Help! Need "Cliff Notes" for Dream & Western Carrib.

[Harlow2]

Our upcoming cruise on the Dream cruising the Western Caribbean is fast approaching. Unfortunately, due to an unforseen circumstances, I have not had time to go back and search all of the older post to get myself up to speed. Typically, I would have 10 pages of notes by now!! YIKES! I was hoping that some of you CC members would help me out and give me "cliff notes" on the Carnival Dream as well as any information you may have handy regarding ports in the Western Caribbean. We also have not cruised on Carnival in quiet a few years.. Thank you in advance for any information you would not mind sharing. I really appreciate it!

[PaulMedik]

Our upcoming cruise on the Dream cruising the Western Caribbean is fast approaching. Unfortunately, due to an unforseen circumstances, I have not had time to go back and search all of the older post to get myself up to speed. Typically, I would have 10 pages of notes by now!! YIKES! I was hoping that some of you CC members would help me out and give me "cliff notes" on the Carnival Dream as well as any information you may have handy regarding ports in the Western Caribbean. We also have not cruised on Carnival in quiet a few years.. Thank you in advance for any information you would not mind sharing. I really appreciate it!

 

 

Dream's Spa is the best in the fleet; go buy a couple's spa pass for the week ASAP after boarding because they only sell a limited number. If you buy it, be sure and use it. We got our money's worth out of ours.

 

Dream's Serenity Adults only area is on the top decks forward; get there early each day to claim your spot. It's a VERY comfortable area and worth getting out of bed early.

 

While on the ship, never plan to do anything at peak times; Dream tends to be a bit crowded at times so plan ahead to avoid lines.

 

I will assume you've been to all of the port's before, so I'll only suggest that in Mahogany Bay (Carnival's own port in Honduras) get off early and find a nice spot on the beach. If you wish to Zip Line, there's a nice place (Clip n Zip) just outside the port's entrance that is reasonably priced and involves no travel. I'd recommend you go there first to avoid lines while having someone save you a spot on the private beach. If you are in to cabanas, they have some AWESOME private cabanas for rent on Mahogany Bay.

 

We sailed Dream earlier this year over Spring Break and while it did not become our favorite Carnival ship, we will be sailing her again in 2012 over Spring Break on the Eastern route so it's safe to say that we enjoyed her enough to book again.

[The Klev]

Our upcoming cruise on the Dream cruising the Western Caribbean is fast approaching. Unfortunately, due to an unforseen circumstances, I have not had time to go back and search all of the older post to get myself up to speed. Typically, I would have 10 pages of notes by now!! YIKES! I was hoping that some of you CC members would help me out and give me "cliff notes" on the Carnival Dream as well as any information you may have handy regarding ports in the Western Caribbean. We also have not cruised on Carnival in quiet a few years.. Thank you in advance for any information you would not mind sharing. I really appreciate it!

 

Click on my Dream review and it's a live daily blog of our Western swing.

 

Have a great time!!!

 

Alan

[Irishlinny]

OP, it might help us to know which ports you are visiting and what your interests tend toward...then we can offer more specific suggestions.

Never thought I would say this, but I am going to strongly disagree with Paul regarding Roatan. Unless you really need to pinch pennies, I would not go to Mahogany. While it looks nice enough, it is a man-made beach and you really never leave the cookie-cutter port area to see this beautiful island. I would recommend hiring a driver from Victor Bodden, or Rony, and heading over to the West Bay beaches. The driver is yours for the day and will take you anywhere you want to go. The trip over there offers a great tour of the island and some wonderful views. Maybe you could check your roll call and see if anyone wants to share a driver?

If you're going to Cozumel, these are things we've done that we enjoyed: Nachi Cocom (all inclusive, but they may be full by this time); Chankanaab Marine Park...quick taxi ride, not too much for admission, various things to do including dolphin swims, snorkeling from the beach; Cozumel Bar Hop bus...lots of fun and you get to see the ocean and bars on the much less developed East side of the island...very beautiful.

Can't help you with the ship as we haven't sailed her yet...

[Harlow2]

Thank you Alan, Paul.and Linda, I really appreciate it. Linda, the ports are Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Costa Maya. My DH had sugery recently (thus the reason for the lack of planning) so we will not be able to be as active as we would typically be.

[snooksmama]

Hi! Glad to hear you are sailing soon. Best wishes on your husband's recovery.

