Documenting the dream western caribbean 01/21-28/2012; the money monkey goes cruising

[radrayjax]

APPROACHING MAHOGANY BAY!

 

At about 20 after nine, I go back out and up to the Spa Deck portside to watch us begin to close in to our destination.

 

Roatan from the portside Spa Deck. 9:19AM:

 

And I can SEE it! Mahogany Bay. We’ve passed Coxen Hole. Missed it! Drat! We’re also just passed Mahogany Bay, so I missed a dead-on shot of that also.

 

Telephoto shot of the mouth of Mahogany Bay, taken from the east. 9:20AM:

Looking slightly further east, around a bend in the land, is Brick Bay.

 

Telephoto shot of Brick Bay, on the left, to the east. 9:20AM:

I pan back to the aft and west to see if I can still catch a glimpse of Coxen Hole.

 

Aft telephoto shot of what might be Coxen Hole to the west. On the right side of the photo is what might be the runway to the airport. 9:20AM:

 

Aft telephoto shot detail to the left above. 9:20AM:

 

Forward telephoto shot of buildings in Brick Bay. 9:21AM:

 

[radrayjax]

Final Approach....

 

We’ve moved further east, about parallel with Brick Bay, and I can now she the backs of the shops at Mahogany Bay.

 

Aft telephoto shot of shops in Mahogany Bay. 9:21AM:

 

Forward shot of Brick Bay, we are about this close. 9:21AM:

 

Aft Telephoto shot, slightly different perspective, of shops in Mahogany Bay. 9:22AM:

 

Aft Telephoto shot shipwreck in Mahogany Bay. This is a real barebones steel hulk, not a tourist trap. 9:22AM:

 

The ship turns around; we try again for Mahogany Bay. I still think there is plenty of time to make the 10:00AM scheduled docking.

 

Brick Bay area. 9:23AM:

 

Telephoto shot of detail above. 9:24AM:

 

[radrayjax]

A few minutes later, at almost 9:30AM, we’re nearly back to the mouth of Mahogany Bay. The ship turns with its stern facing the bay. I know we have to back into this tight port. But then…

 

P1030803 Downward, aft view of the water at the stern. 9:29AM:

 

Within seconds it becomes clear; we’re heading AWAY from Mahogany Bay! Mission ABORT!

 

ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

 

Aft shot of Mahogany Bay, after is it clear, we are leaving. 9:30AM:

 

And could this be Coxen Hole, now beginning to fade in the distance?

 

Aft shot of Coxen Hole, after is it clear, we are leaving. 9:30AM:

Downward, aft view of the water at the stern, we are definitely heading south, away.. 9:30AM:

 

Bare minutes pass by and the distance becomes more distinct.

 

Aft view, as the distance to Roatan grows. 9:33AM:

Within minutes the captain’s voice and be heard throughout the ship, explaining that the winds from the east were too strong to make the port. The ship can not make this port with sustained eastern winds above 22-25knots.

 

No I know you are looking at the relatively calm waters above (as were some 4000 passengers) and going ***? Somebody needs to explain this mockery, this travesty of justice!

 

Allow me. Yes, probably at absolute sea level, the wind might have been calmer, as it certainly appeared to be. But we’re in what is essentially a 1000-foot long, 15-storey high building. Have you even entered a tall building, where the wind is calm at ground level, gone up many stories, and come out on an open balcony to very heavy wind? Same thing here. It is the wind at the higher levels of the ship that counts. In this case, a wind that would have made a backwards docking maneuver, in a very narrow channel too dangerous.

 

So, how did I feel? Frankly, from reading many reviews of THIS ship and THIS port, I felt that chances of successfully docking here were no better than 30%. As I said many moons ago, missing a port was an inconvenience, not a disaster.

