Detailed Photo Review of Carnival Dream 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise 3/10/19

[deladane]

9 hours ago, jakeawhite said:

Were you allowed to go all the way to the top? Did the limit how far you could climb?

 

Hmm I feel like I had a ruins fail bc it didn’t occur to me to see how high I could climb! We left the guide holding my camera to take that photo so we climbed a third of the way up and figured that was good enough. Sorry I can’t give you a better answer 😞

[Mistyness]

On 4/11/2019 at 6:31 PM, pd7277 said:

Norris - Time to try that link I sent you.  Dana is rocking hers!  First line in her signature.  Check it out!

Where is the signature line? I don't see it. Does it show up on a tablet? 

[Hooked!]

Enjoying your trip report very much. GREAT photos of you two in front of the ruins with no one else around; what luck you had! 

 

Megan 

[deladane]

58 minutes ago, Mistyness said:

Where is the signature line? I don't see it. Does it show up on a tablet? 

 

I don't think you can see the signature on a phone or tablet.  On a real computer, it shows up below each individual post (unless you changed your settings to hide signatures, in which case you wouldn't see it on a computer either!)

[deladane]

29 minutes ago, Hooked! said:

Enjoying your trip report very much. GREAT photos of you two in front of the ruins with no one else around; what luck you had! 

 

Megan 

 

Thanks Megan!  I was thrilled that we were able to get photos like that because I really did expect it to be way more crowded.  I think it was also partly because we got a late start to our day.  I'm sure it would have been more crowded at 10am when tours visited from the other 3 ships, but by the time we arrived, they had all left.  I've been doing a lot of research lately for our Paris/London trip and all I keep reading about is how it's going to be insanely crowded everywhere because it is peak tourist season.  I need to find a really good photo editing app for my iPad so I can remove all those people from my photos lol

[deladane]

Ok, let's see if I can finish posting about Costa Maya day before I need to go to work today...

 

After our private photo session with those amazing Mayan temples, Brian led us back down the steps via the easier route, and as we got to the bottom, we saw the bigger tour groups approaching.  What great timing!  We made our way back towards the entrance, briefly stopping to see the houses where the Mayans lived.  We were back at the visitor center around 4pm, so we spent just over an hour walking around the ruins.  I’d say that was the perfect amount of time.  Sure, there are other Mayan Ruins sites across Mexico and Central America that are bigger and more developed than Chacchoben, but I don’t think I would have needed to spend any longer than an hour walking around the ruins.  We saw plenty, got to climb around and explore, and learned a bit about Mayan history and culture.  Overall, it was time well spent and I’m glad we booked this tour.

 

After another break to use the restrooms, we piled back in the van for the drive back to the cruise port.  Or at least, that’s what we thought!  Brian had one little surprise planned for us… a stop at a pineapple stand for a little snack. 

 

 

The van stopped on the side of the road and Brian told us to stay seated and he would pick up a treat for us.

 

 

He gave one of these bags to each pair of two people.  This was by far the sweetest pineapple I have ever tasted, even better than in French Polynesia!  The only issue was that this was way too much for us to eat, especially with less than 2 hours to go until our dinner time back on the ship.  We each had a few slices, but we had to throw the rest away because they won’t let you bring fresh fruit back on the ship.

 

[deladane]

We arrived back at the Mayan Trips office, promptly at 5pm as scheduled.  We thanked Brian and Rocky for a great tour, then walked back towards the cruise port.  On the way to the ship, I noticed some flamingos that I had not seen earlier…

 

 

There were lots of lounge chairs available at this late hour, which did not surprise me considering the Equinox and Symphony OTS were past all aboard time.

 

 

 

Then we made the long walk down the pier and back to the Carnival Dream

 

It was still very windy out there, as shown by my hair blowing everywhere in this photo!

