Back from Dream Eastern..

[kellbellscruise]

Hello all. I am frantically searching for my cord that gets the pics from the camera to the pc so no pics just yet.. sorry. I did want to say we had an incredible time.

The ship is beautiful. The Cove balconies were very cool. I would def book another of those. All the glass elevators worked and were fun to ride. Our favorite place to hang was the Lido deck sitting under the overhang. Also as others have mentioned, the Lanai deck 5 was also very nice and never crowded. Always chairs there for the taking. I do wish the whirlpools had been a tad warmer tho. Also they would close most of them for sanitation at the same time, leaving only the ones in the back open and they became very crowded.

The casino was good to me. I hit for 425.00 on a Quick Hit and another 250.00 on same machine the next night. Also met a woman who hit 1500.00 on a Power Strike. The tables were usually full. Okayyyy....the free drinks thing. YES. On the Dream if you got to 1500 points you would receive free drinks while playing in the casino for the duration of the cruise. Your points accumulate with each spin. At 1000 points I recieved 10.00 free play. The screen where you insert your card flashes and you just credit it into the machine. I ended with 1394 points. I got several small jackpots and played those out... I think if I had spent more time there early on I would have gotten the points. I would say I was up about 200-250 which was good for me.

The STEAKHOUSE......oh em gee. We booked this for our last night and what a treat. I felt like I was stealing from them. Hubby had Porterhouse and it was huge. I had the Ribeye and could only eat 1/2 of it. There was no salt/pepper or anything on the table and I did NOT need it. For 30pp I say not only go for it..but go for it at least twice. We certainly will on the next one. The rest of the food was good... liked some things and others not so much. My fav was Penne Marciola (cant recall name but it was not Marsala). Creamy sauce (red) with lots of shrimp, scallops and calamari. My not so much were beef stroganoff and Seafood Newburg. Cant put a reason why but no-no's for me. Our waiter was very gracious and would encourage us to order more than 1 thing each night. Him and his assistant both were given extra money at the end. Fave drinks were the Miami Vice (1/2 Pina and 1/2 Strawberry Daq) and the Funship special (1st DOD). Off the ship On St Thomas we were warned by our waiter about a drink called a Bushwacker. He said quote--" 1 very good- 2 very bad"... He was right. I had 1/2 of one and was feeling pretty good. If I had drank the whole thing I would have been hammered. The thing tasted just like a milkshake.

Pulling into St Thomas was incredible. We actually thought perhaps the Rapture had happened and we had sailed into Heaven. Absolute most beautiful area I have ever seen. Met a tour guide named Desei (Daisy) and for 25pp she took up to Paradise Point.. Top of the Mountain.. and she was going to take us to Megans Bay but said she would not swim there now as they had 4 days of rain and runoff is very dirty. She took us to Frenchmans Reef and we hung at the Marriot ( I think) while it rained...; (. We were very happy with her and gave her more than her 25pp fee. Both St Thomas and St Maarten are very dirty and unsanitary islands once you get out of the tourist/port areas.

On St Maarten we took a taxi for 8pp to Maho Beach. We went to Sunset bar and grill and rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for 20.00. We spent the entire morning there and saw many small planes come in and about 4 big jet liners. Fun Fun Fun. The water was refreshing and clear and a snorkler said there were lots of small tropical fish around the rock/reef areas. I know someone said this was polluted to..but it was clear and cooling. Alot of us were swimming. It took us about and hour to get back to the ship....the traffic was a nightmare. If you go you MUST leave no later 2.00 or you risk not getting back.

The movie screen was awesome. It was crystal clear and the sound was good. They would have CNN on in the am and then a 2 person band would play for most of the afternoon. Caribbean type music which grew on me by the end of the cruise. Late pm would be concert or movies.

The BlackJack band (outisde the casino was fantastic... ) lots of people would get up and dance to them. Wanted to hang there more but always had to get to dinner. Loved to watch the facial expressions on the lead female singer.

I had requested anytime dinning but did not get it. We were given late seating and would not do it again. It just didnt jive with our activities. We would eat and then be so tired most nights we just went back to cabin for bed. Missed alot of night life.... so next time def early seating or My time dining.

I would give this cruise a A++++ and look forward to my next one. Will post some pics as soon as I find the cord.... Thanks for reading and Thanks for all the wonderful info....

[firefly333]

It sounds like you had a wonderful cruise.

[tropicaledrink]

Hello all. I am frantically searching for my cord that gets the pics from the camera to the pc so no pics just yet.. sorry. I did want to say we had an incredible time.

The ship is beautiful. The Cove balconies were very cool. I would def book another of those. All the glass elevators worked and were fun to ride. Our favorite place to hang was the Lido deck sitting under the overhang. Also as others have mentioned, the Lanai deck 5 was also very nice and never crowded. Always chairs there for the taking. I do wish the whirlpools had been a tad warmer tho. Also they would close most of them for sanitation at the same time, leaving only the ones in the back open and they became very crowded.

The casino was good to me. I hit for 425.00 on a Quick Hit and another 250.00 on same machine the next night. Also met a woman who hit 1500.00 on a Power Strike. The tables were usually full. Okayyyy....the free drinks thing. YES. On the Dream if you got to 1500 points you would receive free drinks while playing in the casino for the duration of the cruise. Your points accumulate with each spin. At 1000 points I recieved 10.00 free play. The screen where you insert your card flashes and you just credit it into the machine. I ended with 1394 points. I got several small jackpots and played those out... I think if I had spent more time there early on I would have gotten the points. I would say I was up about 200-250 which was good for me.