 

Anyway, as far as the chances, I was going to attempt to clarify that on Friday. I was going to ask the captain, how many times in the last year has the Dream made this port. We’ll see…

 

A few minutes later, the cruise director, Gary, also gets on the horn to explain the same thing. He also said that we would receive a refund on the taxes of the port charges. We now have an extra sea day and a new edition of the Fun Times would be out shortly.

 

Fran told me some time later that she was having breakfast in the MDR when it became apparent that we weren’t stopping and the waiters said, “The Captains’ not stopping!”

 

Roatan, the lost island, grows smaller in the distance. 9:33AM:

[radrayjax]

The new day almost dawns...

 

I would use the newly freed up time to continue exploring the SHIP in detail. I needed to go through Decks 4 and 5 (the fruit of which you’ve seen over the last week) very methodically to put together a cohesive photo essay of those complex decks.

 

 

Later in the day we got the following letter from the captain:

 

[radrayjax]

DOCUMENTING THE TRIP: CHAPTER 5A: JANUARY 25, 2012

 

 

WEDNESDAY – EXTRA DAY AT SEA

 

 

THE REVISED FUN TIMES FOR JANUARY 25, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note especially the revised, beefed up schedule of afternoon events above, compared to the original version presented earlier.

 

Readers with long memories will recall a googleplex of posts ago, where I said I had EIGHT editions of the Fun Times to post! That fun fact was in Post #96, on January 29. Now you know why I had eight editions.

 

From 10:00 – 11:30 I explored. Here is one of the hundreds of photos I took during that time. This is one of the exclusive behind-the-scenes photos of one of the life boat areas on the Atlantic Deck. I’ll have more when I cover that deck soon.

 

P1030915 Life Boat station 27, starboard aft, just forward of the Burgundy Lounge. 10:04 AM:

Every so often I’d look outside to see that Roatan was not totally gone; we’re still tracking along the island, taking in magnificent vistas, even if not particularly close.

 

I'll continue today, tomorrow.

 

THE EXTRA DAY AT SEA

[cruzlovr75]

Omg that totally sucks. I think I would be very disappointed if that happens. But I guess theres nothing we can do about it but chuck it off our shoulder? :(

[radrayjax]

Continuing Documenting the Trip: Chapter 5A

 

 

January 25, 2012: The Extra Day at Sea

 

 

We left off just after 10:00AM, about a half hour after the attempt to dock was aborted. I’m using this “found” time to explore the ship.

 

Something I forgot to note last night: With Roatan lost, Belize City became the last and only successful money expedition. I said it made the trip, now that has a double significance. Also, this trip is now way UNDER budget; whatever we had planned to spend here will remain unspent. I’ll bet you don’t hear people make that statement too often.

 

Portside view, still in the vicinity of Roatan. 10:04 AM:

 

I’m taking photos at such a pace…I know I mentioned that I have two batteries with me. Thank goodness because about every three hours I have to switch out. At about a quarter to 11 I was back in the room for a battery switch out and did a position check as long as I was there. Speed was a little under 14 knots. Of course, we weren’t exactly in a rush to get anywhere just yet. Also, the wind was just as stiff as 75 minutes earlier!

 

Our position, now tracking to the south and west. 10:46AM:

 

A half hour later, another position fix, and we’ve turned back east.

 

Our position, now moving northeast. 11:15 AM:

 

Going out for a quick look-see, we’re now farther from the island.

 

How the island looks at this time. 11:17 AM:

 

A few minutes later, I can still get a nice telephoto shot.

 

Even with the telephoto shot; still quite a distance to the island. 11:25 AM:

 

 

And Honduras, how was the mainland looking?

 

Honduras and the sea sparkles in the distance to starboard. 11:28 AM:

[radrayjax]

Back on the Promenade Deck...

 

I didn’t want another repeat shot from my TV so soon, suffice to say that at about noon we were farther to the east on the south side of the island.

 

I headed back down to the Promenade Deck aft and continued shooting. After awhile I got a shot of the large monitor near Wasabi.

