Brief Dream Review 04/17 w/Pics

[bcs819]

can you please describe and give details on the Raiders of the Lost Mayan Caves excursion? We are considering this for our upcoming Dream cruise, but are not finding a lot of reviews. The more details the better, thanks!

[jrmende63]

Smileyone,

Thanks for posting the pics of the Raiders of the Lost Mayan Caves. We are booked on this excursion for 9/18/2010 sailing. I am trying to convince some others ( Hi Bernie!) to come with us. I, too, would like to know more about the excursion. I have already bought it for hubby and I. It is the reason that we booked this cruise.

Thanks,

Julie

[Kevin Hort]

 

 

This is a Ceiba (pronounced "SAY-ba") Tree. They are native to Mexico and Central America, including Belize. They are pretty cool looking, eh?

[sailingawaysoon]

Love your short review of the Dream and all the AWESOME pictures! Was that an excursion you were on in Costa Maya, or a beach near the port? If you mentioned it in your review, or other postings, I missed it. It looks like a relaxing day. Can you tell me a little more about it? We cruise on the Dream this weekend! Can't wait.

[jimbri]

Fantastic review

[The Klev]

There are these blue chairs that you can see in this photo:

 

There are also these type of benches:

 

I do not believe there were any of the pool chairs on the lower level. If you go up to the next level were the start of the racers slides are, there were pool chairs up there.

 

Hey Smiley!

 

That was our area! I miss it. Deck 12, port side. Loved seeing you pass by with your bright smile!

 

Wonderful meeting you!

 

Alan

[smileyone]

Your pictures are awsome, what kind of camera do you use?

 

Canon Powershot S5IS. It is not a SLR. I paid about $350 for it at Best Buy about two years ago. I love it.

[smileyone]

Love your short review of the Dream and all the AWESOME pictures! Was that an excursion you were on in Costa Maya, or a beach near the port? If you mentioned it in your review, or other postings, I missed it. It looks like a relaxing day. Can you tell me a little more about it? We cruise on the Dream this weekend! Can't wait.

 

If you are talking about this picture, then this was in Cozumel at Chankanaab. We were just exploring on our own. It is not very far from the port. Its kind of rocky all around the beach. There is an area that is better for children that is more of a slope but I would still suggest water shoes cause there are still some rocks there too.

 

If you are talking about these pictures, then it is at Costa Maya pier.

[smileyone]

Hey Smiley!

 

That was our area! I miss it. Deck 12, port side. Loved seeing you pass by with your bright smile!

 

Wonderful meeting you!

 

Alan

 

It was great meeting ya'll. Do you have a review going that I should check out?

[The Klev]

Click on the link below my signature!!!

[smileyone]

Raiders Info:

 

I will walk you thru it step by step the best I can recall. We had to go to the Encore theater to wait for the tender. We were given numbers and were told to wait for our numbers to be called. We were given #2 stickers. Group #2 was called but turned out that was for Lost Canopy Tour. I went back to the entrance of the theater to get the correct stickers for my excursion which was #9. Pay attention to what excursion they call and not just the numbers. Once they called our excursion, we loaded the bus with other people wearing #2 and #9 stickers, turns out we were not the only ones that were given the wrong stickers. No big deal, just amusing.

 

Tender ride took about 10 - 12 minutes to get to shore. Our tour group was easy to find. We stood in line behind her and continued to stand behind. Then she told people they could use the restroom. All these people come back and we continue to stand and wait. Eventually, we started the follow the leader thru the pier area then we stopped to wait again because the bus wasn't there. It was definately slow getting started. Finally got on the bus and met the bus guide.

 

We thought she was great. She had a lot of information but it never got to the point where you wished she would shut up. She was interesting. We rode thru the city and she detailed everything we passed and told about the history. Once outside of the city, its a long ride so the guide kept us entertained with personal stories and info about life in Belize. When we finally arrived at the dirt road, she said she wouldn't be talking to us much. The road is bumpy. We stopped along the way for a restroom break and to grab a water or juice(free). After the break, we got back on the bus for a short bit and arrived at the starting point.

