Expectations Vs Reality 2; or Dude Brings His Brood

[Staceman225]

This is a sort-of review of the Carnival Triumph trip that departed on June 11 from New Orleans for Progresso and Cozumel.

 

For a background on me, my family, and my “expectations” format, please read through my previous review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2053391

Expectations vs Reality; or There and Back Again – A Dude’s Holiday

Thanks to all for the kind comments on that review. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I had an absolute blast writing it. Now on with the show!

 

This will be our fifth cruise on Carnival. All of our past cruises have been on the smaller Fantasy-class ships. This one will be on the Triumph.

 

On this cruise we will take all three of our daughters along. Everyone calls me Dude and the wife is called Wife. Our youngest daughter is 4 and is called Rue. The middle one is 14 and is called Yaya – a nickname given to her by Rue. The oldest is 24 and called Jess. Yaya and Jess have cruised once before but this will be the first one for Rue. Rue is … let’s just say that she is “spirited and full of life”. I love her dearly but she can be a handful. While Rue has seen pictures and cruise reviews on YouTube (what she calls Rue-tube), these just do not do these floating resorts justice. I really look forward to seeing her reaction to the real thing.

 

In the past we have sailed from Mobile and Jacksonville. This time we will sail from New Orleans which will be another new item as we have never been to NOLA.

 

A new cast of characters, a new port, a new class of ship … with so many new things, I decided to do another “Expectations” review. I expect Jess to be on her own for most of the trip. She is engaged so she won’t be “on the prowl” or anything. She will probably just be soaking up the sun and possibly some suds. We will probably have Yaya on and off again for the duration. Since this will be Rue’s first voyage a lot of the expectations will be from the eyes of a cruising toddler – a croddler if you will.

 

 

 

Pre-cruise Festivities

Our port of origin will be New Orleans. Since we have never been there, we decided to take a couple of extra days and explore the Crescent City. This cruise will be a Saturday-Thursday trip so we plan to leave home EARLY Thursday morning (June 9th, about 2:30 AM), arrive at NOLA before lunchtime, and explore the city until the cruise time on Saturday (June 11th).

Expectation:

We intend to buy tickets for the streetcars and take a self-guided tour of NOLA. We want to ride through the fabled Garden District to see the beautiful sights. Then we plan to hit the more touristy parts - Bourbon Street, a couple of cemeteries, the French Market, etc. Last but not least - there’s the food. Jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, beignets – we love Cajun food. There is something exciting about eating things you can’t quite identify. I’m almost as stoked about touring New Orleans as I am about the cruise – almost, mind you. However, after talking to some friends who have been there, I just hope I don’t have to explain to Rue what a “Gentleman’s Club” is. By the way, I am tempted go to one of these establishments in my formal night suit complete with a monocle, a cane, and a British accent – being a true “gentleman”. I wonder if anyone would get the joke. I wonder how cheap I can get a top hat…..

Reality:

We did a ton of things in NOLA so I will rate each - from 1 to 5 mudbugs. (For those that don’t know, mudbug is slang for crawfish – the official shellfish/seafood/bird/root vegetable/whatever of New Orleans. They eat it in every way imaginable. And it is delicious)

Streetcar ride through Garden District: Simply beautiful. You see such a wide variety of architecture in a short amount of time. Stunning. Also, it looks like beads grow on trees here. 4.5 mudbugs

Camellia Grill: Really good food (burgers and sandwiches), even better staff. They spoiled Rue. 4 mudbugs.

Bon Ton Café: Good food (traditional NOLA fare), though a little overpriced. 3 mudbugs.

French Market: Like a flea market with hot sauce. Trinkets and t-shirts galore, with a few bars and eateries sprinkled in. Not really my thing, but great snowballs. 2.5 mudbugs.

St Louis Cathedral/Jackson Square: Beautiful. Rue saw her first “living statue” and was quite unsure about the whole thing. Then, Rue became “Rue-nan the Barbarian, Frightener of Pigeons”. Good times. 4 mudbugs.

Gumbo Shop: Proof that there is a God and that he loves us very much. This was the best food of the trip – including the cruise. Excellent staff. 5 + mudbugs. I would say 6 mudbugs but they used the extra one in the etouffee.

