My Carnival Dream Review - October 28th-November 3rd (Western Caribbean)

[Mandygal]

This is part one of a very long and perhaps too comprehensive review! I worked on this on the plane back from Orlando today. I will try to wrap it up tomorrow or Monday. Enjoy and let me know if you have questions!

 

Background

 

I'm 32 and traveled with my parents, who are 61 and 65. My boyfriend and his daughter couldn't get a way for a full week, so it was just the three of us for this cruise. We are all seasoned cruisers. I was in Tampa for business the week prior to our cruise. My parents flew down from Kansas City and joined me on Thursday night and we stayed at the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk.

 

Friday and Saturday (Pre-Cruise)

 

Friday around 11:00 AM we decided to go ahead and head towards Orlando on our way to Cocoa Beach. We stopped at the outlet mall near Disney to visit the Nike store and then had lunch at Giordano's pizza. We deliberately took our time since we had a sneaking suspension we would be hearing an update from Carnival on Hurricane Sandy. Around 3:00 we decided to go ahead and head for Cocoa Beach again. We didn't get too far before we got the text from Carnival letting us know our departure had been moved to Sunday. We were pretty bummed, but immediately exited the highway to make a decision regarding our plans. We had booked a room at the Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach for Friday night. I called to see if it could be changed or extended to Saturday night. Unfortunately, they were sold out for Saturday so we went ahead and cancelled Friday's reservation too.

 

I redirected my Starwood points to be used for two nights at the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort. This hotel was recently renovated and was a steal at 3,000 SPG points per night. They had a really great lagoon shaped pool area that all of the kids at the hotel were really enjoying despite the cold temperatures. After a nap we drove down the street to Bahama Breeze restaurant. The food was delicious and we enjoyed the tropical atmosphere! On Saturday morning we decided to make the most of our non-cruise day and headed to Downtown Disney for a little shopping and lunch at Earl of Sandwich. I've been to Disney multiple times over the past few years, but my parents hadn't been since they took us as kids in 1988. They couldn't believe how much everything had developed! After lunch I took them to Disney's Boardwalk and we had cookies from the bakery and sat on the water. After returning to the hotel for another nap and some swimming we went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and ate at Boma African Buffet. As usual, it was delicious and totally worth the $36 price.

[Mandygal]

Sunday (Embarkation Day)

 

Finally, Sunday morning arrived and it was time to head to Port Canaveral! The drive was super easy. This was our first time cruising from this port and it was so exciting to come over the bridge and see all of the ships in port on what was finally a sunny Florida day! We had read on Cruise Critic that it was taking the prior cruise a long time to debark so we headed to IHOP in Cocoa Beach to grab breakfast. When we pulled up at Budget to return our car I could not believe all of the people standing outside waiting for the shuttle to the pier! The line inside was also very long to return the car as well. Although the situation was very chaotic I can understand they were very overwhelmed with having two extra ships in port (Dream and Ecstasy) in addition to the Disney Dream. The Sensation was also supposed to be in port, but was late so they were also dealing with rental extensions for those passengers too. The line was wrapping around the building so I decided to call a taxi. It took them about 20 minutes to get there, but it was the best money $20 we spent on our cruise to get out of the long line! The port was definitely buzzing when we arrived and you could tell traffic officials were overwhelmed with the extra traffic. Our cab dropped us right outside Terminal 6, we gave the porter our bags and $5.00 and inside we went.

 

I believe we arrived right around 12:15. They called boarding group 1 just as we walked in. We were handed a letter explaining that the cruise would be shortened to six days and we would be missing Roatan. It explained that we would receive one night of cruise fare back to our credit card within two weeks. The gratuities were also adjusted just to six nights and we were refunded the port fees for Roatan. Once inside the terminal the line moved very quickly! I was surprised at the number of people carrying on full size luggage and felt that it really congested the line that snakes inside the security area. I always thought you could only have airline size carry-on bags, but I was clearly wrong! I brought one small wheeled carry on weekend bag with a 12 pack of Coke and 12 bottles of water. Once through security we waited less than 5 minutes to pick up our S&S cards and our boarding group card (17). I put down cash for my account and it worked great for me! We maybe waited 20 minutes before our group was called and we were having our photos taken and riding the escalator up to the ship! This was the smoothest embarkation we've ever experienced. I couldn’t figure out why they took our pictures in front of a green screen. I now know that it was for photo recognition as they now have these awesome little kiosks in the photo area of the ship that pulls up all of the photos of you using recognition software and your S&S number.

