This Ain't No Disney Cruise, part 2 - My LIVE Trip Report From the Carnival Dream, January 13-27, 2024

[Honolulu Blue]

50 minutes ago, ChutChut said:

I have to revise my earlier post about how many affected airplanes United has - it's 79 - not 12. I think I was quoting just a subset of the specific type - not the overall number. I'm sorry. 

No problem, and no big deal.  Apology accepted. 🙂

[firefly333]

United has redone some inspections on similar planes and found several with loose bolts. Been listening to CNBC talking about it. BA stock now down 20 pts lol. Not sure what its doing to being on time. 

 

Now they are worried how those planes recently passed inspection with loose bolts.

[Honolulu Blue]

Three days to go.  I'm closing in on this cruise.  A few notes, mostly of interest to yours truly:

 

• United released a travel alert on those Max-9 aircraft and are now allowing free flight changes for those scheduled on them through the 13th.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), my flight to Houston is not on one of them.  It's the flight from Houston after the cruise that is.  We'll see how long the grounding and the inspections take and if it affects that flight on the 27th.
• United has already released some travel alerts for certain Midwest airports for Friday and Saturday flights.  It includes O'Hare, but curiously does not include DTW.  Or perhaps not so curious - most of the other airports affected go through ORD and use commuter jets that can't fly too high and are especially likely to be knocked around by the expected high winds.  Also, the expected snow for Detroit is around 2-4 inches, as opposed to 6+ inches for most of those other airports (and here, BTW).  We shall see if DTW gets added to the list in the next couple of days.
• My favorite shuttle service to DTW is apparently completely booked for Friday and Saturday.  I should have seen this coming and take responsibility for this.  Apparently, there's a big game on Saturday night and either they chartered all the buses, or they really are booked for fans.  Thursday is available and I booked a shuttle for tomorrow afternoon, along with two nights at a fleabag motel by the airport.  So it looks like this adventure is going to start extra early.  Yay?

[ChuckF]

Did this cruise a little over a year ago, and was on the Dream about a month ago.  We did a Carnival excursion to ride a ferry boat through the canal.  Although it was a very long day, I think the experience was worth it.  They take a picture of you on the ferry in the canal, and the border says "Been There, Done That".  Definitely a must do, but only once. 

 

I'm really terrible with names, but we thought the CD from last month was great, and the Dream RockBand was awesome, especially the guitar player. And a couple of the Playlist performers had pretty amazing voices. 

 

I just really wish the Dream had a Red Frog Pub instead of that unused art gallery. 

[luvcruzing]

12 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

• Also, the expected snow for Detroit is around 2-4 inches, as opposed to 6+ inches for most of those other airports (and here, BTW).  We shall see if DTW gets added to the list in the next couple of days.
• My favorite shuttle service to DTW is apparently completely booked for Friday and Saturday.  I should have seen this coming and take responsibility for this.  Apparently, there's a big game on Saturday night and either they chartered all the buses, or they really are booked for fans.  Thursday is available and I booked a shuttle for tomorrow afternoon, along with two nights at a fleabag motel by the airport.  So it looks like this adventure is going to start extra early.  Yay?

Exactly why I don’t fly during the winter.  By the way, your two-night stay at a “fleabag motel” by the airport sounds awful.  

[purpleally]

The good news you will be at airport before storm

the bad news fleabag hotel, which one

how will you keep yourself occupied besides watching the snow

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, luvcruzing said:

Exactly why I don’t fly during the winter.  By the way, your two-night stay at a “fleabag motel” by the airport sounds awful.  

I fly all the time during the winter.  It usually works out OK.  Sometimes it doesn't.  When it doesn't, I try to make the best of it.  I'm sure I would have made the best of my time in that fleabag motel, but I canceled it.  Long story.  I'll explain it in a couple of posts.

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, purpleally said:

The good news you will be at airport before storm

the bad news fleabag hotel, which one

how will you keep yourself occupied besides watching the snow

Not only will I be at the airport before the storm, but I'll be a lot closer to the ship by then.  I'll explain what happened in my next post.

 

I'll keep the name of that fleabag motel to myself for now.  I think I may have exaggerated how bad it is or was going to be. 😮  I had a real fleabag motel last year in the same area, which I'm also going to keep to myself.  It was a free one-night stay, and it was almost not worth the price of admission.

 

During that stay, I would have had a bunch of movies and books loaded onto my tablet to go through.  It wouldn't have been much different to me consuming them on the ship or consuming them at the motel.  I wouldn't have needed to count the snowflakes, though I might have done that had I felt the urge to.

