Willdra's Dramatic Carnival Dream October 15-22 Cruise

[willdra]

We all had some cake, then ran off to catch the party which was in full swing by now. The Lobby was jam packed with people, it was hard to see, and forget finding a seat. These activities draw a huge crowd which makes it cool, but you have to get there early.

 

 

 

 

We danced and sang to The Motown Sound until it was time to run back and change clothes for the Comedy Show at 11:30. I left W in the cabin, because he was moving slow, and taking his time getting ready. He has to make sure he has everything he thinks he may need, and some I-Don't-Know-Whatness too. Sheesh we are just going upstairs, you don’t need to bring all of the contents of our cabin!

 

Our Platinum Gifts Arrived

 

 

When I got upstairs the club was already packed, and there was standing room only. I saw AC standing in the back at the long bar wall, so I went and stood by her. W came awhile later and he just went and sat at the bar. The Comedian was Chris Wiles again, and the show was better the second night. People were really packed in too. Sometime during the show, there was a girl close to us, who's bra strap broke, causing her bra to fall on the floor. Now somebody please tell me what your life must consist of, to cause a piece of essential attire to propel itself from your body??!!! Why would a garment designed for support, decide to take a knee??!! On second thought, never mind. I️ don’t even want to know.

 

Once the Comedy Show concluded we went back to the cabin. Since there wasn't that much traffic out, I decided this was a good time to hit the kiosk to load our gift cards. No one was at either one, so I wouldn't have to worry about holding anyone up. I start putting in our info, but for some reason the kiosks don't let you type in the card numbers and there's always an error when you swipe. I tried a few times to no avail. Slightly frustrated, I went to try the other kiosk, and the same thing happened. I realized Guest Services was right behind me so I took a deep breath and asked for help. To my surprise, The rep at the desk was very nice. He even apologized for my short wait. He also made a little small talk as he was loading my cards. This was in no way a terrible experience, and for that I was grateful. I was really sleepy after this, so I went back to the cabin to complete my bedtime ritual.

 

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking the Big Guy for Motown. He outdid Himself on that one. So much marvelous music emerged from Motown, and I don't know what we would do without it!

[willdra]

Hope you had a good birthday..Birthday twin. I turned 50 this year.

 

Thanks and Happy Belated 50th to you!! 😍🎂😍

[willdra]

Loving the review so far! Less than 50 days until our trip on the Dream!!

 

Thank you 🙏🏾!! Hopefully I will get this thing wrapped up before you leave! ☺️

[lohgan]

Following along and loving it!!

[WaggesAZ]

OMG, I have been loving your review so far and admittedly snickered a few times, but this sent me into a fit of laughter that I may just giggle about for days:

 

"We skipped to a better line, and got our cards scanned in by an agent who had the biggest hair that I've ever seen on a human. It was Deep and Wide. Sorta looked like a big hairy pillow was glued to the back of her head. I felt bad for her because it was obvious that she neither had a friend nor a mirror. I'm also wondering how she fit that hair in her car. Does she take it off to drive? Is her car specially made with a big hump in the top? Is it a convertible? How does she get dressed? Did someone put a curse on her hair? Did she pay to look like that? I have questions and concerns. Since I have no time to wait for answers, we move on. Some things are better left unsaid."

 

I am happily reading along and I don't even have a cruise booked on the Dream but your writing style cannot be described as anything other than FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!

[Nettiejeanne]

So entertaining! I'm loving your review! and you are so beautiful! Cruising definitely agrees with you!

[HolySpearit]

Loving your review and reading along!

[NavarreCruiser]

I am enjoying your review. Sandy and I were on the Dream B2B from 10/29 until 11/9. One extra day and one missed port thanks to hurricane Nate. CD Chris is a friend of mine, I hope you had a chance to see him perform.

[willdra]

Following along and loving it!!

 

 

 

Thank you welcome aboard! [emoji4][emoji4]

 

 

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[willdra]

OMG, I have been loving your review so far and admittedly snickered a few times, but this sent me into a fit of laughter that I may just giggle about for days:

 

"We skipped to a better line, and got our cards scanned in by an agent who had the biggest hair that I've ever seen on a human. It was Deep and Wide. Sorta looked like a big hairy pillow was glued to the back of her head. I felt bad for her because it was obvious that she neither had a friend nor a mirror. I'm also wondering how she fit that hair in her car. Does she take it off to drive? Is her car specially made with a big hump in the top? Is it a convertible? How does she get dressed? Did someone put a curse on her hair? Did she pay to look like that? I have questions and concerns. Since I have no time to wait for answers, we move on. Some things are better left unsaid."

 

I am happily reading along and I don't even have a cruise booked on the Dream but your writing style cannot be described as anything other than FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!

