Dream Review March 6-13

[LynnMariesmom]

This is our 5th cruise, 1st with Carnival (the rest were Disney) and I was nervous. It was me and my hubby and almost 2yo in the room and we traveled with other family.

 

Getting on the ship was easy even after having to get checked by medical because we checked off runny nose on the health card. It was sunny but cool and windy. We got on the boat and headed to deck 2 to drop off off our stuff in our balcony room. We were in nice room and nearr the laundry which was never crowded by the way. There were 4000 people on board. I loved this cruise. I wish baby could have gone to kids club but we did have them babysit during the Belize port and we stayed outside and got some sun. We had lunch afterwards and then went back and unpacked and toured the big beautiful ship.

 

The buffet had normal buffet lines, never enough to stress out over. You never had to get up to get a drink, servers were everywhere doing refills.

 

This is a really randomly done review..I apologize for that. We did go to the free play area for the toddlers a few times..HUGE ROOM!

 

Shows-

We tried the country one as we are big country fans..Didnt work for us although it did get better towards the end. Dont miss the Takin it to the streets dance show. It was awesome..best show i have seen on a cruise. My suggestion for comfort. Get a couch seat on the upper level..Very comfortable and you can see everything.

 

Spa-

Did the ankle, foot, hand, arm massage..Loved it and they never pushed product on me.

 

Artwork-

Stop by and get free champagne at the auction. My parents bought a few pieces

 

Dinners

we did early seating and loved it. servers were great with kids and had fruit waiting for them every night. We never did the steakhouse but the other family did and loved it. I loved the dinners, even the ones that didnt sound appealing..It was all awesome. Never hesitate to ask for 2 appetizers or anything. We were never denied anything..Yummy bread and butter to!

 

Breakfast

we did the buffet 2 times but did sit down so we could get some family time in..Always a good thing. Hubby loved the omellete station!! Plenty of meat too, sausage, bacon, ham. I had read on a review that all they had was ham. If you are at the sit down breakfast, the omellete says ham or cheese. You can ask for any topping you want and they will do it. Take ziploc bags to breakfast, and get danishes and boxed cereal and such to take to your room for snacks later on during the day.

 

Lunch

Did the pasta bar by accident and never saw a long line..Husband did Mongolian Wok and I loved the pizza place. The Reuben sammy at the Deli was awesome! Dessert bar was great as well. I loved the different types of salads they had.

 

Activities

We did the mini golf on one sea day..Lots of fun..Husband played and won almost every trivia game. He also played the casino.. random thought, best drink on the boat was Kiss on the lips. Even went to the ice cream station and got baby girl banana station.

 

Ports

We couldn't dock at Isla Roatan because of high winds so we got an extra sea day. A few people apparently wanted full refunds..Oh dear!!

Cozumel- we did the Playa Mia excursion with buffet and all you can drink alcohol. Fun and beautiful and entertainging..awesome

 

Belize- didnt get off the boat

 

Costa Maya- walked around the shopping area..Wish we had our bathing suits as there is a public pool right there and very nice.

 

Comedy clubs- we tried 2 shows and laughed so hard. Drinks were slow to be served but the servers tried..they were very busy

 

Room service- ordered lots of milk for baby

 

I enjoyed reading on the balcony while baby slept. I enjoyed the ships shops. My only real complaint is the layout of the ship. Sometimes to get somewhere you take the elevator to one floor, have to walk the whole floor and go up one to get to a restaurant..Not a big deal though, I needed exercise.

John Hield is an awesome cruise director. We will sail this ship again. NO real complaints. The elevators were not as slow as I have read on other reviews. I did hear people complaining but dang they were on vacation. Come on people. we had great weather but one rough night at sea due to sailing in shallow waters.Not sure about that.

 

We were able to watch Idol on tv along with a few cute movies. I know its not Disney but I wish they had a better channel on for kids..

 

I will post an even bigger review over at my blog http://www.amychristopher.blogspot.com soon!!!!

 

Please ask me questions..Loved the cruise, the staff and most other travelles except those ding dongs who smoked in the non smoking sections. Just because there is no one around, doesnt make it right!!!

 

OH and besides tips, you can get off this ship without spending a lot of money!!!

[willycruise]

My wife and I leave for the Dream in just 10 days.....can't wait. We are REALLY looking foward to this cruise. Sounds like you had a great time, and it helps having a great attitude. You're on vacation, don't let the little things get you down. I agree!!!!!

 

BK

[Ilovepj]

HI,

 

I see you had a balcony on deck 2, so I guess it was a cove balcony right? I have one booked for Oct, and I wanted to know, how did you like it?

 

Thanks

[LynnMariesmom]

Loved the balcony..It was nice to be closer to the water at night..just beautiful!!

[OBX-Cruisers]

HI,

 

I see you had a balcony on deck 2, so I guess it was a cove balcony right? I have one booked for Oct, and I wanted to know, how did you like it?

 

Thanks

 

We were on the Dream in late January and were "upgraded" from a forward facing "partially obstructed" OV on Deck 11 to a cove balcony on Deck 2 because our original cabin was considered a handicapped cabin and they needed it for a truly handicapped person (wife has bad hip but not "handicapped" by definition). This was our first Carnival Cruise while others have been on HAL, RCL and NCL so I was as apprehensive as the people that posted the original post on this thread.

