Carnival Dream Review ~ Family Vacation ~ 6/18/11-6/25/11

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Well hello everyone!! Now I know this review may be on the late side, but I thought better late than never, right? Without any delay, lets get right into.. ready?? Ok.

 

Introduction: First off, my name is Jennifer & I am from Massachusetts. I am 20 years old.. I am a full time nursing student and stay at home mom. I absolutely LOVE cruising. This was my fourth cruise, third one being on Carnival Cruise Lines. I have also traveled to many places via land vacations (Australia, Portugal, and such) so as you can see, I enjoy visiting new places in the world. Here is a picture of myself:

 

 

Now I just want to make this clear.. I am in no way, shape, or form a professional photographer or try to be.. so I apologize in advance if some of photos are large in size or crappy looking, haha.

 

Back to the intro.. Now along with myself.. I also cruised with my fiance, Luis, who is 27 years old.. as well as our son who is 21 months old. Here is a picture of them on the plane heading to Melbourne, FL :

 

We also cruised with my mom, aunt, brother & my brother's girlfriend. I will post pictures of them throughout the review.

 

Now.. this was our second cruise on the Dream. We all first sailed the Dream on June 26, 2010 to the Western Carribean. After returning home, we all couldn't stop talking about the cruise, and just knew we had to sail the Dream a second time. There was just so much that the ship offers & all sorts of activities, that its nearly impossible to do it all in one week. So thats what we did - except this time, we were heading to the Eastern Carribean.

 

Us all being from Massachusetts, we obviously had to fly down to Florida. Now despite its bad reputation, we decided to book our airfare through Carnival's Fly Aweigh Program. Many people, especially on CC, advise against it. This was my third time using them, and we never encountered a bad experience. However, I will be booking my own airfare from here on out. And its not because of a bad flight time or cutting too close.. its because of airline preference. When you book through Carnival, obviously you can't pick & choose. You get what you what. And we got a 6:00 AM flight out of Boston to Atlanta to Melbourne on Delta Airlines. I don't mind leaving 6:00 AM, the earlier the better in my opinion.. But what I do mind is flying with Delta and having connected flight. I prefer Jet Blue, and direct flights only. So next cruise, I will be booking airfare myself & flying a day in advance.

 

Moving on.. June 17, 2011 was pretty uneventful. I basically spent the day double checking my packing list and completing all last minute tasks. Here is our luggage desperately waiting to leave our home..

 

 

 

 

When 3:30 AM rolled around on June 18th (day of cruise).. We packed the luggage bags into the truck and made our way to pick up my mom & aunt to head to the airport. We arrived at Logan International Airport around 4:15 AM, and my brother & his girlfriend arrived shortly after. I thought my son would be one cranky fella considering I had to wake him up out of his comfy bed to get on the road.. but he was in a great mood - he must of knew where we were heading. Anyways.. I checked in online that day, so all we had to do was pay luggage fees & send the bags on their way. We went thru security, got some breakfast at Dunkins' and waited at the gate. About 5 minutes before 6, we were already taking off for our first leg of the journey to Melbourne, FL. We arrived in Atlanta around 8:50 and quickly made our way to the gate for our 10:10 flight to Melbourne. It sounds like a lot of time to get to a gate.. but its really not. That airport is huge and highly conjested with people. Finally, we arrived in Melbourne, FL at 11:30 AM. I was surprised with how small the airport was. It only has 8 gates. It was SMALL. But hey, I'm on my way to a cruise, who cares about an airport size, right?!?

 

We quickly gathered our luggage from the baggage claim.. everyone's luggage made it, thankfully. We made our way towards Carnival transportation to bring us to the pier. After a 45 minute uneventful ride to Port Canaveral.. we arrived. Everyone was chatting and laughing during the ride.. what was I doing? My eyes were constantly in search for a whale tail. Oh wait.. is that.. is that it?!?

 

 

CONTINUES.....

[TakeMeAway1001]

Great start! I am from MA too and have to say I too prefer Jet Blue but hate flying out of Logan, too chaotic for me. We prefer Manchester or Providence but for our next cruise in Oct Jet Blue had the best deal so we'll be making the trek into Boston bright and early.