We went to the eastern Carribean, so I will just tell you some points about the Dream.

Lido deck food - ugh!! The worst ever! I guess it might have been better had it been HOT! It always seemed to be lukewarm. However, that was easily solved by going to the deli - wonderful free hot sandwiches prepared to order. They also have the other area by the pool with hamburgers and hotdogs (not my choice but hubby liked them).

ALSO - on sea days, on the 5th floor ocean plaza, outdoors, weather permitting, they have a cookout. Skip the burgers and hot dogs there, go for the wonderful chicken and steak tacos, but most of all THE RIBS! They are to die for!!!

We did the 6:00 early seating in the Scarlett dining room. We only had one entree out of the 6 dinners we attended that we did not care for. Everything else was FABULOUS! The filet mignon was the best I have ever eaten in my entire life! It was the hit of the night - people were sampling their spouse's filets and then ordering one for themselves! Don't miss it!

BEST VALUE OF THE TRIP: We celebrated my birthday while on board. My hubby went to "Formalities" and ordered a birthday cake. For a mere $9.95, he got me the most beautiful, big, heart-shaped chocolate cake. It was 5 layers of chocolate cake with chocolate ganoche inbetween. Such a deal!!

We loved the 5th floor on the Dream. A little known secret: everybody congregates around the pool areas and the upper, Serenity deck. These areas were all overcrowded and noisy. On the last day at sea, we found that on the left side of the ship (is that starboard or ? don't know) on the 5th floor are 2 wonderful hot tubs that extend out from the ship. Additionally, plenty of lounge chairs and sooooo quiet! We loved the 5th floor!

We found plenty to do including dancing, karoake, the comedians, and of course, the well-put-together production shows in the Encore theatre. Arrive early though, seats fill up fast with this many passengers!

The cruise director, Butch, seems a little over the top at first but he is awesome and a truly genuine, great guy! He and his sidekick, George (or Baby Butch) do a morning show live that is broadcast on the huge screen on the Lido deck and on channel 6 on your cabin TV. If you call in, you can be on the air and Butch will send a prize to your cabin! We loved it!!

All in all, would recommend Dream even though it sure does hold a LOT of people. It made up for it in tons of fun!

[meatloafsfan]

I'm going on the dream in March so I'll share some of my notes:

 

1. Pasta bar is upstairs from lido buffet. Try it early in the cruise as it gets busy once people discover it.

 

2. Punchliner comedy club - the adult shows get crowded so try to get there early or wait until the latest show.

 

3. Dancing in the Streets - a main theatre show is not to be missed. Most everyone agrees that it's a cut above the "normal" shows.

 

4. The laser show on deck probably isn't worth the effort to see (it's disappointing) if there is something else you'd rather do at the same time.

 

5. 5:00 on the last day is the farewell party with free drinks - it's not well advertised so many people miss it.

 

6. Belize is a tender port. I don't know what kind of surgery your DH had or how much he can do but this may be a consideration. He'll need to board a tender boat to get to shore. (I don't really like small boats so I'm pretty sure I'll just stay on the ship at this port)

 

7. Mahagony Bay at Roatan is free. If you're looking for something low key or cheap, just stay on the beach. If you want to actually *see* Roatan, you'll need to take a tour. If you take a private tour, they can only pick up outside the cruise centre which is up a hill. You can however take a taxi up the hill for (I think) $2 per person.

 

8. In Cozumel, we're doing Nachi Cocom so other than recommending them (all inclusive beach day $49 per person food, drink, chairs included + $15 taxi each way) I can't really help. If you don't have any plans here, once you get off the ship, there will be plenty of people offering tours or you can book something through the ship.

 

9. Most of the hot tubs aren't really that hot and the pool areas are small for the size of the ship. If you want to lay out, you may want to get up early. If you're a party of all adults, try the Serenity area.

 

10. Most room service sandwiches seem to come with mustard on them. If you don't like mustard (I personally can't stand it), make sure to order it without.

[daisy7113]

Good thread! We too are going on the Dream (1/8/2011) and it is fast approaching. Due to the holiday madness, time is slipping by quickly. Normally I am more on the ball with cruise researching too.

Eager to read more people's thoughts.

[seashell36]

We're doing the Easter Carib. on 1/1 on the Dream - so I'm paying attention to the "on the ship" parts of the trip tips. I'm really glad that I found this thread - it's got some things that I hadn't found in my research.

