I'm DREAMing of a Caribbean Christmas- Stacey's Holiday Cruise Review 12/10/1...

[sasha620]

I can't wait for you to continue!

[Yankeegirl]

Can't wait for more! :)

[movingimages]

Sailing on Dream in 3 weeks. Enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest. Thanks!

[dathomp00]

We will be on the same cruise as you. Love her review, she is doing a great job!

[dathomp00]

I have loved your entire review. My brother has been telling me what a great job you did so I had to look at it as we are going to be on the Dream in 3 weeks. I am getting excited and your review just helped elevate the excitement level! Thank you

[KC ChaCha]

Great review so far! Looking forward to the next installment. Sailing the Dream in March, LFK reservations too. My email from them said you could catch a taxi at the first stop over the hill for $2 to me the "Frenchy's" folks, sounds like it might be worth it from your description. At least from an eye rolling perspective. :)

[sunbird21]

Yeah, he lets me plan and just goes along with everything, so he would have done it if it hadn't been brought up and my brother hadn't made such a big deal about it. Oh well, someday. We all loved west bay beach so much we are thinking about a vacation at a resort in Honduras instead of a cruise next time so you never know.

 

Crossing my fingers that you go next time!! Honestly, if you don't want to snorkel or do ziplining,etc, I would just do the $50 something package and buy the food a la carte. The buffet was $22 but single food options were much cheaper.

[sunbird21]

omg, that's hilarious! :D :D

 

 

I know!! I'm not sure how I got it to turn out like that but I thought it was too wacky to keep to myself:)

[sunbird21]

Please forgive my previous request for a Dream review, for some reason it did not appear when I first searched for it. I guess my brain is frozen as it is 35 here in AL. Stop laughing even though I lived outside the Southern USA for years now that I am back I realize I truly do hate cold weather.

 

No problem, glad you found it!! You will be thawed out soon enough on your cruise!!!

[sunbird21]

I am the exact same way when it comes to flying!! I always look around to see if anyone else looks nervous but everyone looks calm and relaxed. I have to take Xanax and even that doesn't help much. I cry, clench the armrests and do a Lamaze-breathing type of thing. I know I look ridiculous but I can't help it. :rolleyes:

 

OMG you sound EXACTLY like me...that is just what I do/look like!! You may need to up your dosage of Xanax, check with your doctor. Trust me, when you get the right dosage, you just feel kind of zonked out sitting in the seat.

 

I've flown once for work, many years ago, and hated it. Now 10 years later I am trying to get use to the idea that I will be flying next year to cruise from Miami, and I also want to do a Hawaii cruise which will require that. DH wants to do Alaska too. It scares me so bad, my heart starts racing just thinking about it. I'm petrified of heights and high speeds, so bad combo there! I have a feeling I will be going to my doc for something to calm me down for when we fly.

 

Definitely go to your doctor-flight fear is so common(yet I never see anyone like me on any flights) that if you just tell them you want something, they will prescribe you a low dose of something, They usually give you just enough for each flight, but if you are new to Xanax/Ativan/Klonopin/etc they might give you a dose to try at home first to see how your body reacts to it. I would always make sure you are not alone on the flight the first time you take it, until you know how you react to it.

 

Of course, if you don't want to go the med route, a quick shot at the nearest airport bar to your gate can help immensely as well.

 

The sad thing is, a good flight with a smooth takeoff and little to no turbulence can actually be an ok experience, but there's just no way to predict it. I wouldn't let it deter you from traveling though-even if you have to go medicated and you are groggy that day, it's worth it. Hawaii and Alaska would be AWESOME cruises-haven't done either yet!

[sunbird21]

Enjoying your review very much!! Thanks for taking the time to post your experiences and pictures.

 

Thank you!!! I'm glad you are enjoying!!!

