Athankfulheart

We keep it simple but appropriate by bringing 2pr of twill pants and 3 or 4 polo's for each of our little boys for a 7 night. These are only worn for dinner. Tux or shirt with jacket for formal night. Our boys are 17,16,8 & 7. The big boys are pretty safe with 1 pair of pants, but since they wear the same size, 3pr between them is a safe bet as well as 2 polo's each. That frees up their luggage for an outfit per day for casual stuff.

If your boys don't normally wear these type of things and you need to buy them, hit Walmart.com and check out their school uniform section for cheap options. They have especially good sales at this time of year.

We booked 6 weeks out and sailed the Dream last March. We got a great deal on an aft wrap that had cancelled but still wanted the spa. We visited the spa at 1pm when it opened and got the $249 couples pass. You don't have to be a "couple" to get this either. You can be in separate cabins or whatever. My husband and I ( 40yo) both enjoyed the spa. We are cruising this ship again with our kids in January and when we booked, over a year out, we found the spa cabins to be cheaper than deck 1 insides so we booked those. Our older daughters are excited to have spa access after hearing us gush about it when we got home :). I believe the cost for a weekly pass for 1 person was $140.

We will have 3 cabins and 2 of them will only have one adult of spa age, so I'm hoping to talk them into allowing me to give the second access to friends who are sailing in a regular cabin. It never hurts to ask :rolleyes:

we are in a cove balcony on the dream. Does anyone know if the doors are metal??

We were in an aft wrap last year and the doors were NOT metal. We had some command strips as a backup to hang the magnetic sign we brought for our friends a couple doors down.

We just sailed the Dream 3 weeks ago. (May 4-13)

1. The Burrito Bar is in the Lido Restaurant. I think it was at the far back, and only at lunch time.

2. Not sure who the Captain was in 2011, the Captain this time was Massimo Marino.

3. The fitness center is free. It's on the Spa Deck 11, I think. The Spa desk is Deck 12 and they give a tour embarkation day---drawings too.

 

Have fun! We loved it!

We love Maaaaaah-see-moe Mah-reeeeeeeno, "Fron dee breetge"

Cant wait to hear that voice again :D

Our Dream cabin door was metal and a magnetic message board stuck to it just fine. On the Fascination, I don't know about the doors but we used a small amount of colored duct tape to decorate our door and it came off fine with no residue or paint removal.

On our 2012 Dream trip we had 2 cabins on deck 6 aft and our doors were not metal. I had made a magnetic sign for our friends who were first time cruisers and wound up having to hang it on thier door with command strips.

Would you have ( and be willing to post) pics of 10254 ? My girls will be staying in that cabin in January and were bummed that they couldnt find any pics of that cabin online. They are curious what it looks like with the uppers set up. :)

Carnival Dream ( Port Canaveral) has ocean view rooms for 5 that are nice and also affordable. They also have 2 bathrooms. You can book these rooms from the website. Although PC is outside of your list of ports, its really not a bad drive and is the northern most Florida port. Carnival is known to have some of the best kids clubs.

We have used the Sit and Stroll ( old an new model as the kids we used it for were many years apart) and we loved it for traveling. The way it buckles in is not friendly for daily use but we never did have a problem buckling it into any vehicle or airplane that we rode in. Never had trouble getting it sinched down tight. I would say that seat was one of the most useful baby contraptions that we have ever used, especially for flying and cruising.

We look at the cost vs benefit/risk for our particular situations. Our children don't normally cruise with us. My husband and I have passports. The risk of being out of the country while our children are at home is worth the cost to maintain them. We have college aged children who have traveled abroad and therefore have a passport. Our other children do not leave the country and we have decided that the cost vs benefit for them is not worth it. Keep in mind they have cruised an average of once every 8 years. That would be one passport per cruise x 8 children = not happening. When we cruise in January, we will have 4 with passports and 6 with birth certificates. We always buy travel insurance. THAT cost/benefit ratio is always worth it. If travel insurance wasnt so well priced then we might re-evaluate although its not likely given that my daughter had an accident that resulted in a head injury/ life flight/ and emergency craniotomy. 90k later and we were only responsible for our yearly OOP max of 4k. I am acutely aware that it is possible and how much it would have cost if we were not insured.

I am enjoying your review and photos. We had the same cabin on the Dream last year and it was simply amazing. Thanks for your review :D

I'm so sorry if this has been asked I tried searching for it but couldn't find it. We will be on the Dream June 15th and we are wondering about dining options other than the steak house and mdr. We would also like to find out if someone knows the times the other options close as I have read that some of the facilities close during the mdr times. Thanks in advance and Happy Cruisin'.

