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

[deladane]

1 hour ago, vicky3vicky said:

I am having such FUN reading your review! Are you going to be platinum soon, because I would love it if you were to do a review on all the specifics on first cruise platinum. How can I find your other reviews? The only other one I have read was the one in Europe in 2015. I have always wanted to see Europe, but after reading your review [and the pictures, OMG the pictures!] I am becoming OBSESSED with the idea! Do you have a blog or a travel channel I could follow? If not, you would be great!

 

Thanks Vicky!  Unfortunately, I am exactly half way to platinum, so it will probably be several years before I get there.  I used to have links posted to all of my old reviews in my signature.  Cruise Critic changed the rules, so when I updated my signature to include a link to this review, I had to delete most of the other ones.  I do still have links to the reviews from my cruises in 2018 on Celebrity Eclipse and 2017 on Paul Gauguin (just click on the links in my signature below).  You can find my other reviews on Cruise Critic if you search for threads I have started.  I do also have a blog where I posted all of my reviews (the website is deladane.home.blog if you want to take a look).  

[Charm2018]

Enjoying the review so far!  Thinking of going out of NOLA for our next cruise instead of Florida.

[Cairns Cruisers]

Dana, That cake picture cracked me up. Of all the things you could train someone to do,you wouldn't think cutting a cake would be one of them. Loving the review and the detail you put into everything.

[deladane]

6 hours ago, Charm2018 said:

Enjoying the review so far!  Thinking of going out of NOLA for our next cruise instead of Florida.

 

Thanks for reading!

[deladane]

3 hours ago, Cairns Cruisers said:

Dana, That cake picture cracked me up. Of all the things you could train someone to do,you wouldn't think cutting a cake would be one of them. Loving the review and the detail you put into everything.

 

haha that really is the most ridiculous piece of cake!  I wish I thought to ask for a better slice at the time because we never saw that cake again on the cruise so that was our only chance.  The outer frosting was good, but I would have preferred more of the cheesecake part.  

[grandmarnnurse]

11 hours ago, deladane said:

 

haha that really is the most ridiculous piece of cake!  I wish I thought to ask for a better slice at the time because we never saw that cake again on the cruise so that was our only chance.  The outer frosting was good, but I would have preferred more of the cheesecake part.  

I actually have a recipe for a cheesecake that looks like that and it’s incredibly easy. It’s called an Italian Ricotta Cake, but it’s really a cheesecake. I think I got it off Tasty. If you want the recipe, and can’t find it, let me know and I’ll give it to you. I’ve made it for Easter (with pastel sprinkles on top) and Christmas (with Christmas colored sprinkles on top). A big hit with my family.

[deladane]

4 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I actually have a recipe for a cheesecake that looks like that and it’s incredibly easy. It’s called an Italian Ricotta Cake, but it’s really a cheesecake. I think I got it off Tasty. If you want the recipe, and can’t find it, let me know and I’ll give it to you. I’ve made it for Easter (with pastel sprinkles on top) and Christmas (with Christmas colored sprinkles on top). A big hit with my family.

 

oooh, thanks for the suggestion!  I have a folder in my bookmarks that is filled with recipes from Tasty so I'll have to go look for that cheesecake to add to my collection 😋

[deladane]

The entertainment schedule for the whole cruise.  I kept this paper folded up in the little purse that I carried at night so I could easily reference it to know what was happening each night.

 

Other information…

 

 

I created a map of the public spaces on the ship to minimize the time we spent getting lost during the cruise.  It turned out that the guest services desk had a copy of the map from the elevator banks that I could have used, but I liked this more visual version of the deck plans.

 

 

They started making announcements that sounded like the Muster drill was starting, so we went to the elevators to go upstairs to our station, and there was our bag!  It was the only bag on one of the carts, so we showed the staff that our ID matched the name on the luggage tag, and then just took the bag to our room ourselves.  I didn’t want it sitting out in the hall all afternoon so it was better to put it inside the cabin now.  I’m not sure exactly what “priority” means, but I don’t think a 4 hour wait for our bag was what we paid for.  So far, FTTF was 0/2.

[deladane]

Our muster station was on deck 3 of the mid-ship MDR.  It was really nice to sit inside at one of the dining room tables with plenty of space to spread out, and not being crammed onto the outside decks.  We sat down at one of the first tables near the door so we could make a quick escape when the drill ended.  The drill was scheduled to start at 3pm, but it did not end up starting until 4pm.  4pm was supposed to be our sail away time, so I guess things were a bit delayed.  I wonder if my suspicions were correct and setting the clocks ahead one hour gave the port workers one hour less to load supplies onto the ship so they ran a little late?  Anyway, muster was fairly quick and painless, and when it ended, we went right up to the Lido mid-ship pool area for the sail away party.  The entertainment team did a great job of getting the party started with the usual line dances, and our cruise director Gary was full of energy to get us all excited.

