Documenting the dream western caribbean 01/21-28/2012; the money monkey goes cruising

[somoremoney]

Thanks for the great review and pictures.

[radrayjax]

Thanks for all the great pics Ray. Have been reading your review for a couple of weeks. Was going to wait til the end, but thought I'd input my thanks now during this break. You are obviously putting a lot of time & effort into it, just wanted to say how much I (we) appreciate it. Sailing the Dream in Nov 2012.

 

Thanks! I'm SURE I'll be done by then. Surely I will....

I've got TWO (short) chapters tonight!

[KrusII]

Too much fun!!!

[radrayjax]

DOCUMENTING THE SHIP: CHAPTER 6: THE VISTA DECK (9)

 

We’ve finally come to the first of the “sleeping” decks and I’ll make fairly short work of this. I’m going to cover the forward observation deck, the three elevator lobbies, a quick look at the atrium (at the forward elevator lobby), and way in the rear, a secret behind a crew only door.

 

Vista Deck Plans

 

 

Note above the squared off ends of the observation deck. This is due to the fact that the Vista Deck OD sits on top of the aft end of the navigation bridge on the Verandah Deck (8) and the bridge has the squared off port and starboard pilot stations.

 

We’ll start by heading forward down the long portside hallway towards the observation deck.

 

Forward view portside hallway:

 

Forward view of inner door to the observation deck:

 

Forward view of the outer door to the observation deck:

 

Port view of the observation deck:

 

Portside end of the OD. Note the wing-shape to the front rail:

[radrayjax]

Upward view at the port side of the OD. Lido and Panorama ODs are above:

 

Aft view of the port side of the ship. Note reflections in windows:

 

View to starboard, rounding about the observation deck. The stairs to the Lido Deck are center, right:

 

Forward view of the bow from the Vista observation deck:

 

Starboard end of the Vista OD. The mirror wing-shape to the rail again:

 

Upward view of the starboard ends of the Lido and Panorama ODs:

[radrayjax]

Aft view of the starboard side of the ship:

 

View through porthole to cabin 9203 (I think):

 

Aft view of stairs leading up to Lido observation deck:

 

Exterior starboard side door:

 

Interior door:

 

Loooong hallway shot:

[radrayjax]

Vista Deck Forward Elevator Lobby, Stairs, and Atrium...

 

Forward elevator lobby:

 

Forward, starboard deck plan plaque.

 

Forward stairs:

 

There is no atrium lobby on the sleeping decks, the view is somewhat narrow.

 

Starboard view to atrium. Note that the yellow wall will be on the left:

View to port of the atrium. The yellow wall is on the left:

 

Downward view of the lobby from the Vista Deck starboard side:

[radrayjax]

Vista Deck Amidships Elevator Lobby...

 

Amidships elevator lobby:

 

Amidships starboard elevator deck plan plaque:

 

Amidships stairwell. Upward is the forward entrance to the Gathering:

 

Whimsical art on the upward stairwell (we saw this in a downward angle from the Lido Deck):

 

View to starboard of the cross hall just forward of the amidships elevator lobby. Note the art panels. We’ll see them in the next chapter:

 

Artwork in the aft stairwell. Note that the abstract art in the center of this stairwell is not as extremely rectangular as in the forward stairwell. This stairwell would lead upward to the aft entrance of the Gathering:

[radrayjax]

Vista Deck Aft Areas...

 

Aft Elevator Lobby:

 

Aft starboard elevator deck plan plaque:

 

Branch hallway starboard and far aft:

 

Deck directional plaque, starboard, far aft:

 

Deck directional plaque, portside, far aft:

 

Port branch hallway, far aft:

[radrayjax]

Concluding the Vista Deck!

 

Door to crew stairwell, portside, far aft:

 

Crew stairwell, portside, far aft. Notice how immaculate this is:

 

Looking down crew stairwell, portside, far aft.

 

Ironing room sign. I didn’t photograph this inside because it was just a wall-mounted ironing board in a small space:

 

Door decoration:

 

Somebody is getting something interesting…:

 

That concludes the Vista Deck!

 

Next: TONIGHT: DOCUMENTING THE SHIP: CHAPTER 7: DECK THE HALLS (WITH ART!)

[radrayjax]

DOCUMENTING THE SHIP: CHAPTER 7: DECK THE HALLS (WITH ART)

 

I’ve shown a few photos of hallway artwork in the decks covered so far. One of the things I wanted to know in my exploration of the ship was if the artwork was different for each deck or was the same artwork used throughout the ship. From my previous limited experience I had no idea what the answer would be.

 

Well, I can say that there were 18 different paintings used throughout the ship, repeated on the sleeping decks. Because of the relatively narrow hallways, I could not get a straight on shot of the full length of any of the paintings. So, in many cases I will show a shot from the left and a shot from the right. The only time I could get a full length shot was if the panel was facing an adjoining hallway.

 

The paintings portray images of people from the 1920’s to the 1940’s, from flappers to bobby-soxers. These are images from a Fred Astaire movie, not a bread line.

 

Sometimes, due to space issues in particular areas, only half-panels would be seen and I’ve included a few of them.

 

I present these with limited comments and in no particular order.

 

 

 

 

Half panel of the above:

 

 

 

 

 

[radrayjax]

 

 

 

 

[radrayjax]

Half panel of the above:

 

I didn’t get a portrait shot of this one:

 

 

 

 

Half panel of the above:

[radrayjax]

 

 

 

 

 

Half panel of the above:

[radrayjax]

 

For some reason I never shot a stand alone full panel of this:

[radrayjax]

DECK HALL ART COLLAGE PANELS...