 

Our position on the large monitor, just after noon. 12:05PM:

 

The Wasabi Sushi bar was set up for lunch: Turkey Wraps and salad. The wraps were pre-made and had O.T., so I passed.

 

Wasabi lunch set-up. 12:05PM:

A little further aft and next to the Future Cruise desk, across the hall from the Caliente Club and Collection was a sign that there was a Bar-B-Que on the Lanai/exterior promenade.

 

Sign for the Bar BQ on the Lanai. 12:07PM:

[radrayjax]

BAR-B-QUE LUNCH ON THE LANAI:

 

Forward view of the Bar BQ on the Lanai, starboard aft. 12:08PM:

 

They had pre-filled soft tacos but these also had O.T., so I sidled to the end and they had large hot dogs and small beef sliders – this worked for me.

 

Sliders – I asked for two without onions. 12:11PM:

 

Hot Dogs, one of these without onions would do fine. Why do they assume everyone wants onions on a dog? Or anything else for that matter? 12:11PM:

 

Aft view of the BBQ from the other side of the wind screen. Note that this was not crowded. 12:14PM:

 

On this side of the screen they had a nice salad set up with various dressings and the condiments.

 

Aft view of the BBQ from the other side of the wind screen. 12:15PM:

Here we are, a meatsa-meatsa lunch. 12:15PM:

[radrayjax]

Siesta after Lunch; On the North side of Roatan...

 

At 12:30 I went back to the room to relax for a while. Rio was playing on one the movie channels. I watched for a little while…

 

Rio on the TV. 12:31PM:

 

After about an hour, I headed back down to the Promenade Deck to continue documenting…I check the position on the large monitor. Speed was over 15 knots.

 

Our position on the large monitor, we’ve now swung to the northwest after passing around the eastern end of the island. 1:38PM:

 

Now, at least for a while, I could get some shots of the north side of the island.

 

The northeast side of Roatan. 1:40PM:

 

I headed back topside.

 

A little later, a hazy telephoto shot of the north side of the island. 2:15 PM:

 

Where we’re heading… 2:17 PM:

[radrayjax]

Hangman in the Encore Lounge and more...

 

At about 2:20 I headed down to the Encore lounge to get photos. They were playing a version of hangman where a person would draw a “concept” figure, which would appear on an overhead screen and the audience had to guess what the figure represented.

 

These shots below were taken in between many shots documenting the lounge. The audience was light for this game.

 

“Concept figure” This one was actually pretty good as you’ll see… 2:36 PM:

 

“Concept figure” A correct guess was made at this point. 2:36 PM:

 

Another contestant comes up to try. 2:36 PM:

 

More documenting goes on. About 100 shots later I take another look outside and aft. The far horizon seems clear. Roatan has disappeared behind us.

 

Clear horizons; the island is lost over the curvature of the earth. 2:59PM:

 

 

Near 4:00 I went back to the room for another battery switch out and caught the position. We were now far enough north that the ships position was about parallel to the outer keys to the east of Belize city.

 

Our position, far out to sea 4:02 PM:

 

One of the schedule changes was an added “shopping talk” about Costa Maya in the Burgundy Lounge. I decided to cool my heals for a bit. I collected a Costa Maya map (I’ll post that when I cover Thursday the 26th).

 

My vantage point during the “shopping talk” 4:58 PM:

[radrayjax]

SNACK TIME AT THE WASABI:

 

At about 5:20PM, I pass by the Wasabi on my way forward, and now they are set up with Tapas. This is different and some look appealing.

 

Wasabi set up with tapas. 5:22 PM:

 

Wasabi Tapas Menu. 5:22 PM:

 

 

I know it was getting close to dinner, but a little snack…I hadn’t eaten since lunch. I tried the Sausage Frittata, marinated mushrooms, and breads.

 

Close-up of Sausage Frittatas. 5:22 PM:

 

 

My tapas snack. 5:25 PM:

 

I stopped by The Collection.

