Annette and I decided we would take everyone on a cruise for Christmas 2019. While Tanner and Emily were experienced cruisers (they took a cruise for their first anniversary), no one else had ever been on a cruise. After we agreed that we would consider a cruise, Annette carefully researched cruise lines, availability dates, and cruise itineraries. After much consideration, we decided on a five-day cruise on the Carnival Dream.
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| Carnival Dream |
Annette booked five rooms for us on the 8th floor. We chose an interior room at the rear of the ship. Our stateroom assignments were Mom & Dad (8437); Jason & Truman (8433); Jamie, Allyn, & Addison (8425); Ashton & Tate (8421); Tanner, Emily, & Bryce (8417).
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Carnival Dream
Deck Plan |
Our sail date was December 28, 2019. We packed our suitcases and got everything ready on December 27. We had a scheduled boarding time at 1:30 p.m. We would pick up Jamie. Then drive to pick up Tanner and Emily. Just as we got the van loaded to leave from home, Annette received a text message from the cruise line that the
Port of Galveston was fogged over. As a result, the Carnival Dream was not allowed to return to the harbor. We were supposed to wait for additional information.
We decided to pick up Jamie and travel to Tanner's house while we waited. We listened to "
Peter and the Starcatchers" on Audible while we drove. Annette received hourly updates telling us the port was still closed. We stayed in Tanner's apartment until it was lunchtime. Then, we went to The Woodlands Mall and had lunch at the food court.
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parking lot at The Woodlands Mall
(thanks Tanner for the excellent photo!) |
After lunch, we received notice that we would be allowed to board between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. We returned to Tanner's apartment complex. Emily took Bryce in to nap. The rest of us went to the clubhouse. We played pool and watched the Peach Bowl (Oklahoma vs. LSU) while Bryce napped and we waited until it was time to go to Galveston.
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| Dad, Ashton, and Tate waiting for the fog to clear the port |
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| the girls waiting for the fog to clear the port |
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| Jason and Truman waiting for the fog to clear the port |
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| on our way! |
We finally got on the road about 4:30 p.m. on our way to Galveston. After we got to the port, I dropped everyone (with our luggage) off at Terminal 2. Then I parked the van in Port Lot A.
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waiting in line to check-in for the cruise
(l to r: Addison, Dad, Tate, Jamie, Jason, Ashton, Truman, Allyn, Emily) |
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waiting in line to check-in for the cruise
(Bryce and Tanner) |
We got inside the terminal and received our "Sign & Sail" cards. These cards were our room keys and cruise identification to let us on and off the ship. Then we made our way to the gangway and boarded the ship!
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| Addison's Sign & Sail card |
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| riding the escalator to the ship |
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crossing the gangplank
(Dad and Truman were last onboard) |
We finally made it onto the ship and found our staterooms. We had about 1 hour of free time before we had to report to our "muster" station for the safety drill. We used the hour to eat dinner from the buffet on the Lido Deck (Deck 10). After the safety drill and muster, Mom and Dad retired to bed. It was around 10:30 p.m.
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| Bryce found his stateroom |
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| Ashton and Jason made it on board |
During the night we left the port and started our adventure!
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