Our Dream - Jan 8-15th

[kiraryker]

Here is my attempt at a review - hopefully I can post my pics later - if I figure out how to do it

 

We left the snow waste land of North Dakota to Minneapolis to get out flight to Orlando in the morning. We landed in Orlando to find that it was actually COLD! Doesn't matter we were on vacation - family of 5: 50 dad, 45 mom, 21 daughter, 17 son, 10 daughter and we were meeting my dad and his wife and daughter and boyfriend in Orlando.

 

We stayed at the LaQuinta Cocoa Beach and it was right on the beach but we were kinda sad the pool wasn't available - the day we were leaving they were filling it with a garden hose??? But it was really kinda too cool to use it anyway.

 

We went to Universal for the day - our 3rd visit - and it was kinda funny to see people from other countries walking around with winter parkas and and all bundled up like they were in Alaska - and we were enjoying the sweatshirt weather compared to North Dakota.

 

We ate at Fish Lips - WONDERFUL!!! It was excellent and a good time had by all.

 

Then the next day - we were off to the Port! It was very quick - thru and on the ship in no time flat - we all sat on deck 3 and had our first drinks and sodas of our vacation -

 

That night we ate in the dining room and met our wonderful waiter - Gary! He was great - Funny thing my son ordered the chocolate melting cake everynight so by the 3rd night Gary would bring him 2 other deserts to try - well the last night our son ordered something else and Gary brought him a chololate melting cake also - funny

 

Beautiful ship - very excellent staff - the next day was at sea and being 2 doors from the lido deck was awesome!! We had excellent chairs right by the pool - my youngest lived in the pool. We were out there no later than 8:30am.

 

COZUMEL: We booked the royal dolphin swim directly with Dolphin Discovery - highly recommend - it was everything and more - the picture cd was a bit pricey $159 but it was a once in a lifetime event - and they knew that also when they were selling it HA HA

 

We stopped at Fat Tuesdays - and funny thing as you watch the people walk back to the ship - they ones holding up the Fat Tuesday's yards or attitubes were just dancing and having a great time as they walked the pier the rest were just trudging along with their purchases.

 

Monday night we ate at the Steak house - WOW!!! It was too good for words - everything was fabulous - we had the porterhouse steaks and OMG! THEY WERE HUGE!!! everything was so nice and the food was excellent - the staff were out of this world.

 

Tuesday - Belize - we did cave tubing with CAVETUBING.BZ - WONDERFUL! We had an excellent tour and we went thru 3 caves - the ones that booked with Carnival were getting off the river while we had 20 more min of tubing left - it was great and all for just $45 pp. We had the nice yellow tubes - we had helmets with the lights and the option to hook feet or free float. Our guides were excellent and showed us all of the vegitation and even had a snack of red ants that tasted like "chicken" our guide was the only one that tasted them but he did give us leaves that tasted like all spice and actually made our lips numb - no we did not swallow them as he advised against it. My father is in a wheel chair and they had someone stay with him by the end of the river and he said that the person was so nice to bring him cake and show him the vegitation around them while they waited - priceless.

 

After our tubing we went to his restaurant - a little hut place and had a plate of rice/chicken and beans with rum punch or pop for the kids - it was so good - I can honestly say this tour was the highlight for everyone.

[jaxstiles]

Great review so far! We are sailing on the dream in may for me and hubby's 20th anniversary. So excited!! I'm constantly stalking these boards looking for anything on the dream. :D

Look forward to hearing more and seeing pics! Thanks for taking the time to do one.

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[Steelermoose]

I was on this same cruise...The weather caused the Captain to cancel 2 ports (honduras and costa maya) which sucked because we then had another sea day and stopped in cozumel again. Rain and wind made this stop ridiculous. We love the ship as it was our second time on it but the activities this time around were lacking...it seems like the only activity they could come up with is to add more trivia games. Im glad you enjoyed your cruise with your children. We enjoyed it too, but could have enjoyed it alot more if the wind wasnt blowing at 60 mph every night rocking the ship side to side. Great service ALWAYS!!!

[Bob and Linda]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. Thanks for taking the time to do the review. We'll be sailing on the Dream January 29. Just a couple quick questions. How did you get from Orlando to the LaQuinta? How was the LaQuinta and what type of room did you have? We're also booked there.

[kiraryker]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. Thanks for taking the time to do the review. We'll be sailing on the Dream January 29. Just a couple quick questions. How did you get from Orlando to the LaQuinta? How was the LaQuinta and what type of room did you have? We're also booked there.

 

We rented a mini van from Thrifty and just returned it at the Port - we had ocean view rooms and they were nice - but like i said it was cold and no pool - but a nice room

[Chef P]

Waiting patiently for more of a review...

[MohawkDon]

We too were on this cruise and also went with CaveTubing.BZ!!!Agree that it was the highlight of our trip and Vitalino and his team were outstanding. Oh yea we were one of those groups of people walking back to the ship with a Fat Tuesday Yard on the second stop in Cozumel:) Went to Paradise beach on the first stop their and enjoyed the new pool.

[Chef P]

We too were on this cruise and also went with CaveTubing.BZ!!!Agree that it was the highlight of our trip and Vitalino and his team were outstanding. Oh yea we were one of those groups of people walking back to the ship with a Fat Tuesday Yard on the second stop in Cozumel:) Went to Paradise beach on the first stop their and enjoyed the new pool.

