Cruising with a Toddler. Our Photo Intense Trip Recap of the 9-7-13 Carnival Dream

[TeknikDC2]

 

We were out in the open sea now and one of the other perks of our sail away time was that we caught the Sunset today. This would be the only sunset of the entire cruise that we would catch while outside on the Carnival Dream. As Puerto Rico got further from us we decided to go get our Ice Cream and took some photos along the way.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

 

As we made our way back down to Deck 10 to get to the Lido buffet we passed by the Red Frog Rum Bar next to the Lido pool. This was the first I really looked closely at the decore and some of the signs that were up. All of the signs had the name of almost all the ports that we have visited before. I thought this was awesome.

 

 

We soon got our ice cream but at this time of night the Lido Buffet was up and running again for dinner. We were still over an hour away from our dinner time but that didn't stop me from grabbing some food to try from the Lido buffet. In all our of cruises we have only done dinner in the Lido buffet once and it was on our 2nd cruise and we got back to the ship after our scheduled dinner was set to begin. The food we had tonight was pretty decent I thought but then again we only had a couple of things so we wouldn't get too full for our actual dinner. After our pre dinner snack we returned to our room where we would hang out until our actual dinner time.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Finally our dinner time came and to the Main Dinning room we went. As we sat down our wonderful wait staff was once again there waiting for us and was happy to take Daniels sippy cup to fill up with milk and to get us an bread that we wanted.

 

 

Tonight for our starters Kiera would end up getting the Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes and Buffalo Mozzarella, as well as the Fruit Cocktail. I chose today my regular Caesar Salad and also the Chicken Tenders in Tai Spices.

 

[TeknikDC2]

I forgot to take a picture but tonight we got Daniel the Pizza. Which he didn't really eat much of because he fell asleep tonight before our main dishes even arrived. I mentioned though that I wasn't a big fan of the new thin crust pizza thats served up on the Lido deck. But I was glad to see the pizza on the kids menu in the MDR is still the old Pizza that I still think taists much better.

 

 

For our main dishes tonight Kiera and I both got the Petite Filet Mignon and Braised Boneless Short Ribs which is always very good and one of my favorites of the cruise.

 

 

We kept it simple for our dessert tonight and just got the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake as nothing else really seemed to appitizing tonight. I don't recall there being a Dinning staff show tonight ether.

 

Daniel was pretty crashed out so after dinner we went back to our room to rest up a bit. If this was any other night we likely would have stayed in the room all night and let Daniel sleep. But tonight was the night of a show that is the absolute Do Not Miss of the Cruise. Dancing in the Streets.

 

 

With Daniel still asleep we made our way to the Encore Theater about 15 minutes prior to show time so that we could still get a decent seat. We were so impressed with this show the last time we sailed the Dream that we wanted to make sure we did not miss it. Sorry there won't be any photos though as this is a show that does not allow photos or video to be taken.

 

 

This show is unlike anything else we've seen at sea. Its very high energy and brings together almost every piece of entertainment found on the Dream. I mentioned before that we weren't the biggest fans of the actual Carnival Dream dancers but really enjoy the Fun Force break dance team. Well the Fun Force is really the main focus of Dancing in the Streets so it is very entertaining to watch. They even fly in Acrobats for each show that do some pretty amazing stuff. Daniel woke up shortly after the show started but he seemed to enjoy it just as much as we did. Words really cannot discribe how amazing this show is. If you don't do anything else on the Dream, make sure you see Dancing in the Streets. It ranks up there as one of the best shows i've ever seen period.

 

After the show finished we returned to our Cabin to get ready for bed. Luckly Daniel fell back asleep fairly quickly and we weren't far behind him. We would have our earliest morning of the cruise tomorrow as we would be arriving in St. Thomas at 7am. With how early we would be arriving we decided to try something we've never done on our previous cruises. We decided to get room service for breakfast. So after filling out the breakfast card and placing it on our door we quickly retired to bed in anticipation of what was to be another amazing day. We were very excited to return to St. Thomas. The port that after 4 previous cruises still topped our list of our favorite ports.

 

 

 

 

And that concludes our San Juan Day. Thank you everyone for your continued support. The post marks the half way point in this vacation recap. That means its all down hill from here. In this post we also passed the 1,000 photo mark of what i've shared so far. Thank you again and please feel free to comment or ask any questions and i'll be happy to answer them. St. Thomas is coming up next and it's sure to be another large, multi piece update. Thanks everyone.

[wrigley80]

With all the walking you did on your cruise and at Universal....you have made me tired and exhausted......haha

 

 

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[Sheebah]

So adorable, thanks for sharing!

[2 cruzen]

Your little boy seems SO WELL BEHAVED! We have a 3 1/2 yr old grad daughter who we want to take on a cruise, but we tell her she has to be able to SIT through dinner before she can go.