 

Cute cat sculpture group by Nano Lopez. 5:43 PM:

[radrayjax]

DINNER IN THE CRIMSON DINING ROOM:

 

Shortly after this I headed up to the room to meet Fran for dinner. She wasn’t there. I’m dressed very casually and I decided to go to the Crimson dining room as is. I get there on time and I’m alone. Wanpen inquires as to where Fran is. I haven’t a clue. She is usually on time.

 

Ed and Angela are no shows so far. I hadn’t eaten here on Monday and they hadn’t shown up on Tuesday. I had brought some of the Belize currency the prior day to show them. I had brought the examples again tonight in case they showed up.

 

Fran showed up at 6:13 and Ed and Angela showed up around 6:15. I had already put in my order.

 

I started with a fried ship appetizer. These were done in a tempura style.

 

 

My fried shrimp appetizer, tempura style. 6:28 PM:

 

Fran’s Soup appetizer, it looks like mushroom soup but I’m not sure anymore. 6:43 PM:

 

You’ll note the time stamp on the 2nd appetizer above. This is the only night where service (at least at our table) seemed to be running very slow; about 15-20 minutes behind. However, in all fairness, three out of four people arrived about 15 minutes late, and that can put the service behind. If it were me, I wouldn’t have bothered coming in that late because I know the MDR has to run on a set schedule.

 

Fran and I both had lamb as the main course. It was VERY tender. This was good after Fran’s meat missteps of the night before.

 

Lamb main course. 7:06 PM:

 

Ed contributed and allowed me to photograph his main course. He had turkey and bow tie pasta. Not my thing.

 

Ed’s main course, turkey and bow tie pasta. 7:09 PM:

 

For dessert, Ed had warm chocolate melting cake with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. He said it was too strong for his taste. I knew this going in. For you WCMC fans, this one’s for you.

 

Ed’s dessert, warm chocolate melting cake. 7:33 PM:

 

I went with the butter pecan ice cream again.

 

My butter pecan ice cream. 7:33 PM:

 

 

 

[radrayjax]

Fran had tiramisu, it was excellent.

 

Fran’s tiramisu dessert; sorry this is so out-of-focus. 7:33 PM:

 

Short post. I know. It's just the way it worked out.

[radrayjax]

AFTER DINNER – The Big Kiosk:

 

After dinner I wanted to go to the spa. However, before that, I wanted to stop by the Guest Services Desk and pick up a few extra copies of the Fun Times for the next day and an extra copy of the Costa Maya shopping map.

 

Above the stand that has the Fun Times is a large screen Interactive Kiosk, similar to the info channel in the cabin, only bigger. I captured a few shot of this.

 

Large screen Interactive Kiosk, Main Menu. 7:49 PM:

 

Large screen Interactive Kiosk, Entertainment Menu. 7:47 PM:

 

Large screen Interactive Kiosk, Big Shows Menu. 7:47 PM:

 

Interactive Kiosk, Dining Main Menu. 7:48 PM:

 

Interactive Kiosk, drill-down to the Plaza Café on the Promenade Deck. 7:48 PM:

 

After this I went back to the room to change for the spa.

[radrayjax]

Back to the room, then the Spa

 

While in the room I did a position fix. It was about 8:15PM. We’ve been doing some zig-zagging for quite a while by this time as the map shows. Looks like we’re still out there east of the Belizean Keys. The speed was over 13 knots.

 

Our position, east of Belize. 8:16 PM:

Just a few minutes later I went forward, up the spiral staircase, and was in the spa. I traded by Sail-and-Sign card for the coveted white VIP Access card and headed forward to the Thalasso Pool. It was very quiet. Almost too quiet.

 

Thalasso Pool, strangely quiet upon my arrival. 8:20 PM:

What’s wrong with that picture? It’s not bubbling; it’s not brewing. All week long I’ve been passing by and it was frothing away! Well, I went in and it was very soothing anyway. Someone else came along after a short time and showed me how to work the control. It’s not clear in the photo above but there is a stick-like control on the right (port side) with a large button. You push the button and away the froth goes!