 

The Dream looked so pretty in the late afternoon light

 

[deladane]

By the time we got back on the ship, it was nearly 5:30pm, so this was one of those moments when we were really happy to have two showers in our cabin.  We also took advantage of being on Deck 1 and climbed up the one flight of stairs to get back to our cabin as fast as possible, avoiding the long wait at the elevators.  We got showered and ready for dinner in record time, and made our way upstairs to the MDR just 5 minutes late.  The dining room was only 25% full, if that, so I guess a lot of people were taking advantage of the later sail away time and either eating dinner on shore or would eat at the Lido buffet later tonight.  Of all the tables in Prudence’s section, only one pair of women at the long table next to us were seated when we arrived.  I think one other couple showed up a few minutes later, but that was it.

 

Tonight’s appetizers

 

Dinner menu

 

Port of call menu for Costa Maya

 

Fried Shrimp appetizer

 

Romaine Caesar Salad

[deladane]

While we were eating, we noticed this ambulance coming down the pier.  When it got to the intersection between our pier and the one leading over to the Oceania ship, it started to turn around, squeezing next to the orange cone in the middle of the road.  The ambulance took several minutes of going back and forth, trying to maneuver on the narrow pier, and we just kept saying that we hoped whoever needed this ambulance didn’t need it too urgently because this was taking forever!  Why they didn’t move that orange cone to create more space for the turn was baffling to us (especially since we saw the port workers move the cone for their vehicles later in the meal).  The ambulance eventually succeeded in its turns and backed up all the way down the other pier to help a passenger from the Oceania ship.  About 30 minutes later, we saw the ambulance drive away, but it did not have any flashing lights.  We’ll never know if that was because the person no longer needed assistance, or what happened, but hopefully they received the care they needed.

 

Anyway, back to dinner.  I had Penne Mariscos for my entrée.

 

DH ordered the short ribs (he said they were just okay, but a bit dry)…

 

…and the beef lasagna (he said this was one of the best entrees he had all week)

 

Dessert Menu

 

I think DH ordered a cheese plate for dessert but I forgot to take a photo.  I ordered the cheesecake with strawberry sauce.  It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as the cheesecake from the steakhouse (no surprise there!)

[deladane]

We finished dinner by 7:15pm, and had a bit of time before the 8pm comedy show, so we went outside on deck 5 to catch the end of a beautiful sunset.

 

 

DH was hoping to see some pier runners, but I wasn’t surprised that the only people out there were dock workers.  I had a feeling that no one would miss the ship tonight as the sun setting is usually a good reminder to get back to the ship haha

 

The 8pm family-friendly comedy show tonight was with the other comedian on board, Just June, and the show was called “Moms Mabley”.  Since this was the first time we saw her show, we didn’t know what she looked like, and were quite surprised when this lady took the stage.

 

 

 

She doesn’t look like the usual cruise ship comedian, but she was entertaining and spent most of her act playing off the people sitting in the first few rows of the lounge.  When the cocktail waiter came around, I ordered an Angry Orchard cider.  He asked if I wanted to get a bucket of 4 to save $2.  Since it was only Tuesday and I knew I’d get through 3 more ciders in the next 5 days, I asked him to leave them closed and ordered the bucket.  I wasn’t expecting cans, but that did make it easier to open them in our cabin haha

 

She stayed true to her schtick through nearly the entire routine, but towards the end, Moms Mabry transformed back into Just June.  I definitely was not expecting that all of that hair was hiding under her wig!

 

[deladane]

After the comedy show ended, we found “our couch” on Deck 4 overlooking the atrium, and listened to Chris Ayden playing the guitar.

 

 

From “our couch”, we could see when the theater doors opened so there was no need to wait in line, and when the time came, we went over to the Encore! Theater to get seats for the Love and Marriage Show.  This show is only as entertaining as the 3 couples picked to participate, but these couples and Gary did a great job keeping us all laughing.

