Dream Western Jan 5-12

[wdazew]

Ok to answer the top 3 questions on every Dream review

The smell – never encountered it. We were on deck 7 but hung out a lot on 3, 5, 10, and 12, all 3 sections of the ship.

Food – of course if you tried to each at the Gathering at high noon you would have lines, we went earlier or later and had no problems. The Scarlett was SLOOOOOW! One night we arrived at 6 but our order wasn’t taken until 6:40 and food did not arrive until 7:10.

Diamond/Platinum/Suites v. FTTF. Port Carnival seems to have this down to a science. We were in a Suite, but my parents are Platinum (earned by nights as well as trips). We arrived a tad early to see the last of the previous week guests still disembarking. The Lounge host made a point to stop by each group to explain how boarding would work. The one wedding party was first (but they were not in the lounge), then Diamond, then Platinum, the suites, and only then were the FTTF allowed in line for the 1st of 3 pictures.

The 2nd holding area (again another picture) was done Diamond, Platinum, then Suites and FTTF were boarded together.

Belize – Tendering – Carnival got high marks here as well. The excursions groups were placed in the Encore Theatre all others were in the Burgundy Lounge. Everyone was given a tender number as you walked in. As they would call the next group of numbers, they would have Diamond/Platinum line up first, then FTTF, then the group number to ensure that the Diamond/Platinum didn’t have to wait too long for a tender. We were walked down as a group to the tender boats.

Disembarking – Again everyone was separated by Status so FTTF were allowed to go after the Diamond/Platinum/Suites.

Now for the review. I’m not a foodie nor really good with pictures but did want to pay it forward as I learned so much from previous posters. This cruise was a belated 21st birthday present to our DD. We had a group of 13, DH, DD, DM, DF, 2 our dear cruising friends (howdy Bif cruiser), and 3 other couples who are friends of my parents. Between the 6 rooms, we had a Spa Suite, an Ocean Suite, a Balcony, and 3 inside rooms. We had 2 Diamond couples, 2 Gold groups, and 3 Red groups so we ran the gambit of service levels. Oh, yes, my DH scored the casino benefits as well so we got lots of goodies for that as well.

We arrived around 10:15 and were the 2nd group in the Italian Pasta Bar on Deck 11 via the Deck 10 staircase right at 11 am. In fact, we had to wait just a few minutes for the chefs to arrive. We did go to my parents’ room first, as their room was ready. We had hoped the suite would be ready but no go.

After a wonderful pasta meal (thanks to all who suggested doing as soon as you board!!), it was time to go exploring. We went to Deck 5 to find Ocean Plaza, the Casino, the shops, and Encore. We also went up to Deck 12 to check out the Spa. I signed up for the weekly pass for the T-pool, steam rooms, and saunas. I really enjoyed the t-pool each afternoon after walking/shopping, etc. I don’t believe they sold out of the weekly passes because I was able to buy the DD a $99 pass on Wednesday once we found out we would be missing 2 of our ports. By that time, we heard the all clear to go to the rooms, so off we went to check out our suite and unpack. We were able to have our steward open the divider between our balconies and had fun having most of the group having “happy hour” on the balcony before going to the muster drill. DD and DH went to the casino welcome aboard party.

After the muster drill, back to the balcony for sail away and to continue happy hour. We had early (6 pm) seating in the Scarlett. You might want to request to be in the Crimson or as forward as possible in the Scarlett if you do not like a lot of bouncing. We were in the very center back and it was bouncy all week. The first night we would watch our silverware dance on the plates. I don’t get seasick per say, but my inner ear and tummy were not always happy campers during dinner because of the motion sort of like minor airplane turbulence. All afternoon and evening, we made the DD wear a 21st birthday tiara. The waiters were great playing a long with the belated birthday party and even gave her a tiramisu shot. The service this night was slow but the courses didn’t have long wait times in between so you didn’t realize how long you had been there until we realized we were one of last ones in the place.

After dinner, it was off to the encore for games, bingo and welcome aboard fund. DD won the first bingo of the trip of $500 and a Diamond International necklace. She then was picked for the math show. After all that fun and games, it was time for the show. As mentioned in previous reviews, the male singer was fine but Joanne seems to scream her songs instead of just singing. It didn’t ruin the show but it was off putting.

