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Family Getaway at Great Wolf Lodge

August 2, 2011 by

Last week was our official summer vacation of 2011. Our original week long getaway plans got changed at the last minute and we ended up doing shorter trips to multiple places. Our first stop was Great Wolf Lodge in Pocono Mountains, PA. We had visited Great Wolf Lodge before when we attended Reviewers Retreat but this time was completely uninterrupted and focused on the kids.

Welcome to Great Wolf Lodge

Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains
We arrived earlier than our check-in time so we could enjoy a full day from the start. We all got suited up and headed into the large indoor waterpark. The kids knew exactly where they wanted to go; the slides. Shae is not scared of rides so she headed right up to the couple waterslides she already knew she was tall enough for. She must’ve dragged Sabreena up those couple flights of steps a dozen times. Shauns favorite place is the wave pool. He loves bobbing up and down and “swimming for his life” against the waves.
Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains
Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains
Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains
Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains

Rob and I got to enjoy the outdoor pool this time. We planted ourselves under a table with snacks and drinks while the kids came to visit every few minutes and play. For the most part Rob and I spent our time alone, without the kids. Great Wolf Lodge is a resort for kids, parents are just the transportation. From the Northern Lights Arcade to MagiQuest Adventure to Scoops Spa there is something for every child besides the obvious waterpark.

Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono MountainsGreat Wolf Lodge, Pocono MountainsGreat Wolf Lodge, Pocono MountainsGreat Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains

Eating at Great Wolf Lodge is an expensive event but the variety is perfect when you are trying to feed adults and children at the same time. I love love love the pasta bar. I’m able to add every single veggie I love to the pasta shape of choice and just ask for a light olive oil and garlic sauce. It was perfect and if I had the room in my belly I would’ve gotten seconds. Dessert for kids is a must when “eating out”. The selection is pretty good. Ice Cream is always available and each day there are different cupcakes, cookies and pies available. Seafood, burgers, soup and pasta, the choice is yours.

I would like to recommend to management of the Poconos Mountain location to add some air conditioning to the Swim Shop. I went in to purchase a new swimsuit and it was so ridiculously hot and humid that trying anything on was near impossible.

The kids are already asking when we can go back.

 

I Disclose




Why I’m Looking Forward To Our Next Carnival Cruise

September 4, 2010 by

So it has been about a week since we have come home from our week aboard the Fun Ship Carnival Dream. This was the entire families’ first cruise and I loved it so much that is all I have been talking about. So much that Melinda told me she is sick of hearing it and not because she didn’t have a great time but because I am excessive and that is ALL I have talked about.

Here is a list of the things that make me want to go on another cruise:

  • 24/7 Food – The Carnival Dream had burgers until 1:30am, deli sandwiches until 11pm, pizza 24/7, room service 24/7, ice cream 24/7 and the daily 6pm dining in the Crimson Dining Room was to die for(the food was soooo good)
  • Non-stop entertainment – Shows in the Comedy Club, Encore Theater, Casino (which I was a few dollars at), and not to mention the piano bar and dance club. The picture below is the Fun Force (Break Dancers), they were awesome.

  • Serenity Lounge – Adults only lounge. We did get to use this once for about an hour while Sabreena stayed with Shaun and Shae but the next cruise will be just Melinda and I and this will be utilized a lot more.
  • Pools – They were salt water which I thought was pretty cool.
  • Port – What better way to get to see four different places in 7 days. We went to Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan and Costa Maya.
  • Relaxation – We got to do some of this but again with three kids this was hard to do. Next time we will be sure to relax to the fullest.

This past cruise we flew to Florida and left out of Port Canaveral which was very nice but next time we are going to leave from the Port of Baltimore which is about an hour drive for us. Leaving closer to home will cut down the travel time by about 80% plus we can bring more cloths without having to pay bag fees, LOL.

Even though the kids will not be cruising with us next time the highlight of this cruise for Shaun was probably Camp Carnival. Shaun enjoyed camp so much he missed dinner with us one night and went to dinner with his camp friends which I was shocked about because he loved dessert so much at the 6pm dinning. For Sabreena was probably Club O2 where she made a few friends and got to hang out a little bit and for Shae was Water Works where she spent a ton of time on the slide.

For some reason I was always scared to cruise thinking the boat would sink or get hit by a rouge wave but I must admit it was the best vacation we have ever been on. Everyone including the staff was SUPER friendly and we were never bored because there was always something to do.

I can’t wait until our next cruise on the Fun Ship Carnival Pride out of Baltimore!

Thank you to Carnival for providing the complimentary 7-day cruise as part of their Mom-bassador Program. All opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and were not influenced in anyway by anyone.




Stopping off Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras @CarnivalCruise

September 1, 2010 by
This was the Port of Call during our Dream Cruise in Isla Roaton, Honduras, Mahogany Bay.  The white sand beach and clear turquoise water were the best we’ve ever seen.  I could see our feet while standing neck high in the water. Our rented cabana was a nice retreat from the sun to sip on drinks and snack on food from the on site restaurant.