 

 

 

LOL [emoji23] thanks so much!!!

 

 

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[willdra]

So entertaining! I'm loving your review! and you are so beautiful! Cruising definitely agrees with you!

 

 

 

Thank you for the sweet compliments!!! ❤️❤️❤️

 

 

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[willdra]

Loving your review and reading along!

 

 

 

Thank you I really love yours too!!![emoji7][emoji7][emoji7]

 

 

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[willdra]

I am enjoying your review. Sandy and I were on the Dream B2B from 10/29 until 11/9. One extra day and one missed port thanks to hurricane Nate. CD Chris is a friend of mine, I hope you had a chance to see him perform.

 

 

 

Thank you! Yes I did get to see Chris, and I really liked him. I wish he would give me some of his energy!!! [emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]

 

 

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[willdra]

Before I get started on the next post, I would like to sincerely thank everyone for the comments. It really does help me to keep going!! Especially with all of the chores that I am currently procrastinating and neglecting! Just don't tell W, he thinks I'm up here ordering his Christmas presents!

Ok, enough of that, where were we? Oh yes the Second Sea Day.......

Nope, that was not a typo, there were 2 Sea Days at the beginning of the cruise. On purpose.

I must've totally missed that when I booked this cruise. I didn't see it until we boarded. Looking back though, I was so focused on W's 50th Birthday Celebration, it's a miracle that I remembered to bring clothes. Since it was too late to get off, and jumping overboard is generally frowned upon, I accepted my fate and went with it. Cruise life is tough.

 

So on this Sea Day Do-Over, I didn't get up extremely early. It was around 9:30. Before bed, I laid my gym clothes out on the couch in case I felt like going for a run when I woke up. As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew it wasn't happening. Mostly because I was behind schedule on being as lazy as possible, and I needed to get caught up. I was slacking on my slacking.

 

I figured since we were stuck with 3 Sea Days,we may as well enjoy the benefits of 3 Sea Day Brunches. So we did. I didn't have to twist W’s arm to eat! We took our time getting ready, then slow rolled up to the dining room. This is where our cabin location worked for us not against us. It was super convenient to get to the Dining Rooms. There was no line when we arrived, and we were seated right away.

 

Coffee was brought out as soon as we sat down, and we wasted no time getting it in us! The sooner we drink it, the better. For everyone. After we were caffeinated, we ordered all of our favorite brunch foods, and chit chatted between bites. Ahhhhh. This is the life. We could've stayed there relaxing forever. Or until we got kicked out.

 

Bagel Breakfast with Cream Cheese and Salmon

 

The Absolute Best Breakfast Anywhere Ever!

 

Me Before Devouring This Dish

[willdra]

After Brunch we went up to Serenity. The sun was making an awesome appearance, and there was an empty clamshell just waiting for us. We quickly grabbed it, (the clamshell, not the sun) and settled in. After a few minutes out there, I was reminded of how much I really like the split level Serenity Deck on the Dream. There was no Plexiglas wind blocker on the lower deck, so you could really get some bountiful breeze blessings. As we were out on Serenity awhile, I noticed that the clamshells didn't fill up as fast as on other sailings. Several times there were loungers available in prime real estate for long periods of time. They were just out there chillin, waiting to be occupied.

Here are some pictures that we took when we first got out there:

 

 

 

 

 

I think this was the Oasis of the Seas. That thing is ginormous!!!

[willdra]

Sometime later, the fam came up and clutched the ones next to us. A and Z settled on our left and BIL and SIL were on our right. We laid around lounging and living lazy lives. Squad Goals. W and Z got restless from being lazy, so they went off to play manly games of skill, intelligence, and competition. This of course was after W had his carefully coordinated lunch. For W, food is first. I honestly think he would trade me in for a t-bone steak. I better stay on my p’s and q’s!!!

 

BIL and SIL

 

A and Z

 

 

 

While W and Z were gone, BIL stayed with the women. Lucky us! BIL is a talker who talks all day and loves the sound of himself talking. Unfortunately he is the only one who enjoys hearing himself talk so much. Today was no exception and his diarrhea of the mouth was going at full strength. He talked and talked and talked all day. A and I drifted in and out of consciousness, and the conversations. Oh no worries, he doesn't mind you passing out, he just keeps talking. He’s happy to wait you out. He pays no attention when my eyes start glossing over or when I haven't blinked in an hour.

 

 

After all of that not listening, I got hungry so I walked down to the deli for a turkey wrap. This is actually one of my favorite lunches, and I hate that I forget or don't have time for it sometimes. Thankfully, I didn't wait long for it , because the line was really short.