The STEAKHOUSE......oh em gee. We booked this for our last night and what a treat. I felt like I was stealing from them. Hubby had Porterhouse and it was huge. I had the Ribeye and could only eat 1/2 of it. There was no salt/pepper or anything on the table and I did NOT need it. For 30pp I say not only go for it..but go for it at least twice. We certainly will on the next one. The rest of the food was good... liked some things and others not so much. My fav was Penne Marciola (cant recall name but it was not Marsala). Creamy sauce (red) with lots of shrimp, scallops and calamari. My not so much were beef stroganoff and Seafood Newburg. Cant put a reason why but no-no's for me. Our waiter was very gracious and would encourage us to order more than 1 thing each night. Him and his assistant both were given extra money at the end. Fave drinks were the Miami Vice (1/2 Pina and 1/2 Strawberry Daq) and the Funship special (1st DOD). Off the ship On St Thomas we were warned by our waiter about a drink called a Bushwacker. He said quote--" 1 very good- 2 very bad"... He was right. I had 1/2 of one and was feeling pretty good. If I had drank the whole thing I would have been hammered. The thing tasted just like a milkshake.

Pulling into St Thomas was incredible. We actually thought perhaps the Rapture had happened and we had sailed into Heaven. Absolute most beautiful area I have ever seen. Met a tour guide named Desei (Daisy) and for 25pp she took up to Paradise Point.. Top of the Mountain.. and she was going to take us to Megans Bay but said she would not swim there now as they had 4 days of rain and runoff is very dirty. She took us to Frenchmans Reef and we hung at the Marriot ( I think) while it rained...; (. We were very happy with her and gave her more than her 25pp fee. Both St Thomas and St Maarten are very dirty and unsanitary islands once you get out of the tourist/port areas.

On St Maarten we took a taxi for 8pp to Maho Beach. We went to Sunset bar and grill and rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for 20.00. We spent the entire morning there and saw many small planes come in and about 4 big jet liners. Fun Fun Fun. The water was refreshing and clear and a snorkler said there were lots of small tropical fish around the rock/reef areas. I know someone said this was polluted to..but it was clear and cooling. Alot of us were swimming. It took us about and hour to get back to the ship....the traffic was a nightmare. If you go you MUST leave no later 2.00 or you risk not getting back.

The movie screen was awesome. It was crystal clear and the sound was good. They would have CNN on in the am and then a 2 person band would play for most of the afternoon. Caribbean type music which grew on me by the end of the cruise. Late pm would be concert or movies.

The BlackJack band (outisde the casino was fantastic... ) lots of people would get up and dance to them. Wanted to hang there more but always had to get to dinner. Loved to watch the facial expressions on the lead female singer.

I had requested anytime dinning but did not get it. We were given late seating and would not do it again. It just didnt jive with our activities. We would eat and then be so tired most nights we just went back to cabin for bed. Missed alot of night life.... so next time def early seating or My time dining.

I would give this cruise a A++++ and look forward to my next one. Will post some pics as soon as I find the cord.... Thanks for reading and Thanks for all the wonderful info....

 

We were on board with you and really enjoyed this trip! We did go to Megan's Bay and it was very clean. You could literally see straight down to the bottom. :)

 

I already miss my Carnival Dream "family"!

[kellbellscruise]

I am glad you enjoyed Megans Bay. I wish I had insisted she take us there. Frenchmans was nice but it was heavier surf. Next time will go to Megans.... it looked beautiful from the mountain top. I am also looking at Liberty for the next one.... or maybe the Dream again. But def want to do the western. Carnival sure knows how to put it together. I spent an hour on Sat after arriving home pouting that I had to open my own soda can...

[StacyB2011]

Hey kellbells...sounds like u had an awesome time! I'm gonna be doin St Thomas in a couple months on the Valor...did u have that excursion booked or did u just find her and sign up when u got off the boat?

[SkyMaster]

I agree with your assessment of "Dream". We sailed her a couple of months ago, and I went aboard not expecting too much. WOW, what a pleasant surprise,,,the cruise and ship are GREAT! In fact, I've booked "Dream" again for September, and can hardly wait.

Thanks for the report. You're really making me want to sail "Dream" again very, very quickly! :D

 

"SKY"

[kellbellscruise]

Hey kellbells...sounds like u had an awesome time! I'm gonna be doin St Thomas in a couple months on the Valor...did u have that excursion booked or did u just find her and sign up when u got off the boat?

 

Hello. We were actually walking to Paradise Point to take the tram up and she walked up to us. It was about 20ish to ride the tram and she offered for 25pp to take us to 4 diff spots. She had an open air truck and it was fun going up the mountain. I feel that we got a great deal. I am looking for her card.... its tours by Daisy or Daisys Tours.. something like that. If I find it I will post her number.

[kellbellscruise]

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/album.sfly?sid=0ActHDRs3cuGTlY&startIndex=0&fid=b25d49a18d3e8a8a2a944dfefaeb216b

[Frank12]

We cruised the Dream Eastern a few weeks before you. What a great ship, Huh? :D