A Dream of a Dream

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It was still early enough in the morning that the tulips had not yet opened up for the day.

It was just after 8am when I got back to the hotel. The walk was wonderful and relaxing and I enjoyed being able to just stroll at my own pace and take everything in, it was a beautiful morning.

 

[Mysteria]

No people in your pictures is awesome. Not sure I've seen that of the falls before outside of professional promo shots!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Ahhh, the mist is so wonderful on a really hot summer day.

I really want to try that new experience, Niagara's Fury.

The newly renovated Table Rock Centre is so nice! I love the candy shop they now have in there. And the Tim Horton's!

I think it's so cool that flowers close and open to the sun. I've got a couple of tulips on my lawn and it's just so neat to see.

 

[YukiPhnx]

darn glitch... *grumbles*

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

No people in your pictures is awesome. Not sure I've seen that of the falls before outside of professional promo shots!

It was nice being down there by myself. It wasn't crowded during the day by any means but it was hard to walk without getting in somebody's picture or I would want to get a particular shot but there were people standing where I would need to be so I had to wait for them to move.

Ahhh, the mist is so wonderful on a really hot summer day.

I really want to try that new experience, Niagara's Fury.

The newly renovated Table Rock Centre is so nice! I love the candy shop they now have in there. And the Tim Horton's!

I think it's so cool that flowers close and open to the sun. I've got a couple of tulips on my lawn and it's just so neat to see.

I'm sure the mist feels great, when it is hot, 6:30 am when it is at the most 10 degrees (Celsius), not so much.

Niagara's Fury was fun, we got the adventure pass so we could do all the activities.

Table Rock was very nice inside. I stepped in there after getting drenched by the mist to warm up a bit even though nothing was open I could still walk around inside.

 

[All7OfUs]

WHOA! Those are absolutely stunning pictures! You really did a beautiful job on all of them, especially all the different flowers!

I'll have to google the attractions you are talking about at the Center place.

Anyways, thanks for my morning walk... I"m just getting up here.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

WHOA! Those are absolutely stunning pictures! You really did a beautiful job on all of them, especially all the different flowers!

I'll have to google the attractions you are talking about at the Center place.

Anyways, thanks for my morning walk... I"m just getting up here.

I'll be covering the attractions later on.

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures.

 

[All7OfUs]

I'll be covering the attractions later on.

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures.

Looking forward to it, for sure!!!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

that tower with the windows, that looks like the space needle, is that a restrant or a hotel?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

that tower with the windows, that looks like the space needle, is that a restrant or a hotel?

It has two restaurants, observation decks and some entertainment movies/games. We didn't go there so not 100% sure.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

It has two restaurants, observation decks and some entertainment movies/games. We didn't go there so not 100% sure.

oh okay thanks for the info it looked cool

 

[princess_momma]

Lessa!! Sorry I've been missing!! Your pics of the falls are so beautiful they take my breath away!! They are making me want a trip up there REAL bad!! You are truly an amazing photographer! I love all the flower pics too! They are awesome!! Can't wait for more!!

And YAY FOR MICKEY MAIL!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Lessa!! Sorry I've been missing!! Your pics of the falls are so beautiful they take my breath away!! They are making me want a trip up there REAL bad!! You are truly an amazing photographer! I love all the flower pics too! They are awesome!! Can't wait for more!!

And YAY FOR MICKEY MAIL!!

I think you would have lots of fun at the falls, there is lots of shopping in the area, fun daytime attractions and fun stuff to do at night too.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

In addition to two stops at Castaway Cay the cruise will include a sea day and a port day in Nassau in the Bahamas.

What to do on our day in Nassau is causing me a great deal of trouble.

I have always wanted to go to Atlantis. It just looks like so much fun and is a beautiful and well-themed resort. In order to go to Atlantis and have full use of the facilities it is going to cost $300! I don't know if it is worth it for a few hours. There is an awesome water park, beach, aquarium etc. there and lunch and transportation is included in the price.

There is the option of booking a room at the Comfort Suites near Atlantis for the day for $250 that allows us full privileges at Atlantis but then we would have to find our own way there and food would not be included.

The only other excursion that looks interesting would take us to Blue Lagoon Island which is a short boat ride from the port. We could opt for the dolphin swim there which would cost about $400 or we could just do the beach day for $140. I am hesitant about paying $140 to go lay on the beach as it doesn't look any nicer than Castaway Cay and we will be going there twice.

Third option, no excursions. Just stay on the ship that day and enjoy the pools and maybe get off and walk around the area near the port.