Sunday first sea day

Off to brunch we go. DF has this need to at something as soon as it opens so at 9 am down we went to the Crimson for Punchliner. Yes they did hold our meal to insure we were eating to hear the comedian. Wasn’t anything special but wasn’t horrible either. We all got omelets as we were still a little full from dinner but DF wanted his free drink so . . .

The rest of the day was for trivia, casino, bingo, and just kicking back.

Monday, Cozumel: DH and DD went off to golf. DM, DF, their friends and I went shopping. Of course we dropped the boys off at the “beach” area with loungers, hammocks, and sofas. They claimed they were watching the ship to be sure no one “stole” it. More like nap time. DH and DD were happy to have time together. They said the course was nice, a little slow, but they got lots of pictures of lizards and birds. A bottle of Champagne from the Player Club was in the room so off to dinner it went with us.

Tuesday Belize: DH and DD were off to river tubing and zip lining. There were conflicting stories that night that some groups got to go and other didn’t. Some stories were they overbooked, some private group tours said the river was too low, or weather wasn’t right. DH and DD had a blast and had to problem. 3 guess where DM, DF, their friends and I went:: yes SHOPPING! DF was adamant DM was going to get Tanzanite this trip. She found a necklace that she liked so one shopping wish list checked off. Amazingly the boys decided to go back to the ship as there were no hammocks available to keep an eye on the ship. I love chocolate so had to check out MOHO. They do give free samples but the tour wasn’t running yet and it appeared to just be behind a glass wall while they would prepare some bars. We finished poking around and decided to have a beer at Cate’s Lilly Pad Bar. The bartenders were a lot of fun and warned us not to go to town as there had been a shooting at the courthouse that morning. We never heard who got shot or why but it seemed to be maybe gang related because the radios playing in the various shops were reporting that the city square shops, bank, government offices etc were shutting down for the day. DH and DD had no problems coming back and had heard nothing until were back on board.

Wednesday Rotan but wait not so fast Sea Day Wednesday & Thursday

We were up and on the balcony having coffee and rolls to watch our entry into Rotan. We knew this was a hit or miss but we were hopeful. The waves were fairly bridge and the winds starting to kick up. Ding Dong, this is Jamie and the Captain from the big so sorry can’t dock you have a fun sea day. Bummer but a sea day is better than a day at work. No worries we have Costa Maya for a beach day tomorrow. Speed time forward to about 11:30 Ding Dong this is Jamie and The Captain from the bridge winds too back for tomorrow as well another sea day but Nassau on Friday. So no beach day. We understood but were a tad surprise of how whining some of the other passengers were. Look outside people, lots of white caps, lots of bounce on the decks and surprise, surprise outside decks closed off due to wind. Disappointed yet, glad the captain made what was the right safe decision, dud yes! The behind the fun tour was moved to Thursday so that took up 9 to 1. The rest of day trivia, casino, spa etc.

Wednesday night was the worse service for dinner. Our order wasn’t taken until 6:40 and food did not arrive until 7:10. DH refused to wait anymore and left. He spoke to the Maître D. Thursday night was better for the soup, salad, and entrée, but dessert slowed way down and again one of the last groups out.

Friday Nassau

We arrived Friday to a cloudy humid day (way better than most Jan days in the DC area so still good!) We decided to just stroll the shops. We were glad we did because it did start to rain around noon. DD got the souvenirs she wanted as well as a cute mystic topaz set. DH and DD were chosen to be in the legend show so back to room to pack and get the bags out by the 10 pm cut off. They had a blast received a lot of applause back to the room to sleep for the 5:30 room service wake up call.

 

Saturday - received room service, picked up the video from the show for DH and DD and in the Crimson at 7:15. Were in car pulling out by 7:40. Back in DC area at 8:30 pm.

 

It was a great time no super highs or lows but a good time had by all

[waynbo]

Great review! You are spot on with all your points. My wife and I were on the New Years sailing and noticed the exact same things. We had late dining and they were always late to open (which translates to early dining was slow) and we also had very slow service. We were in the Scarlet lower (port side) and there was always movement, even during calm seas.

 

We also did F2F and had a Spa room, both worth every penny.

[CShoaf21]

Any idea what the wind threshold is that made yo miss the two ports? We are on the 1/19 sailing and are looking forward to Roatan. Sorry you missed those stops, but it sounds like you made the best of it and had a nice trip. Thank you for taking the time to add a review.