Here is a link. The only thing that I see here that is no longer on the Dream is the Sushi Bar. I know that the Italian place was only opened for lunch when we sailed.

http://www.carnival.com/cms/Images/ccluk/Onboard_12_May_2010.html

I am not the OP but I can answer with my experience

What a wonderful and comprehensive review! We're doing an interior spa room on the Dream in February and I'm really looking forward to this. Hubby wasn't sure it would be worth the $$ but I think he will be pleasantly surprised.

 

A few questions for you:

 

How crowded were the sauna rooms and T-pool throughout the week?

My husband and I went to the spa ALOT during our March 2012 cruise on the Dream. The ship was at the highest capacity. The most people we encountered in any given room, and it was prob the sauna was 3-4 others and this wasn't the usual. We bought a spa pass.

 

Were there a lot of children in the area? Not a child in sight. I can't speak for the spa room hallways, but can answer that next January because we booked on the spa level.

 

Did you find good times to go when things were less crowded? We went all times of day and never found the spa to be crowded. We only encountered noisy people once. I dropped a silent clue and they didn't stay long. I folded one of my towels longways a couple times and wrapped it over the top of my head, over my ears and then put my arms up there with hands clasped to squish it against my ears as a muffler. I never said a word or even looked at the people. :p

 

What were the opening and closing hours like for the facilities?

I cannot remember the spa hours. I do remember wishing that it was opened a bit later on a couple of nights. All in all I was happy with the hours.

It would seem reasonable to say that at least having your passport number will put you ahead in getting an emergency replacement. That is why I keep a copy of mine. It assures me that I have the exact number. Hopefully I will never know the particulars on getting myself an emergency replacement.

Really? What port did you present a color copy or black and white for that matter, and it actually made it so much easier?

 

From experience -- copies are so easily forged they are useless in getting documentation to travel home or across a border. The authorities will simply trash the copy or give it back to you and then start the questions that will lead to your ability to obtain the documentation needed to get you where you want to go.

 

The copy may be helpful when purchasing something in a port but that is about it.

 

It is amazing how many people that have never been in this situation post this myth as if it is the gospel.

NO, we will not be using one on the plane! DS is traveling as a "lap infant". I know I'm not the only parent who has had to deal with this. And I know there are scads of board debates on the car seat/no car seat issue. Obviously some people think EVERYONE takes their kids seats! I'd like to see a family with 4+ kids managing all the seats HAHA, or even better a single parent with multiple kids...yeah right!

Im not going to criticise your personal choices but your comment is rediculous. My husband and I have flown with 7 children. 5 of whom were in big carseats or boosters at the time. We felt okay with the booster aged kids using the airplane belt alone. We did need them all for a rental van ( like the ones the hotels use) so we brought them. The particular trip Im thinking about was a flight to Hawaii and a cruise from there. My kids were aged 13,11,9,8,5,3,2. Reason for the boosters is that we have very petite kids.

We have done lots of traveling with multiple kids in carseats and I dont recall anyone ever staring or laughing :confused:

Does everyone in the cabin need to purchase FTTF?

Only one person per cabin buys this and it covers everyone.

Calling it "Paying for an upgrade" is a misplaced rationalization. Getting a better cabin than someone else, for example, is an upgrade that causes no effect on others. Conversely, FTTF facilitates line breaking in front of others, and that affects others, making them wait longer. Its not that hard to understand the difference.

 

All the ones who support it here are the ones who buy it, and benefit from it at the expense of all of Carnivals other customers.

I didn't mention a thing about buying a more expensive cabin so I'll ignore your criticism of my "rationalization". It doesnt surprise me, but you conveniently ignored the points that I did make. For what its worth, I've seen several platinum cruisers state that they have no issues with the program and even a couple who see benefits, but don't take my statement as a justification for your freak out.

Everyone knows their own children the best. We have strict rules at anytime but especially when we travel. Our kids aren't good liars either and have a true sense of guilt, so if they did break a rule, we would know by simply questioning them.

We have 8 children who range in age from 21 down to 6. Not only can they not pull the wool over our eyes, they can't get away with anything with each other :D For as much as they stick together, they definately still like to rat each other out.

As far as the state of the cabin, I don't pick up after my kids at home and I don't expect a cabin attendant to pick up after them either. They don't leave for the day if their room isnt picked up. It might mean a delay in my plans, but they are my kids - so its my inconvenience.

Long story short, I wouldnt make the blanket statement that children should be in their own cabin or that they shouldn't even though I have plenty of experience with children to go by.

We do separate cabins, but I have big kids mixed with little kids. In all honesty, if the cabins aren't connected then a cabin across the hall is closer than the cabin next door :) and that is my preference.

No it isn't. FTTF is a "pay to break in line in front of others" program. In most places, line breaking is cause for ejection. On Carnival, line breaking is a cause for more Carnival profits, at the expense of their other customers. FTTF is a bad program.