 

I also agree with you about the free drink coupon...free should be free without restrictions. It's about a $15 value, but sure is BAD customer service to irritate so many over the way it can be used.

 

About how long to you spend visiting the two forts. It is one of our stops on our next cruise, but we arrive early... 7 am. I don't think the forts even open until 9.

 

Like others have said, thanks for the wonderful report and pictures. I will probably have to go back and read your other reviews now. :D

[JaniceB]

Great end to your San Juan Day and I can't wait to hear what you did in St. Thomas.

[Name Of The Game]

Great pictures of San Juan!

 

Enjoying your review!

[JaniceB]

Come back I really what to hear about St. Thomas.

[TeknikDC2]

With all the walking you did on your cruise and at Universal....you have made me tired and exhausted......haha

 

 

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Haha yeah we did do a lot of walking. But it never felt too bad. Especially compared to our 2012 Disney vacations. I think I calculated that we walked nearly 45 miles in 10 days in Orlando and about 32 miles in 8 days in Anaheim. I haven't tried to figure it out on this trip yet.

 

Your little boy seems SO WELL BEHAVED! We have a 3 1/2 yr old grad daughter who we want to take on a cruise, but we tell her she has to be able to SIT through dinner before she can go.

 

I also agree with you about the free drink coupon...free should be free without restrictions. It's about a $15 value, but sure is BAD customer service to irritate so many over the way it can be used.

 

About how long to you spend visiting the two forts. It is one of our stops on our next cruise, but we arrive early... 7 am. I don't think the forts even open until 9.

 

Like others have said, thanks for the wonderful report and pictures. I will probably have to go back and read your other reviews now. :D

 

yeah he really did great. We wouldn't hisitate to take him again in a heartbeat. As for the forts we really didn't spend a while ton of time at them. I think we spent almost 45 minutes at the first fort and about 30 minutes at el morro. We didn't look at each nook and cranny of them though and there were also free guided tours avalible that we didn't do that would have taught you more about the forts histories.

 

Come back I really what to hear about St. Thomas.

 

Sorry for the delay. It was a busy weekend at work and I got a surprise visit from my mom this week. But don't worry the next update will be up soon. The photos are loaded and I hope to have part 1 up tomorrow afternoon. It's gonna be another long 4 part update to cover st. Thomas.

[CruiseDiva77]

Looking forward to hearing about St. Thomas. Great review so far. Appreciate you taking the time to share with us :)

 

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[JaniceB]

I think I need a pedi-meter the next time I go to one of theme parks, you sure do a lot of walking.

 

I wonder how much walking I will do on the Dream? She is a big vessel.

[TeknikDC2]

Day 8, Part 1: St. Thomas U.S.V.I. (Shopping)

 

This was one of the earliest mornings we woke up all trip. We arrived in St. Thomas at 7am and when we did the rain was falling out of the sky. Although we were docked we actually didn't need to meet our excursion until 8:30am so we had time to get somewhat ready for the day. Looking out our Cabin window though we had a view of the city across the harbor.

 

 

Last night we tried something new and decided to order room service for breakfast since we would be awake and leaving the ship earlier in the morning. We filled out the card the night before and left it on the door asking for the food to be delivered between 7:30 and 7:45. I don't know if its normal as this was the first time and only time we ordered room service but it was pretty much exactly 7:45 when it was delivered. We tipped the crew member who brought it a few bucks and then ate our food in our cabin before we left. I honestly can't remember what all we ordered though but it was a nice and quick alternative to heading upstairs to the Lido buffet.

 

It was about 8:15am when we finally left our cabin and made our way to the Gangway to exit the ship. Many people were already off so we had no problem getting an elevator and getting off on St. Thomas. As we walked along the pier the Disney Fantasy which was next to us in Port Canaveral was once again next to us here in St. Thomas.

 

 

Today was the only day of our cruise that we had an actual excursion booked. Prior to our cruise we booked a Island Tour, Shopping, and Beach trip with Godfrey Tours. We had originally just wanted to go to a beach but seeing most Taxi or Shuttle costs to get to a beach like Megans bay would almost be as much as a whole Island tour. Last time we came to St. Thomas we also took and island tour and instantly fell in love with the Island. Back in 2009 we used EEE tours which was great and I would have loved to have used him again. However his prices went up and we were able to take a similar tour with Godfrey Tours for nealy $10 a person less. Godfrey also had great reviews and didn't charge for Daniel.

 

The email I recieved from Godfrey said the tour would start at 8:30 and he would have a sign waiting outside the cruise port. We assumed he would already be there when we exited the Dream but he was not. There were many other people around though offering tours. After wondering around for almost 10 minutes though Godfrey finally showed up and we were directed to his truck where we paid him for the tour and then waited for the rest of the people who would be joining us today.