[Suntanz]

Thanks for the review. Was on the Dream 2 years ago and am looking forward to a return in late March. If an extra sea day or two is the worst thing to happen on your trip, you had a darn good vacation:)

[dshefter]

Sorry you guys missed Roatan. To me, it's the best stop of the four on that itinerary. Guess we lucked out in early December. We had very little wind except for the last sea day.

 

You didn't miss too much in Costa Maya. Basically a smaller version of Cozumel...

[wdazew]

Any idea what the wind threshold is that made yo miss the two ports? We are on the 1/19 sailing and are looking forward to Roatan. Sorry you missed those stops, but it sounds like you made the best of it and had a nice trip. Thank you for taking the time to add a review.

 

Sorry I'm not really sure. It was very windy. They kept the map channel in Knots. On another post someone supposedly did the math it was 50 mph but I think that was later during the day. The waves were choppy and it was bouncy so I wasn't surprised. On Thursday when we were on the bridge a couple people tried to pin the captain down on how bad was it but he didn't give details. Our tour guide said it was the first time they had missed Roatan in 3 months. I think it is truly luck of the draw.

[wdazew]

Thanks for the review. Was on the Dream 2 years ago and am looking forward to a return in late March. If an extra sea day or two is the worst thing to happen on your trip, you had a darn good vacation:)

 

Exactly! I really was surprised (I know shouldn't have been) of how upset others were. I still say a day at sea is better than a day at work. Nothing like forced time to just chill.

[robear14]

I was on this cruise too! Our cabin was also on deck 7 - port side, aft section (but closer to the middle). We had an interior room.

 

I'll admit it - I was one of those grumbling passengers :p We had a Mayan ruin tour booked for Costa Maya, so I was really bummed about that. Plus, I had already been to Nassau before (I call it Nasty Nassau), so I wasn't thrilled about going back. Yes, it sure did beat working, but after two sea days in a row, I was ready to get off the ship!

 

The smell - I did find it! I don't know whether to be happy about it or not... I think I only experienced it once inside in the aft staircase on the lower decks. Outside, I did smell it once around the jogging track where there's a bunch of louvered panels on the aft starboard side. Again, those were the only two times. I never noticed it in the interior hallways. I explained to the group that I was with that it's a known "feature" of the ship!

 

Dining service - I had the early seating in the Crimson Upper. Service was FAST! Most nights, we were out before 7:30. We never experienced motion problems or bouncing where we were - I guess we got lucky in our seating assignment.

 

As far as embarkation - we got to the port around 11:30 and there was no waiting and no lines. We're on the red tier and had 2 newbies with us, but we didn't have to wait to get on to the ship. The only thing that we had to wait for was our room to be ready, and then we waited an hour or so for our bags to show up after that. It was the quickest embarkation we've had.

[MissMeggieMurphy]

very good review full of useful information and i really appreciate the time elements. were people around you eating faster or was the food prep holding everybody up? sorry you missed some ports, winter seems to have its consequences even if the caribbean.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[wdazew]

very good review full of useful information and i really appreciate the time elements. were people around you eating faster or was the food prep holding everybody up? sorry you missed some ports, winter seems to have its consequences even if the caribbean.

 

I couldn't pin down what the issue was. We did have a group of 13 so i think he handled his other tables first. Wednesday several waiters called in sick so ... i understand being short staff but the wait was awful and the maite d NEVER checked on us. The earliest i noticed other leaving was around 7:15. During the behind the funthe chef said they shoot for 45 minutes from 1st order to dessert. No one in our area got that fast more like 75 minutes

[put me on a ship]

Okay, we've been on the Dream twice....what is the "smell" that everyone keeps talking about??? We never noticed it!!

[wb3690]

We were also on this trip. Never noticed a smell. Had a ton of fun and the only complaint I had was how slow it was in the main dining room. We were in the Crimson. The last night there we waited over an hour for food but it seemed everyone was. Also I was so cold in the mdr. Better than being hot but I needed to go and get my sweater. Our room was on the 9th floor and it was fantastic! Great time. Better than being home!

[robear14]

The smell is that of sewer / sewage. It seems to appear in random areas at random times from what I've read. I only noticed it once in two different areas on different days...very random.

 

I'm surprised at the MDR comments... my experience was quite different; it almost felt like we were being rushed to eat everything! It was consistently quick between courses, and the maitre d' came around almost every night.

 

I will say that on debarkation day, we had the sit-down breakfast in the Scarlet and it took a while to get the food... we really didn't want to get off the ship, so we didn't mind!

[tandemcruzr]

You didn't miss too much in Costa Maya. Basically a smaller version of Cozumel...

