A Vacation–No! A DREAM VACATION – Review with pictures April 2, 2011

[GeorgiaMomof4]

I'm loving your review!!! We really enjoyed our Dream cruise a year ago, which is why we're going back in November. I also missed out on Cozumel in 2004 (9-11 sailing) because of Hurricane Ivan. It was over Cozumel while we were at sea. I was on Celebration, and Holiday joined us and followed us to Progresso & Veracrus, then to Galveston instead of NOLA. Were you on one of those ships at that time? This Colin (me) also loves the strawberry bisque. It's one of my favorites!!! I need to start ordering 2 or 3 of it the night they have it. We had also done a dolphin swim (the Royal one) at Chankanaab on our Dream cruise. That was an amazing experience!!!

 

K2EXCURSION -

 

Thanks! Yes, we were on the Glory's 9/11/04 sailing and they completely switched our itinerary to the Eastern - Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Marteen - but we didn't even get to go to St. Thomas because of a tropical depression that came up while we were in St. Marteen. It was fund but disappointing because we didn't get to go where we had planned on going. By all means, order as many as you want - my Collin sure did! I wish we were going with you in November! We're looking at either the Liberty or the Legend for October, 2012.

[snista]

SUNDAY – SEA DAY

 

 

 

We dress up pretty good for country folk, don't we?

 

Sorry guys, but after a month all my days are running together. I can’t remember what we did after dinner other than go to the show that night. It was called 8 More Seconds and was kind of a western themed show – I think. It was good, but nothing like Dancing in the Streets!

 

 

 

Just wanted to say I LOVE your dress.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Just wanted to say I LOVE your dress.

 

 

SNISTA: Thank you. You can't really see it well from that pic. but it was very pretty. It came from David's Bridal and the color was Lapis. Purple is my favorite color so it was great for me!

 

Thanks for reading my review. I didn't realize how time consuming it was to do one!

[DeDe63]

Can't wait to read more!!!:D

[whendoweleave?]

can't wait to see more! :D

[Dedivah]

Loving the review! My family of 12 will be on the Dream this October. We can't wait!!! I was at a loss of what to do in Cozumel but I just may book the Dolphin Discovery. I live in St. Thomas and there is one in Tortola that I've been wanting to go to but I may just do it in Mexico!!

 

I love the Elegant night photo you have a beautiful family!!! You and the girls are gorgeous!!

[GaMtnMom]

GAMTNMOM - OMG - I can't believe you are only a 20 mile ride away from us. You will love it! It's a beauty - but boy is she big! There were 9 of us total in the same configuration of cabins you will be in! What are your cabin numbers? I'm just telling my experience, I hope I'm not writing too much! I have tons more pictures if you're ever over in the Dalton area! Would love to share them with you!

 

 

 

We will be in 6379 6387 and 6381. We will have 3 in each cabin - Me my DH and DD in one balcony. My DD, DS and MIL in the interior, and BIL, SIL and nephew in the other balcony. I am loving all the information - keep it coming! We cruised on the Legend in December '09 and loved it - but my DH wanted to try a larger ship this time around. I just hope it isn't too crowded - he gets a little impatient. LOL

[GeorgiaMomof4]

GAMTNMOM - OMG - I can't believe you are only a 20 mile ride away from us. You will love it! It's a beauty - but boy is she big! There were 9 of us total in the same configuration of cabins you will be in! What are your cabin numbers? I'm just telling my experience, I hope I'm not writing too much! I have tons more pictures if you're ever over in the Dalton area! Would love to share them with you!

 

 

 

We will be in 6379 6387 and 6381. We will have 3 in each cabin - Me my DH and DD in one balcony. My DD, DS and MIL in the interior, and BIL, SIL and nephew in the other balcony. I am loving all the information - keep it coming! We cruised on the Legend in December '09 and loved it - but my DH wanted to try a larger ship this time around. I just hope it isn't too crowded - he gets a little impatient. LOL

 

 

We went during spring break and it was crowded but I didn't think too bad. My husband is like yours and he never said he thought it was overwhelming. Seems like it was the worst when you were trying to get off at the different ports. We are looking at the Legend or the Liberty for our next cruise. I would love to hear about the Legend from you. If I give you my email address - would you mind telling me something about her? We could then communicate off the board here. We are the opposite of you - we are afraid we won't like the smaller ship since we're used to all the larger ships have to offer.