 

Looking forward to more :)

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

 

We finally pulled up to the cruise terminal, and exited the shuttle bus. Now here is some weather information.. prior to this cruise, I was a nervous wreck about the weather considering it was supposed to "rain all week long". I am HAPPY to report we did not even experience a drop of rain. There was some cloudiness here & there, but hot over all.

 

After arriving at the cruise terminal at around 12:30, we handed our bags to the porters & gave them a $10 tip. We went inside the terminal, through security, and headed upstairs to check in. Port Canaveral.. Port Canaveral.. They really got check in down to a science!! Well considering we arrived later than we would of liked, we were able to see a representative as soon as we finished filling out our health forms. Check-in took about 20 minutes, mainly because we had to swap people in cabins. After that, we were sent on our way to board the ship.. but not before we took pictures for our S&S cards, facial recognition and embarkation photo. NOW we were walking up the gang-plank to enter the atrium of the ship. I absolutely love that first step on board & you look up into the atrium and just take it ALL in. Ahhh.. its like I'm there all over again... Oh wait, I'm not, I'm sitting on my couch

 

Well at this point, I have to admit, I was BEYOND starving. But I had a diaper bag over one shoulder, a purse in one hand, and a carry-on suitcase rolling behind, plus pushing a stroller.. I had to drop some of this stuff off in the room before heading up to Lido Deck. So since rooms were ready at this point, thats what we did!

 

I was in cabin 1228.. Riveria Deck (Deck 1), midship, in a category 6L Deluxe Ocean View cabin. Fantastic! I absolutely LOVED this cabin. It was so spacious for my fiance, son & myself. I also loved the two washrooms.. 1 bathroom had a sink, toilet, and stand up shower.. the second bathroom had a sink & junior tub (with shower head). The junior tub was a huge plus (insert thumbs up here) considering my son is TERRIFIED of showers and I didn't feel like packing a blow up pool. I wish all ships had these cabins.

 

As I was checking out the cabin, I noticed there was a plate of delcious chocolate covered strawberries sitting on the table. Along with that, there was a $15 photo coupon and a notice informing us that we will recieve drink coupons at dinner. My fiance recieved a standard Bon Voyage gift through the Carnival's Player Club. My aunt did as well, and my mom got the premium Bon Voyage gift (same package, except she also got a fruit basket with white wine).

 

 

 

My mom and aunt were a few doors down from us, and they had the same type of cabin as us. They enjoyed their cabin as well. I guess it would be good to mention that on our first time on the Dream.. I had a port hole cabin, and my mom & aunt had a Cove Balcony cabin. They didn't miss their balcony, but thats them. My brother & his girlfriend were in cabin 2363 on Main Deck (Deck 2) and had a basic interior cabin. They had a cove balcony last time, and they wished they had one this time as well. They are the type of folks who can't be away from a balcony cabin. See.. everyone is different!

 

After checking all of the cabins.. We finally made our way to an elevator and headed up to Deck 10, Lido Deck, for some much deserved lunch. I love how when you exit the elevator, you can just feel the fun atmosphere filling Deck 10. Everyone was having a great time on Lido Deck, as we were too. We went to the Gathering to check out the buffet. I got some potato salad, cold cut meats & fruit salad for my son. He was starving and ate it quick! I got myself some beef from the carving station with au jus gravy, and a delicious burrito from the Burrito Bar.. A jalepeno tortilla filled with chicken, shrimp, yellow rice, cheese, sour cream and gaucamole if you must know!

 

With DOD's in our hands (Fun Ship special), it was time to make our way to the Lower Crimson Dining Room for the muster drill. I have to say.. even with a 21 month old, the muster drill is VERY painless. It lasted about 10-15 minutes tops, and we were off to Deck 10 once again for Sail Away. Unfortunately, I didn't stick around for Sail Away. My son was exhausted from all the traveling, so I decided it was best to give him a nap, see if our luggage was at the door & unpack if so. Luggage was there.. so my son went nun-nites, and I unpacked the bags. I also got ready for dinner since we had Early Dining.

