Dream - The Déjà vu Cruise......

[ljt064]

Hi everyone,

My plan is to write up a review about our week on the Dream. There was me, DW, DS (13) and DD (9). First thing is that during our time in Florida and on the Dream, we missed 3 storms totaling over 30 inches of snow in New England. So needless to say, we had a great week no matter what happened on the Dream.

A quick review, she’s a magnificent ship. We experienced no smells, some crowds, very attentive staff, above average food, fun new friends, 2 lost ports, an extra day at sea, 2 days in Cozumel (Spanish for déjà vu), great shows, very funny comedians, and an overall good time. I would do it again in a heartbeat but would chose the Eastern Caribbean.

So here I go.....

We flew in MCO from Providence. SW was awesome. I early birded my DW's ticket and she saved us seats together. When I sat down I saw a woman with a baby sitting in the window seat of my row. Of course I shot my DW a not so nice look, and she laughed. She said they sat there after she sat down. The woman and baby were awesome and there was no crying for the ride. Good way to start a trip.

We landed at MCO at 9:30, we were staying at the Marriott Residence Inn at MCO. Free shuttle and free breakfast, and I could use my points. YIPEE. The room was clean, big and new. There were 2 rooms, 2 queen sized beds and a pull out couch. We ordered pizza, sodas, and pasts. Food was so so, but it was late and we were tired so it did the trick. Overall I'd rate the hotel as a A and would recommend it to future travelers. Its 10 minutes from MCO and many restaurants are within a walking distance.

Next morning after breakfast, a surprise was waiting for my DW and kids outside the hotel. It was a long black stretch limo. The kids were jumping for joy. We used Backstage Limo out of Orlando. Service was good and price was very reasonable compared to a shuttle for the 4 of us (About $60 + tip more).

We left the hotel, hit a Walgreens for 2 bottles of wine, 12 pack of Diet Soda and a case of bottled water. We only drank 8 bottles so next time I would only buy a 12 pack or less.

As we entered Port Canaveral around 10:30 the Dream came into site. My DD liked the limo so much she wanted to know if we could ride around some more. There were 2 other ships in Port (Disney Magic and Norwegian Sun). Loading the luggage and entering the terminal was very easy. We all had a small carry on and we had the soda. We were zone 6. Though the told us boarding would start at 11:30, they started at 11. We were called at 11:30 and was on the Lido Deck before 12. Of course we had to have our pictures taken at least 4 times. Pictures on the ship are a pet peeve (more on this later).

Well it’s almost time to go home and I have to work to do.....more to follow...........

[firefly333]

Of course we had to have our pictures taken at least 4 times. Pictures on the ship are a pet peeve (more on this later).

 

Ya know, just saying no thanks and walking on by works too. If you wave them away during dinner, they dont argue. I have no problems saying no.

 

I dont even know how many cruises I have done where I had a picture taken before boarding.. just walk on by. Its not required .. just learn to say no.

 

Glad you loved the dream.

[BeachChik]

Ya know, just saying no thanks and walking on by works too. If you wave them away during dinner, they dont argue. I have no problems saying no.

 

I dont even know how many cruises I have done where I had a picture taken before boarding.. just walk on by. Its not required .. just learn to say no.

 

Glad you loved the dream.

 

I felt like they could tell who was receptive and who wasn't. We didn't have our picture taken by any photogs the entire trip because we knew we wouldn't be purchasing them. I didn't feel they were overly pushy and when they were set up all over the ship we were hardly ever asked if we wanted a picture taken. They seemed to have more of the attitude that if you want a photo you will go to them. Now the drink people, that's another story....

[melehundele]

Thanks for the post, OP! I am on the Dream in a little over a week and can't wait to hear more!

[ljt064]

So back to my review.....

 

We were up on the Lido deck near the pool around 12ish....At this point chairs were easy to come by.

 

TIP - LIDO deck is a smoking deck and boy to people smoke. After the first day, we ended up hanging up on Deck 13. You can see all the fun on the Lido Deck without the smoke. Also if you have kids, it is easy access to Waterworks.

