buslady1

First I researched prices for Atlantis-Carnival Excursion vs. booking rooms at Comfort Suites vs. taking a taxi to Atlantis and buying our tickets there. Because of the number we have, 5, we would have to rent 2 rooms. Because of the time of year (peak), there is not a big price difference regardless of which way we go. (Of course, they are all expensive). So, I was thinking I would just book through Carnival. Now that I have gotten past the cost, it is more about maximizing our time in Atlantis. I am getting concerned because some reviews sound like it can take a long time for the group on the Carnival Excursion to meet, fill out paperwork, get wristbands and the biggest complaint seemed to be waiting for the bus to go over to Atlantis. For those who have done the ship excursion, what was your experience? And for those who took a taxi over what was your experience? I don't see it being likely that Atlantis will sell out of tickets, but it does concern me that they say that can happen, and we booked this cruise and itinerary for the purpose of going to Atlantis, so it would be a big deal to us if that happened. By the way, we are the only ship in port that day and our ship is there from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

We did the comfort suites for a couple of purposes. One the cost and the other to beat the carnival people there. We left early, brought some snacks. Checked in very easy. It’s across the street from comfort. Secured our places we wanted to sit and enjoyed the day. Plenty of taxis waiting when we were ready to leave. Easy, no hassle. Enjoy either way.

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Trying to plan a cruise on the Dream from New Orleans for January 2019. I think the group prefers early to mid January. The options are: Cozumel, Montego Bay, and Grand Cayman (Jan 6-13/20-27). Key West, Nassau, Freeport (Jan 13-20) or late January at Mahogany Bay, Belize, Cozumel (Jan 27-Feb 3). For that time of year would the Bahamas be a little on the cooler side potentially for swimming/beach stuff? I am guessing that at that time of year that Jamaica, Cozumel, Belize or Roatan might be warmer than the Bahamas? I would love to hear from folks who have done these itineraries at that time of year. Thanks in advance!!

We took grand cayman, Jamaica, Cozumel. Jan 7th of last year. Plenty warm weather for beach. Water a little cool when you first get in but fine once you do. You’ll love the Dream.

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Were you on the Western Caribbean cruise? If so, which companies did you use?

Captain marvins for snorkeling and stingrays recommend at grand caymans. Ocho rio Chris with Jamaica tours awesome

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We are taking my niece on the Dream 6/24 as a high school graduation gift. There are four of us including my son who is 16. My questions are:

 

 

 

1) We have a deluxe Oceanview cabin will it be large enough for 4 comfortably? Thinking of upgrading to a balcony.

 

2 ) Will they provide 4 robes or will we have to request them?

 

3) Will they remove the contents of the mini bar so that we can put in the sodas we ordered?

 

4) Can a certain amount of money be put on the kids charge accounts for the duration of the cruise?

 

5) How is the quality of the body wash? Is it drying or irritating?

 

 

 

Thank you for your help:D

get the balcony by all means, that give others a place to hang out if bathroom is full or want to talk. The rooms aren’t large but usually in there to rest and dress. We loved hanging out on the balcony. We were on the Dream in January and loved it, so much to do. Take advantage of all the fun activities. Parents eat in the dining rooms for breakfast food much better if you are not on an excursion. We booked our excursion with other companies and not with carnival. Have fun and good luck. Get your coffee delivered in the morning and go to the balcony beautiful.

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We just did a stingray excursion at the grand caymans in January. Loved it and did it with independent operator Captain marvins. Would do it again.

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We always bring snacks from home that are sealed. Never a problem

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Good Morning:

 

 

 

Looking to get some ideas on some nice but not too expensive snorkle gear for both adults and children.

 

 

 

Any feedback is helpful.

 

 

 

Thank you. :)

My husband and I used snorkel full face and loved it. Wasn’t able to do the other type and we snorkeled to island in January. My grandson who is 6 used it in the pool and did flips under water and loved it also. We used tradeportusa on eBay. We both used wildhorn outfitters brand. When you go under water it has a ball that keeps the water from coming in. One thing we learned only breath through your mouth. Good luck and have fun.

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We thought if we bought the best internet package we could live stream our security camera. Anyone with luck with this.? I realize no Netflix or FaceTime.

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We went today and it was fantastic! Ricardo even did the blue hole jumping with our family! Highly recommended. The price for the four of us was 360.

 

 

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Thank you

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Absolutely Ricardo with Liberty Tours! They are very accommodating and made our day in Jamaica! We are planning a trip back so he can show us around the entire island for a few days!

 

Enjoy!

I choose Chris with Jamaica tours since he could accommodate just the 4 of us and pick us up at port. If anyone has used him please let me know.

