A Dream-y Thanksgiving

[mdsgu]

We took the Thanksgiving cruise on Carnival Dream out of New Orleans. We live only an hour from NOLA, and we knew we just wanted to get away for the holiday, so this was a no-brainer. We previously sailed Dream in 2014. We consider ourselves fairly well-seasoned cruisers, having sailed on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian.

 

The ship itself is quite nice, but it came out of dry dock not that long ago. It is big, but not nearly as big as Norwegian Escape. While the ship was full (according to Carnival), it never seemed crowded. There were always places to sit in the lobby, Ocean Plaza (where Alchemy, Taste Bar, and Bonsai Sushi are), and Lido. They also were finishing the Christmas decorations as we boarded. Strangely, though, they never lit the tree in the lobby. For our Jewish friends, there was also a Menorah in the lobby. It was never lit, either, but, it's not yet Hanukkah.

 

We had an inside cabin. It was tight; we knew that going in, but it was sufficient. Two adults, two children aged 8 and 7. They were excited about both getting a "top bunk" every night. Obviously, an inside works even better when there are just 2 people, but it was fine for sleeping -- oh-so-dark and quiet! We slept in to about 8:30 every morning!

 

Dining was pretty good -- and much better than on our recent Escape voyage. On NCL, you can get very good dinners at the specialty restaurants, but the meals in the MDRs are lackluster. On Dream, we had very nice dinners every night. There was, of course, the requisite Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving, but there was also a duet of filet mignon and short ribs. I couldn't decide and ordered both. We had early assigned dining, and our wait staff was very good. They always remembered our drinks, and dinner never went over about 90 minutes -- which we consider to be good. We ate in the Chef's Art Steakhouse on the last night of the cruise. They had not yet switched to the new menu, so we still got the meat presentation table-side. I had surf-and-turf, which was excellent. My wife had the 9oz filet, and she said it was perfectly cooked. Service at the steakhouse was, as expected, top-notch. Dinner here, too, lasted about 90 minutes.

 

We didn't really bother with the big shows in the theater. We generally took the kids to Camp Ocean after dinner and sat in the lobby for drinks and the music. It differed every night: there was a 3 piece string group, a singing duo, and a steel drummer one night. They were all rather good. In a small bar in the back of the ship ("Song"), there was quite frequently a country duo called Whiskey & Wine. We'll just say they were ok. We did go to 5 comedy shows. The first two were funny, but the last three we went to were absolutely hilarious. If Caroline Picard, the "Cajun Queen," is on your ship, you simply must go. I didn't see any of her PG-rated shows, but her 18+ shows were great -- just be warned: she might be 65 and look like your grandmother, but she could make a sailor blush. We also went to Chris "The Flying Scotsman" Williams's show in the theater. He's the cruise director, and you can't miss him. He's the only one on the ship in a kilt 24/7. His one-man show is good.

 

Service was generally quite good, and I had expected it to be. The only complaint I have is with the bar service. Until recently, you couldn't walk 10 steps without someone asking if you wanted a drink. Now, and I assume it is because of Cheers!, half the time you have to get up and walk to the bar. There are still a few roaming bartenders, but they are a few. Our cabin steward was on point, and our stateroom was made up twice daily. Towels were quickly replaced, including our beach towels, the beds were made up every time we walked in, and the bathroom stayed spotless.

 

Our ports were ok. We didn't really choose the cruise for the ports anyway. We booked our Key West excursion (para-sailing) directly with the vendor that Carnival uses and saved $30/person. In Freeport, we went to an all-inclusive resort that offered day passes -- the beach was beautiful, and drinks and a buffet were included. We did a dolphin excursion in Nassau on Balmoral Island. That was fun, and it was booked through Carnival. The little island itself is crowded with ship tourists and excrutiatingly overpriced ($5 for a bottle of Dasani? $16 for a cheeseburger?).

 

All in all, we would definitely go again. In fact, we are already booked for June 2018. No, we didn't book onboard.

[bury me at sea]

I loved reading your upbeat review. You captured my idea of what constitutes a great cruise.

 

Thanks for sharing your wonderful Thanksgiving cruise, and happy sailing.

[pcvtmom]

Thanks for your well-written, concise review!!

[GMRPHRN]

Great Review. Thanks.

[Clarea]

Bar service on Royal Caribbean has also suffered since the advent of the unlimited drink packages. Nice report!

[mdsgu]

Bar service on Royal Caribbean has also suffered since the advent of the unlimited drink packages. Nice report!

 

Yes, but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm. My father-in-law and I got "cut off" twice and very nearly reached our limit on the other nights (no, we were never drunk or rude, we just hit that magic number of 15). Being courteous to the bar staff and a few small, well-placed tips went a long way -- there were several times we weren't charged for our drinks, especially in the MDR. ;-)

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing your trip report.

 

I am glad that overall you had a very nice time.

 

Keith

[AtticusandArella]

Our ports were ok. We didn't really choose the cruise for the ports anyway. We booked our Key West excursion (para-sailing) directly with the vendor that Carnival uses and saved $30/person. In Freeport, we went to an all-inclusive resort that offered day passes -- the beach was beautiful, and drinks and a buffet were included. We did a dolphin excursion in Nassau on Balmoral Island. That was fun, and it was booked through Carnival. The little island itself is crowded with ship tourists and excrutiatingly overpriced ($5 for a bottle of Dasani? $16 for a cheeseburger?).

 

All in all, we would definitely go again. In fact, we are already booked for June 2018. No, we didn't book onboard.

Do you mind sharing with me which AI resort that you booked in Freeport?? We will sail in 2 weeks and I still have yet to decide which resort I want to book with for the day pass. We will be docking in Montego Bay.

[mdsgu]

Do you mind sharing with me which AI resort that you booked in Freeport?? We will sail in 2 weeks and I still have yet to decide which resort I want to book with for the day pass. We will be docking in Montego Bay.

 

It was the Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort that I booked through Resort for a Day.com. But that was Freeport, Bahamas. If you are going to Montego Bay, that's a completely different island and completely different itinerary! :D

[dsotm73]

 

If Caroline Picard, the "Cajun Queen," is on your ship, you simply must go. I didn't see any of her PG-rated shows, but her 18+ shows were great -- just be warned: she might be 65 and look like your grandmother, but she could make a sailor blush.

 

Caroline is from just south of here, and we love our Cajun Queen. If you like your humor on the raunchy side, she'll fit the bill. We're on the Dream in a few weeks and her schedule has her on our sailing as well.

 

Nice review!

[AtticusandArella]

It was the Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort that I booked through Resort for a Day.com. But that was Freeport, Bahamas. If you are going to Montego Bay, that's a completely different island and completely different itinerary! :D

Apparently, I mixed Freeport and Falmouth. 17 more days to go but my brain is already on vacation. 😆

[mdsgu]

Apparently, I mixed Freeport and Falmouth. 17 more days to go but my brain is already on vacation. 😆

 

Totally understandable! But you can still use that website to see if there are any resorts you could use. They apparently have deals with resorts all over the Caribbean.

[Melissalcsw]

Great review indeed, sounds like a great time!