With silky-sand beaches and diamond-clear seas, Roatán, Honduras, is one of the Caribbean’s hidden gems. The largest of Honduras’s Bay Islands is a real beauty, built on a backbone of volcanic rock and ringed by the world’s second largest coral reef. Carnival® cruises to Roatán, Honduras promise superb diving and fishing and swoon-worthy beaches. The lush landscape of the wildlife reserves and pristine marine parkland of Roatán awaits you on your cruise to Honduras.

 

Stopping off Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras, @CarnivalCruise
Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras @CarnivalCruise

mountains of honduras

Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras @CarnivalCruise

mahogany bay, isla roatan




Back To Reality!

August 29, 2010 by

Fist I want to start by saying Thank You so much to Carnival Cruise Lines for the BEST seven day family vacation we have ever taken!

We finally made it home last night around 7pm after 12 hours of travel. The Carnival Dream docked in Port Canaveral at 6am and started to let passengers off. We got up at 7am and headed to our last breakfast on The Dream and then waited for our zone to be called so we could disembark the ship. Believe it or not this was a super easy process. Carnival has a system down and it works perfect. We got off the ship with no problems then went through customs with no problems either. The only problem was getting our luggage from the baggage claim area. We waited probably 40 minutes before we found 2 of our 3 bags. After waiting for 40 minutes Melinda decided to check the belt next to ours for our last bag and thankfully she did because our zone tag must of fell off our bag between our stateroom and baggage claim and somehow ended up on a different belt. Other than that little wait NO problems what so ever getting off of a ship with 3,600 passengers .

After we caught our bus from the port to the airport terminal we grabbed some lunch since we were 2.5 hours early for our flight. Funny thing here was having to pay for our first meal after eating seven straight days for FREE and I’m taking about meals like lobster, shrimp, prime rib, fish and the list goes on and on.( I’ll get back to the food on The Dream later or in another post as this might deserve its own post)

The lady who took this picture cut Shae out. LOL.

After eating lunch we headed to our gate and waited for our 2:56 flight which we found was full to capacity. It was so full they were asking people to give up their seats for a $400 travel voucher on a future US Air flight and a seat on the 5pm flight to Philly. I wanted to give up our seats so we could fly to our next cruise at a later date but Melinda wasn’t having any of that, LOL, not sure why! The flight from Orlando to Philly was rough as hell as we had a ton of turbulence. So much that is felt like the back of the plane dipped down. We were the second row from the back so it felt pretty bad to me and Melinda but the kids were 100% fine. So fine they actually passed out cold which was a good thing because at this point we have been traveling for 8-9 hours already.

Dharma is on the left with Shae and Jose is on the right

After we landed in Philly we went to baggage claim and our bags were already on the belt (thank goodness for that) and we called the shuttle van to pick us up and take us to our car in long term parking. It felt good to be home but a little sad that the cruise was over. Seven days FLEW by in a blink of an eye. After we finally go to the house we needed to order dinner because there was no way we were going to cook anything so we ordered pizza. Shae heard me and Melinda say we were ordering pizza and she said “No, I want to go to the restaurant.” She is referring to the Crimson Dining Room on the Carnival Dream where every night she ate a hot dog and fries for dinner and vanilla and strawberry ice cream and hot chocolate for dessert. The kids were in heaven and this was because of our awesome servers Jose and Dharma!

We had the best seven days of our lives but it is back to reality and the kids are starting to realize they can’t eat whenever they want like they did while on vacation!! Oh well all good things must come to an end but Melinda and I are already looking to book our next cruise for next year but this time we are going alone with no kids. Sorry guys!!!




On Our Way Back

August 27, 2010 by

It’s been a ridiculously fun time on the Dream. We are on our last day at sea on our way back to Florida.  It’s been a bumpy/windy day since leaving port yesterday but I think we are all used to the movement.The kids have are having a blast. Sabreena and Shae have spent the entire morning in the salt-water pool or in the water park and Shaun has been at Camp with his friends playing games and hanging out.

Instead of a normal lunch of burgers, pizza or pasta today we are indulging in the Chocolate and Fruit Buffet; CAN’T WAIT!!  Maybe in the back of my mind I knew they would have a special treat because I haven’t had any french fries or ice cream this week and those are all you can eat 24 hours a day!

Thank you to Carnival for providing the complimentary 7-day cruise as part of their Mom-bassador Program. All opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and were not influenced in anyway by anyone.




a beach day on Isla Roatan, Honduras

August 26, 2010 by

Yesterday by far was the best day we’ve had on the Dream so far.. Our port was Isla Roatan, Honduras. We made our way easily to Mahogany Beach, a quick 10 minute walk. The water was beautiful blue, the sands were silky white and the beach chairs were plentiful!

We rented a clamshell hut but ended up not really using ut as we spend hours in the water. We took a break to have a snack and some drinks at Fat Tuesday but immediately headed back into the water. The kids loved the calm waters and exploring in the sand for shells and rocks. We noticed people pulling Conch shells out of the deeper end but had no luck in getting one ourselves. This beach is my absolute favorite; if it ever expands to a resort area I’m coming back.