 

BTW, there was some wave cavitation, but again, none to be felt on the deck.

 

After more than a half hour of bliss I retired to the Lanconium (the yellow room) for a bit. It was empty and I got to use the lounger. I tried one of the steam rooms for about three -- yeah, maybe three – minutes and gave up. I also savored the Tepidarium.

 

You’d think, because this was an extra sea day, and the added-on entertainment was not particularly robust, that the spa would have been busier. Not so.

 

The Lanconium, an hour later. 9:24 PM:

I used the large locker room shower to full extent. It was great. It was about 10:00PM when I returned to the room.

 

This was the night of a Mega Deck Party by the Waves Pool and the Mexican Buffet.

 

[radrayjax]

BACK IN THE ROOM…The Lelefant!...

 

I came back to the room and Fran was resting. My Monkey Money Buddy had a new towel aminal buddy: The Lelefant!

 

The Lelefant, a new towel aminal for the Money Monkey. 10:03 PM:

 

The Money Monkey, tries to work his wiles with the not-quite-larger-than-life creature. 10:03 PM:

We had invitations to the past guest party. In my mind I read these as being on Friday afternoon. They were not. The party was scheduled for 3:30-4:15 on the 26th; which was shortly after we were to pull out of Costa Maya.

 

Past guess party invitations. 10:03 PM:

 

As usual, I got a position fix, two hours later than the last time. At 8:00PM we were on the bottom of a downward leg of a zig. Now we were at the top of an upward leg of a zag, but still roughly east of the Belizean Keys. Speed was the same at over 13 knots.

 

We’re right here; still east of Belize. 10:04 PM:

 

[radrayjax]

THE MEGA DECK PARTY BY THE WAVES POOL:

 

I spent a little over an hour uploading, reviewing, and backing up the many hundreds of photos taken so far today. I’ll give you the final tally in a bit.

 

Around 11:20PM I headed aft and down to the Lido Deck for the Mexican Buffet. The Mega Deck Party was in its final stages but still going.

 

Mega Deck Party by the Waves Pool, Lido Deck, taken from the Panorama Deck. 11:24 PM:

 

Starboard view of the Mega Deck Party. 11:25 PM:

 

Seems as though I caught the tail end of the party.

 

Mega Deck Party, apparently beginning to break up. 11:25 PM:

[radrayjax]

MEXICAN BUFFET IN THE GATHERING:

 

I headed into the gathering. The Mexican Buffet was in the forward section. It had started some time ago but was still going strong. The carved melons were particularly interesting.

 

Carved Melon at the Mexican Buffet in the Gathering. 11:26 PM:

 

Another Carved Melon at the Mexican Buffet. 11:26 PM:

Some of the desserts; Flan ahoy! (They call it Crème Caramel). 11:27 PM:

The ICE INDIAN! 11:27 PM:

Close-up of another carved melon. 11:27 PM:

 

An overview of the dessert section. 11:28 PM:

[radrayjax]

The Mexican Buffet Continued...

 

This looks good, but was too rich for me. 11:28 PM:

 

Ooooh, Pretty, Pretty! 11:28 PM:

 

They had pre-filled tacos, nachos, beans, rice, etc.

 

Sauces and queso area. 11:29 PM:

 

Pre-filled crunchy tacos. 11:29 PM:

 

I put together a “light” plate of a taco, some flan and another dessert. The photo was too out-of-focus to post.

 

Mexican Buffet Menu. 11:48 PM:

 

A view of the hot bar area of the Mexican Buffet Menu. 11:49 PM:

[radrayjax]

HEADING BACK TO THE ROOM; END OF DAY

 

I headed back to the room shortly before midnight. The pool area was a ghost town. But very pretty with the colored lights still on.

