Carnival Dream Picture Review, December 10th-17th, 2011

[souperjen24]

I just booked the Chef's Table on the Carnival Dream yesterday! I emailed this review to my partner - hopefully she agrees with me that it will be wonderful :D. We sail on 10/13... and I cannot wait!!!

 

Thanks femmy for this review. And the pictures are amazing. Looking forward to seeing everything in person.

[Annie121254]

Hello, I am enjoying your review. Great job. We will be cruising on the Dream in Oct.

 

I noticed in one section of your review that you were writing a novel before your mother's illness and death. I'm very sorry for your loss. Did you finish your novel and are you still writing? It is obvious that you are very talented. I own a book review company and would love to review for you. My reviews are free. If you are interested please contact me.

 

http://readersfavorite.com

[Annie121254]

Hello, I am enjoying your review. Great job. We will be cruising on the Dream in Oct.

 

I noticed in one section of your review that you were writing a novel before your mother's illness and death. I'm very sorry for your loss. Did you finish your novel and are you still writing? It is obvious that you are very talented. I own a book review company and would love to review for you. My reviews are free. If you are interested please contact me.

[italianfemmy]

I just booked the Chef's Table on the Carnival Dream yesterday! I emailed this review to my partner - hopefully she agrees with me that it will be wonderful :D. We sail on 10/13... and I cannot wait!!!

 

Thanks femmy for this review. And the pictures are amazing. Looking forward to seeing everything in person.

 

You're most welcome. I hope that you and your partner have a fabulous time... maybe we'll sail together one day! :-)

[souperjen24]

You're most welcome. I hope that you and your partner have a fabulous time... maybe we'll sail together one day! :-)

 

Yes, maybe! :-) Do you have anything booked for 2013 yet? We want to book a cruise, plus go to Bar Harbor, ME for a week... so we'll work on organizing that once we're back from this vacation ;)

 

Also, it was me who sent you an email a few weeks ago asking you tons of questions (especially about the photography aspect of things)... you had written back asking who I was. Just an FYI :)

 

I sail on the Dream in 50 days. Yay!

Edited August 24, 2012 by souperjen24

[kapitman]

Femmy,

 

Great Review...just read it from start to finish, even though I found it only because I was looking for info on the Cloud 9 Spa. A friend of mine and I are booked on the Carnival Sunshine (the Destiny after a 155 million 49 day dry dock refurbishing) and we just upgraded to a spa balcony. Looking forward to enjoying it like you did. If you want to kick up your cruise day numbers this is a 14 day cruise on April 12, 2013. Venice - Barcelona with amazing ports! First sailing on the "new" ship! And...there has been two price drops this week! You would be fun to hang with. My friend and I go to the same church as you but don't go to church together...lol! Your pictures were AMAZING!!! Thanks for your great review.

[mrsd912]

Alicia thank you for taking the time to do this review. I know I'm late to the party, and I've only gotten to page seven (hey, a girl's got to get some sleep!), but I'm really enjoying it so far. Glad to hear good things about Dolpinaris too, DH and I will be there in less than 2 weeks!

Your photos are simply amazing! Absolutely breathtaking! Your vacation photos make my wedding photos look like they were shot by a toddler :p

[italianfemmy]

Yes, maybe! :-) Do you have anything booked for 2013 yet? We want to book a cruise, plus go to Bar Harbor, ME for a week... so we'll work on organizing that once we're back from this vacation ;)

 

Also, it was me who sent you an email a few weeks ago asking you tons of questions (especially about the photography aspect of things)... you had written back asking who I was. Just an FYI :)

 

I sail on the Dream in 50 days. Yay!

 

We actually don't have a 2013 cruise planned yet. I don't know if we'll book one or not for 2013. There are a couple of vacations I've been wanting to take where I can spend more time in one place and truly take it all in. (Africa, Italy, Hawaii, Egypt...etc.) So my plan is to look into the financial aspects of these things and see if I can do one of them in 2013. :-)

 

As for your email, I apparently have lost it in the sea of other emails. And don't know how to search for it since I don't have your info. Would you mind terribly sending it to me again? Since it's my work email, I occasionally take a while to get back to people on non work related stuff, especially when it's something I have to take time to think about (and I think yours was.) :-)

[italianfemmy]

Femmy,

 

Great Review...just read it from start to finish, even though I found it only because I was looking for info on the Cloud 9 Spa. A friend of mine and I are booked on the Carnival Sunshine (the Destiny after a 155 million 49 day dry dock refurbishing) and we just upgraded to a spa balcony. Looking forward to enjoying it like you did. If you want to kick up your cruise day numbers this is a 14 day cruise on April 12, 2013. Venice - Barcelona with amazing ports! First sailing on the "new" ship! And...there has been two price drops this week! You would be fun to hang with. My friend and I go to the same church as you but don't go to church together...lol! Your pictures were AMAZING!!! Thanks for your great review.

