Detailed Photo Review of Carnival Dream 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise 3/10/19

[MeganGC1983]

We leave to sail the Dream in 353 hours... not that I’m counting or anything! Looking forward to your full report! Thanks! 

Edited March 22, 2019 by MeganGC1983

[LBumb]

I’m ready too

[miss tea]

On 3/21/2019 at 7:40 AM, deladane said:

Hi Everyone!  I’m baaaack!  After 3 consecutive Carnival cruises from 2012-2015, I’ve been on a bit of a Carnival hiatus for the last few years.  Nothing against Carnival… it was just time to try something new and different.  I always knew I’d be back sooner or later, and now that day has come!

 

My name is Dana and my husband and I just returned from a 7-night cruise on the Carnival Dream (March 10-17, 2019 sailing).  I always write a detailed photo review when I return home from my cruises, with a journal-style day-by-day format.  I used to have links to each of those reviews in my signature, but Cruise Critic changed their rules (boooo!) and I had to delete most of the links.  You can still search the forums for those reviews (or visit my blog at http://deladane.home.blog), if you are interested in reading them!  Anyway, this review will be just like my old ones.  If you are looking for a short and sweet review, you might want to look elsewhere... I tend to write like I talk, and I can be a bit long-winded, so my reviews are very long and take a few weeks to complete.  On the other hand, if you like reading about lots of details, and if you want to see TONS of photos (including all of the daily schedules and menus), this is the review for you!  I do this as much to help others plan their vacations as to give me a travel log to look back on and remember my wonderful cruise.  Please feel free to ask questions and post comments along the way... I welcome your feedback 🙂

 

It may take me a little while to get all of my photos sorted and loaded onto my computer considering I took nearly 2000 photos on this vacation, so please be patient with me.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip as a little something to hold you over until it's time to post the rest!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't see any of the pictures

[deladane]

1 hour ago, miss tea said:

Can't see any of the pictures

 

Oh no!! I’ll reply to the rest of the comments after work, but is anyone else unable to see the photos?? They show up fine for me, so I’m not sure why it’s not working for you.  Can everyone else see them?

[louanne93]

38 minutes ago, deladane said:

 

Oh no!! I’ll reply to the rest of the comments after work, but is anyone else unable to see the photos?? They show up fine for me, so I’m not sure why it’s not working for you.  Can everyone else see them?

 

They show up for me!

[willma]

Hi Dana. I can see them and I’m in England! 

I’m looking forward to another of your very engaging reviews. 

I am off to the Caribbean next week for the first time in my cruising life, and am looking forward to trying out some of those beautiful beaches.

Reading reviews like yours have provided so much useful information, so thanks for that.

[tandemcruzr]

Yes, I can see your photos. Nice --

[deladane]

4 hours ago, miss tea said:

Can't see any of the pictures

 

Hmmm, it looks like other people can see the photos, so maybe you can try using a different browser?

[pirate4me2]

We sail the Dream for the second time next month, I can’t wait! Hopefully your review will tide me over. 

 

I love the countdown candy jar idea, btw!

[deladane]

11 hours ago, cruisinwithdad said:

Dana, thank you for posting your review!  I love the long ones and it will help me as I obsess and wait for my vacations.

 

I am 51 days out from our girls cruise on the Freedom and can't hardly wait.  We also have a family vacation booked to Greece this summer, but that is still 132 days away!!  To be honest, I booked the cruise to keep me occupied until our Greece trip.  I love your idea about the candy jar countdown and will implement this with my grandkids for our Greece trip.  They have a similar countdown block as we do.

 

Oh wow, that's so fun that they make a block specifically for countdowns.  When we got home, I erased our cruise countdown on my dry erase board and started the countdown for our Paris/London trip.  90 days to go!!  Both of your trips will be here before you know it!

[deladane]

11 hours ago, kpark895 said:

Looking forward to more of your review, Dana!

 

Thanks for reading!

[deladane]

11 hours ago, mrsv41605 said:

Great review so far, eager to read more!  Thanks for doing this review--we are going on Dream April 14 (different itinerary though), and doing very similar NOLA activities leading up to the cruise. 

 

 

Your cruise is coming up so soon!  The Dream was a great ship... you have a lot to look forward to!