 

 

 

They pulled this lady into the center of the circle and she started twerking… and then she got stuck and needed the crew to help her stand back up!  Oops!

 

Our tradition of taking a sail away photo with the life ring continues!

 

We’re growing quite the collection of these photos!

 

Looks like the Breakaway also has not started to sail away

 

Those aft lounge chairs will make for a pretty view back up the Mississippi River when we do start sailing away

 

[deladane]

Finally, around 5pm, we noticed our ship was moving so we went upstairs to the Serenity Deck for a forward facing view as we traveled down the River, but behind the Plexiglas windows for protection from the wind.  I really don’t know exactly what we were seeing but it was very unique for us to be on a cruise sailing down the Mississippi River, and it was fun to watch as we passed all the small towns along the shore.

 

 

 

 

The downside to the windows is it created a glare in some of the photos

 

Ugland… is that the boat that imports Ugg boots? Hehe

 

 

[deladane]

Before the cruise, I booked 6pm dinner reservations in the Steakhouse for tonight.  It makes for a nice way to kick off the start of the cruise, and we like to take advantage of the free bottle of wine promotion.  Before we get to that, here are some screen shots from the hub app of the dinner menus from the main MDR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

1 hour ago, singinalot said:

since visiting the Midway in San Diego I’ve always been interested in ships so i googled the one in your photo above. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Cape_Knox_(T-AKR-5082)

 

Oh wow, that's so cool!  Thanks for sharing!!

[jakeawhite]

48 minutes ago, deladane said:

Looks like the Breakaway also has not started to sail away

We were on breakaway in this picture! Same sailing date's as y'all's cruise. We left very late! Waited around for a long time to leave but ended up going to dinner and we started moving about halfway through.

Edited April 2, 2019 by jakeawhite
I typed along.... it's a long.

[deladane]

1 hour ago, jakeawhite said:

We were on breakaway in this picture! Same sailing date's as y'all's cruise. We left very late! Waited around for a long time to leave but ended up going to dinner and we started moving about halfway through.

 

I was wondering if anyone from your sailing was reading my review!  We only left one hour late, so not too bad.  I hope your late departure didn't delay your arrival at your first port!  I seriously considered booking on the Breakaway as it had mostly the same ports as the Dream but was a much newer ship.  What made my decision was that I preferred to go to Belize City as opposed to NCL's private island in Belize.  Hope you had a wonderful cruise!

[jakeawhite]

Just now, deladane said:

 

I was wondering if anyone from your sailing was reading my review!  We only left one hour late, so not too bad.  I hope your late departure didn't delay your arrival at your first port!  I seriously considered booking on the Breakaway as it had mostly the same ports as the Dream but was a much newer ship.  What made my decision was that I preferred to go to Belize City as opposed to NCL's private island in Belize.  Hope you had a wonderful cruise!

We did have a wonderful cruise! Breakaway is great, but we've decided we prefer carnival. Castaway Caye was nice for the beach, but many had problems with price for drinks & food. We just went back and ate on ship.

We're going on Vista this summer for a 7-day and possibly a 5-day on Dream out of Galveston! As it turns out, I LOATHE the port in NOLA. We were one of those people trying to park..... Still had a fantastic time though!

[grandmarnnurse]

3 hours ago, deladane said:

 

oooh, thanks for the suggestion!  I have a folder in my bookmarks that is filled with recipes from Tasty so I'll have to go look for that cheesecake to add to my collection 😋

Well, I just went to Tasty, and it’s not there, so I tried All Recipes, and not there—Lol! I must have gotten the recipe off Facebook. Let me know if you want the recipe, and I can either post it here, or email it to you.

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Well, I just went to Tasty, and it’s not there, so I tried All Recipes, and not there—Lol! I must have gotten the recipe off Facebook. Let me know if you want the recipe, and I can either post it here, or email it to you.

 

I want it!  Please?

[grandmarnnurse]

3 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

I want it!  Please?

Ok. Let’s hope this goes through, as I’ve had trouble posting today.

ITALIAN RICOTTA CAKE

15oz can Ricotta cheese

 4 large eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 box white cake mix

3/4 cup heavy cream

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 10” spring form pan with non stick baking spray (Bakers Joy)

In large mixer bowl, beat together Ricotta, eggs, extracts, and oil until combined well.

Add cake mix and beat until incorporated.

Slowly add in cream and mix until blended in.

pour into prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until Center is set.

Remove from oven and cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove edges and cool completely.

Once cool, make glaze.