[sunbird21]

DH loves to fly--I HATE it! Never an argument between us on who sits in the window seat. If I fly alone, and have to sit there, I pull down the shade, bury myself in a book at least until we level off. I'm a terrible flyer and usually self medicate, at the bar, prior to boarding....bloody marys if it's a morning flight and dirty martinis otherwise....several. Last time I flew for work, DH didn't go and while looking at our bank account during the time I was waiting on my flight at BWI, he kept seeing my bar bill increase exponentially. By the time he picked me up in BHM I was a pretty mellowed out flyer lol.

 

LOL!!! That was me before Xanax. I had already tried the book, breathing, meditating, etc methods when I was younger to no avail.

 

Lol!! I love that self medicating idea, I may try that next January if I can't get a doctor to get me something. I'm a wreck just thinking about it. I'm glad I'm not alone in my fear!

 

 

Like I said, if you have a long term relationship with your MD, and explain your fear to him/her, they will likely prescribe something-unless you have one that is paranoid about prescribing that type of med.

 

I recently saw an ad on FB for one of the posher airlines(I think Etihad) that is now doing a 3 room "apartment" on their airlines with top of the line food, dishes, flat screen TVs in the "living room" and "bedroom", breakfast in bed, butler service and a shower. I wonder if that type of luxury would alleviate my fear LOL? But something tells me turbulence would get through there, too.

[sunbird21]

Loving your review and all the pictures. We are on the Dream in March and going to LFK...trying to figure out if we are doing anything in Belize. Might just stay on the ship with my little boy and play on the slides while my husband goes and does something adventurous. Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

 

Thank you!!! I'm going to post Belize in a few minutes here, we had kind of an underwhelming day there, but that's because we kept it low key. There's nothing wrong with enjoying an empty ship,either!

 

Enjoying your review!! Sailing Dream March 6. Can't wait. Seventh Carnival cruise. First in 5 years and first on Dream. 5th cruise out of New Orleans (once diverted to Gulfport MS. Looking forward to rest of your review.

 

Thank you!! This was my 7th Carnival as well, and NOLA is a great pre cruise city!

[sunbird21]

We are on the same one :)

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

 

 

You had me at wordy and detail :D:D:D SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Aww, thank you!!! Hope you continue to enjoy!!!

[sunbird21]

Thanks Sunbird for the great detailed review and especially the photos!

 

Norris

 

Thank you!!! I'm glad you are enjoying!! I know some of the photos aren't the best-I don't claim to be the photo guru that other bloggers are, but try to capture what I can:)

 

 

I really enjoy your review. I'm going on a Christmas cruise this year to the same ports on the Breeze, so it's quite interesting reading. Also I'm going alone with my teenage son - so kind of "single traveling" as well.

 

I love you way to describe everything in details- I'm the same way :D No wonder I was thinking that you could be fun person to be around :) :)

 

 

Thank you for the compliment!!! I didn't do a lot of late night activity on this cruise but I have a good time and have met some awesome people on my cruises ever since I found CC (just before my 1st NCL cruise). And I would love to do the Breeze-just have to find the right itinerary and time! If you are going at Christmas, your son will have LOTS of company so you may have some alone time, be sure to get to know your roll call!

[sunbird21]

Hi, great review, have you the email of roatan island trip, me and my beetter half like the look of it, we sail on 6th march, thank you

 

Thank you!!! It looks like a lot of 3/6 cruisers have found this review, hope you all have a great time!! Take me with you!!! (Sorry ,post vacation woes kicking in).

[sunbird21]

Really GREAT review!

 

I'm pretty certain that supposed to be a swan!:D

 

I thought of that too, but they don't have appendages, either!

[sunbird21]

I read your Breakaway cruise review, as I also cruised that ship last year. I recently remembered that you were going on a cruise in December and had to wrack my brain to remember your name, but I did find you. Totally enjoying your review. It is ironic that you did not have good room stewards on either one of your cruises. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

 

Thanks for finding me!!! Yes, believe me, I was disappointed with the repeat in poor stewards as well. The other 8 cruises, I've had great service on Carnival( even had one steward on the Destiny make several towel animals for my travel companion who said that she liked them) and average but sufficient service on NCL. I've usually said Carnival does surpass NCL in service standard, but until the BA cruise, the NCL was at least decent.