Café Dumonde: Deep fried donut drowned in powdered sugar. I know I’m in the minority here but I just don’t get it. It was good but I don’t get the beignet-mania. Wife loved the café ole. 3 mudbugs.

Walking Canal Street: Pretty but too many beggars and panhandlers. At the Riverfront streetcar station there were people selling bottles of water out of a cooler. 2.5 mudbugs.

Walking Bourbon Street: We walked 2 blocks and saw 2 strip clubs and an “all-male review” establishment. It looks like it would be a hoot but not with children. 2 mudbugs with a family.

Overall: NOLA was incredible. Wife and I are already planning our next (kid-less) New Orleans getaway.

 

 

Sail Away party

During our previous sail-aways, we have always stayed out on the upper decks towards the bow and watched as the boat leaves port. However, since there won’t be a lot to see on this sail away and there will be about 8 hours of it, we plan on attending our first sail away party on the Lido deck.

Expectations:

From what I have read the sail away party is hosted by the Red Frog Pub so you’re supposed to wear red. I’m sure by the way that Rue and I will be dancing Wife and Yaya will be VERY red.

Dude: *dance dance dance*

Yaya: Dear goodness, please stop.

Rue: *dance dance dance*

Wife: Don’t encourage him.

Reality: Oh, I wobbled. I wobbled like crazy. I wobbled during the Cupid Shuffle. I wobbled during the Cha Cha Slide. Then I wobbled during the Wobble. Much fun was had by all - even Yaya. Rue wasn’t quite sure about the whole thing and kept getting bumped. We will practice the dances next time.

 

 

Mississippi River

One of my favorite things on earth to do is to sit at the rear of the ship, sip lemonade, and watch the blue waters of the open ocean roll by. This will be my fifth cruise and I am still fascinated by the ocean’s color. However, I have read that it takes about 8 hours or so to leave the Mississippi River delta behind and reach open water. That’s quite a long time.

Expectation:

Dude: Are we there yet?

Captain: Not yet.

*15 minutes later*

Dude: Can we go a little faster?

Captain: *glares* Go away.

*15 minutes later*

Dude: How much longer?

Captain: Do you want me to pull this ship over and give you something to whine about?

Reality: After the sail away party, we went to our room to unwind and prep for the evening’s MDR meal. While we were there we got some great shots of the riverbank from our port-side balcony. We got a great shot of St Loius Cathedral. The downriver trip was much better than I expected. However, it was a little disorienting in the MDR eating with riverbank sliding by the window. On the open seas you don’t get that constant reminder of motion. After dark you can see the lighted buoys making a sort of road going down river. Beautiful, yet creepy.

 

 

[Princess_K]

Can tell I am gonna love this review... that's both my expectation and my reality (so far) 😊

[pcvtmom]

Love your style, Dude!! Keep it coming!

[JimAOk1945]

Great start. Looking forward to more!

[DRZ2]

Great review!

[Staceman225]

Hub

The Carnival Hub app is supposed to go live on the Triumph on June 6th. We sail the 11th. This will allow for a week to work out some of the kinks.

Expectation:

Being a tech guy I have two possible expectations – either it will work really well or it will fail like a Kristen Stewart School of Acting.

Reality: Flawless. The Hub app worked perfectly. We enabled phones for Yaya, Jess, and me. We were able to keep in touch just fine. The activity reminders were VERY useful and the built-in maps were handy for those of us unfamiliar with the ship layout. I didn’t get disconnected once. Eat your heart out Kristen Stewart!

 

 

Guys Burgers

Our other cruises have been on smaller ships so Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana, etc. will all be new to us. I’ve watched Guy for a while. I remember watching him on Next Iron Food Champion Chopped Chef or whatever. “Triple-D” is one of my favorite shows. On that show he seems to really enjoy the same types of food I enjoy. He’s like my culinary spirit animal.

Expectation:

I expect … a hamburger. Don’t get me wrong - a hamburger is good and a hamburger on a cruise is 35.5% better. Heck, even microwaved pizza rolls taste gourmet on a cruise. But I don’t know what kind of magic can be used on a hamburger patty to make it all the rage. It’s probably “Guy’s special seasoning” or some such and that just makes it sound … ick.

