 |
| Carnival Dream & Triumph both docked in Cozumel, Mexico |
Hey everyone!
My family and I are back from vacation. I can’t wait to fill you all in on what happened. We had a blast during our 7-day cruise aboard the Carnival Dream, as well as our 2-day stay post cruise in Orlando, Florida. It is so sad to be back (at work). I need a vacation from the vacation. .:LOL:. Let’s hope I hit the power ball or mega million so I can work whenever I want and just travel with my family. Of course, I will put money aside first.
 |
| Me & the husband waiting to get on the ship |
 |
| My sister, bestie, and ME! Mini me is strapped in the Ergo |
Back to the trip…
We were slated to stop in Cozumel, Mx, Belize, Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, and Costa Maya, Mx. Due to Ernesto, we ended up only going to one of our original ports of call, Cozumel. Ernesto hit Belize on Tuesday, August 7th, which is the day we were to arrive. For our safety, we were re-routed to new ports of call: Progreso, Mx, Freeport, Bahamas, and Nassau, Bahamas. I’ve never heard of nor been to Preogreso. I’ve been to Nassua, Bahamas, but not Freeport. I was a bit bummed we didn’t get a chance to visit Honduras and Costa Maya since we’ve never gone. At least they took us to additional ports instead of giving us 4 more days at sea.
 |
| Me sipping my drink “The Vixen” while they announce me as the winner! |
During the first day on board, I entered the Master Mixologist contest. The contest took place on Sunday, August 5th, which was our first sea day. This was my 3rd trip with Carnival, and I never participated in any of their contests/games, so I gave it a shot. It was FUN! When I signed up, I was given a paper with ingredients listed on it. I had to choose a liquor base, mix, juice or soda, and name the drink. I named mine “The Vixen”. I will share the recipe in tomorrows Thirst Thursday’s post. I went against 3 guys, and a girl who was also from New York. Thanks to the genius of my chef sister, I ended up winning. I won 4 free drinks, and the drink I made. It seemed like we were racking up this cruise. My husband ended up winning a $50 spa credit on the first day, which I used for a CND Shellac manicure in Tutti Frutti.
 |
| Sister, Bestie, Sister, Niece |
We all participated in Karaoke. Carnival, at the end of the cruise puts on the Carnival Legends show where cruisers can participate by performing. My husband “auditioned” for James Brown’s part, and got it. When he performed it was HILARIOUS! They put him in a wig, and a burgundy velour suit. When he performed, he did a SPLIT!!! I nearly fell out of my seat. My sister has it on video, I may post it.
 |
| The husband as James Brown |
How was mini me during the trip?
Prior to the cruise I was nervous as to how mini me would react. She was fine. The plane ride going was a little rough, especially the descend, which really bothered her ears. The ear popping woke her up out of her sleep. I nursed her which seemed to help some.
 |
| Carnival Dream Room 7405 |
During the cruise, we had a balcony on the empress deck. Mini me loved being on the balcony. She was able to walk around, and play freely without any worries. The glass to the balcony comes up to about 4′ high so I had no worries about her going overboard .:LOL:. We went to the beach in Cozumel and Freeport, and she loved it. She was kicking and splashing in the water. It made me think about putting her in for swimming lessons at the local YMCA. She loved playing in the sand, too. I can’t wait for our next beach vacation together.
I definitely over packed for her as far as clothes. Toddlers are unpredictable, and I would have rather been safe than sorry. I ordered pampers, and some other items from drugstore.com and had them shipped to the hotel. The box was open when we arrived, but, nothing was missing. The 64-count pampers plus the 20 I brought with me were more than enough for our 10-day vacation. Plus, I had 11 swim diapers. I only used 3 out of the pack.
I ended up bringing my BabyJogger City Mini, car seat, and the ergo. My ergo was a godsend, especially since she wanted to be with me like 90% of the time. She’s too heavy to carry without it. She used the stroller maybe 10% of the time we were there. It basically served as a push cart for our bags and other items. I purchased the BabyJogger City Mini Stroller Carrier off of ebay for $42 (shipping included), which I would say was worth it. It protected the stroller pretty well during transport. The only thing is, you have to take off the wheels before putting it inside of the bag.
Note: It was free to check the stroller, and car seat. I didn’t get a car seat bag (I used a large plastic bag). I was able to stuff other items into the stroller bag though. Which helped maintain our luggage weight under 50 lbs.
Bathing her during the trip was difficult. She hates showers. The sink was too small on the ship. On beach days because of the sand I had to, unfortunately put her in the shower, and she cried like someone was killing her. I did get in with her, which helped some.
Pumping and storing milk. So, Carnival needs to work on getting refrigerators that really cool. I was unable to really pump and reserve milk like I wanted to because the refrigerator didn’t get cold enough. I ended up pumping about 6 oz with my Medela Harmony and had the room steward bring an extra bucket of ice to keep it cold. Bringing my pump was pretty much pointless.
The post is getting long… I will save you and continue my trip report in another post.
🙂