[Honolulu Blue]

I had to make a lot of schedule changes in the past couple of hours.  Thankfully, they all worked out one after the other.

 

First, United opened up schedule changes for DTW and some other midwestern airports for tomorrow through Saturday.  I found a nonstop flight to IAH (Houston) for tomorrow that had a few seats on it.  I decided that was my best option, so I swapped my seat for space on it.  The ride may be a little bumpy on the way in, but at least I won't have to deal with too much snow.

 

Having done that, I had to change my shuttle time to 12:15 PM.  That was easy to do online.

 

Then I had to cancel that fleabag motel some of you were horrified by.  I was kind of looking forward to staying there.  🙃

 

And finally, I had to book two nights in Houston.  I found a La Quinta by the airport that had (relatively) cheap rates, a free shuttle, and a free breakfast.  Sold!  I'll pay $169 for it when it's all done.

 

The forecasts haven't changed too much around here - 2-4 inches of snow and some rain near DTW, and 6-12 inches of snow and maybe a bit of rain here at home.  I'm glad to go before the weather gets seriously bad.

 

I really should check the forecasts for Houston and our ports, but I haven't done it yet.  I'll get to it.

 

Thanks for following so far.  It won't be long before I start packing and head on out.

[Honolulu Blue]

2 days to go.  Before I pack, I want to make a couple of notes:

 

• Earlier I accused my shuttle company of chartering out the buses for Friday and Saturday.  That's not what they did.  They canceled bookings for those days for weather reasons, in an abundance of caution.  They plan to figure out what to do about bookings for those days this afternoon.  Too late for me, as I've already done what I needed to do, but it'll be interesting to see what they decide to do.
• Here's the weather forecast for most of our stops:
• Falmouth, Jamaica - sunny, mid-80s
• Aruba & Curacao - sunny, mid-80s
• Cartagena - sunny, low-90s
• Colon, Panama - storms possible, mid-80s
• Limon, Costa Rica - sunny, mid-80s
• Cozumel - too early for a forecast

The weather looks good for our cruise, though Galveston is going to be a bit chilly on embarkation day.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

The weather looks good for our cruise, though Galveston is going to be a bit chilly on embarkation day.

Texas is expecting a cold front by Tuesday that our houses arent built for. They say keep the taps running during freezes. I really dont want mine to run for 2 weeks while I'm gone so those of us Texans are worried. Hard freeze, 10 to 17 degrees by Tuesday.  My first though yea I'll miss it then oh oh hope my pipes dont freeze.

 

My hotel in Galveston probably is a flea bag, what's your definition? I started to say under $100 but cant get under $100 there at least fri or sat nights.

 

IAH hotel doesnt sound fun but convenient.  Too bad you couldnt get to a more fun area. Welcome to texas. Today isnt bad but by sunday it will be downright cold here.

 

Is jubilee boarding the same day as us. I have a friend keeps saying he is sailing jan 13, same date. Hes already done this cruise so grabbed jubilee same date I think. I had emailed him about the birthday sale. It was a hard choice for me as I'd have liked both. Jubilee was cheaper on a per day basis actually, now gone higher. This was a bucket list cruise. This isnt a cheap cruise for some of us, just the casino folks who post oh I got it for $100. Hard not to be a bit jealous. 

[Honolulu Blue]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Texas is expecting a cold front by Tuesday that our houses arent built for. They say keep the taps running during freezes. I really dont want mine to run for 2 weeks while I'm gone so those of us Texans are worried. Hard freeze, 10 to 17 degrees by Tuesday.  My first though yea I'll miss it then oh oh hope my pipes dont freeze.

 

My hotel in Galveston probably is a flea bag, what's your definition? I started to say under $100 but cant get under $100 there at least fri or sat nights.

 

IAH hotel doesnt sound fun but convenient.  Too bad you couldnt get to a more fun area. Welcome to texas. Today isnt bad but by sunday it will be downright cold here.

 

Is jubilee boarding the same day as us. I have a friend keeps saying he is sailing jan 13, same date. Hes already done this cruise so grabbed jubilee same date I think. I had emailed him about the birthday sale. It was a hard choice for me as I'd have liked both. Jubilee was cheaper on a per day basis actually, now gone higher. This was a bucket list cruise. This isnt a cheap cruise for some of us, just the casino folks who post oh I got it for $100. Hard not to be a bit jealous. 

