June 26, 2010--Embarkation Day

Matthew and I were awake at 6.  The other two shortly after that.  We packed up the rest of our things.  Matthew's still wet clothes went in a plastic bag from Publix in the non-clothes suitcase.  We drove to Denny's and were joined by Heather, Calvin, Alec and Eric.  She is my best friend from Florida, where we worked together with Dan.  We had planned this vacation originally for April 2009 on the Carnival Valor.  But, postponed and switched to the Carnival Dream, Carnival's brand new and largest ship.  The ship holds 4000 people and was sailing full.  They had spent the night at Comfort Inn after driving over from Nokomis. They would be leaving their car there for the week.

We went back to the hotel for a quick pit stop and to load the van.  Then, off to Budget where we met another family heading off on the Dream.  They were from Canada and were going shark diving.  We boarded the shuttle and got our first up-close view of the Dream.  Matthew said, "It looks so small on the computer."  We had watched her sail away almost every Saturday from the time she first sailed from Port Canaveral in December 2009.

We tipped our driver and dock porter, dropped our bags in their hands and snapped a quick photo of the kids on our cell phones to send out.

Took a few more on my camera and pointed out our cabin towards the top of the ship under the ladder. 

We arrived around 10:45.  Showed our passports and funpass to the security lady outside and we entered the terminal.  Passed through another security screening and up the escalator.  Brief stop to fill out the form that no one was sick and we were sent ahead to check-in with a card that read Zone 6.  We walked up to the counter at 11:00 and they called Zone 1!  We received our Sail and Sign cards (gold for Mommy and Daddy since we are past guests and blue for the kids to show they are first timers) and sat down in the chairs.  At 11:10 they called Zone 6.  Amanda was nervous about walking over the gangway but not Matthew.  We had our photos snapped for our cards and embarkation photo too.  And, we were on board!

Wow, what a gorgeous ship!  We paused a few minutes to let things sink in.  The kids wanted to go up the spiral staircase.  Matthew wanted to see the dining room.  So, we walked over to the Crimson since it was right there.

Then, we climbed up one flight of stairs and caught the glass elevator to Lido Deck to see the pool and grab some lunch.  I called Heather and she was Zone 13, they had just called Zone 12.  It was now about 11:30.  I grabbed two tables near the aft buffet and drink station on the starboard side, hardly anyone back there.  We could see down into the terminal area that Disney uses.

We had a relaxing lunch.  The kids weren't too thrilled with the buffet, so we visited the grill for them.  No line!  I couldn't believe it.  Hot dogs, french fries and cold salads were available without asking.  Cheeseburgers were freshly made behind the counter.  They loved the jello and fruit on the dessert bar!  I found the cakes offered to be very dry.  Amanda and I had our first ice cream for the week.  Well, frozen yogurt!  I think it tastes better and I feel like I can eat more of it.  LOL!

Then, we set off to do some exploring.   We went down to Deck 3 to see the theatre.  Of course, the kids wanted to go on the stage but we said no.  So, they took photos of dolphin and Chloe (Amanda's Webkinz dog) on the stage.  We saw where our photos would be displayed on deck 4.  And found that our dining room was open.  We found our table 415 on the outer edge on the starboard side near the back.  We had a small sliver of window.

We headed up to Deck 5.  We saw the Caliente dance club.  The kids liked that the floor would light up and people walking on the stairs could look in at the people dancing.  We also saw the piano bar.  We would never go there because I had read it is very smoky.  We passed by the Song, the jazz club, and there was a wedding taking place.  I quickly realized it was Gail's son.  She was on my Cruise Critic roll call.  She told us she would be wearing a yellow dress.  We saw her a little bit later when we were going to our muster drill.

We then went outside and walked a little ways on the Lanai.  We found where our original cabin would have been on Deck 6.  After seeing how close it was to the Lanai, I was glad I paid the $40 to upgrade us to Vista, Deck 9.

It was now 1:30 and time to see our home for the week, Cabin 9358 midship on Deck 9 port side.  The kids were surprised to see it was spacious.  Amanda's bed was already made up, but not Matthew's. 

Amanda was nervous about the balcony.  Had to admit I was too.  The height is much more noticeable when you are looking down over buildings instead of water.

I had Dan take them for ice cream since I had a surprise for them.  24 hour ice cream was only one flight up.  Very convenient!  I had ordered decorations and had them hidden in my carry-on.



I quickly decorated the cabin and door.  No small feat since the white putty hates humidity.  I had forgotten that after I taught in Florida.  I finally found the correct ratio and things started sticking.  I tried to call Dan to tell them I was ready, but he didn't answer.  So, I had a loop of Lido and Deck 5 since I didn't know which ice cream he was getting.  They had expensive hard ice cream on Deck 5.  And, I didn't take my phone since I thought his was off.  We finally connected and the kids were thrilled with what Mommy had done.

The kids were getting tired.  But, we did a quick tour of the upper decks and the aft pool.  We saw the water slides, mini-golf, basketball court and golf cage.

