just back from dream cuba/mexico

Hi there guys hope you all had a great christmas and new year

we are just back from dream

heres a quick review

so: it didnt get of to a great start (huge airport debacle on arrival in monego bay)

tbh it wasn’t thoms fault....the conversation must have gone something like this:

hi there Jamaica, thoms here....now look we have 1500 pax disembarking our ship today and another 1500 arriving from uk! please confirm you have enough busses??

jamaica ..... yeah mon no problem!

they sent 2 busses!!:eek:

consequently it took most people an average 3 hour wait to board the buss to the port (this time spent in a v small arrivals hall with no seating or air conditioning)... it was basically…. carnage!:(

thomsons did compensate us with £50 pp obc ....so we put the arrival behind us and moved on... after a bit of grumbling:o

so smiling (albeit a little weakly) we immediately set out to inspect the new changes to the ship

new sun lounge ...okay looked good (from behind the glass of the sports court that they had left in?) but on the first seaday we realised why it was? that we had actually found vacant sunbeds in there still available at 9am (thats after breakfast guys! unheard of on a thoms ship, vacant still available sunbeds at that late an hour) however, this v quickly became the sunlounge/sauna with all those beds lined up behind a glass wall!, the new plastic floor made to look like a wooden deck soon hotted up to an underfoot temperature of volcanic lava! the room didnt work for me? to hot in there, too crowded, a small and minimally stocked bar, such a shame because I was so looking forward to seeing the demise of the sports net

if only thoms had applied some thought to this and not just thrown a few sunbeds into what was (and still is really) a sports court... a little ventilation and a proper floor that can cope with sunlight (and.. more importantly? a blender behind the bar which would enable the poor crew who have to work in this sauna? to fix the cocktails that 99% of the sunbathers roasting/basting in there need a constant supply of?)

on the subject of the poor crew in the sauna/sunlounge/tomato house .... they have to carry all the supplies for the bar (including) beer barrels up the spiral steps/through the maze of sunbeds/arond the glass partition and along the roasting hot floor everytime they need to restock the bar (a thankless job for them imo)

which probably explains why there weren’t too many staff on duty in there (just 2 guys serving about 200 people on sea days) and the pool bar stewards from below hardly ever ventured up the stairs to take any drinks orders (probably because they were too afraid they may get roped into spending more than 2 minutes in the sauna lounge along with their 2 hapless colleagues who had drawn the short straw that day)

steak under that stars is now hot rock (under the stars but with new shutter screens) ... steaks served on a lava rock with celebration style wicker furniture, the addition of a lava rock has bumped up the price :rolleyes: (about £15/19pp cant remember?) we didnt try it out?

but we did try the kora la, the new al a carte restaurant which is basically a trellised (if its asian...for some reason? it has to have a trellis?) area of the orion (£20pp)

well guys what can I say? its an indian/chinese fusion ... now i like chinese food? but sadly we were disappointed? a choice of about 5 mains on the menu 4 of which being a curry (indian) and beef strips in soy (the chinese bit of the fusion) when it arrived, that was what it was (exactly as described) a bowl of beef strips in soy souce ... no sides, no beansprouts, no water chestnuts/noodles/bamboo shoots... just a side of prawn crackers and a bowl of rice (not egg fried) pudding was nice tho (fried banana) (starter was poppadoms btw):rolleyes:

the coffee port, fab, much needed imo. a nice room with those lovely big windows and views out to sea and nice comfy seating:cool:

tides bar also nice imo, same layout as oceans but nicely made over, comfy (cannon is still present)

a few hiccups on the cruise with some ports missed, sea conditions a little choppy in places and breezy on sea days.. all pretty normal for that part of caribbean

compulsory ebola screening of all pax (digital thermometer on forehead) on disembarkation in havana ....queue to get off the ship was horrendous!

but, bonus! .. . the Jamaicans didn’t charge the $22 exit viza fee that thoms had taken great steps to warn us all about

and….. £25pp loyalty bonus appeared on our statement!..... thanks thoms along with the £50 compensation for the airport debacle and the free early booking obs of £50pp that covered our drinks bill …happy bunny

we had a great time (despite the disappointments) probably wont book dream again for next Christmas? only 3 ports per week on that itinerary with 2 sea days and an overnight in havana and montego bay… not a v exciting itinerary imo (may go back to p&o for christmas next year??)

Geo

Welcome back - was getting worried about you as hadn't seen you post for a long time. Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the 'issues'. There have been some very unfavourable reviews (again) on FB of all the Thomson ships over the Christmas / NY period - just what happens at this time of year?!?

