Carnival Dream 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise

We booked this cruise last minute to travel with friends from New Jersey.  I usually do plenty research on the ports of call as we plan a cruise.  We have already been to all three ports of this cruise itinerary; Cozumel, Roatan & Costa Maya so that part of the planning is unnecessary.  

Costa Maya is one of my least favorite cruise ports because their is very little to interest us here.  It used to be much better before being hit by hurricanes.  Now there isn't much to do unless you purchase an excursion from the ship,which we rarely do.

Roatan & Cozumel will be spent relaxing at a beautiful beach with a fruity cocktail in my hand. No muss, No fuss.

My packing list is simple and was completed in 30 minutes. Just shorts,shirts,sandals & swim suits.  

Bon Voyage!!!!!

Deanie's Seafood Restaurant review

We have met great great people during our travels.  We met Floyd & Celia from Jersey on a 49day cruise circling South America.  Sharing a dining room table all that time created an extra special friendship.  They met up with us during an Atlantic city trip & when they scheduled B2B cruises from New Orleans, we jumped at the chance to cruise with them again, a,though we're only doing one leg.

Our friends arrived a few days early and had scheduled several walking tours.  Saturday night, we picked them up for supper at Deanie's Seafood restaurant in the Bucktown area, 17th Canal & Lk Pontchartrain.  This was our first time returning to Deanie's since Hurricane Katrina so we were anxious to see how it weathered the changes since then.  We were relieved to find the same comfortable place we remembered.

We were told it would be a half hour wait so we headed to the bar for drinks, our name was called after 20 minutes.  The seating inside is a mixture of tables and booth/table combos.  Our waitress quickly took our drink orders and brought over boiled potatoesin place of bread.

Floyd ordered a cup of gumbo which he loved, he cleaned the plate in appreciation.

For entrees, Celia ordered shrimp dinner w/fries $18.95 

Floyd, Ron & I shared a Giant Seafood plate $57.95 plus we replaced the 2 stuffed crab with soft shell crabs +$5.95 each.  There was more than enough for the three of us and we still had leftovers.

If you haven't eaten at Deanie's or if it's just been a really long time, I recommend Deanie's original Bucktown location.

Las Vegas - Day 4; Mt Charleston

We left the hotel when it was still dark, the drive up Mt. Charleston took close to an hour.  We arrived at  The Mary Jane Falls trailhead at dawn. 

 It is considered a beginner trail and it was easy to travel and well marked.  It took us almost half the hike before we became used to the altitude.  

We had to stop several times along the way to catch our breath since we are not used to high altitudes.

The  trail was mostly gravel with patches of ice & snow.  

The views from the trail were beautiful.  The mountains had gorgeous ponderosa pines 

and yellow aspen trees sprinkled with snow.  

It unbelievable to find this beautiful winter-like place just an hour from the desert!

Las Vegas 2014 - Day 3

Today we took a much needed break from hiking.  We spent the day between Sports Book, poker, tables with a little machine hopping mixed in.

For dinner, we went to one of our longtime favorite restaurants her in Vegas.  The Roma Deli & Restaurant in Las Vegas is a Italian Deli with seating and operates as a restaurant serving authentic Sicilian food.  

It's a small local place owned operated by family members.  We eat here every trip to Vegas.  Ron had the meatballs & spaghetti, while I had fettuccini with homemade Italian sausage & peppers. 

The meatballs were huge and absolutely delish!

Las Vegas 2015 - Day 2; Lake Mead Hiking

Today's morning hike was The Anniversary Narrows located in northern Lake Mead.   We left the hotel in the dark to reach the trailhead around 7am.

The Narrows are awe inspiring when consider Mother Nature with the force of water, cut 200 yards through a huge mountain.  

It was a little creepy to look up through the tiny openings and see blue sky so far away from where I stood.

We came across some pretty plants growing among the rocks and boulders.

I am glad it's winter here.  It was in the 40's when we began and 20 degrees warming on the return trip.  It can get really hot, really fast in the desert.

The 6.6 RT mile hike took 3 hours to complete.  I won't lie, we were exhausted afterward.  It was worth every step.

We have only been to the southern end Lake Mead and decided to stop at the Northern side on the way home. 

It is so sad to see how low the water is compared to our first visit, thanks to global warming.  I doubt our great-grandchildren will have the opportunity to see this man made lake.

I spent this evening on the strip.  First we had dinner at Paris Las Vegas.  This has always been our favorite buffet because of all the great french dishes.  But, it was not as good this time, so it will be our last.  Next visit we will try one of the smaller cafe restaurants.

After dinner we walked down the strip, stopping to make donations at various casinos as we made our way to the Mirage to see Beatles Love show.

The shows was fantastic.  One would not have to be Beatles fans to enjoy it.  It was a huge productions with very elaborate costumes.

After the show we stopped at The LINQ casino.  All I can say is WOW.  It is very spacious and everyone from the waitstaff to the dealers to the pit boss were are very friendly and welcoming.  I would love to spend more time here.

Las Vegas 2014 - Day 1; Red Rock Hiking

Sunrise as we began our hike

Beautiful moonlight as we drove through the canyon to our hike

We love hiking on our trips.  It's very inexpensive, requires little equipment expense and is a great way to really see the area.  Our first hike of this trip is along Red Rock Canyon.  When we choose our trail it was considered moderate.  We are amateur/recreational hikers.  Once we got to the trailhead, the trail was marked as difficult.  Still we decided to give it a shot.

Our Stairway to Heaven

The trail is mostly rock of course.

 The beginning was small pebbles but as we continued on, they became larger including several boulders.

The views were still breathtaking.  The trail is named ice box trail & it lived up to its name.  The temperature really drops as you walk between the mountains, it's like walking from the desert into an ice box! It was incredible.

If you have never visited Red Rock Canyon while visiting Vegas, you have missed one of their most beautiful areas around it.

In the afternoon, we used a complimentary buffet to the Hollywood Casino BSL's new sister casino, the M resort.  The resort was a short drive from the strip, it was a nice day to drive with windows down. 

 The buffet is beautifully setup & the foods we tried were good, the buffet included wine/beer, gelato and a gourmet coffee bar.  The casino was strangely quiet, unfriendly & nothing special.

Las Vegas 2014 plans

Planning our week.

We decided to return to Vegas last October when we received a special offer from Southwest for less than $300 round trip.  Hubby also receives free rooms from The Orleans.

We have bought discount show tickets from The Mirage to see Cirque du Soeil Beatles Love.  We might see another show if we find another discounted enough.

We have some mountain hikes planned around the area.  We get plenty use of the hotel gym while there too!

We have some favorite local restaurants we visit each time we go.  There's only one casino buffet I really like, Paris.  We like all the French foods.