We hung out in the cabin for a little while and then went to Club O2 for muster drill.  So painless!  Took 10 minutes while we watched a safety video and didn't have to be outside in our lifejackets.  The kids got their wristbands for the week with our muster station on them.  Matthew loved that they were neon green.  I was concerned with hiding them in our formal photos!  We met Cindy from my carnival.com roll call.  I had told them to look for 2 redheads and a lady with glasses.  Her daughter is 11 and the girls and parents quickly bonded.  They are from Connecticut near Mystic.  I mentioned that I had been there once when I was smaller.  She asked if Evan Bayh is from Indiana. So, I had to tell her that I met him once with my grandma.  This is my favorite part of being on board.  Meeting people from other places.

After muster, we returned to the cabin for sail away and met our Room Steward, Rai.  Matthew of course asked him when his bed would be pulled down.  Gotta love Question Boy!  Rai unlocked our mini-bar so I could put some sodas in there.  Heather, Calvin, and the boys showed up at the same time.  We exchanged gifts for the kids.  I had bought animal visors at Dollar Tree.  They actually had 4 different designs.  Heather had sharks' teeth from Venice (their claim to fame) and sand buckets.  We all gathered on the balcony for the sailaway.  The Dream has to back away from the pier and then turn around.  This started about 4:20, 20 minutes late.  We slowly turned around and started our sail down the channel to the ocean.  I had my cruise playlist going on the iPod!  About 4:50 we had reached the open water.

I checked outside in the hall again for our suitcases to no avail.  Uh oh!  Looks like we might be going to going to dinner in our street clothes.  We all headed down to the Burgundy Lounge for the Camp Carnival orientation.  The kids were excited about the Fun Force dancers.   They put on a little demonstration and said they would be teaching the kids breakdancing during the week.  My two wanted nothing to do with that!  Amanda's new friend, Allison, and her parents sat next to us.  We left a little early since I wanted to see if our suitcases had arrived.  Nope!  This was a first.  But, we had always had late seating and on smaller ships.  4000 people means a lot of luggage to sort out.  I felt funny sending Matthew in a collarless shirt and shorts.  But, that now meant he had an extra shirt for the week.

We arrived at our table and met our waiters for the week, Antara (Yogi) and Jesus Luis.  We placed our orders.  Matthew wanted cheese pizza, Amanda ordered chicken breast with rice, Dan had chicken a la greque, and I had chicken tenders and ribs.  Matthew's pizza was huge and he ate most of it!  Didn't even want dessert!  Amanda liked her chicken after Dan cut off the spiced sections and loved her big bowl of rice.  My ribs were delicious!  So glad I took the cruise critic posters' advice to try them.  There was 8 and I could only eat 5.  The meat fell right off the bones.

For dessert, Heather's boys had chocolate ice cream.  3 adults had black forest cake and I had Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.  Only way I can start my cruise!  It needs two ice creams though, I had forgotten that.

After dinner, we returned to our cabin to find we had 4 suitcases!  We also had a seal.  Matthew's bed was down.  Amanda felt like her bed was now a fort.

We had a Family Welcome Aboard party at 8:00 in the disco.  Amanda really wanted to go since I had told her the floor lights up.  She and Matthew danced a little, a new line dance that I hadn't heard of but they had.  Matthew had the jump down! Then, they played hot potato with balloons.  Matthew came running over by us when they said whoever gets stuck with a balloon has to pop it with their butt.  Yeah, he'd have a little trouble with that!  But, it would have been really funny to see.

We had to join the kids for the body parts dance.  I had Matthew and some things were a challenge like knee to knee or ear to ear.  But, we managed.  He liked the pinky the best because Mommy spun him.

Then, came the highlight of the evening.  The dance contest!  Best Dad, Best Mom, Best Girl and Best Boy.  There were only two dads and Dan is a dancing fool.  So, I was really hoping he'd win the coveted Ship on a Stick!  But, I still tried my best because I really wanted one.  In the end, Dan won!  Woohoo!!!  Now, we don't have to try hard at trivia and be disappointed.

After the party, we stopped by the gift shop to get Matthew a hat.  We didn't want him wearing his black Sox hat because his head would get too hot.  We found a nice khaki/navy Dream one.  Since they were 2 for $20, Dan got a hat too.  I got my scrapbook.  We also found our embarkation photo.  We waited to get it later with our other ones.

We returned to the cabin and I quickly unpacked two suitcases before the laser show.  We went up to Deck 11 to be above the pool deck.  We faced the big screen and got the last section of railing.  Just enough room for Amanda.  Alec and Calvin were able to find us.  Dan put Matthew on his shoulders.  We stayed for the first 3 songs.  Then, they started line dances and we called it a night.

I finished the unpacking.  I was able to hang all of my things and Dan's.  I neatly folded the kids stuff.  Everyone had their own shelf.  I had bought cute, collapsible boxes at Dollar Tree to help organize things.  Amanda went to bed very quickly.  Matthew not so much!  He loved his bed and kept playing with all his guys.  Woody, Buzz and Bullseye made the trip.  We also bought him a stuffed Funship Freddy.

We decompressed by getting today's score.  Sox won 3-2 over the Cubs!  Way to go Paulie!!  The Sox had won the BP cup.  But, really who would want it!