ANOTHER ONE! Photo review of Dream 3/19

Well, here it is. Another Dream review! This was our seventh cruise. We are not loyal to any particular cruise line, but enjoy a great deal. See my signature for previous cruise experiences.

We chose this Western Caribbean cruise based on price and port of departure. We left on March 19th and returned on March 26th.

My husband, my six year old son and I left Jacksonville the morning of the cruise. We parked at Port Canaveral at 10:45 a.m. and were on the ship at 11:10 a.m. It was the easiest boarding ever!

Driving on 528

TIP: Driving to Port Canaveral. If you go east on 528, make sure you take the exit for the north terminals. It is easy sailing from there. Follow the signs to drop off your luggage and park in the adjacent parking garage. Parking was $105 for the 7 day cruise.

Once on the ship we headed straight to the pasta bar. It is aft in the Gathering. You go up a set of stairs, get an order sheet, fill it out, hand it to the cook and sit at your table with your number. We only waited 5 minutes for our food, since we were pretty early and nobody had discovered the Pasta bar yet! We had the meat lasagna, which was GREAT. Although different, we enjoyed it. It does have roast type meat in it, but is also filled with spinach and something from the pumpkin family (not sure if it was pumpkin or sweet potato, but it was good).

We visited the Crimson dining room to look at our table. We were assigned a table for 3, as requested. When we got there, we noticed that they were seating people for lunch. This was not noted on the Fun Times. So...

TIP: If you don’t want to put up with the crowds in the Gathering, head to the Crimson or Scarlett to see if they are offering a sit down lunch. The menu is always posted at the door.

We were in cabin 1208, a PT category cabin. It was a GREAT cabin. The only downfall was that we had a connecting stateroom with a loud child in it. The older brother constantly teased the younger and the younger had a shrill voice - shouting at all times of the night while the mother was out partying. However, this did not spoil our cruise. For the price we paid for the cabin, we put up with the bratty kid & enjoyed the privilege of having natural light, an ocean view and plenty of space for the 3 of us.

For those who wonder: There were 20 hangers in our 2 closets. (LOL! I know somebody is going to thank me for that piece of info!)

The bathroom had plenty of counter space. I am glad I had left the over the door shoe hanger at home, because it would have wasted space in my suitcase. But then, I don't use a lot of cosmetics, so all my ‘stuff’ fit on the counter and in the nice shell bowl that had been provided. There were nice freebies in the shell bowl upon arrival, including teeth whitening strips, a men’s razor, facial washing cloths and floss samples.

After exploring the cabin, we went to meet some of our Roll call members at the AFT pool. Few people showed up, but we enjoyed meeting and chatting with those who did make it.

The first night, after dinner, we just headed to the Ocean Plaza, since another CC member had mentioned that they enjoyed the Blackjack Band. We were not disappointed. They sing a variety of 70‘s 80‘s 90’s rock and country. We had a lot of fun with them. They repeat their jokes just about every night, but the music never got old! We listened to them every chance we got.

The Blackjack Band

Sunset from Ocean Plaza Whirlpool area

FIRST DAY AT SEA:

We spent most of the morning at the AFT pool. It was much less crowded in the morning (even on sea days) and I tried to avoid the big screen TV. I am one of those people who finds it obnoxious. Many people seemed to enjoy it though, since the midship pool was always crowded.

AFT POOL

We chose to have lunch at Tandoori - we really enjoyed their Greek Salad and their Samosas. The Tandoori Chicken was great too. We do love curry and therefore preferred this as a lunch choice quite often throughout the week. My husband often got the Rueben sandwich at the deli, which was usually good... depending on who made it.

Dinner in the MDR (Crimson table 161) was always good and fun. My favorite meal was the Tom Turkey and my favorite dessert was the fig pudding. The highlight was always the free cappuccino. I asked for cream on the side, because it was quite strong, but enjoyable! Our waiters, John and Michael, were excellent. John was very entertaining and efficient. Michael always remembered our favorite drinks and preferences. They are both greatly missed! Here is John performing...

In the morning, we ate breakfast in the Scarlett Dining Room. We did this every morning, since it beats the mad rush of the Gathering. They had a good variety for breakfast. DH enjoyed the Eggs Benedict a lot. I preferred the French Toast with stewed bananas and whipped cream on the side.

Before heading off the ship, we played mini golf. As you can see, we had the course to ourselves!

