We had an AMAZING Dream 12/26 - 1/2

[fun2bcruising]

Hello fellow cruisers - just signing up today and trying to figure this all out. My husband and I are cruising with w8ing2cruz in April. Very nice pics - we're in double digit countdown!:)

[breezycruiser]

Great review! I'm really looking forward to reading the rest!:)

[gypsyrose]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I have been enjoying it every morn before work with a cup of coffee. Love all the pictures (so much that I seldom read a review that doesn't have pictures) Guess I am spoiled too;)

[balcony bound]

Back aboard, we dropped our packages (I wondered how I was going to fit them in the luggage home, but that was to worry about later) and headed up for our first burger of the trip. There are so many good selections of food that I try not to eat the burgers….but they are so good!

Plenty of lounge chairs at the pool

Spa, snorkeling, and too much lunch did me in. I headed to the cabin for a NAP!!! Apparently, I was really tired, because if it hadn’t been for Todd (our CD) making an announcement, we would have slept through dinner. I had 15 minutes to wake up, try to brush my southern Caribbean hair (impossible), throw on some clothes, and get to the dining room. I was amazed DH cooperated – he musta still been asleep.

Well, the rush was worth it. The chateaubriand and grouper were well worth the rush, and the bing cherry soup was awesome.

[balcony bound]

Tonight we planned to see Dancing in the Streets in the Encore Theater. We love the shows, and had heard this one was good. We decided to go early for good seats. We enjoyed some cocktails and chatted with those seated around us, and the show finally began. GREAT show. Okay, it started a little slow for me, and I wondered early what the fuss was about – but it got good quick. Don’t miss this, and go early for a seat. There were lots of folks standing in the back for this one.

I didn’t think we could top the show. We headed up to the aft lido pool bar to get some drinks from Minerva. We had become fast friends with Minerva during this cruise – what a wonderful girl. From the Phillapines, Minerva has been with Carnival for 7 years. She laughed telling us the story of her first assignment to the Sprit in Alaska – she’d never been cold before or seen snow! We also had heard her tail of hurricane Katrina, and almost getting stuck with no where to go. Her visit home was scheduled, but like many passengers, she was stuck not making it to her port and even if she had, there was no transportation. It was a scary time for her, but Carnival found her a place on the Sensation, who boarded rescue and emergency personnel after Katrina. She told some funny stories about those folks trying to sneak into the crew bar for drinks. If you have the chance, head on back to the aft pool bar, and enjoy yourself with some drinks and Minerva’s smiling personality.

Our night kept getting better, as we loved the laser show this evening to the music of Pink Floyd. I finally remembered my camera did video, I’ll figure out how to link it in here.

After the laser – the movie playing was Star Trek. Good deal! We’d seen it at the IMAX theater, and I had wanted to see it again.

[balcony bound]

I became absolutely fascinated with our umbrellas about this time – I had never noticed. Maybe you will?

Amazing surprises and smiles on this ship, I just love it.

Another late night, especially since in real life I’m up by 4 and in bed earlier than I want to say.

Suphol had been to visit

and it was time to sleep. Tomorrow we’d be in Belize. I even skipped hanging out my room service doortag asking for morning coffee. No telling when I'd wake up.

[balcony bound]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I have been enjoying it every morn before work with a cup of coffee. Love all the pictures (so much that I seldom read a review that doesn't have pictures) Guess I am spoiled too;)

 

I like to read reviews with pictures, too:) I'm glad you are enjoying this cruise with your coffee...much better than the newspaper!

[templed]

My point about the cove balconies at eye level..... the ship is SOOOOOO big... there's like 10 decks above them.

[w8ing2cruz]

you mention that at port stops you disembark/embark on deck zero? When you first board the ship in PC do you enter on a different deck? We will have some first time cruisers with us and I will never forget the first time I walked onto a ship. I really want that WOW factor for them. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!

 

Can't wait for Belize :p

[Indiansbaseball]

Really amazing review... Loving it alot. We are not Dreaming anytime soon...but will be GloryIng very soon. Can't wait to read more.

 

Jen

[EASTPORTSTAR]

good afternoon balcony bound, was curious about the movies by the pool. do they show one every night ? what about the lazer show ? we've been on 7 cruises before, only the first one had a movie theater. we liked it (catch up on shut eye while the family watched the movie) .we sail in 6 weeks and i'm getting so antsy, worried about fitting all the fun into one week. thanks, keep up the great thread. jerry

[balcony bound]

New Year’s Eve was here I enjoyed the quiet early morning on the balcony with my coffee and watching the day arrive.

I was looking forward to the evening’s festivities, but it also meant that our days aboard this lovely ship had dwindled. The first few days of a cruise seem like you have all the time in the world to enjoy, but all of the sudden, we were running low on time.

We docked in Costa May to a bright and sunny day. After the spa and some breakfast, we headed out to wander around and see what had changed since our previous visit. Costa Maya had been closed for a while after the hurricanes a few years ago.

