We would pick it first every time. The number of flying fish spottings goes up big time in a cove. Sitting in the shade watching the waves go by is so relaxing.

Another great thing about coves: you are on deck 2. Deck 2 is like a super highway to both ends of the ship. Just drop into the hall and head aft, one flight up the stairs and you are at the MDR. Head forward and one flight of stairs and you are in the atrium, and shows. I am so unhappy to see the Dream leave NOLA. Love the coves.

On 2/5/2019 at 12:54 PM, Saint Greg said:

 

I wear jeans and a polo on non-formal nights. Dockers and a button down on formal nights.

This what I wear also. These threads are endless. 

45 minutes ago, BAMAMOMOF3 said:

WMS99 how will i know what area is near the galley? i dont think i would like that noise

Look at deck plans. They are online.  Just match the galley on deck 3 to the rooms on deck 2 and Bob's your Uncle.

And I will state again, after the first night it becomes background noise. A few thumps and bangs around 4am but not bad enough to really matter.

Every cruise we have been on from NOLA, we got off the ship by 7:00-7:15. The ship is "normally" docked by 6:30 and that is when the longshoremen start their shift and begin unloading.

But you are cutting it close, as Murphy is alive and well and loves to screw plans.

Empress deck will be about the quietest. Rooms above and below, plus the suites are on that floor so it's a high rent district.

The 2nd floor cove balconies are where my heart is. Some galley noise, but after the first night it becomes ambient and not very noticeable at all. 

Bottom line: any room on the Dream is going to be great. Enjoy.

CoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCove

I think that covers my opinion.

Your dinning room and table number will be on your sign and sail card (when you get on the ship).

and NOLA doesn't really block anyone from entering the terminal before their scheduled time. Things are moving so fast and smooth they have room to let everyone in.

We sail out of NOLA. Without FTTF the parking lot to ship time is 30 minutes or less. With FTTF the time from park to ship is 20 minutes or less. Easy Peazy.

Here is a link to the online Alabama newspaper:

https://www.al.com/news/2018/12/passenger-reported-missing-from-mobile-based-carnival-fantasy-cruise-ship.html

I hope posting newspaper links are ok.

3 hours ago, Tssweety said:

Could you walk to the beach and things to do in Roaton? 

As stated, Roatan went from never been there to My most favorite port of call.

You can walk to the Carnival beach, it is faster than taking the ski lift, but the really nice beaches are to be had on excursions to places like Little French Key.  We stayed in the Carnival area all day.

This port had a huge port shopping area, plus a short taxi ride to the real town, but we didn't go out to that.

I must add one thing: 3 hot Russian chicks with fiddles. That right there is some straight up good musical entertainment!

While this is fresh on my mind, I will type up some thoughts on our recently completed cruise aboard the Dream. This is our second cruise on the Dream. Also, this won't be a long complex deal with pages of pictures. Just words.

Saturday morning, we packed and left the house for Slidell. Why stay in NOLA when Slidell is right there and the prices are better. We stayed the night at Country Inn and Suites, as everyone has their own favorite motel chain. that's mine.

Dinner was at Peck's Seafood. I ordered the fish platter, and the wife had a shrimp platter. This is more food than can be eaten. Love the seafood in Slidell.

Sunday we attended church in Slidell, then drove to the port. Arrived at 12:15. We are FTTF so we did cut a few corners on boarding, but it was going very fast for everyone. I would imagine we were on the ship by 12:30. Went by our room and dropped the backpack, then straight to the pasta place for lunch. I like to eat there on day one before everyone discovers it. Plus watching the cake line below is a hoot!  Back to the room to unpack and wait for the muster drill. People that show up on time are punished by standing and waiting for the late comers. They just don't seem to care. They even had to page people to get them to show. And there we stood waiting. Grrrrr.

Departure was delayed for what they said was our "slot" on the river. I guess something bigger than us was moving. Didn't much matter to me. On the ship is on the ship, moving or not. We left after dark and the lit up sky line of NOLA was great to see from that perspective.

Room: This trip we tried a cove balcony. Our other Dream cruise was a balcony on the Empress deck. Love the cove. Love love love. Close to the water. Shade most of the day except early morning or later afternoon, depending on direction. Noise: the first night we could hear some galley noise. Around 4:00am the noise woke me up. I never sleep good the first night in a new bed anyway so I just got up for the day. Normally I don't get up until 5:00 am but oh well. By the second or third day, my brain called the noise ambient and filtered it for me. No more galley noise. On the Dream, the 2nd floor is the way to get  from one end of the ship to the other.

Food: By day 6 I was sick of eating. Please, no more. Just let me starve. We tried Pasta Bella, A+. Guy's Burgers, A+, Deli, A. Seafood Shack, A. MDR. Seaday Brunch. Taco place. We only ate at the Lido buffet for breakfast. Never lunch or dinner. We also didn't have Guy's BBQ this trip, but it is the best BBQ on the sea. One thought about the MDR, the late seating was half empty every night. I guess YTD is taking over. Next to us was a group that covered about 5 or 6 tables. They were never on time. Seating is at 8:15, but they would come in at 8:30, 8:45, even 9:00. I think the doors should be shut 10 minutes after seating time. It's not fair to the serving and kitchen staff to have a large group so out of sync with everyone else. Our head waiter was great. He kept things moving and we were out of the MDR every night by 9:15 to 9:30. It was the quickest we have ever had.