Reality:

I’m not sure what all went into the burgers but they were delicious! I am now a HUGE Guy fan. Not that I am a fan of huge guys. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Good grief, the burgers were delicious. Move along.

 

 

Cruising with a teenager

When Yaya last cruised, she was a mere slip of an 11-year-old girl. Now, she is a budding 14-year-old young lady. There will be boys.

Expectation:

I have three choices. I could act like an imposing 6’2” 200-none-of-your-business-pounds angry bodyguard full of pent-up nerd rage ready to open up a can of ouch on somebody. Or, I could simply stand beside her shirtless the whole time to scare off any would-be suitors - if you can’t see this and keep your lunch down that’s not my fault. Poor Wife. Or, I could make her wear a turn-of-the-century neck-to-ankle bathing suit. I wonder if they allow weapons on board under extenuating circumstances.

Reality:

The reverse was true. Yaya has a boyfriend back home. We will call him McGee. With no way to text or call him (I refused to get a data plan), she was pining away. Then, we saw one of the Pixel photographers that was the spitting image of McGee. We will call him McGee 2.0. Yaya stalked McGee 2.0 for the duration of the cruise. On the sad sea day, we asked for a pic of the two together. We told him the story. He was blushing more than Yaya, but we have the pic.

 

 

 

Blue Iguana Cantina

I love Mexican food. (I notice a trend developing – I love most kinds of food) Compared to the other lunchtime eateries on the boat, the Blue Iguana will probably most conforms to my taste. I can make my entrée spicy and full of flavor but not overly hot – sort of a gastric Goldilocks.

Expectation:

There are so many ingredients and toppings to choose from! I’ll be like some sort of mad scientist concocting that perfect edible creation. Muahaha! After I’ve assembled creations that would make the gods themselves weep, I’ll plop my hiney down on a deck chair with a taco in one hand, a virgin strawberry daiquiri in the other, and a burrito in my mouth like some sort of big meaty cigar. This is the recipe for a happy Dude. Again, poor Wife.

Reality:

Holy smokes! This place was delicious. Both tacos and burritos. And the watermelon salsa – wow! In the morning you can ask your burrito-ista to make you a breakfast burrito. Really great stuff.

 

 

Dive-In Theater

This will be our first experience with the ship-board jumbo-tron. I have to have background noise to fall asleep, like the TV. I love the sleep timer on a TV. However, sometimes that flips on me. If I get comfortable with a TV-like device in front of me, I can’t help it.

Exectations:

Dude: *ZZzzzzzZZZzzzz*

Movie-goers: Somebody wake him up! We can’t hear the explosions.

Reality:

This was neat. The movies shown early in the trip weren’t really our kind of flicks but we did watch about an hour of Zootopia before Rue lost interest. I would like to spend more time with this. They have blankets available for “borrowing” at the Lido bars. The evening we watched this movie Wife wore a long flowing skirt. Thank goodness for the blanket. With the way the wind was blowing, Wife could have had a Marilyn Monroe moment…

[Staceman225]

Balcony With Rue

While Wife is not afraid of heights, she does get really anxious when people – especially children - are around high places and ledges. It doesn’t even matter whether or not the child is ours. Since we have a balcony room, this could be interesting.

Expectation:

Wife: Rue, back away from the balcony rail.

Rue: OK, mommy.

Wife: Rue, back up a little further.

Rue: OK, mommy.

Wife: Rue, please back up a little further.

Rue: But mommy! I’m out in the hallway!

Reality:

Wife did much better than expected. Once she saw that the barrier on the balcony was taller than Rue, she was much more relaxed. That is until Rue discovered she could climb up on the balcony chairs…

 

 

Cozumel Croddler

This will be Rue’s first time to set foot outside of the US. We don’t have an excursion planned for Cozumel. We are just going to wing it and explore the city. I expect a lot of questions and observations from our croddler.

Expectation:

*all in rapid succession*

Rue: They sure do talk funny here.

Rue: That lady with the big yellow slushy is walking funny.

Rue: Look at that guy dressed up in feathers. Can I get an outfit like that?

Rue: The food was really good.

Rue: Why do all the stores sell those big hats?

Rue: Mommy, can I have some of your slushy?

Everybody: No!

