...The Collins Clan... : August 2015

WHAT AN AMAZING VACATION!!!!

We went to New Orleans for 2 days and then took a cruise on the Carnival Dream with Nana and Papa. Kristy, Caleb, and Emily, and Brian, Mel, Parker, Tobey, and Zoey to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.

IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!

Here are some of the highlights and things we did.

(They may not be in complete order)

Sahara, Canyon, and mom left on Friday to head to New Orleans.

We stayed at the Le Pavillon Hotel near the French Quarter.

It was old and beautiful with chandeliers galore.

There was a pool and hot tub on the roof.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were served at 10 pm every night. YUM!

Kristy, Caleb, and Emily beat us to the hotel and waited for us to have dinner with them. Then up to the roof for a swim. The next morning we headed out to sightsee in the French Quarter. It was so hot and humid, but we made it to the Mississippi River to see where we would get on the ship. The Elation was currently docked there.

Much smaller than the Dream as this one holds approximately 1600 less passengers.

We had lunch in the French Quarter at Oceana.

Later that day, Nana, Papa, Brian, Mel, Parker, Tobey, and Zoey arrived at the hotel. Then we all headed out to the French Quarter again for dinner. On Bourbon Street, we ate at Felix's. That's when Bourbon Street came alive!

There were all kinds of interesting people out and about. We made it to the St. Louis Cathedral.

Back at the hotel for our last pb & j.

Breakfast the next morning was right on the corner at Dee's Coffee Shop.

The next day, we checked out of the hotel and taxied to the river. Through long twisty lines and paperwork, we arrived on board.

Several of the elevators here were glass and glowing. 5 stories up was a glass ceiling.

We were told our rooms would not be ready until 1:30 so we headed to the buffet for lunch. Food. Food. Food. All you can eat, at basically any time you wanted to eat it.

First drinks!!

Kristy enjoying the view.

Sahara and Aunt Kristy getting their groove on.

In our cabin. No luggage yet.

Canyon and mom check out the Aft pool.

We finally get luggage and decorate our cabin doors.

And receive our excursion tickets.

Then things must have gotten really silly....

We didn't go to the dining room tonight, still waiting on luggage. And we missed the first show "Welcome Aboard Show". Still learning what there is to do and when.

We did go to the Ocean Plaza Lounge to listen to a band for a little sideline dancing.

The next day was a fun day at sea. We swam, went to Harry Potter Trivia, ate a ton of food, napped, and had elegant dinner night.

Here are some dinner pictures in the Scarlet Dining Room on the 2nd night.

After dinner we headed to the show "Get Ready". It was great!

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, Sahara enjoys the breeze.

It was really windy at the front of the boat, and quiet. No one was up there.

Tonight's show was "Viva Variety" - the fastest juggler in the world.

Party on the Lido Deck. It was the Redfrog's Caribbean Beach Party.

First port is Mahogany Bay on Roatan.

Here we went kayaking, snorkeling, and took a tour of Gumbalimba Park.

(no pictures in the water)

Canyon couldn't do the snorkeling so Warren, our guide, pulled him along in a tube as the rest of us snorkeled. Then he found a large starfish and let Canyon hold it and show it to everyone.

This crazy bridge only held 5 people at a time, so Warren, our guide, let 7 of us travel across at a time. It was long and wiggly and our guide would not cross over it himself!

Canyon was nervous and walked very slowly.

Friendly parrot.

And these monkeys would just jump on anyone walking by.

At the port, Canyon found a great hat, but got a tee-shirt instead.

Back on board was dinner in the Scarlet Dining Room and the show was "Dancing in the Streets".

Zoey turned 8 and had a special treat at dinner thanks to Francis our waiter :)

Sahara and Emily with Joel and Francis.

Zoey had her gift opening in the elevator lobby. Why not? :)

Not exactly sure which night this was, but there was a dive-in movie at least several of the nights. Sahara went to some of them with Emily and Caleb.

The next day our port was Belize.

We took an hour bus ride through the city to the Altun Ha Ruins.

That's Caleb and Emily on the top!

Nana found a path to a pond, but we didn't go down it. The rain forest was so thick!

Nana and Papa heading back to the ship.

We had a great little room stewart named "K". Every night we had a little towel animal on our bed. :) He took good care of us.

These were some of the amazing dinners to be had at the Scarlet Dining Room.

We didn't stay awake for the Mexican Buffet, but it sure looked great!

Kristy was smart to get some nice photos done with matching outfits no less.

We dock next to Royal Caribbean

Welcome to Passion Island at Cozumel!

It was so pretty here! All you can eat buffet, open bar, (Blue Lagoon was my favorite!), kayaking, swimming, hammocking, water trampolines, shopping, and white sandy beaches. The water was turquoise.

It was paradise.

As warm as it was, the sand was not hot to walk on.

Two 'take with me' drinks to go!

We took a catamaran to get to that island and back to the ship.

Sahara and Emily went on their own adventure at Cozumel.

They swam with dolphins!

It was so beautiful there. I hope we go back some time. Sahara and Emily had plenty of shopping time after their dolphin swim and met up with Kristy.

Sahara had her first 'legal' drink too! A margarita!

Back on board for dinner and the show '8 More Seconds'.

Then it was a game of sticks.

Some hot tub time!

(a couple of pictures from other times earlier in the cruise)

The next day was another fun day at sea. We had a lot of pool time and got a little burned. They gave us a chocolate extreme fest at noon so that is what we had for lunch!