Halloween on the High Seas: Costumes, Casinos & Carnival Memories with an Unforgettable Move

 In this episode of Travel Time Stories, I'm sharing our spooky-silly Halloween cruise aboard the Carnival Dream! It was my second time on this ship and the first time celebrating Halloween at sea—with costumes, casinos, and cruise director craziness! I also discuss my childhood move to Tennessee. 

✨ Travel Tip: How to make your cruise more fun by joining theme nights and onboard events. 

🎃 Special memories with my best friend Ann 

📍 Ports: Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel 

If you love travel with a twist of holiday fun, you’ll love this episode. 

Disclaimer: Names of persons mentioned in this story are fictional and any resemblance to actual names or persons is purely coincidental.  

#carnivaldream #carnival #costamaya #belize #cozumel

Links:

https://www.iguanajoes.menu/

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/glscy-courtyard-galveston-island/overview/

https://www.galvestonvipcruiseparking.com/

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html 

Email: lamkintravel@gmail.com

https://lamkintravel.cruisebrothers.com/cb/

Transcript

0:01

Hi everyone and welcome back to Travel Time Stories. If this is your first time tuning in, I invite you to go back and check out my previous episodes. On this week's episode, I will share some more about myself, offer a travel tip, and share the story of my third cruise with my sister Ann. I am your host Shannon from Texas, and thank you for tuning in. So grab your favorite beverage and let's get into it. The last episode ended on a very sensitive topic, so I wanna bring things back to a lighter discussion. I previously mentioned how the dynamic growing up with my adopted siblings was weird due to the age gap, but as a young child, it never occurred to me that I might be adopted. It wasn't until middle school that my inner voice started to wonder if my parents were my biological parents. Both my parents grew up during the Great Depression, and Daddy had fought during World War ii. Mama knew what it was like having to live on rations, so we always had a garden. Chickens and daddy was always hunting and fishing, not just for fun, but to provide fresh meat. Yes, we still shopped at the grocery store, but mama loved to can fruits and vegetables, make her own jellies and jams and bake homemade bread. These were skills she passed down to me. Aside from chickens, we always had pets. When I grew up, daddy always had coon dogs for hunting. I had many different dogs over the years, and my brother, who was in FFA during school had rabbits and even raised a steer one year who was named Bubba, and I cried when we had to sell him at the auction. During the rodeo, mama had birds and there was even a raccoon at one point. My parents had a fishing cabin that we would go to on the weekends, and it was located on Palmer Lake near Livingston. I loved it there. Our cabin was on a dead end street along with a few others. There was a big, beautiful wisteria bush in the front yard with gorgeous purple blooms, and attracted a lot of butterflies. Daddy had built a floating pier so we could fish and we would go for rides on the lake In our small boat with a trolling motor, daddy would set out trot lines to catch fish for mama to cook. We had catfish, perch, trout, turtle, frog, legs, gar and alligator. The lake was filled with many alligators, so daddy would hunt Gators too. One time he caught one, kept it alive and towed it back alongside the boat to our cabin. He tied a rope around its neck and had its mouth taped so it couldn't bite, and I walked it around like a dog before they killed it. At night, we would roast marshmallows over the fire and catch fireflies in a jar. My mama had a family farm that she inherited in Tennessee, which had been passed down in our family since the Civil War, and we would spend every summer there. Our farm could be lonely as the only kids close by were our next door neighbors, or if my cousins came to visit while we were there. We had 26 acres and the land was wooded with beautiful stream running through the property. We had fruit, trees and gardens, both vegetable and flowers. It was in a small town called Adamsville, which is about a hundred miles east of Memphis. There was only one red light in town, and all the businesses were local. We did have a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, but for other stores you had to drive to another town. Just about everyone in the town was related. Even mama had relatives there. The town's claim to fame is that it was Sheriff Buford Pusser hometown. He was made famous in the movie Walking Tall for cleaning up the corruption in McNairy County. The year I graduated from the sixth grade, my daddy retired and mama informed me. We were selling our home in Texas and moving to the family farm in Tennessee. My heart broke at the thought of leaving my home, all my friends who I grew up with and my family to move to a town where I only knew my next door neighbors and would have to start a new school. This was pre-cell phones. Heck, even pre-computers. We still had rotary phones and people communicated via letters through the mail, so moving away