We avoided the crowded rush to get off and enjoyed a relaxing time eating lunch. After lunch, we just got off the ship for a short while to walk around in port. This was our second visit to Cozumel and we enjoyed just getting a little bit of the Mexican flair, and then headed back to the ship.

Our family enjoys spending a lot of time on the ship in most ports, since the ship is so deserted. It makes for a much more relaxing time, which we prefer. We are also of the philosophy that we don’t like taking expensive excursions - we would rather save up for another cruise.

That night we watched Fun Force from the Photo Gallery on deck 4 (they perform in the atrium on deck 3). We had a great view and they were quite entertaining. We made our way to the Encore Theater for “EDGE”. He was funny and very talented!

I LOVE PHOTO REVIEWS!! keep it coming!!

We stayed on the ship for this port due to many factors, including our son’s young age, cost of excursions, long tender ride, etc. When our son is older, we would like to visit this port again. It was fun, however, to have the ship less crowded again.

Belize City

We enjoyed “Dancin’ in the Streets” tremendously! PLEASE do not walk out before the end of the show. I think the highlight of the show was very close to the end with the Fun Force Dancers, and I’m disappointed to hear some of our roll call members left and missed this! I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but if you think it is just more breakdance/street dance, you are wrong. Just watch!

We saw the last show with the current cast. The new cast was introduced to us on Thursday, with “8 more seconds” being their debut performance on our sailing. Hopefully, the new cast will do as great a job with “Dancin’ in the streets” as the cast we bid farewell. In my opinion, the lady singer of the new cast is significantly better than the one from the old cast.

After the show, I went to the Lido Deck see the laser show. It is true that the smoke machine does not work well due to the wind, but the show was still fun to watch.

We simply love Roatan. Once again, we avoided the crowded disembarkation by playing a game of mini golf first. We headed through the port to Clip ‘n’ Zip. It is VERY easy to find and you can walk right up to it. No need to pay for a taxi to take you to another location. I had a blast here! It was my first experience ziplining and I can’t wait for my next chance. This cost $40 and we had 11 lines. Thankfully, only 11 - because my tummy muscles were complaining towards the end! I purchased the $10 CD with photos - they did a great job and I gladly supported them by getting this souvenir.

Mahogany bay was very crowded by the time we got there, after ziplining. I don’t know if this is optical illusion, but the water seemed much more murky this time around. I can only imagine what the water gets like with 4000 plus people... :eek: The first photo is from our visit a year ago. Note the clarity. The second photo is from our current visit. (same camera, same DH and DS - LOL!, same swimwear) Our swimwear also stank when we got back to the cabin and I had to wash them with shampoo... We still had a blast swimming though!

April 2009

March 2010

We had a slight sprinkle of rain when we arrived, but the day cleared up to be beautiful in the end. Once again, we just walked around the port for a short while. We enjoyed a watching people swim with the dolphins and had an impromptu show from two dolphins who were playing and jumping. I just hope those dolphins ‘live’ somewhere else, because those pools are awfully small for them!

The colorful market is pleasurable to wander through and we even enjoyed some traditional Mexican dancing for a little while.

Back on the ship, we played mini golf again and enjoyed the 24 hour ice cream.

TIP: If you are going to use the high slides, use them while in port. They are much less crowded and are often closed during sailing due to high winds.

As usual, there was a mad rush for chairs, which I refused to partake in. We had a leisurely breakfast in the MDR and then headed up around 10 a.m. There were plenty of chairs in the shade. We simply moved one to a large open area on deck 11, and I had my own little spot in the sun despite the chair hoggers!

TIP: At 5 pm on the last day, there is a Fun Farewell Party in the Burgandy Lounge. It is not advertised at all - just mentioned in the schedule. There are free drinks served during this time for about 1 hour (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). We were surprised to see how few people knew about it... imagine if all 4500 passengers showed up for the free drinks! (Okay, minus kids/minors). This is a well kept secret that mostly CC members seem to know about! We tipped our first waiter $1 for bringing us a free drink and he kept them coming with a huge smile on his face. You would have thought we had given him $100!

TIP: I can’t remember when it was, but we had a returning Carnival passengers party one day in the Encore lounge. You will receive an invitation in your cabin the night before. They served free drinks during that time too. If you want to be taken care of, don’t sit in one of the rows with the large pillars. It seemed like the waiters avoided those rows since they are hard to maneuver with a tray full of drinks. Once again, there are alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic drinks.

