Carnival Dream Review -- with our 2 children

[brookeq]

We loved goffs caye. I wore my keens shoes but I don't remember the sand being too rough. It wasn't the powdery stuff but it want all rocks and coral either. My kids and husband didn't wear any shoes and they never complained. And believe me they would have whined.

 

When you entered the water there was no muck. You didn't sink down or anything like that. It was actually very easy to move around.

 

I have read that sometimes the water gets rough and they don't advise to go swimming. I am assuming that is due to weather because it was very calm when we were there.

[brookeq]

Thanks again, for writing this review.

 

It was great to hear your comments on Paradise Beach. We are going there during our cruise. I thought long and hard between Paradise Beach and Mr. Sanchos. In the end, while Mr. Sanchos said it was family friendly and I loved the romantic beach beds, I thought Paradise Beach was a little more family friendly. We don't have any kids as of yet, but we don't want to be at a wild party either. Some nice music and a wonderful atmosphere is really what we are looking to find. Also, I will be looking for some Vanilla. Can you point me to a good place to buy some?

 

In Belize and Roatan, I have heard some complaints about sand flies and the need for repellant. Did you have any issues with this on your trip?

 

I cannot wait to hear about the rest of your trip and hopefully you will be able to post the FunTimes. :D

 

I do not remember which store we bought vanilla in. I just asked someone and they directed us there. Sorry. They have some in the duty free shops if you can't find any.

 

No one had any problems with sand flies at goffs caye. But that isn't the mainland of Belize. So I can't comment in there.

 

For Roatan I read about the sand flies so I bought a bottle of Avon skin so soft sunscreen onAmazon and had no problems. It. has insect repellent in it. I figured it was a good buy since costa maya was also listed as a possible sand fly spot.

 

My friend did claim she got one bite. Not sure if she really did or not.

[MEOWSMURPHY]

We loved goffs caye. I wore my keens shoes but I don't remember the sand being too rough. It wasn't the powdery stuff but it want all rocks and coral either. My kids and husband didn't wear any shoes and they never complained. And believe me they would have whined.

 

When you entered the water there was no muck. You didn't sink down or anything like that. It was actually very easy to move around.

 

I have read that sometimes the water gets rough and they don't advise to go swimming. I am assuming that is due to weather because it was very calm when we were there.

 

 

Thanks for the quick reply..one other issue someone else brought up..since there are no lounge chairs and you have to lay your towel on the beach did you have any issue with sandfleas?

[UTVolsFan4Life]

I do not remember which store we bought vanilla in. I just asked someone and they directed us there. Sorry. They have some in the duty free shops if you can't find any.

 

No one had any problems with sand flies at goffs caye. But that isn't the mainland of Belize. So I can't comment in there.

 

For Roatan I read about the sand flies so I bought a bottle of Avon skin so soft sunscreen onAmazon and had no problems. It. has insect repellent in it. I figured it was a good buy since costa maya was also listed as a possible sand fly spot.

 

My friend did claim she got one bite. Not sure if she really did or not.

 

I am sure that I will find some Vanilla. Thanks for the information on the sand flies. For Belize, I had heard it more for the Mayan Ruins Tours and in Roatan for the beaches. I had not heard about Costa Maya so, thanks for that information.

 

I do know that back in 1999 when I went to mainland Honduras on a mission trip, insect repellant with 100% DEET was highly recommended. I went back to the store that I bought some from back then and they did not have it in stock as it's not really in season for it here. The lady was nice enough to order me a bottle and make sure that it gets here before we leave for FL. :D

 

I would rather be safe than sorry because you don't know what type of bad stuff they could be carrying.

 

About 10 years ago, I went to weekend festival in Southeast GA USA coast and got over 500 bites from sand flies. It made me sick and I had to go to the doctor. I have hated those things ever since. :eek:

[brookeq]

Thanks for the quick reply..one other issue someone else brought up..since there are no lounge chairs and you have to lay your towel on the beach did you have any issue with sandfleas?

 

No one that we talked to had any encounters with sand flies on goffs caye. I think the insect problem in Belize is more inland.

[MEOWSMURPHY]

No one that we talked to had any encounters with sand flies on goffs caye. I think the insect problem in Belize is more inland.