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We used Mark's tour's a couple of years ago. He was great! We really enjoyed the blue hole and River tubing. we were met by his wife then she picked up some hotel guest.Mark then took us to the blue hole.This tour is not to be missed whoever you use.

Thanks

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We loved Ricardo with Libertytoursjamaica.com. We've used them twice and had the best service ever. We've been to the Blue Hole and also river tubing. They take you to lunch too and their price includes everything (but a tip). Hope you have fun!

Thanks

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Any advice on which tour co. To use ?

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Ok y'all this is my first cruise. What do y'all use to keep track of your sign and sail cards. I will be in shorts without pockets and need to be able to keep it on me. Thanks yall

 

 

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I use a lanyard or clip on to hang it on. Be creative and get a lanyard that represents you

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Machu Picchu is a wonderful place to park in NOLA. Angel is fabulous. You leave your car with him at his secure parking area and he will take you straight to the terminal. He buzzes you past all the taxis and cars to drop you off at the front entrance and he's a lot cheaper than port parking. You just give him a call when you return and he's there in 5 minutes. We used him on our last cruise in May and are doing so again in September. You can search for him on these boards to see what others have said.

Thanks

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I've asked a few but in your experience where is the best to park at terminal easy in our, more expensive or shuttle to terminal ?

Thanks for your help dream cruise January 2018

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We are second time cruisers, and are taking my mother in law with us, who has some mobility issues. She has lost a great deal of muscle mass over the last few years, has hip problems, and joint pain. She can't walk for long without having to stop and sit down. She does not use a cane or walker, but insists on using her companions to hang on to. She is embarrassed to use any type of device. We have been talking with her about her options, and I do intend to bring a foldable cane with me so she can at least try it if she so decides.

 

 

 

I'm hoping to get information on how long wait times might be for us to embark, and especially I'd like to know if anyone has some idea how many ramps we will encounter? FTTF is sold out. Any information about this process which might help would be much appreciated.

If she uses her cane and you tell them she can't walk it they will transport her and the entire group on with the fttf people. We do this with my mom, she can walk but not that far

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We always park at Fulton St garage and get shuttled to the port and avoid the long lines of cars trying to get to port garage or to the area to drop off bags and park elsewhere. Rooftop parking at Fulton St is usually $10/day or less with a coupon and inside is about $12/day. The guys there help unload or bags, put them on shuttle and when at pirt, porters come to bus to check and take our bags. Bus us always waiting when we disembark and we really like avoiding the heavy traffic at the port and love how much easier it is to get to the northbound highway to head home. We take our time getting off since we don't have a plane to catch so we're really relaxed when we pickup our car and head home.

 

Cherie

Thank you for info

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I wasn't going to do a review thread but after seeing the thread "Carnival cruisers go on RCI - our Pros & Cons", I figured I'd share our experience from the reverse POV. (P.S. if the OP of that thread sees this, nice review!)

 

 

 

Let me start this off by stating the obvious, we are lifelong cruisers with Royal Caribbean, though we have also cruised on Disney and once before, Carnival. Our one and only Carnival cruise, prior to this, was on the Carnival Destiny, which wasn’t a fun trip.

 

 

 

 

 

We were part of a large group of almost 40, celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of some very good friends of ours on the July 30th sailing of the Carnival Dream. As a group, we booked up all of the grand suites on one side of deck 7, so we could keep everyone together.

 

 

 

 

 

Check In / Getting On Board / The Suite

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at the port around 10a and were quickly ushered into the check in area. There was some confusion with the check in staff as to where we should go and who had our cards since we had both suites and faster to the fun (FTTF). That was settled quickly and we were told to head to the Captain’s lounge. The lounge was packed though we were able to secure some space for our group. There were announcements being made but it was tough to hear any of them due to the amount of people in the lounge. Overall, this process was simple and easy.

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t recall the exact time we were cleared to get on the ship but I want to say it was somewhere around 11:30 or 11:45. Getting on was easy, we made our way to the elevators to get to our room so we could drop off our luggage. We were the only ones with FTTF in the group, so we told everyone to leave their luggage in our room. Once we arrived at our rooms, we were told by the supervisor that all of the grand suites were ready and they could go ahead and occupy them.