 

We had Early Dining seating in the Lower Crimson Dining Room at table 1235. BEST TABLE!!! It was right in the center of the dining room, which was perfect for the Showtime Dances. Our waiter was Alan from the Phillipines, and I forget his assistant's name. She was also from the Phillipines, though. They were fantastic. Immediately, all of our drink coupons were delivered. We had several of them.. some from Carnival's Player Club, and some from when I cashed my Fun Points from my Carnival MasterCard. I had so many soda coupons, I came home with unused coupons.

 

Anyways.. Alan was the best waiter we have had. He was so accomodating to us, especially my son & my aunt who is a type 1 diabetic. Alan would bring a fruit cocktail for my son before we even ordered dinner since he knew how much my son LOVES fruit & that it kept him occupied. For tonight.. I kept it simple for dinner. Cesar Salad, Chicken Tenders, Sweet & Sour Shrimp, and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. A Carnival classic in my opinion. My son had his fruit cocktail and macaroni & cheese for dinner. I will admit it now.. I definitely had a bite, maybe two, of the macaroni & cheese. SO delicious!!

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner was all done.. I walked around the ship, re-exploring with my son and checked out the BlackJack Band at Ocean Plaza. My fiance went to the casino. He was seriously counting days until he could play in the casino. I think he has a problem? I quickly made my way to the cabin to go to bed. I was exhausted from all the traveling that day, and we had an excursion planned for the next day.. early, at that. My fiance came back to the cabin around midnight after losing quite a bit on the slot machines.

 

COMING UP:

DAY 2 .... NASSAU, BAHAMAS... BLUE LAGOON GETAWAY EXCURSION

[smitty89]

Great start!! Can't wait to read more, thanks!

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

DAY 2 -- NASSAU, BAHAMAS

 

After a great night of sleep (thanks to the comfortable beds on Carnival), I woke up around 6:30 AM to take a shower & get ready for the day while my fiance and son was still asleep. I got our beach bag ready, and finally the boys were awake as well. We decided that we would eat at The Gathering for breakfast today. My mom and aunt enjoy eating breakfast in the Main Dining Room, they prefer to be served. We got to The Gathering around 7 AM, and it was pretty quiet still. We headed to the aft part of the ship, since the buffet there tends to be less busy than midship. I got myself rosemary potatoes, bacon, and an omlette. I also got an omlette & yogurt for my son. Breakfast was good.. I love the omlettes from the omlette station; very good. I was a little nervous this morning because it was pretty cloudy & looked like it would rain. But that changed as the day went on.. The sun quickly came out.

 

We docked at Nassau around 8 AM, so we headed to our room to get passports, beach bag, and S&S cards. Then we made our way to Deck 0 relatively quick, and found our excursion. We booked the Blue Lagoon Beach Getaway with Lunch through Carnival. I know you can book through Blue Lagoon themselves, but we decided against it. Once everyone was gathered together, we made a quick walk over to the ferry boat. The ferry boat was nice.. two floors, had a bar that served cheap drinks (weak though), and nice music to get everyone in the mood. The ferry ride over to Blue Lagoon is about 45 minutes, but great scenery of nice houses over at Paradise Island. Finally, we were pulling up to Blue Lagoon..

 

 

 

This excursion was $89.95 per adult, and our son was free since he was under 2 years old. Overall, I felt that the price was worth it. We really enjoyed our time here at Blue Lagoon. Once we got off the ferry, we made our way the beach & got a few lounge chairs near a hammock, and stayed there for the day. The water was a beautiful blue & clear, and very calm. It was perfectly warm as well. My son enjoyed the water here a lot. I brought sand toys with me too, so that kept him busy. After awhile, we decided to go check out the dolphins and sea lions. Even if you don't buy the dolphin or sea lion excursion, you can still walk over and check them out for free. A staff member was nice enough to put on a little show for us with the dolphins, which was very nice. Staff members here are very friendly and love answering any questions you may have. The sea lions were also very cool.