 

Perfect and again thanks to your wonderful review with pictures I contacted Island Marketing and we are reserved for Goff's Cay...we are all pretty excited to leave this cold Ohio weather and head for sun, surf and sand and this looks like such an idyllic place to accomplish that :D

[kmarie10531]

I was on this cruise as well and I remember seeing your daughter with her hair braided . I have to say she looked adorable :-)

[brookeq]

Perfect and again thanks to your wonderful review with pictures I contacted Island Marketing and we are reserved for Goff's Cay...we are all pretty excited to leave this cold Ohio weather and head for sun, surf and sand and this looks like such an idyllic place to accomplish that :D

 

I hope you love it as much as we did.

[brookeq]

I was on this cruise as well and I remember seeing your daughter with her hair braided . I have to say she looked adorable :-)

 

Aww thanks. She sure did love them.

 

I will have to post a picture of her Afro when I took them out. Ha ha.

[2 cruzen]

Amelia loved her hair.

 

 

We played in the water some more and but dark clouds started to come again and it poured again. The kids had had enough so we decided to leave and Norma was there waiting for us. I would have liked to stay longer. Not too far from our area was a place that you could snorkel. We saw people that my husband when snorkeling with in Belize and they said it was much nicer snorkeling. Lots of colorful coral. So I was a little sad that I didn't get to snorkel this trip.

 

We got back to the port and I found a thimble for my mom and then we boarded the ship.

 

We saw the ship wreck from one of the decks

 

 

We let the kids order cookies from room service. They arrived very quickly. We ordered 2 not knowing that each order was a plate of about 8 small cookies. One plate was chocolate chip the other was just a plain type cookie and not very good. The chocolate chip cookie tasted like the kind you buy in the cooler at the grocery store and pull apart and bake. But they warm so we enjoyed them.

 

Before dinner I put the kids in some nicer clothes and we got some pictures taken.

 

 

We got one with Amelia and her braids.

 

 

And this picture with both kids.

 

 

The kids at ate the kids club again. We ate in the dining room. Nothing jumped out at me so I ordered the gourmet burger with guacamole and bacon. It was very good. I also had the bitter and blanc for desert and it was good. But I liked the chocolate melting cake better.

 

That close up picture of your daughter on the "beach" in her little dress and hair braids is quite adorable. Everytime you look at it, I hope you remember the fun day you had. My son broke his arm when he was little and I tried to hide the cast, but it what was going on in his life at the time, and now that he's grown, its part of my memory.

[brookeq]

Day 6 -- costa maya

 

While planning for this port we looked into doing the ruins ourselves. Husband thought we should just do the beach since the kids would like it better. So I reserved a table at the Tropicante before we left

 

That morning we were woken up very early from hammering below our room. The kids were up late and didn't get enough sleep. Bad sign. It was also very overcast and cool.

 

Our friends were still debating what they were going to do for the day and weren't up yet. So we decided to head into port and hang out by the pool until they met up with us. Then We would just play it by ear.

 

We got off. Here is a view of what the port area looks like.

 

We chose some chairs by the dolphin area and watched them for awhile. We were also near the pool and there was sand for my daughter to play in.

 

Here is the shore line. Very Rocky.

 

 

As I mentioned before the kids didn't get much sleep. So my son was miserable. We decided to take him to the pool and see if that helped.

 

 

He did enjoy the pool. It was pretty cold so I didn't go in.

 

We met up with our friends. Our boys started to play but kept fighting. Our son just kept getting in Trouble so after many threats we decided he would have to go back to the boat. So no beach for us.

(From others I heard it was cold and did rain so I guess it wasn't the worst choice)

 

I am not a person that just likes to stay on the ship or hang out in the main port area. I was already kind of sad we didn't go to the ruins. So now we weren't even going to the beach. I told my husband I had to do something. So I took the money I had set aside for our cab fare and lunch and said I was going to do a dolphin encounter before we got on the ship.

 

I got to go in by myself and pet, hug and get kisses from dolphins. You had the option of "riding" it but I didn't do it. I also got to play ball with it a few times.

 

 

 

So I got to "experience" something on the island and we were ready to head back to the ship.

