Carnival Dream--9-18-2010 Review (with pictures)

[capndinghy]

Thank you for such a well written Review. The photos were great as well!

 

 

If you are curious about Hawaii you can find a review I wrote here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1279418

[stefyo]

Love, Love, Love your review!! Thank for you taking the time to right it. Hope all is well with your recovery.

[valancy1]

Thanks everyone!! My disposable cameras are going to be ready in about an hour or two so I will have more pictures (Cozumel, Cave Tubing, etc.)... hope you'll stay tuned!

 

Thanks as well for *ALL* the well wishes on my surgery. It is for a week from today and I am very much looking forward to cruising next year as a "normal" person!!! I won't know how to act!!

[Mr&Mrs12510]

Debra Best of luck with your surgery and recovery you will be in my prayers :)

 

How do you book the behind the scenes tour?

[valancy1]

Debra Best of luck with your surgery and recovery you will be in my prayers :)

 

How do you book the behind the scenes tour?

 

Run... do not walk, do not pass GO, do not collect $200 and get thee to the Excursion Desk as soon as it opens and book it, Danno. They only have "x" amount of slots and they only do it 2x on the ship... so if you really want to do it, you have to make sure that you do it as soon as possible.

 

Warning, I do not give you permission to run over people in walkers or on scooters or small children to get your tour booked HEE HEE.

[Mr&Mrs12510]

HAHAAHA Thank you

 

 

Run... do not walk, do not pass GO, do not collect $200 and get thee to the Excursion Desk as soon as it opens and book it, Danno. They only have "x" amount of slots and they only do it 2x on the ship... so if you really want to do it, you have to make sure that you do it as soon as possible.

 

Warning, I do not give you permission to run over people in walkers or on scooters or small children to get your tour booked HEE HEE.

[valancy1]

OK, so I hope there are people waiting for these. LOL

 

Here are pictures from Belize and Cozumel...

 

This is at Mr. Sancho's in Cozumel:

 

 

 

Hee hee... big man w/o a head.

 

You gotta pay extra for the iceberg, pal...

 

The day was so beautiful... sky and water were stunning:

[valancy1]

Cooking class:

 

 

 

The cutest cook in the class:

 

 

 

Note: The grainy texture of the photos is because they got passed through x-ray at the airport ONE time. Please be careful and mindful of 800 or higher film... this is the result. The Belize ones are grainy, too, as you'll see in a bit.

[valancy1]

 

My new friend Jan!

 

"I LOVE to SWINGGGG!"

 

 

[valancy1]

 

 

 

 

Coming back to our Dream...

 

[valancy1]

Belize and Cave Tubing...

 

Sorry about the grain of the photos. Hopefully this will give some of you a good visual (I've never seen pictures of this; not saying they aren't out there... I've just never seen them):

 

Getting ready to start (notice the smiles... that's the last time you see them. LOL):

 

Here is the stream:

 

 

 

Again, the stream we had to cross:

 

[valancy1]

 

 

 

 

 

[valancy1]

From inside the cave... not good, but you get the idea. It really was cool...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch afterwards:

[valancy1]

This is Chelsea and Morgan on the bus. Notice them getting ready to taste Cashew wine, then Morgan's face after her (hopefully) first taste of alcohol:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and a first: My husband is afraid of heights. He jumped off that big rock behind him in this picture... about 12 feet off the ground. Go Barry!

 

 

I hope this gives you some frame of reference about the cave tubing!

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review and pictures. Thanks for sharing...

[kiraryker]

I can't wait!!!! I am just loving your pictures - we have scheduled with cavetubing.bz for our trip in January - What I am wondering thou is when you tender off the ship - my father uses a walker and is unsteady on his feet (stroke) is that an issue??

 

He is not going cave tubing with us he is instead staying back with the tour guides father and waiting for us.

 

Oh and what did everyone wear for shoes? I'm thinking we may have to find water socks but our stores now have all winter stuff - North Dakota

[valancy1]

I can't wait!!!! I am just loving your pictures - we have scheduled with cavetubing.bz for our trip in January - What I am wondering thou is when you tender off the ship - my father uses a walker and is unsteady on his feet (stroke) is that an issue??

 

He is not going cave tubing with us he is instead staying back with the tour guides father and waiting for us.

 

Oh and what did everyone wear for shoes? I'm thinking we may have to find water socks but our stores now have all winter stuff - North Dakota

 

I don't know how they do it, but I have seen people in wheelchairs on the ship on the tenders. They manage. You might want to ask Guest Services HOW it happens, but they'll get him on and off the tenders.

 

Shoes... please go to Wally World or some such and buy some cheap tennis shoes. The rocks REALLY hurt my daughters' feet and others who I've talked to that did this excrusion. I have a pair of Keen shoes that I love for this sort of thing, but if you don't want to spend the $$, just get a cheap pair of tennies---something you don't mind having to throw away if necessary. Don't rent the water shoes--too thin of a sole!

[TaraLynne]

Thanks for even more great pictures! (despite the grainy-ness) That beach in Coz looks great. We went to Chankanaab on our trip to Coz and although the BEACH was nice, you had to climb down rocks into the water (no nice segway from beach into water by sand), so the one you went to looks far more pleasant.

[valancy1]

Thanks for even more great pictures! (despite the grainy-ness) That beach in Coz looks great. We went to Chankanaab on our trip to Coz and although the BEACH was nice, you had to climb down rocks into the water (no nice segway from beach into water by sand), so the one you went to looks far more pleasant.

 

Thank YOU. I enjoyed our cooking class at Mr. Sanchos, yes... it was great.

 

The big disappointment there is their "all inclusive" is not ALL inclusive.

