Nine Days of DREAMin' 12/3-12 WOOOHOO!!!

[cruizer4662]

Does anyone know what these birds are? They were large, and having a ball swooping around the ship very quick... I had the devil of a time catching them in pics, and their shape was different...

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun watching these guys help us tie to the bay side of the pier...there were two of these round concrete things...

 

Check out the bottom of this boat...

Albatross or Frigate Birds?

[jessemon]

We motored out of the harbor and explored the Kuralu...I love catamarans!!

 

 

 

We met Grommit, a rescue that Capt Gary was training to be a deck hand...

 

It was a great sailaway.....Beeeeeautiful stting wth friends...As for Grommit the mutt....LOL.....If this 8 month old stupid mutt (I say that lovingly) wasn't trying to lick you to death she was gnawing on your arm...hand or whatever. She made the boat feel like you were at a great relitives house.....You felt like you were at home...:cool:

[purpleblanket]

Just Curious - How much did they charge for the behind the scenes tour?

I think I may be interested in that!

 

debbie

[TimeYet?]

We'll have St Thomas next, see yas for Happy Hours!!:D

Oh, I'm so excited. I have loved this review so far, but it sure it nice to see one of my Dream ports next on the horizon.

 

Thank you so much for this great review!:)

[jessemon]

We motored out of the harbor and explored the Kuralu...I love catamarans!!

 

 

 

We met Grommit, a rescue that Capt Gary was training to be a deck hand...

 

This was one of the fun points for me. While Capt. Gary and first mate Ashley were raising the sails I was at the wheel of the catamaran......This can be a not so good idea....LOL.....It was fun. Capt. Gary said "Jeff, take the wheel and steer at that point and when we raise the sails get ready"......I didn't realize why the wheel on a sail boat was so big. When the sails are going up all of a sudden the boat wants to go where the wind is taking it.......I guess the wheel is that big because if it wasn't you would lose the battle of the wind. I found myself steering starboard and feeling the cat trying to go more to port the more sails that were left out. Capt. Gary would just look back and point and say "A little more that way"......He was smiling too.....hmmmmmmmm.......

It was really a hoot......Tortola is one of the (if not the) sailing capitals of the Caribbean. Sailboats, sailboats and more sailboats. They ain't cheap ones either.....

As said before here....If you are going to Tortola with friends get in touch with Cpt. Gary at www dot kuralu dot com and book a private cruise...

It is worth every penny. Also not that expensive at all. There were only 9 of us and it cost only a few more dollars that doing a Carnival catamaran trip with 45 people you mostly don't know on an only slightly bigger boat......;)

Bonnie....

Great job finding this boat, Captain,Mate and Grommit.

This will go down as one of the most remembered days of my life......

[jessemon]

First mate Ashley, a Canadian transplant who decided to listen to Jimmy and go where it's warm

 

Capt Gary's wife was at home with a new baby, but prepared the most delicous meal for us....nothing like a meal shared with peeps you love in a most amazing place, we are so blessed...

While we sailed to our next island we had quiche, salad, fresh coleslaw, cheeses and french breads, and meat trays...burp...

 

 

 

 

 

Today I learned about putting nutmeg in rum punch, yummo and who knew?? Delicious!

You forgot to mention one of the best smoked fish spreads I have ever had.....Killer.....I kept sneaking down to the table and spreading more on on crusty bread for about the rest of the sail.....Yummmmooooooo........:D

[jessemon]

Soggy Dollar is home of the Painkiller, a signature concoction of dark rum, creme of coconut, pineapple, and OJ...topped with grenadian nutmeg...They won't tell you the proportions but I am experimenting so stand by for updates....:p it was delish!!!

 

 

Would this help ?????

Note the reason it is called a "Painkiller".....Might have something to do with the amout liquor....about 4 to 5 oz per drink....YIKES>>>>>

 

http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink1wx8535.html

[jessemon]

Oh yes...St Thomas and the world's best waiter at Shipwreck!!!!! LOL

Next time I see you I am going to beat you with a stick....LOL.....

I could train a monkey to do a better job than that guy......

[jessemon]

Actually, we arrived early and took another couple who was cruising with us to lunch there for their anniversary. We sat outside and had the most DELIGHTFUL lady as our server.

 

She was hilarious. I knew you all were coming sooner or later and I tried to describe y'all to her .... she was going to pull a prank on Jeffie.

 

Jeffie later told me y'all sat inside and had a completely different server...and a completely different "experience".... :eek:

We had a great time....It was just getting a drink or something to eat that was the problem. If I wasn't so hungover I would have prolly explained to him how lacking his service was. That is what happens when an automatic 18% is added to the tab. If he'd been on his game he'd of made about another 50 bucks in tips. Needless to say all he got was the auto tip....;);)

[jessemon]

Good Lord - I am so totally enjoying this review! We are Dream cruisin in May - my DH and our daughter and SIL. I would love to do a cruise with a group like you all do!!! What a great time!

 

Keep it coming!

That can be arranged.....Here you go....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1092483

 

This is a Cruise Critic cruise. If you want pricing just contact me at jessemoncc at hotmail dot com......

[jessemon]

Hahaha.Jeff told me the conversation that was going on as you and I "swam" back to the boat!!!Cap'n Gary helped us save face,but I believe our friends had our back:D

Only if Steve and I could get up from the sand while rolling around LOAO.....:p:p

[chandom]

Just Curious - How much did they charge for the behind the scenes tour?

I think I may be interested in that!

 

debbie

Was on the Dream last week, cost was $95 a person.

