The Dream was a Dream!

We sailed on the Dream out of NOLA on 9/3. We parked at the Fulton Street Garage which was what everyone said it would be -- easy, convenient, and significantly less expensive than parking at the port. The ride to the terminal took all of 10 minutes! Thanks to everyone on this board, we parked on the roof, right in front of the exit ramp. We went down the ramp with our luggage, hopped on the elevator, and we were on a shuttle to the terminal within five minutes!

We purchased FTTF. It was sold out for the longest time. I checked twice a day, every day, until finally a slot became available... The best $70 we could have ever spent! First of all, the prior Dream cruise was late back to the port by two hours. We arrived at the port at 11AM and it was pure chaos! Anyone who had checkin times after 11AM had to wait outside. Because we had FTTF, we could walk right in, went right through "check-in," but had to sit in the terminal to board for approximately one hour as they were still disembarking from the previous cruise. We finally boarded after the weddings, platinum, and diamond cruisers. We went straight to our cabin, which was clean and ready for us. While we were unpacking our carry-ons, one of our checked-in bags arrived. Shortly thereafter, our second check-in bag arrived. We were good to go! My husband was skeptical of paying $70 for FTTF, however, after seeing how we received expedited service, he was convinced that it was money well-spent!

I ate lunch at the Blue Iguana and my husband ate at the Mongolian Wok -- both were delicious! Throughout the week we enjoyed the MDR, Guys' Burgers, Mongolian Wok, the Indian Grill, the pasta restaurant, the pizza restaurant, and the Lido buffet -- none of which disappointed! The service was outstanding!

We asked our cabin steward to freshen up our cabin twice a day, which he did with no issue. In fact, he did a great job keeping our cabin neat and clean, and greeted us every time he say us. Our cabin was one of the porthole cabins at the front of the ship on deck 2. We will not do that again! lol While it was nice having the cheapest "oceanview" cabin on the ship, the noise at times was unbearable. When the ocean got rough, the noise got louder. I assume it was the noise of the ship's nose cutting through the swells...not sure. Also, when they lowered the anchor at Grand Cayman, it was very noisy and very shaky! Other than that, our cabin was roomy, the beds were comfortable (one was the sofa bed, the other a twin bed -- they could not be put together), the towels were fluffy, the sheets were soft, our AC worked really well!

The production shows were some of the best we have seen! All of the entertainers sang and danced... They did a great job -- they had a lot of energy and were all very talented. On the other hand, the singers in the lounges left a lot to be desired! They need to do a better job handling auditions (being a bit more selective)... The steel drum player was awesome!

Chris, the Flying Scotsman, was awesome! He had sooooooo much energy and did a great job energizing the crowds! He said it was due to lots and lots of coffee (and I believe him)!

For our stop in Jamaica, we took a Carnival excursion to climb Dunns Riverfalls and go to the Bamboo Beach Club for lunch. We don't normally buy cruiseline excursions, however, this was an all-day event (four hours roundtrip by bus to get to and from the falls)...too long of an excursion to risk getting back to the ship on time. Our tour guide was Tamara and she did an excellent job educating us about Jamaica! We had lunch and drinks at the Bamboo Beach Club (rum punch, mojitos, and beer). The lunch was very good. Tamara was our hostess and served us our lunch and drinks. The sea was beautiful!

In Grand Cayman we took a cab to the Cemetery Beach to go snorkeling. What a great plan that turned out to be! The cab ride was only $6 each... The beach was secluded and empty. Note that there are NO facilities at this beach (no restrooms, no chairs, no umbrellas, no showers, no nothing)! We had our own snorkel gear so that was no problem. The snorkeling was great -- we had to swim quite a distance from shore to get to the coral, but the water was very calm so this was not an issue. We saw all kinds of marine life, including a small sea turtle, cuttlefish, flounders, and lots and lots of colorful fish. It was very nice and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We then flagged down a local bus to take us back to the port ($2.50 per person).