 

 

 

 

 

The “suite” was disappointing, like something out of a cheap hotel. Given that this was their top of the line suite, I was expecting more. The carpet was worn and frayed and the faux wood floor in the entryway was peeling up. The room was a bit on the warm side (then again, so was everything in New Orleans!), the TV was ridiculously small (Seriously, a 19” Vizio computer monitor??!!) and the balcony was way smaller/narrower than we thought it would be. The layout of the bathroom was great, though I’m not sure I understand the need for a bidet, my 3-year-old son loved it and made frequent use of it. The shower/tub setup was also very good. The beds were very uncomfortable (we know, this is a very personal thing and some people love them) and while setup as a queen/king, they kept splitting in the middle of the night. Our attendant kept telling us he was going to fix this but never did. Also, whoever thought to put the light controls where they are near the bed, should be publically flogged. We turned on the cabin lights at least 3x per night, in the dead middle of the night, every night. AAARRRGGGGHHHH!! The lack of power outlets in the room was surprising as well. We had a CPAP machine with us and had to request an extension cord to be delivered which we had to run from the TV area to the bed. At best, the “Grand Suite” is a bottom of the line suite on RCI.

 

 

 

 

 

We met the room steward and he gave a bit of a sigh when we asked for both morning and evening service, though he did a decent job throughout the week.

 

 

 

 

 

Food

 

 

 

 

 

We had read the stories on here about poor service in the main dining room and cut backs to food services in general. We were prepared for mediocre, at best. On RCI, we always do the My Time Dining but on this trip, due to the group, we had the early dining already setup. Our wait staff was great, very attentive. We had an assistant waiter on one evening that couldn’t get a single order right to save his life, but we all survived. The food was actually very good. I don’t think anyone in the party had a bad meal the entire week. While I read lots of complaints about slow service, we didn’t have any issues. Traveling with a large group of folks tends to take your mind off things, so maybe that’s why it wasn’t an issue for us. Kudo's to the dining room crew and the chefs!

 

 

 

 

 

The buffet was awful. No real way to sugar coat it. The food selection was lacking and tasted like crap. No real flavors, needed to salt and pepper everything. Hot foods were lukewarm, cold foods not cold… ugh. Breakfast was decent, my son always had more than his fair share of things he’d eat for breakfast. The bacon police has to be one of the stupidest and stingiest things I’ve ever seen. Just plain silly. The “deli” was a good option and had some pretty decent sandwiches, but the wait to get them sometimes exceeded 20 minutes, which is nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

Guy’s burger joint was excellent. We had quite a few lunches from there and were never disappointed. They seemed to do a pretty decent job of getting people through the lines quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

Guy’s BBQ was also good. The location of this venue on the Dream really stinks and leaves people standing out in the sun for north of 30 minutes waiting for their food. Good BBQ at sea is unheard of, they did a good job but not sure it was worth the wait in the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t recall the name of the Burrito place, but a few folks grabbed things from there and all liked it.

 

 

 

 

 

Some in our party tried out the Mongolian Wok in the buffet. All complained about waiting upwards of 20 minutes but said the food was very good and overall, worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

 

The ice cream machines were excellent and very well maintained. My son would have eaten all 3 meals via those machines if we allowed him.

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

 

 

 

We hit up some of the kids shows and they were pretty good. No complaints. Some in our party went to the comedy shows and said they were really good. We also did the dive in movie one night and had a good time.

 

 

 

 

 

Pools

 

 

 

 

 

Two very small pools for a lot of people. They turned in to giant bathtubs of salt water. Kids in diapers openly swimming and staff in the area did literally nothing to stop it, even when I pointed it out to one of them. I’m surprised they didn’t have any fresh water pools or at least, more pools in general. They were a sloppy mess and when my 3-year-old doesn’t want to go swimming, something’s not right.

 

 

 

 

 

Slides / Kids Area

 

 

 

The kid's play area on this ship is lacking and my guess is, that’s why some folks end up putting them in the “larger” pool two decks down. The kiddie slides are very small, very cramped and the deck around them is verrrrry hot. Our son had a good time playing and we were happy that the attendants let him go up on the big slide and use it, as he loved doing that. Over and over and over and over and over. All the kids playing in this area seemed to have a good time, though a lot of the younger kids kept getting knocked over by the bigger kids because the play area was too small.

 

 

 

 

 

The staff working in the kids club area were nice, though our son had no interest in attending. We tried to get him interested one night but when we were met by a bunch of 4 years old screaming and pounding on the plexiglass, wanting to go back to their parents, he was having none of it and decided he was going to hang with us. That’s fine, we go on vacation to spend some dedicated time with our kid.

 

 

 

 

 

Casino

 

 

 

 

 

Didn’t get to spend much time here as we were traveling with our son but what time I did spend, I made Carnival pay for their crappy suite and buffet. LOL. Played some slots and some blackjack and left up over $700. Not too bad!