 

We had lunch on board. I ate at the Deli. I had an awesome Pastrami on Rye with Mustard. I learned from someone in line you can order double meat. Good tip. It was pressed and tasted yummy. My wife wanted grilled ham and cheese. WARNING - They only had yellow cheese. My DW doesn’t like yellow cheese so I did get it but my DW didn’t like it so she headed to the Pasta Bar.

 

She got Lasagna and Ziti with Broccoli and Chicken. Both dishes were yummy. The lasagna had sliced meat and tons of veggies. It was excellent.

 

We were told we couldn’t got to our rooms until 4. I went up around 2 and dropped off our bags. We had a Spa Room. 12202. In my opinion the best non suite room on the ship. Easy access to the spa, pool, gatherings, and Lido bar. During high bathroom time in the room, I had easy access to the Spa to take a shower, or use the men’s room. Oh and plenty of towels. No need to ration them amongst a family of 4. I think I took 80% of my showers in the spa. My wife took about 1/2 there. This allowed the kids to use the room shower and we could get ready in a short period of time.

 

With all that was going on, I don’t even remember what time we left port.

 

We gained access to our room around 4:00 and met our room steward Rosie. She was awesome. We never had to ask twice for anything. She kept our buckets full of ice and our wine in the room was always chilled. Spa rooms come with 4 tan towels in the room. You use them at the pool, or in port. Once done bring them back to the room and viola new rooms appear almost magically.

 

We did do the Spa tour. WOW!! It’s a real nice spa. They have 4 different rooms for saunas/steams. All a bit different from the other. One room you lie on hot tiled lounge style chairs that are very warm. Great views of the ocean. In one you are directly above the bridge and the view is awesome. We used these rooms almost every day. My DW got some sort of seaweed scrub the first day and loved it.

 

We had the 6:00 pm dinner seating in the Crimson Dining Room. For at least 3 nights we entered via Deck 4 and had the walk down stairs to our table. At some point we finally figured out to access via Deck 3 and no steps.

 

Our waiter was Orlando from Costa Rica. He was very good. Loved the gold tooth....Our assistant waiter was Szabolcs (sp?). Very good, but never came back with bread. We ended up just getting 2 the first time.

 

I have to say the food the first night was excellent. I had the Ribs with 2-3 appetizers. Cant remember each one. I do remember the shrimp and casers salad. Shrimp were very small so I learned to order 2 orders if I wanted shrimp. I think my DS had shrimp every night.

 

Dessert was awesome and got to experience the chocolate melting cake for the first time....YUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM........my DW ordered every night and couldn’t finish hers so I could order something different eat her leftovers and not look like I was a pig....

 

The first night show didn’t sound tempting so we skipped it and walked around to explore the ship. While my DW was in her spa treatment we saw so much. We tried a hot tub but the water wasn’t as warn as we hoped. We changed and went on exploring. At some point we ended up in the Encore Theater for the Trivia contest. As luck would have it I ended up winning first prize and 24 carrot plastic a “Ship on a Stick” and was crowned King of Useless Information. 

Some quick tips:

Most brings –

• extension cord that you can plug in multiple items since the room only has one outlet

• bungee cord to keep deck door open

• lots of sunscreen

• dollars to tip room service

• something to hold your bathing suits down on the deck when the are drying off ( we used large binder clips)

• a bottle opener for the wine you bring on board

• alarm clock or watch ( I used my cell phone but since I turned it off I had nothing – ended up buying a ten dollar watch)

 

Things I brought and didn’t use

 

• Duct tape

• Nite light

 

That’s it for now…..more to come and if I can figure out photos I will add them to a future post.

[travelntreats]

Most brings –

• extension cord that you can plug in multiple items since the room only has one outlet Reports of them being confiscated

• bungee cord to keep deck door open Not necessary as each stateroom has a door stop that stewards use to keep doors open.