In Cozumel we took a cab to the Money Bar where we snorkeled off of the beach. They allow you to use their lounge chairs, etc., with the expectation that you will buy drinks and food, which we did. We ate fajitas and ordered a couple of drinks, all of which was delicious. The current was very strong on this day, so we didn't go out too far for snorkeling. However, it was still unbelievably beautiful, even close to shore!

Note that if you view your Sail and Sign Account on the TV in your room, it is not very accurate. Our gift cards did not show up on our account on the TV, and it showed that we were being charged for gratuities, even though we paid them in advance. After a visit to Guest Services, they explained that the TVs do not show the entire picture, we knew what to expect going forward.

We spent a lot of time in the casino. I played deuces wild video poker and hit a jackpot of four deuces three times, which is pretty much unheard of! lol I guess the machines like me. My husband played blackjack at the tables and won and lost...

We were celebrating my birthday on this cruise. Our friend John Heald sent me a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of champagne, and a ship on a stick. Our cabin steward left me a $50 gift certificate for the spa. Our casino hosts sent me a delicious chocolate cake along with a nice birthday card. Finally, the MDR gave me a cake with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. It was a great birthday week!!!

All-in-all -- this was a great cruise! The weather was perfect, the crew was awesome, the ship is beautiful (this was our second cruise on this ship), the ports were excellent, and everything went smoothly. We just booked our next cruise for 2019 on Holland America -- I'm not sure how I am going to be able to wait over a year for our next cruise!

Thanks for your review, glad you enjoyed yourselves.

Great review, thank you! I sail on the Dream on October 15, I can't wait!

Glad you had a great cruise! Going on the Dream for the second time in 46 days, can't wait!

We had a blast too and were with you on the excursion in Jamaica. I was a little concerned about the beach club after reading the Carnival reviews, but it was great. Both my wife and I thought that the food in the MDR was the best we've ever had on a cruise (vs other MDRs).

Glad you liked it.

Love your wonderful, positive review!! Only 11 days till my Dream vacay!!

Thank you for the review! We are doing the same itinerary in December and I will be celebrating my birthday also. I have been looking at the same excursion that you did in Jamaica. Would you say it was worth the money? Did you get adequate time at the falls and beach?

enjoyed the review. thanks

How was the ride to the falls? I'm worried about doing that since it's such a long drive and the drivers on the islands usually scare me to death! :)

Also, how long did you get to spend at the beach?

Thank you for the review! We are doing the same itinerary in December and I will be celebrating my birthday also. I have been looking at the same excursion that you did in Jamaica. Would you say it was worth the money? Did you get adequate time at the falls and beach?

Definitely was enough time at the falls. I would have loved to have more time at the beach, but I still say it was worth the money. We had time to eat our meal, then about 30 minutes in the water.

It would have been more, but Carnival had told our tour operator that their would be 21 of us going. They ordered a 22 person bus. It took 20-30 minutes for the second bus to arrive and for us to leave. On top of that, our bus driver was trying to make up the lost time and got a speeding ticket. That took 20-30 minutes as well.

Enjoyed your review. I am on the Dream in 37 days!!!!

Thanks for your review. We LOVE the Dream!

Thank you for the review! We are doing the same itinerary in December and I will be celebrating my birthday also. I have been looking at the same excursion that you did in Jamaica. Would you say it was worth the money? Did you get adequate time at the falls and beach?

I felt that the excursion was worth the money. We had a very informative tour guide who shared very interesting stories about the areas we traveled through. We arrived at the falls early (before the crowds showed up) and had plenty of time to make the climb. Note that as we were exiting the falls area, it was packed! We had sufficient time at the beach as well. The lunch was delicious and the drinks were free flowing! Also, the water was awesome and the beach was clean. We had time to swim in the sea, eat lunch, drink, and shop...

Definitely was enough time at the falls. I would have loved to have more time at the beach, but I still say it was worth the money. We had time to eat our meal, then about 30 minutes in the water.

 

It would have been more, but Carnival had told our tour operator that their would be 21 of us going. They ordered a 22 person bus. It took 20-30 minutes for the second bus to arrive and for us to leave. On top of that, our bus driver was trying to make up the lost time and got a speeding ticket. That took 20-30 minutes as well.

