Dream Western Review with Pic June 23-30, 2012

[k2excursion]

I'm loving your review!!! Looking forward to more! Their waterslides are one of my favorite parts of the Dream as well. She is my favorite ship, so I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. We always had short or no buffet lines as well, and I totally love the atmosphere of that ship. There is something special about it.

[wannago35]

Great review thus far, can't wait to read more!

[Cruisegirl6]

You doing a great job and thank you.

 

I also have been on 47 cruises in my lifetime and not once eaten dinner in the buffet. We have reservations for the steakhouse on two evenings (not get confirmation heard this happens day or two before our cruise via email or we find out in our cabins and not sure if we get them) we also not care for the first nights dinner menu so thinking maybe its worth trying the dinner buffet? But you mention about fish every night I not eat fish do they have a meat carving? Did they have more than one choice of vegetable and potato?

[Maryscooking]

You doing a great job and thank you.

 

I also have been on 47 cruises in my lifetime and not once eaten dinner in the buffet. We have reservations for the steakhouse on two evenings (not get confirmation heard this happens day or two before our cruise via email or we find out in our cabins and not sure if we get them) we also not care for the first nights dinner menu so thinking maybe its worth trying the dinner buffet? But you mention about fish every night I not eat fish do they have a meat carving? Did they have more than one choice of vegetable and potato?

 

They had several entree options, of which fish was just one. Fish just happens to be a good protein (high protein, low cal) choice for me. It seemed that nearly all of the dinner entrees listed on the dining room menu were available as choices in the buffet.

 

There was also a meat carving station every night I remember.

 

There were multiple side dish options to choose from each night, usually including baked potato, rice, and a soup along with the other vegetable sides that rotated with the menu.

 

I'm sorry I don't have more details, but I bet if I saw the dining room menus, it would be a case of "yep, there was that! And that! And that!"

 

In addition, there was the full salad bar (same as lunch) that also included fruit and some cold cut options. I really liked making my salad just how I wanted it. But then, I've always liked a good salad bar.

 

And there was always a sushi selection (one or two types). The sushi was just ok.

 

I was honestly really surprised that we liked eating in the buffet. Since there were no lines, we went back separately for salad, entree, and dessert and just liked the relaxed atmosphere and pace of it. The lights were dimmed a bit, and the somewhat hectic lunch atmosphere was totally absent at dinner.

[Maryscooking]

For my last review (of the Destiny), every night before bed I used my netbook to write a little synopsis of each day. It made it really easy to add pics and put my review up. I intended to do that this cruise to and even brought the netbook. Well it didn't happen cause I was feeling just too darn relaxed! And I had a Kindle this time around and found reading much more appealing than writing anything.

 

So I apologize if I end up backtracking or putting things on the wrong day. I only came home with three days worth of Fun Times so there is only so much fact checking I can do :)

 

My day two pics are uploading right now.

[Cruisegirl6]

Thanks for taking the time!

[Maryscooking]

I'll start off with a couple of left over pics from Day One.

 

Here is our embarkation photo.

 

It came with this cheesy Kennedy Space Center themed border, which I didn't think fit since we didn't even visit there (much to the chagrin of my husband) and I scanned it in my computer and cropped it. It never occurred to me to ask if they could print the photo without the border - does anyone know?

 

These are the ships we left port with.

 

Disney Fantasy

 

 

 

Carnival Ecstasy

 

Its a cruise ship race!

 

The Disney ship overtook both of us quickly and was off to somewhere far away. I don't think I'd ever do a Disney cruise, but I guess never say never if we found some crazy deal.

[Maryscooking]

Day Two - At Sea

 

For this day, I will talk about jogging at sea, the spa, the gym seminars, formal night, the dining room (tonight was the only night we visited it) and the comedian. And maybe some other stuff if it crosses my mind.

 

Planning this cruise, I was happy to know that our first full day on the ship would be spent cruising, because I knew we'd need the rest. That said, we didn't want to sleep in too late either - we had signed up for 9am yoga that morning. I actually woke up on my own somewhere around 7:30, looked at the Camp Carnival schedule, and realized that they would not be open in time for us to actually go to yoga. So we had to call and cancel :(

 

We never did do yoga on the ship - the timing just didn't work out for us. I wish they'd offer classes out on the after deck early in the AM, like sunrise yoga, but I'm sure they've thought of it and decided it wouldn't be popular enough. I think it would be so cool though to do a class like that.

 

Cadence was just itching to go to Camp Carnival as soon as she could (10am I think - it was the latest open time all week), and Chris and I were planning to head to the track and then spa as soon as we dropped her off. We packed gym bags, had breakfast, killed some time and headed to Camp.

 

We were just about the first ones there, but a couple of families when they came in pushed right up to the front of the half door where the kiddos actually enter camp. Its funny how "me, me" people can be. Whatever. I'm on vacation and not feeling about getting in a fight over a couple of places in line. There was a back up, as parents who hadn't signed up and/or gotten a phone needed to do so. It took about 15 minutes to get her situated, but that was by far the longest drop off of the week.

 

When checking her in, we were instructed to come pick her up for a lunch break - but for some reason, this day camp didn't actually close (most sea days it does close and most during the day pick up times are set times). It was nice to have a little flexibility in the timing of lunch.

 

I didn't take pictures of the 2-5 yr old area this time, but I will say that it was a very appealing space, with books, games, and crafts in various areas on shelves, and a wide wall of windows out to the sea.