 

[YukiPhnx]

I suggest you skip the excursions and just pay for a ferry ride there and back. I remember it was about $10 per person.

The water park is cool, but you'll already be getting a beach at Castaway anyways. The aquarium is free to look at. It's a big part of the hotel. And you can just eat lunch on the ship before you head out. Instead of paying extra to eat somewhere else

I can't remember if it was Nassau or Key West, but keep your eye out for a store near the port that sells colour-changing t-shirts! They have t-shirts that change colours with sun exposure. My family picked up a few while we were there.

There's also a store that sells family coat of arms. You can try looking for your own family name there. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Asian names there....which made sense because Asians don't have coat of arms....

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

When I went on the Wonder to Nassau in 2006 I took the excursion that had a guided tour of the Atlantis resort. They had buses going back to the cruise terminal anytime we wanted to return and you could go to any of the stores and explore as much of the resort you wanted to after, just not swim i the pools. You can see all my picture from that cruise on my Flickr account here.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I suggest you skip the excursions and just pay for a ferry ride there and back. I remember it was about $10 per person.

The water park is cool, but you'll already be getting a beach at Castaway anyways. The aquarium is free to look at. It's a big part of the hotel. And you can just eat lunch on the ship before you head out. Instead of paying extra to eat somewhere else

I can't remember if it was Nassau or Key West, but keep your eye out for a store near the port that sells colour-changing t-shirts! They have t-shirts that change colours with sun exposure. My family picked up a few while we were there.

There's also a store that sells family coat of arms. You can try looking for your own family name there. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Asian names there....which made sense because Asians don't have coat of arms....

That's a good idea. I didn't know it was free to walk through the aquarium.

You are probably talking about Del Sol. I've been to their shops before, I even have a nail polish from their, it is so fun watching my nails change colour in the sun!

When I went on the Wonder to Nassau in 2006 I took the excursion that had a guided tour of the Atlantis resort. They had buses going back to the cruise terminal anytime we wanted to return and you could go to any of the stores and explore as much of the resort you wanted to after, just not swim i the pools. You can see all my picture from that cruise on my Flickr account here.

Thanks! I saw that excursion but I am hesitant to pay $100 (for the two of us) to walk around a hotel for three hours. Is there anything in the excursion that makes it worth the money?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Time for another Niagara Falls update!

I arrived back at the hotel after my lovely early morning walk just after 8am and my friends were just getting up. The plans for the day were to go shopping! There are a bunch of outlets in Niagara Falls so we decided to spend our morning looking for deals.

This is part of our hotel complex that connects the Sheraton to the Casino and the Crowne Plaza.

Thanks to the GPS we found our way to the outlet mall very easily with a quick pit stop at Tim Hortons for breakfast.

We were a bit early and the mall didn't open for another 15 minutes so we just browsed around looking at all the window displays.

I don't remember each store we went to but we shopped for about 4 hours. Amazingly, I only spent $25! We went into a chocolate store and they had a special on, 60 truffles for $20 and you got a big bag of chocolate caramels with your purchase. I couldn't turn that down!

I was also very tempted in the Coach store. They had a section that was 40% off and then that day they were having a sale where you get an extra 20% everything in the store. I restrained myself though as I didn't see anything I LOVED.

We stopped at an Italian restaurant for a delicious lunch and then it was back to the hotel for some downtime in the pool.

Walking through the Crowne Plaza

Everywhere we went in Niagara Falls we heard about Marilyn Monroe and how she visited Niagara Falls while filming a movie. I think we heard the story at least 10 times.

We had the pool to ourselves, yay!

The only bummer about the pool is that it is not deep. It is 4 ft deep all around the pool.

There were some great views though!

I think we spent an hour or so just relaxing at the pool.

The flats had a good time too.

We stopped at the fitness centre/spa next door on the way back to check it out and to make an appointment for Brittany.

Here's what you get to look at while you torture yourself on the machines.

Then it was back to the room to get changed for a fun night out on Clifton Hill.

 

[YukiPhnx]

You know, I've NEVER heard of the Marilyn Monroe thing, eh? All these times....

Wow, that's an amazing view from the pool. Did it have a hot tub?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You know, I've NEVER heard of the Marilyn Monroe thing, eh? All these times....

Wow, that's an amazing view from the pool. Did it have a hot tub?

I'm surprised! She was everywhere! The story about her and the one about the little boy who survived the fall over the falls were posted and told EVERYWHERE!

No, no hot tub which was disappointing.