Carnival Dream Review -- with our 2 children

[brookeq]

I am back!

 

Day 2 -- Day at Sea

 

Our first morning I was up early so I decided that I would go for a run. I went up and used the jogging track. There were several people walking/running. It was nice to run with this view:

 

I will say that every time I went around and was on the left side of the ship there was a terrible smell like sewage. I had read that certain areas of the ship have this type of smell. Well this was one of the spots!

 

After my run I went back to the room and we took the kids to the dining room for brunch. I am sorry to say that I did not take any food pictures this trip. Sorry. I ordered the huevos rancheros and husband had the steak and eggs. Both were good and much better than anything at the buffet. My son had the mac n cheese and he enjoyed it. My Daughter had the pancakes. I tasted them and thought they were just ok.

 

We explored the ship a little. We went to deck 5. This is the deck that goes around the entire ship. We checked out the giant chess board and the corn hole games. (they only had 3 bean bags for this ?)

 

At 10am camp carnival opened and we took the kids to try it out. I read a lot of mixed reviews about the kids club on the Dream. I was very nervous that the kids would not enjoy it. I had also read that the counselors would give you a pick up time earlier then when they closed. Neither was the case for us. Our kids loved camp carnival and asked to go all of the time. I actually felt a little bad leaving them there so much but they really wanted to go every time.

 

The line to get in at 10am gets backed up on the first day so get there a little early.

 

With the kids in camp we had some free time to just relax. The serenity deck was already pretty full. We found a nice spot in the sun on the deck below the serenity deck but above the water park area. The weather was starting to warm up. We started out in jeans and eventually changed to swimsuits or summer type clothes.

 

For lunch we ate at the buffet. I don't remember what I got. I think just random stuff from the buffet. Dh had the indian food again. Kids had hot dogs.

 

The kids loved their first day at camp carnival and came back with prizes and their face painted.

 

They also got to meet Fun Ship Freddy. (and got a hard back book about him too)

 

Camp Carnival often took pictures of the kids doing their special activities and you could buy them if you wanted.

[brookeq]

Here is a shot of the main pool area. It wasn't too crazy.

 

We took the kids to the water slide area. They loved the kid slides and spent tons of time there during the week. It was never to crowded. We usually were there after 2pm so I am not sure if that had anything to do with it.

 

 

The adults did ride each of the bigger slides at least once. Here is a shot of the racing slides.

 

 

 

They also have a tunnel slide and one of those funnel/toilet bowl slides. The water on these were a little chilly. FYI these slides close if it is too windy (which our last day was)

 

That night was the first formal night. We gave the kids the option of eating with us or eating with the kids club. They chose kids club. So we dropped them off at 6 and then went down to the Crimson dining room immediately after. We got a table right away.

 

(I had a terrible flat hair day --Ugh)

 

I don't remember our waiters name but our service was very slow that night. I am not really complaining though because I was not in a hurry. I ordered the minestrone soup and the pasta with bacon. Both were good. Dh had the lobster and shrimp. And we both had the chocolate melting cake. I got this often and it was always baked perfectly.

 

After talking with our friends and DH we agreed that the food in the dining room was good but nothing was really that exciting that we still talk about it. But we didn't ever have a bad meal.

 

Later that night we watched the NFL playoff games on the big screen and enjoyed our pizza and ice cream.

 

 

Then it was off to bed to get a good night sleep before our day in Cozumel. We were all excited!

Edited January 31, 2014 by brookeq

[brookeq]

I will try to post my Cozumel review tomorrow hopefully. If not this weekend.

[Gingee]

Your kids are darling.

 

Are the cell phones a new thing or just for parents with kids?

 

I would have loved that when we dropped our daughter off.

[brookeq]

Your kids are darling.

 

Are the cell phones a new thing or just for parents with kids?

 

I would have loved that when we dropped our daughter off.

 

The cell phone are from camp carnival. Go the first night to get one because they can run out.

 

We had kids in the youngest room. Not aure if they give them to you for older kids.

[dnj1]

Loving the review. Sailing the Dream in August with kids.

[zzapper]

We are taking our first ever cruise in March on the Dream, also with two kids. I must say I'm disappointed to hear about the food. I don't have super high expectations, but still...the buffet is bad and the MDR is just ok? Can you elaborate a little more please? What restaurants would you compare them to?

 

 

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[brookeq]

We are taking our first ever cruise in March on the Dream, also with two kids. I must say I'm disappointed to hear about the food. I don't have super high expectations, but still...the buffet is bad and the MDR is just ok? Can you elaborate a little more please? What restaurants would you compare them to?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We have never liked the buffets on any ship. So that was no surprise to us.