 

 

When the show ended, we were both a little hungry so we went upstairs to Lido to find something to eat.  At that late hour, our only options were pizza or the deli.  The line for pizza was crazy long so we went to the deli instead.  I ordered the classic grilled cheese, but wished they left it in the oven a bit longer to make the bread more crispy.

 

DH ordered a hot dog with sauerkraut and a reuben sandwich, and he said both were good (he actually ordered these a few times throughout the week, so he must have liked them!)

 

By the time we finished, it was nearly 11pm so we went back to the cabin to pack up our beach bags and get ready for sleep, as we had a very early wake up call for tomorrow in Roatan!

 

Step Tracker Daily Total:  16,054 steps; 6.48 miles; 12 flights of stairs

[pghsteelerfan]

I really enjoyed reading about your day in Costa Maya and loved the pictures and what a gorgeous day.  The pictures from the ship looking toward Costa Maya look like it did when we were there, except that large pyramid peeking above the trees was not there.  The actual cruise center area looks a little different since it was pretty basic when we were there.  There were shops and there was a pool there, but it seemed rather "open" when we were there.  But that was in 2006, and exactly 13 years before your visit since our cruise was 3/12 - 3/19 and Costa Maya was our last stop.  But I'll never forget getting up to Lido deck for breakfast that morning and seeing outside, we were awed by the lush, thick trees and that gorgeous water.  We had no idea what to expect.  We just did the "beach break" through the cruise line on that trip but we really enjoyed it.  I'd love to get back one day. 

Glad you're posting about the Google Document to add to the signature line.  I'm trying it but can't figure out how to cover the link with my own text to still open, but no biggie.  The other thing I'm noticing is when I go to open the links, I have to click on it then it brings down a box with the link and by clicking on THAT one, it will open up to the review link.  I just shared it in an email to myself, but maybe I need to share to the web.  I did see your post to Kim (Mitsugirly) on the St. Kitts boards but know she's going on a cruise over Spring Break out of San Juan on RCI and they usually leave a few days early.  I don't know exactly when their spring break ism but here in Virginia it's this coming week.  I know she'll appreciate that since I saw where she mentioned the link limit after CC's update.  I know I appreciate it, so thank you for sharing that information. 

[deladane]

1 hour ago, pghsteelerfan said:

I really enjoyed reading about your day in Costa Maya and loved the pictures and what a gorgeous day.  The pictures from the ship looking toward Costa Maya look like it did when we were there, except that large pyramid peeking above the trees was not there.  The actual cruise center area looks a little different since it was pretty basic when we were there.  There were shops and there was a pool there, but it seemed rather "open" when we were there.  But that was in 2006, and exactly 13 years before your visit since our cruise was 3/12 - 3/19 and Costa Maya was our last stop.  But I'll never forget getting up to Lido deck for breakfast that morning and seeing outside, we were awed by the lush, thick trees and that gorgeous water.  We had no idea what to expect.  We just did the "beach break" through the cruise line on that trip but we really enjoyed it.  I'd love to get back one day. 

Glad you're posting about the Google Document to add to the signature line.  I'm trying it but can't figure out how to cover the link with my own text to still open, but no biggie.  The other thing I'm noticing is when I go to open the links, I have to click on it then it brings down a box with the link and by clicking on THAT one, it will open up to the review link.  I just shared it in an email to myself, but maybe I need to share to the web.  I did see your post to Kim (Mitsugirly) on the St. Kitts boards but know she's going on a cruise over Spring Break out of San Juan on RCI and they usually leave a few days early.  I don't know exactly when their spring break ism but here in Virginia it's this coming week.  I know she'll appreciate that since I saw where she mentioned the link limit after CC's update.  I know I appreciate it, so thank you for sharing that information. 

 

Thanks Holly!  I was shocked at the color of the water in Costa Maya.  I went in with fairly low expectations because that port doesn't get the greatest reviews, so I didn't expect it to be so pretty!  

