The Deck is HOT
Sea Day #2
Gulf of Mexico
Morning
I woke up early and decided to go and explore on my own and let Chris sleep. At 7:30 in the morning, the Lido deck is not crowded or busy at all. I had my traditional Blue Iguana breakfast and then spent the majority of the rest of the morning laying out, in the shade of course. It was a hot day and there was little to no breeze so even in the shade it was toasty. I went in and out of the ship to get cooler with the AC. TIP- This is what it will be like if you cruise in the summer months. Be ready for that!
The main and aft pools around 8AM. There were not crowded at ALL!
But unfortunately, there were STILL chair hogs! Even in the shade!
I sat in this spot for nearly 2 hours and never saw anyone come to these chairs!
This is my HAPPY PLACE!
This is SO TRUE!
Finally, around 10AM, I went to wake up Chris so we could go to FRIENDS trivia in Ocean Plaza. This is a MUST for me whenever it is offered. In fact, I have won this trivia on 3 different cruise ships. I scored a PERFECT 22/22 but lost in the tie breaker. I was really bummed.
After trivia we walked the Lanai open area on Deck 5 a few times before deciding it was just TOO HOT so we then went to the Casino to enjoy a few drinks before lunch. A fellow passenger used WiFi in the Casino to tell us it was 96*... and we were still in the Gulf (ie- usually a slightly lower temp). It was a scorcher!
On the last Sea Day Carnival places this near the Lanai Casino Entrance. This is all self service and guests can choose when they get off the ship on disembarkation day. They can choose to do Self-Assist, where they haul ALL Of their own luggage off thip or they can do a relax debark. Within the relax group there is an early or late debarkation. Guests will choose a number for the Relax group here! It was effortless and another job well done by Carnival.
Afternoon
We went to the Lido deck shortly after noon to find INCREDIBLY long lines at Guys, Blue Iguana and Mongolian Wok. Chris opted to go back down to Deck 5 for Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ which is so smart because most people don’t even know it is there and many others forget about it. I decided to stay and wait the lines out at Blue Iguana for my favorite… THE TACO SALAD! TIP- I love this so much because it is so tasty and has all the flavors of the burritos but SO MUCH LIGHTER!
After lunch we walked more of the ship and eventually ended up at the aft enjoying people watching and wake watching. I swear this is my favorite thing to do! But again, it was just SO HOT! I went back to the atrium to enjoy the air conditioning before meeting Chris at the Q&A session with Gary.
The Question and Answer session was great and typical for Carnival ships and we learned a lot, especially about the Cruise Director, Gary. This blew our minds but he said he likes 4-5 day cruises better than 7 day cruises as there is less “dead time” for him and believe it or not, he has more down time on shorter cruises. This was fascinating to us and we enjoyed talking to him about it.
We then went and got souvenirs for the kids at the FunShops and Chris spent his $5 at Cherry on Top (Thank you Carnival for the birthday gift). We then enjoyed our FREE champagne Chris won the night before at the 80s Deck Party in the atrium while listening to VIOLINS of all things.
#CruiseLikeaDavis
Thank you Nicki!
The back of our informational shirt!
Evening
We enjoyed a few hours of down time and listened to violins before getting ready for our final dinner onboard the Dream. The service in the MDR was exceptionally well and we enjoyed our time with Putu in the Anytime Dining Area. TIP- I do believe that this fast and exceptionally good service has a lot to do with the ANYTIME dining and not the set dining time. We enjoyed the dining staff singing “Leaving our FunShip” and then went back to the Atrium to listen to more live music. TIP- Live music in the Atrium is such a great way to spend down time on a ship. Most Carnival ships offer live music in the Atrium and Ocean Plaza areas throughout the day and especially the evening.
Putu with the Baked Alaska showtime send off!
Our last sunset at sea!
We grabbed front row seats in the Atrium for the Decades Party with Gary. This is a great event on most Carnival ships that is a LARGE sing-along and trivia party. We just love it… no matter who the Cruise Director is. And once again, Chris was asked to come up and participate. Imagine Dirty Dancing finale with “the lift” with my Big Guy. Hahaha… IT was classic!
Chris always knows how to have fun!
What the "lift" was supposed to look like!
After the Atrium party Carnival celebrated July 4th a day early with a special salute, the singing of the National Anthem and balloon drop. It was absolutely incredible and I was so in awe of the moment I didn’t even get a video! Well Done Carnival… Well done!
Time for the Star Spangled Banner!
THIS was incredible!
Absolutely breathtaking!
More decor for the 4th of July!
We then went to the LATE show for the 80s Pop to the Max in the Encore Theatre. TIP- This is another spectacular show that is great fun for all ages. We LOVE the pre-show festivities and I would HIGHLY recommend you get there early for this! Check your FunTimes for show times but the Carnival Dream offers an Early (8PM) and Late (10PM) showtime. During this show we enjoyed our FREE drink from the Carnival Loyalty Program. We are both GOLD members (25+ nights) and I am only 2 cruises away from being PLATINUM! Thank you Carnival!
The cast of 80s Pop to the Max!
We ended the night at Bonsai Sushi once again. We just couldn’t stay away from this tasty and oddly enough financially cheap late night snack! Be sure to check it out if you like sushi!
This was a typical last Sea Day for us and it could not have been any better. It’s hard to believe this cruise came and went so fast. I swear we just got on YESTERDAY! But tomorrow we are back to reality at home, which means no turn down service, no fulfillment of any and all requests for dinner and not a care in the world. It is all over! But we have had a GREAT time on the Dream and would do it again in a heartbeat!
Thanks for following along!
Next Up… Disembarkation and the FOODIE BLOG!
God is Good... All the Time!
Click on a link to see our past cruising adventures:
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Carnival Legend- ALASKA- 2016
The heat sounds brutal. We have cruised in late July and early August in the past and never lacked a strong breeze to make the shaded promenade seats comfortable.
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