 

The last one on BA was still the worst one ever, and I was ready to accept Carnival's service with open arms, so it was extra disappointing this time around. I don't know if its the cutbacks on BOTH lines, or just bad luck, but I guess I'll just have to accept that this is how it is...or perhaps try another line to see if its better. The service alone wouldn't negate me from ever cruising either line again, but just curious to see if this is an industry wide occurrence or not.

[sunbird21]

I can't wait for you to continue!

 

Can't wait for more! :)

 

 

I'm here, I'm here!!! I meant to be able to update yesterday, but had a hellish week at work, 2-3 admissions every day as well as my regular patients, plus one of the other areas is short on nurses, so they have us covering areas that we don't normally cover. Basically, it means that I don't get home until much later and have that much more paperwork to do.

 

But enough of my sob story...I will be posting Belize in a few! Thank yu for being patient with me!!

[sunbird21]

Sailing on Dream in 3 weeks. Enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest. Thanks!

 

Thank you!!!!! I hope you have a great time!!!!

 

 

I have loved your entire review. My brother has been telling me what a great job you did so I had to look at it as we are going to be on the Dream in 3 weeks. I am getting excited and your review just helped elevate the excitement level! Thank you

 

 

Thank you!!! I'm glad to know that it is useful and entertaining!!! I hope that you continue to enjoy-will definitely have it finished by next weekend:)

[sunbird21]

Great review so far! Looking forward to the next installment. Sailing the Dream in March, LFK reservations too. My email from them said you could catch a taxi at the first stop over the hill for $2 to me the "Frenchy's" folks, sounds like it might be worth it from your description. At least from an eye rolling perspective. :)

 

It's not a long drive, but the heat/humidity factor and the stair climb can be a pain. Just make sure you don't get a cab driver that tries to take you for a ride all the way...some people there are sketchy! Enjoy your cruise though!!! LFK is definitely worth it!!

[sunbird21]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

DAY 7

 

 

 

It was another rocky night as we sailed to Belize, and we woke up that morning and enjoyed our now habitual room service banquet on the balcony. The waves were definitely present, and through the Facebook grapevine I had heard of at least two excursions being canceled the evening before.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll back up and discuss some more of our loose planning for Belize. As I said before, we had been unable to find a good city tour to beach combo, outside of doing Starfish Island with Carnival. After our less than stellar buffet at LFK, my mom vetoed any more included buffets. I have to admit, I wasn’t heartbroken about giving up Starfish, as the reviews weren’t the best and it didn’t look quite as nice as some of the barrier reef islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had looked at Goff’s Caye and Rendezvous Caye, both beautiful islands, but the tour times didn’t leave much for including city sightseeing. They all seemed to leave the main pier around 10, (assuming we could get a timely tender to the pier) and return around 2-3, and it just seemed like there was too much room for error to include the city tour, so that was out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just before we left New Orleans, I found the local water taxi that would go to Caye Caulker, which looked picturesque and intriguing, and the times were certainly flexible. I was holding out for this as a real possibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, in my search for city tours that didn’t include any Mayan ruins or such, I came across the Calypso Train Tour, which is a local trolley that does a tour every 1 hour 15 minutes around Belize City for $30pp. It claims to visit the downtown area, various landmarks, churches,etc, and seemed to fit the bill for a city tour for my mom.

 

 

 

 

As an added bonus, I discovered in my research that it was actually a Carnival excursion (also sold on Royal,Princess and I believe NCL) so it had the fancy ship won’t leave you guarantee. However, they don’t list it on the shore excursion page prior to sailing, nor do they list it in the shore excursion book on board. Apparently, you can ONLY buy it the morning that you are in Belize. Sound confusing? OK, you’re with me.

