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

[TeknikDC2]

Day 8, Part 3: St. Thomas (Magen's Bay)

 

We unloaded all of our stuff off the truck and then proceeded onto the beach. We put Daniel back into his stroller to push him but once we hit the sand of the beach that didn't exactly work out any more. I know its been said that Magens Bay can get pretty packed and crowded but it wasn't packed today at all. We were easily able to find a spot to put our spot for the couple of hours that we would be here. Although there were only 2 ships in dock at this time (with the 3rd docking) so I imagine its probably much more packed with people when theres more ships in dock.

 

Edited November 15, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

Upon stepping foot on the sand the beauty of the beach was apparent. It is gorgous. Much prettier then Coki Beach where we went last time we were in St. Thomas and possibly the prettiest beach we've been to in the Caribbean. Daniel was so excited that he just wanted to run right into the water. After putting some more sunscreen on I went with him and got in the warm water. He loved actually getting completly in the water and float and splash around. He was having a blast.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After playing in the water for a little bit Daniel climbed out and upon seeing other kids playing in the sand he proceeded to as well. We actually brought some sand toys for him to play with so Kiera brought them over and he had a blast digging in the sand and building a sand castle.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

The beach was very nice and enjoyable. At one point is started to get pretty dark at the end of the bay and looked like we might get rained on. But the storm never moved in towards us.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

As we were playing in the water and sand I noticed that many of the kids also on the beach did not have a bracelet on like Daniel had to have. I figured these kids must be here from the Disney ship and thought that was strange that they didn't have to have the muster braclets.

 

Edited November 15, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

 

I confirmed this when I was talking to a dad who was also playing on the beach with his kids. They were on the Disney ship. We've always wanted to try a Disney cruise but its so hard to justify the extra cost. This was his first cruise and he said that so far though he was pretty dissapointed in it. He said he felt it was alot more money for much of the same as you get with other lines.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After a couple of hours of fun and play it was nearly time to head back to the ship. About ten minutes to 2 we walked over to where we would meet Godfrey and found his truck waiting for us. Infact everyone in our group who stayed at the beach was back at the truck a few minutes before 2. We were on a time crunch to get back to the ship by 2:30. But we didn't leave at 2 like we should have. Remember I mentioned earlier that Godfrey was also taking another tours group back to the ship? Well they decided to take there time and finally showed up at 2:10. Could we make it to the other side of the island in 20 minutes? This would be the closest we would ever cut it. But Godfrey assured us that we had time.

 

[TeknikDC2]

The truck sped away from the beach and we started our climb back up the mountain to cross back to the other side of the island. After spending many days at Universal Orlando who would have thought that this drive would be our most intense ride of the trip. It was like a live version of the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland as we flew around corners, bounced up and down hills, and speed down streets. I though once we got back to the city that we would take that main road back to the ships. But Godfrey knew a shortcut so off speeding thru some neighborhoods we went. Driving thru actual neighborhoods is something I don't think you normally see on these tours but it was kinda neat to see how some of the islanders live.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We were close. We were almost right in front of the Disney ship when we tried getting back on the road to get to the port. This small distance seemed to take almost as long as the drive from the other side of the island did. There was so much traffic with many people trying to get back to the ships. We heard a horn from one of the ships blow and we thought that was it. It must be 2:30. Were we officially late now.

 

 

We eventually pushed thru and made it back to where the enterance to our ship was located. When we got out of the truck I pulled my phone out of the bag and found that we actually made it in time. It was 2:25. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. Not that it would really matter though as there was a huge line of people waiting to get thru the security check so even if we did arrive a little after 2:30 we would have had this long line to wait in. I don't know why the ships horn blew. But we ended up not being late after all.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We had a great time in St. Thomas today. It once again was not only our favorite stop on this cruise but still remains our favorite port of any of our cruises. Godfrey tours was great. He was very knowladgable, got us back to the ship on time, provided a great tour of the island, still got us 2 hours at the beach, and had free drinks to boot. And he had the cheapest rates out of any of the tours on the island. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a tour of the island and a beach day. For how great he was we tipped him an extra $10 after the tour for the great time he gave us on the island. We also loved Magen's Bay and it is one of our favorite beaches that we have been to. I wouldn't hisitate to go there again in the future. I look forward to the day where we will once again visit St. Thomas.

 

 

 

 

And that concludes this update and our time physically on St. Thomas. Stay tuned for the final Day 8 update soon which has the sail away and our evening activities on the Dream. Thanks for all the support. Once again you comments and questions are welcomed and I will answer them as quickly as possible. Thanks again everyone for following along.

 

 

 

 

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[Name Of The Game]

Nice description and photos of St. Thomas.

 

Sounds like the ride back was rather harried and a little too close for comfort. Bet you were hungry by that time.

[wrigley80]

Still following your review. It's been about 6 years since we were in St. Thomas. Your review makes me wanna visit St. Thomas again.

 

 

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[jenseib]

I would've totally freaked out cutting it that close.

[randompanda31]

 

We were close. We were almost right in front of the Disney ship when we tried getting back on the road to get to the port. This small distance seemed to take almost as long as the drive from the other side of the island did. There was so much traffic with many people trying to get back to the ships. We heard a horn from one of the ships blow and we thought that was it. It must be 2:30. Were we officially late now.