 

Sorry about the crooked dolphin picture. I can not get it to rotate here on my blog.

Edited February 3, 2014 by brookeq

[brookeq]

We did a little shopping (and made our son sit). I got my daughter some maracas for a dollar each. And got each of my kids a wooden flute for a dollar (son got his later when he earned it). I did not find a thimble for my mom here.

 

 

So we started to make our way back to the ship.

 

I did manage to get the cute shot of my Amelia on our walk back.

 

We made it back to the ship and had lunch. I decided to try the Mongolian wok since the ship wasn't crowded. It was pretty good but I wouldn't stand in the long line for it. Every other day the line was very long and it took forever.

 

It was pretty much a given that the kids would be taking a nap. After our bad morning with our son we even made him take a nap. (he stopped napping before he turned 2).

 

It was formal night and the kids wanted to eat with us. I didn't want miserable kids and I was pretty cranky so we all laid down for a nap.

 

When they woke up we started to get ready. I wanted to try to get a nice family picture and brought Hayden a suit (a great consignment store find). I mentioned I had a really pretty dress for Amelia. We did try it on but it looked silly with the braids. Luckily we had a more plain black beach type dress for her to wear.

 

We headed down near the dining area to try and get a family picture. My son became miserable again out of no where. I even fed him before we left so he wouldn't be hungry. He was so grumpy he wouldn't even get in the picture. I was so annoyed. Sometimes with young kids it is better to have low expectations and I had high ones for today.

 

Here he is hiding in a corner refusing to come out.

 

After 20 minutes we did get him in the picture and this is what it looked like. It is funny now but at the time I was so mad.

 

 

And this picture too.

 

 

As it turns out they aren't in focus in anyways. Ha ha.

 

At the time I was upset and didn't want to go to a nice dinner with a miserable kid. But it was too late to take them to kids club to eat. So we got in line and called our friends and told them to eat with out us. I didn't want to possibly ruin their dinner also. Then we ate in the dining room By ourselves.

[brookeq]

Thankfully they didn't sit anyone with us. We were even given a window seat. So that was nice.

 

 

As I mentioned once we were in the dining room our son perked up. Not sure why. We hadn't even started eating yet.

 

 

We did end up having an enjoyable dinner.

 

I got the beef tenderloin. It was good. My husband got the steak. He didn't like it. I tried it and thought it was pretty good so I was nice and traded him. The kids got noodles and were happy. For dessert I got the chocolate almond cake. It was good but I prefer the chocolate melting cake. Husband got the baked Alaska and he enjoyed it. The kids got brownies and ice cream. We all loved the brownies. My only complaint with kids and the dining room is that the servers pour the kids drink all the way to the top. So make sure you pay attention!

 

After dinner the kids enjoyed dancing to the live music outside the dining room. The male singer was very good. I always enjoyed him and the kids did too.

 

 

You can see an older couple in the background. I loved watching them dance every evening after dinner. It always made me smile.

 

Then our son was willing to get some pictures. I didn't like any of them. But he did ask to get some by himself. He chose the firework background.

 

 

Who would have thought that about an hour ago?

 

We also stopped in one of the empty dance clubs and took some pictures

 

Looking Handsome!!

 

 

Later we took the kids to camp carnival and we saw the comedian. Family friendly version. He was ok. Then We went to the karaoke lounge. We didn't get a chance to sing because it was time to pick up the kids. It was some serious karaoke though. Everyone picked serious songs and didn't move at all. Not what I am used to.

 

We got the kids and had our usual pizza and ice cream. I got some hot chocolate too and put some ice cream in it ...yum! Then off to bed.

 

 

Next up final day at sea...

[brookeq]

That close up picture of your daughter on the "beach" in her little dress and hair braids is quite adorable. Everytime you look at it, I hope you remember the fun day you had. My son broke his arm when he was little and I tried to hide the cast, but it what was going on in his life at the time, and now that he's grown, its part of my memory.

 

Thanks. It does make me smile to look at it.

[Perfect Stranger]

Your two children have the same adorable face. I like your down to earth writing style and that you're candid enough to admit your son was misbehaving. Please keep writing. Your report and photos are very entertaining.