 

 

 

 

 

So back to present day-by the morning that we arrived in Belize, we were fried from LFK, and the idea of a quick and easy day in port with the possibility of returning to a ship with less than 1000 children sounded enticing. Therefore, we decided just to get the trolley tickets and poke around the port village, and head back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wanted to get off the ship fairly early in order to get back fairly early, but wanted to wait out the crowds sure to be rushing off of the ship, so we hung out on our balcony watching various tenders speeding over to the Dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I watched them, I stupidly assumed that the volume of tenders would fill up quickly and leave little waiting time for us to disembark the vessel.

 

 

 

 

Along with the tenders, I spied various snorkel/dive excursion boats vying for a spot near the gangway. My first inkling that there was trouble was when I watched one of them being pummeled with waves as it tried to parallel park next to the Dream. After about 10 minutes of watching the little boat bounce like a ship in the Drakes Passage, the driver gave up and turned away, proverbial tail between its rudder.

 

 

 

 

 

Um, this can’t be good. I was pretty glad I wasn’t on THAT excursion.

 

 

 

 

 

We watched another excursion boat make its attempt as the cruise director Brandon came on and made the Idiot’s Guide to Tendering Announcement.

 

 

 

“Good morning folks, as you can see, we are not in port because of the fragile reef system….yada yada...So we have to take smaller boats to shore…These are called TENDERS…blah blah blah…..Come to Burgundy Lounge to get a number but don’t come all at once because it’s going to be crowded and logic suggests that 4000 people aren’t all going to be able to fit into a boat that can carry 300 people, and besides, the people on Carnival excursions are going first anyway because they are paying our inflated prices for activities so we have to throw them a bone and let them off the ship into a much smaller,less safe contraption FIRST so that they can be thrown overboard first for said stupidity in paying the overinflated prices. Oh, and really, there’s NO NEED to rush to the lounge at once-we haven’t hit a freakin’ iceberg, it’s just a line to get off the ship and go spend your money at THIS location’s Diamonds International.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, OK, so some of that MAY not have actually been said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyhow, we waited another half hour or so, watched the first two actual tenders (actually sponsored by Diamonds International!!) fill up with people, and headed down to get our tender tickets.

 

 

 

 

 

We were lucky number 11. I did spy the table at the front of the lounge where the Calypso reps were selling the tours, and managed to secure a spot for the 9:30 tram. It was about 8:20 at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now even though we waited, and watched a few tenders leave before we even came down here, there was still a bit of a crowd. That’s ok, I figured with the amount of tenders that were circling the ship, the process would go somewhat quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

Wrong. At about 8:45, as the lounge continued to fill up, and only 2 other tenders had been called, it seemed like something was up. We could see the Carnival staff near the front whispering anxiously. Then, one of them spoke up hesitantly.

 

 

 

 

 

“OK, guys, so here’s the thing…we’re changing the process a bit. Numbers 6-14 are going to go to the front of the ship and wait in the theater.”

 

 

 

 

 

As the crowd started to question and get wound up, one of the male staff members took the microphone.

 

 

 

 

 

“The waves are a bit rough today (you DON’T say?!) so we can’t load from two entrances. The tenders can only get to the entrance near the front. So when we get the go ahead, those numbers will follow us to the theater.”

 

 

 

 

 

I wondered vaguely how the waves at the front of the ship were going to be markedly different than those about 800 feet back, but ok.

 

 

 

 

 

Ten minutes later, we were ushered as a group to the theater, where we sat and…waited some more. Brandon the cruise director came up and explained that the tenders were taking a break because of the waves.

 

 

 

 

 

Another crew member(forgot his name) decided that the best way to entertain the group of cranky people wanting to get off the ship/meet their excursions/etc was to have a Christmas singalong and throw out candy canes.

