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Carnival Dream, biggest ship on the Mississippi!

tree.critter

By tree.critter,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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tree.critter

tree.critter

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Had a wonderful time on the Dream reposition cruise and at the NOLA airport now waiting for flight back home and just wanted to share a little.

 

Embarkation was a bit crazy to start the cruise since they left out of the much smaller terminal 10 rather than the normal 6. They chased the doors and some people had to wait outside of the terminal until after they started boarding and cleared the terminal a bit. Most everyone ignored the letter asking us to wait till later for arrival..... just like me. It went pretty smoothly though considering how packed the terminal was. There was 794 platinum and 34 diamond guests along with a fairly small contingent of FTTF cruisers. Don't think the FTTF was a very good bargain this time.

 

My surprise was that Aruba is a desert island completely outside of the hurricane belt and gets very little rain. They have the second largest desalination plant in the world (next to Saudi Arabia) to provide the residents with water.... but the beaches..... gorgeous! Banana Bus tour was a blast with our roll call group. I personally love the dry desert climate and miss it after moving from CA.

 

Grand Cayman tendering was very efficient, don't think anyone had to wait more than 10-15 minutes, we'll done. Cozumel was a nice trip to Señor Frogs for me where I connected only long enough to the net to check in, GREAT homemade guacamole for this girl that knows and loves good Mexican food...... not the stuff they pretend is Mexican on the ship although some of it was passable.

 

Just prior to entering the mouth of the river while still in the gulf we had to perform maneuvers which included coming to a full stop that we're required by the coast guard to make sure the ship could maneuver the river. It was dark once we started up the river, wish we could have made the trip during the daylight but there was no mistaking the muddy brown water, even in the dark. I learned this morning that the Dream was the largest ship to ever travel on the Mississippi and being part of that first journey was fun. Local TV crew was there to greet us in the morning. It was about an hour late to start debarking due to the fact that they had to figure out exactly where/how to place her dockside.

 

All in all a great trip with some wonderful people!

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AtSeaWithChris "Live from...." Rare

AtSeaWithChris

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The logistics are interesting on the tests and positioning for the first time. I hope people post videos and pictures and stories. Sounds like you had a great cruise. We were in Aruba this month too and it's beautiful. We did the Jolly Pirates ship.

 

 

Fist-pumping gleeful rum runner!!!

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tinyrose

tinyrose

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Glad you had a good trip.

 

But am sooooo jealous. I really, really wanted to book this cruise as we love the Dream and longer cruises. Only, DH likes to drive to embarkations so repositioning cruises are a big no-no with him.

 

Aruba was surprising to us. Expected a palm tree Caribbean island and it was so totally different than that.

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KeithsKelly

KeithsKelly

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DD and I sailed on the Dream in 2011 to do an Eastern itinerary and had a wonderful time. My mom was just given a cruise certificate for two so I've chosen the Dream again, this time in July out of NOLA. I've never been to this port and just didn't realize we would head upriver, can't wait to see it!

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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Aruba was surprising to us. Expected a palm tree Caribbean island and it was so totally different than that.

 

 

Yes, a lot of people think that Aruba is a lush, mountainous tropical island and are surprised to learn that it's so dry, flat, and barren, but I do agree that it has beautiful beaches and some of the clearest water in the Caribbean.

 

I used to fly into Aruba frequently for work. From the flight deck, Aruba looks like nothing more than a little stretch of desert in the middle of the ocean.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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Bookbug53

Bookbug53

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We were originally set for this month but circumstances forced us to switch to November 2nd. :(

 

Please, we need lots of reviews from everyone. We will also be 2 days in New Orleans prior to sailing so any info will be great. :p

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xrayann06

xrayann06

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Oh wow! I sailed the elation a couple years ago and I will be on the Dream May 18th. Now that I'm seeing them side-by-side...it's almost scary. She is massive in comparison!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Forums mobile app

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Motorcycle Girl

Motorcycle Girl

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I just returned from the Dream cruise to New Orleans. Our last two prior cruises were on the Liberty. For some reason it didn't feel like the Dream was THAT much bigger. Looking at that picture is insane!!! Glad I got to see it from a different (both) perspective(s)! :D

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