We also got a little VIP treatment on the boat. We were give a private tour of the bridge and got to meet some of the captains crew. This was so incredible to see, the size of the bridge alone took our breath away. I was expecting something much smaller but this was set up to comfort all the way.

We learned a lot of interesting facts about the ship and the function of it. To even become a captain takes about 7 years of education and training.

I can’t believe we only have 2 more nights left. Looks like we might be booking a cruise next year for our 10 year anniversary!

Thank you to Carnival for providing the complimentary 7-day cruise as part of their Mom-bassador Program. All opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and were not influenced in anyway by anyone.




2nd Day at Port – Belize

August 25, 2010 by

Today was another AWESOME day aboard the Carnival Dream (how could it not be?). Today’s Port of Call was Belize. What I thought was really cool was The Dream didn’t pull into port to let us off but instead anchored 5 miles off shore and we were tendered into Belize. I am not 100% why but I think it is because the water is to shallow for The Dream to pull into Port. Also, if you don‘t know what tendering is it is when a smaller boat pulls along side The Dream and you transfer from one boat to the other and are then taken into Belize. It is really cool to look back off of the boat and see The Dream just anchored in the middle of the water with nothing around it (Kind of weird actually).

Belize was nice but we didn’t do much but walk around the shopping area. We didn’t book an excursion so we didn’t go to the beach or anything like that but it was still cool to see Belize. This was actually a late decision because Melinda and I decided at first just to skip this Port and stay on the ship but we decided we might regret not getting off so we did. We were in Belize for about an hour or so and then made our way back to The Dream. After we got back Shaun wanted to go to Camp Carnival (he loves going there) and Melinda and I went to grab lunch.

Since it was a day at Port the ship was kind of empty so we took advantage of the pools and the waterslides. Sabreena and I went on the twister and drain plug which are super fast water slides but a TON of fun. There is so much to talk about I can’t do it in one post so I will end it here for tonight but stay tuned because we have so much more to tell you and probably will be talking about it for a week or so after the cruise ends.

Tomorrows Port of Call is Isla Rotan, We are looking forward to this and we are also getting a tour of the Bridge (where the Captain drive the ship from) which we are SUPER excited about!!!

Thank you to Carnival for providing the complimentary 7-day cruise as part of their Mom-bassador Program. All opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and were not influenced in anyway by anyone.




Our 1st Day at Port – Cozumel

August 23, 2010 by

Today was our first day in port which was Cozumel, Mexico. Carnival was nice enough to book the entire family the Playa Mia Beach Break Deluxe.

It was a great day. After the boat docked it took maybe 15-20 minutes to disembark then we headed into town where we caught a bus to Playa Mia. Once at Playa Mia we spent a lot of time on the beach then had a nice buffet lunch that was provided and open bar. Playa Mia also had a fresh water pool that we spent the last hour at before we heading back to the bus that drove us back to port.

We are now in our room and getting ready for our 6pm dinner. The food is AWESOME and so are our waiters Jose and Darma. They provide the best service and know that the kids want hot chocolate after dinner with their dessert.

Last night Melinda and I went to an adult comedy show and tonight we are going to see an 8pm variety show. If you have never been on a cruise you are missing out. There is SOOOOOO much to do you can be out all night if you wanted to be. Shaun is loving Camp Carnival, Shae not so much. Sabreena even has her own club to go to which is really cool.

So we are off to eat an awesome dinner right now but check in tomorrow for another post on our awesome day and adventures.

Thanks again Carnival. This is one of our best vacations ever!!!

Thank you to Carnival for providing the complimentary 7-day cruise as part of their Mom-bassador Program. All opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and were not influenced in anyway by anyone.

 




Our Fun Day at Sea

August 22, 2010 by
Hi Everyone,
Greetings from the sunny and blue Atlantic & Caribbean Ocean.  We are on day 2 of our family cruise vacation on Carnval Cruise Lines-Dream. 
We boarded yesterday and while last night was a bit quiet for us (we ended up falling asleep early) today we jumped into the festivities at Waterworks with Shae.  Shaun and Sabreena spent the morning at Camp making new friends.
Shae is a part fish we think and spent 2 hours going down the kid slides and playing in the water. 

Tomorrow is our day onshore in Cozumel.  Can’t wait to swim those crystal clear waters.
Thank you to Carnival for providing the complimentary 7-day cruise as part of their Mom-bassador Program. All opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and were not influenced in anyway by anyone.




Strawberry Picking 2010

May 22, 2010 by

Last year was the 1st time we went strawberry picking while in Maryland and we loved it so much we decided to go again this year.  We have so much going on this weekend that we decided to go today after I got home from work and the kids got home from school.  The farm is only about 20 miles from the house and for the u-pick they charge only $1.50/lb.  We had a great time eventhough it was pretty hot but we did manage to pick 14 lbs of strawberries.  Next year we will not be in MD so I guess we wil need to find a new place in DE.  Now we need to figure out how we all plan to eat 14 lbs of strawberries but I am sure we will figure it out!




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