Sail away, sail away, sail away.....

Better late than never. Join us as we take you on our cruise to the Eastern Caribbean and relive the memories with us.

** October 9, 2010 - Embarkation Day, Port Canaveral, Florida **

We woke up on the early side today and were so excited with what awaited us in Port Canaveral. We got ready and headed out for breakfast in Cocoa Beach at Simply Delicious cafe and bakery...and man was it delicious. After we ate we decided to take a chance and head to port. Upon first site, I became overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry.

From Carnival Dream 2010

The Dream was not only enormous but absolutely beautiful. We made our way to passenger drop-off around 9:30 and were unloaded by 9:45. Eric took the rental car back to Cocoa Beach and was then brought back to port. We hung out in front of the terminal for awhile and then was asked by the porter who helped us with our luggage why we were still outside. We told him the line was for VIP's and he he chucked and said that we were all VIP's.

So we headed in and were checked in by 10:30(ish). An announcement was made that boarding would begin around 11:00. We were on board by 11:10. Unheard of!!! That first step on to the ship was one I had been waiting for, for months.

From Carnival Dream 2010

All of the planning and waiting had finally come to an end. The ship is just gorgeous. The atrium is TWELVE stories and a sight to be seen.

From Carnival Dream 2010

We headed up to the lido deck (along with the quickly growing masses) and found some lunch at the Grand Buffet. We slowly started catching up with our friends from Cruise Critic and picking up where our online conversations had ended. After lunch we headed to the spa for a tour and to get our wristbands for the week.

This is one of the thelossial lounge chairs. It is heated mosaic tile and it quickly became one of my favorite spots for watching the world pass by.

From Carnival Dream 2010

We were then able to check into our rooms and we couldn't wait to see our home for the next 7 days.

From Carnival Dream 2010

We dropped off our backpacks and then headed down to the atrium for an informal meet and greet with our Cruise Critic roll call friends. Many laughs were had and we knew the week was going to be amazing. We had our muster drill at 3:30 and then headed up to the Serenity Deck (adults only) to get ready for the sail away party.

From Carnival Dream 2010

What an incredible experience. Pulling out of port and seeing all of the people on land waving farewell to us and just watching the land become smaller and smaller gave me such peace and I knew that all the stress and frustration of the past month was no longer hanging around. After awhile we headed to our room and then on to dinner. We selected your time dining which gave us the freedom to dine when we wanted. We could do a 2 top table or be seated with others. We decided to table share that night and met 2 great couples. One couple was from North Carolina, in their 70's and were newlyweds. They were so cute. The other couple was from Texas and we ended up bumping into them several times through out the cruise. After dinner we headed out to walk around and check out the ship. We ended up on the Serenity deck for awhile and just felt so relaxed and at peace.

From Carnival Dream 2010

I could sleep up there, that's how peaceful and relaxing it is. lol. We had wanted to go to the All Aboard Show but it was standing room only so we just headed back to our room. We eventually ordered some room service and before we knew it, the day was closing in on midnight. We decided to call it a night and get ready for Nassau the next day.