[nanuak]

I'm loving your review.

 

Thanks for letting us know where you got that fabulous dress, I would have never thought to look there for a formal.

 

What a wonderful heart you must have to foster and then adopt two more children. This world could use more people like you and your husband.

[rene194215]

SUNDAY – SEA DAY

 

We started out our day with breakfast on the Lido deck. Can’t recall exactly what time we went down for breakfast but I know it wasn’t real early. There were crowds, but not too bad. The omelets as always were great and the sides were good also. Glen and I tag-teamed and one of us would stand in the omelet line and the other would get our other items. Bacon was plentiful as were potatoes and just about anything else you could think of!

 

 

 

Hope and Collin went to camp carnival for a while on Sunday morning to give me a chance to spend some time out in the sun without having to supervise kids. They loved camp carnival, but they are used to being around other kids at school and such and aren’t the type of kids to be upset in new surroundings. Since we hadn’t been in a hurry to get up and get going, we weren’t able to find any chairs we wanted around the Lido deck but we did to go Deck 5 – Lanai and found some great chairs close to a hot tub and a shower which was great for cooling off because it was really hot.

 

 

We decided to go to the shopping talk even though we know they push Diamonds International to the max.

We weren’t planning on doing any shopping other than the regular souvenir stuff, but boy did that change. More on that later! Our shopping hosts were informative and it turned out to be a good idea on my part to go. I ended up winning a bag of stuff from Del Sol valued at over $200.00 – t-shirts, Frisbee, hair barrettes, nail polish, all kinds of stuff.

 

 

Today was Elegant night as Carnival calls it now so we all went back to the cabin to get some rest and get gussied up for dinner. We did a few pictures before dinner and then went on to dinner. Dinner was great! Prime rib, lobster, all kinds of good stuff! I think they had crème brulee’ tonight and Whitney and Lindsey were in heaven! Don’t be ashamed to ask for more than one of something if it’s something you really like! Never be ashamed to ask for more than one dessert – after all, life is short! Live it to the fullest!

 

 

Oh my gosh - I almost forgot to tell you about the strawberry bisque soup. Sounds awful, I know - that's what I thought. I tried it for an appetizer though and my sweet little son took it away from me. He LOVED it! He ate all of mine, Jaco brought him another and then he had another bowl for dessert. Poor little thing asked for it every night after that, but they didn't have it again!

 

 

Collin enjoying his strawberry bisque!

 

We dress up pretty good for country folk, don't we?

 

Sorry guys, but after a month all my days are running together. I can’t remember what we did after dinner other than go to the show that night. It was called 8 More Seconds and was kind of a western themed show – I think. It was good, but nothing like Dancing in the Streets!

 

 

 

Love the review! Quick question,,, where did you all get the one shoulder dresses? Beautiful!!!

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Cute family!! Cant wait to read more of this review :)

[Insel]

Cute family!! Cant wait to read more of this review :)

 

You beat me to saying that. Everyone looks happy in your photos, kind of tough to do when you have teenagers and little ones.

The photos of the kids with the dolphins are priceless.

[sunseeker04259]

I'm so loving this review, I can't wait to read more! We go on the Dream next March and the time cannot go fast enough...

 

How were you able to book Dolphin Discovery directly? Carnival has a thing with them and I'm no able to book directly to save some money...thanks for any info you can give.:)

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Loving the review! My family of 12 will be on the Dream this October. We can't wait!!! I was at a loss of what to do in Cozumel but I just may book the Dolphin Discovery. I live in St. Thomas and there is one in Tortola that I've been wanting to go to but I may just do it in Mexico!!

 

I love the Elegant night photo you have a beautiful family!!! You and the girls are gorgeous!!

 

 

Dolphin Discovery was great for us but I don't have another one to compare it to. I can't believe you live in St. Thomas - we were supposed to go there on the Glory in 2004, but due to Tropical Depression Jeanne - we had to miss that port. I'm sure it it beautiful - maybe we will get there one day! You are so kind - I think my girls are gorgeous too, but I guess I'm kind of prejudice! The wonderful thing is - they're not only gorgeous on the outside, but the inside too. They help us with their younger brother and sister and all the other kids that come through our house from fostering but more importantly they love their Lord and Savior and are active in our church - what more could a Mom ask for!