Oh yea -- I forgot about the bus problem (apparently caused by Carnival's lack of communication with the tour company), and the speeding ticket... I felt bad for the driver!

How was the ride to the falls? I'm worried about doing that since it's such a long drive and the drivers on the islands usually scare me to death! :)

Also, how long did you get to spend at the beach?

The ride to the falls was OK -- our driver was pulled over for speeding and was given a ticket... It is a long drive, however, our tour guide kept us entertained the entire time so time passed quickly. I'm guessing we had about one hour at the beach... It was a quick dip in the sea, eating lunch, drinking a couple of rum punches, and hopping back on the bus.

Nice to read a positive review!

When did you secure FTTF? I have been looking multiple times daily, and still saying "sold out". We sail next Sunday (9/24) so I'm beginning to lose hope! :cool:

When did you secure FTTF? I have been looking multiple times daily, and still saying "sold out". We sail next Sunday (9/24) so I'm beginning to lose hope! :cool:

I was able to purchase FTTF approximately two months before our cruise. Keep checking...you never know when it will come available again! It was definitely worth the money!!

Thanks for this review!

We sailed on the Dream out of NOLA on 9/3. We parked at the Fulton Street Garage which was what everyone said it would be -- easy, convenient, and significantly less expensive than parking at the port. The ride to the terminal took all of 10 minutes! Thanks to everyone on this board, we parked on the roof, right in front of the exit ramp. We went down the ramp with our luggage, hopped on the elevator, and we were on a shuttle to the terminal within five minutes!

 

 

 

We purchased FTTF. It was sold out for the longest time. I checked twice a day, every day, until finally a slot became available... The best $70 we could have ever spent! First of all, the prior Dream cruise was late back to the port by two hours. We arrived at the port at 11AM and it was pure chaos! Anyone who had checkin times after 11AM had to wait outside. Because we had FTTF, we could walk right in, went right through "check-in," but had to sit in the terminal to board for approximately one hour as they were still disembarking from the previous cruise. We finally boarded after the weddings, platinum, and diamond cruisers. We went straight to our cabin, which was clean and ready for us. While we were unpacking our carry-ons, one of our checked-in bags arrived. Shortly thereafter, our second check-in bag arrived. We were good to go! My husband was skeptical of paying $70 for FTTF, however, after seeing how we received expedited service, he was convinced that it was money well-spent!

 

 

 

I ate lunch at the Blue Iguana and my husband ate at the Mongolian Wok -- both were delicious! Throughout the week we enjoyed the MDR, Guys' Burgers, Mongolian Wok, the Indian Grill, the pasta restaurant, the pizza restaurant, and the Lido buffet -- none of which disappointed! The service was outstanding!

 

 

 

We asked our cabin steward to freshen up our cabin twice a day, which he did with no issue. In fact, he did a great job keeping our cabin neat and clean, and greeted us every time he say us. Our cabin was one of the porthole cabins at the front of the ship on deck 2. We will not do that again! lol While it was nice having the cheapest "oceanview" cabin on the ship, the noise at times was unbearable. When the ocean got rough, the noise got louder. I assume it was the noise of the ship's nose cutting through the swells...not sure. Also, when they lowered the anchor at Grand Cayman, it was very noisy and very shaky! Other than that, our cabin was roomy, the beds were comfortable (one was the sofa bed, the other a twin bed -- they could not be put together), the towels were fluffy, the sheets were soft, our AC worked really well!

 

 

 

The production shows were some of the best we have seen! All of the entertainers sang and danced... They did a great job -- they had a lot of energy and were all very talented. On the other hand, the singers in the lounges left a lot to be desired! They need to do a better job handling auditions (being a bit more selective)... The steel drum player was awesome!

 

 

 

Chris, the Flying Scotsman, was awesome! He had sooooooo much energy and did a great job energizing the crowds! He said it was due to lots and lots of coffee (and I believe him)!