 

Up next: Jogging at sea and the Cloud 9 Spa with some pics

[Maryscooking]

Day Two Continued

 

We headed up to the spa, got VIP passes (we had to exchange our sign and sail cards each time we wanted to use the facilities), dropped our gym bags in the VIP locker rooms, and went to the outdoor track.

 

DH and I had very briefly debated jogging outside or on the treadmills. He thought it was kind of hot and humid for jogging outside. However I really dislike treadmill running and only do it when there is no other decent option. So to the track we went.

 

The track is a decent 7 lap/mile track, and just wide enough for two people to run by each other. It circles the mini-golf area and steakhouse up on the spa deck. Now this day, we were sailing through the very outer part of tropical storm Debby, and it was windy! Our ship info channel showed 40 km/hr headwinds at times. At times I felt like I was very nearly standing still jogging - or running against one of those resistance bands wrapped around my waist like they show on biggest loser sometimes. It was nice running with the wind on the other side of the track though - I felt really fast :) and it did help cool things down a bit.

 

The other thing that made it a little tough to run on the track were the number of people who would wander onto it and have no idea they were blocking a jogging path. Now most would see me coming and move out of the way. Some were oblivious and got a close up brush by with me saying "Excuse me - you are on the track!" I didn't run into anyone, but I didn't try real hard to jump out of the way after the first time I'd run by and they didn't move. For example, some people just stood on the track and watched mini-golf. Go stand in the mini-golf area and watch if you really need to see your loved one putt the little ball around the astroturf!

 

Overall, most people were very polite when they figured out where they were and it wasn't something that kept us from using the track again.

 

Here is a note for anyone who uses a Garmin gps watch: The Garmin is accurate out at sea, but it (of course) takes the ship's movement into account as well! I wasn't sure what if anything it would pick up out in the middle of the ocean, but I wanted to wear my watch just to log my workout - and as a little experiment too.

 

So my Garmin thinks I was running about 3:18 miles and went 9 miles in 30 minutes. Love it! Best part is how it thinks I burned 900 calories in 30 minutes. Shoot, that is like what, half of a warm chocolate melting cake?

 

I wondered if my track would show up as little overlapping ovals as the ship cruised through the ocean, but the ship must have been moving too fast to capture that. Instead it looks like a wiggly line. Here is a screen shot and close up of the track from Garmin connect:

 

 

Close up:

One thing you'll notice down in the pace graph (the blue line under the "timing" heading) is the abrupt and regular cycling of pace. I am not some kind of pacing machine - I figured out that it is showing my pace when running with the motion of the ship vs against the motion of the ship - which of course, changed as I ran around the track. I kind of got a kick out of that :)

 

That is all kind of geeky runner stuff so sorry if it was boring, but I found it so cool I had to share anyway.

 

More to come.

[Maryscooking]

(Warning: Gratuitious and blatant grab for attention ahead)

 

I just noticed that I have over 1600 views of this thread - so I want to know who is reading! If you post I might try harder to keep writing the review :D

[Maryscooking]

Just for a compare and contrast, for any other geeky runners out there, here is a screen shot from Garmin connect of my veeery slow jog when we were tendered in Belize. That one brought hot and humid to a whole new level.

 

Anyway, so you'll see the ship appears to drift over time. I don't know if that's really what happened, or if the satellites were just a bit off.

 

[mykindaparty]

yes definately keep it coming, love love love the real views of your dd!!!!:)

[Maryscooking]

yes definately keep it coming, love love love the real views of your dd!!!!:)

 

Thank you! I am glad someone else besides me and DH appreciate those pics! You know, everyone thinks everything their kid does is the best thing ever :)

[k2excursion]

Those pics from the Garmin are very interesting. I also took note of the elevation changes. When at sea, you had a 15-foot elevation difference, from minimum to max, which of course is because of the waves. But I'm really surprised that it didn't detect you as being much higher above sea level, since the jogging track is so high up. Did you set that spot as being right at sea level? I don't know how those work. Also, I had always wondered if the ship drifted a little when anchored at those tendered ports.

[cruiserguy11]

Thanks for taking the time to do this great review.

 

Oh, mention to your hubs that he'll get cleaner if he puts water into the bathtub. :D

[Yankeegirl]

Enjoying your review!:)

[Banditswife]

Great review, waiting for more. Love the DD pics also.

[LauraKRN]

Really enjoying your review. I'm curious if at the end of your week you thought the spa pass was worth the $$ but I can wait until the end of the review for you to share your thoughts :-)

[cruiserNC]

Really enjoying your review! We are taking our DD(6) & DS(3) in Nov on the Dream and plan on surprising them with a few days in WDW as well.

[Julienatul]

Love your review. We are on the Dream in 2 weeks for our 10 yr Anniversary and then again for Thanksgiving week and the kids will be joining us. I love seeing it from your DD's perspective since my oldest is 6.

[kjunea]

Great review! Love your writing style! More, please!

[GDAC]

Disney Fantasy

 

 

 

Its a cruise ship race!

 

The Disney ship overtook both of us quickly and was off to somewhere far away. I don't think I'd ever do a Disney cruise, but I guess never say never if we found some crazy deal.

 

Cool pictures, I was on that Disney ship. Thanks for review, keep it coming.

[AutumnBM]

Lovely review! I'm really enjoying it :) Can't wait for more!

[pcvtmom]

Great job on your review! You are really dedicated to keep up with your workouts on your cruise. (I walk the steps instead of taking the elevators...and call it my workout!!) Way to go!

[spacepotatoes]

Loving your review so far! Your DD is adorable :)