Sports deck/sunbathing deck seems badly planned - we felt the sunbathing area on & above Sirens was also very hot when we went on so never used that area either.

Just to let you know that we experienced another excellent mini cruise with FO just before Christmas on the Balmoral - all ages onboard; excellent food, lovely cabins, good entertainment - couldn't fault it really (particularly when they offer such a good discount for 3rd & 4th passenger if you share!) There were 2 ex-Celebration Showteam just arrived onboard for the next 7 months & the Showteam were pretty good!

Nice to have you back.

Jules

:)

Great review geo.............. comprehensive discussion of the improvements and those which fell a bit short. (Feel sorry for those guys running the bar on the ex-sports deck!) Plenty of food for thought re the changes you report! Btw how did you find the food in the mdr - choice/quality/variety?

What a debacle re arrivals in Jamaica. Hopefully that is something which will be addressed for future passengers. It's important to dissociate what might be a passing problem (provided it's solved - although that's not much comfort for those caught up in it!) and things which are a permanent feature as it's important for us to know about these things - it all helps to paint the picture and it will definitely add to the info I will draw on for future decision making.

You have been very philosophical about the hiccoughs - the renumeration clearly helping with that. :D

So glad you had a good time overall and thanks again for the much valued feedback. :)

P.S. Look forward to hearing about what you got up to at your PoC.

Oh and have they still got the Grill in Sirens?

And a very Happy New Year to you and yours! :)

Welcome back, Geo.

We were worried since we hadn't heard from you for so long.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

I hope the grill is still there. I would have preferred an Italian restaurant to an Asian one and would definitely have given that a try.

The sun deck sounds like a nightmare to me :eek:

thanks geomagot for the report we are off on Cuban fusion next week and heard about the choppy sea at playa del Carmen and we were thinking to do our own excursion in playa( ziplining) and was wondering if we got off in the morning and things turned for the worse and the ship headed to Cozumel as it was reported last week does this mean we could be stranded at playa?? the wife would chew the ears off me if this happened

thanks geomagot for the report we are off on Cuban fusion next week and heard about the choppy sea at playa del Carmen and we were thinking to do our own excursion in playa( ziplining) and was wondering if we got off in the morning and things turned for the worse and the ship headed to Cozumel as it was reported last week does this mean we could be stranded at playa?? the wife would chew the ears off me if this happened

yep, grill is still there in sirens

will do more reviews on the ports of call soon

jaztecc, yes, due to worsening sea conditions the tender operation in playa del carmen was suspended mid morning

eventually the captain made the decision to move across the water to cozumel (there would have been a mutiny if they had just suspended the tender operation and leave those on board stuck on the ship all day looking at the beautiful beaches) especially as we were all itching to get off the ship after a sea day the day before and due yet another half day at sea the next day

those who were already on the beach in pdc had to witness the (surprising) sight of the ship disappearing off into the horizon!:eek:

but no need to worry, for those that were stranded at playa del carmen!! a team was despatched to the ferry dock to tender pax straight back to the ship (by then berthed) in cozumel....the sea was rather choppy for that tender trip (takes about half an hour) and a few surprised (shocked) looking faces arriving back at the ship that night after arriving at the tender drop off to find no ship anchored there?!

however, those tenders ran across all day ferrying people back to the ship from pdc shame they couldn’t have ferried those left on board over to pdc and back as well (they were sailing back empty) but they wouldn’t allow it? so it was back to cozumel for yet another day there,:( we had already spent a full day and an overnight in cozumel at this point in the cruise so yet another day in cozumel wasnt very welcome...... more on sea days/half sea days and the (seemingly) never-ending visits to cozumel in my review of ports later

thanks for your report geomagot there is ziplining in Cozumel also so hopefully they know in the morning of the day about sea conditions so there is a full day at either but would rather playa as would like to go to 5th avenue as well oh and the beaches, look forward to hearing more on your trip

Thanks for the review Geo.

I'm really not surprised about Montego Bay airport. It was dreadful when we were there in 2011 on the Braemar.Thankfully we didn't have to go through it on the way out as we flew to Barbados, did the cruise and came back from Jamaica.

There has been a dicussion about it on fb and someone who had been a few years ago said they treat the passengers like pigs :eek: which about sums it up.