Random comments:

 

• Every house in Michigan is built for cold, of course.  It's not predicted to get TOO bad here while we're gone - lows in the single digits is the worst I've seen.  I'll turn the heat down to 55 or so.  That should be good enough to keep me out of trouble.  It has been in the past.
• My definition of a "fleabag motel" - a motel that's seen better days with outdated and/or broken furniture and furnishings, old and sagging mattress, random stains on the walls, usually priced cheaply for penny pinchers.  When I checked Galveston hotels near the port, I found them quite expensive for what they provided.  So your hotel there probably qualifies.  Let us know how it goes.
• Thanks for the welcome.  I'll appreciate it more when I get there in a few hours.
• I'm big on convenience this trip.  I have a Carnival shuttle to Galveston that I didn't want to throw away, so staying near the airport is what I wanted to do.  Maybe I'll come visit Houston for a more extended visit sometime to explore the sights.
• Yeah, it looks like the Jubilee will be joining us in Galveston.  I'm not looking forward to it. 🤬  It doesn't look like we share any ports with them on this trip.

[firefly333]

Well my hotel they do have mattresses with the foam toppers in them. They fixed up the furniture so it matches and opened a breakfast room near the lobby. But it's clearly old. No elevator. No elevator and the king beds are on floor 3. I'm going to try and pack a separate overnight bag and not climb those stairs with a full suitcase, not even a carry on. Just a shoulder bag. Unfortunately it's not the only older hotel I can name without a elevator. Gaidos is quite popular. .. embraced as retro, I call it old. Lol. I got a so called suite at a la quinta with a ocean view. Didnt expect stairs. No elevator at the one I stayed at for breeze. Once and done. It was a flea bag. 

 

My friends fly into hobby and stay there. They arent paying Galveston prices for old. Though I enjoy being near the ocean. Ocean is a draw for me over Houston.  Lol Galveston touts itself as historic not old. And even has ghost tours. A few newer hotels but on the outskirts of Galveston. Grand galvez is awesome but expensive. 

 

Well I have to pack and get ready to hit the road. Cant say I'm ready at all. 

[Honolulu Blue]

I made it to Detroit Metro. Things should get somewhat easier from here. No rain or snow here now. Flight still shows as on time. The plane is close, should be landing soon. It's a bit over an hour until we take off. Attached is a picture of the shuttle I took to get here.

[purpleally]

DTW was dead when we dropped off our friends at 1230

found a good bar/restaurant near the airport next time you are staying there

so smart of you to get out of the state before this storm

have a great time!

[Honolulu Blue]

Just now, purpleally said:

DTW was dead when we dropped off our friends at 1230

found a good bar/restaurant near the airport next time you are staying there

so smart of you to get out of the state before this storm

have a great time!

I noticed DTW wasn't very busy when I passed through. 

 

I don't know how smart I was, but I had the time available to do this, the funds, and the ability to make changes. So far it's working out well. 

 

After a 3 1/2 hour flight, I made it to Houston. I proceeded to ground transportation and a friendly shuttle driver guided me to his bus, since he was heading that way. The shuttle offered to go to several different hotels in the same area. Mine was the second one we stopped at.  The shuttle was full when I  was crammed in, but somehow we added another couple.  Thank goodness we're not worrying about stuff like this anymore. 

 

The front desk told me about the procedure with the return shuttle - go down tomorrow and pick a time for Saturday, then be ready downstairs 15 minutes beforehand. Seems reasonable. 

 

The room is nice, no nonsense. There were some signs of wear, but not too bad. I've stayed in worse, and this is definitely not a fleabag motel. One minus is that so far I'm using 5g because the freebie wifi network is too weak  for consistent use. I'll attach a couple of pictures.

 

 

[mamiamjo]

13 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Texas is expecting a cold front by Tuesday that our houses arent built for. They say keep the taps running during freezes. I really dont want mine to run for 2 weeks while I'm gone so those of us Texans are worried. Hard freeze, 10 to 17 degrees by Tuesday.  My first though yea I'll miss it then oh oh hope my pipes dont freeze.

