Booked on the Dream...

[cityfan]

Hi All

 

Having just recently returned from a Caribbean Cruise aboard the Destiny :D, we have just booked to cruise on the Dream on October 29th, 13 nights, free drinks package :eek:.

 

We are looking at prebooking a cabin on Deck 7(inside) any help would be appreciated as this is our first time on the Dream, the ports of call are:

 

Arrive Palma

Ship at Sea

Villefranche - France

Livorno - for Florence/Pisa

Civitavecchia - Rome

Naples - Italy

Cagliari - Sardinia

Ship at Sea

Almeria - Spain

Gibraltar

Casablanca - Morocco

Ship at Sea

Lanzarote - Arrecife

Depart Tenerife - Santa Cruz

 

Any hints/tips/ideas for any of these ports of call would be very helpful.

 

Thanks

Sue

[eightofninekev]

I was on the Dream last April we had an outside cabin .The main things are on Deck 8 the shows the lounges and shops ,there is a restaurant on deck 9 .The orion is on deck 4 but you need to go to the front of the ship first then down .Afternoon tea is on deck 11 i think .

We went to Villefranche from there you can get to Monaco or Nice ,there is a train station not to far from where you stop, it is a tender port so you have to use the ships life boats. ones on land go right and the station is just past the shops. It cost 5 euros 20 for a trip to monanco.

With Livorno it depends on where you dock sometimes its close enough to walk into town (when i was on the Destiny) but when i was on the Dream they had buses . There wasnt much to do some shops and a market.

Theres not much in Civitavecchia just a small fishing port and Rome is about an hour and half's drive .

[cityfan]

Hi All

 

Having just recently returned from a Caribbean Cruise aboard the Destiny :D, we have just booked to cruise on the Dream on October 29th, 13 nights, free drinks package :eek:.

 

We are looking at prebooking a cabin on Deck 7(inside) any help would be appreciated as this is our first time on the Dream, the ports of call are:

 

Arrive Palma

Ship at Sea

Villefranche - France

Livorno - for Florence/Pisa

Civitavecchia - Rome

Naples - Italy

Cagliari - Sardinia

Ship at Sea

Almeria - Spain

Gibraltar

Casablanca - Morocco

Ship at Sea

Lanzarote - Arrecife

Depart Tenerife - Santa Cruz

 

Any hints/tips/ideas for any of these ports of call would be very helpful.

 

Thanks

Sue

 

 

Hi eightofninekev

 

Thanks for your reply. Do you think excursions are better or DIY trips?

 

thanks

Sue

[eightofninekev]

Hi eightofninekev

 

Thanks for your reply. Do you think excursions are better or DIY trips?

 

thanks

Sue

 

It depends on the port and the closeness of what you want to do .Say for instance Rome which is quite far away we decided we would take the ships excursions .The problem with DIY is you have to make sure your back to the ship on time .

[kruzseeka]

Hi All

 

Having just recently returned from a Caribbean Cruise aboard the Destiny :D, we have just booked to cruise on the Dream on October 29th, 13 nights, free drinks package :eek:.

 

We are looking at prebooking a cabin on Deck 7(inside) any help would be appreciated as this is our first time on the Dream, the ports of call are:

 

Arrive Palma

Ship at Sea

Villefranche - France

Livorno - for Florence/Pisa

Civitavecchia - Rome

Naples - Italy

Cagliari - Sardinia

Ship at Sea

Almeria - Spain

Gibraltar

Casablanca - Morocco

Ship at Sea

Lanzarote - Arrecife

Depart Tenerife - Santa Cruz

 

Any hints/tips/ideas for any of these ports of call would be very helpful.

 

Thanks

Sue

 

Villefranche is a really pretty little place with a land-train (you can go over the other side of the peninsula to Beauville?) - also some stunning gardens over looking the bay at the Villa Ephrussi which you can do yourself (we walked there from the town).