 

I thought all of the other options in the lido were good. Just not the buffet

 

Everything in the mdr was good. Just nothing stood out as really really good. We were spoiled with the food on our celebrity cruise. That has been out favorite dining experience so far. So I was probably comparing it to that.

 

.

[brookeq]

I am back for some more...

 

Day 3 -- Cozumel

 

I was up early again so I got another run. The smell was still there on the left side. It was much warmer then my run the day before so I was getting excited for our day.

 

We had breakfast on the lido deck. I got an omelet that was good. I also got plenty of bacon from the server (some people complain about this). I will say that for a buffet the bacon was consistently good all week. I always got fully cooked and crispy pieces.

 

When the cruise director announced it was ok to get off the ship we walked out to the elevator area. We were already on deck 1. And a room steward showed us to a door and it took us straight to another gangway so we were off the ship before most people with no line.

 

 

Our daughter spotted this mermaid and had to get her picture taken with her. She looked for at every stop but never saw her again.

 

Since we were off so early we had to wait for our friends. The walkway is a good place to get some pictures with the ship.

 

 

When our friends were off we walked thru the port and headed to the taxi stand. We had decided ahead of time that we would go to Paradise beach. We had been there several years ago and thought that it would be a good place to take the kids. We walked to the taxi stand and they had tons lined up and it was very organized. We got a van for the 7 of us. It was $26 total.

 

It was a short ride to Paradise Beach. It is $3 to enter. This fee includes beach loungers with an umbrella and also the use of their new pool. Our 2 year old was free. They do ask that you spend at least $10 on food or drinks per adult. This was no problem for us. The beach has a ton of water toys and you can buy a wristband for around $12 I think to use them all. We decided not to do this.

 

The water was very nice. THe chairs were comfortable and close to the water. The downside of this beach is that they now have a ton of water toys so it doesn't make for that picture perfect beach view while sitting in your chair. The water in this area was clear and calm and fairly warm.

 

Here is shot of the beach area that my kid took on our way back from our walk. It gives you an idea of the area.

 

 

I thought the beach would be crowded since there were several ships in port but this was not the case.

 

The kids had a blast. The water is shallow so they could play freely

 

There was plenty of sand for them to build and play in. We bought sand toys at the dollar store. We also bought some little construction trucks from the dollar store. It was nice to have toys that you didn't care if anything happened to them. We got our daughter a little plastic tea set at the dollar store and brought her Disney princess bath toys. These toys were a hit and other kids enjoyed coming and playing with our kids.

 

There was plenty of things to do, you could rent a jetski, ride a banana boat etc. Or get a massage, hair braided, or henna tattoo.

Edited January 31, 2014 by brookeq

[brookeq]

The amenities here are very nice. They have a shaded area with plenty of hammocks.

 

 

There is a trampoline that harnesses the kids in so they can jump really high. We didn't check it out so I am not sure if this costs extra or not.

 

They had 2 pretty maucaows by the bar when we arrived. I did not see them later.

 

A nice addition is the pool. It is very large and has a shallow ledge around it with loungers in the water. Very nice. The kids enjoyed the pool also.

 

We had a great lunch. We ordered the steak nachos and the fajita combo with steak, chicken, and shrimp. The steak was some of the best steak I have had when eating Mexican food. It was delicious. The nachos were a generous portion with tons of melted cheese. Yum.

 

We did order some drinks. I had a pina colada which was good. We also got our son a virgin strawberry daiquiri which he enjoyed. I took a taste and it was very good. This gives you an idea of the size of the drink

 

 

We took our group picture on the other side of the small pier so non of the water toys were in the picture. The water is not as clear here.

 

 

 

Overall it was a great day in Cozumel. Paradise beach is a good place to go for families.

 

When it was time to leave there were plenty of taxis waiting to take us back. Same $26 fare. We walked around the port a little bit and picked up some vanilla for my mother and then we were back on the ship with no lines.

 

That evening the kids chose to eat dinner with the kids club again. No complaints from us. We were seated quickly in the dining room and had a new server. Service was a little quicker this night. I had the meatloaf and it was fine. Husband had the spare ribs and I heard no complaints from him. I had the chocolate melting cake again and asked for a scoop of strawberry ice cream. I did not like it. My husband had the apple pie and got butter pecan ice cream and he enjoyed it. It was much better then the strawberry. Our friends ordered the cheese plate and it was all very good.

 

That night we had a little incident.

Warning this may be TMI for some so skip this paragraph it you want...

 

We were sleeping and around 12 am our son climbed out of his bunk. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he needed to wipe his bum. Uh oh. I took him to the bathroom and he had a huge accident. Poor boy I don't think he had enough water that day at the beach. I had to throw his underwear away and call housekeeping for new sheets. They arrived fairly quickly and the man quietly changed the sheets. These workers really do a great job on the ship.

 

Thankfully our son had no other issues that night or the rest of the trip.

We all went back to sleep to prepare for the next day in Belize.

[cruisecraze96]

That night we had a little incident.

 

I feel for you, my DD (4) has issues with this and I just know this will be us :) I might ask the room stewart for an extra set of sheets to just be ready.

 

Glad they liked the camp, I know it is hit or miss and I really hope it is a hit with DD (4), I know that DD (11) is looking forward to meeting other kids her age so as long as this is the case then she should be good to go :)

[brookeq]

I feel for you, my DD (4) has issues with this and I just know this will be us :) I might ask the room stewart for an extra set of sheets to just be ready.

 

Glad they liked the camp, I know it is hit or miss and I really hope it is a hit with DD (4), I know that DD (11) is looking forward to meeting other kids her age so as long as this is the case then she should be good to go :)

 

It seemed like the Tweens were always hanging out having a good time. They would meet at camp and hang out together in the ship. I hope your daughter has fun.

[brookeq]

Day 3 Belize.

 

Belize was a port that we had trouble deciding what to do. I initially wanted to do Mayan ruins but as I mentioned before our daughter was too young for the carnival excursions and I didn't want to do a private tour company since they are kind of far away. We looked into cave tubing. We found a company that would let us bring our young kids. But I didn't think it would be fun to have to hold our daughter on our lap the entire time. So we decided to look into a beach. Belize doesn't really have any beaches near the port so we needed to find some type of excursion. Carnival used to go to Bannister Island but recently switched their beach break to Water Caye. I could not find any info on this since it is a new excursion. There was one review on Carnival's site and it was negative. So I looked into Goff's Caye and we decided to take that excursion thru Island Marketing since it had good reviews on here and other travel sites.

 

Just an FYI when you book an excursion with outside companies they may have your start time listed in Belize time which there was an hour difference between that and ship time. So make sure you are certain about your meet time.

 

The tendering process was fairly simple. We went to the lounge and was given a number and sat down. 5 minutes later it was called and we were boarding a tender. They do pack a lot of people on them. It was about a 15 minute or so trip to the port. We happened to sit across from a polygamist family and it was interesting to see the wives all making sure they got to touch their husband. :)

 

The downside to booking this trip was we had to tender into port only to board another boat and go out past our cruise ship to Goff's Caye. Oh well what can you do.

 

The Island Marketing people were waiting with signs when we got off and were easy to find and very friendly. They walked us to a building where we checked in and then had some time to look around the shops for awhile.

 

Eventually it was time to board our boat for Goff's Caye. The trip took about a half hour maybe a little longer. Goff's caye is literally an island in the middle of the ocean with nothing else around. Here is a photo from the air to get an idea of what we were going to.

 

 

Looks awesome right?

 

You get dropped off and walk this pier to the island.

 

It is absolutely beautiful. The water around it is shallow and crystal clear. The boat drops you off and you are free to do whatever you like.

 

 

Seriously...perfect.

 

[brookeq]

My husband and his friend were going to do the snorkel part of the tour. Snorkle equipment and a guide are included. They take you back on the boat and drop you off at the reef around the island and you swim back in following a quide. It was pretty easy and perfect for first timers. My husband said they saw a lot of coral, tons of fish, and he saw a sting ray. They didn't take any pictures though. :(

 

I didn't get to go but stayed on the island with the kids. I just loved sitting their enjoying this little piece of paradise. There are no chairs to rent here and there is not a lot of shade. But it was so beautiful we didn't care.

 

 

The price includes transportation, snorkel equipment, water, rum punch or regular punch for kids. You can buy a lunch. They grill chicken cabobs, and lobster right there for you. It was pretty cheap like $10 to $12 and incuded beans/rice, and corn. We had the chicken and enjoyed it. They also had other drinks for purchase.

 

If you do book this excursion the water comes in sealed plastic bag type things. Kind of reminded me of an ice pack. So unless you want to poke a hole in it and drink bring a cup/water bottle.

 

The bathrooms are like an out house so if that bothers you this is not the place for you. Remember this an island in the middle of the ocean. :)

 

For those that didn't go on the snorkel trip there was some snorkeling near the shore if you wanted to do it. We did find some crabs and other things.

 

The entire trip was around 4 1/2 hours. I was so sad when it was time to go. We had a great time and would recommend it to anyone

 

 

We took the boat back to the port and walked around a little. My mom collects thimbles so I found one for her. Then we boarded the tender back to the ship. We didn't wait long maybe like 5 minutes. And one had just left before we got there.

 

That night the kids went to the kids club again for dinner -- there choice. We ate in the dining room. I ordered the lasagna as my appetizer. It was just ok. It was not traditional lasagna. I also ordered the filet. It was cooked perfectly and was nice and tender. DH got the same thing and his was cooked perfectly also.

 

We went and saw the singers and dancers. I think it was dancing in the streets. I thought it was kind of cheesy. I know it is cruise ship entertainment but it just wasn't very good to me.

 

We had our late night ritual with the kids to get pizza and ice cream. At bed time our son really wanted to sleep in the big bed so I slept in the bunk. It wasn't too bad. I did wake up once in the middle of the night and was so confused as to where I was! Ha ha.

 

I think that is it for day 4. Thanks for staying with me so far. Next is Day 5 -- Roatan.

[Starsantana]

Great review so far we are leaving Feb 15 and have no plans yet on what to do . It is myself and my son and another couple with 5 kids starting from 2 to 10 so I'm loving what you are writing great info on kids club and Beaches thnx so much looking forward to the rest !

[brookeq]

Great review so far we are leaving Feb 15 and have no plans yet on what to do . It is myself and my son and another couple with 5 kids starting from 2 to 10 so I'm loving what you are writing great info on kids club and Beaches thnx so much looking forward to the rest !

 

Thanks. You will have a great time. I am already trying to talk my family into another cruise. Kids said yes of course.

[UTVolsFan4Life]

Great review so far we are leaving Feb 15 and have no plans yet on what to do . It is myself and my son and another couple with 5 kids starting from 2 to 10 so I'm loving what you are writing great info on kids club and Beaches thnx so much looking forward to the rest !

 

Hey! We are on the same sailing. I am not sure if you have joined our roll call yet, but here's the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1851540

[brookeq]

Today we woke up to overcast skies. Roatan is near the end of their rainy season. When I checked the weather it showed rain every day here. :(

 

We booked a tour for Tabyana Beach thru island marketing. We headed off the boat and walked thru the port of mahogany bay. To get to the tour guide area you need to leave the port area and head left up a hill. It only took a few minutes. Then there are tons of tour guides waiting. We easily found our guide and were on our way.

 

Our guide was Norma and she took the 7 of us in a van to the beach. She was very friendly and let us make our own schedule. It took quite awhile to get to the beach. We drove around the island and saw a lot of how the people live.

 

We arrived at Bananarama dive resort. The beach was very nice. We got our wrist band and were given our beach chairs. They were close to the beach.

 

The water was nice and clear but the skies were dark.

 

 

There are a lot of vendors here. It appears they can't come up past a certain point. We were in the second row of beach chairs so were weren't bothered by it. I will say that none were rude though. They do use children to try to get you to buy stuff. I hate that.

 

 

We paid for our transportation to the beach and included in the price were beach loungers. Here is a picture that shows them. They were close to the beach. The beach actually was not that "deep", it didn't go too far back.

 

 

Our friend got her photo taken with the monkeys. we did not. I think it was $5. She got a lot of time with monkeys and wasn't rushed.

 

[brookeq]

 

We spent some time playing in the water. It did have small waves and the kids enjoyed that.

 

 

Then the heavens opened and it began to pour.

 

 

If we didn't have stuff that we needed to keep dry we would have just continued to swim but the kids were not liking the hard rain so we took cover in the restaurant. We used or free drink coupon (included in our tour) then ordered some lunch. We got a calzone and some cheese fries. Both were good. Our waitress was very nice especially to my kids.

 

The kids enjoyed playing this giant connect four game.

 

 

It rained for probably less then an hour and then we went back out to play.

 

My husband really wanted to have my little girls hair braided. As you have seen from previous pictures her hair is really short and she often gets mistaked for a boy, so he really wanted to. I didn't want to for a few reason. 1. I wanted nice formal night shots. I brought a beautiful dress and braided/beaded hair just didn't go with it. And 2. I didn't want to ruin what little hair she had.

 

took my son out to play with a beach ball and while I did that my husband took my little girl to get her hair braided. I found out to late and was not happy. I will say the lady did a good job and didn't pull it too tight on her scalp so it didn't hurt her. She sat so well it took a long time.

 

 

I was surprised how well she sat. I will admit it did look cute but I was still a little sad for formal night and peeved that my husband ignored my wishes.

 

 

[brookeq]

Amelia loved her hair.

 

 

We played in the water some more and but dark clouds started to come again and it poured again. The kids had had enough so we decided to leave and Norma was there waiting for us. I would have liked to stay longer. Not too far from our area was a place that you could snorkel. We saw people that my husband when snorkeling with in Belize and they said it was much nicer snorkeling. Lots of colorful coral. So I was a little sad that I didn't get to snorkel this trip.

 

We got back to the port and I found a thimble for my mom and then we boarded the ship.

 

We saw the ship wreck from one of the decks

 

 

We let the kids order cookies from room service. They arrived very quickly. We ordered 2 not knowing that each order was a plate of about 8 small cookies. One plate was chocolate chip the other was just a plain type cookie and not very good. The chocolate chip cookie tasted like the kind you buy in the cooler at the grocery store and pull apart and bake. But they warm so we enjoyed them.

 

Before dinner I put the kids in some nicer clothes and we got some pictures taken.

 

 

We got one with Amelia and her braids.

 

 

And this picture with both kids.

 

 

The kids at ate the kids club again. We ate in the dining room. Nothing jumped out at me so I ordered the gourmet burger with guacamole and bacon. It was very good. I also had the bitter and blanc for desert and it was good. But I liked the chocolate melting cake better.

[brookeq]

We picked the kids up at kids club and here is my only complaint from the entire week. My son had his face painted. It was a jungle theme night and he had a snake painted on his face. Our daughter was very upset that she didn't have her face pained and cried when we got her. We were told they just didn't have time to do everyone's face. I felt that if you didn't have time to do all of the kids, then you shouldn't do it. they are just too little to understand. Especially the 2 year olds. I didn't complain and it didn't ruin my trip or anything. But I did think it could be handled better.

 

Here is Hayden's face:

 

 

Moving on, that night was the Mexican fiesta party. They had a dance party on deck and my kids loved it. They both made the big screen that night.

 

 

They were throwing out mardi gras beads and some blow up toys. My kids got a hot pepper and a donkey. They also had a Mexican buffet later that night but it was too late for us.

 

We got our late night pizza and ice cream and the buffet had a delicious dessert that was called chocolate cookie cake or something like that. It was layers of chocolate cake and had some cookie piecies randomly in it. It was topped with a vanilla wafer. It was my favorite dessert of the trip so if you see it try it. I took a piece back to the room to enjoy for breakfast the next morning. :)

 

That is it for now. Next up Costa Maya

[slybear]

Nice review. Thanks for posting the Cozumel Paradise Beach photos. We will prob head there next cruise.

[brookeq]

Nice review. Thanks for posting the Cozumel Paradise Beach photos. We will prob head there next cruise.

Thanks. We really enjoyed paradise beach. It's a great place.

[MEOWSMURPHY]

Great review..your children are precious and I really enjoyed the picture of Amelia with her braids :-)..it's a Caribbean vacation and nothing speaks to me about the Caribbean than little girls with braided hair ;)..but I digress..We are going to Belize in a couple of weeks and the last time we were there we took a ships excursion to snorkel and then a beach break..the beach was not very nice...it was mainly broken seashells and it was hard to walk on and then the water, while it looked ok, once you stepped foot into it your feet were "sucked" under..not pleasant at all and then to top it off I tripped over some hidden rolled up fence plastic..down I went and since I've had two total knee replacements I am definintely not as agile as I was when I was younger...you've heard the term "beached whale" :D..that's what I felt like struggling to get up and being sucked back under..anyway we decided to stay on the ship this time around but your pictures of Goff's Cay have enticed me...I'm assuming that this was what I call a proper beach with sand and no "muck" to walk thru to get to deeper water..Could you confirm for me and I'll look into booking...I appreciate your input...thanks

[UTVolsFan4Life]

Thanks again, for writing this review.

 

It was great to hear your comments on Paradise Beach. We are going there during our cruise. I thought long and hard between Paradise Beach and Mr. Sanchos. In the end, while Mr. Sanchos said it was family friendly and I loved the romantic beach beds, I thought Paradise Beach was a little more family friendly. We don't have any kids as of yet, but we don't want to be at a wild party either. Some nice music and a wonderful atmosphere is really what we are looking to find. Also, I will be looking for some Vanilla. Can you point me to a good place to buy some?

 

In Belize and Roatan, I have heard some complaints about sand flies and the need for repellant. Did you have any issues with this on your trip?

 

I cannot wait to hear about the rest of your trip and hopefully you will be able to post the FunTimes. :D