Hurricane Magnet's review of the Dream Aug. 28!

[beachbum6264]

Well, we’re back and I’m finally able to sit down and put it all on “paper”. If you don’t want to hear personal opinions, soap box rants, or see personal vacation pictures, leave now! Otherwise... here goes:

 

Pre-cruise:

We sailed on the Aug. 28 Dream cruise with 2 other couples, 1 (Ginny and Terry)has been on several cruises, the other (Debbie and Tracy) both cruise virgins.... scheduled to go to Nassau (don’t really care - lived there growing up, still have some distant family, but don’t want to walk down Bay Street and see where my grandmother’s store used to be), St. Thomas (love it) and St. Maartin (love it, too). We live in Middle Tennessee and drive down to the port (I don’t fly - bad experience, and yes, it involved a hurricane!!). But, I like to drive and it gives dh and I some nice time together. We left at noon on Wednesday, the 25 and drove to Macon (ate at a great Japanese steak house - I think it was called Taki??). An uneventful (for us) drive all the way - no tropical storms to drive through, no locking the keys in the car, nothing! I knew something was up!

Made it to Florida!

 

 

 

Stayed at the Cocoa Beach Doubletree again (3d time). Nice location, right on the beach,

 

(view from our room)

 

 

 

and you can leave your car there and ride a shuttle ($10 person round trip). Plus they have a great concierge room - an added benefit. We also booked it for the Sat. we got back, so we could spend one more day on the beach before heading back to real life. Had a great dinner with the other ‘non flyers’ at Gregory’s - highly recommend it. A topic of conversation.... hurricanes. Where they are and what it means for us. Decided we really don’t care!

 

Saw a Disney ship headed out -

 

 

laughed about the time we were standing on deck (maybe Glory?) with a nice DOD in hand and a Disney ship went out - passing us as she went. We were listening to some nice calypso steel drum music - and they were screaming the YMCA at the top of their lungs. We sure were glad to be where we were!!!!

 

The cruise begins.....

Got up Saturday morning (after a night of “I’m too exited to sleep!!!!” - you would think I would get over that at some point, we’ve been on several cruises, but I still get excited!!!!! YAY, we’re cruising, again!!!)

Waited downstairs with our friends Ginny and Terry for the shuttle. We’re all ready for a Funship Special. Finally, the shuttle is here (only about 5 minutes late, but seemed like hours! I’m worse than a 2nd grader at Christmas!!). Loaded up all the luggage and off we go. I get to sit up front, good for me, cause I have to get that “first look” picture! I’m listening to the general “wonder where we’re going’ conversation in the van while straining my eyes for that first sight (not that I don’t know exactly where we will be when I can see her for the first time - having been out of this port several times, but hey, it’s still a big thrill!!!) And THERE SHE IS!!!!!

 

 

Dang, she’s HUGE! Almost there.....

 

 

getting closer.......

 

 

and here we are!!!!

[Meyer2]

Great review so far!

[remharri]

Can't wait for the rest! I will be on her very very soon and I can't wait!

 

~Regina

[azrayne]

OP-

 

Is Ginny a blond lady uses a wheelchair, Terry her traveling buddy?

 

If so, I cruised with them last year on Valor. Great people!

[beachbum6264]

Day 1 - Saturday

 

Embarkation was easy and quick - they know how to get you through those lines and on that ship. No more embarkation photo hold up, either. You can get those done, but they are done on the ship (and they were using a green screen, so you might not want to wear a green shirt - you could look like a floating head!!! Although, that might be fun!). Debbie and Tracy flew into Orlando yesterday and rented a car... they are on their way, Wish I could be there to see their faces when they see the Dream for the first time. We’ll all meet up on the Lido deck later. Thank goodness for text messages!!

 

First look as you board:

 

 

Beautiful ship, no urns (like on the Legend), not a lot of bright neon and loud colors, but more ‘toned down’ than other Carnival ships.

 

We head up to deck 10 for some lunch - the place is busy, but we find a table without much trouble. Don’t remember what we ate, but I do remember that it was good (for buffet food).

 

Debbie and Tracy join us, and we are all ready to cruise! We were discussing what the weather report had been that morning when the Captain came over the PA system, yes, the announcement I was expecting - We are not going to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin since Hurricane Earl decided that HE was headed that way. So we’re going to stay safe and sail into calm waters - in the Western Caribbean - heading to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya instead. Who cares???? We’re on a cruise, and I need a Funship Special!!!!