 

I'll be posting more later to be sure and come back!

[GeorgiaMomof4]

I'm loving your review.

 

Thanks for letting us know where you got that fabulous dress, I would have never thought to look there for a formal.

 

What a wonderful heart you must have to foster and then adopt two more children. This world could use more people like you and your husband.

 

 

Thank you for saying that. I won't lie to you, it is hard sometimes, especially when you have had a child for a long time and then they leave. You only hope and pray that they are going back to a good environment. As a matter of a fact, we left a 10 week old little girl in respite with another foster family while we were gone and when we got off the ship on Saturday I had a message from the lady who was keeping her for me that she had gone home to her Mom on Friday. That was hard, because we didn't even get to say goodbye. I still think the rewards outweigh the heartache but sometimes my girls don't they so!

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Love the review! Quick question,,, where did you all get the one shoulder dresses? Beautiful!!!

 

 

They all came from David's Bridal. Be sure and shop around in their clearance section if you have one in your area. You can really get some great buys there and can always have them altered cheaper somewhere else. Even their regular prices aren't so bad sometimes. Thanks!

[GeorgiaMomof4]

You beat me to saying that. Everyone looks happy in your photos, kind of tough to do when you have teenagers and little ones.

The photos of the kids with the dolphins are priceless.

 

 

Thank you! We were happy - it was a wonderful vacation. You just don't know how priceless those dolphin pictures are - LOL! But worth every penny!

[kdo711]

What a lovely family pic. Your dress is lovely -- but I'm loving that yellow number....nice looking family.

[kdo711]

Funny -- we all love the dresses....we are suppose to be talkin' cruises --

[GeorgiaMomof4]

What a lovely family pic. Your dress is lovely -- but I'm loving that yellow number....nice looking family.

 

 

My daughter is loving you right now! That was her favorite dress too - I liked the blue one she wore on the 2nd formal night - will post that pic. later! She's gloating now as I type.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

MONDAY - CONTINUED

We made it back to the ship and got ready for dinner. Dinner was great as usual.

A funny story – Tonight at dinner Glen and I both had the chocolate melting cake (he had it every night). While we were waiting on dessert I had to take Hope and Collin to the restroom. Dessert came while I was gone and Glen proceeded to eat his dessert and started on my dessert too. When Jaco came by, Glen very kindly asked if he would bring me another dessert. Jaco played along and asked if a mouse had eaten mine. As I was walking back into the dining room, Jaco told Glen that he had better watch out because I was on my way back. Needless to say, I was wondering what had happened to my dessert and about that time Jaco walked by asked if I knew that a little mouse had eaten my dessert. I had an idea who the mouse was and I told him I doubted very seriously it was a little mouse – more like a RAT! Jaco then turned to Glen and smiled very big and with his South African accent said “Looks like someone is going to be sleeping on the Lido deck tonight”. It was hilarious! We all laughed about that all week long!

GLEN PUTTING MY "EMPTY" BOWLS BACK! HE GOT CAUGHT ON CAMERA!

After dinner we all went to the Burgundy Lounge for the family friendly comedy show of Tony Esposito. We did get there early because we had tried to go on Sunday night and the lounge was already full and we were turned away. It was worth the wait because he is one funny guy. The show was very appropriate for everyone – we even had our 6 and 8 year olds in there with us. I can’t give you any information on the adults only shows because we didn’t attend those. We have found that they are usually a little too adult even for us!

After the show, we ventured on around the Lanai deck and enjoyed the music of the band Blackjack. They are from West Virginia and they know their music. They were very interactive with the audience and this ended up being one of our favorite spots to hang out after dinner. Hope and Collin loved to get up and dance as we all did and it was just a fun spot for us! We missed the show this night – I think it was some comedy and juggling so I can’t give you any information on it.

I know Collin will kill me later, but I couldn't resist. He was worn out from all the excitement of the day! If we could get him still and quiet for 30 seconds - he would be out like a light!