• lots of sunscreen Agreed

• dollars to tip room service Agreed

• something to hold your bathing suits down on the deck when the are drying off ( we used large binder clips) We have never hung anything out on our balcony....accept maybe for a towel and that was on a chair

• a bottle opener for the wine you bring on boardAgree

• alarm clock or watch ( I used my cell phone but since I turned it off I had nothing – ended up buying a ten dollar watch)Always carry a battery powered travel alarm clock and a flash light !

 

Things I brought and didn’t use

 

• Duct tape

• Nite light

 

That’s it for now…..more to come and if I can figure out photos I will add them to a future post.

 

Nice review.....

[pbs14]

Sounds like a fabulous trip so far!!! Can't wait to read more...

 

I do have quick question regarding Backstage Limo.....Was it $60 (plus tip) for 4 people? Is this correct? (Wasn't sure if you were referencing a shuttle). Thanks!!

[okgirl]

What is a tan towel? If you are meaning the blue beach towels every cabin has one for each guest booked in the cabin, it's not just for suites. Same way with robes, one for each guest aboard.

[ljt064]

Sounds like a fabulous trip so far!!! Can't wait to read more...

 

I do have quick question regarding Backstage Limo.....Was it $60 (plus tip) for 4 people? Is this correct? (Wasn't sure if you were referencing a shuttle). Thanks!!

 

Total costs was $150 + tip. Shuttle was going to cost us $92 (23 each) for 4 of us.

 

Never did this before and the kids loved it. DW loved it as well!!

[flimflubin]

Great review keep it coming!

[ljt064]

What is a tan towel? If you are meaning the blue beach towels every cabin has one for each guest booked in the cabin, it's not just for suites. Same way with robes, one for each guest aboard.

 

Spa rooms come with Tan Towels in the room. No need to sign them in /out at desk. Lots of people asked why the tan towels. They seemed a bit nicer than the blue ones, but a towel is a towel. I just like the fact I didnt have to go to the Lido deck each time. Our Steward replaced them at least twice a day.

[jstcruizin]

[The first night show didn’t sound tempting so we skipped it and walked around to explore the ship. While my DW was in her spa treatment we saw so much. We tried a hot tub but the water wasn’t as warn as we hoped.

 

We were on the Dream in October and that was our only complaint, the hot tubs were not that hot, The first 5 minutes were fine but after that we were freezing

[Colorado Kat]

I was on the same cruise with Ljt064. Nice family!

 

The Dream also had the tan towels at a booth on the Serenity Deck. Never had to sign them out.

 

The problem with the photographers getting off the ship was that you could not get by. The line out would be very slow, and not till you were almost off the ship could you see that the photographers were the ones holding up the line, getting people to pose for photos. Once you saw that, you might be able to edge past, but still very difficult.

 

The pasta bar was great, but not much protein for a vegetarian. So I got some of the fresh mozzarella from the sandwich bar, and brought it up to pasta bar, where I cut it up over my pasta. Very tasty.

 

Kathy

[travelntreats]

YES....Gangways are too narrow, and it sure would be nice if they were wider or would have a separate area off the gangway to take the photos so to avoid all the congestion.

[bingomamma19]

We were on the same cruise.

 

I agree about the watch thing. I dont have a watch because I always use my cellphone for the time, but since you turn the phones off on the boat it drove me nuts not knowing the time. I also bought a ten dollar watch from the gift shop. Will save it for my next cruise too

 

Gotta ask about the duct tape though-what WERE you going to use that for:eek::eek: Sounds a bit kinky, but then again you had the kids with you:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

I am so missing the Dream-it is below zero here today with -25 wind chills:mad::mad:

 

 

So back to my review.....

 

We were up on the Lido deck near the pool around 12ish....At this point chairs were easy to come by.

 

TIP - LIDO deck is a smoking deck and boy to people smoke. After the first day, we ended up hanging up on Deck 13. You can see all the fun on the Lido Deck without the smoke. Also if you have kids, it is easy access to Waterworks.

 

We had lunch on board. I ate at the Deli. I had an awesome Pastrami on Rye with Mustard. I learned from someone in line you can order double meat. Good tip. It was pressed and tasted yummy. My wife wanted grilled ham and cheese. WARNING - They only had yellow cheese. My DW doesn’t like yellow cheese so I did get it but my DW didn’t like it so she headed to the Pasta Bar.