 

Forward view of the Waves Pool area shortly before midnight. 11:52 PM:

 

Aft view of the Waves Pool area shortly before midnight. 11:53 PM:

 

I took the final position fix for the night, we were now moving northwest, for keeps it seemed. The speed was exactly the same at over 13 knots. I uploaded the remaining shots for the day and turned in by 12:30AM.

 

Final position fix for the night, we’re finally north of the Belizean Keys. 12:03 AM:

 

SUMMATION: ROATAN ABORT AND THE REST OF THE DAY:

 

Looking back on this chapter, I know it might feel as though I, and the ship, were cast adrift when we left Roatan behind. I’m pretty sure that others, who had booked intensive shore excursions, may have felt that way. There was certainly grumbling around the ship by disgruntled passengers.

 

This day was certainly less intense than some others. But, hey, it’s a vacation; it doesn’t have to be intense all the time. Fran spent most of the day in the spa and sunning herself on the Sky Deck. She said she spent so much time in the Thalasso Pool that she lost the calluses on her feet!

 

As for Roatan, I only expected a moderate shore excursion to a small town with a single bank. I was able to substitute this with a fairly intensive inner ship excursion. The story of the TRIP for this day was told with about 134 photos, scans, and maps. You probably felt like you were inundated with endless screens of ships positions and that I didn’t have much to show for the time in between.

 

In actuality, I posted 9 screens of ships’ positions and they averaged about 2 hours apart. They also averaged 116 photos apart! As for documenting the SHIP, I took 1,059 photos this day! That’s a record that beat out the next highest day by 200. The vast majority of photos that survived are already in, or will be in, Documenting the Ship chapters.

 

It was a GOOD day and I don’t look back on it with a shred of melancholy.

 

The next day would find us docking at Costa Maya at 6:00AM. I had no intention of missing the arrival or the sunrise for our last port day.

 

But first, I have to show more of those photos taken today [and elsewhen] about DOCUMENTING THE SHIP.

 

 

TOMORROW: DOCUMENTING THE SHIP: CHAPTER 13: THE ATLANTIC DECK!

 

 

EXPECT PHOTOS!

 

 

[silvercrikhix]

Hi, Ray! I am continuing to enjoy your fascinating in depth reviews of the Dream. I have never considered the Dream as a viable choice for us, as it seems it would be way too many people crammed into every nook and cranny and we REALLY dislike the cattle herding that comes with too many peeps in too small a venue. Maybe your reviews will change our mind, but we are still feeling really skiddish about doing it.

 

Thank you, again. This is incredible!

[gotograceland]

So, Ray, I've had my husband take photos of me reading your review each day and I'm thinking of posting a review of my experience of living YOURS vicariously. My journey has been 4 times as long as your actual cruise thus far and we're just pulling away from Roatan. Talk about making a vacation last! I'm working on a title - maybe "The Money Monkey comes to my living room?;)"

 

Just teasing. I'll be on the Dream on April Fools Day. Folks will think we're seasoned Carnival Dream sailors even though it's our first voyage, all thanks to you and the monkey.

 

Keep it coming, baby.

 

Grace

[dst]

What an interesting review; I have just read 35 pages and feel as though we traveled with you!

 

Looking forward to the rest -

[radrayjax]

Hi, Ray! I am continuing to enjoy your fascinating in depth reviews of the Dream. I have never considered the Dream as a viable choice for us, as it seems it would be way too many people crammed into every nook and cranny and we REALLY dislike the cattle herding that comes with too many peeps in too small a venue. Maybe your reviews will change our mind, but we are still feeling really skiddish about doing it.

 

Thank you, again. This is incredible!

 

THANKS!

I see you booked in June, during the school vacation. I wouldn't go in the summer [anywhere], and not on this ship at that time of year. As you will see in my next chapter though, parts of the Atlantic Deck seemed like a ghost town at the height of day on a sea day.