 

For the Google Doc link in your signature, click on the 'link' icon.  It's the forth one from the left, after the bold/italics/underline icons.  In the top line, paste the link to your Google Doc, and in the bottom line, write the text that you want it to say 🙂  I went to your Doc and the links worked fine for me when I clicked on them.  Each time, I clicked once and nothing happened, then I clicked one more time and the link opened.  Not sure what that was about, but it did work!

[bettyboop16]

10 hours ago, deladane said:

Ok, let's see if I can finish posting about Costa Maya day before I need to go to work today...

 

After our private photo session with those amazing Mayan temples, Brian led us back down the steps via the easier route, and as we got to the bottom, we saw the bigger tour groups approaching.  What great timing!  We made our way back towards the entrance, briefly stopping to see the houses where the Mayans lived.  We were back at the visitor center around 4pm, so we spent just over an hour walking around the ruins.  I’d say that was the perfect amount of time.  Sure, there are other Mayan Ruins sites across Mexico and Central America that are bigger and more developed than Chacchoben, but I don’t think I would have needed to spend any longer than an hour walking around the ruins.  We saw plenty, got to climb around and explore, and learned a bit about Mayan history and culture.  Overall, it was time well spent and I’m glad we booked this tour.

 

After another break to use the restrooms, we piled back in the van for the drive back to the cruise port.  Or at least, that’s what we thought!  Brian had one little surprise planned for us… a stop at a pineapple stand for a little snack. 

 

 

The van stopped on the side of the road and Brian told us to stay seated and he would pick up a treat for us.

 

 

He gave one of these bags to each pair of two people.  This was by far the sweetest pineapple I have ever tasted, even better than in French Polynesia!  The only issue was that this was way too much for us to eat, especially with less than 2 hours to go until our dinner time back on the ship.  We each had a few slices, but we had to throw the rest away because they won’t let you bring fresh fruit back on the ship.

 

Those pineapples are beautiful!

[deladane]

33 minutes ago, bettyboop16 said:

Those pineapples are beautiful!

 

No joke, they were amazing!!  Seriously the best pineapple I have ever had (and that is my favorite fruit so I have high standards lol)

 

[pghsteelerfan]

2 hours ago, deladane said:

 

Thanks Holly!  I was shocked at the color of the water in Costa Maya.  I went in with fairly low expectations because that port doesn't get the greatest reviews, so I didn't expect it to be so pretty!  

 

For the Google Doc link in your signature, click on the 'link' icon.  It's the forth one from the left, after the bold/italics/underline icons.  In the top line, paste the link to your Google Doc, and in the bottom line, write the text that you want it to say 🙂  I went to your Doc and the links worked fine for me when I clicked on them.  Each time, I clicked once and nothing happened, then I clicked one more time and the link opened.  Not sure what that was about, but it did work!

I have seen the negative comments here on CC about Costa Maya and am left scratching my head because we loved it.  I did have a digital camera then, my first one, but the memory cards at the time only held about 75 pictures and I think I had three, but one of the pictures I got was from the pier of the water looking back toward land and it's one of my favorites.  I got a print and have it on the wall by our phone and smile every time I see it. 🙂 

Thank you for letting me know it's working now.  When I went in earlier today to check it, when I clicked on the link, I didn't get the page with the links, only the section where I had to sign in.  I forget what I did, but did get to where I saw the link icon and copied that and emailed it to myself then edited my signature again and put in that link and it seemed to work then.  I did have the same issue, having to click on the link twice.  I'm not the greatest when it comes to computers, so it's probably just me.  Lol!!!  But for now, as long as it's working (and you confirmed that), that's good enough for me.  Thank you again for sharing that. 

[Mistyness]

13 hours ago, deladane said:

 

I don't think you can see the signature on a phone or tablet.  On a real computer, it shows up below each individual post (unless you changed your settings to hide signatures, in which case you wouldn't see it on a computer either!)