 

 

We eventually pushed thru and made it back to where the enterance to our ship was located. When we got out of the truck I pulled my phone out of the bag and found that we actually made it in time. It was 2:25. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. Not that it would really matter though as there was a huge line of people waiting to get thru the security check so even if we did arrive a little after 2:30 we would have had this long line to wait in. I don't know why the ships horn blew. But we ended up not being late after all.

 

 

 

That is funny seeing a picture of the "Rainbow" store cause I worked for that company for 8 years in Texas

[TeknikDC2]

Nice description and photos of St. Thomas.

 

Sounds like the ride back was rather harried and a little too close for comfort. Bet you were hungry by that time.

 

I would've totally freaked out cutting it that close.

 

haha yeah it was close. But honestly I never felt too worried about it. I knew we were in good hands and we would make it back in time. If you have read my review from our previous cruise though on the Dream and our issue in Roatan. That issue made me much more scared then this did.

[Mrs.C05]

I wonder why they have the skyride closed still. When we went in 2005, we didn't dock over there to be able to see it, but when we went again in 2009 we were right there and it was closed because of the fire (? I believe that was why), and then while there in 2011, we finally was able to ride it and go up to the restaurant and the top of the mountain. It's been closed more times than I know it's open, lol!!!

Anyone know what's going on with it?

[purplemusik]

I was also looking into Godfrey for the tour but we get into port at 11am. Was this a problem for you? Their website says the tour starts at 11am and who knows what time we'll get off the ship!

[TeknikDC2]

I wonder why they have the skyride closed still. When we went in 2005, we didn't dock over there to be able to see it, but when we went again in 2009 we were right there and it was closed because of the fire (? I believe that was why), and then while there in 2011, we finally was able to ride it and go up to the restaurant and the top of the mountain. It's been closed more times than I know it's open, lol!!!

Anyone know what's going on with it?

 

I don't know anything about it for sure but it was operating when we left the dock area at 8:30 in the morning. Maybe it has weird hours that it operates. I thought it would be something cool to do but theres no way I could justify the price of it. It was like $22 bucks a person. When you consider I paid $30 for our whole Island tour and beach time we found that to be a much better value.

 

I was also looking into Godfrey for the tour but we get into port at 11am. Was this a problem for you? Their website says the tour starts at 11am and who knows what time we'll get off the ship!

 

We got into port at 7am so I don't know how it would work in your situation. He did adjust his times based on our arrival and departure though so I'm sure he would do something similar for your itenerary as well. Just send him and email and ask. I did and had a reply within a couple of days.

[TeknikDC2]

Day 8, Part 4: Evening on the Ship

 

As you can imagine when we got back on the ship we were pretty hungry. So after dropping our stuff back off into our cabin we made our way up to the Lido buffet to eat and to watch the sail away from St. Thomas. Today we decided to try the Tandoor Indian food located at the very back of the ship. We made it right before they closed for the afternoon so we loaded up our plates and then found a place to eat inside. I thought some of the food was really good but some of it was just so so. While eating though I noticed that the ship was in motion and we were starting to sail away. So I went out real quick to watch us turn around.

 

 

We had already pulled away from the dock when I got outside and were almost right next to the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. This was the ship that had arrived later in the day and wasn't here earlier in the morning. This was the first time I had seen this ship in person but my parents sailed on it a couple years ago.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

It always amazes me how well such a large cruise ship can menouvior. The ship pulled out from between the 2 other ships and completly turned around in the harbor. The views of St. Thomas were great as you could see the city on the shores of the harbor. The mountains of the island were beautiful towering over the city. The St. Thomas harbor might be the most recognizable and photographed places in the whole caribbean.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

With the ship turned around and heading out to sea I decided to grab a turkey wrap from the deli as I really didn't eat all that much from Tandoor. I returned to Kiera and Daniel who had finished most of there lunch already. So as I sat down they then went outside to watch sail away as well.

 

[TeknikDC2]

Edited November 21, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

 

When I finished with my lunch I went out back again and joined Daniel and Kiera. We were now pretty far out from the island and well on our way to our next destination. After watching the island drift away we returned to our cabin to get ready for the evening.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Tonight would be the ships 2nd Elegant night so we spent the next few hours in the cabin getting ready for the evening and just relaxing from our busy day. Soon enough though it was finally time for dinner so once we were dressed nice again we made our way to the dining room. We got there a bit early so we had a short wait until the doors were opened and we were allowed in.

 

 

We got to our table and our not only was our dinning staff waiting for us but many other waiters as well. So many people fell in love with Daniel and each night we had nearly a dozen Waiters or Waitresses that would come by to say hello and give him bread.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Tonight for my starters I went with the Seafood Plater and my regular Ceasar Salad. Kiera stated out with the Cream of Broccoli Soup.

 

 

For dinner we both went with the Chateaubriand which again was very delicious. Daniel once again got Chicken Nuggets for his dinner tonight.

 

 

The dinning staff once again put on a show for us this night. I think it might have been the dance to apple bottom jeans but I can't remember for sure. Daniel really enjoyed it though and danced along with the upbeat music.