 

 

 

After checking out the wonderful animals, we decided to get our lunch. They serve you chicken legs, burgers, rice, and salad. Pretty standard, but tasty. After we finished eating, we ordered some drinks and enjoyed the beach. They also have all sorts of water inflatables, inflatable slides, snorkeling and offer parasailing. So Blue Lagoon definitely keeps their guests busy. We left at 1:00 PM.. on the way back to the ship, the driver of the boat showed us celebrities mansions, such as Oprah, Tom Cruise, Christina Aguliera and such. Pretty neat. We boarded the ship just in time for departure at 1:30 PM.

 

We went up to Lido Deck for a bit to enjoy some drinks and some snacks from the Gathering. My son was due for a nap, as well as I.. so I decided to take a nap before the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet at 4 PM. Unfortunately, that never happened because I didn't wake up on time. It was 4:45 PM when I woke up, and tonight was our first Elegant Night so I had to get ready for that.

 

At 6:00 PM we made our way to the dining room for a delicious dinner. I ordered a Cesar Salad, Stuffed White Mushrooms, Prime Rib and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. I don't have any pictures of the food unfortunately, but it was all very good. Tonight was also the first night of Showtime Dances during dinner.

 

Me and my fiance at dinner -- having a great time!

 

After dinner.. I spent some time walking around the ship on Deck 5 out on the Lanai. Then my mom agreed to watch my son while my fiance and I went to see a comedy show at the Punchliner Comedy Club --- the adult shows are hilarious. If you don't get offended easily, I highly recommend it.

 

After the show, we went to the casino to play some roulette, and then I headed back to the cabin for some sleep with my son. Tomorrow was going to be a Fun Day at Sea.. and it was!

 

COMING UP...

DAY 3 --- FUN DAY AT SEA!

[cruisenanny]

Great review so far, really enjoying it, thanks!:)

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I really appreciate everyone's kind comments! I will be updating the review with Day 3 events later this afternoon. In that review will have lots of photos of the ship itself and all the public areas. :)

[mississauga]

I really appreciate everyone's kind comments! I will be updating the review with Day 3 events later this afternoon. In that review will have lots of photos of the ship itself and all the public areas. :)

 

 

Jenn, thanks for taking the time to do a review. With a 21 month old, you already have your hands full...lol. We have also been on the Dream twice and love her!:):):) Next up is the Magic, her sister ship.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Jenn, thanks for taking the time to do a review. With a 21 month old, you already have your hands full...lol. We have also been on the Dream twice and love her!:):):) Next up is the Magic, her sister ship.

 

Aww.. I'd love to sail the Magic. I was going to sail her next summer but the airfare to Texas was just outrageous :(

[KrusII]

Loving your review, we spent Easter Weekend on the Dream. Such fun!!

[CruisinFamily_3]

I can't wait to read more! I'm still trying to decide on our 2012 cruise and the Dream is on my list (although my list grows longer every review I read ;)).

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this- I love picture reviews!

[riclop]

Great job with your review looking foward for the rest.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Thanks everyone for the comments! If anyone has any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them.

 

I will definitely have Day 3 (Fun Day At Sea) and Day 4 (St Thomas - Megan's Bay Beach) up tonight. I was gonna do it this afternoon but it's been beautiful outside so I took my son outside to play some ball. And now it's time for me to make three cheese stuffed shells! Mmm! :)

 

So review tonight.. Lots of photos of the ship & so much more!! Don't miss out on it :)

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

DAY 3 --- FUN DAY AT SEA!

 

I woke up this day around 7 AM. I know many enjoy sleeping in on vacation seeing that they don't at home. I'm the opposite. I don't like to waste a minute of vacation sleeping. So that being said, I took a shower.. put my bathing suit on & prepared for a nice long morning/afternoon at Lido Deck. But first my boys & I needed some breakfast. So to The Gathering we went and got your typical breakfast fare.. bacon, omlette, pancakes, sausages & such. After breakfast, we got a nice table by the midship pool under the overhang. Here is a picture from where we were sitting:

 

This is where we ended up throughout the week whenever we decided to hang out on Lido Deck. It wasn't crowded, a table was always available, and we were able to hear ourselves talking with the huge jumbotron & music playing. It was also nice being a few feet away from the pool. My son was not completely potty trained so no pool for him. My fiance would watch our son while I used the pool, and vice versa.