 

 

 

For our stop in Jamaica, we took a Carnival excursion to climb Dunns Riverfalls and go to the Bamboo Beach Club for lunch. We don't normally buy cruiseline excursions, however, this was an all-day event (four hours roundtrip by bus to get to and from the falls)...too long of an excursion to risk getting back to the ship on time. Our tour guide was Tamara and she did an excellent job educating us about Jamaica! We had lunch and drinks at the Bamboo Beach Club (rum punch, mojitos, and beer). The lunch was very good. Tamara was our hostess and served us our lunch and drinks. The sea was beautiful!

 

 

 

In Grand Cayman we took a cab to the Cemetery Beach to go snorkeling. What a great plan that turned out to be! The cab ride was only $6 each... The beach was secluded and empty. Note that there are NO facilities at this beach (no restrooms, no chairs, no umbrellas, no showers, no nothing)! We had our own snorkel gear so that was no problem. The snorkeling was great -- we had to swim quite a distance from shore to get to the coral, but the water was very calm so this was not an issue. We saw all kinds of marine life, including a small sea turtle, cuttlefish, flounders, and lots and lots of colorful fish. It was very nice and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We then flagged down a local bus to take us back to the port ($2.50 per person).

 

 

 

In Cozumel we took a cab to the Money Bar where we snorkeled off of the beach. They allow you to use their lounge chairs, etc., with the expectation that you will buy drinks and food, which we did. We ate fajitas and ordered a couple of drinks, all of which was delicious. The current was very strong on this day, so we didn't go out too far for snorkeling. However, it was still unbelievably beautiful, even close to shore!

 

 

 

Note that if you view your Sail and Sign Account on the TV in your room, it is not very accurate. Our gift cards did not show up on our account on the TV, and it showed that we were being charged for gratuities, even though we paid them in advance. After a visit to Guest Services, they explained that the TVs do not show the entire picture, we knew what to expect going forward.

 

 

 

We spent a lot of time in the casino. I played deuces wild video poker and hit a jackpot of four deuces three times, which is pretty much unheard of! lol I guess the machines like me. My husband played blackjack at the tables and won and lost...

 

 

 

We were celebrating my birthday on this cruise. Our friend John Heald sent me a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of champagne, and a ship on a stick. Our cabin steward left me a $50 gift certificate for the spa. Our casino hosts sent me a delicious chocolate cake along with a nice birthday card. Finally, the MDR gave me a cake with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. It was a great birthday week!!!

 

 

 

All-in-all -- this was a great cruise! The weather was perfect, the crew was awesome, the ship is beautiful (this was our second cruise on this ship), the ports were excellent, and everything went smoothly. We just booked our next cruise for 2019 on Holland America -- I'm not sure how I am going to be able to wait over a year for our next cruise!

What was your room number? I am in 2211 on Sunday. Any pics of the room?

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How was the ride to the falls? I'm worried about doing that since it's such a long drive and the drivers on the islands usually scare me to death! :)

 

Also, how long did you get to spend at the beach?

We took the same cruise, from Galveston though, last November. We did carnivals excursion for dunns river falls but we did falls and shopping and lunch. The drive up there was on a big coach bus. Our driver and tour guide were excellent too. We couldn't really see any bad driving because we were in a big bus, which is best when riding in Jamaica. It was a fun day and we spent a couple of hours at the falls, stopped for lunch, and went to a store for shopping and free rum punch. I'm glad we went through carnival as there was a lot of traffic that evening and when we saw the ship they had already started the engines. We were literally right there at the ship but stuck in traffic so they had to wait on us. Very fun day at the falls, the water was cold, but we were sweating too, climbing the falls was very physical.

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What was your room number? I am in 2211 on Sunday. Any pics of the room?

We were in 2212... Sorry -- no pictures....

Thank you for the review! We are doing the same itinerary in December and I will be celebrating my birthday also. I have been looking at the same excursion that you did in Jamaica. Would you say it was worth the money? Did you get adequate time at the falls and beach?

I will also be celebrating my birthday (Dec. 1) on your Dec. 3 Dream Cruise!:cool:

We went to the Money Bar in May and loved it. We spent less money than at all inclusive and still had plenty to eat and several drinks each. We met some really nice people there too.