[jtmurph7]

I am loving your review...:D We will be going on the Dream at the end of July on the Eastern Route and I can't wait!!! My DD's are going to do the dolphin encounter at the Atlantis in Nassau....I Love Love Love...reading reviews with pictures.. It looks like you all are having a great time... I agree with the other posts you all looked great on the formal night love the dresses.. I will go to David's here and see what they have...:)

 

I can't wait to read more!!!

 

Thanks for doing the review...

Tammy

[GeorgiaMomof4]

TUESDAY – BELIZE

We didn’t really have any plans for Belize so we didn’t get up early and try to go get a tender ticket. My understanding is if you have a Carnival excursion, you get first dibs on getting a tender. If not, you can go to the Burgundy lounge at 7:30 am (all your party has to be there too) and get a ticket number for a tender. We went down later on in the morning and had ticket number 33. We sat in the lounge for a while and then our number was called. It was a smooth process, but does take some time. If you have a planned excursion and it isn’t with Carnival – I would for sure go down early and get a tender ticket number.

Some of the tenders - look close - you can barely see Belize in the background

Waiting in the Burgundy lounge for our tender number to be called.

The tenders were all clean and nice and we had no issues riding into Belize. We just hung out at the port and shopped. We got t-shirts and such and hit the Diamonds International for our “free charm bracelet and charm”. BIG MISTAKE.

I am a woman after all you know and diamonds do tend to call out my name when I’m in a jewelry store! I was just browsing when I happened upon a beautiful semi-mount ring that called out to me….ANGELA…ANGELA…ANGELA…try me on!

OK – now do you remember earlier when I told you about us going to the port shopping talk and that we had no plans of doing any big shopping, but boy did that change? Well, Belize is where it changed.

In my defense though, let me tell you that the date was April 5th and my anniversary just happens to be April 16th – 19 blissful (ok – mostly blissful) years! What can I say other than it was beautiful - baguettes and round stones and I really needed it – ok – wanted it! I called Glen over and being the wonderful husband he is – said it’s pretty and yes, you can have it if you want it. That’s all he had to say – other than it better last you 20 years like the last one did. We didn’t want to wait the time it would take for them to take my solitaire out of my original engagement ring and mount into the new semi-mount, so Dominica, our shopping expert from the Dream said we could take it to the Diamonds International in Roatan and have it set while we were out enjoying our day! That was our plan then! Back to the ship we went and I was happy as could be!

ME AND WHITNEY LEAVING BELIZE!

Thought you might all enjoy seeing just how big the Dream really is! See the tender boat unloading - it wasn't small by any means - probably held about 200 people and looks like an ant up next to the Dream!

We all went to dinner that night and to the Dancing in the Streets show. I can’t really tell you with words how good the show was and how much we all enjoyed it. It was one of those sit on the edge of your seat shows – had something for everyone – all different kinds of music, props, etc. Just don’t miss it if it is still going on whenever any of you that are looking forward to the Dream go.

[k2excursion]

K2EXCURSION -

 

Thanks! Yes, we were on the Glory's 9/11/04 sailing and they completely switched our itinerary to the Eastern - Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Marteen - but we didn't even get to go to St. Thomas because of a tropical depression that came up while we were in St. Marteen. It was fund but disappointing because we didn't get to go where we had planned on going. By all means, order as many as you want - my Collin sure did! I wish we were going with you in November! We're looking at either the Liberty or the Legend for October, 2012.

 

Yeah, it's disappointing when ports change or are cancelled, but I try to make the most of it. There weren't many options for us that time. We'll be doing the Dream's Eastern this time, since we did the Western last time. If you decide on the Liberty, you probably already know that it will be very similar to the Glory. Sister ship, just different decor, and maybe the most popular of the 5 ships in that class. The Legend is a part of the Spirit class, which is the most popular class on these boards, but it's not everyone's favorite. It's very different from Glory or Dream. Nothing is in the same spot & level as you would remember from those 2 ships. If you prefer what you're familiar with, Liberty would be a good choice. If you want to try a ship that feels very different, Legend would be a good choice. Again, thanks for the great review! Looking forward to reading more!

[quilter06]

Are they passport holders that you and Whitney are wearing? Loving your photos and review!