Our amazing Dream cruise--photo and trivia review!

[EMc&DrS]

EMc&DrS,

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful review of the Dream. We are scheduled to be on this exact cruise at the end of August - when I read your account of Maya Chan I instantly went to their web site and read all about them. So excited. I put my information in for reservations and then held my breath until I got a return email from them (since we were only 50 days til sailing - I thought we may have miss the boat, no pun intended). I was so happy to get a reply from Mark - and know we weren't too late. I think once people read your review, they will do the same as I did. You may deserve a referal fee....:p

 

The day we're there my husband and I will be celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary, so, I'm trusting it will be all that you say it is!!

 

Thanks again for your awesome review - makes the wait even more exciting. :D

 

I'm so excited for you! What a fantastic anniversary present! Mark is so nice--you're going to love it. If you think of it when you get back, let me know what you thought. My wife and I were talking this morning about possibly booking the same trip next year.

[EMc&DrS]

Thanks for this post- we are headed to the western Dream cruise in 19 DAYS>>>> This is one of the best posts i have read ( and my daughter and I search almst every day!! Great info- thanks again.

 

Thanks so much--I'm glad you enjoyed it. You are going to love this cruise! Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

 

Here's a few extra photos from the ports that I didn't use in my review to hold you over for the next 2 and a half weeks:

 

 

 

Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

Roatan

 

 

 

 

 

Belize

 

 

 

 

 

Costa Maya

 

 

 

 

 

Sunsets at sea!!

 

[kireelady]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to do it.

[im4vols]

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your review and how helpful it has been! :)

We are going on this same cruise on the Dream August 20th, and I joined CC to get just this kind of info! the previous cruises we have been on, we just booked excursion through the cruise line, and because of reviews like this one, we have decided to branch out and plan what I think will be a much better experience and we can't wait. Costa Maya was the only destination we were unsure about, and now having read this I definitely want to go to Maya Chan so thank you!! Your pictures are incredible! I hope we have some turn out any where near that! Also- would it be possible to get a copy of that excel sheet? This is our first time on a Carnival cruise so any info would be a great help. Thanks so so much!

 

Jamie

im4vols@ymail.com

[DogGroomer]

Like so many have already said, thank you so much for your great review.

 

My husband, son and myself are taking the same cruise in Sept. After reading your review, we booked Maya Chan and we are going to book the same in Belize.

 

I am more of the researcher in our family for things to do on our cruises. But, after reading about your day in Maya Chan, I asked my husband to read it and let me know what he thinks. Well, he got about half way through and said

"This is just some sort of an ad". I had to laugh and tell him, no this really is his review of his day. :D

 

Thanks again for all your info.

 

Take care, Jane

[rwombough]

im4vols,

 

my family and I will on the August 20th sailing also! Have you made reservations at Maya Chan yet? They were very fast to reply to me last week. I can't wait to experience this place.

 

Well - maybe we'll be seeing you on the beach....:)

[EMc&DrS]

Like so many have already said, thank you so much for your great review.

 

My husband, son and myself are taking the same cruise in Sept. After reading your review, we booked Maya Chan and we are going to book the same in Belize.

 

I am more of the researcher in our family for things to do on our cruises. But, after reading about your day in Maya Chan, I asked my husband to read it and let me know what he thinks. Well, he got about half way through and said

"This is just some sort of an ad". I had to laugh and tell him, no this really is his review of his day. :D

 

Thanks again for all your info.

 

Take care, Jane

 

Ha! That's a good one! No, it's definitely not an ad. We just really had a great time there and wanted to share it with others.

[EMc&DrS]

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your review and how helpful it has been! :)

We are going on this same cruise on the Dream August 20th, and I joined CC to get just this kind of info! the previous cruises we have been on, we just booked excursion through the cruise line, and because of reviews like this one, we have decided to branch out and plan what I think will be a much better experience and we can't wait. Costa Maya was the only destination we were unsure about, and now having read this I definitely want to go to Maya Chan so thank you!! Your pictures are incredible! I hope we have some turn out any where near that! Also- would it be possible to get a copy of that excel sheet? This is our first time on a Carnival cruise so any info would be a great help. Thanks so so much!

 

Jamie

im4vols@ymail.com

 

Sent you the info. It's just a word document that I put together over several months by copying and pasting posts that people put on CC. Some of it's repetitious because I compiled it over so many months.

 

Since I created it on Word for Mac, I went ahead and pasted it into the e-mail instead of attaching it because so many people cannot open a document from Word from Mac on a PC. There's a lot of junk included--some people worry way too much about what to pack and what to worry about. We did, however, steal some ideas. Good luck!

[Koiman1]

Where are we today???

 

I can't remember the name of the resort, but I think it is a pier in Cozumel.

Oops I Didntt look at the date

[im4vols]

EMc&DrS- Thank you so much for the email! Lots of good info in there!

 

Kim- that's so exciting! We are going to book in the next couple of days for sure. Glad to hear it was easy. Hopefully we will have a beautiful, sunny day at Maya Chan :D I can't wait!

[Maisy222]

Thank you for the great review and photos! We will be on the Dream on Saturday for our first cruise and enjoyed reading your review and the amazing pictures.

[riedela]

Great review to send to my friends to give them an understanding about why we cruise so much. Thanks

[shortyjoesmith]

I have enjoyed your review so much and I have gleaned so much from it. Thank you. Our last cruise I put together an entire binder with information I found on Cruise Critic. I am not actually that much of a planner but it helped us to be excited for our trip months out. Although my sister teased me a fair amount for it, she loved it and actually bought me a new binder with dividers for this cruise! We re-read the information a few times as the cruise got closer to really enjoy the time leading up to it!

 

 

The Dream Cruise binder is well under way...

