MsAbs

I normally do cruises, but for our 10th anniversary my DH wanted to do a all-inclusive resort. My travel agent booked us for Dreams Palm Beach in DR and it was wonderful! I recommended paying extra for the "Unlimited-Luxury". It gives you all kinds of extras including concierge services. We by-passed the check in desk for the concierge services. One thing to watch out for, instead of the time-share sales, they try to sell you a vacation-membership. Just don't agree to anything. Skip that sales breakfast if possible. I didn't realize what it was and they signed us up for it. They will give you a special deal on something like the romantic dinner on the beach if you will attend this meeting. Just say no and enjoy the rest of your vacation. If one of their sales reps approaches during your trip, just tell them you've already attended the advent.  We even told them our concierge (by name) set us up and we're all good. The reps would leave us alone.

The resort is older, but it has been renovated. The food was awesome, especially the Seaside Grille, which is for "Unlimited-Luxury" guests only. I would go back in a heartbeat. Here is their website... Dreams Palm Beach Resort

If you need a travel agent, just let me know. I can give my agent's name. She works for AAA. 🙂

Normally, I'm all about cruising, but this time my hubby didn't want too. We book our anniversary trip to St Thomas for Dec. Since Hurricane Irma heavily damaged the resort we had book, we changed our reservations to Dreams Palms Punta Cana. I was wondering how your trip went and if you had any recommendations.

This is the first time I've done an ocean view and it was well worth it. No more interior cabins. Only ocean views. :cool:

I might splurge for a balcony next time... if business is good for us.

I've traveled on both RC and Carnival. I've done one RC and 3 Carnival cruises. That's not because I did NOT like RC. It's because I can afford Carnival. Keep in mind that Carnival is economical. RC is like Double Tree or Ritz. That isn't a bad refection on Carnival. They have EXCELLENT service and great food, entertainment and accommodations. We had a blast on our last Carnival cruise on Sunshine. This is a refurbished ship that use to be the Destiny. They did a great job updating the ship. I would go on it again in a heartbeat.

So what do you expect from your cruise? If you want luxury, then be sure and book RC or one of the luxury liners. If you don't mind economy, then I recommend Carnival any day.

Note: if you are childless, you will want to book the cruises with no slide or wave simulators. The least kids accommodations; the less kids. I'm not trying to diss on kids, but if you want a quiet kids free cruise then you should check out how many kids activities are available. Same of someone with kids. You want the cruise with the big water slide that accommodates to families. Some of Carnival's ships have the "Serenity" deck that is great for couples w/o kids. Check to see if the ship offers this if that's what you are into.

Hope this helps.

Because it was a small cabin, I didn't try to take more photos. There is 3 closets as you walk in the cabin. One has a safe and more shelves. That's where the life jackets are. There was room store my hats. Due to thyroid and hormone issues, I lost a lot of hair. :( I didn't want the top of my head to burn, so I purchased some hats in Nassau.

The next two closets are good for hanging clothes. One has two rods for pants and shirts. The other is great for dresses. The vanity has 3 drawers. Thankfully, I packed light… ok, so my DH wouldn't agree. LOL All of our clothes fit in the drawers and closest provided, so that's got to account for something. LOL

We were one Feb 15 - 20, 2015 Carnival cruise from Port Canaveral to Nassau and Grand Turks.

I thought I would post of photos of the cabin. It is an ocean view with a king size bed on Deck 1. It is small but has a sofa. For the two of us, it was perfect!

The bathroom was typical shower. I like the extra shelves that they had in both the bathroom and cabin vanity. The mirror over the vanity has a light. For woman who use make-up, you will like it. ;)

The outlets are all on the vanity side. If you have a cPap or bi-Pap, you will need an extension cord. I told my DH this several times before we left. Naturally, he didn't pack one. Thankfully, our wonderful cabin steward provided us with one. No problem!

We're not night owls, so don't know when it closes. :o We're small business owners so our days start early and are worn out by the end of the day. We are use to going to be early.

However, be sure and check out the Alchemy Bar's Martini Tasting. There is a charge for it, but it's fun. I thought it was worth it and I'm a certified "tight wad" LOL :p

In fact, they have other drink tastings (wine, etc.). Now I wished we had done them as well. Live and learn.

