Happy July 4th everyone! I'm posting a review and some pics from our last trip. We were blessed in that we could take another cruise this summer for vacation. We did the Western Caribbean 7 day cruise with two days at sea. So here's the low down for those of you interested in traveling and/or cruising.
This was our first time aboard the Carnival Dream. She is the biggest the cruise line has ever built, holding up to 5-6,000 passengers and crew.
This was our first time aboard the Carnival Dream. She is the biggest the cruise line has ever built, holding up to 5-6,000 passengers and crew.
Day 1- Day at Sea
We woke early and Mark enjoyed the sauna, and we ate breakfast. We spent time playing ping pong on lido deck until I hit the blame ball overboard. Mark finally found it five decks below. So we decided to stop while we were ahead. *lol*
We were tired from driving the day before so we napped for awhile before lunch. Then, we hit the casino before playing trivia in one of the many lounges on the ship. Later we got dressed up for our first formal night, which was fun. Seeing all those peeps dressed up is exciting. Mark also surprised me with a really gorgeous pair of diamond earrings which match my wedding rings. We'd been eyeing them the night before in the shops. He says it's a birthday/Christmas/early push present. He's so sweet and can't be outdone. He makes me feel like a princess. I love you, baby!
We enjoyed dinner and a small production by the dining room wait staff. After eating, we headed back to the casino again for some roulette and slots. Later that night we piled into the adult lounge for a hilarious comedy show with Tony Esposito. Carnival did a great job choosing the comedians because he was phenomenal.
We were tired from driving the day before so we napped for awhile before lunch. Then, we hit the casino before playing trivia in one of the many lounges on the ship. Later we got dressed up for our first formal night, which was fun. Seeing all those peeps dressed up is exciting. Mark also surprised me with a really gorgeous pair of diamond earrings which match my wedding rings. We'd been eyeing them the night before in the shops. He says it's a birthday/Christmas/early push present. He's so sweet and can't be outdone. He makes me feel like a princess. I love you, baby!
We enjoyed dinner and a small production by the dining room wait staff. After eating, we headed back to the casino again for some roulette and slots. Later that night we piled into the adult lounge for a hilarious comedy show with Tony Esposito. Carnival did a great job choosing the comedians because he was phenomenal.
Day 2- Cozumel, Mexico
Cozumel is nice. The shops and restaurants just off the boat in Puerta Maya were nice enough. The water was pretty, dark blue and greens. It's not as clear as some beaches we've been to in the Caribbean, but it's definitely a far cry from Atlantic waters we're used to.
Mark booked our excursion in Cozumel in advance with helpful reviews from Trip Advisor. We are spent the day at Nachi Cocom. This place is "muy bueno"! We spent $100 for an all in-inclusive day here. The cost of the venue includes endless drinks- any alcoholic or non alcoholic beverages, our own tiki cabana with chairs on the beach, a pool and a jacuzzi with swim up bar.
They allow 100 people here a day, but there were only 60 people here at this private beach. The staff are really courteous and constantly bringing us endless drinks. The pool was really nice, surrounded by chairs and palm trees. Both the pool and jacuzzi were conveniently adjoined to the bar. The jacuzzi was great because it was filled with the same temp water as the pool.
Mark booked our excursion in Cozumel in advance with helpful reviews from Trip Advisor. We are spent the day at Nachi Cocom. This place is "muy bueno"! We spent $100 for an all in-inclusive day here. The cost of the venue includes endless drinks- any alcoholic or non alcoholic beverages, our own tiki cabana with chairs on the beach, a pool and a jacuzzi with swim up bar.
They allow 100 people here a day, but there were only 60 people here at this private beach. The staff are really courteous and constantly bringing us endless drinks. The pool was really nice, surrounded by chairs and palm trees. Both the pool and jacuzzi were conveniently adjoined to the bar. The jacuzzi was great because it was filled with the same temp water as the pool.
The staff served us a three course meal, which you could have gotten at any point and time. It started raining at noon so we decided to eat then. Nachi Cocom also offered banana boat rides, jet skis,a glass bottom boat ride and snorkeling for extra fees. However, this venue was not overcrowded and the people there handled themselves responsibly. Overall, it was totally worth what we paid.
Day 3- Isla Roatan, Honduras
We didn't book any excursion for this port, so we decided to see what the locals had to offer that we might be interested in. We found a deal which included beach, pool and facility access at a local resort, the Mayan Princess. We taxied to the resort which was really gorgeous. However, once we got to the beach it was so overcrowded. Luckily, pool access was ours as well, and that's where we spent most of out time. The pool was massive, about the size of a football field. We lounged in the pool, under it's waterfalls and on the sunning levels.
Day 4- Belize
We tendered to the port of Belize City where we met our tour guides from cavetubing.com. Mark found this tour online as well, which was cheaper than the cave tubing excursion through Carnival. We traveled by coach through the countryside while our tour guide filled us with facts about Belize and it's natives. We arrived at a park where we hiked a short while to the tubing site.
We were provided small head lamps and tubes. They joined us into groups of 6-8, and we floated through a cave system for about 1.5 hours. Our group guide led us around rocks and helped us if we got stuck in swallow areas. Overall, the main guide was entertaining and very informative. The float through the caves was unlike anything we'd done before. My only complaint was that it ended so soon.
After the tubing trip, we regrouped and stopped at the company's cabana where we dried off and changed clothes. They also fed us a lunch of authentic chicken tamales cooked in banana leaves, which where so yummy! Then we traveled back to the port to tender back to the ship.
Day 5- Costa Maya almost
We didn't make it into the last port due to bad weather. Winds were up to 65-70 miles per hour because of the tropical storm in the Caribbean. So we enjoyed another day at sea.
Day 6- Final day at sea
We definitely enjoyed all the activities that were planned on the ship during the days at sea- from the trivia challenges, the shows at night, the comedy club and the casino. There was an outrageous number of hot tubs on the boat. As well as an "adults only" area with its own sitting, lounging and sun chairs on the upper deck. The spa and gym on board the ship were both super nice.
I have to give major props to the comedy club for the amazing comedians we saw perform. Our favorites were Tony Esposito and Will Marfori. So if ya ever get a chance to see these two guys, you should- they're hilarious!
Day 7- Back in Port Canaveral
We both totally loved being on vacation, but like always it's good to be back home! Overall, this cruise was lots of fun but was dampened a little by bad weather at times. I would definitely recommend this cruise, but I don't think it was as fun as our Southern Caribbean 7 day back in September! I may be biased though- if could have been because I couldn't do many things this go round that I could before *lol*
Hope some of this info about our cruise is helpful or at least entertaining to you guys!
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