Roatan: This port went from never been there to my favorite in one day. Love Mahogony Bay. The jungle comes right down to the ship. We purchased the deluxe beach day that included ski lift rides, clamshell over the loungers, floaty, shorkles, and fins. The ski lift is a hoot. Walking might be faster, but flying over the trees and water is great. After swimming we rode several laps on the lift. Just never got off and went back and forth. Very enjoyable. At the beach we were met and given a choice of where to sit. We didn't care for the front row so asked for second row down the beach in the shade. Perfect. We brought snorkle masks but were provided a floaty mat and fins. This was perfect. Once you get out beyond the crowd and splashing out to the deeper water the snorkling is great. Lots of fish to follow and watch. Here is a technical list of the scientific names of all we saw: little blue and yellow fish, pretty black and yellow striped fish, silver fish with a big spot near their tail, micro tuna, ray, squid, ugly fish, and the big forehead fish. There might have been more but I didn't know their names.

My one complaint about Mahogony Bay: come on Carnival! Fat Tuesday? That's my only lunch option. This is high school football stadium concession stand food at best. Why not give me some options. Something local or regional. Please.

We were docked beside the Breeze. Port didn't feel crowded. We felt safe. all in all I love Roatan and would go back tomorrow if I could.

Belize. After a day of swimming we chose to stay covered. Went on the Taste of Belize Tour. What fun. First you walk to a coffee shop where they feed you a bunch of little local treats. All very good, all flavored in one way on another with coconut oil, water, or flesh. Everything has coconut in Belize. Then we got on a bus and went all over the city getting a cultural tour and learning quite a bit about the city and country. I love learning things about a culture and this was great. Stopped at a fruit stand. About normal for fresh fruit, but again it was a cultural eye opener to how people eat and live. Then off to a nice little restaurant located out on a dock. We made fresh shrimp ceviche, and ate a few other treats. Then the rum samples started flowing. Coconut rum, vanilla rum, rum aged in Kentucky whiskey barrels, strong rum, and rum punch. Wow. We then rode and staggered over to the Belize sign for pictures and back to port. All in all I love Belize and would go back tomorrow if I could.

Cozumel. Every cruise we have been on has been to Cozumel. This time we tried the all inclusive Passion Island. Fun boat ride over. Beautiful sand beach. Unfortunately the wind was blowing and stirring up the water so it wasn't a good day to swim. But the facility is so well maintained and kept up. Just beautiful. Trees, sand. Unlimited food and drink. I think I have now had the best guacamole of my life. I am both happy and sad about this. All others will have a new standard. I love Cozumel, but would like to go on a cruise somewhere else one time in my life.

Shows: same as last year on the Dream. Different actors, same productions. Still good and we went to every one. Movies: we did a couple of the dive in movies. This is great, but I am not the type to stay up so late.

FTTF: Is it worth it? For embarkation we did cut a few lines and corners, but NOLA has it's stuff worked out so it wasn't that big of a deal. At Roatan they didn't even announce to leave the ship. Just pulled up and people started spilling out so  FTTF didn't help us there. At Belize we were on a Carnival excursion so we left with the group, not first so it didn't help us there. Cozumel, again just pile off the ship so FTTF doesn't help there. Debarkation it helps. We were on the 2nd floor, walk up to the 3rd floor and into a line straight off the ship at exactly 7:00am. We were in the car and pulling onto I-10 by 7:30. It helped. I don't know if I will buy it again. But had to once.

If I think of more, I will add. If you have a question I'll do my best to spill out something useful. No worries.

Since I am the offender that posted the letter for a NOLA cruise, I thought I would splane myself. The post before mine, by beerman stated he had never heard of a departure time moving up. I was just showing that it does happen. I wasn't addressing OBC, or the OP. Just showing a data point that times change. I am sorry if this bothered some.

We love the Elation and all Fantasy class ships. If you are cruising to relax, they are the way to go.

Leaving earlier means more daylight time going down the Mississippi River. I love that part of a cruise out of NOLA.

On our first cruise, we tried to do it all. Woke up before dawn and hit the ground running. Did everything and didn't get to bed until very late. Repeat that 5 straight days.  Then came time to pay the piper. We get off the boat and have a 7 hour drive home from NOLA. I only made it to Slidell before I got sleepy. So I turned driving over to my wife. She made it less than an hour while I napped. We bounced back and forth, changing driving and napping all the way home. It took an extra hour with all the stopping.

So here is what I learned: Relax. Don't do it all. Take time to nap every day, especially the last sea day. No problems driving home since that first cruise.

Atrium singing is special. Shopping for yourself is always fun.

Once upon a time (Dec 2016), we were returning to Mobile aboard the Fantasy. The fog was as thick as soup. The ship docked and then the real fog sat down. It was so thick they couldn't safely hook up the walkway to the ship. So there we sat in the halls and public spaces and waited until it cleared. It took a few hours. Maybe until 10:00ish for the fog to clear. Some folks were getting angry about it all.

It didn't bother me that much. Weather happens. The parking deck was a mess with incoming and outgoing cruisers all converging.