 

http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=villa+ephrussi+de+rothschild&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=U3JlTZ3GBsGbhQeF87nxBw&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=587

 

Or it's easy to catch the train to Monte Carlo or Cannes - the station is right in the centre of town close to the tender drop-off. All very doable as a DiY.

 

Livorno I think you can catch the train to Pisa or Lucca - i've never done it but believe that's doable too - you'd ahve to research on the Trenitalia site for train times and look where the station is in relation to the port. It may be this is a bit more than you'd want to do as unlike Cannes and Monte Carlo which are only a few miles from Villefranche, these destinations from Livorno are futher away - and as has been already flagged up you do need to be sure you have plenty of time for getting back.

 

Likewise you can get the train from Civitavecchia to Rome - about an hour and cost 9E return last time we did it. Again, research train times - get off the ship as early as you can to give you the most time there you can manage, but set back with a train or two to spare to get back before sailing time!!! If you are a bit nervous of doing that, take the Thomson transfer and get a map and plan your route around Rome - you can go and see just what YOU want that way rather than being hustled around in a group on a tour. The first time we went we walked from the Termini (train station) to the Colosseum (didn't go in though), through the Forum, to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, St Peter's Square and back to the train - all on foot - in one day!! We WERE shattered though - other options include using the Metro and the HoHo tourist bus.

 

Naples you can do Pompeii yourself too - that's not so far - we caught the train to Pompeii Scavi, (the site is just across the road as you get off), bought the radio commentary, stayed about 3 hours and were back in Naples before 2pm.

 

Gibraltar you can walk from the ship into the town. There are local taxi/minibus firms which will take you up the Rock, to see the Apes and to the Tunnels etc. We picked one up (with about 10 other people) just close to the entrance to the cable car. (If you go up the Rock by the cable car it drops you quite a long way from the top so you have to walk a good way to see the Apes).

 

Casablanca we did the Thomson trip to the Mosque which was very interesting - Casablanca I found disappointing - not a place I wanted to wander around on my own so I was glad we'd done an excursion here.

 

Lanzarote - we love! But it is very different - black volcanic ash but somehow rather lovley with all the sugar-cube whote painted houses, geria (vineyards), palm trees and the unforgettable Manrique sculptures all over the isalnd. PLEASE whatever you decide to do here DO NOT stay in Arrecife - you will be disappointed and will not have seen the real Lanzarote at all. Take a taxi to the Manrique Fundacion (about 5 miles away from Arrecife - taxis are very reasonable - or were when we went) and see how the artist Manrique converted 5 lava bubbles into his home. Breath-taking!

 

http://www.lanzaroteguidebook.com/article/fundacion-cesar-manrique

 

Or take the Thomson trip to Timanfaya - the volcano or the Jameos del Agua - all worth a visit - you do need to go somewhere on Lanzarote though or you've really missed a treat!

 

Cagliari and Almeria I haven't been to - but if you want any more info on the DiY options I've mentioned, get back and I'll give you some instructions.

[cityfan]

Hi thanks to you all for your comments and kruzseeka thanks for the info....would you be able to recommend a cabin on deck 7 inside?

 

Thanks

Sue

[kruzseeka]

Hi thanks to you all for your comments and kruzseeka thanks for the info....would you be able to recommend a cabin on deck 7 inside?

 

Thanks

Sue

 

Sorry, no. As those who know me from this site will know, we just go for the basic cabins with no up-grades and the savings go to our next trip! :D It's not that I wouldn't appreciate the spec of an up-graded cabin but the draw of another cruise is too great! ;) I'm sure some other posters will be able to help though.

[Ashby]

We have just returned from a Cruise on the Dream and choose a Cabin on Deck 7 inside. We decided on a cabin at the stern of the ship (7200) and although we did get some vibration from the engines it was great to be able to walk to the outside area on deck 7 within 30 ft. The cabin although smaller than the Outside ones was fine - we had the beds set as twins to make better use of the space - and like Kruzseeka like to spend our money on trips etc.