Reality:

I was surprised here. For Father’s day, Wife got the family a Passion Island beach day excursion. Hammocks in the water (for me). Open bar (for Wife and Jess). On-the-water inflatables (for Yaya). Lots of sand for rolling around (for Rue). And a fantastic Mexican buffet. A++. Would excursion again. Three showers later and we were STILL getting sand out of Rue’s hair. It looked like her scalp had mange or something.

 

 

Human Garbage Disposals

Mealtime is a special time for my family. Almost every night we eat supper together around the dinner table. We usually have a home-cooked meal and the table is a “no phone zone”. But on vacations we let our hair down and go WILD! Two deserts? Go ahead! We’re CRAZY!! On a side note, during the Triumph’s last dry dock, they updated the soft serve ice cream machines to “Swirls”. I’m not really sure what that means.

Expectation:

This is a 5-day cruise. I’ll set the “line” at 18 ice cream cones between all my daughters combined. After thinking about it, I believe I’ll take the “over”. And let’s not even mention the pizza.

Reality:

I was wrong. Surprisingly, only 9 ice creams were harvested for the entire family. Then there was the Lemon Jess. This is a “refreshment” we invented on embarkation day. You fill a drinking glass with a small amount of lemonade. Then, add a generous portion of soft serve vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt). Stir. This is now a family favorite. If you add Lemon Jesses to the mix, we downed about 14 ice creams so whoever took the under is the winner!

 

Pools with Rue

We have a small above-ground pool in our back yard. Rue LOVES the water.

Expectation:

Between the pools and the water slide, Rue and I will be so water-logged and wrinkly that we will look like a prune standing next to a raisin.

Reality:

I was right. Many hours were spent in the pool or waiting in line for the slide. For the record, water slide speed increases with enhanced mass. To put it simply, fat man go fast. A couple of times my feet hit the barricade at the end of the “slide trough”. When I got up and cleared the water from my eyes, there were always people standing around laughing. Oh well.

[Staceman225]

Mayan ruins with kids

Wife and I went on the Uxmal (pronounced OOSH-mall) ruins excursion about 6 years ago and it is still one of the highlights of any vacation I have ever taken. But on that cruise it was just the two of us. This one will include our progeny. On a side note for those who haven’t been on a ruins excursion - iguanas are EVERYWHERE. When you sit down to have your lunch they come from everywhere like pigeons in a park. Also, on our last Uxmal trip we saw a dung beetle rolling his “collection”. Hey, I thought it was neat but I’m weird like that.

Expectation:

Rue: Where are the rides?

Dude: There aren’t any. Look at all the history around you! Temples, pyramids, the ball court…

Jess: It’s hot.

Dude: It’s June in Mexico. Of course it’s hot. Oh look… an iguana!

Yaya: Is there wifi here?

Dude: No, the Mayans used dial-up. Put your phone down and enjoy the ruins, darn it!

Wife: Rue, get off that temple! You might break it.

Dude: That building is even older than Wife!

Wife: *smack*

Yaya: Rue is touching me.

Dude: Do you want me to rub y’all down with bananas and leave you for the iguanas?!?!

Rue and Yaya: We’ll be good.

Reality:

This is not far from the truth. Rue lost interest and was soon collecting treasures. We came home with a water bottle filled with sticks, rocks, and some weed-eater string (she said it was a dead worm). Jess didn’t care for the heat. Yaya actually loved the trip. And yes, there were iguanas. Everywhere. Early on in the tour, everybody was saying “Ooohhh! An iguana! Let me take a picture!” Later, everyone was saying “Awwww, man. I hope that wasn’t iguana poop I just stepped in.” I still greatly enjoyed it. The intricate stonework fascinates me.

 

 

More Drinks

Emboldened by adventurous drinks on the last cruise and joined by another drinker on this trip, Wife and Jess plan to stray a little further from their conservative drink list. Then there’s the Alchemy Bar…

Expectation:

The pineapple pickers union will put out a “cease and desist” order against my family.

Reality:

The Deal Closer – Both Jess and Wife had one of these from the Alchemy bar. It looked like a professional milkshake. It had chocolate syrup on the inside of the glass and “chocolate zest” on the top. It had chocolate, amaretto and some other stuff. They both thought it was quite tasty but Jess said it was so sweet it hurt her teeth.