 

Did you leave the port in either Coz or Costa Maya? San Miguel in Coz is a small city with shopping, restuarants, museum, etc. north of the port.

 

Lots of beach clubs to the south of the port, and a fantastic East side with more restuarants, bars and spectacular views.

 

In Costa Maya, there is a small fishing village by the name of Majuahual a short taxi ride from the port area with a nice beach and lots of restuarants and shops along the malecon (boardwalk/sidewalk).

 

The port area in both are nothing more than shopping areas for Carnival with all the same shops, bars, etc.

 

Venture outside the ports in these locations to really experience a fun day. And perfectly safe. Been to Coz on both cruise and land based vacations 4 or 5 times. Been to Costa Maya on 4 cruises.

[chipq]

Thanks for sharinf your cruise with us. Sorry that the ports were cancelled but you have the rifht attitude. No one's fault so a sea day is so much better than a work day.

 

http://luv2cruise.bligspot.com

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your cruise, glad you had a good time.

[robear14]

Now I'm even more bummed - found out today that Norwegian was able to dock 2 ships at Costa Maya when we were supposed to be there. A co-worker was on the Norwegian Dawn, and she said that the captain said they were lucky to dock because some other ships missed the port.

[wdazew]

Now I'm even more bummed - found out today that Norwegian was able to dock 2 ships at Costa Maya when we were supposed to be there. A co-worker was on the Norwegian Dawn, and she said that the captain said they were lucky to dock because some other ships missed the port.

 

that does bum me out. I was really looking forward to my beach day there. We have been Nassau before so it wouldn't have been my first choice but again at least we got a port. I was so ready for some land after the bouncy Thursday night sleep.

[wdazew]

We were also on this trip. Never noticed a smell. Had a ton of fun and the only complaint I had was how slow it was in the main dining room. We were in the Crimson. The last night there we waited over an hour for food but it seemed everyone was. Also I was so cold in the mdr. Better than being hot but I needed to go and get my sweater. Our room was on the 9th floor and it was fantastic! Great time. Better than being home!

 

Ocean plaza was always cold too. Dh was speaking with bar and casino staff wfo mentioned the 5th floor is alwys the coldest no rhyme or reason why

[wdazew]

Did you leave the port in either Coz or Costa Maya? San Miguel in Coz is a small city with shopping, restuarants, museum, etc. north of the port.

 

Lots of beach clubs to the south of the port, and a fantastic East side with more restuarants, bars and spectacular views.

 

In Costa Maya, there is a small fishing village by the name of Majuahual a short taxi ride from the port area with a nice beach and lots of restuarants and shops along the malecon (boardwalk/sidewalk).

 

The port area in both are nothing more than shopping areas for Carnival with all the same shops, bars, etc.

 

Venture outside the ports in these locations to really experience a fun day. And perfectly safe. Been to Coz on both cruise and land based vacations 4 or 5 times. Been to Costa Maya on 4 cruises.

 

Dh and Dd went golfing in cozumel. I don't get to spend a lot of time with the parents so when they said just wanted to hang in port it was more time to visit. We've been to cozumel before so have done talum, beach, dolphins etc.

 

We missed costa maya and rotan

[25years2gether]

Thanks for the review. I was also on the same cruise with DH and our 3 kids in their twenties and their significant others. I was a little apprehensive before reading your review -- hoping you weren't going to be a whiner about the missed ports. Thank you for that. Someone asked how windy it was. I read 87 km per hour which translates to around 50 mph. or so. We went up on deck 12 (?) and played some mini golf which was hilarious. The ball was blowing all over the place. I probably saw you at trivia as we played a lot of that during the week (yes it was very cold there) and we all had fun learning corn hole (bean bag toss). Although it was disappointing missing Isla Roatan (we had a day of parasailing/beach planned), I could imagine trying to parasail in those winds. My question to you is about Belize. We had planned cave and river tubing with VIV tours planned. When we got there, they said the river was too high and unsafe. Are you saying that your husband and daughter got to river tube? If so, what company did they go with? We were pleasantly surprised by the Bahamas, after all I had read on cruise critic. We just went to the public beach beside Atlantis and had a great day drinking those wonderful coconut drinks:D and frolicking in the big waves. As far as the smell everyone talks about, I did smell it on deck 3, right near a door that said 'venting room' do not enter. That kind of explains it all right there. D.

[travlngrl1996]

Great review!