Dream review 9-17

[echo]

Dream - Western Sept

 

I am not going to do a full review but just hit some highlights of our cruise. Weather was beautiful and we had the smoothest sea I've ever cruised on. Stayed and parked at Country Inn Suites. Great place.

 

The ship:

Big but we didn't find it to be a problem , our cabin was at the front of the ship but we never felt it was too far to walk anywhere. Layout was fine to me, liked the casino area and the sofas on the 4th floor that looked down on the atrium. Crowds weren't any worse than any other ship. Lines weren't any worse. Except on embarkation day. Elevators were moving quickly except embarkation day, they were small though, said they'd hold 18 people, I don't know about that. Didn't seem to be alot of kids, but by the end of the week, they were in small packs running loose.

 

The pools and hot tubs:

Pools were too small, and very crowded. Hot tubs weren't, No problems there.

 

The room :

great as always. We really liked the interactive TV. Noisy when the above toilets flushed. The beds are wonderful. I slept so good.

 

The smell:

Yes it was there in places. Not a big deal. Smelt it on other ships.

 

The service:

Everyone was friendly. Cabin steward , bar tenders , assistant waiter were good. Our waiter was alittle unpersonable but did his job (name was German, that was his name).

 

The entertainment:

Shows were really good. One show was country, one was more Motown and pop. And then there was one big show, cant remember the name but it was really good, we went to both showings. Comedians were a must do. We saw 3 of them , one wasn't good, the other 2 was fantansic. I cant remember names, so I'm not much help am I? Seems like the 2 best ones were Espisto and Drake. Some of the family shows were just as funny as the R rated. Only problem with the early shows were the toddlers and babies. Parents would just not make them sit down or be quiet, very distracting. One night the host , flat told the parents of a crying baby to take it out and give it a bottle and they still stayed. Made the laser show one night, was ok, worth going to see once. They had several of them on different nights. Missed the Mardi Gras, just couldn't stayed awake.

 

The food:

Ok , Here we go. I do think the quality of the food is going down. On the buffet I could find something I liked but I had to sample and pass on alot before I found it. It was a waste of food. Not enough vegetables but the salad bar was real good. The buffet deserts weren't the quality they used to be. Burger and hot dogs were good. Deli was really good and always had a line, the tuna was our favorite. Pizza was OK. We had the pasta at embarkation lunch, it was pretty good, went back later in the week and it wasn't as good. Hubby had the sausage and I tried it, it was horrible. I mean horrible, I asked him if it tasted like that the first day and he said no. Tandoor was really good and different, its not for everyone but I ate it twice. This was also a good place to get breakfast as there wasn't ever a line. Speaking of breakfast it was real good. Bacon police were out some days, but this wasn't a problem, they gave us plenty. No hockey pucks potatoes, I kinda missed them. Never did the lanai BBQ, kept forgetting about it, friends said it was good.

MDR... well first off I hated our table, it was long and narrow, had place setting for 10. There were 9 of us, it was just uncomfortable, too small. I really dislike the new menus. I knew about the new menus before we went , I didn't study them ahead of time and figured I'd give it a chance when we got there. Everyone at our table had a hard time finding something they wanted to order on any given night at some point. Except the first formal night, where the ribs, lobster and prime rib was served, that night was not a problem. Everyone likes different food so the new menu might not be a big deal to you. I cant really explain it....Ok I have no problem with having burgers on the menu, but when the burger is the only option that looks good to you, that's the problem. Burger was good by the way. And we liked the Didja part of the menu, made for good table conversation.

 

 

 

The ports:

Cozumel:

We went to Paradise Beach. Cost $2pp for loungers and umbrella, they do ask you to buy some food or drinks. That's reasonable. Extra for the water toys, $12pp I think. The new pool is nice. But the service has changed, check your bills people, don't get to tipsy to add. We had lunch, food was really good, portion size was smaller than it used to be. Service was pretty bad. Spend way too much time waiting for our food and trying to pay the dang bill. Might try another place next time but you cant really beat the price.

 

Roatan:

Private tour with Vic Bodden. $40pp tour /$5pp monkeys/ $10pp beach. Walked over the BIG hill to meet with the tour. They hold up signs so its no problem. Met our driver James, Had a 4 door Toyota sedan with A/C. Toured the island, went to the monkey place where Victor lives. Met Victor wasn't impressed. We got another guide for the monkeys. Its a small place with pretty good size cages. This was the highlight of the cruise for me. To hold and feed the monkeys. Loved it. Seemed surreal. Had a good guide. Did feel sorry for the little guys though. They aren't native to the island and are brought from the mainland. Didn't know that till then. Another friend of ours also went and got a different guide, he said they let them out on the weekends and they come back because they get their breakfast, ,lunch and dinner there. I don't know how true that is but it made me feel alittle better. Then more tour and we went to the beach on the West End, The Mayan Princess. Was pricey but we got a lounger and use of the facilities. The beach was gorgeous. Had a small but expensive snack at the outside restaurant to hold us over. The pool at the Mayan Princess was something to see, waterfalls, bridges, stepping stones, very nice. Back to the ship, driver stopped and got us some local fruit and then dropped us at the pier area. Driver was nice enough and talked some but wasn't as informative as he could have been, but he was a very safe driver and I appreciated that. Long day, great port.

 

Belize:

Wasnt going to get off in Belize, made the mistake of tendering to the shopping area. Should have stayed on the ship, took way too long to tender both ways. Wasted our day. Completely our fault. Been to Belize before and should have known better. Dont get me wrong, Belize is fine with a booked excursion, we were just to tired to do one that day. Its not a place to get off on your own, that's my opinion. I'd rather stay another day in any of the other ports we went to.

 

Costa Maya:

Love Costa Maya. Went to the "village" to Tropicante. Steve greeted us and had our chairs ready. Ate, swam and drank what little time we had there away. Time is way too short there. way too short. Skip Belize and stay here, I say. Prices had gone up in CM over the years but I guess that's to be expected. Loved it even more back in the day. We had 6 beers for $10. $3 mixed frozen drinks. Chicken fajitas and sour cream and cheese burritos were good. I had the shrimp ceviche $11, there must have been 2 lbs of shrimp, it was very good and huge. The beach and water here isn't as pretty as some Caribbean water, but its calm and relaxing.

 

Platinum:

We are platinum. Embarkation and especially debarkation was really nice and quick. Alot of "Welcome backs". Did get our canapé and petit fours, most of all of it was wasted and not very good at all. They didn't call us about our canapés, like they have in the past, just showed up with them and we happened to be there. Did the free slot pull, hubby got 3rd overall and won a t-shirt. Gift for us were coolers. We didn't get any type of pin.

 

Overall: A good cruise, we will cruise the Dream again in the future. Ask any questions, I'll try and answer them.

[Jennfor5]

Awesome review, am going on the dream in may. Can't wait!! Thank you!!

[okgirl]

The pins usually come on the invitation to the past guest party. Were they just missing or have they discontinued them on the Dream?

[echo]

I dont know but they werent on my invite.