The unknown concoction – nicknamed “The Wobbler” – The place where we stayed in NOLA had a live-band bar on the first floor. While I was putting Rue down for the evening and “resting my eyes”, Jess and Wife went down to hear some music and get a drink. Jess told the bartender she wanted something “citrus-y”. Apparently, this is Cajun speak for “GIVE ME ALLLLL THE BOOOOZE!!!!” It was so strong she couldn’t finish it.

The Diablo – MDR cocktail – This was a featured cocktail after one of our Mexican ports. Wife said it was tasty with a nice spice kick to it.

The Perfect Storm – Alchemy Bar – This is the first time I have ever seen a bartender light something on fire then throw it in a drink. True, it was only a rosemary sprig but I felt like I needed safety equipment or something. However, this was Wife’s favorite of the trip. Tangy, sweet, and the hint of rosemary. I’m still not sure about the burnt offering sacrificed to the liquor gods.

 

 

MDR - Formal night with Rue

Expectation:

Rue – Apple sauce on her hands, butter on her elbow, hair in disarray, constantly getting up to see out the window while bumping into the poor people who are actually sitting beside the window. Food all over the place.

Wife – Apple sauce in her hair, hair in disarray, asking for more napkins, earring missing, food untouched.

Dude – Apologizing to wait staff, table neighbors, and the poor people sitting in front of the window. Constantly moving glasses around to prevent spills. Food untouched.

Yaya – Picking Rue’s food up off of the floor while trying to avoid being kicked by an overstimulated 4-year-old. Embarrassed beyond belief. Food barely eaten.

Jess – Happily (and quietly) eating at the Lido buffet.

Reality:

I was pleasantly surprised. Rue was quite the little lady for the most part. She acted as well as I would have expected for a 4-year old. And Jess did eat with us. Honorata, our head waitress, was perfect. She and the rest of our wait team spoiled Rue. We came to accept them into our clan. More on this later.

 

 

Tight Fit

Originally, we were going to get two rooms as Wife, Rue, and I would have one room and Jess, Yaya, and Jess’ fiancé Babe (don’t ask) were to have another room. Babe couldn’t come so we decided to change to a 5-person balcony room. It has a twin/king bed, a fold-down bunk, a sleeper couch, and a trundle.

Expectation:

I expect two bruised shins, three stubbed toes, a concussion, a black eye, and a lot of words Rue doesn’t need to hear. And that’s just my first nightly trip to the bathroom.

Reality:

The sleeper couch unfolded to a full/queen sized bed. This removed the need for a trundle. With this said, it wasn’t as crowded as I expected. However, my shins did take a beating from the bottom of the ladder from the fold-down bunk. Most of my toe abuse happened once inside the darkened bathroom where we had our “toiletries bag” stowed. It stuck out a little further than the sink. At one point my little toe was ready to call it a trip and go home.

 

[Buckimion]

Expectation:

The pineapple pickers union will put out a “cease and desist” order against my family.

 

Bwaahaaahaaaaa! That sums up my drinks perfectly. :D

[riffatsea]

Your report is just great!! Are you a travel writer in disguise???

Which ruins did you visit??

We'll be on the same cruise in December so not as hot but hopefully still as much fun as yours!!

[pirate4me2]

This is a great review so far!!

[Staceman225]

Which ruins did you visit??

 

We went to Uxmal. It was amazing. Lots of VERY hot walking but very fascinating.

[Staceman225]

Thanks so much for the comments! I have a few more installments to write and a couple of song parrot-ies if anyone is interested.

[elainmir]

Ok first off you have won my son over, he absolutely detests Kristen Stewart and swears she must've slept with half of Hollywood to get into ANY movie. So your comment about her failed Kristen Stewart School of Acting had him cracking up!

 

You have inspired us to try the "Lemon Jess" next cruise!

 

Can't wait to hear more!

[patrice1]

Wonderful review! Enjoying it.

[riffatsea]

What was the mosquito situation at Uxmal??

Had lots of trouble at the ruins on Cozumel even with lots of bug spray!

[Staceman225]

What was the mosquito situation at Uxmal??

