Spring Break on Carnival Dream: 3/15-3/22 Western Caribbean

[FloridaMomma]

My family (me - 35, hubby - 38, kids - 10 and 8) booked the Dream for Spring Break last September. We live in Winter Springs, which is in the Orlando metro area, so we only had about an hour drive to Port Canaveral. We set sail on Saturday, March 15th. I did buy FTTF for this cruise, and it was (in my opinion) worth every penny.

 

 

 

Here we go!

 

[FloridaMomma]

Checking out the ship….

 

 

 

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

We had a TON of luggage. Fortunately, we booked 2 rooms so we had plenty of space. Our 2 interior rooms were on deck 8, mid-ship (8330 and 8334). They didn’t connect, but they were right next to each other. I think we were in the perfect location. We were able to take the stairs almost every time we left our deck. Surprisingly, the elevators weren’t very crowded until the last day when everyone was leaving the ship.

 

Wall between our doors.

 

 

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

Our kids were in Camp Carnival almost every waking moment. They stayed until midnight EVERY night. We were exhausted just waiting to go get them! We had to force them to come eat with us and hang out at the ports. They made a couple of friends and exchanged phone numbers, etc. They had already contacted each other by about 6 p.m. the day we got home.

 

Checking the place out before the actual camp started…

 

 

We had 4 stops on this sailing – Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya.

 

Cozumel - We took a short taxi ride to Paradise Beach. It was $3 to get in, and they expect you to spend at least $10 per person on food/drinks. I think it was a good deal. They have a big pool area and plenty of room on the beach to hang out and relax. We stayed for a couple of hours and headed back to the ship. My husband did say the salsa at Paradise Beach was the best he’s ever had.

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

 

 

 

 

Sno-Cones!

 

[FloridaMomma]

Belize (or Sea Day for us) – We didn’t get off the ship at this port. We didn’t have any plans, and the kids really wanted to spend some time on the slides. We took it easy and just spent some time hanging out together. Our family likes to play a card game called “Five Crowns” so we sat in the Ocean Plaza (deck 5) and played there. The coffee bar is right there and they sometimes have trivia/games going on in the area. It’s also a great place to people watch.

 

Enjoying lunch on the lido deck.

 

 

 

Slides!

 

[FloridaMomma]

Roatan – I cannot say enough how beautiful this place is! We did a Victor Bodden private tour. I requested “Tex” a while back after reading reviews on the Roatan board. I’m so glad I did. He was wonderful. Unfortunately, my husband and oldest son only lasted about an hour at this port. Tex graciously drove us back to the port so they could get back on the ship and rest for a bit. I think my son was overly tired from all of the activity and staying up so late. Also, he gets car sick and Roatan is very hilly.

 

My youngest son and I stayed on the island and spent about 4 or 5 more hours exploring with Tex. He was SO looking forward to seeing the monkeys, and I knew my older son was fine – just tired. Otherwise we would have gone back with them.

 

Hello, friend!

 

 

Ryan with our tour guide.

 

[Mrsfabo]

It looks so beautiful can't wait to read the rest. Did you guys ever do a Disney cruise?

 

 

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[FloridaMomma]

Monkeys!

 

 

 

 

Spider monkey holding my hand.

 

 

I forget what these guys are called. Does anyone know?

 

[FloridaMomma]

I have a HUGE fear of birds. I was determined to show my son that you can face your fears. So I did.

 

 

 

Ryan says he’s a pirate in this pic.

 

[FloridaMomma]

This guy was hilarious. He wasn’t happy with the little piece of fish head given to him (you can see it in the pic). He made it known to the man who gave it to him by snapping at his leg.

 

 

 

 

Got him!

 

[FloridaMomma]

Me feeding the iguanas (I was the only one in my family who would do it - whatcha think about that, girls?!?!).

 

 

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

Some extra pics of the beauty that is Roatan…

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

More Roatan

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

Costa Maya – This was our last port day and we had reserved 4 loungers at Tropicante. There really isn’t much to see in the area. Our ship was only docked until 2:30, so we spent our time on the beach in front of Tropicante. I also read reviews about this place on the port board. The owner, Steve, is an American from Texas who opened this neat little place right on the beach. I contacted him back in October to reserve the chairs. He was out talking with all of his guests and was overly accommodating while we were there. I would recommend Tropicante if you don’t have a lot of time at the port and want to have an inexpensive day relaxing on the beach. There was no cost for the chairs – just the food and drinks.

 

 

 

Hubby sneaking in a little phone time.

 

[FloridaMomma]

 

 

 

[Bobkat26]

Loving the review. We owned an iguana for 16 years. They are really gentle.

 

Kathy

[FloridaMomma]

Some random thoughts –

 

- We did see a few of the comedy shows and enjoyed both the family-friendly and the adult shows. The adult shows did fill up fast and they had to turn people away at one point. We saw 2 different gender showdowns as well. One was pretty dirty. One was pretty clean. They were both pretty hilarious!

 

- I don’t even want to know how much we lost in the casino. I refuse to count it up or acknowledge that we were even there. 

 

- I loved the Legends show! It was neat to watch our fellow cruisers up on stage having so much fun. The girl who played Aretha Franklin KILLED it. She was my favorite by far.