 

Now lets talk about Lido Deck.. Does it get crowded? It does.. But only during prime hours (12 PM - 2 PM). I always noticed plenty of seating on the above decks, Deck 11 & 12. There are two pools on this ship.. one midship, and the other in the aft.. both located on Deck 10. I always found the aft pool to be a lot less busy than midship (aside from the last sea day when a child puked in the midship pool causing it to close for a few hours). Hot tubs.. There are lots of them on Decks 11, 12 (Serenity section) and Deck 5. Deck 5 seemed to be unused a lot of the time. There are also two hot tubs attached to the aft pool. Here are some photos:

 

( AFT POOL)

 

(OVER HANG HOT TUB - DECK 5)

 

(MID SHIP POOL AREA)

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

UPDATE

 

My laptop died on me, so I'm gonna allow it to charge for an hour or so, and then I will be continuing Day 3 events, along with more photos of the ship! Sorry.. & thank you for your patience :D

[2Zornot2Z]

awesome review,looking forward to more.

[JackieH]

Im enjoying your review. We just booked the Dream today.. for Aug 2012...and so much fun to read everybodys reviews.

[maryanne356]

Loving your review! My son went on his first cruise at 6 months. He is going on his 19th on the Dream Aug. 13, 2011. We are also from MA. We live in Westport. Where do you live? We have 2 Cove cabins booked( I hope we like them, it seems like everyone does. First time with a balcony) I also have 2 daughters ages 21 and 19. So you like that Blue Lagoon in Nassau. Not quite what sure to do there. Last year we jet skied near the Atlantis.

[gapearl]

Great review so far!

[E Heffa]

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

DAY 3 CONTINUES..

 

So where did we leave off? Ahhh, Lido Deck! So my family & I spent most of the day hanging here. My fiance watched our son shortly so I could play bingo, though. I love playing bingo. Bingo is my vice, I guess. I also like playing the Cash Craze pull tabs. Last year I won $1,500 playing the pull tabs. This year.. I didn't even win a penny. :( Oh well, you can't always be lucky in life, right?

 

After bingo.. we decided to get some lunch. On sea days, the options for lunch can be a bit overwhelming. You have the Lido Deck buffet, pizza, grill, Mongolian Wok, Pasta Bar, Tandoori, Burrito Bar, salad bar on Deck 5 at the Wasabi, Open Seating Lunch in the Main Dining Room and the Lanai BBQ. Oh and you have the deli -- great sandwiches here!! So as you can see, there are MANY options. You won't be going hungry.. thats for sure. We decided to stay on Lido Deck for lunch, so I got a nice bowl of stir-fry from the Mongolian Station.

 

After lunch, Lido Deck was really bumping with people. The entertainment staff were about to hold the hairy chest contests and what not.

 

 

 

 

 

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

DAY 3 CONTINUES..

 

After watching all the poolside fun activities, my mom took my son for a bit so I could explore other areas of the ship. But first.. my fiance and I wanted to try out the Water Works slides.

 

 

 

These slides are a freakin' BLAST!! I felt like a 10 year old kid all over again. Thats what I love about Carnival.. always offering activities to bring out the inner kid out of you. Its all about having FUN! My fiance was hooked on the slides.. especially the Drain Pipe slide. That was my favorite as well. But after awhile, it really takes a toll on your back. On sea days, expect a 10-15 minute wait to ride the slides. If you use the slides on a port day, you basically have them all to yourself since majority of people are on shore.

 

After the slides.. We went to the Serenity section (Adult's Only Area).

 

It wasn't busy there at all. Plenty of lounge chairs available, as well as hot tubs. Mostly adults reading and napping, and just simply relaxing. We just briefly walked through since we knew we wouldn't be spending time here since our son was with us on this trip.

 

Next up was the mini golf course.. Looked like everyone was having fun playing. They take your S&S card folio number and give you a set of golf clubs to play. If you don't return them, then they charge you.

 

 

(WHALE TAIL PHOTO!!!)

[jtmurph7]

I am loving your review!!! I have 15 days until we sail on the DREAM!!!!:D:D:D

[sailingawaysoon]

Great review, looking forward to the next installment!

[lifeisgoodPat]

Great review. Love all the pictures…..