 

[TeknikDC2]

Everyone was soon accounted for and away we went to begin our tour of the beautiful island of St. Thomas. Do to the limited amount of time we were docked on the Island today though we were told that we probably wouldn't get the full 2 hours at the beach. That was our whole reason for the tour but it would be ok. We left the cruise area which has many different ships and made our way towards downtown where the shopping portion of the tour would be the first stop.

 

 

Godfrey showed us some sites as we made our way towards downtown and told us some of the history of the island. We soon made it downtown though and were dropped off next to the outdoor market area where many locals set up booths to sell goods to tourists. Just up the street would be the main shopping area in St. Thomas. Honestly we didn't really care to shop. We would have rather spent more time touring the island and spending time at a beach. But since we didn't really have a choice we figured we take a look around and see what we could find. Godfrey would give us 1 1/2 hours to shop before we would meet back up and continue on with the Island tour.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Since we were right next to the Outdoor Flee Market we decided to take a look there first. Back in 2009 Kiera bought a necklass here that she really loved and broke so she wanted to see if she could find another one. After looking at many of the tarp covered booths she did eventually find one. But what was once pretty cheap was now expensive so she decided to pass on it. She never did find any others. We looked around most of the booths that were selling all sorts of stuff but didn't find anything of interest at this time. Many of the booths were actually still setting up so maybe we would check back again later.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We decided to walk down the sidewalk next to the main road the goes along the Harbor. We stopped in at a few different shops along the way to see if we found anything we wanted. Which other then our traditional Post Card wasn't anything else.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

We walked down the street quite a ways and once we got to the Magic Ice bar we decided that maybe it was time to start heading back to where we would meet to continue on with our tour. Instead of walking back the way we had come though we walked up a block to that street which is said to have the best shopping in St. Thomas. This street did have many shops. Most of which of course were the ones found in every port though. Still we took a look at many different ones.

 

Edited November 5, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

 

As we made our way back to the Outdoor Market we stopped by a shop and Kiera found some Sunglasses she liked for only $10 so we picked those up. Then we made our way back to the Market passing thru a park that had a replica of the Liberty Bell and also some statues that were represented some of the founders of the island.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Since we still had a little more time to kill before we would meet back up with Godfrey we decided to yet again take a look around the Outdoor Flee Market. Now that most of the booths were open we found a few more things we were interested in. Kiera was able to find a purse that she liked (she gets one each cruise). It was pretty large and a Coach Knockoff. We also found some Tee Shirts to take home to Kieras Siblings. We got one for Daniel too.

 

 

When we finished shopping the market we noticed that Godfrey was parked across the street waiting for everyone in the group to finish shopping. Since we were done we walked across the street and climbed into the truck to wait for everyone else to finish. Another reason I picked Godfrey for our tour on our visit today was because he offered free Water and Soda to those on the tour as well. So I grabbed us some drinks out of the cooler to have while we waited. I thought it was great that these were offered to us. Daniel really enjoyed the fruit punch I got him and enjoyed drinking out of a can for the first time. Even though it kinda stained his face lol.

 

 

Everyone was soon loaded into the truck and away we went to head into the More mountainous area of St. Thomas for our Island tour. We first went by some of the more historic buildings in the city first including whats said to be the oldest building on the Island and then we started to make our way up some of the mountain roads. I mentioned back in 2009 that people in St. Thomas drive pretty crazy. And not much has changed. They are still crazy drivers here. Its diffenitly not a place i'd want to attempt driving on our own.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We climbed higher and higher on the island passing many gorgous sites along the way. The island is very lush and beautiful and green. It is hands down the prettiest places that I have every had the oppertunity to visit. Thats probably why its our favorite port as well.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

As we got higher and higher Godfrey eventually pulled over at a look out area for us to get out and look over the city and harbor. The views were similar to a place we stopped back in 2009 but I'm pretty sure it was different location. There were other tours stopping here as well. While we looked out over the city Godfrey pointed out all the sites to us and told us some more about the island history. The views of this side of the island were really great and we loved seeing the ships docked down in the harbor.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Another tour showed up just as we were finishing and that signaled it was our time to move on with our Island tour. But looking off into the distance we could see another Cruise Ship making its way towards the island. It was the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. Although we would see it next to the Dream later in the day I thought it was cool to actually see the ship sailing just off the outskirts of the island.

 

 

 

 

 

And that is all for today. There are still 3 more St. Thomas updates to come so stay tuned for more from our busy day. Thanks again to all of you that are following along and looking at photos. Please feel free to comment or ask any questions that you have and I will answer them as quickly as possible. Thanks again. I appreciate the support.

 

 

 

 

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