 

Once on board we decided to have a seat in the lobby (Deck 3) and wait for our room to be ready to drop off our bags. We only had 15 minutes to wait and since our cabin was located in the front of the ship we didn't want to haul all of our stuff up to the Lido deck on the back of the ship. I should mention that my dad was recovering from a broken ankle and this was his first day off his walking boot so we were trying to take it easy on the walking. We made our way down to the Riviera Deck (1) to our room on the port side (1208). This was a room with two port holes and a convertible sofa. We really loved having a room with the outside cabin space at the inside cabin price. I had some major space concerns about sharing a room with two other adults and it actually turned out just fine. We had plenty of space for our clothes in the three closets. The bathroom was identical to every other ship we've been on. It is definitely functional, but I don't get why they don't modernize the design a little bit so it doesn't feel so sterile. Everything was great with our room except for the noise when we were docking/anchoring at the ports. If you are a light sleeper I do not recommend this room as there was a lot of vibration and noise when we arrived/departed ports. On the last night of the cruise the noise started around 3:30 AM and continued off and on until we were fully docked around 7:00. With all of that said, for the price we paid ($1315 before our refund for the first night) I was still happy with the room.

 

On with the review! We explored the ship a bit for the afternoon and had a small snack at the Tandoor. They had this corn on the cob that looked so good. Unfortunately, it was ice cold (on purpose) and it lost its appeal. As suspected, we really loved the Promenade deck and the lanai on the outside of the ship on Deck 5. I loved that the common areas on the Dream were more open and that it never seemed crowded on the promenade deck! I liked the layout of the casino more than previous ships and I really liked that the bar outside of the casino had some TV's to keep up with sports if that is your thing. On previous cruises it seemed like the bar outside of the casino was the heart of all of the action and a prime people watching spot. On the Dream this was not the case. I'm not sure if it was because they never had a lively band there, but it seemed much calmer. There were always people hanging out at Ocean Plaza, but it was pretty calm as well! My parents are smokers so the port side of the lanai on the 5th deck was their go to place. I steered clear of this area as much as possible. I do think it was very confusing to locate the smoking areas on the Dream. They never knew where they could smoke as it wasn't just allowed on one side of the ship, which is what I had previously read. As a non-smoker I would have appreciated it being easier to know where to go to avoid the smoke in deck chairs, etc.

 

We were scheduled to sail at 4:00 even though Carnival had stated the new boarding time as 1:30-3:30. I thought it was pretty unlikely from the start that they would turnaround the ship in that amount of time. Around 3:30 we did the muster drill in the Encore Lounge. We loved the new way they did the briefing and thought it was much easier to follow in a theatre with a microphone than out on a hot deck packed in like sardines! After the drill we went tithe serenity deck for sail away. First the Ecstasy departed. It looked tiny compared to the Dream and didn't look very full. Next, the Disney Dream left and then we finally departed sometime close to 6:00 p.m.

 

We had originally scheduled The Chef's Art Steakhouse for Saturday night and it was rescheduled for us on Sunday. They did still offer the complimentary bottle of wine. This was my first Carnival steakhouse experience and my parent's third. The restaurant was half full for our 7:30 reservation, which was surprising to me! The rosemary focaccia was delicious! We also liked tiny little cheeseburger bite they brought. Thy brought my mom and me something different and now I can't remember what it was, but it was tasty. I ordered the onion soup, cowboy ribeye, wild mushrooms and the creamed spinach. The onion soup was a little dark and strong for my taste, but was still good. The steak was good, but was not the best steak I've ever had. I travel a lot for business and experienced some great steaks, so maybe I'm just spoiled. It was still very good, just not great. I loved the wild mushrooms and the creamed spinach was good too. For dessert I had the chocolate sampler and it was awesome! Overall, I would return to the steakhouse if for nothing more than the excellent service, presentation and delicious dessert! We skipped the welcome aboard show, made a donation to the casino and went to bed! I did think that our first night was a bit rockier than other times I've cruised, but I think it might have been remnants of Sandy.

[Mandygal]

Monday (Sea Day)

 

Having slept great the night before with the closed port holes providing perfect darkness we woke up ready to go! We went to the Punchliner Comedy Brunch for breakfast and were seated right away. It was only 9:00 AM but I decided what the hell and ordered a Mai tai for my free Gold VIP drink. We could have ordered any drink we wanted as long as it wasn't frozen. I thought the Mai tail was sicky sweet and did not resemble any I’ve had before. It was also weak. :) I had the macaroni and cheese with apple wood bacon, which I thought was quite tasty! I also had a side of corned beef hash that was also good. My dad also had the Mac and cheese and my mom had the omelet. I thought the idea of the comedy brunch sounded fun, but besides the food being good the comedy was pretty pitiful. You could tell that the comedian wasn’t feeling it and it was impossible for him to tell jokes to a crowd of people that weren’t listening. It was obvious that the main idea was to promote the comedy club, which is funny to be me because it has always been crowded on other cruises I’ve taken.