was truly losing contact. I already suffered from anxiety and this news just made it worse. I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me stay in Texas and live with my sister Jill, so I could finish school with my friends, but they wouldn't even consider it. I sank into a deep depression, as I said goodbye to Peewee Kelli Brandi and the rest of my friends. I didn't know if I would ever get to see them again. We had said we would keep in touch through letters and phone calls, but after a while those would fade and eventually stop. We were 12 at the time, and you eventually make new friends. You get busy with school and long distance calls. Back then, were not cheap. I don't know how they felt, but for me, the scar of losing them never healed. If they are listening, maybe they can let me know how it was for them. Life on the family farm was completely different than my life in Texas had been. I spent most of my time outdoors in the woods. Daddy taught me many skills, especially about navigation, using a compass and reading maps. I would stay out in the woods till daddy blew the cow horn, and then I knew it was time to come back home. My parents had gotten me a mini bike when I was seven, so I would ride that everywhere through the trails in the woods, down our street, and doing tricks such as building ramps and jumping them. Daddy and I would fish in our pond, ride the tractor together, and I would even mow the grass with our riding lawn mower. I would help mama pick vegetables and fruits from our gardens, and we would wash clothes in a wringer washing machine and hang them out to dry on the clothes line. Nothing beats fresh wash sheets that have been dried on the clothes line we had our dogs, two miniature poodles and a dash hound chickens, pigeons, horses, and peacocks. That summer before school started was a magical one. I spent my time in my own little bubble pretending that this was just another summer at the farm, and I would be going back to my friends in Texas when that bubble shattered. It was not pretty. The reality of this new world that I would have to navigate was overwhelming. I had never been an outsider, bullied, and picked on. Yes, but not an outsider. I had never known a world of cliques and haves and have nots. This is what life is in a small town. I will delve into that in the next episode. My travel tip today is about passports. If you don't already have one then I encourage you to take the time to apply for your passport. Now, while it is true that you can cruise without one. If your cruise is leaving and ending in a US port and that you don't need to have one to fly on domestic flights, the problem arises if you get stranded in a port without your passport. You cannot fly home because that would be an international flight. Traveling with a passport speeds up the boarding process for ships and makes it easier when flying, even for a domestic flight. The process to get a passport is easier now than in previous years since you apply online, and it usually takes four to six weeks. However, I have seen it process quicker when I applied. I received mine back in three weeks. Plan appropriately and don't wait till the last minute. You do have the option to pay extra for an expedited passport. Passport fees for an adult getting the first one are$160, and your passport is good for 10 years. For children under 16 getting their first passport, it's$130. The new rule for travel is that your passport cannot be expiring within six months of your planned travel. If so, it will not be accepted, so plan and get your renewals done. early. There has also been some confusion around real ID and cruising. Real ID is required to fly domestically, but it is not required for cruising. If you're cruising without a passport, then you are required to have a government issued photo ID and your birth certificate. Now let's talk about cruising. This would be my third cruise, but the second cruise for Ann. It was the Halloween cruise in 2021 on the Carnival Dream out of Galveston for six days to Costa May, Belize and Cozumel. This would be our first taste of freedom since the COVID lockdown kept us from going anywhere for almost a year. I chose Carnival Dream since I had sailed on it previously and had a great experience. Ann flew into Houston Intercontinental Airport the day before our cruise and I picked her up. We went to have lunch at Iguana Joe's Mexican restaurant. It is one of our favorite places to go, and anytime Anne visits Texas, she wants Mexican food since she can't get Mexican food in Missouri. After our wonderful lunch complete with a delicious margarita, we drove to Galveston to check into our hotel for the night. I booked a room for us at the courtyard on Galveston Island, located on the sea wall. It is a nice hotel and I would recommend it. I prepaid for our cruise parking with VIP indoor cruise parking, which is located directly across the street from terminals one and two, and the current pricing is$155 for a seven day cruise. Prior to this cruise, I had been aware that on Facebook there are usually groups created for cruises, and you just search for your ship name and date, then request to join the group. These groups usually put together different activities