 

Hey there! Firstly, you'll love the spa! Just a little over 2 months left before I will be taking in the spa again for myself. Ahhh it's a little slice of heaven! :-)

 

As I just mentioned to another poster, I don't think I will be booking a cruise in 2013 but of course, that could change.

 

Haha as to the church we go to.... that's funny. Especially the part about the two of you not going together. Made me laugh out loud for real. :-)

 

Thanks for the compliments on my photos.. I really appreciate it!!

[italianfemmy]

Alicia thank you for taking the time to do this review. I know I'm late to the party, and I've only gotten to page seven (hey, a girl's got to get some sleep!), but I'm really enjoying it so far. Glad to hear good things about Dolpinaris too, DH and I will be there in less than 2 weeks!

Your photos are simply amazing! Absolutely breathtaking! Your vacation photos make my wedding photos look like they were shot by a toddler :p

 

Glad you are loving the review! Enjoy Dolphinaris.. it was a blast for us. We stayed until most people left and then the trainers had to do special stuff with the Dolphins and we got more time to see them do tricks and play around (hence the awesome photos that I got.) I think they are amazing creatures and I could watch them every day. I definitely think we got our moneys worth between the time spent in our interaction with them and the time we got to see them do additional tricks at the end. Plus the lunch was quite tasty!

[grannyoftwo]

Thank you femmy for the wonderful review. Your review has taken a lot of the stress off after reading so many reviews we were a little nervous. We also because of your review booked the Captains Table ( Carnival should be giving you a cut). THANK YOU!:)

[souperjen24]

We actually don't have a 2013 cruise planned yet. I don't know if we'll book one or not for 2013. There are a couple of vacations I've been wanting to take where I can spend more time in one place and truly take it all in. (Africa, Italy, Hawaii, Egypt...etc.) So my plan is to look into the financial aspects of these things and see if I can do one of them in 2013. :-)

 

As for your email, I apparently have lost it in the sea of other emails. And don't know how to search for it since I don't have your info. Would you mind terribly sending it to me again? Since it's my work email, I occasionally take a while to get back to people on non work related stuff, especially when it's something I have to take time to think about (and I think yours was.) :-)

 

I understand re: planning vacations and finances. This will only be my partner and I's second cruise together (first was in 2009) and we would have liked to take one sooner, but, we did other things instead :) In September of 2013 we are planning on going to Maine for a week, so there's a good chance our next cruise won't be until 2014. So maybe we can try to plan the same ship for 2014 :)

 

I will go ahead and resend that email... I'll put something about cruise critic in the title maybe lol.

 

12 more days till we set sail!

[belleangelie]

Found this thread by accident...best accident ever lol loved it from start to finish :)

[nabisd]

Awwwww! You went to my website? How sweet! I truly do love what I do as a wedding photographer. I am not a conventional wedding photographer.. a bit outside of the box. I don't know if you read my story on my website or not but I think that it really plays into my ability to see the world differently through my lens.

 

I guess it actually would be fine to share here since this is also partially about getting to know me.

 

I was on a successful career path as a writer with a major publishing deal when my mother got sick with cancer and rather abruptly passed away. She was my rock, my entire life and she was the only family member that truly supported me, despite my sexual orientation.

 

When she passed away, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't finish my novel because I felt trapped creatively and uninspired. To make matters worse, I didn't have any recent photos of my mother because we'd moved around so much and left stuff here and there. We'd also had a bad house fire which wiped out most of the photos from when I was younger with her. Not being able to see those photos of her to help me through the grieving process somehow made it difficult for me to remember her healthy. Instead, I just flashed back to the memory of her open casket funeral. I would lie awake at night for months on end, crying myself to sleep and being awoken by the nightmare of that image of her.

 

I called everyone I knew that was friends with her as well as family members and nobody had any recent photos of her to help my healing process. For the next 2 years after she passed away, I'd barely cope although I was good at faking it. But, I spent those years unable to write, unable to release the creative beast within me. I had always taken pictures of places I visited throughout the years but never really taken any of people. My basic love and good eye for taking photos for fun coupled with not having the images of my mother inspired me to open my photography company. Not just to make a living but to put a mark in history by leaving pieces of my hard work hanging on hundreds, perhaps thousands of walls, telling the stories of others lives and helping their families to heal when they pass on.

 

I have never felt this fulfilled doing anything else with my life. My mother may no longer be living but she is embedded in the stories I tell through my lens and will forever be etched in my heart. The loss of her inspired greatness from within me and for that, I will forever be thankful. It's still very hard not having her here and I miss her like crazy, especially on holidays. But, I know she would be proud of me and as children, isn't that the one thing we most want and need? For our parents to be proud of us? I know deep down I've accomplished this but my journey has only just begun. I hope to take my skills and do something truly great with them one day that perhaps will exceed even the wildest ideas I've already had on my own. :)

 

 

I am reading your review, because I am cruising next week on the Dream. Not only is your review lovely, informative and your pictures breathtaking.. You are sharing this beautiful story about your mom and how you became a great photographer. This story about your journey brought tears to my eyes. You seem like a very humble and gracious soul.