(the “Hurricane Magnet” in the title is well earned, let me tell you! Of course, we do usually take our vacation the last week of August because we have a huge horse show in our town and we rent our house out, so we have to leave - schools are closed and it’s a great time to get out of town. We have been through hurricanes in Nassau, Florida, and Gulf Shores- we had to evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. Several cruises have been re-routed due to hurricanes, so we have lots of experience and know that it is a distinct possibility. So... you may not want to book the Legend for next Aug. 28 since we’ll be on that cruise!!!)

 

(here comes the 1st soap-box rant - you have been warned!!)

 

Most people on board seemed to expect this change and handled it well. Several did NOT. I heard one woman SCREAMING into her cell phone - she’s going to call her #%Q$% lawyer and sue the @#^$ pants off Carnival (yeah, let me know how what works for ya, hon!). This was NOT what she paid for and they WERE going to refund her ##$^@$% money (got your check yet???). I just wanted to tap her on the shoulder and say, “Uh, Yes, this is exactly what you paid for, you loudmouth. And please don’t scream those words with all these kids around.” Read your contracts, people. Did she REALLY want to be going to St. Thomas anyway??? Fine, put her butt on a plane and send her, see how she likes that. end of rant #1.

 

Cabins were ready right as promised at 1:30. One bag was already at our door, the garment bag turned up a few minutes later. Unpacked quickly, we know where everything goes by now. We had booked an ocean view this time (I took last year off - I’m a teacher - for knee replacement surgery and a well deserved break! so $$ was a bit short - no balcony club for us this year!) We were on Riviera deck, #1312. It is one with a 2nd shower/sink room. Loved that

 

 

George was our room steward, nice guy, always a smile and a “Hello” - did a great job, no complaints.

 

 

I like the new ‘muster’ - no life jackets, no standing squished in between people and sweating to death, either. We went to the Crimson dining room and listened to the crew tell what to do in the event of an emergency. Enjoyed not having the drunk sitting right behind me blowing that darn whistle (yea, happened more than once. I’m lucky that way)

 

 

 

As long as my view looks like this, I’m good! New glasses, they say “Look at me, I’m on vacation!”

The rest of the bunch:

 

 

We were in the Crimson dining room - late seating. Our waitress was Sheela, from Nepal. Asst. waiter (can’t remember his name ... Pat... something) from Bali. Had my usual first night dinner - Sweet and Sour Shrimp and Creme Brulee for dessert. Yum

Food was great all week (contrary to what that grumpy old man said at breakfast.... complaining about how this was the worst food he’d ever had. Of course, I had to tell him that ours had been great, best lobster ever on a cruise.., loved it all ;p I just love to get all happy when people are grumpy and negative like him!!! They never seem to know what to say!)

 

Can’t remember if we went to the Welcome Aboard show or not - I think we did (they all run together after a while!) - I know we did go to the Laser show (I remember because I have pictures!!!)

 

 

Not bad, but not sure if I’d make a huge effort to go again.

[beachbum6264]

OP-

 

Is Ginny a blond lady uses a wheelchair, Terry her traveling buddy?

 

If so, I cruised with them last year on Valor. Great people!

 

No, wrong Ginny and Terry - but these are great people, too!

[oncruisecontrol]

Very good review so far.......but, we must have more. Some of us are in withdrawal until our next cruise:D

[beachbum6264]

Very good review so far.......but, we must have more. Some of us are in withdrawal until our next cruise:D

 

Thanks! Working on it! Typing in "Pages" (Mac) and uploading a day at a time! dh is watching the Vols, so I have some quiet time (well, except for his yelling at the screen!! I'm sure they can hear him in Knoxville :D )

[Senoj84]

Enjoyed reading the review and seeing the pics!

[beachbum6264]

Day 2 - Sunday - restful day at sea.

 

Dh (Bob) and I have our sea day routine down pretty well. Breakfast in the main dining room (sometimes we sit with others, you can ask for a table for 2 - and we do on the days Bob has not gotten up before me and headed up to the the Lido for some coffee!! I am the only lucky one to have breakfast with that!!!!) We like a relaxing breakfast, and standing in line and having to hunt for a table doesn’t do it for us. Same menu as always - I had all my usual stuff during the week - pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, eggs, .... not much changes! One complaint - the bacon was nowhere near crispy on a couple of days - not used to that. Enjoyed our breakfast companions (well, except for that grumpy guy who complained about everything - we’ll just ignore him!!!)