 

 

 

 

 

Internet

 

 

 

 

 

Awful. You charge as much as RCI but it’s slow as molasses. On RCI, we were able to stream two different TV’s with Amazon FireTV sticks. The internet on Carnival is a joke and there’s no reason for it to be as slow as it is. Awful.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall

 

 

 

The ship is in good shape, though we were surprised to see some of the wear and tear on a ship that just came out of drydock a few months earlier. I guess that’s the life of living in the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

The crew were all pleasant and friendly. We had read some prior reviews complaining about that but I have to say, I think everyone we talked to was in good spirits and friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

We were very surprised and extremely disappointed at the public restrooms. Trying to find a handicap accessible restroom on this ship is a real chore. The normal public restrooms were very small and were very difficult to use for some of the folks in our group.

 

 

 

 

 

The elevators really stunk. Again, another surprise… how many elevators were out of service and being used for crew purposes. On boarding day, over half of the elevators on our side of the ship were “X” out and not available. We’ve been on RCI’s Allure and Oasis and never ran into elevator issues like we did on the Dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, we were happier with the Dream than we were with the Desinty but still find that Carnival caters to a much different traveler than we are. We had vowed to not return to Carnival since our previous trip on the Destiny but did so with the Dream since we were going with an awesome group of folks and we knew we’d have a good time. While I know Carnival has its very dedicated fan base, we are not in those demographics.

If you parked did y'all use the port parking thanks trying to decide where to park

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Wow what a great trip and so hard to remember everything.

 

 

 

Let me start with some background.

 

Myself, my wife, and 15 year old son were invited to tag along with a group of 21 other people. One of that group was a 13 year old boy that was going to room with us. We booked our cabins with myself and my son in one cabin and my wife and the 13 year old in the other. Booking went great but we were unable to purchase FTTF for one of our rooms. Every other cabin in the group had FTTF and some of you will remember a thread where i had questions about this. Turns out that Carnival was very accommodating. From the security guard to the supervisor at check in. We were given a hand written note allowing the other 2 to board with the group. There were no other FTTF privileges attached, only the ability to board early. So we were able to drop our carry ons in the fttf room and away we went.

 

 

 

Most of the other group were experiences cruisers so it was their tradition to head to the lido deck for lunch at the wok station. Food was tasty but nothing special. Teenagers couldn't get past Guys so they stopped there and we ate and enjoyed a few Drinks of the Day.

 

 

 

Speaking of Drinks, i purchased Cheers for myself and since my teenager was assigned to my cabin i only had to purchase it for me. We purchased the bubbles package for the teens. I will admit that i did "share" a few drinks with my wife but most of the time we would go to get drinks at the same time and she would use her sign and sail. Never had an issue.

 

Next we went to Guest Services and got my wife a key to my room and my son a key to the other room. Needless to say, the teens stayed together and we stayed together. No issues.

 

I don't have time or memory to write about everything we did. But generally our morning schedule involved the serenity deck with coffee, buffet breakfast or sea day brunch. Next would be casino, trivia, games, etc. Lunch was usually Guys. We had early dining and then would attend the main show and or the comedy club. After that more time in the casino and numerous trips to Alchemy and then off to bed.

 

 

 

The oldest teen spent most of his time in Club O2 and loved every minute of it. the younger teen who was not as outgoing did not care for his club so he did his own thing.

 

 

 

We did Steakhouse Wednesday night and it was worth every penny.

 

 

 

Our excursions were Little French Key, Butts Up cave tubing, and Mr. Sanchos.

 

 

 

Disembarkation was a snap. Off the ship by 7:15.

 

 

 

I will attempt to answer any questions that anyone might have.

Did you park at the terminal or outside parking

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Do you have copies of the fun times that you can share?

Adam3313 carnival dream western Caribbean funtimes. look for him its not the same stops but same length and pretty sure they follow the Same things whether or not the same stops. It helped me.

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Just keep checking.

Booked January 7 and it just came open

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We enjoyed the zip lines immensely. Very safe very professional staff. Don't book with carnival the resort after was awful!!!

Thank you

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@Kathyds: In our circumstance, my wife doesn't drink so buying the Cheers for 2 @ $100 a day wasn't a deal. At most, i had 9-10 beers maybe 2 days at the beginning of the cruise. Port days probably 3-4. For some it works, for us it didn't. Wasn't a problem.

 

Let me wrap up my review with a few quick hits:

 

CD: Matt I think was his name. Very energetic. Did a greatjob I thought. Kept the fun rolling.

 

Getting around the ship: The stairs are your friend. Don’teven look in the direction of the elevators. If going to one end of the shipfrom your cabin, walk as far as you can in your hall and then go up\down.