[teacher34]

Hello! It was so nice to see this review pop up again. I read it back when you first did it and loved every picture and word! I have been waiting for you to go on your next cruise so I could read that review, too. You really helped me to live vicariously through your trip and I can't wait to repeat that when you are on the Breeze! We are going back on the Dream in Mar. Last time, 2010, we went to the eastern caribean, but this time we will be doing the western. I think I am most anxious to get back in that spa. I loved every room in it and loved looking at your pictures of the heated lounge chairs and that relaxation room, both of which were my favorites. Where will the Breeze take you? I know you must be getting excited!!

[Disney180]

Thank you so much for writing an AMAZING review and BREATHE TAKING photos. I booked a Spa Cabin on the Dream for Feb 23 2013 before finding this review and now I cant wait to try out all the rooms and pool. To be honest I didnt read any bad reviews before booking and this proably I book what I want and not worry to much as I firmly beleive a vacation is what you make it. We were on the Legend this past August and went to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman and fondly look back all the ports thur your lens. The monkeys at Victors were so much fun, they wouldn't get off of our friends head, they kept patting it as he is bald and went horseback riding, so we really got off road.:)

 

I am looking forward to your review of the Breeze when you come back.

 

Barb

Edited October 23, 2012 by Disney180

[Momma1980]

Italianfemmy...

Just want to follow your posts/photos because they are the best I have seen on this website. Bought a dslr last month and want to get inspiration from you. Thank you for posting your work. I am enjoying it!

Jeannette

[italianfemmy]

Hey everyone! So sorry, I haven't been on CC in a while. I am swamped with work. This is busy season for us wedding photographers in Florida. :-) Only 2 weeks (less than) before I sail away on the Breeze and I haven't even been on my roll call in months! Nor do I have a single thing planned excursion wise. I don't even have time to breathe! I'll write you all back individually soon! Thanks for continuing to follow my review everyone! Can't believe it's almost been a year!!

[teacher34]

Hello, again! I'm sorry to bother you in what I'm sure is a busy time for you, plus I know you are getting ready for your cruise, but I wondered if you could give me some information. I read your review all the way through while you were writing it and thoroughly enjoyed it! I loved the pictures of you all at Dolphinaris. We are taking this same cruise the first week of March and I would love to do Dolphinaris, too. I noticed it isn't under Carnival's excursions. Did you book it independently? If so, can you tell me where and how? Iy seems better than any that Carnival is offering. Thanks for any info you can give. I can't wait to read your review of the Breeze! You are not only a gifted photographer, but also a gifted writer! Thanks so much for doing your review of the Dream!

[cruisegal58]

Bumping to page 1, this is a wonderful review, luv the pics!!!

Cindy

[Arch713]

Alicia.. Just had to say thank you like many others for your fabulous review! I sure hope you will be doing a review of your cruise in a few weeks?

 

Thank you so much for sharing! As a fellow cruise lover and someone who will be getting married in St. Thomas in 2014 on a cruise...your photography also is breathtaking!

[wilfros]

I have told anyone that is willing to listen that our Chef's Table on the Pride with Chef Trevor was THE highlight of our first cruise and can not recommend it highly enough.

 

 

Hi Mike;

 

I am so disappointed. I thought Linda and I were the highlights of your cruise on Pride.

 

Nice to see photos of you and Kim again. You seem to be doing well and happy on a cruise again.

 

Say Hi to Kim for both Linda and I. We went to Hawaii last year and are doing Miracle out of NYC this coming January.

 

 

To the OP. Wonderful review and beautiful photos.

[italianfemmy]

Alicia.. Just had to say thank you like many others for your fabulous review! I sure hope you will be doing a review of your cruise in a few weeks?

 

Thank you so much for sharing! As a fellow cruise lover and someone who will be getting married in St. Thomas in 2014 on a cruise...your photography also is breathtaking!

 

Congrats on your engagement! Sounds like a fun wedding plan! Wish I could be there to capture it all! :-) You're most welcome for the review! I will be trying to get the Breeze review going as soon as possible but like my Dream review, it will probably be a slow process due to my desire to edit the photos before I post them. lol.

 

Thanks for all the compliments!!

 

There were over 100 passengers (some of whom said they don't even have user name accounts on CC) who stopped us on the Breeze and knew us by name just because of our photos and review of the Dream. I felt like a mini celebrity. lol. It was nuts! I am so glad still that everyone loved it so much. I never anticipated such a warm reception!

[italianfemmy]

 

 

To the OP. Wonderful review and beautiful photos.

 

Lol..... thanks... and who is Mike? Steven is Steven......

[steven93921]

Lol..... thanks... and who is Mike? Steven is Steven......

 

LOL, Will & Linda were friends we made on our first cruise. I'm sure he found it very amusing to find Kim and I prominently in this review, even if his spell check botched my name. ;-)