Thank you! I sit at a regular computer at work and enjoy other chairs when at home so I most often am on my tablet. So I've been confused about the signature.

[deladane]

10 hours ago, Mistyness said:

Thank you! I sit at a regular computer at work and enjoy other chairs when at home so I most often am on my tablet. So I've been confused about the signature.

 

haha I totally understand!  It's too bad they don't even give you the option of seeing signatures on tables/phones and just automatically block them.  I'm not sure if this will work because I am just copying and pasting so the links may not transfer, but in case you were wondering, here is my signature...

 

Click here for links to all prior Cruise Critic reviews!

Past Cruises:  03/2019- Carnival Dream (New Orleans, Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel) DREAM REVIEW;03/2018- Celebrity Eclipse (St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba) ECLIPSE REVIEW;09/2017- Paul Gauguin (Tahiti, Huahine, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Fakarava, Taha'a, Moorea); 03/2016- Celebrity Equinox(Cozumel, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Grand Cayman); 03/2015- Carnival Valor (Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Marteen); 09/2013- Carnival Sunshine (Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, Messina, Naples, Rome, Livorno, Marseilles, Barcelona); 12/2012- Carnival Victory (Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Marteen); 11/2010- Celebrity Summit (Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, Tobago); 07/1997- Carnival Holiday (Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico)

Visit my travel blog at… deladane.home.blog   

Total Cruises: 9, Cruise Lines: 3, Ships: 9, Ports: 42

 

[deladane]

11 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

I have seen the negative comments here on CC about Costa Maya and am left scratching my head because we loved it.  I did have a digital camera then, my first one, but the memory cards at the time only held about 75 pictures and I think I had three, but one of the pictures I got was from the pier of the water looking back toward land and it's one of my favorites.  I got a print and have it on the wall by our phone and smile every time I see it. 🙂 

Thank you for letting me know it's working now.  When I went in earlier today to check it, when I clicked on the link, I didn't get the page with the links, only the section where I had to sign in.  I forget what I did, but did get to where I saw the link icon and copied that and emailed it to myself then edited my signature again and put in that link and it seemed to work then.  I did have the same issue, having to click on the link twice.  I'm not the greatest when it comes to computers, so it's probably just me.  Lol!!!  But for now, as long as it's working (and you confirmed that), that's good enough for me.  Thank you again for sharing that. 

 

It's so funny you say that about the original memory cards holding so few photos.  I got my first digital camera in 2004, but I mostly just used it when hanging out with my friends at home and I could upload the photos every night so SD card capacity wasn't a priority.  Today, when I can buy SD cards that will hold thousands of photos, I actually intentionally don't buy the biggest card because when I plug it into my iPad each night, I have to manually scroll through all the old photos before I can get to the new photos that I need to upload and it just takes too long.  Even though my camera will support a much larger card, I found that my preferred SD card size is 8GB (or maybe 16GB if I plan to take videos but I very rarely do that).  Plus, if the card fails or breaks for any reason, then I lose fewer photos!

[deladane]

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 ~ Roatan, Honduras

 

 

As soon as I booked this cruise, I knew that I wanted to find a tour for one of our ports where I could hold a sloth.  I have been obsessed with sloths for years, and holding one would be a bucket list experience for me.  There are several monkey and sloth habitats on Roatan, so this seemed like a good day to do that.  Another priority for today’s tour was to spend some time snorkeling from the shore at West Bay beach.  My research told me that they have an incredible reef which is easily accessed from the shore, and photos of the beach itself looked beautiful so I knew I wanted to see it for myself.  The next step was picking a tour company, and Roatan has lots of options for small group tours where they will fill a van with 15ish people and take you to play with the monkeys and sloths, to go shopping somewhere on the island, and to end the day at the beach.  I considered doing that, but since holding a sloth was such a huge priority for me, I didn’t want to risk taking a group tour and possibly missing that stop.  Some of the places those tours take you to have specific hours when you can hold the sloths, and I did not want to risk something delaying my tour so that we arrived at the wrong time and could not hold a sloth. 