that you can participate in throughout the cruise, such as meetups, bar crawls, gift exchanges, and slot pools at the casino. I found a group for our Halloween cruise and saw a few planned activities, which I signed up for, and I had participated in the chats prior to the cruise, and it seemed like the group would be a lot of fun, so we were excited to possibly make some new friends. We had signed up for the meet and greet on boarding day, the bar crawl, and a slot pool at the casino. The morning of our cruise, we had breakfast before heading to the port to park and board our ship at 11:00 AM this time, we had our passports, so the boarding process went faster than before, and in no time we were heading down the gangway to board our ship. I couldn't wait to see Anne's face when she stepped onto the dream, as she would finally see why I had been so disappointed in the Norwegian ship we sailed on before. It was exactly how I envisioned it. Her jaw hit the floor and her face lit up, and she said to me, now I see what you were talking about. This is incredible. After taking everything in with the cool Halloween decorations, we made our way to our muster station and then went to grab a bite to eat. On the Lido deck, the music is pumping and drinks are flowing as everyone is getting ready for the sail away party. I said before, no one does a sail away party like Carnival. They really know how to rock the house. Drinks in hand. Ann and I gave a toast and a wave to Galveston as we sail away. And then turn our attention to shaking a tail feather as we dance and sing along to YMCA. Tell the truth. Are you singing it in your head or making hand gestures? After the sail away party, we headed down to the tiki bar for the Facebook group meetup. Everyone in the group was supposed to be wearing Mardi Gras beads so we could identify each other. It was very disappointing. Only a few people from the group were there, or at least only a few were wearing beads, and the couple of people we spoke with agreed we had reserved a seat at the chef's table for dinner that night, and were both very excited about this experience. If you've never tried this on a cruise before, I recommend you do, especially if you are a foodie such as myself, it is worth the money. The Chef's Table is a private event limited to usually 16 people, and is held in a private area. It books up quickly, so I recommend you make your reservation prior to boarding day. To start with, you're introduced to the head chef and his staff, and they present several hors d'oeuvres with cocktails. The chef describes each one in detail. They can accommodate allergies or dietary requirements, but you must notify them in advance such as when you're making your reservation. Ann told them she had a seafood allergy, which she doesn't, but she hates seafood and wanted to ensure she had items she would like. After the hor d'oeuvres, you're given a tour of the ship galley or kitchen, and then you return to the table to begin the meal. You are served a full service meal consisting of several courses from appetizers to desserts. The items served are not found on the regular dining menu, and the chef describes each one as it is presented to you. There is usually a magician or other performer who comes in and does a show during the meal. For dessert, the head pastry chef will provide a demonstration of one of their popular desserts, and you are given the recipe to take home. You will also take a group photo and they provide you with a copy of the menu and a certificate, and if you ask the chef to sign the photo for you, he will. He did for us. The next day, we had signed up to participate in the slot pool at the casino with our Facebook group. At the scheduled time, we made our way down to the casino to meet our host and leader of the Facebook group to confirm our names on the list and pay our$20 per person. This would give us five pulls each on the slot machine. The way it works is that each person who has signed up gets five pulls on the slot machine, and then all winnings are split amongst the group. The top winners usually are given extra prizes by the host. The host also gets the benefit of gaining a lot of casino points as their card is the one in the machine during the event, Ann got lucky on her spins and was a winner. It wasn't a big win, but any win is good and she was in the top tier at the end, so in addition to some prize money, she got a t-shirt and a couple other little items. I would like to mention that when we first went down to the casino to pay for the event, we met the host and she was not very welcoming and that is putting it nicely. We inquired about the T-shirts we paid for ahead of time. For the bar crawl, which would be happening later that night. She pushed us off to another lady who had t-shirts, but they were not organized and she was trying to sift through the large stack to find ours. Other people had started to arrive and were wanting their shirts too, so Ann suggested that she could put the shirts in order. By alphabet to speed up and organize the process. After getting our shirts, we tried to inquire about how the slot pool and bar crawl would work, as we had never done either of these things before, but they just brushed