IMPRESSIONS:

Overall, it was a great cruise and we were able to avoid the crowds most of the time. If the same deal came up again, we would sail the Dream again. However, we enjoy smaller ships more and can tell that the crew members on the Dream work unusually hard.

I kept all our Fun Times, so questions are welcome!

There She Is!

Tomorrow, I will post some pictures of areas on the ship. Night-night!:D

 

March 2010

 

 

Hi ADP MOM, Thanks for sharing all your photos! Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic time, too. I understand not wanting to take expensive excursions but next time you are in Roatan I suggest you venture out to West Bay Beach because it was the most beautiful beach with the clearest water. This is what the water looked like at West Bay that day. No smell or anything, just perfect clear, clean water. I think the ships just churn up the bottom near the Mahogany beach.

Great review! Loved all of your pictures.

Nice review... keep it coming :)

Great Review, thanks for super pictures too! 2 days and a wake up till our cruise. Soooooo ready!:D

 

We saw the last show with the current cast. The new cast was introduced to us on Thursday, with “8 more seconds” being their debut performance on our sailing. Hopefully, the new cast will do as great a job with “Dancin’ in the streets” as the cast we bid farewell. In my opinion, the lady singer of the new cast is significantly better than the one from the old cast.

 

Funny you said this because I mentioned the SAME thing to my family right after the show. I thought both the female and male singer were better than their previous counterparts.

I thought Dancing in the Streets was INCREDIBLE! I almost wished they showed it as the "last show" because 8 More Seconds obviously paled in comparison because it's a different quality show - but since we saw Dancing in the Streets previously to this one - it was hard to appreciate 8 more Seconds in its own regard.

Pleasure meeting you again!! You'll have to keep us posted which is the next ship you decide on! My family ended up enjoying the Dream so much ( we spent 2 of the port days on the ship like you too...) that we booked it for next May! :)

Hi ADP MOM, Thanks for sharing all your photos! Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic time, too. I understand not wanting to take expensive excursions but next time you are in Roatan I suggest you venture out to West Bay Beach because it was the most beautiful beach with the clearest water. This is what the water looked like at West Bay that day. No smell or anything, just perfect clear, clean water. I think the ships just churn up the bottom near the Mahogany beach.

Thanks for the picture and suggestion! We have definitely decided to do a tour with Victor Bodden next time. We love Roatan, it's people and the variety of things it offers! That is one island I am willing to spend some money to see more. We are planning to take Costa again next year, since they will have a 10 day cruise with great value - visiting Roatan again... Until next time :)

Funny you said this because I mentioned the SAME thing to my family right after the show. I thought both the female and male singer were better than their previous counterparts.

 

I thought Dancing in the Streets was INCREDIBLE! I almost wished they showed it as the "last show" because 8 More Seconds obviously paled in comparison because it's a different quality show - but since we saw Dancing in the Streets previously to this one - it was hard to appreciate 8 more Seconds in its own regard.

 

Pleasure meeting you again!! You'll have to keep us posted which is the next ship you decide on! My family ended up enjoying the Dream so much ( we spent 2 of the port days on the ship like you too...) that we booked it for next May! :)

I know. I wish they would have done an encore presentation of Dancin' in the streets!

It was fun meeting you! I hope we cruise together again in future. we should have spent more time together. It sounds like our families are pretty similar. Enjoy planning for all your upcoming cruises... I'm just waiting for COSTA to make their 2012 sailings available to USA so that we can book our next adventure! :D

Hi ADP MOM, Thanks for sharing all your photos! Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic time, too. I understand not wanting to take expensive excursions but next time you are in Roatan I suggest you venture out to West Bay Beach because it was the most beautiful beach with the clearest water. This is what the water looked like at West Bay that day. No smell or anything, just perfect clear, clean water. I think the ships just churn up the bottom near the Mahogany beach.

Ohhh, I just want to dip my feet in! I've never been in the Caribbean water...how warm is it? It looks SOOOO inviting! My husband is not the least bit interested in a Caribbean cruise unfortunately. My older two boys are though. I'm hoping I can get the DH "onboard" for a Caribbean cruise, maybe next year :) Beautiful picture!

As promised, here are a few ship photos...

Serenity:

Love your review & pictures!!

Great review!! Thanks for sharing!

"Secret door" on deck 10. There is a similar door on deck 9 - forward

I dont think those dolphins were playing..probably jumping to see if they could make it over that wall to freedom...i feel so bad for them id never pay to do that its so sad! :(