 

This is a scan of the info sheet about the tour: http://gallery.mjcwebdesign.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7263

 

I did the tour and enjoyed it very much. As already stated, be prepared to climb a few stairs.

[jessemon]

Albatross or Frigate Birds?

it would be a frigate......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Femalefbird.jpg

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu7xVPjhLtvAALi1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBybnZlZnRlBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAw--/SIG=11soqhhtp/EXP=1262063573/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigatebird

[gaylensgigi]

Woohoo,just the thing needed on this dreary Monday that has burst upon us.Jeff,we were meant to have that cat fr the day.It just fell into place.for anyone trying to justify the cost,here was my reasononing:

24 bucks rond trip for a not too reliable ferry,lunch on your own,probably at least 15 pp,all you want beer and the best rum punch included...with this group,who knows.It was a no brainer.Cannot praise Gary and Shannon enough.And,since this was Blackbeards teeretory,this history lessons were great,not to mention Cairnes eagle eye spotting all the animals on the mountains.Just a great,great day.

If you get the chance,do it.Gary takes a small deposit and then collects the balance on the day of your sail.He dosnt take credit cards so I used Paypal for the deposit and we settled up when we got on board.

[gaylensgigi]

Only if Steve and I could get up from the sand while rolling around LOAO.....:p:p

 

I guess its a good thing there were no rogue waves in sight:p

[leedm]

Just Curious - How much did they charge for the behind the scenes tour?

I think I may be interested in that!

 

debbie

 

The "Behind the Fun" tour was $95.00 pp and well worth it. The ship will only do 2 tours of 16-19 guest. On the Dream Dec 3 they did 4 tours because of the demand. We you get on the ship go directly to the Tour Desk and book this tour. It will fill up quickly.

 

Enjoy

Leedm

[floatingaway2525]

Oh, I'm so excited. I have loved this review so far, but it sure it nice to see one of my Dream ports next on the horizon.

 

Thank you so much for this great review!:)

 

Thank you! I see you are sailing with my friend AC!! You will have a blast on this Dream!

Getting to St Thomas pronto! Is it your first time there? It's a great port, and so is St Maarten!

[floatingaway2525]

Albatross or Frigate Birds?

 

AHA! Frigate, the pic is exactly right!! Thanks Cruizer!!!:)

I learned the ones I saw were females!! Gorgeous sight!:D

[floatingaway2525]

I love St Thomas, all around great port, and one of the prettiest harbors! We planned to have a mimosa sail-in to the harbor....we overslept:o but got up to a gorgeous day:D

We planned a laid back day in port today, main plan was to return to the Shipwreck Tavern, a place we learned about in May on our Glory trip from Damian...so our morning was relaxing and watching the harbor activity...

[floatingaway2525]

Our crew was having a blast in the harbor with our lifeboats....fun to watch!

 

 

 

 

And we were supposed to be in port with the Oasis ofs and I wanted to see how she sized up to Dream, thought it would be some great pics too.....but I couldn't find it....then we saw that it didn't fit at the pier in town and was at the sub base over the hill so this is all I saw of it....

 

[purpleblanket]

Was on the Dream last week, cost was $95 a person.

 

This is a scan of the info sheet about the tour: http://gallery.mjcwebdesign.com/main.php?g2_itemId=7263

 

I did the tour and enjoyed it very much. As already stated, be prepared to climb a few stairs.

 

Thanks! I am definitely going to look into that! And if we do a lot of stairs, does that mean we can eat extra servings at dinner? lol

 

debbie

[SCUBA Mark]

We were on this cruise with you and we did get to see Oasis of the Seas.

 

We ate at a restaurant on the mountain that overlooked the old submarine base where Oasis was parked. It was next to Costa Atlantica which is a normal size ship

 

[floatingaway2525]

We finally got it together to meet at the staging area:D and head off ship. St Thomas is an easy peasy walk off and you are right in a very nice port area with shops and bars right there...if you haven't been before, a fun thing to do is get tickets at Guest Services onboard for the Paradise Point tram ride, it's a few bucks off the price you pay at the tram, and take that ride up to the top. It is the MOST beautiful view of the harbor and the ship, there's a great bar up there and an outdoor sitting area. I highly recommend having a drink up there...bushwhackers, yummy!! We had done it in May with some of our gang who hadn't been up there before, it's quite a ride!

 

But we were off to Shipwreck!! Great food, and a place a lot of the crew goes, we had fun there!!

 

 

 

It's an easy walk through the port area and out the Paradise gate, across the street <watch it, wrong side of the road still> and into the little shopping area across the street, it's there on the left end of the shops...

[jessemon]

Woohoo,just the thing needed on this dreary Monday that has burst upon us.Jeff,we were meant to have that cat fr the day.It just fell into place.for anyone trying to justify the cost,here was my reasononing:

24 bucks rond trip for a not too reliable ferry,lunch on your own,probably at least 15 pp,all you want beer and the best rum punch included...with this group,who knows.It was a no brainer.Cannot praise Gary and Shannon enough.And,since this was Blackbeards teeretory,this history lessons were great,not to mention Cairnes eagle eye spotting all the animals on the mountains.Just a great,great day.

If you get the chance,do it.Gary takes a small deposit and then collects the balance on the day of your sail.He dosnt take credit cards so I used Paypal for the deposit and we settled up when we got on board.

OK kids...I :confused::confused::confused:....Is the name of the mate Ashley or Shannon ??????

[floatingaway2525]

We had until 6PM here, so plenty of time to wander around to the next fun bar, right across the gate back to the ship...and some shopping...and music back at the bar...just a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

It was SO pretty to be there until dark!!