A good friend of mine invite us to go with them and their group on a cruise on Carnivals Sunshine. I twisted DH's arm until he caved in and said yes. Now, I'm just waiting... 109 days and counting! :D

I've gone on 2 solo cruises and they were great. I was single at the time. I'm married now but I would still do another single cruise if I could. We're a little financially challenged so we haven't had a vacation in 6 years.

My husband doesn't seem interested in cruising at all. I'm working him hoping that he will change his mind. My sister-in-laws want to do a family cruise, if his brothers can't talk him into, then I've decided I'm going with out him. LOL

I never thought about cruises offering pins. I collected Olympic pins for 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Once that was over, I started collected pins from places that I traveled too, so I have pins from all the ports from my cruises. I don't think I have any ship pins. I did a search on Ebay and saw all kinds of pins for sale and made offers on some. I couldn't believe how much they were asking for the Carnival Celebration pin... $40.00 & $50.00! Wow!

My first cruise was Royal Caribbean's Song of America in 1988. :)

I know! I've had too many photos and they would be the wrong size. With Shutterfly you can crop them and size them to just the right size for your album. I have a scanner and I've scanned in tickets and other memorabilia and added it to the album.

I also have several scrapbooks... I'm such a geek! :eek:

I've been working on travel photo album from Shutterfly. The first album that I purchase through Shutterfly was for a colllege reunion and it turned out great! I did a second one for my dad for fathers day with a bunch of our family photos and he loved it. Of course, I had to do one for my mom's birthday. LOL Anyway... if your photos are good quality, it's a great way to organize you photos. It takes a little extra time, but you can custom it with icons and text. It's just another say to enjoy your cruise memories

My aunt just took her family on an all-inclusive to the Beaches resort in Turks & Caicos and they loved it. It is definitely an option.

I was mainly wondering if any one else has had trouble getting a spouse or bf/gf to take a cruise. I can't image going on a trip without my DH. Especially since we don't get to travel very much. I did two of my cruises solo and loved it! I have no problem going alone, but it would be much more fun to go with him.

I'm going to recruit his brothers and their wives to help me next time they go on one. I'm already working on a solution for our next hurdle...

Our property has been broke into 4 times, so we had to get a professionally trained guard dog to patrol the yard. He only knows us and doesn't met anyone else not even my step-daughter. We don't have anyone to feed him if we go out of town. I'm thinking about training him to use a auto-feeder. We will have to board our other babies (2 cats + Chihuahua) it's going to be expensive.

When we first met, we lived in different towns. When we got married, I moved to his town. I was unable to find a job due to recession. Also the company I was working for was sold and my position was eliminate. They did give me a new position, but that didn't work out for me. My DH is self-employed and owns a small business. Now I run his office and help with the administration side of his business. With the recession, we're still struggling to make ends meet. Then there is finding time to shut down the business while we go on vacation, so it's been 7 years since either one of us has had a vacation.

I think the inclusive-resorts will probably be our thing. Several or our friends and family like to go on cruises and I've talked to them about going. Hopefully he will come around and we'll go on a cruise with them.

Right now I'm just ready for warm-sunny beach getaway... especially with temperatures today at 6˚F!

I have a ton of scrapbooks and they have all kinds of memorabilia from places I've been that include napkins, ticket stubs, labels, business cards, etc. That is always fun to browse through. Recently, I put together a travel photo album from Shutterfly. If your photos are good quality, the album is printed and looks great! It takes a little time, but you can custom it with icons and text.

Just another say to enjoy your cruise memories. ;)

My first cruise was in 1988 and was hooked. My first husband and I kept talking about taking a cruise, but it was one of those things we never got around doing. After my divorce, I booked my first solo cruise and had a blast. I took a couple of solo cruises and really wasn't looking to remarry. Then out of the blue, I met this wonderful man and a year later we married. That was 7 years ago and unfortunately we haven't had the money for a vacation much less a cruise. I was hoping 2014 would be the year that we take a vacation and I've brought up going on a cruise, but he keeps bringing up all the latest mishaps that have been in the news. Fuel for the fire as far as he's concern... it's just one more reason NOT to go on a cruise.

I'm so sad. I don't see a cruise in my future. :(