lorim103

Belize has the distinction of having one of the longest tender transport from ship to shore...25-35 mins.

I chose a snorkel excursion to a isolated mini-island, I mean REALLY SMALL. They pick you up at the ship, and you can snorkel and sunbathe, while eveyone else is waiting for their tender... Rendezvous Caye...It was great snorkeling at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef!

 

Mike

Looks amazing! Did you book through Carnival?

Carnival charges so much for the pictures they print. Seems like they could charge less and make more.

I appreciate the photographer & was happy to get a few family pictures. If I booked a photographer at home--the prices would be way higher. I do like the idea of a photo package.

I have searched for pics on all sites ...can find pics for 2 or 4 person cabins .Has anyone had a cabin for 3 or pics ? It states it has 2 twins ,sofa and upper bunk but The descriptions arent always correct. .Its a regular inside not a picture window or porthole.Thx

My kids had a interior for 3. There was no sofa. The third bed came down from the ceiling--like a bunk bed. It was crowded but they were hardly in the room. Sorry that I don't have a picture.

Same for me as Chelleum...I asked my steward and he brought me one! Have a great trip. When are you sailing?

Thanks for the tip. We will be on the Ecstasy at the end of March for a weekend getaway. Any more tips/advice about the ship?

Congratulations on your good fortune!

 

From everything I have read, it seems like Carnival is using this incentive to get past guests back on board if they haven't cruised in a while.

 

It seems really odd to me that Carnival rewards those that are not their best customers, but isn't rewarding its best customers in the same way.

 

I guess the underlying message sent is that if you want the offer, you have to jump ship and avoid Carnival. :-)

I got the letter today and cruised with Carnival New Year's Eve. Due to our very busy schedule, we can only squeeze in a 4 day cruise. upgraded to balcony for 30 each. Can't believe it! Thank you Carnival!

Hello Everyone,

We have decided to sail on the Freedom of the Seas in Dec 2014. A few questions for experienced cruisers:

What is the best time to book to get the best price?

We are looking at a balcony room for us--and 2 rooms across the hall for our kids & 2 friends. They do not have to connect. Any suggestions on that? I will consider what is above us and below when picking the cabins.

Any booking suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

One of our party is celebrating a milestone birthday on our upcoming cruise. How do I organise a birthday cake for him.....or should I just buy one and carry it on?

We ordered on board & had them deliver it at dinner for our son. They all sang happy birthday to him. The cake was just OK, IMO. But the waiters made him feel special:)

Does anybody know what the hours are for the Casino on the Dream on Sea Days ? If you do I would really appreciate your help. Thank You.

Can't give you the specific hours but it was open early and closed late. I don't believe the slot machines actually closed.

Emerald Beach. Beautiful and never a crowd. :D

Agree...Emerald beach was beautiful. And there is a restaurant & bar.

Below is a brief review of our Carnival Dream cruise during the week of New Year.

Embarkation: Long lines but went fast. We were onboard within an hour. It was around 1:30 pm and our rooms were ready. We dropped our stuff and went to get lunch. I waited for Mongolian Wok--long wait but it was good. The rest of the family ate at the regular buffet and everyone found something.

Rooms: We had a balcony room and an interior on deck 8. Rooms 8278/8280. The interior room for 3 was small but they didn’t really spend much time in it. The balcony room was spacious and bright. However, we had a big problem with noise in our room. There was something creaking/rubbing in the floor boards. It was very loud. We called guest services. They told us it was due to the ship’s movement and they couldn’t do anything about it. We agree that it was worse when the ship moved but the noise was not ‘normal’. Our last cruise we had very little noise so we weren’t expecting this. It was very annoying. Our room steward was great. He agreed that the noise was loud and needed to be fixed. He said they would do it when the ship is in dry dock.

Food:

Breakfast: We got room service a few mornings but stopped because we weren’t sure what time we would get up. I liked the breakfast buffet and the omelet station. Lots of the basic breakfast choices and fruit as well.

Lunch: We liked the various options. We liked the Mongolian Wok but the line is just crazy. I wish they would try to find a solution to this because it’s very good. The pasta bar is also very good. The BBQ on the linai was OK--it could have had more options.

Dinner: We had late seating in the Crimson dining room. Our servers were Adam and Darma. They were wonderful. The food however, was not. It was hit or miss. We did like that you could get more than one appetizer or entre. The chocolate melting cake was awesome.

Entertainment: There was always something to do. We enjoyed Sarah & Phoenix--a singing duo who are fabulous. We went to the family comedy show and mostly enjoyed them. Some comedians were better than others. We heard a few different bands and they were OK. The New Year’s Eve party was fun. There were tons of people there---everyone having a great time. There was a band and a DJ. The DJ seemed to get more people dancing. They were handing out champagne as well. Also, they had the various football games on during the week. We watched a game on the big screen sailing in the ocean. A neat experience.

Kids Clubs: Our 17 yr old and 13 yr old loved the friends they made at the kids clubs. They did a few activities, but mostly just hung out with their new friends. We also have a 20 year old and he made friends on the first day by playing basketball.

Ports:

Nassau: We were only in Nassau until 2 pm, so we just walked around and shopped. We dislike the straw market--everyone sells the same stuff. We walked along some of the nicer shoppes and then had a drink at Senor Frogs.

St. Thomas: What a beautiful island. We splurged and did the zipline adventure. The zip lining was fine --the view from the top was amazing. Everyone who worked there was super nice. After zip lining, we went to Emerald Beach. A pretty beach. We ate lunch at the Best Western but they had a very limited menu since it was after lunch and before dinner. Very nice beach.

St. Maarten: We did a snorkel tour with Mirabella Catamaran. The snorkeling was OK. Then we spent time at the beach called Mullet Bay. It was a beautiful beach--the water and sand perfect.

The Ship: I liked the overall design and layout of the ship. The wrap around lanai is great--I loved walking and running on it. The ship was very crowded and finding an empty lounge chair was a challenge. But if you walked around enough--you could find a few. We checked out Serenity but actually didn’t like it. It seemed small & they certainly didn’t have enough chairs.

Disembarkation: We were zone 5 so we were off early. The lines moved quickly and this took less than 30 minutes. We had parked at Park Port Canavarel so we found their van and went to our car for the long drive home.

So, would I recommend Carnival Dream to a friend or family member? Due to the noise in our room and the food at dinner, I would say no. However, since the Dream and the Sunshine are switching places, I want to try the Sunshine next time. Overall, it was a successful & fun vacation.