 

We put on our harnesses and were squeezed too death. We started the hike thru the jungle. Nothing too exciting here. We arrive at the cave entrance and are given information about the rituals and such. That took about ten minutes then we started into the caves. Usually there are bats in the cave but the guide could not locate any. The first obstacle we came to was just a short climb down and there are metal brackets in the rocks to hold onto and your harness is attached. If I had to guess, I would say it was about 9ft down. Bakabush photographer is at the bottom so smile. I feel this excursion is very safe even if you have younger kids/teens with you. The Bakabush team was definately safety conscious. We had to get down to crawl under some stalagtites but it was never for a long period. It was sometimes more of a crouch. Soon we could see light. It was time to rappel down about 20ft. This was something I hadn't done before. After getting hooked in, I stepped off the ledge and they let me drop. I thought that was very fun. Bakabush photographer is at the bottom so smile. We did some more scooting around in the cave and came to our first zip line. This zip line went from cave to cave at a slight slope. Fun stuff. Bakabush photographer is at the end of the zip line so smile. If you want to get a picture of your friend coming down then you will need to go a few people ahead because as soon is one person is unhooked, the next is sent down. I didn't even get a chance to unbutton my pocket to get my camera before my DH was at the end of the zip. (You won't get a chance to take a lot of photos because if the group is moving, they do not want pictures taken for safety reasons. Hands have to be free anytime the group is moving.) If my memory is serving correctly, after getting off this zip, you will climb up about 7 ft and get hooked to a safety line because the ledge is small. We wandered around this cave for a bit and had to cross a rope bridge. Then we got to the final zip line. This one was very sloped. If you notice the pic of my DH in a previous posting, you can get an ideal of the slope. Bakabush photographer is at the bottom so smile. Then we hiked back to a restroom area where there was water waiting for us. The bus picked us up and took us to the picnic area to eat lunch and purchase our photographs. See the previous postings about purchasing photos. So that is pretty much it. It was a great excursion and my DH said it was fun. The pic below is from the rappel.

 

[cruisinsly]

Great pictures! Love, LoVe, LOVE the sleeping monkey!! Just one question though, was there anyone on the ship with you? Most of your pictures dont have anyone in the common areas.

[smileyone]

Click on the link below my signature!!!

 

 

Duh! That was easy!

[smileyone]

Great pictures! Love, LoVe, LOVE the sleeping monkey!! Just one question though, was there anyone on the ship with you? Most of your pictures dont have anyone in the common areas.

 

 

I try to find times to go take pictures when no one would be around. I like to try to play with my camera and I find that is easier to do when the area is empty, I don't have to worry about the tripod being in anybody's way. Also people don't have to stop walking to wait for me to get my pic. Glad you enjoyed them.

[jrmende63]

thank You for the info on The Raiders of the Lost Mayan caves! I am excited to go!

[manonreal]

Taken by tour company:

 

 

 

Both hands have to be free and you can only take your own pics when they are not moving so I didn't really get any really good shots. This is a pic of a little bridge we had to cross.

 

 

 

Where was this taken????

[BaconIsGood]

Awesome Monkey picture! Were the Monkeys grabby with peoples stuff? Im going on the Monkey excursion and I want to take my SLR, but not if they are going to try taking it away! lol

[CrzGrl62569]

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your pictures. . . especially the sleeping monkey! Great.

[UpstateCruizer]

That is what I would think but I feel like I read a thread where it was mentioned it was 21, just wanted to see if anyone knew for sure :)

 

Just found my answer on Carnival's website and it's 21 :(

 

Kristen when we were there recently there was a mixture of young adults there. I would say that if someone was 18 and not wild or obnoxious there'd be no issue. I know I wasn't looking around to see what ages everyone was. I'm betting most people would think the adult age is 18 and not the official "21". They did not id people using this area and I never saw a guard type person there.

[smileyone]

Where was this taken????

 

Sorry, I haven't been on here in a while. Those pictures were taken while on the Raiders tour in Belize.

[smileyone]

Awesome Monkey picture! Were the Monkeys grabby with peoples stuff? Im going on the Monkey excursion and I want to take my SLR, but not if they are going to try taking it away! lol

 

 

There was only one monkey that we had interaction with (he was on a leash). The others were loose but never came up to us. The monkey seemed to be really interested in hats. He tried to get mine off and bite on it. I had my Canon Powershot S5 IS with me that I just passed to my DH when it was my turn to hold the monkey. They didn't let us take any water, sunglasses, bags, etc with us. We had to rent a locker. Only cameras were allowed. Some of the older women had a hard time and became overheated. If its really hot out, you may need to sneak a small bottle with you.

 

From observing, it seemed that if you put the monkey one your shoulder then he would climb around on your head, mess with hat, etc. If you put it in your arms like a baby, he was more relaxed except with one lady. He actually went down her shirt.