Cove balcony on Port side (#2330) was very nice and wife especially liked to "read" on the balcony where she would promptly fall to sleep when cruising! FYI we NEVER smelled anything bad as commented on by others. The only downside to the cove balcony rooms that we found has been mentioned in other reviews on CC was that our cabin had a connecting door to the adjoining cabin; these doors are not very soundproof and you do hear your neighbors if they are the least bit noisy.

Other than that, I told my family members that we would be so low on this ship that I was taking a trolling rod and catching fresh fish each day..........NOT!

Have fun and do not believe the negative reviews you read except for the ones that mention the poor design of the Lido buffet where there really are points where the aisle is 6" wide because of lines at the beverage station and the buffet and the "too small" size of the Burgundy lounge used for the comedian shows. Do not miss the Sushi bar on Deck 5 (look for schedule) AND we never waited for more than a few minutes regardless what else grumpy people write. The "long lines" at the burger grill, sandwich bar and Mongolian grill are real if you go there right at peak times.............just plan ahead and go early or late..........guess what, only a few minutes wait

[OBX-Cruisers]

The original post mentioned: "My only real complaint is the layout of the ship. Sometimes to get somewhere you take the elevator to one floor, have to walk the whole floor and go up one to get to a restaurant."

 

For a new and really nice ship this is the biggest screw up in design. Because my wife has a bad hip that affects walking distances, I picked a cabin near the mid ship elevators............well we got assigned to the Aft Dining room. That was not a real problem except after dinner you cannot walk to the Lobby Atrium or Main floor of the Theater on Deck 3 without going up to Deck 4 or going back down to Deck 2. Also, if you do go to Deck 3 on those mid ship elevators, you cannot get to the Atrium or the main floor of the Theater on the inside of the ship without going through the Crimson restaurant! What design genius did not see this as a problem and irritation. I understand the VITAL necessity of the Galley but why didn't they put that in the Aft not in the middle of Deck 3??? This along with the TINY ladies room (so I was told by wife) on Deck 2 outside the dining room are extremely irritating but not enough to disrupt the other good things on the ship. In any case LynnMariesmom was very diplomatic in commenting on what I thought was a very dumb case of design for such a new ship..................and now they are building a clone. May be time to sell my Carnival stock.

[John&John]

The original post mentioned: "My only real complaint is the layout of the ship. Sometimes to get somewhere you take the elevator to one floor, have to walk the whole floor and go up one to get to a restaurant."

 

For a new and really nice ship this is the biggest screw up in design. Because my wife has a bad hip that affects walking distances, I picked a cabin near the mid ship elevators............well we got assigned to the Aft Dining room. That was not a real problem except after dinner you cannot walk to the Lobby Atrium or Main floor of the Theater on Deck 3 without going up to Deck 4 or going back down to Deck 2. Also, if you do go to Deck 3 on those mid ship elevators, you cannot get to the Atrium or the main floor of the Theater on the inside of the ship without going through the Crimson restaurant! What design genius did not see this as a problem and irritation. I understand the VITAL necessity of the Galley but why didn't they put that in the Aft not in the middle of Deck 3??? This along with the TINY ladies room (so I was told by wife) on Deck 2 outside the dining room are extremely irritating but not enough to disrupt the other good things on the ship. In any case LynnMariesmom was very diplomatic in commenting on what I thought was a very dumb case of design for such a new ship..................and now they are building a clone. May be time to sell my Carnival stock.

 

There are many Carnival ships with a similar design. They've been building them like this for years.

 

The galleys are located in between the two dining rooms and that's where they need to be.

 

Most people don't find it a problem to use the promenade to go from one end of the ship to the other.

 

When we first cruised on the Valor the CD informed us how to navigate around the ship and told us that the Lido and Promenade decks were the decks to use since they go all the way through.

[KJPG]

Artwork-

Stop by and get free champagne at the auction. My parents bought a few pieces

 

 

Hi -

 

Thanks for the review, we're leaving in a little over a week. Weird question - do you happen to remember who the auctioneer was? If not, do you remember if it was a man or a woman. I only ask as out of 8 cruises, we've had the same auction team on 3. It would be amusing to have them again. (We don't buy alot, this is just one of the things I enjoy doing on a ship.)

[LynnMariesmom]

I can ask my mom. I believe it was a gentleman..They were very nice to my mom. ! month before the cruise my parents lost their home to a fire and mom wanted a new piece to start her new home. They were very friendly and remembered her story..

[Suntanz]

Great Review, thanks.

We will set sail in September on the Dream.

I see you were on deck 2 in the Cove Balconys. Did you hear a lot of noise when pulling into port? Did the ship rock anymore than the other ships you were on?

[KJPG]

I can ask my mom. I believe it was a gentleman..They were very nice to my mom. ! month before the cruise my parents lost their home to a fire and mom wanted a new piece to start her new home. They were very friendly and remembered her story..

 

Thanks for checking.

 

Awful about your parents' house! :(