I may have told this story before, but after queuing for about an hour around the walls of a room, we eventually started to go through the scanner. The lady in front went through and was immediately yelled at "GET BACK AND COME THROUGH WHEN I SAY SO!" The poor woman, who I think was travelling alone, was terrified and scuttled back to our side again. When we all got through, everone was moaning about it.

Hmm - the Dream and Montego Bay - not tempting me at all :D

so: ports of call reviews (festive flavours/cuban fusion) (any questions on this itinerary?...fire away…I’ll do my best)

we didnt go on any organized trips .... we just wanted to chill and wander about under our own steam (busy year for us...we needed that (very welcome) break)

finally arrived at the ship too late in the day to see anything of montego bay... after a delayed safety drill the ship sailed for falmouth (only a half hour drive from montego bay?):confused:

we sailed all night going around and around in ever decreasing circles

falmouth: this is a pretty, v typical caribbean town (v busy the day we were there as there was a huge local market on) the town is on the up (after a long period of 'seeing better days') due to the opening of the new cruise facilities, the port area is a (quite large) area of shopping/rum bars/diamonds international etc etc, just down the road from the port gates is the town...its walkable, but no beach nearby so we climbed into a taxi to take us back to montego bay and doctors cave beach ($40 each way for the taxi) it was an hours drive because of traffic snarl ups en route but we were told that on a normal (non christmas eve) day the drive would usually take about half an hour, a pretty drive tho, past the big resorts (sandals/rose hall) dr cave beach also very busy... 4 ships in that day, a nice beach club with shops/bars/showers/lockers and security guards/lifeguards on duty, $6pp admission, beach chairs a further $5 each.... spent a pleasant day lounging on the water trampolines

there followed a sea day (christmas day)

roatan: mohogany bay, lots of facilities at the port, shops/bars/tour operators/taxis/pharmacy/atms/wifi/everything! no need to go out of the complex at all plenty to do right there at the port:cool:

including

a small nature walk trough the jungle with lots of stunning scenic viewpoints, picnic tables/benches just footsteps from the ship and an arial ski chair to the beach $12 return (or you can walk)

we took the nature trail and returned via the bar (we didnt get any further than that for rest of the day) v enjoyable day (great company in the bar….you guys will know who you are)

costa maya: what is it about me and costa maya? last time I was there we didnt dock due to a water shortage in costa maya?? why that should be an issue I have never figured out? dream has a desalination plant!

anyway, history has a habit of repeating and so, sure enough, high winds meant that we couldn’t dock in costa maya

to be fair, we watched from deck 10 while the ship struggled for an hour to dock (we got quite close) but when i noticed all the busses and taxis turn around and drive off the dock, we high tailed it over to sirens pool to get a sunbed ;) the announcement came half an hour later ....we would be sailing to cozumel for an overnight instead (exactly what happened the last time during the alleged water shortage??)

we arrived in cozumel in the afternoon....too late to go anywhere (but not too late to enjoy the myriad of evening bars and restaurants that san Miguel has to offer) we found a little backstreet divers bar and enjoyed a mohito or 3 arriving back at the ship at about midnight only to spy most of the crew on their way out for the evening (some bleary looking crew to be seen in the morning)

to the crew the overnight was a massive bonus....midnight is about lunchtime in Philippines so they could call/skype their friends and family at home with it not being 4am in the morning

cozumel: again...still in cozumel, last night we turned left out of the port gates and found all the shops and bars, further on still are the high end shops (gucci/diamonds international etc) and the divers monument which is a beautiful bronze sculpture/water feature worth walking up there for a look/photo

but today we decided to turn right at the port gates, sniffer dogs on the port gates btw! (sniffing for illicit fruit?.... no fruit allowed to be imported into cozumel?)...after handing over all my stash of fruit :o we found that this part of town was quieter and a pleasant walk along the sea front, the dolphinarium is along here, we didnt go ($60PP) but we could watch the dolphins from the street outside through a couple of holes in the wall (yes I am a tightwad) a little further on is a small rocky beach which looked great for snorkelling (but by this time I'd had about 4 beers and wasn’t too keen on being shredded on the rocks?)

we then enjoyed yet another day at sea before arriving back at montego bay

part 2 to follow

 

Hmm - the Dream and Montego Bay - not tempting me at all :D

i agree with you linda (not looking very appealing to me either for next christmas)

montego bay airport makes sharm look positively refined and relaxing!:rolleyes:

I guess there is always the celebration (we liked the celebration):cool:

may follow Jules advice on fo... seriously tempted by fred now

thanks for your report geomagot there is ziplining in Cozumel also so hopefully they know in the morning of the day about sea conditions so there is a full day at either but would rather playa as would like to go to 5th avenue as well oh and the beaches, look forward to hearing more on your trip

didnt notice any ziplining in cozumel jaz? but that doesnt mean there isnt any? cant help with that one...sorry

i agree with you linda (not looking very appealing to me either for next christmas)

 

montego bay airport makes sharm look positively refined and relaxing!:rolleyes:

 

I guess there is always the celebration (we liked the celebration):cool:

 

may follow Jules advice on fo... seriously tempted by fred now

opps! forgot to mention, in mahogany bay if you walk upto the port gate the guy there at the information desk will stamp your passport with a roatan stamp, for a donation (in the box) to a childrens project .... no stamps on immigration in jamaica (no questions on health matters either)

in havana the immigration guys will also stamp your passport when you hand over your customs declaration (but we had to ask)

opps! forgot to mention, in mahogany bay if you walk upto the port gate the guy there at the information desk will stamp your passport with a roatan stamp, for a donation (in the box) to a childrens project .... no stamps on immigration in jamaica (no questions on health matters either)

 

in havana the immigration guys will also stamp your passport when you hand over your customs declaration (but we had to ask)

welcome back Geo , thanks for the review in your usual style (love it)

just one thing did you get any sprouts :rolleyes::cool:

Stevie

i agree with you linda (not looking very appealing to me either for next christmas)

 

montego bay airport makes sharm look positively refined and relaxing!:rolleyes:

 

I guess there is always the celebration (we liked the celebration):cool:

 

may follow Jules advice on fo... seriously tempted by fred now

Worth looking at the moment Geo - FO are doing an offer of 10% off if you book 1 cruise, 20% off for 2nd cruise & 30% off for 3rd cruise. Includes all their cruises also mini cruises too - I watched an hour's TV Q&A TV programme with their MD yesterday (thanks to Joe Holiday for telling me about it!) & from what I gather you can get 30% off the most expensive cruise.... I don't know how competitive FO are for fly-cruises though.

I have to say now we have done the 2 FO mini cruises, I am looking forward to our summer cruise with them even more so now. Yes there are certain things that are different to Thomson; food not available at the buffets all day for example but you can get certain food brought to your cabin 24/7 for no extra charge. Also don't think there are going to be lots of teens onboard for ours to mix with but they are aware of that & we are going with friends so I am sure we will be fine. Plenty of lovely staff around for bar service & restaurant service too.

welcome back Geo , thanks for the review in your usual style (love it)

just one thing did you get any sprouts :rolleyes::cool:

 

Stevie

yay...yes, it was sprout overload;):p ... we got 3 whole sprouts with christmas dinner

(i think they are still using up that joblot of cheap spinach that they got in 2 years ago tho):( :rolleyes:

So you don't need the YF jabs then?

in a word .............................................................. no! ;):)

no norovirus precautions that I noticed either:cool:

a few around with cabin cough/sniffles/sore throats tho? maybe down to the a/c?? it was whacked up a bit?

Worth looking at the moment Geo - FO are doing an offer of 10% off if you book 1 cruise, 20% off for 2nd cruise & 30% off for 3rd cruise.

I'm on it as we speak jules...probably be just myself & mrs m next christmas (kids are having much too much fun at college to want to spend the festivities with their uncool parents):(

Just a word of warning! I was looking at Braemar in the Caribbean for next February and thought it was a good deal until I relealized they were not including the flights - naughty!

We are on the Pride of Panama/Cuban Fusion cruise in just over 2 weeks time. Disappointed to hear that sufficient thought wasnt given to the new sundeck but I dare say we'll give it a go:) Anyway, I was wondering what entertainment is on board at the minute? Last year we were on when the Peakles were on but I see that they have swapped ships and who are the duo? So looking forward to seeing the updated Dream :D

entertainment is:

strum jam, party band

heart & soul, duo

tunesmith, acoustic trio

keith on piano in delo

sallai duo classical (piano & violin)

sax player? deck 10 about 9.30pm

brandi & max (showteam singers) held a classical opera poolside one afternoon seaday (which was a big hit):cool:

some pics

havana by night

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dream docked in havana

dream overnight in cozumel

dream docked at mahogany bay

the ship was nicely decorated for christmas

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the new sunlounge/sauna/tomato house

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black rock under the stars 9previously table tennis) table tennis now on deck 10 smoking area btw

coffee port

tides (previously ocean bar)

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