 

 

When I made it back to Serenity, it had cooled off a lot and it was actually pleasant outside. BIL and SIL were asleep in their clamshell, thank the Lord, so I ate my wrap, and read my book until my eyelids became too heavy to hold up. W and Z came back, and we just chillaxed the rest of the day. After a nice day of imitating slugs, we finally decided to go back to our cabins to get ready for dinner. Except I used most of my free time to make sure that the backs of my eyelids were not sunburned. After an hour of that essential activity, I determined that they were up to par, so I got up to wash away the aroma of spending a full day outside. Don’t wanna smell like outside at dinner! Ewwwww

Sunset

 

 

[willdra]

We got to dinner on time, and tonight there was just the 6 of us. I think BIL scared away AC and L with all of his talking. Can’t blame em if so. I low key wish they'd took me with them! Tonight I had the Penne Mariscos as an appetizer and Lasagna as my entrée. W had Escargot and Flat Iron Steak. There was not a lot of variety in our choices around the table, we pretty much all ordered the same thing. I think everyone except me got the steak. W and I were still kinda sleepy so we didn't talk much. This worked out very well for BIL as he got to dominate the conversation. I have no idea what he talked about either. We were all too tired to protest or contest. #whatever We just let him go for it. For dessert, I had Peach Pie A La Mode which was very good.

 

 

A and Z

 

BIL and SIL

 

Me and W

 

Menu

 

 

 

[willdra]

Flat Iron Steak

 

Penne Mariscos

 

Lasagna

 

Peach Pie

 

Between BIL’s words,we did learn that A and Z’s cabin was directly above the theater. They could hear music from the rehearsals and if they were in the cabin during the shows they could hear most of the show. Tonight A said the show had a loud noise towards the end, which scared the crap outta her. She said she was asleep, then suddenly the bed shook with a loud boom. She woke up clutching her pearls and fighting the air until she realized what it was! I asked if they wanted to speak with Guest Services about switching, but they said it's only loud during parts of Showtime and rehearsals. As long as they didn't forget to put in their earplugs, they were fine. They are such good sports!

 

After dinner BIL was not feeling well, so he retired to his cabin. It was prolly due to too much talking, or having to pause for A and Z to tell their story. A, Z, and W went to Ocean Plaza to play games. I went to browse the shops again. I didn't see anything I loved, so pretty soon I was reading my book at a table next to them. I started to feel like I was wasting time that could be spent sleeping, so I crept back up to the cabin and quickly completed my bedtime ritual (that's a fancy way of saying "I flossed, brushed, took out my contacts, and washed my face").

 

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for my new silicone earplugs. I no longer hear W’s snoring at all, and I may start using them to block out BIL’s voice. God really does love me!

[Butterbean1000]

Hi from one georgia girl to another! Love me some packing cubes too. I'm trying to get my husband on board, but he's resisting. I'm enjoying your review.

 

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[dporter]

What are packing cubes???

[E@syPe@zy]

What are packing cubes???

 

The best thing on earth for packing!

/www.travelfashiongirl.com/packing-cubes-video-tutorial-learn-how-to-pack-light/

[Butterbean1000]

Check out ebagsdotcom.

 

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[willdra]

What are packing cubes???

 

Here is what 7 days worth of clothes looks like in 4 medium and 1 small packing cubes.

 

 

I got mine from Amazon:

Shacke Pak – 5 Set Packing Cubes – Medium/Small – Luggage Packing Travel Organizers (Black / Blue)

[RETCOL]

Willdra, 'thank you for such a comprehensive , detailed and downright enjoyable review. your chronological writing style helped me feel like I was there with you. You gave me a much needed gift by allowing me to leave my own life for a few minutes and tag along on yours. I love seeing the pictures of your family. You and your husband make such a cute couple and look so much in love. Thanks for letting an outsider share your trip. I will look for reviews from you from now on now that

Ive found you. my name is Paula and I have loved cruising for many years. Some of our most fun ones were where we took a large group of family and friends with us, It's like bring you own party with you. You brought back many fond memories. Thanks again.

[willdra]

Willdra, 'thank you for such a comprehensive , detailed and downright enjoyable review. your chronological writing style helped me feel like I was there with you. You gave me a much needed gift by allowing me to leave my own life for a few minutes and tag along on yours. I love seeing the pictures of your family. You and your husband make such a cute couple and look so much in love. Thanks for letting an outsider share your trip. I will look for reviews from you from now on now that

 

Ive found you. my name is Paula and I have loved cruising for many years. Some of our most fun ones were where we took a large group of family and friends with us, It's like bring you own party with you. You brought back many fond memories. Thanks again.

 

 

 

Paula, thank you so much for saying “hi”!!! I really appreciate it, and welcome aboard! [emoji2][emoji2]You are right about taking family and friends. It was great and it was consistently entertaining and interesting! [emoji12]

 

 

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