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Carnival Dream Review March 10-19

Ms Belvedere

By Ms Belvedere,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Ms Belvedere

Ms Belvedere

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Very nice review. You gave me some good ideas on what to do in in st maarten. DH can't wait to go to the beach to watch the planes. Question do you recall what time the downtown shopping area got crowded? Would you recommend go to the beach early to get a good spot to watch the planes?

 

The port area was fine for going to the beach, shopping and eating. The prices were right and you don't have to pay to get there, you can walk to the beach, although it does take a few minutes. We got off the ship early, not long after docking and the ship was cleared, that's how we got the great pics without many people downtown. The stores don't open right then, we were looking for a restaurant to get some tea and toast so that's how we ended up downtown early. It was perfect timing! On the ports of call for St Maarten they recommend not getting to Maho until noon or after to see the big planes, so our original plan was Orient Beach from 9-12, then Maho Beach from approx 12:30 to 3:00, they say to get out of Maho by 3 due to the long ride back and the possibility of heavy traffic and the drawbridge being up at any time. We had until 5:30 to get back to the ship and were back to town by 4:00, plenty of time to shop. The biggest expense for a day at Orient Beach/Maho Beach are the taxi rides. I think it was 11 pp to Orient, then from Orient to Maho is 18 pp, then from Orient to the port is another 11 pp. It worked fine for us not to go to Orient.

 

I would say to get to Maho by noon, and don't leave until the American Airlines plane takes off just after 3:00. It's fun to watch the planes leave too! If you read the surfboard sign on my one post you'll see they list the times that the planes come in, there are lots of little private planes in and out that are good photo ops! Have fun, we really enjoyed Maho and are glad we went.

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Ms Belvedere

Ms Belvedere

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I just noticed that the surfobard pic showing the landing times for planes isn't included in my pics. Sorry about that, I was rushing too fast. Don't miss the Air France 3:05 and if you can, stick around for the take off of the American Airlines just after that. Here is the surfboard showing the landing times of the big aircraft:

 

CarnivalDreamMar2011089.jpg

 

CarnivalDreamMar2011090.jpg

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jtmurph7

jtmurph7

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Thank you so much for a great review... We are going on the Dream in July..We are very excited there are so many neat things to do.. I don't know what to do.. I want to do and see it all and there is just not enough time...I am glad you had a great time!!!

 

Oh Thanks for the amazing pictures!!!

 

Thanks,

Tammy

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Ms Belvedere

Ms Belvedere

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Thank you so much for a great review... We are going on the Dream in July..We are very excited there are so many neat things to do.. I don't know what to do.. I want to do and see it all and there is just not enough time...I am glad you had a great time!!!

 

Oh Thanks for the amazing pictures!!!

 

Thanks,

Tammy

You can never do everything you want in port, you have to be realistic and find a balance or things to do. Our time in Nassau was very limited, I wanted to go to Atlantis and gamble, $4 cab ride per person. DH didn't want to go so our plans changed to shopping and the visit to the Hilton. St Thomas, we've taken at least two tours of that port, if you've never taken a tour that would be the thing to do to get an overview. St Maarten, I went to the ports of call thread on Cruise Critic to get some ideas for the day and settled on a mix between beach time and "guy stuff". ;)

 

WES 143 I'm jealous that you'll be in these ports next week, have a great time!

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Ms Belvedere

Ms Belvedere

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Thank you thank you thank you- we are on the Dream on Saturday- you answered several questions and made me even more excited! Hope the folks on her now leave her in good shape!

 

You lucky dogs! Don't forget you can order a banana split from the children's menu for dessert, we did that one night - YUM!

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Ms Belvedere

Ms Belvedere

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Did you have to take a water taxi to get to this beach or can you walk off the ship?

 

Kentucky60, You can walk off the ship and out the gate where the taxis come and go, turn left and take the sidewalk into town where the beach is located. You can also get an all day water taxi pass for $6.00, later in the day there is a huge line for the water taxi. When we finished shopping in town and took the water taxi out to the port, there weren't many people on it but the line from the pier to ride the water taxi into town was huge and the water taxis were packed. There are plenty of people walking into and from town and it's safe.

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nanapapa23

nanapapa23

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My in-laws took us to the Steakhouse for dinner, it was nice, but we noticed some cutbacks. They didn’t prepare the salad at the table, the 3 cheeses they used to serve with the bread are now 2 relishes and butter. They offer 2 choices of bread, not a basketful of different breads. The seafood bisque is nothing like the pictures previously shown on this board, it was 4 little slivers of lobster in the bowl and they poured the bisque around it. My filet was a little more red than medium rare, more like rare. Of course the live music has been long gone and there is no dance floor. Most people were dressed well, the women in dresses and the men in slacks and jackets, this was not formal night.

 

I ordered the creamed spinach and Yukon gold potatoes, they only served me the potatoes and I just let the creamed spinach go. It really looked like the Green Giant frozen creamed spinach that we can get at the grocery store. The potatoes were alright. Overall I’d say our experience at the steakhouse was a step above the dining room food. For dessert my MIL ordered the chocolate delight or whatever, it was 4 dishes of chocolate items and she said they were fantastic. I just had coffee because I was full and didn’t want to waste it. If I had a re-do I’d have ordered the cheese tray to go and saved it for the next day in our fridge. If you’ve never experienced the steakhouse before, you should go and enjoy the experience. I remember our first time there, right after it had gone up in price from $10 to a whopping $15 pp. It really was an experience then with the live music, couples got up to dance, the Caesar Salads were prepared individually tableside.

 

Midway through our meal a woman walked into the steakhouse wearing shorts and a t-shirt pushing a baby in a stroller. The staff seemed to know her and she dropped the baby off with them, she walked back to a table in the lower area. If anyone has been in the steakhouse on the Dream, there is a lower area in the center of the room with a table, I think you have to walk down a step or two. It’s hard to describe. Any how, she was there for a while then left, and of course after about 10 minutes the baby started fussing. A group came out of this lower area and very casually, while still talking, pushed the baby and stroller out. It was strange.[/quote

 

I am pretty sure the center step down area you refer was designed to be a dance floor when the Steakhouse was called a Supper Club.

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64Chevy

64Chevy

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Thanks for all the great information! We are sailing the DREAM April 9, Eastern Caribbean too - can't wait!! We are taking an ATV tour in St Maarten from from about 8:30-11am. I was nervous at the idea of trying to head to Maho afterwards because of all the nightmares I have read regarding traffic.

 

You think as long as we are on the road back to the pier by 3pm we should be fine?!?! If not, we will just do the beach in town for the afternoon.

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Ms Belvedere

Ms Belvedere

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Thanks for all the great information! We are sailing the DREAM April 9, Eastern Caribbean too - can't wait!! We are taking an ATV tour in St Maarten from from about 8:30-11am. I was nervous at the idea of trying to head to Maho afterwards because of all the nightmares I have read regarding traffic.

 

You think as long as we are on the road back to the pier by 3pm we should be fine?!?! If not, we will just do the beach in town for the afternoon.

 

Yes, you should be fine, I think I read on the Ports of Call for St Maarten to allow 1.5 hours for the return trip to allow for heavy traffic and the possibility of the drawbridge being raised for any boats going through. We left at 3-ish, sat for a while in traffic and got back to town by 4. Plenty of time for last minute shopping. I wish we had stayed a few more minutes to watch the American Airlines plane take off.

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