 

 

 

 

 

Remember how I said I was part Scrooge? Add to the fact that I had been overhearing Christmas music in NYC since THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN (no kidding, it was playing in my bank) and you get this expression:

 

 

 

 

 

I did sent it to my friends back home to depict this wonderful experience.

 

 

 

I don’t think that anyone else in the theater was in a singing mood either, so after one warbling verse of Jingle Bells, he gave up. He did come around and pass out the candy canes, which most people declined.

 

 

 

 

Finally, just after 9:15 came and went, along with our hopes of making the 9:30 train, we were ushered down to deck 0.

 

 

 

 

 

I was SO GLAD that I hadn’t tried to plan an excursion to Rendezvous or Goff’s at this point.

 

 

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[sunbird21]

As we pinged our cards out, we were greeted with a large rotating white object that we were told was our tender. Luckily there were about three people helping each individual person onto the boat.

 

 

 

I don’t think we chose our seats so much as fell into the nearest bench. My mom was freaking out about an open area on the other side of me, about 10 ft away, saying that I was going to go flying out. I wasn’t as much, as I did not see that we were going to be able to travel very fast.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we filled up and took off, we could see that we were actually QUITE a ways away from land. It was a rocky ride in, and I could also see an NCL ship further out and a Costa ship nearby ours.

 

 

 

 

 

The ride took about 25 minutes before we pulled into “Terminal 2” (really just a long dock). There were Carnival photographers waiting to capture our looks of relief for surviving the ride:

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, the Calypso representative was at the end of the pier, and told us that the next trolley was in about 20 minutes. We waited and picked up a few more people, and then followed her down the sidewalk and through a store filled with:

 

 

 

 

 

It was designer heaven.Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Gucci, Prada, you name it. There were bags and luggage and wallets and scarfs and-WAIT! I wasn’t done looking!!

 

 

 

 

 

We were led through the back of the store into an alley behind it and down to a little building where we had to exchange our passes that we purchased on the ship for our “boarding passes” for the train. Then, we were told to come back in 10 minutes to get the train.

 

 

 

 

 

With that, we walked back to the store with the designer goods. As I was salivating over $50 Coach luggage WITH WHEELS(!!!) and listening to my mother say that I didn’t NEED any more luggage, I realized that I needed to check a transaction on my bank’s app. Since we had only a few minutes,and I couldn’t really purchase anything at that moment (and carry it around) we headed back to the train “station.”

 

 

 

 

 

Once inside, I inquired if they had Wifi, to which one of the reps took my phone to type in the password(really?). It didn’t go through, so she repeated it and then claimed that it “must be down.” OK, I would just go to the free Wifi area I noticed when we first arrived into the port when we were done.

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of getting onto the train at the appropriated time, the reps claimed that they wanted to wait “a few minutes more” for another tenderfull of people. So we waited…..Did I mention it was hot and humid here?

 

 

 

 

 

Finally about 25 more people arrived, and we were loaded onto the trolley, complete with people offering to sell us everything from hair braiding to coconuts to weed. Our driver pulled out a few minutes later and we began the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

The trolley took us outside the main port area, along the coast,where we saw a lighthouse, several local restaurants, some hotels before turning into the downtown area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also crossed over a tiny bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Everywhere we went,people called out “Hello!” and “Welcome to Belize!” Super friendly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove by the largest church in the area, and the governors mansion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way back, we went through the “affluent” area. Our guide told us that there was little crime around this area.

 

 

 

 

Then we passed by the “skyscraper” of Belize City-a Ramada Inn.

 

 

 

 

 

We wound our way back to the port area, as the guide told us that no chain restaurants were allowed in the city. The only food delivery was Chinese.

 

 

 

 

Once we arrived back and disembarked, we walked back to the front of the port village, I in search of the free Wifi area to check on my bank situation. I found it and logged on, only to discover that it was probably the slowest connection in the world. I sat down and messed around with it while my mom ducked in and out of shops.

 

 

 

 

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