After breakfast, it’s up on deck for some sun and reading (and if truth be told, some snoozing and some boozing!)

We went to the aft pool today - found a couple of chairs together. Ginny and Terry showed up a bit later, they found chairs, not right with us.

 

 

We never did go to the main pool - we were looking for relaxation (dh has a stressful job and really needs some down time, so we stay away from the party atmosphere at the main pool area, but it looked like everyone was having fun when we walked through!

 

 

After a few hours of sun (a dip in the pool, a couple of trips to stand under the FREEZING water in the shower, and a short nap in there somewhere!) - it’s time to head for the cabin to get changed for lunch in the MDR. Ran into Debbie and Tracy, so we head to lunch with them. They are enjoying their first cruise, have spent the morning exploring - and it takes quite a bit of time to explore this ship - she’s HUGE!!!). Lunch was clam chowder and a fish sandwich.

Afternoon was spent at the Serenity (adult only) deck. It would be nice if there was a pool up there..... Carnival - think about that, would ya??? There are 2 whirlpools and a couple of showers, which are nice. Comfy chairs, good bar service, basically a nice area to relax.

 

 

 

 

Dh went to the spa for a steam and a shower, I took a short nap (see a pattern here????) and got ready for our first “Elegant Night” - seems like everyone read the FunTimes and knew what to wear!! (either that or they are all reading Cruise Critic now and didn’t want to be talked about here later!!!). We went to the comedy show before dinner tonight - Tommy Drake - he was pretty funny (I’m easy, I laugh at everything!).

Lobster and shrimp for dinner tonight.... best ones we’ve had on a ship in a long time (remember when they used to take the lobster out of the shell for you??? I’m spoiled, I know !!, can’t get dh to do that , tho. Well, he would, but he would take the lobster, too!!!). Then off to the show “8 More Seconds” - drive for 12 hours, sail for a day and a half, and we get country music!!! We live 60 miles from Nashville (and if I was honest, I would tell you that I really don’t like country music! I know, it’s almost illegal in this state, but it’s the truth) But, the show was pretty good - for country!

 

Tomorrow we are in Cozumel - I think this is our 7th time there, but still enjoy it. Will get more done tomorrow - hope you are enjoying this.

 

Any questions???

[1timecruiser]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. My DH is a VOLS fan also, but of course we're U of M diehards, well I am :rolleyes:, as a career student. Anyways, great review and I love looking at the pics of ships that I plan to one day cruise.

 

Thanks for the rants/soapbox moments, they help to keep the review interesting and fun!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It was a very nice cruise

[clarkspond75]

Great review, keep it coming....Going in 3 weeks. Does ship feel crowded? Are there lots of kids?

[shortstop95]

Awesome review. We're three weeks out and still talking about our cruise on the Dream. It's a great ship- sounds like you had as much fun as we did.

[beachbum6264]

Day 3 - Cozumel

 

This is the 7th time we’ve been to Cozumel, and loved every one of them! We had a nice breakfast in the MDR, then off the ship - we are docked next to the Carnival Liberty (here’s the ‘Carnival Canyon!’)

 

 

 

 

All 6 of us met up outside on the pier, walked through the shopping area, and grabbed a taxi - off to Paradise Beach! Can’t wait for guacamole - best ever there! We had been there many times, the others had never been. One change since last year, they now charge $2 for a chair. No big deal - a bargain if you ask me. We claimed our area and ordered (the first of a couple for the guys - I’m a Margarita girl!)

 

 

 

See the water toys in the background? You buy a wristband ($12, maybe? Not much, considering the low $2 for a chair) ... out comes the soap box again, and I sure hope this guy is reading:

 

I was standing in the water enjoying the day - there was a young man (PB employee) standing near me, warning people about the rocks under the water and telling them where there are no rocks (nice touch). Along comes this.... well (insert own adjective here) JERK, carrying a water float but not wearing the required wrist band, The young man tried to explain to him that he must pay for the wrist band in order to use the floats - the JERK went off,.... yelling about having to “pay for every )&^*%% thing” and how he was not )&(^(^) going to do it. Then went stomping off into the water (yep, right over the rocks!!!). I just had to apologize to the poor guy - I told him that the guy was a jerk - would be a jerk everywhere he went - and I was sorry he had to put up with him. He’s an “international jerk”. It’s guys like this that give Americans a bad name. Get over yourself - $12 is not much, and I hope you hit those rocks, hard.