 

How was the beach and water at Paradise Beach ?

[Chef P]

Any idea what the past guest gift was on the Dream while you were on her ?

[APDMOM]

Here is my attempt at a review - hopefully I can post my pics later - if I figure out how to do it

 

Enjoying your review! Would love to see photos. You can create a free account through a photo sharing website. I use photo bucket. After you upload the pics, it will give you an image url that you can copy and paste into the review. Hope this makes sense :)

[MohawkDon]

This was our third time to this beach but the first since the pool opened. Great addition! Beach is nice and the water a little cool but it is January!Great service right to your beach chair.

[MohawkDon]

Any idea what the past guest gift was on the Dream while you were on her ?

 

We never made the past guest party as it was moved to the middle of the afternoon on Fridays sea day and we wanted some last minute Sun

[Chef P]

I meant to ask what was the Platinum gift, I had past guest party and platinum gift on my mind...

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

I am enjoying your review! My Fun Group will be on the Dream August 6.

[k2excursion]

Thanks for sharing about your cruise. Looking forward to hearing more. It's good that you booked your dolphin swim when you did. (I'm guessing you had it booked well in advance.) They recently changed it to not allow us to book directly with them. We now have to book through the cruiseline and pay alot more money.

 

To post your pics, you can use the attachment feature on here, but the pics show up really tiny, even after clicking on them. You can also host the pics on another website, like photobucket. Upload them there, and they will provide a URL for each pic. Copy that URL & paste it here. Specifically, while typing a reply, click the yellow mountain & sun box in the toolbar. It will ask for a URL. Paste the URL there, hit enter, and the picture will show up in your reply window.

[Equest]

How was the beach and water at Paradise Beach ?

 

Paradise Beach was great and our college aged daughters wanted to spend a week there, we blamed them for missing two ports and ending up back at Cozumel.

[kiraryker]

Thanks for the pic info - I will try using photo bucket tonight and hopefully they will work!

 

Well Wednesday as we waited in our room to get off for our excursion booked thru Victor Bodden zip line - the announcement came thru that we will not be docking and it will just be another sea day - my sister and her bf were in our cabin at the time and we all looked at each other and yelled DECK CHAIRS!!! being 2 doors from the lido helped and we again got awesome chairs so we were able to keep an eye on my 10yr old in the pool again as she played with her new friend.

 

This was the day everyone got too much sun but it was very relaxing. We had early seating for dinner and when we went to the show dancing in the streets we were unable to find seats - my only real dissappointment about this whole cruise was the fact that they really don't have handicapped seating in the theatre - we even asked but the guy just shrugged and said try over there - well no spot for a wheelchair so we just went back out to the lido in our robes and had fun! I also felt sorry for a young woman in a wheelchair as she tried but also could not get a spot for the show so we met up with her in the elevator just returning to her room.

 

The elevators were also an issue - I wish they had 1 designated for just people that can not use stairs - we would all wait to get one for my father and then we would use the stairs but people would just jump on while he sat there waiting??? Yes we were tired also and being on deck 10 did take many flights to get to and from our room but we had legs and didn't feel like taking room in the elevators for people that really needed them.

 

Thursday were had booked thru Island Marketing a day at Nohoch Kay beach club and that one everyone was really looking forward to - well nope back to Cozumel - no worries as we made up for it by taking a taxi down town and SHOPPING!! What wonderful deals we all got on the gems - rings, necklaces everyone got something special to remember then back to Fat Tuesdays for 1/2 off all drinks and food - everyone was there and it was so much fun!! The drinks were great - and yes we partied back to the ship as did a lot of other guests. Strange I know but the restrooms in Cozumel were so clean!!!! I was very surprised at the work they put into them to keep them so clean.

 

Friday was and is always the sad day - last full day of our vacation and it was chilly, windy and just kinda icky - so we didn't hurry for deck chairs - but my youngest did hit the pool as we sat at the tables - then we just wondered the ship and had a few more drinks as we waited for dinner - the last dinner - booo hoooo

 

Saturday - we just hung around till we were booted off - the kids were glad to get back to their cell phone use and I guess I was glad to be getting back to the "normal" life

 

We did receive a credit for our port taxes that we never stopped at and we did also get a 20% discount off our next cruise so all is good:D

 

Pictures will come tonight - hopefully

 

Oh the pasta bar is a must!! The burrito bar was just ok - the pizza was always great and the buffet was good to.

[mississauga]

my only real dissappointment about this whole cruise was the fact that they really don't have handicapped seating in the theatre - we even asked but the guy just shrugged and said try over there - well no spot for a wheelchair so we just went back out to the lido in our robes and had fun! I also felt sorry for a young woman in a wheelchair as she tried but also could not get a spot for the show so we met up with her in the elevator just returning to her room.

 

It's too bad someone didn't tell you that there are spots for wheelchairs. Many rows of seats in the theater are shorter than the others and the space is for wheelchairs .

 

It may depend on how many wheelchair users there are on any given cruise. On our cruise in Nov/Dec. many evenings some spots for wheelchairs were unoccupied.