us off. We got the impression that we were not wanted in the group. So after the slot pool, we opted not to attend the bar crawl. After this experience, we haven't opted to join any of the Facebook groups for our future cruises. Let me know if you have any experiences with these types of groups. Ann and I enjoy playing slots in the casino, and our favorite time to go is late night between 11:30 PM and midnight. It is not as crowded during this time, and you can enjoy more slot machines. We are not like some who spend a lot of money in the casino. We treat it more like playing video games. We play the penny slots and put in a little money such as 20 to$30, and once that is gone, we leave. There has only been one time that we both got a little crazy and spent about a hundred dollars. We were playing one of the games where it fills the pots with coins and it tricked us into thinking the pots were gonna be full at any moment and we would win the pot a hundred dollars later, and it still didn't happen. So we walked away. Lesson learned not to be fooled again. It is possible to win playing the penny slots as we have won small amounts from time to time. In Las Vegas, I won enough to pay for our whole trip. Playing in the casino also helps you to get some great offers for future cruises as you earn points while you are playing and then the casino sends out offers. The more points you have, the better the offers. Ann and I both receive offers for free cruises from time to time, or offers for free drinks while we cruise and percentages off for cruises. They also have certain times in the casino that they give away prizes while you're playing. There is usually a late night buffet on the ship. Sometimes in the Lido buffet or on Carnival guys pig and anchor, and we always hit that up either before or after the casino. Our first stop was Costa May, and we were most excited for this. Stop. The port at Costa May is a nice one, offering a free pool. Lots of restaurants to choose from. Many shops, there's an aviary with exotic birds. They have street performers, a tequila tasting experience that you can pay for and more. Ann and I both love to bake and there is nothing better than authentic Mexican vanilla extract for your baking. This port is a great place to get your vanilla, and this is exactly what we did. We spent our time doing some shopping, and then we got back on the ship to enjoy some chill time at the pool. Second stop was Belize, which we have been to before. We plan to spend the day on the ship rather than get off, because without an excursion booked, the port doesn't have anything to offer. This is also a tender port, which makes getting on and off the ship a little longer and not worth it if you don't have anything planned. The weather on this day was rainy, so our plan to stay on board was a good choice. We spent the day playing games, trivia and listening to live music. We were surprised that many people had opted to stay on board, and most we spoke to said they don't like Belize and always stay on board. As you know from my previous episode, we enjoyed our time in Belize, but agree that it is only enjoyable if you book an excursion. If you're like me and love Halloween, then a cruise during this time is not to be missed. They have a Halloween party where everyone dresses up and prizes for the best dressed are offered, and they have trick or treating for the kids. Those who know me know my love of Halloween. I have always dressed up and had Halloween parties for my kids each year complete with ghoulish foods, and always went all out on the decor. Horror movies are my favorite genre, but the new shows don't hold a candle to the classics. The movie that scared me most was Children of the Corn. I still hate corn fields to this day, and Ann loves to tease me about it. Our last stop was Cozumel, a place we had been to several times. This is a stop that almost everyone on the ship gets off every time. Our plan was to get off early, do some souvenir shopping, and return to the ship and take advantage of the quietness. We hung out by the pool, soaking in the sun, and then being able to swim with only one other person in the pool was a dream. We didn't have to wait in line for guys burgers or the buffet. There were no lines for anything, including the water slides. It was the perfect day. The only negative about this trip was it was only six days and ended too short Links for all the things mentioned in this episode are in the description. My hope is for everyone to make memories for life through travel. So reach out and let me help you make your next travel memory. Tune in again to learn some more about me, hear more about each of my trips, and meet other people in my life as they share their travel experiences. Next episode, I will be joined by a very special guest. Kristen Woods. She is my sister from another mister and a true light in my life. So you don't wanna miss out. As we talk about travel and other general topics, please don't forget to hit the like button. Subscribe and share. Leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts, what you want to hear more of, or tell me your travel story. I might just read it on the podcast or invite you on as a guest. Until next time.