 

After a great day of sun, food, drink, and great company we headed back to the port for some shopping (well, the girls went shopping, all the guys headed back to the ship!).

 

 

 

Another great dinner - hung around late, talking to our servers (we always find it so interesting to hear about their lives in other countries), then Debbie and I headed up to the R rated comedy (others headed off to bed, we’re the night owls, I guess). Pretty funny, not too raunchy, but definitely adult RANT AHEAD:

shame, shame, shame, on the parents who sat through this with their child, after being told over and over that anyone under 18 should leave - this kid was no more than 12, if that. This kind of attitude makes my job as a teacher so much harder, what have you been teaching your child about the importance of following rules???? Good role models, NOT. The fact that you thought it was OK to have your child listen to all those “F-bombs” flying around, and the adult content that is in no way appropriate for a child that age astounds me.

 

Off to bed.... early morning tomorrow -8:15 excursion in Belize.

[beachbum6264]

Great review, keep it coming....Going in 3 weeks. Does ship feel crowded? Are there lots of kids?

 

It never seemed crowded to me - the only place/time was maybe getting past the area where the photographers were during Elegant nights. I was expecting more crowds with that many people on board, but it was never an issue. Even in the Gathering we always found a table easily.

 

There were kids around, other than 3 kids about 8 years old that were being rowdy around the elevators one day, I never really noticed them. In fact, there were several teenagers that caught my attention - they were holding elevator doors, allowing older passengers to go ahead of them - I told them I was proud of their parents!

[Meyer2]

Another great installment to your review!

[CarribbeanTina271]

Loving your review!! Keep it coming!

Sailing in less then 3 weeks!!!

[wesail4fun]

Great review. Do you remember what night your 2nd formal night was???

 

Thanks

[kjunea]

Great review! And I know where you are from! I graduated from "that horseshow town" in the late 70's! It's nice to know they still let school out for the horseshow! And I was at the game on Saturday night in Knoxville, screaming my head off, which is why, when I go to try to teach tomorrow, my kids will not be able to hear me! And we didn't even get wet in the deluge because our seats are in the dry!

 

Can't wait to read more!

[poptart]

Great start...keep it coming! I love your attitude! Only 34 days til my turn!

[bonniemari]

beachbum/aka hurricane magnet

 

And your next cruise is planned for when and what ship? Just want to make sure it's not the one I have booked:) thanks for the great review

[beachbum6264]

beachbum/aka hurricane magnet

 

And your next cruise is planned for when and what ship? Just want to make sure it's not the one I have booked:) thanks for the great review

 

We're booked on the Aug. 28, 2011 Legend..... not sure where we'll go, but I can guarantee we'll have a great time!!!!

[boaterette]

I am looking forward to your next installment. Thank you for posting.

[beachbum6264]

Day 4 - Belize

 

(I just hate it when real life interferes with my reliving this cruise!!!)

 

We’re in Belize - our 3rd trip here. First time we walked through town down to the water taxi place (I think they’ve moved it up close to the port now) - and took the water taxi to Caye Caulker. Loved it, had a great day. dh was a bit freaked out about walking through town again, tho. Last time we did the “Barrier Reef snorkel and Beach Break” excursion through Carnival. We booked that one because they pick you up at the ship, no tendering in to the port. We had a great time (dh LOVED the rum punch) so we decided to do that one again.

 

We had ordered room service for breakfast (the ‘hang it outside your door at night and hope no one snatches it’ kind!) because we had to be in the Encore theater at 8:15 for our excursion. Don’t they know this is vacation, and 8:15 is awfully early!! But we managed, mainly because the food came at 6:30 (even though we had marked to be delivered between 7 and 7:15.) Oh well, I can have another nap later!!!

We were off the ship and in the catamaran by 8:45 - pretty good, and there were only about 65 people on the boat, so that was good. We went out to the reef and had about an hour to snorkel. I bring my own snorkel equipment - it kind of skeeves me out to use some strange snorkel! Dh has his own snorkel, but no mask or flippers. I bought a waterproof camera for this trip - a Fujifilm Finepix XP. It worked pretty well - pics are pretty clear, and it was easy to use underwater. All the pics from this excursion were taken with that camera

 

Headed out to snorkel:

 

 

 

 

Back on the boat for a few rum punches

 

 

Then off to Bannister Island for some sun and relaxation (and the rum punch - you could go back on the snorkel boat for a refill, but you can’t take it off the boat)

 

 

 

Then, more rum punch on the way back to the ship.....