[Cruzinbabe06]

Love this review!:)

[ch27088]

We are also on the Dream in October out of New Orleans and can't wait. Thanks for your review.

[brookeq]

Your two children have the same adorable face. I like your down to earth writing style and that you're candid enough to admit your son was misbehaving. Please keep writing. Your report and photos are very entertaining.

 

Thanks.

 

I was trying to explain to my husband that he gets a vacation from his job while on the cruise. My job still exists on the cruise... Dealing with tantrums, fighting the kids to get dressed and other joys of being a mom. Ha ha.

[Perfect Stranger]

Thanks.

 

I was trying to explain to my husband that he gets a vacation from his job while on the cruise. My job still exists on the cruise... Dealing with tantrums, fighting the kids to get dressed and other joys of being a mom. Ha ha.

 

That's right. ;)

 

Don't you think it would have been even MORE work had you cruised with the children when they were say 3 years and an infant, dealing with diapers, bottles, etc.? I wouldn't want to cruise with a baby.

[brookeq]

That's right. ;)

 

Don't you think it would have been even MORE work had you cruised with the children when they were say 3 years and an infant, dealing with diapers, bottles, etc.? I wouldn't want to cruise with a baby.

 

Yeah. We made sure our youngest was old enough for kids club. A friend asked about our cruise. I said to wait until there kid was at least 2 if not older.

[brookeq]

Day 7 -- Day at Sea

 

This was our last full day on the ship :(

 

No real plans today. We went to brunch and I used my free drink coupon. I also ordered the fun French toast that was covered in frosted flakes. It was pretty good. Husband got steak and eggs and was happy.

 

 

The kids went to kids club and got to see a magician. My kids loved it but some got a little scared. They also colored t-shirts. They were very excited about this.

 

 

 

We hung out above the aft pool under cover because it was so windy.

 

 

The sun was shining and temperatures were warm but the wind was bad. It was still nice to relax and read a book.

 

 

For lunch we decided to try the pasta bar. I got spaghetti and meat sauce topped with chicken beast. It was good. Husband had chicken Alfredo and he enjoyed it. The fresh bread was also good.

 

They had a chocolate buffet on the lido deck this day so we had some chocolate cake too. Most of the choices looked good but didn't taste too great. I found something I liked and ate that. I can't remember what it was called.

 

Kids visited the water slides for last time and the hot tubs.

 

 

Hayden and our friends son decided that they were going to fight over the wheel that controlled the water. They both got in trouble. These boys were funny. They were either best friends or fought like brothers.

 

[brookeq]

The kids had dinner at the kids club. And enjoyed a movie there.

 

For dinner I had the burger again. I also had the crab cake Appetizer. I did not enjoy the apples on the bottom. I also had the chilled mango soup. It was delicious. Everyone at the table loved it. If it is on your menu try it!

 

We saw a great sunset that day.

 

That evening we did the game shows and the gender wars. The girls won thanks to myself and my friend stealing 2 questions. :). It was fun

 

Then it was time to pack. The room steward had tags and forms ready for us so it was simple.

 

Then off for our last evening of pizza and ice cream.

[Name Of The Game]

I see you've been on several cruise lines. Which ship was your favorite? Did the Celebrity clientele seem old and stuffy for a young couple?

[brookeq]

Disembarkation went smoothly. We were woken up early to the noises of pulling into port. We were given the last number for getting off so we had a leisurely breakfast on the lido deck. The food was the worst it had been all week. Lots of cold dished that were supposed be hot.

 

The kids played basketball and ping pong while we waited. When our number was called we got off and immediately found our luggage and headed to customs. No problems. Everything was well organized.

 

 

We found the rental car pick up spot and were picked up by an avis shuttle with little wait and eventually were off to the airport.

 

 

The kids slept the entire 2 hour flight which never happens!

 

 

When everyone was getting ready to get off the poor little girl behind us threw up everywhere. Of course we were in the back and had to wait forever to get off. Yuck.

 

We arrived to a snow storm. My mom said there were white out conditions an hour earlier. But she was able to come get us with no problems and we made it safely home.

 

A few days later we had temperatures around -8 degrees. Boy did I miss be being on our cruise!

[Weinercruisers]

FANTASTIC!! Thank you so much.