 

At Paradise Beach, however, you buy a wristband and get the chair and all the toys. I *think* but I could be wrong (someone correct me please if I am) if you buy food or drink from them you can go on the toys out in the water for free.

 

It used to be the beach chairs were free, but I think they charge $2.50 for those if you want them.

 

Next time I want an all inclusive, I'm going to try Nachi Cochum since I've heard such incredible things about it.

[manonreal]

Roatan (cont'd)

 

Then we finally could go and unload all the school supplies we got for the little kids. We purchased a LOT. Crayons, composition books, folders, glue, rulers, etc. So much that we had to stop at Guest Services to itemize everything, have the paper signed off by a custom's agent and so on before we could get off the ship.

 

It was worth every bit of the rigamarole...

 

We stopped at a school... Chelsea had the presence of mind to snap a pic of the school seal:

 

 

Barnie asked a teacher if we could go to a classroom and give the supplies to them. It was a kindergarten (the kids say they are in "kinder"). The room was a bare wooden floor up a rickety set of stairs. The kids were all in uniforms and as cute as could be.

 

 

When we pulled out the crayons the kids were SO excited. The teacher translated for us--some kids were only spanish-speaking. Others knew exactly what we were saying. The teachers were so appreciative of the goodies we brought. It was one of the highlights of the trip that day...

 

Then it was time to head back. Luckily, independent tour operators can bring you back to Mahogany Bay and we didn't have to walk that piece of it again...

 

I would do a Victor Bodden tour again in a heartbeat. It is like having your own personal driver for the day and they will do whatever it is you want to do. Next time we come, we're going to go snorkeling. Roatan has the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. And you can dive there (it's a big diving place) and snorkel... I don't want to miss that. I could think up pretty much any excuse to go back to Roatan.

 

 

Of course, the girls wanted to shop in the port area, and Chelsea and I had a drink at Fat Tuesdays. One of the guys she (Chelsea) met on the ship was dancing on the pole at Fat Tuesday (they were all partying it up there at FT's). He motioned for her to come and dance and then Morgan got up there too, at our urging...

 

 

 

 

 

We are also visiting a school which I requested..can you tell me around how many kids there was in the class so it gives me an idea....

[valancy1]

We are also visiting a school which I requested..can you tell me around how many kids there was in the class so it gives me an idea....

 

I think one of my family members counted 30 kids in this particular school. I was so glad each child got a folder and a composition book for their very own.

 

I am sure they will be sharing many of the other things... they were SO CUTE (and I'm not even a big kid lover, either) :)

 

This school was located directly across the street from the ocean. Wonder if you'll go to the same one or if they have several they choose?

[pcrum]

Thank YOU. I enjoyed our cooking class at Mr. Sanchos, yes... it was great.

 

The big disappointment there is their "all inclusive" is not ALL inclusive.

 

At Paradise Beach, however, you buy a wristband and get the chair and all the toys. I *think* but I could be wrong (someone correct me please if I am) if you buy food or drink from them you can go on the toys out in the water for free.

 

It used to be the beach chairs were free, but I think they charge $2.50 for those if you want them.

 

 

We were at Paradise Beach in August and the wristband for the water toys is $12 whether or not you buy food. Chair rental was $2 a chair. We loved it there and our teens had a wonderful time on the water toys (note, these would be hard for young children to access).

 

Loving your review!

[sharecruises]

Great review and pictures

 

Paradise Beach...is $12 to use the water toys (I wouldn't LOL)

and now is $2 to use the loungers...you are "expected" to buy $10 food/drink

which can be done pretty quickly . I was there in late april before they started the $2 lounger

 

Not sure where to go in Cozumel...not interested in Nachi cause not there that long and am with a group, not everyone will want all inclusive for a short stay (Destiny)

 

I appreciated your honest review of cave-tubing..been there, done that, glad I did it, but would NOT do it again

 

I think many people gloss over how "easy" it is...for me the "river" wading part was the worst....the stones etc in the water are sharp and I kept feeling like I would fall, hard to hang on to the tube and the rope LOL

 

the cave part was nice however, and I am glad I did it but would not do it again. I too felt grungy afterwards

 

Great pictures of Dream and your lovely family! Really looks like you all had fun together

 

Hope you are feeling great after your surgery ...ready to plan your next cruise...and you will have fun , get a new wardrobe <grin>

[valancy1]

Great review and pictures

 

Not sure where to go in Cozumel...not interested in Nachi cause not there that long and am with a group, not everyone will want all inclusive for a short stay (Destiny)

 

 

Hope you are feeling great after your surgery ...ready to plan your next cruise...and you will have fun , get a new wardrobe <grin>

 

Thanks!

 

One of the things that Barry & I did on our first trip to Cozumel was we rented a car from Avis and drove all around the island. That was still one of his favorite things he still talks about it, 4 cruises later. Don't know if it interests you or not, but thought I would toss it out there.

 

I am going to spell this phonetically because I honestly don't know how to spell it, but our taxi driver told us the next time we come back we should go to "pala canar". It is a quiet beach with lots of seashells and such. We just might do that next time.

 

Another thing I would love to to do is that Twister excursion--I think that sounds pretty darned fun :)

 

As far as the wardrobe, at first it will be shopping at Goodwill or the local Opportunity Shop. Once I reach a plateau and my body stops losing weight, I have already warned my husband. I've never been a clothes freak, but there is one under the surface waiting to come out. LOL.

[Oklahoma Digger]

We are going on the Dream November 6th. Can't wait! We have a cove balcony and I'm enjoying reading your reviews. However, I'm at work and the pictures are coming up, so I have to wait til I get home to see them! It will be the first thing I do tonight!!!! Thanks for your review! It's very helpful, and I appreciate your comments about the cave tubing. You did a great job - it was a positive review, but does let people know that there are limitations.