These are the things that I equate with FTTF. I don't have a problem with any of them.

+ Someone upgrades from coach to FC at the gate cheap and sits next to my full price seat.

+ They buy a show lovers pass at an amusement park and get to sit in front of me in "the good seats"

+ Im in line for a rollercoaster and a few people get the short line because they forked over $20 extra pp to get on the short line.

+ The guy next to me in the airport shuttle paid for early check in at our hotel. I have to go shopping for a while and wait for my room to be ready.

It doesnt matter that I have the most FF miles or the season pass to the amusement park or that I own stock in the hotel. If someone pays for an upgrade then they are entitled to it and Im not about to get bent out of shape.

For the record, I bought FTTF for my upcoming family cruise. I am not brand loyal and don't plan on achieving "status" with any line. As I see it, my money purchased :

"Early check-in"

"The short line"

"Tender lovers passes"

Can you only book these when you have paid in full? I have been trying to add one to my August cruise, but it just takes me back to my reservation page.

You dont have to wait. I bought my 3 FTTF about a week after we put deposits down for our Jan 2014 sailing.

I would like to get some more info from the person who mentioned they had FTTF for Belize. That is the reason that we bought these. Last year when my hubby and I went on this sailing, we needed to get tendered to Belize early and we got off on the first tender by some off stroke of luck. We will be with our 8 children this time and I would like as few surprises as possible. When we sailed on the dream we were told to gather for tenders in the Burgundy Lounge. Will there be a special meeting point/time for FTTF users when it comes to tendering to Belize ? Thanks for any info you can share. I love to be prepared ahead of time as much as possible.

Did you check the serenity deck tubs ? We noticed that they rarely had people in them and this was during spring break :confused:. Im not a hot tub lover, but if we wanted to get the hot tub free of rambuncious kids ( the nice ones are fine with us) we would get creative.

Here are a few cool pics I found:

 

One of the neat whirlpools that extend over the beam of the ship.

 

Only thing wrong with this picture, is that the whirlpools are always full of kids. Always. I was really dissappointed to not be able to enjoy one while I was on my trip last week!

Are the monkeys or birds aggressive and do they scratch or bite?

We had a spectacular day with Frankie from VB this past year and plan to use him again in 2014. I am very conflicted about bringing my kids to the monkeys and birds for a few reasons. My husband and I know parrots. The macaws at VB were not tamed birds. They have them perch on your head vs your hand for a reason. They can't do much damage from the top of your head. The tour guides ( not Frankie) had to constantly "manage" the birds and give them treats as they jumped from head to head. We felt like the guide was constantly on guard. Being "bird people" we found this to be no fun. As for the monkeys, we didnt get any spiel on how to act around them. I found the smallest ones to be very innocent and fairly calm. The larger ones were not so trustworthy. At one point I moved my hand a little faster than slow and a monkey lunged toward my hand with teeth bared. Nobody told us that we should move slowly, but this seemed to be important with this particular monkey especially.

I just don't know if I would bring little kids inside the enclosures for those reasons.

We made this at Vista Print for a couple ( newbies ) that we took with us on the Dream. The doors on our deck 6 aft cabins did not work with this magnet. Luckily, I had brought along some of that 3M tape that is used with the repositionable hooks. They really enjoyed it and now have it at home on their fridge :D The magnet was gotten for free during a promotion. I believe I paid just the shipping http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/athankfulheart/media/boards/bobby_deanna.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/athankfulheart/media/boards/wantedtroll_edited-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1&_suid=13554256165110883238045970604

 

 

Im leaving a link because the pic just wont embed right =(

Well, thats annoying. The link is pointing to the wrong picture. Will try again. If this doesnt work, I give up :(

http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/athankfulheart/media/boards/bobby_deanna.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/athankfulheart/media/boards/bobby_deanna.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=135549686819406711623602402252

We made this at Vista Print for a couple ( newbies ) that we took with us on the Dream. The doors on our deck 6 aft cabins did not work with this magnet. Luckily, I had brought along some of that 3M tape that is used with the repositionable hooks. They really enjoyed it and now have it at home on their fridge :D The magnet was gotten for free during a promotion. I believe I paid just the shipping http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/athankfulheart/media/boards/bobby_deanna.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/athankfulheart/media/boards/wantedtroll_edited-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1&_suid=13554256165110883238045970604

Im leaving a link because the pic just wont embed right =(

Thanks for the sum up. Just booked the Dream on Friday for March and can't wait!! Our kids are growing up so this will likely be our last family vacation.

 

Can't wait!

This is exactly why we are taking our kids Jan 2014. Beyond that, there are no guarantees that everyone's schedule will work out for a family cruise. We loved the Dream this year and can't wait to bring the kids.