 

- The first day on the ship we realized my kids’ PE teacher and her husband (who used to be my husband’s PE teacher!) were on the ship. We ran into them EVERYWHERE. I felt so bad. I kept apologizing! “I know you’re trying to get AWAY from your students on spring break – not get stuck on a ship with them!” They were so nice though, and always said hello when we saw them. We actually got seated next to them one night in the dining room and had a great conversation.

[FloridaMomma]

- Speaking of the dining room, the service was excellent. Our head waiter was “Super” Mario. We requested him every night. We did the anytime dining and never had to wait. Well, we did wait in line until they opened the doors a couple of times. The kids liked to get to Camp Carnival around 7 every night so we tried to eat early.

 

 

 

Me and my oldest.

 

 

- I am so proud of myself for going to the gym 3 whole times. I only gained 2 lbs in 7 days. The gym was really nice and I was surprised at how big it is. Of course, I ran into the PE teachers in there, too. Also, who doesn’t want to work out with this view?

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

- We blew our planned budget by Tuesday – yes, Tuesday. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday….oops. Still have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning! I know everyone says to bring half the clothes and twice the money. Our clothes worked out okay, but I agree with twice the money now. 

 

- Laundry! I was able to get in to do some laundry on Tuesday. I went down to do one more bag on Thursday and ended up waiting. I was going up and down trying to catch a washing machine, and finally decided I was going to sit there until someone came to get their clothes out. I waited about a half an hour and had some pretty funny conversations with people coming in and out.

 

- Speaking of the people, I met some really neat people on this cruise. I’m smiling right now just thinking about the conversations I had. As big as the ship is, and as many passengers as there are on the ship, it seems you get into a routine of being in the same place at the same time with certain people.

 

- I did go to the meet-up for our roll call on Sunday in the piano bar. Only a few showed up, but it was great to meet and talk with them.

 

- I tend to have a lot of issues with motion sickness. I wear the patch and usually take bonine. I really didn’t feel this ship moving much at ALL. I was so surprised. One night I was watching the map channel and the winds were up in the 80 km range. I barely felt anything that night.

[FloridaMomma]

- This is embarrassing. The morning we had the tour in Roatan, we got a bit of a late start. I was trying to figure out how to call out so I could call the tour company and let them know we would be there. I couldn’t figure out the country code, etc. but at one point I did hear ringing on the other end. I thought I finally got through and then I heard “Cruise Director.” Huh? I didn’t know what to say. I started laughing and said, “Sorry, wrong number!” He (Hennie Van Heerden) started laughing and asked who I was trying to call. I told him the issue I was having trying to figure out how to call out. He said that I had just called his room. Ack! I apologized and tried to hang up, but he told me he wanted to try to help me. He said, “Give me the number and I’ll try calling from my cell phone.” I gave him the number but it went straight to voicemail. I thanked him, apologized again, and hung up. Oops. I did apologize in person a couple of days later when he was doing a ship life Q&A in Ocean Plaza. I have no idea how in the world I managed to call the cruise director's cabin. I can’t even stay out of trouble in the middle of the ocean!

 

- The ship life Q&A was really interesting! I learned a lot about what it’s like to work on a ship, what they do with leftover food, who does the IT work, who cuts the crews’ hair, etc.

 

- We tried to eat breakfast in the dining room whenever we had a sea day. I loved the cheesy grits (thank goodness I did make it to the gym). The service was great for breakfast, too. We did have to wait in line the last sea day to get in, but it moved pretty quickly.

[FloridaMomma]

- One day when my older son was in his Camp Carnival group, they did a scavenger hunt around the ship. My younger son wanted to do it so badly, but he isn’t old enough to be in that group. My husband decided we should make one up and do it with him. At this point, we all felt pretty confident that I knew the ship layout better than they did, so it was my husband and son against me. We had about a half an hour to look around the ship and make our lists. Then we exchanged and went our separate ways. We had to take pictures of whatever was on the list. For example, on my list was a specific room number, a certain sign, a specific slot machine, etc. We had so much fun. People were looking at me like I was crazy running around by myself with a piece of paper and pen. They beat me by 8 minutes!

 

Found it!

 

 

- I know some people complain about the photographers but we didn’t have any problems at all. They weren’t aggressive or bothersome. It was more of a - we’re here if you want your picture taken.

 

- Last, but definitely not least, I was so nervous about this cruise because of the Carnival bashing I have seen. Not only was it spring break – it was also St. Patrick’s Day while we were on the ship. I expected mass chaos and craziness. It was NOTHING like that. I didn’t see or hear anything inappropriate. I didn’t encounter a bunch of crazy, drunk college kids (or adults). The other passengers were nothing but pleasant and friendly. I was so impressed and happy we decided to book this trip. In fact, we had so much fun that I have a new countdown clock in my signature. :D

[FloridaMomma]

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Here are a few more pictures I liked.

 

 

 

Trying out the Mongolian Wok. If you can help it, do NOT go there on the first day of your cruise! We waited about 45 minutes.

 

 

[FloridaMomma]

 

 

 

 

That's all, folks! We can't wait until next Spring Break!

[txponycruiser]

Thank you for a great review! We booked the Dream for August 2015. I have to admit, I am kind of nervous being gone for 7 days. We've just done 5 days in the past.