 

Tendering at Grand Cayman: Tender boats come out like antsonce the ship is cleared for tendering. Big boats, hold lots of people. Doesn’ttake long at all to get from ship to dock. Sign and Sail cards are a must. Never was asked for apassport or ID. And you can bring a conch shell back on board the ship. Don’task me how I know.

 

 

HUB\Chat: Wait until about a week before your cruise todownload the app. Or at least update it before you get on board. Useful app.Easy to keep tabs on your expenses. Daily Fun Times plus you can scroll toupcoming days to see what’s happening. Someone said the app and the paper funtimes are not always in sync. I didn’t notice. Order the internet plan via theHUB app. We used the social plan and it worked fine. The chat feature workedgood although I had an older version that didn’t have some of the search featuresthe newer version has. Heads up on the Chat: We bought the chat plan for mydaughter, she’s 11. By default – and I guess it’s a good thing – for a minor,the chat feature is limited to the guests assigned to your cabin. For us, thatwas a bummer since she wanted to chat with friends in other cabins. After 3trips to guest services and 3 totally different answers, they were able tochange daughter’s age to 23 which allowed her full access to the chat feature. Herfriends did the same. So there is a work around. Looks like Carnival could allowlinking of cabins that contain minor friends for the chat app if both parentsagree to it.

 

Debarkation: Mostly easy. If you can manage your own bags,you have the option of getting off early in the process. Same for Diamond\Platinumguests. Those with early flights too. We checked 2 big suitcases (again,overpacked) in the hall the night before we reached NOLA. They give you a newset of luggage tags that have a number for order of leaving. Ours was 7. Theykept changing the estimated times for debarkation, later every time. Lots ofannouncements to keep the guests informed of the progress being made. Judgingby the time it was taking initially, we went to the Scarlett (I think) to eatbreakfast. About half way through breakfast, I got a text from someone in ourgroup saying they were off the ship. WTH? I didn’t hear any announcement forour number!!! Then I realized that once we stepped into the restaurant, I hadn’theard ANY announcement. Apparently the speakers in the Scarlett were turned offor the announcements weren’t being broadcast in the room. We finished breakfastto find out they had called numbers 1-15 for debarkation. So we made our way tothe lobby. That by itself was a journey since the main stairs in the lobby weblocked off and we had to find a different way down. Carnival could do a muchbetter job with little signs that point the way off the ship. Oh well. Off theship. Lines again. But, they scanned our sign and sail card, took our custom’sdeclaration, we found our luggage and stepped out the door. Shuttle bus rightthere back to the garage.

 

The River: A very enjoyable part of the trip was the journeyfrom NOLA down the Mississippi River to the Gulf. Stay on deck and watch the sceneryand sites. Lots of ships to see. Late Sunday night we passed the Triumph as itsailed up river towards NOLA. Seems like you could throw a baseball between the2 ships they were that close. On our return trip upriver, we again passed theTriumph as it sailed downriver for another cruise. Kinda neat.

 

Walmart of the Seas: There was a thread somewhere discussingsome guests that choose Carnival and how they might be compared to the Walmartpeople. Ok, I get it. Carnival is apparently a good value that allows peoplefrom different economic situations to enjoy the world of cruising. Having thatin mind, I noticed folks as they walked around and did their thing. Yes, therewere people there who I imagine frequent Walmart quite often. There were peoplewho didn’t dress as nice as some, didn’t follow the bathing suit cover-up suggestionin certain areas, did or didn’t do things that might cause some to wonder abouttheir own choice of cruise lines.

 

 

But you know what? What I did see just about all the timewere people having a good time and not worrying about how they were dressed ornot dressed. Kids were running around laughing and yes, doing cannon balls inthe pools!! I saw smiles from kids with ice cream cones. I heard the laughs. Isaw families sitting at tables playing board games, cards and enjoying timewith each other. I saw more than one grandmother dancing with the waiters inthe dining room. My wife told me that our son said, unprompted, he’s glad tohave parents like us who take them on trips like this. He’s 9. Is Carnival theWalmart of the Seas? Don’t know, don’t care. Our family had fun. So did manyother families. And when they swipe your sign and sail card that last time,having had fun is all that really matters.

Thank you so much for the review. Going on January and you said it right. I've been on princess way more expensive just the same in reality, boat, people and lots of fun.

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We are doing a Carnival excursion at the end of this month to Fly High Adventures in Cozumel. I'm happy to let you know how it went if you like?:) We are taking our 13 yr old son who has never zip lined before:D:cool:

Could you please post we are thinking of doing fly high adventures but not sure about booking with carnival but on our own

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