 

She got Lasagna and Ziti with Broccoli and Chicken. Both dishes were yummy. The lasagna had sliced meat and tons of veggies. It was excellent.

 

We were told we couldn’t got to our rooms until 4. I went up around 2 and dropped off our bags. We had a Spa Room. 12202. In my opinion the best non suite room on the ship. Easy access to the spa, pool, gatherings, and Lido bar. During high bathroom time in the room, I had easy access to the Spa to take a shower, or use the men’s room. Oh and plenty of towels. No need to ration them amongst a family of 4. I think I took 80% of my showers in the spa. My wife took about 1/2 there. This allowed the kids to use the room shower and we could get ready in a short period of time.

 

With all that was going on, I don’t even remember what time we left port.

 

We gained access to our room around 4:00 and met our room steward Rosie. She was awesome. We never had to ask twice for anything. She kept our buckets full of ice and our wine in the room was always chilled. Spa rooms come with 4 tan towels in the room. You use them at the pool, or in port. Once done bring them back to the room and viola new rooms appear almost magically.

 

We did do the Spa tour. WOW!! It’s a real nice spa. They have 4 different rooms for saunas/steams. All a bit different from the other. One room you lie on hot tiled lounge style chairs that are very warm. Great views of the ocean. In one you are directly above the bridge and the view is awesome. We used these rooms almost every day. My DW got some sort of seaweed scrub the first day and loved it.

 

We had the 6:00 pm dinner seating in the Crimson Dining Room. For at least 3 nights we entered via Deck 4 and had the walk down stairs to our table. At some point we finally figured out to access via Deck 3 and no steps.

 

Our waiter was Orlando from Costa Rica. He was very good. Loved the gold tooth....Our assistant waiter was Szabolcs (sp?). Very good, but never came back with bread. We ended up just getting 2 the first time.

 

I have to say the food the first night was excellent. I had the Ribs with 2-3 appetizers. Cant remember each one. I do remember the shrimp and casers salad. Shrimp were very small so I learned to order 2 orders if I wanted shrimp. I think my DS had shrimp every night.

 

Dessert was awesome and got to experience the chocolate melting cake for the first time....YUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM........my DW ordered every night and couldn’t finish hers so I could order something different eat her leftovers and not look like I was a pig....

 

The first night show didn’t sound tempting so we skipped it and walked around to explore the ship. While my DW was in her spa treatment we saw so much. We tried a hot tub but the water wasn’t as warn as we hoped. We changed and went on exploring. At some point we ended up in the Encore Theater for the Trivia contest. As luck would have it I ended up winning first prize and 24 carrot plastic a “Ship on a Stick” and was crowned King of Useless Information. 

Some quick tips:

Most brings –

• extension cord that you can plug in multiple items since the room only has one outlet

• bungee cord to keep deck door open

• lots of sunscreen

• dollars to tip room service

• something to hold your bathing suits down on the deck when the are drying off ( we used large binder clips)

• a bottle opener for the wine you bring on board

• alarm clock or watch ( I used my cell phone but since I turned it off I had nothing – ended up buying a ten dollar watch)

 

Things I brought and didn’t use

 

• Duct tape

• Nite light

 

That’s it for now…..more to come and if I can figure out photos I will add them to a future post.

[stsnfes]

We were on this sailing too!

 

I agree about the photos too! I just started ignoring the photographers.

[ljt064]

We were on this sailing too!

 

I agree about the photos too! I just started ignoring the photographers.

 

I wouldn't mind the photos if they were reasonably priced but there prices are OUTRAGEOUS. $20.95 for a portrait and $15 for Candids....yikes!! :eek: We had to buy the Family Portrait, and would have bought more, but we didn't feel like taking a second mortgage.:eek:

 

With 7 inches of snow today and a weekend forecast of single digit temps, I love to be sitting on Deck 13 with a cold beer!!!

[dallas52]

if the wind had not blown so hard, great time but could have been much better is not for the wind.