After brunch we headed to the aft pool and scoped out some great seats facing the ocean. I loved the aft area on the Dream and how it was so open. This was a complete departure from the other ships I have been on with the aft pool deck being surrounded by glass. We also liked being close to the lemonade machine and enjoyed the sea breeze!

Around 2:00 we decided to have lunch and I'm pretty sure every other person on the ship had the same idea at the exact same time! We walked all the way around the Gathering twice before finding somewhere to sit. Carnival could have had more staff cleaning tables to make this less frustrating for people. I'm not sure how this would work, but it would be nice if they could find a way to direct people to open tables depending on their party size. This was the only time I felt the ship was congested. We tried to go to the Lanai for the BBQ, but couldn't find it. I think it might have been cancelled on Monday because they had that side of the ship on 5 blocked off due to the wind.

 

After lunch we moved up to the highest level of the serenity deck and to use the hot tub. Holy moly it was windy! The water in the lukewarm tub (my term) was blowing directly in my face and people’s flip flops were flying across the deck! We didn't last too long before deciding to take a nap back in the cabin. I did really like the idea of the serenity deck and the chairs were very comfortable. I wish we had revisited the area again on a less crowded day because it seemed very relaxing!

 

This was our first cruise with anytime dining and we really liked it! The first time we went it was elegant night and I did think the host stand could have been better organized. We waited almost 25 minutes in line just to get the pager. They said it would be a 10 minute wait from that point, but it was another 25 minutes. I just don't understand why the line just to get the pager moved so slowly. It seems this process could be more efficient. We really did not mind waiting for dinner as there was prime people watching in the lobby, it just could have been better organized. I can't remember everything I ordered this night, but I had the spaghetti carbonara for my meal and it was good. Of course, I also had warm chocolate melting came with strawberry ice cream too! The service was very good!

 

On Monday night we made yet another donation to the casino and were off to bed! We spent a lot of time watching CNN before bed on this cruise! I think it was because of the hurricane coverage, but it was way more TV than we watched on previous cruises.

[bills blasters]

Great review. We will be on the Dream soon, and love reading all I can about it.

Claudia

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[Mandygal]

Thanks! It was a great cruise. I will try to write more later. I decided to hit zumba class today to try to rid myself of those extra cruise pounds!

[smurfm69]

We never got to try the BBQ on the Lanai for our cruise because of windy weather conditions. All the other food was really good though especially the pasta bar!

[Upandadam]

Thanks for the review. I'm curious, was there ever any kind of an exposition for dropping Roatan, or did I miss that part?

[Sh1035]

Agree the chocolate sampler was to die for! Saw the line for the elegant night dining and ran back upstairs to the steak house again. One night the steak was great, the next night ok. But the lobster was some of the best I have ever eaten.

 

 

Also, the little sampler they gave of tomato soup was great....forget the fancy name?

[Banditswife]

Thankyou for taking the time to write this review. We are from the Kansas city area too & will board the Dream on Saturday the 10th of Nov. I am looking forward to more of your review, hope you get most of it up by Saturday.

[nautica34]

Thanks for the review. I'm curious, was there ever any kind of an exposition for dropping Roatan, or did I miss that part?

 

Thanks for writring the review. I'm wondering the same this as this poster.

 

Also, do you recall if there was a farewell disembarkation talk? I used to enjoy them on Carnival seeing all the crew members. The last Carnival cruise I was on over the summer did not have it.

[debee1015]

Sunday (Embarkation Day)

It took them about 20 minutes to get there, but it was the best money $20 we spent on our cruise to get out of the long line!

 

We were in the disembarkation from the Dream. It was a NIGHTMARE. We waited for Park N Cruise for over 2 hours. It was so unorganized. Between the Port and the offsite parking, none of them did anything to help get the departing guests away from the port faster. In fact around 10:30 we watched as 2 Port Canaveral people hopped in a taxi and drove away.

 

I learned my lesson not to use off site parking ever again.

[travlngrl1996]

Loving the review! Great start. :)

[reerun25]

Enjoying the review so far!

[framerman]

great start............keep it coming!!

[Julienatul]

Thanks for your review. We sail a week from Saturday!