GLAZE

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract

3-4 Tbsp milk

Pour over cooled cake and sprinkle with Rainbow color sprinkles

Cut and serve

[ZoeyVictoria]

That sounds wonderful, thank you very much!

[grandmarnnurse]

22 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

That sounds wonderful, thank you very much!

👍 I hope you enjoy it as we all do. Try not to think about how many calories each slice may contain! LOL! (That’s why I just bake it for special get togethers with our family. Or I may get stuck eating the whole cake! Lol!)

[deladane]

11 hours ago, jakeawhite said:

We did have a wonderful cruise! Breakaway is great, but we've decided we prefer carnival. Castaway Caye was nice for the beach, but many had problems with price for drinks & food. We just went back and ate on ship.

We're going on Vista this summer for a 7-day and possibly a 5-day on Dream out of Galveston! As it turns out, I LOATHE the port in NOLA. We were one of those people trying to park..... Still had a fantastic time though!

 

Yea, those were the same comments I read on the forums which made me not want to go to Castaway Caye haha  Good call that you went back to the ship to eat!

 

That's horrible that you got stuck in all of that traffic!  It must have made for a very stressful way to start your cruise.  So many people on our ship were complaining about it all week long, so I'm sure you found people on your ship to commiserate with!  

[deladane]

 

9 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Well, I just went to Tasty, and it’s not there, so I tried All Recipes, and not there—Lol! I must have gotten the recipe off Facebook. Let me know if you want the recipe, and I can either post it here, or email it to you.

 

5 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Ok. Let’s hope this goes through, as I’ve had trouble posting today.

ITALIAN RICOTTA CAKE

15oz can Ricotta cheese

 4 large eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 box white cake mix

3/4 cup heavy cream

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 10” spring form pan with non stick baking spray (Bakers Joy)

In large mixer bowl, beat together Ricotta, eggs, extracts, and oil until combined well.

Add cake mix and beat until incorporated.

Slowly add in cream and mix until blended in.

pour into prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until Center is set.

Remove from oven and cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove edges and cool completely.

Once cool, make glaze.

GLAZE

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract

3-4 Tbsp milk

Pour over cooled cake and sprinkle with Rainbow color sprinkles

Cut and serve

 

 

Thanks for posting the recipe!  Might be a bit too advanced for my limited cooking skills haha  Maybe I'll give it a try some day 🙂

[grandmarnnurse]

8 hours ago, deladane said:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting the recipe!  Might be a bit too advanced for my limited cooking skills haha  Maybe I'll give it a try some day 🙂

Trust me, it’s really easy. Much easier than you think. 😊

[deladane]

The steakhouse on the Dream is located all the way aft on deck 12.  Since we were coming from all the way forward on deck 15 at Serenity, we walked down to deck 12 and walked back from there.  We got all the way to the back of the ship on deck 12 and didn’t see the steakhouse so we went inside to the elevators and it still took us a few seconds to find it.  The door to enter the steakhouse is very well hidden.  It is in the spot where the elevator door is on the other decks so we didn’t even see it at first.

 

 

Do you see it down there?  Here’s a better look… this photo was taken early in the morning on the last sea day when the steakhouse was closed.  It was even harder to notice it when the steakhouse was opened because instead of a white door, there was a dark void that just didn’t stand out at all.  I think they should set up the hostess stand outside of the restaurant where it is obviously visible in the elevator bank to minimize confusion.

 

 

Once we found the door, we checked in with the hostess and she led us to the last available window table.  The view as we cruised down the Mississippi River was so neat!  When our waitress came over to greet us, we ordered the free bottle of Chardonnay to sip while we perused the menu. 

 

 

Just a word of warning… the downside to eating in the steakhouse tonight on this specific cruise is that it takes several hours before the ship enters the Gulf of Mexico so we were technically still in America and that meant we had to pay sales tax on all purchases.  They charged tax on the drinks we purchased this afternoon, but we were used to that on other sailings as well if we bought drinks before sailing away.  On all of our other cruises, it only takes a few minutes to get far enough out to sea that the ship is in international waters and stops charging sales tax.  Everyone who eats in the steakhouse on the first night of a cruise leaving from New Orleans will be charged sales tax on the cost of that meal (the meal costs $38 and we paid around $3.50 per person in sales tax).  It would be nice if they warned you about that instead of letting you be surprised when the bill comes at the end of the meal.  We just looked at it like our bottle of wine cost $7 (the price we paid in tax for the 2 of us) instead of being free.  Not a huge deal, just something we didn’t think about in advance.

[deladane]

The menu in the steakhouse on Carnival ships changed a year or two ago, so this was our first time trying it.  I was excited to taste some of the new appetizers.

 

 

 

 

 

Two kinds of butter

 

Mini hamburger, compliments of the chef