There were plenty of beach loungers for those who desired them (these stayed empty most of the day).

And the pool was ready for anyone to enjoy.

Some light shopping was in order. I laughed as we passed the stores as they hawked to us to come in… cheaper than K-Mart, cheaper than the Bahamas… I already knew better.

Poor DH, I make him stop for pictures at the usual spots but this one just sort of cracked me up because I was seeing some similarities.

We picked up a few shirts for DH and some other small purchases and headed “home” to drop our packages and visit with Minerva while enjoying the quiet of the ship.

[balcony bound]

you mention that at port stops you disembark/embark on deck zero? When you first board the ship in PC do you enter on a different deck? We will have some first time cruisers with us and I will never forget the first time I walked onto a ship. I really want that WOW factor for them. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!

 

Can't wait for Belize :p

 

When you first board the ship, you will board on Deck 3 in the atrium (beautiful).

 

When you visit your ports of call, you disembark on deck 0 to the pier.

 

The difference being when you are in ports of call, you get off onto the pier --- when you first board the ship in Canaveral, you go through the building and embark through special enclosed walkways (like "tunnels" when you board a plane) that bring you up to Deck 3.

 

Your friends will be WOW'ed when you board, for sure:)

[balcony bound]

good afternoon balcony bound, was curious about the movies by the pool. do they show one every night ? what about the lazer show ? we've been on 7 cruises before, only the first one had a movie theater. we liked it (catch up on shut eye while the family watched the movie) .we sail in 6 weeks and i'm getting so antsy, worried about fitting all the fun into one week. thanks, keep up the great thread. jerry

 

On our cruise, there wasn't a movie every night - we also had a NYE celebration, and one evening they had college bowl games. They will likely have more movies on your cruise -

 

The laser show is awesome, I'm going to try uploading some video of one of the music/laser shows and also the one one NYE.

 

They have the laser show at a couple different times in the evening so that both early and late diners can enjoy them.

 

It IS hard to enjoy all the "fun" in one week. We're going to have to do it again to catch the things we missed!!!

 

Enjoy your cruise:)

[balcony bound]

The aft pool was quiet, and even though it was lunchtime, there was no one in line at the deli. Again, you could enjoy lunch in any of the venues today without lines - nothing like previous reviews have mentiond. I realize we were in port and that many folks were out enjoying their excursions, but there were plenty of passengers on board enjoying the ship.

It was the perfect day for me to try “Joe’s New Year’s Dream” – this was the drink that one the mixology contest a couple days ago. It was really good, a variation of a Miami Vice and I enjoyed a few of these on the rest of the cruise. Notice the similarity to Carnival’s logo? Delicious.

Minerva kept DH busy with DODs in monkey heads. The monkey heads are made in the Philippines, and we were happy to support Minerva’s home country.

We headed up to our balcony to watch the comings and goings and check out the Voyager of the Seas who was moored next to us. I mostly admired theclear blue water.

It was still windy, but it was warm and we enjoyed the sunshine.

[purpleblanket]

I just love your photos!

Thank you!

 

Debbie :)

[thshhh]

Thanks for your review. I am a TA, have group cruise in July on the Dream with

approx. 50 people. Great to hear your review and see the pics!

[smarks]

Thank you for such a wonderful review. I have sat here glued to every word. You did a great job and I can't wait to set sail on her in May. Thanks again.

[balcony bound]

Thanks for your review. I am a TA, have group cruise in July on the Dream with

approx. 50 people. Great to hear your review and see the pics!

 

Your group with have a wonderful time, no doubts. She really is a marveolous ship, we can't wait to book again.

[balcony bound]

Thank you for such a wonderful review. I have sat here glued to every word. You did a great job and I can't wait to set sail on her in May. Thanks again.

 

My pleasure:) I'll finish up tomorrow. Had some glitches, and an emergency with one of our pets... thankfully now, and not while we were gone!

[ellenw]

What a great job you are doing! Thanks so much. We are on the Dream on 2/20. You are making feel like I am already aboard. I never thought I would be interested in paying for the spa until you mentioned the heated loungers. Living in the Northeast, maybe I can get me one of them for my living room!

[Candleshoe]

I hope everything is okay on the home-front.

 

I'm very much enjoying your story :)

[Amerikaner83]

Thank you sooo much for this review! My wife and I are on 8473 (opposite side wrap) on our cruise May 22nd, and we were sorta apprehensive about our cabin size, especially with the whole wrap/no wrap/small room fiasco...your pics are wonderful!!!! And set her at ease for the wrap. Thanks!!!

[Candleshoe]

Looking forward to reading the end of your cruise!

[CHENELLEH]

I loved your review---Thanks so much!! Did you have a couch in this cabin--if it was in photos I missed it.---We are booked in this same cabin Feb 13th,. Thanks for the info.