Had lots of trouble at the ruins on Cozumel even with lots of bug spray!

 

We used Sawyers Fisherman (see Amazon) spray and had no problems.

[fer]

Laughing my butt off at your review! Looking forward to more!

[Staceman225]

Karaoke (again)

My family enjoys just about every type of music under the sun – classic rock, metal, country, show tunes, Disney, pop, folk, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s,…you name it. My MP3 player changes genres so radically we call it musical whiplash. The girls have absorbed all of these music genres like little sponges. Wife, Jess, and occasionally, Yaya sing at karaoke night. They have beautiful voices. My voice was used by the US government at Guantanamo Bay before it was considered an “inhumane torture device” and they went back to using the rack. Oh - and for the record, the “show tunes” genre is a favorite of Jess, not me. Seriously.

Expectation:

Since my girls will probably have heard most of the songs people will sing, I expect that each karaoke solo will end up being a duet with the actual singer on stage and either Rue or Yaya from the audience. Or there may be more dancing.

Reality:

We didn’t do karaoke as much as we expected. On our first trip to the karaoke room, alcohol and karaoke collided. Two sets of little girls got up on stage and performed. They were overwhelmed and froze on stage. Mom and Dad got up to help them through it. Then, from nowhere, a lady (we’ll call her Mojito) decided coming on stage to help would be a great idea. It wasn’t. It made the whole room feel uncomfortable, like that guy who dances a little too often with the bride at a wedding. Then, another set of young girls took the stage with similar results – stage fright, mom and dad, and then Mojito “helping”. Then, Rue sang the chorus of “All about dat bass, no trouble” while Jess sang the rest of it (no Mojito). Wife also sang once (Little White Church). No Mojito, but I would have paid money to see Wife’s reaction to that. After that night, karaoke was way too crowded. If the comedy show was going on, they had karaoke in one of the smaller lounges and there wasn’t a place to sit for a family of 5. Jess and Yaya went by themselves one night. Jess sang “Friends in Low Places”. The said she was “playing to the crowd”. That’s my girl.

 

 

Camp Carnival

Expectation:

Wife: *wink* Why don’t we send Rue to Camp Carnival for a while? *smile, wink*

Dude: Oh, yeah!

We drop off Rue and practically run to the cabin. We lock the door, put out the “Snoozin’” sign, turn on some soothing music, close the curtains, and do what comes natural – we take a nap.

Reality:

Rue loves school. She likes the structure and a schedule. With that said, she loved Camp Ocean. She was with us most of the time but she did spend a few hours there off and on. We knew it was a success when, during our debarkation, she hugged a girl she met at Camp Ocean. Instant friends. Or it could have been a “we made it out alive!” embrace to go along with that 1000-yard stare. Anyway, Rue seemed to like it.

 

 

Cruising with a teenager part 2

When Yaya is at home, this typical middle-schooler barricades herself in her room for days with no company but her computer and her phone. I have to change the network password to get her to come out and talk to us. How much is there for a teenager to do at sea?

Expectation:

At 14, Yaya can sign herself in and out of Circle C. She will also have the pools and the slide, sunning and reading on the top decks, trivia contests, live music with an iced mocha in hand, ice cream, all the places to eat … I really don’t expect to see her each much during the day except when we port. Now she may distance herself from me because I am way too cool for her and she doesn’t want to look uncool by comparison. Or it could be the truth. The only reason Wife hangs around my Hawaiian shirt-wearing self is because she is legally bound.

Reality:

This too was a bit of a surprise. Jess and Yaya teamed up for most of the trip. I guess they were commiserating over loved ones left back home. Either that or they were talking about me behind my back. Yaya never made it to Circle C. But between eating, napping, and stalking McGee 2.0, she simply didn’t have the time.

 

 

Eating Healthy and Exercising

As I have said before, I love food. I’m not so much of a “foodie” as I am an “eatie”. I love it so much that I won’t let go of it. Well, reality hit home. My pants got so big that Wife threw her back out while doing the laundry. I realized that I have got to start getting healthy. Wife was doing really well with her Episcopal … err … piscatorial diet but the fish place we loved that was near our house closed down. Since then we have discovered a great weight loss secret. It is pure genius – eat less, eat better, and exercise. Nobody would sell or buy a book that is just 6 words long so there is no money to be made in this formula. That’s why it’s a secret.