 

That’s when I came across Rony’s Tours.  They offer lots of varieties of tours, but the one I liked the best was the private tour option.  For a little bit of extra money above the cost of a group tour, DH and I could have our own driver and guide for the day in our own air conditioned car.  We could pick and choose where we went, how much time we spent at each place, and in what order we made the stops.  The website has a list of all the different places you can go and how much each place will cost, so it was very easy to pick out our schedule for the day.  They were quick to reply to my emails and answering all of my questions, and they did not require any payment in advance (always a plus because then you don’t need to deal with getting a refund if the ship misses the port for some reason!).

 

Today’s Fun Times

 

 

 

These papers were included with our Fun Times today:

 

 

 

[deladane]

My alarm clock went off bright an early at 7am.  I jumped out of bed, eager to get this exciting day started!  Peeking out the window at 7:30, it looked like we were already tied up to the dock.

 

 

Once we were both dressed and with our beach bags packed, we went upstairs to Lido for breakfast.  We had good timing because there were only two or three people on line at Blue Iguana, so it didn’t take long to get our breakfast burritos.

 

Breakfast with a view!

 

Like a kid in a candy store, when I finished my burrito, I left DH sitting at the table and sipping his coffee so I could go take photos of the port from the outside decks upstairs.  It was shaping up to be another sunny, beautiful day in the Caribbean!

 

 

 

 

The Carnival Freedom was in port with us today

 

[ajsdad]

Where is FTTF located at on the website.  I dont see it under the manage tab, what am I missing.

[grandmarnnurse]

17 minutes ago, ajsdad said:

Where is FTTF located at on the website.  I dont see it under the manage tab, what am I missing.

You will find it in day one of your excursions—the port you board at. If it’s not there, they haven’t loaded any yet. But if it’s Sold Out, it will state that. Don’t give up if it says Sold Out, as more are loaded as time goes on. I check very frequently every day until I grab it.

[pghsteelerfan]

7 hours ago, deladane said:

 

It's so funny you say that about the original memory cards holding so few photos.  I got my first digital camera in 2004, but I mostly just used it when hanging out with my friends at home and I could upload the photos every night so SD card capacity wasn't a priority.  Today, when I can buy SD cards that will hold thousands of photos, I actually intentionally don't buy the biggest card because when I plug it into my iPad each night, I have to manually scroll through all the old photos before I can get to the new photos that I need to upload and it just takes too long.  Even though my camera will support a much larger card, I found that my preferred SD card size is 8GB (or maybe 16GB if I plan to take videos but I very rarely do that).  Plus, if the card fails or breaks for any reason, then I lose fewer photos!

I got my first digital in 2003, gift for my birthday from hubby.  I think I mainly have 8 and 16GB memory cards but did get a 32GB as a gift that I have.  But having smaller cards w/less pics in case a card breaks/gets lost is what I've heard recommended too.  I usually have one card for each day of the cruise. 

I am really looking forward to your time in Roatan.  We need a "re do" there.  When we were there it was a short port day and even though we did a private tour, we felt rushed and we were kind of on her time.  We love hearing about places we visit, but slowing down/stopping in front of every huge house to be told "Americans live here" got to be a little much.  I finally told her that most Americans don't live in houses that big in the USA.  Lol!!!  I can't wait to see your pictures of West Bay Beach...it was so windy when we were there and the water was pretty rough and coming up so high that there wasn't much beach in some areas, including where our loungers were.  We never got in and didn't get to snorkel, as we'd hoped. 

[Rudyard]

Loved the review and pics of Chacchoben. I'm considering it for an excursion when I'm there next year. I did the ruins at Uxmal a few years ago when we docked in Progresso and loved it. I'd rather do something like that over going to the beach any day.