[mitchpam]

OK, just home from a camping weekend and the van got unpacked and the laundry started BEFORE I gave myself permission to get on here and read the rest of this fab review... Thanks so much for taking the time to write it.

Quick ??

I made steak house reservations for the 1st night of our cruise, it is my husbands 49th birthday that day! So to request a certain table you have to speak directly with them once you get there, or can I ask ahead of time? Mitch has some claustrophibia issues that pop up when crowded in too tightly and I want to be sure that we are not in the middle of the room, but towards the outside (maybe even by the window!)

[EMc&DrS]

OK, just home from a camping weekend and the van got unpacked and the laundry started BEFORE I gave myself permission to get on here and read the rest of this fab review... Thanks so much for taking the time to write it.

Quick ??

I made steak house reservations for the 1st night of our cruise, it is my husbands 49th birthday that day! So to request a certain table you have to speak directly with them once you get there, or can I ask ahead of time? Mitch has some claustrophibia issues that pop up when crowded in too tightly and I want to be sure that we are not in the middle of the room, but towards the outside (maybe even by the window!)

 

The tables are not as close together as they are in the MDR. Most are tables for 4, but there's a great table for 2 in the back corner you could request via e-mail. (There could me more--that's the one we saw and requested). I would just request the table for 2 at the window. Or, you can visit the Steakhouse once onboard and actually see the tables and make your request then. You're supposed to get a free bottle of wine when you eat in there on the first night--enjoy!

[mitchpam]

The tables are not as close together as they are in the MDR. Most are tables for 4, but there's a great table for 2 in the back corner you could request via e-mail. (There could me more--that's the one we saw and requested). I would just request the table for 2 at the window. Or, you can visit the Steakhouse once onboard and actually see the tables and make your request then. You're supposed to get a free bottle of wine when you eat in there on the first night--enjoy!

 

COOL on the free bottle of wine... and I will just e-mail them back and ask for a table for 2 by the window. Thanks for the heads up on having more space. i have not told my husband about the reservation, I am planning on surprising him too. this is such good fun. :)

[Cruisit]

First off I have to say your review was terrific! Thank you so much for posting your experience in such great detail.

My family and I booked the Goff's Caye excursion and the Maya Chan Beach Resort. I can't wait for my Dream sailing, only 4 more days!

[EMc&DrS]

First off I have to say your review was terrific! Thank you so much for posting your experience in such great detail.

My family and I booked the Goff's Caye excursion and the Maya Chan Beach Resort. I can't wait for my Dream sailing, only 4 more days!

 

Awesome! You're going to love both. I hope your weather is as perfect as ours was. Have a great trip.

[LaurieHoffman]

-

First off I have to say your review was terrific! Thank you so much for posting your experience in such great detail.

My family and I booked the Goff's Caye excursion and the Maya Chan Beach Resort. I can't wait for my Dream sailing, only 4 more days!

 

 

Cruisit - we will see you on board and at Maya Chan .. We too are leaving on the Dream on 7-9-11!!

[wing2003]

Thank you for taking the time to put together this review! Enjoyed every morsel!!!! My husband and I will be sailing the Dream on the same itinerary on 02/18/2012. I've been reading about Maya Chan on other posts. We've always booked excursions through the cruise line. Booking on our own makes me uneasy due to the warnings from the cruise directors about being left on the dock waving as the ship sails away. Your experience convinced me to just go for it. I sent the reservation request last night and have already received an email from Mark. We will be celebrating my husband's 64th birthday. Thanks for sharing your adventure!:)

[slotguy777]

Coz!

[V8cruiser]

your review sold my husband on the dream over NCL! he is taking me back to Roatan!!!! and I will do the Maya Chan also....just google it?

[EMc&DrS]

Thank you for taking the time to put together this review! Enjoyed every morsel!!!! My husband and I will be sailing the Dream on the same itinerary on 02/18/2012. I've been reading about Maya Chan on other posts. We've always booked excursions through the cruise line. Booking on our own makes me uneasy due to the warnings from the cruise directors about being left on the dock waving as the ship sails away. Your experience convinced me to just go for it. I sent the reservation request last night and have already received an email from Mark. We will be celebrating my husband's 64th birthday. Thanks for sharing your adventure!:)

 

I used to worry too about trusting an unknown company in a foreign country. Even now I wouldn't walk off a ship and haggle with locals standing just outside the pier to arrange my excursion for the day. That would make me very nervous because you wouldn't know if this person represented a legitimate company. Our driver in Roatan told us that 6 people had missed getting back to their cruise ship just the day before we were there. (They were NOT with Victor Bodden tours). They had to spend the night and then fly to the next port to catch up with the ship.

 

People like Mark in Costa Maya and Victor in Roatan depend on good reviews on Trip Advisor and CC. If people started missing the ship because of them, we'd all be reading about it, and their businesses would suffer greatly. Even being the last ones to leave Maya Chan, we still had time to walk around the shopping area at the port once we got back--same in Roatan. You'll be able to relax and enjoy both days in port if you go with these two.

 

How else would you experience these views?

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great time!

[EMc&DrS]

your review sold my husband on the dream over NCL! he is taking me back to Roatan!!!! and I will do the Maya Chan also....just google it?

 

costamayabeachresort (dot) com

[3smithboys]

I am so glad that I found your review too. I am planning a family cruise for 10 members of my family. Since my extended family want a cruise line with a casino, Disney (which we tend to cruise) was out. We were looking at the Carnival Dream and your review and pictures really sold me! I also think we will go to Maya Chan! It reminds me of Nachi in Cozumel, and my family loved it there and will be going back...

 

If you have any tips, I would love to hear them. We have 3 boys who will be 14, 9 and 9 when we cruise - we are looking at Aug 2012. The rest of my family are all ranging from 50-75... (not us, of course ;) )