Expectation:

While I realize we are trying to get healthier, we are still on a cruise. I will have an ice cream and chocolate melting cake (or two) but we will also walk each morning on the walking track. I would jog but the resulting vibrations may disrupt the navigational instruments. We may even spend some time in the gym. No, really.

Reality:

HAHAHAhahahahaha!!!!!! We had a 4-year old. We walked around New Orleans in June. We swam a lot. We walked around Cozumel in June. We did a Mayan ruins excursion in Mexico. In June. We went through all 3 cases of our Carnival water and our 4 large “Welcome back” waters. Oh, we had our workouts. It was like a self-induced detox. We didn’t go as crazy as I expected with the food either.

 

 

Go go gadget Dude!

Being a computer guy, I like gadgets. Likewise, my family likes gadgets. With all the wires, our charging station looks like a nest for some sort of futuristic robo-bird.

Expectations:

We plan to take:

my MP3 player for traveling tunes on the way down and music on the boat

my phone for games, Hub, camera

Wife’s phone for games, alarm clock, camera

Wife’s camera

A tablet to keep Rue occupied at quiet times

Yaya’s phone for camera, games, Hub, music

Jess’s phone for camera, games, Hub, music

my laptop for off-loading pics from phones, games, movies to help Rue go to sleep if necessary

ear buds/ear phones for everybody

a butt-load (a scientific unit of measure which is ½ of a butt-ton) of chargers and USB cables

a power strip/USB charger and a couple of USB wall adapters

and a partridge in a pear tree

Since I will be carrying the laptop, my backpack will be considered the “technological bag of holding”, meaning all of that except the phones and Wife’s new camera will be in my carry-on backpack. Good grief. I will feel like a Radio Shack with legs.

Expectation:

Knowing my family, I bet every gadget will be used.

Reality:

I was right. The Hub app made us use our phones much more than I would have expected. Our recharging station looked ridiculous. One outlet splitter (two outlets and two USB outlets), one USB 4-way splitter, another USB outlet adapter, 3 phones, 2 tablets, and enough wires to be a safety hazard. Incredible.

 

American Table

Expectation:

From what I have seen, the American Table menus look somewhat similar to the ones used on previous cruises. There seem to be a few additions and a few removals, but generally the same. I have always thoroughly enjoyed the MDR food (again with the food, the trend continues) so I expect this to be more of the same.

Reality:

My favorites were all there. Also there were a few new finds. The blackened mahi mahi (the NOLA port dish on embarkation night) was delicious. Yaya decided she likes calamari. I rediscovered my love of banana splits. While the format is slightly different, I didn’t see a huge difference in selection between this and the older menus. I enjoyed the food just as much, if not more, than previous cruises.

Concerning tablecloths: I’m not concerned either way. The only thing that bothered me was how easily glasses slid across the polished tables – especially with a croddler. Our trip was in perfectly calm seas. I wonder if this is an issue in rougher seas?

[crewsweeper]

Dang! Missed the best karaoke set of all time, mojitos excluded. :D:eek:

 

Great review!

[moongal]

Please go on another cruise soon so I can read another of your fabulous reviews!!!

[Staceman225]

Please go on another cruise soon so I can read another of your fabulous reviews!!!

 

Sadly, my next one won't be until October of 2017. That will be the 25th wedding anniversary for Wife and me. We're planning a 7-day trip on the Dream without the kids. New ship, new itinerary, new expectations. ☺️

 

Oh, and thank you so much. I'm glad you like the review.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Staceman225

[isadelia]

Sadly, my next one won't be until October of 2017. That will be the 25th wedding anniversary for Wife and me. We're planning a 7-day trip on the Dream without the kids. New ship, new itinerary, new expectations. ☺️

 

Oh, and thank you so much. I'm glad you like the review.

 

What a fun review! What October 2017 Dream cruise are you going to be on? We're leaving on the 15th.

[Banditswife]

Where's the like button. Great review, thanks

[Staceman225]

What a fun review! What October 2017 Dream cruise are you going to be on? We're leaving on the 15th.

 

It will have to be the first week in October. Wife is a teacher and that is their fall break.