 

You probably already know this but you could turn your water off if you’ll be gone when it’s 10-17F for a day and a half

[firefly333]

29 minutes ago, mamiamjo said:

You probably already know this but you could turn your water off if you’ll be gone when it’s 10-17F for a day and a half

I'm not sure I could. I seem to have pinched a nerve or idk. I was in emergency 2 days ago. Xrays and sonogram and they didnt find anything but i cant hardly use my left arm. I assume shut off would be that thing in my tree lawn but you need a key I think to turn it on and off. I've watched it done. I'm packing so much stuff for pain i couldnt get in clothes. Taking my lightest carry on. Packed a overnight bag for the hotel. Not carrying the carry on up to the hotel room. Leaving my cabinets open and heat on. I have outside faucets that were changed out to the ones that dont freeze. 

 

I'm just trying to get there and do the best I can. Went to krogers again today and bought them out of those salanpas pain patches. They seem to help some. I'll be on a cruise and carnival has always had pretty soft mattresses. Hopefully i can manage. Sunday the pain got overwhelming and i didnt have time to gp so just went to emergency.

 

I was booked a similar cruise last jan, radiance OTS out of Galveston and no showed. This time im going. This itinerary seems unlucky for me. Gotta break this chain .. going and crossing fingers.  Only kitchen sink on a outer wall. Artic cold front and then maybe a freezing thing. Dallas forecast sounds bad. I need a handy husband to turn off water safely. Lol.

 

I see Honolulu blue made it in. Ahead of the weather. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by firefly333

[mamiamjo]

Sorry to hear about your pain. I hope you feel better soon. Weather on Saturday should be ok but Monday evening until Wed afternoon looks to be miserable. I hope all goes well for you and you have a great cruise.

[firefly333]

I just happened to see someone on our roll call who didnt beat the weather last they posted.

 

Honolulu blue im glad you got in safety. Reading drama elsewhere and it's going to get worse. Someone was stuck in pa last they posted. I hope everyone makes it to the ship.

 

"We’ve been stuck at the Philadelphia airport since 6am this morning. Our checked bags are on a plane to Houston. Our carry-on bags are on a standby flight that they thought they could get us on and the last minute had to kick us off that flight because they messed up the available seat count. They couldn’t get to our bags in time. So those bags are going to Dallas. We been on 4 standbys and still haven’t been comfirmed. I’m in dire need of the Caribbean. 😥"

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I just happened to see someone on our roll call who didnt beat the weather last they posted.

 

Honolulu blue im glad you got in safety. Reading drama elsewhere and it's going to get worse. Someone was stuck in pa last they posted. I hope everyone makes it to the ship.

 

"We’ve been stuck at the Philadelphia airport since 6am this morning. Our checked bags are on a plane to Houston. Our carry-on bags are on a standby flight that they thought they could get us on and the last minute had to kick us off that flight because they messed up the available seat count. They couldn’t get to our bags in time. So those bags are going to Dallas. We been on 4 standbys and still haven’t been comfirmed. I’m in dire need of the Caribbean. 😥"

It's good to be here. 👍 I'm glad I was able to get ahead of everything. 

 

Thank you for sharing that story. I hope you and them make it to the ship safely. 🙏

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  Looking forward to your review.  Was blessed to attend Law School in Michigan and will say that I met lifelong friends there. I find the Michigan folks to be among the most welcoming and loving of those I have met in my world travels. Now dividing my time between NY and Honolulu I respectfully ask how you selected your CC name?  That said have a wonderful voyage!

[Honolulu Blue]

Just now, LouChamp said:

I respectfully ask how you selected your CC name?  

First of all, thank you for the post and your kind words. It's true that Michiganders can be kind and friendly, and I've met bunches of each.

 

The screen name has a simple story... I've been a fan of the Detroit Lions for a very long time. Their team colors are silver... and Honolulu Blue. 

 

P.S. WiFi signal at the hotel is stronger now. 👍 Breakfast soon. Don't expect food pics. ☹️

Edited January 12 by Honolulu Blue

[Honolulu Blue]

I had breakfast and walked around the hotel for a bit to help work off the calories. The breakfast was decent, not much different than I expect from  the trough on the Dream.

 

I don't have any special plans today, so I'll sign off with a few pictures. 

 

P.S. I said no food photos, but this one was too cute to resist. 

Edited January 12 by Honolulu Blue

[Honolulu Blue]

I think I overestimated DTW's ability to handle this snowstorm. It is one of today's leaders in cancellations and delays, along with ORD. I think I made the right call by getting out of town when I did.

 

 

I also found that as the Max 9 investigation goes on, the window for me to switch my return flight gets closer. I'm starting to worry a bit more about this, but I'll be cruising (and posting), so I can't do much about it.

 

 

Good night all. Tomorrow is the big day!

Edited January 13 by Honolulu Blue