[gail811]

Pasta bar is not to be missed...one of the best meals I had all week!

For a nice quiet place to have a drink, check out the Rendezvous bar on the Atlantic deck. It sits at the entrance to the Crimson dining room, but was never crowded.

In Roatan I would set up a tour with Bodden. We did the zipline, then went to a beautiful beach for the afternoon. I met our guide a few years ago and requested him again; he gives lots of information about the island as we drive.

[navybaby1113]

I have a Dream review in my siggy if you're interested. We did the Western sailing.

[cruisedawgg]

Pasta bar is not to be missed...one of the best meals I had all week!

For a nice quiet place to have a drink, check out the Rendezvous bar on the Atlantic deck. It sits at the entrance to the Crimson dining room, but was never crowded.

In Roatan I would set up a tour with Bodden. We did the zipline, then went to a beautiful beach for the afternoon. I met our guide a few years ago and requested him again; he gives lots of information about the island as we drive.

 

for the most part.. except for dinner time. The Anytime Diners are directed to this bar with beepers to wait for their table. It can get kinda crowded, and only because its a rather small bar. Loved the martini's there!

[jrmende63]

OP, it might help us to know which ports you are visiting and what your interests tend toward...then we can offer more specific suggestions.

Never thought I would say this, but I am going to strongly disagree with Paul regarding Roatan. Unless you really need to pinch pennies, I would not go to Mahogany. While it looks nice enough, it is a man-made beach and you really never leave the cookie-cutter port area to see this beautiful island. I would recommend hiring a driver from Victor Bodden, or Rony, and heading over to the West Bay beaches. The driver is yours for the day and will take you anywhere you want to go. The trip over there offers a great tour of the island and some wonderful views. Maybe you could check your roll call and see if anyone wants to share a driver?

If you're going to Cozumel, these are things we've done that we enjoyed: Nachi Cocom (all inclusive, but they may be full by this time); Chankanaab Marine Park...quick taxi ride, not too much for admission, various things to do including dolphin swims, snorkeling from the beach; Cozumel Bar Hop bus...lots of fun and you get to see the ocean and bars on the much less developed East side of the island...very beautiful.

Can't help you with the ship as we haven't sailed her yet...

I second the recommendation for Roatan. We did the Victor Bodden driver and had him all day. He took us in a nice airconditioned van. The only thing is they can't come down the hill to pick you up so you walk up a hill. They can bring you back down to the area you dock at though. I would book them again in a heartbeat. We also did Nachi...well worth it and just a cab ride there. Belize ...you would not want to what we did as it was intense activity, but there was a Belize City tour that our friends did and enjoyed.

Costa Maya was just a tourist trap/ beach area...but slow paced. No excursion here but just walked around to the stores. The walk from the ship is down a long pier,but you can get a trolley ride to the stores.

Hit the pasta bar on the upper part of the lido deck...LOVED it!

We loved all things about the ship and found that the far buffet was not really ever crowded. ( we never ate there but passed through there all the time to go out on the open air Lido deck.) BBQ on Lanai but we never went to it...smelled yummy though. We had YTD in the Scarlet dining room...wonderful! WCMC was not as done as I would have liked but really fabulous. Behind the Scenes tour was FANTASTIC! We loved it! We had an L shaped cabin...highly recommend. Enjoy your cruise and hope DH feels better soon!

[Harlow2]

Wow! You guys are lifesavers!! Thank you for taking the time to share the information Snooksmama, Meatloafsfan, Gail, NavyBaby, Cruisedawg and JRmende!! I have already started copying your notes. I am also glad to hear that the information is helping some other cruisers out there as well. Thank you again. I really do appreciate it more than you know.:)

[navybaby1113]

Wow! You guys are lifesavers!! Thank you for taking the time to share the information Snooksmama, Meatloafsfan, Gail, NavyBaby, Cruisedawg and JRmende!! I have already started copying your notes. I am also glad to hear that the information is helping some other cruisers out there as well. Thank you again. I really do appreciate it more than you know.:)

 

Glad to help! You'll love the Carnival Dream. She's a fantastic ship.

[HeatherC430]

jrmende63 - how much was the behind the scenes tour? and when did you have to book it? when you first get onboard? or do they not publish it in the capers until later in the week? guessing it's the last at sea day?

 

thanks!