[deladane]

11 hours ago, mkcurran said:

Love the pictures and love the planning.

 

Thank you!!

[deladane]

10 hours ago, Border Granny said:

Galveston

Love NOLA but Galveston is our home port so we’re thrilled she’ll be there for a while. I know you’ll be a fount of information, I may drive you crazy with questions!  

 

nah, you can never ask too many questions!  Bring it on!! 😉

[deladane]

10 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

I just found your review and so happy I did!  As you know, I always enjoy your reviews and the beautiful pictures you take and share with us.  I am also really looking forward to your pre-cruise section in New Orleans.  We were there for about a week in May 2018 and had also been there once before, years ago.  We got a kick out of some of the stuff in some of those souvenir shops on Bourbon Street...only on Bourbon Street!  🙂  While there I was actually able to watch Dream sail in one morning (and Triumph the next) from the window in our hotel room since we got lucky and had a room on a higher floor facing the river.  I got up early just to see them.  We were in the Wyndham on Royal Street (a block from Bourbon Street) and very close to Canal Street and were with a group of friends to celebrate a milestone birthday.  Again, I am really looking to following along on your review. 

 

Holly

 

Hey Holly!  So glad you found my review!  Your hotel was in a great location.  We stayed out on Magazine Street so it was like 15 min from Bourbon Street.  No question that Bourbon Street is a very special place haha  Hopefully that part of my review will bring back fun memories for you!

[mama_2_boys]

So excited for your review! We sail on the Glory out of NOLA in October! 

[deladane]

22 hours ago, SleepingUgly said:

I am very much looking forward to this trip report, Dana!  We will be hitting up two of these ports on an upcoming cruise (not for a while, boo) so really excited to read about your experiences.  I know just how time-consuming these reports can take, so thanks so much in advance for dedicating the time to share your thoughts and photos with us!

 

Linda

    

 

Hi Linda, Which two ports are you going to?  We actually really liked all of the ports on this cruise, so you can't go wrong!  It'll take me a few weeks before I get through all the ports, but I promise to get there eventually hehe  BTW, I love your screenname! haha 

[deladane]

22 hours ago, JustLikeHeave80 said:

Ill be sailing the Dream out of NOLA on 5/5/19. SOO excited to read your review!! We also booked last minute and FTTF is sold out, Ill be checking a few times a day in hopes something become available!

 

Definitely keep checking every day for FTTF!  It will probably open up soon if your cruise goes on the same schedule that mine does.  In fact, when FTTF finally did open up, there wasn't as much urgency to purchase as I anticipated because it was still available a day or two after that.  

[deladane]

21 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

We leave to sail the Dream in 353 hours... not that I’m counting or anything! Looking forward to your full report! Thanks! 

 

hahaha I love that you countdown by hours instead of days.  Hope you have a great cruise!

[deladane]

21 hours ago, LBumb said:

I’m ready too

 

Thanks for reading!

[deladane]

19 hours ago, louanne93 said:

 

They show up for me!

 

Ok good, thanks for letting me know!

[deladane]

18 hours ago, willma said:

Hi Dana. I can see them and I’m in England! 

I’m looking forward to another of your very engaging reviews. 

I am off to the Caribbean next week for the first time in my cruising life, and am looking forward to trying out some of those beautiful beaches.

Reading reviews like yours have provided so much useful information, so thanks for that.

 

You must be so excited!  The Caribbean is very different from vacations in Europe, but it's so fun and has a lot to offer so you'll love it!  I have been doing a lot of planning for our Paris/London trip and it is so different from planning for Caribbean beach vacations haha  

[deladane]

18 hours ago, tandemcruzr said:

Yes, I can see your photos. Nice --

 

Great!  Thanks for letting me know!

[deladane]

13 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

We sail the Dream for the second time next month, I can’t wait! Hopefully your review will tide me over. 

 

I love the countdown candy jar idea, btw!

 

Thanks!  It's become a fun tradition for us 🙂  If you ever decide to do it, make sure you pick a candy that won't go stale.  The year I used candy corn was kind of a fail because they got rock hard by the week or two before the cruise haha

[deladane]

7 hours ago, mama_2_boys said:

So excited for your review! We sail on the Glory out of NOLA in October! 

 

How fun!  Hopefully my pre- and post-cruise posts will help with your planning! 🙂