 

In some of the stairwell lobbies, collages of the various works could be found. Here are a few of the collages:

 

 

 

 

These next two were shown at an extreme angle on the Vista Deck earlier:

 

 

That’s it for artwork for now.

NEXT: DOCUMENTING THE SHIP CHAPTER 8: THE VERANDAH DECK (8)

[Pennyscandy]

Radray, have you thought about putting your photo's on You Tube? That way they won't "disappear". The Dream looks like a beautiful ship, can't wait to see her in person. Have you and Fran planned your next cruise? Want to follow your future reviews. We will be on deck 6, patiently waiting to see that deck.

[radrayjax]

Radray, have you thought about putting your photo's on You Tube? That way they won't "disappear". The Dream looks like a beautiful ship, can't wait to see her in person. Have you and Fran planned your next cruise? Want to follow your future reviews. We will be on deck 6, patiently waiting to see that deck.

 

Penny, I've visited, but never posted to You Tube. With all the work I'm going through posting to Photobucket for this review, I don't want to repeat it for You Tube. Posting the photos without the context wouldn't make much sense. It would be like a silent slide show. I was there and I would be bored without the "sound".

I also thought that Photobucket could be made public since many other posters here have provided links to Photobucket folders...

As to deck 6, tonight I'll be posting decks 8, 7, and 6! The three together are not very long. FIVE, now, that's a different story. I want to get back to documenting the trip, so tomorrow I will begin with Belize.

[radrayjax]

DOCUMENTING THE SHIP CHAPTER 8: THE VERANDAH DECK (8)

 

Tonight, I’m going to take out three decks in short order.

 

I’m going to only emphasize what is unique about these decks, which, after the bridge on the Verandah Deck, is not much. We’re going to enter the Verandah Deck and head toward the starboard side then go all the way forward until we encounter the door to the Bridge. Until the Behind The Fun tour that’s as far as we can go. The Bridge is the most distinguishing feature of this deck, so obviously there is no public observation deck, or far forward rooms.

 

VERANDAH DECK PLANS

 

Starboard view of the forward stairwell leading to the Verandah Deck:

 

Port view of the painting in stairwell leading between decks. Note that it is a collage:

 

Starboard forward elevators:

 

Starboard Forward Elevator deck plan plaque:

 

Forward view of starboard stateroom hallway:

[radrayjax]

The Hallway Behind The Bridge!

 

Crew-only door leading to the Navigation Bridge:

 

View inside door porthole:

 

VERY FOGGY (SORRY!) view of charts on the aft wall of the pre-bridge hallway:

 

Port View of far end of pre-bridge hallway:

 

Detailed ships plans on forward wall of pre-bridge hallway:

 

Aft view of starboard cabin hallway, from just outside the branch far forward hallway leading to the bridge:

 

[radrayjax]

Another crew-only door:

 

Forward view of bridge starboard pilots station, taken from the Promenade Deck below:

 

Close-up of bridge starboard pilots station:

 

Portside view Veranda Deck Aft Elevator Lobby:

 

Aft Elevator Deck Plan Plaque:

 

IMMEDIATELY: DOCUMENTING THE SHIP CHAPTER 9: THE EMPRESS DECK (7)

[radrayjax]

DOCUMENTING THE SHIP CHAPTER 9: THE EMPRESS DECK (7)

 

What can I say about this deck the really distinguishes it from the Upper Deck (6) below? Not much. There is no real view of the bridge from the Empress Observation Deck, it is overhanging.

 

EMPRESS DECK PLANS

 

Port view of the Empress Observation Deck:

 

Forward and slightly starboard view of the bow from the Empress OD:

 

Port view of the stairs leading down to the Upper Deck Observation Deck. Note the railings overhanging from the bridge above:

 

Portside entrance to the forward elevator lobby:

 

Downward and slightly starboard view of the painting on the forward stairwell between decks 7 (Empress) and 8:

[radrayjax]

Empress Deck Forward Elevator Lobby and Atrium Views:

 

Forward and slightly starboard view of the elevator lobby; glass elevators are ahead:

 

Starboard, forward elevator deck plan plaque:

 

Upward, starboard view of the atrium from the Empress Deck:

 

Downward, starboard view of the atrium lobby:

 

Close-up of the Atlantic Deck (4) bandstand the hangs over the Atrium Lobby Bar:

[radrayjax]

Empress Deck Aft Areas:

 

Starboard view of the aft elevators:

 

Aft elevators starboard deck plan plaque:

 

Aft stairwell painting/collage between decks 7 and 6:

 

Quick shot of one of the aft interior rooms:

 

Supply closet:

 

Aft crew-only Engine Locker Room:

 

IMMEDIATELY: DOCUMENTING THE SHIP CHAPTER 10: THE UPPER DECK (6)

[radrayjax]

DOCUMENTING THE SHIP CHAPTER 10: THE UPPER DECK (6)

 

If you toggle back and forth between this post and the prior one that showed the plans to the Empress deck, the differences are very subtle unless you had the plans side by side. So let me make life easier for you and do just that. Ignoring cabin colors, which are arbitrary, there are some differences in cabin groupings far forward behind the first cross hallway, and also just forward of the aft elevator lobby.

 

The Upper Deck observation deck also affords much better views of the navigation bridge and I feature a number of photos of the bridge from this deck.

 

UPPER DECK PLANS

 

EMPRESS DECK PLANS

 

Starboard interior door leading from OD to hallway:

 

Starboard view of observation deck:

 

Forward and starboard view from observation deck:

 

Starboard side of observation deck. There are two stairs to and from the Promenade deck: