Carnival Dream B2B Cruise Review

[NWACruiser]

 

We were able to get FTTF for this leg of the cruise. Therefore we were not required to board during a certain time period. We still had to register for an embarkation time, so we chose 11:00. We planned to get to the port around 10:30 though so we can time the debarkation times and embarkation times so we have a minimal issue with traffic.

 

We also did not get off at the Tchoupitoulas Street exit as the Ponchartrain Expressway was coming to a standstill. We got off at St. Charles Street and took the back roads to the port. We did not hit any traffic issues until we got to the port itself.

 

We paid our two weeks parking charge (which confused the parking lot attendant, as she was not expecting us to park for two weeks.) We unloaded the car and parked on the fourth deck. FTTF gives us priority embarkation and 15 minutes later we were through security, customs, and checked-in. About 45 minutes later, we were on the ship heading to cabin 9257.

 

This was our first inside cabin ever on a ship, so we did not know what to expect. The layout was different, as the bed was against the wall opposite the cabin door. This worked out well, as one of us did not have to completely around the bed to get in. The cabin had a chair instead of a sofa bed. It seemed a little smaller than the balcony cabins. After spending the week in the cabin, we found it to be satisfactory.

 

Our cabin steward, Maliliud, welcomed us right after we moved into the room. He asked if we wanted the room serviced in the morning, afternoon or both. We asked for both. We also requested three Fun Times each day. One for me, one for DW and one for the scrapbook. Each night, we were met with the towel animal of the day and three Fun Times.

 

We also discussed we were B2B Cruisers and needed to change cabins. He took note of it and said everything will be taken care of. Just pack up the suitcases and leave them in the cabin.

 

Once we unloaded our carry-on baggage, we headed up one floor to the Lido deck for lunch. As we did on our cruise last August, we headed to Pasta Bella. It was a good as we had remembered. After lunch, we strolled around the ship.

 

 

In sailboating and shipbuilding, Mast Stepping is the process of raising the boat's mast. It also refers to a ceremonial occasion which occurs when the mast is stepped, towards the end of a ship's construction. The ceremony involves placing or welding one or more coins into the mast step of a ship, and is seen as an important ceremonial occasion in a ship's construction which is thought to bring good luck. Although the coins were originally placed under the main-mast of a ship, they are now generally welded under the radar mast.

 

The ceremonial practice is believed to originate from ancient Rome. One theory is that, due to the dangers of early sea travel, the coins were placed under the mast so the crew would be able to cross to the afterlife if the ship were sunk. The Romans believed it was necessary for a person to take coins with them to pay Charon, in order to cross the river Styx to the afterlife and as a result of this, coins were placed in the mouths of the dead before they were buried.[3] Another theory for this practice is that the insertion of coins in buildings and ships may have functioned as a form of sacrifice thanking the gods for a successful construction, or a request for divine protection in the future.

 

I searched for the ship's coin and found it.

 

 

We also checked out the spa. We were interested in doing the Wine Package again so we headed toward the Atrium elevators on the Lido deck to sign up.

 

 

We ran into an old friend from our last cruise. Iryna was one of our servers in the dining room before. She was now working Chef Art's Steakhouse now. It took a moment, but she did remember us. We talked about the previous cruise and how Wayan, Jose and her made the dining room experience so fantastic. We met a head waiter in the Scarlet Dining room, Vladimir, at the same time. He was very friendly, and we quickly became friends. He was on his last week on the ship before holiday. He had to work an extra week due to staffing. Every time we ate breakfast in the Scarlet Dining Room, we asked for Vladimir.

 

Muster Station Drills were next. After the drill, we headed to the Lido deck for departure. The ship, when it leaves port, pushes itself sideways about 100 feet. The forward section of the ship then swings 180 degrees to the north, and away we go. We watched the passengers on the Norwegian Dawn watch us depart first.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

We waited on deck as we passed Jackson Square, Algiers Point, and finally the Lower Ninth Ward. Kudos to the people that came back to the LNW to rebuild after Katrina. There is a lot of recovery to go, but this important section of New Orleans is recovering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After passing LNW, we went to the Spa raffle. Of course we won… nothing. But it was a nice break before dinner.

 

We had early dining in the Crimson Dining Room. We had a table for four overlooking the lower section of the dining room. We met the wait staff. Zubin, Edgar, and Bernie were fantastic. More on this later. We also met our wine steward, Kendall that night. More on her later. I will say, these four people made our two weeks a cruise to remember. Our table mates did not show up the first few nights.

 

After dinner, we headed to our favorite places. Mine is the piano bar, and DW's is the casino. On the way through the Ocean plaza, I noticed Music Unlimited was still on the ship. They were great on our cruise last August. I got to the piano bar to listen to Russell Blues. DW showed up in time to head to the Punchliner Club to see comedian Ronnie Bullard. He was very funny.

 

After the show we headed to the casino where we ran into Kendall working there. We had a little time to chat with her and she was very pleasant and down to earth. It was the beginning o f a friendship.

 

I decided to check out the hidden decks forward. Since there was a door on deck nine to the deck, and our cabin was forward, this made it very convenient to head to this deck when I wanted a little peace and quiet.

[BamaCruisers2011]

Enjoying your review and the great pictures! Thank you

[NWACruiser]

The Gulf of Mexico was a little choppy, and we had some strong winds all day. The ship had some movement, but was not bad.

 

We headed to the Sea Day brunch in the Scarlet Dining Room. It was fantastic. We also ran into Vladimir. He saw us and came over to see how everything was going. We got to know him very well. He was from the Ukraine. He talked about his girlfriend was going to work for the cruise line and they were trying to get on the same ship. (He had missed her very much while on his contract.) After today, we always asked for Vladimir's tables when we ate there. We also ran into Vladimir on the Lido deck during lunch.

 

We spent some time up on the Serenity deck. The lower deck was open but due to the high winds, the upper deck was closed. I love sea days, as they are perfect to just relax and unwind from everything.

 

At dinner, we got to know our wait staff even more. The more we got to know them, the more we wanted them to be our staff for the second week. By mid-week, they knew us, and our tendencies on dining. This made it almost automatic each night. Zubin figured out Shrimp Cocktail was high on my list and a staple appetizer. Kendall had figured out what types of wine we liked and had great recommendations in mind when she appeared at our table.

 

Berny and Edgar checked up on us and catered to us. If the water glass was empty, it was filled quickly. When the appetizers were done, the plates were removed. Dinner was always hot. After we finished the meal, our table was prepared for dessert. Zubin kept everything in check, and even showed us a magic trick or two.

 

Due to the rough seas, the stage show Get Ready was cancelled. DW and I headed to see Russell Blues in the piano bar for a bit. On the way we passed the ocean Plaza where Music Unlimited playing. They were on the cruise last August and were very good.

 

After a while, we ventured forward. I stopped at the Ocean Plaza and DW hit the casino. While in the Ocean plaza, I recognized another face from the August cruise. She was one of the hotel staff. She was working hard at keeping everything clean, but seemed to take time to talk to people. When she passed me, I asked her if she was on the ship last August. She was the same person I thought I saw then. I complemented her on how hard the hotel staff works to keep the ship clean and sanitary. During the week, I got to know Cristine very well.

 

Kendall brought me a few more mai-tais in the casino. I headed up to the forward secret decks with my last one. When I opened the door to the deck, I understood why the upper Serenity deck was closed. The wind was blowing at least 35 mph and the door was tricky to open.

 

I ran into a young lady, who was up there to get away from the crowd also. She worked for Royal Caribbean as a camp counselor. She was on vacation on a Carnival ship. She was a very pleasant young lady. She was from Alabama, which is where my family is from. We talked a bit about a lot of things including scuba diving She was an active diver and I dove a long time ago. She grew tired and left.

 

There were some other young people two decks higher who watched us talk. They were having a great time being young. They finally called it a night and this old fart was the last one out there. But I fell asleep on the bench for a bit. When I woke up, I decided to grab my mai-tai, call it a night, and head to the cabin.

[NWACruiser]

We woke up to a beautiful morning as we had made it into the Caribbean. The seas were calmer, the wind was not as strong as yesterday and it would be a great day to relax at sea.

 

We headed to brunch, and asked for Vladimir's table. He saw us and came over to see how we (by first name) were doing so far. DW had the Huevos Rancheros, and I had two eggs. When things slowed down a bit Vladimir came over and we got to know each other well.

 

Today was another day to relax. We hit Serenity after breakfast. For lunch we had the Mongolian Wok. That was very good. Today was a good day to get some rest and relaxation in.

 

Once the evening set in, we went to see if we had table mates. Once again, we were solo diners. That's OK, we were getting spoiled by Zubin, Berny, Edgar and Kendall by now. Zubin had already figured out I was having shrimp cocktail every night for my appetizer.

 

After dinner, we went to the Get Ready show in the Encore Lounge. The show was very good. The dance crew was great. The lead singers did a good job. Pawel Czyrka's Stage Band performed very well. (More on them later.)

 

At 10:00, we heeded to the red Frog's Lido Party. I got out to dance. We did the Congo line, while I was taking video. Afterwards, we made it to Cowboy Bill Martin's show in the comedy club. He was very funny and had a unique perspective to life. After the show, we headed to the casino to see if anything was going on.

 

 

 

[Librarian365]

I am enjoying your review very much! We sail in 2 weeks! Keep up the good work. :)

[NWACruiser]

Snorkeling on the Day Dreamer

 

We woke up early to get ready for our snorkel trip. Instead of hitting the Scarlet Dining Room for breakfast, we opted for the Lido deck. Mongolian Wok turns into an omelet station for breakfast. We have a process to Lido buffet breakfast. DW gets the omelet she wants and my 2 eggs over-hard, while I get the rest of the food in the line. This speeds up the process.

 

DW was not feeling well this morning, so I had to go alone on the expedition. All my fellow snorkelers met at the dock. We walked down to get onto the Day Dreamer. After getting settled, the crew discussed the morning's plan as we headed to the reef. The reef was located in Montego Bay, therefore in 15 minutes we were getting ready to snorkel.

 

 

The guides went over the equipment and safety briefing before we entered the water. They divided everyone into groups of experienced snorkelers, and not so experienced snorkelers. I went with the experienced snorkelers. I gathered my gear and got ready to snorkel. We were fairly free to do what we wanted to do, but stay somewhere with the guides, in case of trouble. After jumping into the water, I headed out to the reef.

 

 

The reef was pretty good. There were some fish, mostly smaller ones. We did see a young ray swimming along, and an eel was sighted. The water was decent.

 

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

 

Once we were done, we loaded back onto the Day Dreamer. The rum punch was served and we headed to Margaritaville. We spent about an hour at Margaritaville before heading back to the Dream.

 

 

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

After a quick shower, DW and I headed to the port to do some shopping. After shopping, we headed to the Lido deck to raid the buffet. The Mongolian Wok was the choice of the afternoon. It was fantastic. We picked out our food, and they woked it for us. The Schezwan sauce had a bit of a kick.

 

After walking around the ship to get some photos, a quick nap was needed before we left Jamaica.

 

We went to the dining room expecting to be solo again. Well, Michael and Donna made it to the dining room before us. They were having a great time in the casino and were actually winning. The reason for missing dinner all week was the lack of a watch.

 

After dinner, I headed to the Lido deck to catch the end of Jurassic World. We had already seen it in the theater. Next up was Star Wars, The Force Awakens, which I had not seen. DW joined me for that movie. It was a first to watch a movie under the stars in the middle of the Caribbean. I can now remove it from my bucket list.

 

After the movie was over, we headed to the casino for a bit. I got my mai-tai and headed to my private deck forward to unwind before arriving in Grand Cayman.

[NWACruiser]

Today was to be a relaxing day doing our thing in Georgetown. We planned to walk into George Town, grab a taxi and head to Seven Mile Beach. We woke up when we were ready. After breakfast in the Lido deck. We caught a tender to George Town.

 

 

Grand Cayman is known for its wild chickens that walk around town. We walked over to a rum cake shop to get some free samples. A wild chicken was over there looking for leftovers. It seems he needed a little rum to start the day.

 

 

We started a walkabout toward Seven Mile Beach. Along the way, everyone was looking at a tree. Curiosity made us look also. There were two iguanas in the tree. They were minding their business while the tourists gawked at them.

 

 

Did you know? In Central America, where iguana meat is frequently consumed, iguanas are referred to as "bamboo chicken" or "chicken of the trees."

 

A little farther up, there was a little cove with fish swimming in it.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

Storms were moving in, so we grabbed the first ride available. A taxi stopped and took us to Royal Palm Resort for a day visit. Before we got there, the storms hit. We checked in with a day pass and headed for shelter. We found a place to relax while it was raining. It was a typical tropical shower, and was gone in 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

We took the taxi back to George Town to do a little shopping before we rode the tender back to the ship.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

Passengers were relaxing on the ship awaiting departure.

 

 

 

 

 

We had to leave Grand Cayman an hour early, so we watched the ship do its 180 thing and away we went to Cozumel.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

After dinner, we headed to the Ocean Plaza to see the Show Band play. They were doing a tribute to Prince, who had passed away that morning. The band put on a show, and they thoroughly enjoyed playing to the crowd. DW went to the casino and I stayed there for the rest of the evening. I got to know several members of the band that night. I let them know we were on a Back-to-Back cruise.

 

While listening to the band, I struck up a conversation with a few members of the dance troupe. When the band played a good swing song, Lauren, one of the dancers, pointed to me and the floor. I could not pass the chance and I showed Lauren a few things about swing dancing.

 

When the band finished for the evening, I headed to the casino to see how DW was doing. She was having a good time chatting with our table mates and Kendall, the bar waitress. I hung around for a while before heading to my private deck forward.

 

Cozumel was coming quickly, so it was time to call it a night.

[NWACruiser]

I was planning on doing Cozumel through the end of week one tonight, but photobucket.com seems to be having issues. :mad::mad::mad:

 

Will be back tomorrow. :D

[pink roses]

following.. awesome photos..... I love the Dream

[Sthomp]

Enjoying your review!

[bakersdozen12]

Thanks for taking the time to write this. My husband and I did the same itinerary on the Dream last fall, so it is bring back nice memories. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[NWACruiser]

We woke up fairly early, even though we were not going to arrive until noon in Cozumel. We headed to the Scarlet Dining Room for breakfast today. We asked for Vladimir's table again. He served us another good breakfast.

 

After breakfast, we wandered around the ship for a bit. We arrived early in Cozumel, so we went back to the cabin to get everything ready to head to Nachi Cocum.

 

We grabbed a taxi at the port. 20 minutes later we arrived at Nachi Cocum. The hostess gave us a briefing of the place.

 

Nachi Cocum is an all-inclusive day resort on the south side of Cozumel. They take care of the little things so all you have to do is relax. It is a family-friendly place. They do not allow rowdy behavior in any way. If you want to party like its Spring Break, find another place to go.

 

 

 

 

We were escorted to the beach by our waiter. He set us up with a couple of lounge chairs and took our drink orders. He checked back with us regularly to see how everything was going.

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

The water was a little chilly when you went in. Once you were in the water it was great. They had a few excursions that were third party. But we were satisfied with the beach.

 

 

 

 

We had enchiladas verdes and tamale soup for lunch. In our previous visits to Cozumel, we have not had a bad meal. This was no exception. We also had chips and salsa. I asked for the verde sauce as a dip. I thought it was better than the salsa. The salsa did have more bite though.

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we were ready to head back to the ship. The water around the port is very clear. Even though the water is deep enough for a cruise ship to dock, you can see the sea bed.

[NWACruiser]

 

 

We had three other ships visiting that day. They were the Liberty of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, and the Norwegian Getaway.

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

Some of the excursions tend to arrive with a splash.

 

 

 

 

Others arrive with a little less of a show.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

One of the enjoyable moments in Cozumel is to watch the people return to the ships after spending the day. Many excursions arrive close to the ship's departure times. They want their guests to have as much fun as possible.

 

Other people spend the day in port. It seems everywhere you go in Cozumel, you can get a free shot or two. You will get to see some people weaving back to the ship. It is a long walk from the port to the ship. Fortunately, Puerta Maya has some wide docks.

 

 

 

After the final straggler made it back to the ship, The Carnival Dream set sail for New Orleans.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

Tonight was the second elegant night, so we dressed for dinner.

 

Dinner was great, as usual. I did not even have to order my shrimp cocktail. Zubin brought two. We had Kendall select our wine for us. (By now, she knew our tendencies.)

 

Since we had enjoyed our wait staff so much, I asked Zubin what do we need to do to get them for the next week. He said he will take care of it. I also talked to Davor, the Maitre'd, and Ionela, his assistant, to let them know the situation.

 

During the nightly entertainment and dance time, during dinner, I joined the wait staff. I never said I have rhythm. I do enjoy getting out and having fun.

 

After dinner, we changed back to comfortable clothes. We walked the promenade to see what is going on. I settled in the Ocean Plaza to listen to Music Unlimited. While there, the band let members of the audience sing. There were a few people that could really sing (not like karaoke, but actually could sing on the professional level).

 

 

 

 

After the Ocean Plaza closed for the evening, I had to go to my private deck with the camera. It was a full moon! So I took a bunch of photos with different settings to get the one I wanted.

 

 

After getting my shot, I went to the casino to see how DW was doing and show off the photo. Since it was a sea day coming up, so we tried to close the ship.

[NWACruiser]

It was the last day of the cruise. This is normally the day everyone gets ready to head home. We were not leaving the ship tomorrow. Because we could not get the same cabin on the next cruise, we had to prepare to transfer to the new cabin.

 

It was breakfast in the Scarlet Dining room again. We saw Vladimir again. We wished him well and hoped to see him again on another cruise.

 

It seemed to be just a normal "last day of the cruise" day. Little did we know…

 

After breakfast, we went to the cabin to see what we needed to pack. There was a to do list to prepare for week two. We organized what had to be washed. It was a mutual decision to make Sunday the wash day, so we headed down to the Promenade deck to see what was going on… We found out.

 

It was the Day the Casino Died!

 

 

 

Yes, the casino had no power. The slots were dead. The only gaming action was on the tables. Nobody knew when they would come back up. So people picked their machine and waited, and waited, and waited. Premier Casino was nice about it. They provided free drinks to everyone sitting at a slot machine. Maybe that was the reason people stayed at their slot. Sometime, late in the afternoon, the casino came back to life.

 

Before dinner, we finished packing for the transfer to our new cabin tomorrow. Normally, you leave your luggage outside your cabin the night before you debark. The stewards pick it up and transfer it to storage. Since we were back-to-back, we left ours in the cabin. In the morning, our steward picked up the luggage and transferred to the new cabin, once it is ready for us.

 

It was goodbye night at dinner. It was sad to have to say goodbye to all the friends we made at the tables around us. The crew sang their swan song. They hope to see you again. Then they did their nightly dance. I had to join in the party.

 

 

 

After dinner, I headed to the Ocean Plaza to listen to Music Unlimited again. The two guests who sang the night before were there again. Music Unlimited let them join in again tonight. It seemed like they were all playing their last gig. It was their last gig on the ship. Their contract ended on this cruise.

 

After a visit to the casino to check on DW, I went to the forward deck to watch the entry into the Mississippi River. The first leg was almost over.

[NWACruiser]

Today was the day we had to leave our cabin, debark the ship, go through customs, and then head…. BACK ON THE SHIP! What a bummer! (NOT)

 

After eating breakfast on the Lido deck, we went back to the cabin to collect our carry-on luggage. We were supposed to meet in the lobby to get ready to complete debarkation. We waited there for a while. We were joined by some vendors who were working on the ship. Finally we debarked the ship and went through customs. This was a little humorous. The crew member that walked us through customs, brought us back to the ship immediately. At this time, the crew that have finished their contracts were debarking. We met Vladimir one last time on the gangway as we were heading back on the ship… or so we thought.

 

Security came in and had a different idea. So we had to stand on the gangway to see what was going on. After a little bit, security came back and said we must go through security before coming back on the ship. So we headed back off the gangway, went through security, walked passed all the passengers waiting to get on the ship (including all the Platinum guests) and walked back on the ship.

 

Once back in the lobby, we were given free mimosas while waiting for the cabin to be ready. Finally the Hotel manager came by and said our cabin was ready, so off we went. We arrived to our new cabin, fully decorated for DW's birthday. About fifteen minutes later, our cabin steward, Christian, brought our luggage to the room.

 

In the meantime, The Coast Guard was inspecting the ship, and almost every crew member was going through drills. We unloaded our carry-on, and walked onto the Lido deck. I never thought I would ever see an entire cruise ship virtually empty.. except us. I was ready for the Captain to pull out and head down the Mississippi.

 

 

 

It took another hour and a half to complete the Coast Guard inspection and the rest of passengers to embark. While I was looking at the pier from my balcony, I wondered if the passengers inside the pier were envious of us having already boarded.

 

Back to Reality

 

I called a friend of mine to describe how empty the ship was. After a while I finally saw passengers coming up the gangway to embark. We were not going to be the only passengers on the ship.

 

We had to do laundry, so off we went to get it done. By this time, we were hungry so we headed to Pasta Bella for lunch. We also had to make a reservation to Chef Art's Steakhouse for tonight to celebrate DW's birthday. I had to specify a certain table, so we could visit an old friend from the August cruise. In the meantime, it seemed other passengers needed to do laundry, so it was wait for a machine to open and grab it.

 

I was pulling the last load out of the dryer when muster drills were called, so we went through the same drill, in the same location, once again. Once muster drill was over, the Carnival Dream was ready to set sail to Isla Roatan, Honduras.

 

We went to the Lido deck to watch the Norwegian Dawn passengers watch us debark first. It was another beautiful night to cruise the river. We stopped by the Crimson Dining Room to verify our dining time. We were scheduled for late seating, but, the crew took care of us and changed it to early, at the same table, and the same wait team.

 

 

 

Iryna was a little surprised to see us at her table that night. We had to talk about the August cruise, and how her team made dinner a blast. She is a hard worker, but enjoys meeting people. She is a great ambassador for Carnival.

 

 

After dinner, we had to check out the comedy club, Ocean Plaza, and everything else. After all, we were still cruising.