Carnival Dream, Kinda Live Blog

[Petroplex]

Morning, folks. It is December 19, 2019, I am in the Suites waiting area for the Carnival Dream in Galveston. We are sailing on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel, and I am going to more-or-less live blog my experience. The specifics, of course, depend on things like the quality of the internet connection and whether I find a bar I really like.

 

By way of background, I have sailed Royal Caribbean several times and NCL once. I sailed the Carnival Celebration for my honeymoon in 2002, but that was too long ago to make any meaningful comparisons. I live in western Texas, and we usually drive to the port. I usually sail with my wife and two sons. On this trip, however, I am solo-- my in-laws live outside Houston, and we will meet there on the 23rd for Christmas. I am in an Ocean Suite on the 7th deck, and I also booked Faster to the Fun (FTTF). There are a couple of benefits there that don't come for suites. I will probably keep posting as much as I can during the cruise, but it will take a couple of weeks after the cruise to get everything uploaded. Speaking of, I will occasionally provide a link to my personal travel blog. I will try to write a comprehensive report here, but if you follow the links I may have some additional pictures and details. Anyway, let's get started.

 

Getting to the pier

I love Galveston, and I could (and have) vacation here independent of my desire to cruise. However, there is one big problem with sailing from Galveston. The airports are in Houston, and neither one of them is particularly convenient. I flew intro George Bush Intercontinental (IAH), and that is the less convenient of the two. Still, it worked out fine. I booked a Lincoln sedan with Z Limo from Houston. It was $135 plus gratuity, and that included the tolls. There are, of course, cheaper ways to get here. However, that cost was per car rather than per passenger. It would be cheaper on a per passenger basis if I was travelling with others.

 

The other advantage of doing it this way is that there was no waiting. I got to baggage claim, and my driver was waiting for me. He hauled my luggage, and the car was imminently comfortable. We didn't wait for other passengers, search for the driver, nor make intermediate stops. It was an hour and 20 minutes door to door. A great deal of that time was spent south of Houston at the interchange from Beltway 8 to Interstate 45. There had been a wreck, and things were backed up a bit. Anyway, short version, it was an incredibly smooth trip to the pier.

 

Hotel

I always arrive at the pier at least one day early. I have a huge phobia of the boat leaving me because the plane was late, and that is a thing planes do. I stayed at the Harbor House at Pier 21. Pictures later. It was not as nice as when I stayed at the Galvez. However, it was a incredible place to stay when you don't have a car. I literally walked here this morning pulling my luggage. It took about 8 minutes, and that included a visit with the porter to fix my luggage tag. It is amidst restaurants and entertainment, and the view of the harbor is incredible I even caught a video this morning of the Dream pulling in to port. I highly recommend this hotel. If you are looking for a more upscale hotel with similar location advantages, consider the Tremont.

 

The only negative about the Harbor House is that the wifi is not great, and the breakfast is all starches. I solved the wifi problem by slingshoting data from my phone. I solved the breakfast problem by going to Star Drug, which was excellent. The bed was excellent, and the location was even better. They let me check in early, and check out was expeditious. I will absolutely book here again.

 

Day in Galveston

I ate lunch at the Hubcap Grill. That was the best burger I have ever had, and he mixed me an excellent Old Fashioned to go with it. I love a bartender who can knowledgeably discuss bourbon with me. I then went to the spa at the Galvez. It was 1.3 miles from my hotel, but that was comfortable for me to walk in December. It would not be in July. On my way back, I ate dinner at at Vargas Cut and Catch. They also make an excellent Old Fashioned. I then went back to the hotel to watch TV and answer emails. It was an incredibly pleasant day.

 

Initial Impressions

The Carnival check in process in Galveston is smoother than the Royal Caribbean process. Part of that is that I was travelling solo and was the third person to check in. However, I almost didn't slow down. There was a clear line for suites and FTTF, and I suspect I would have been through quite quickly in any event. I showed my passport and boarding pass. An agent scanned them on his phone and took a picture. I then cleared security with a metal detector. I went upstairs and someone checked my boarding pass again. I was then directed to the waiting area for suites. It is a separate room stocked with pastries, coffee, tea, water, and juice. Check in was fast and easy.

 

I am dressed in slacks and a shirt with a collar. That was mostly a function of the fact that it is cold outside, so I needed pants. I put on nice pants because I have steakhouse reservations tonight. Most of the other passengers are dressed considerably less formally, but that makes sense. It is a cruise. Shorts, though, implies a different tolerance for cold.

 

Anyway, that is enough travel writing for now. I am going to break out the pot-boiler spy novel I bought at the airport. Don't judge- it is my guilty pleasure. I am then going to hope someone will sell me an Old Fashioned. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I like that drink. I will post more soon.

[Joe817]

Excellent for a review of the Dream Petroplex! I'm most interested to hear your review of the ship, as we cruised the Dream last July and the crowds for us was overwhelming at times. Interested to see your take of the crowds at this time of year. 

 

The Harbor House looks life a fun place to stay. We stayed at the Tremont House and highly recommend it. I'm glad your embarkation went smoothly. Look forward to your review! 

[doodlebug67]

Excited for this review.  We will cruise the Dream in March 2020.  We also love to visit Galveston. Thank You for taking us along 😊

[Petroplex]

I am now sitting on my balcony with a margarita. I may or may not have had a mojito earlier. It is profoundly unfortunate that the drink package doesn't work on Day 1. Then again, while still in port Carnival has better drink offerings than does Royal Caribbean. 

 

Initial thoughts: Board early. The ship is now crowded, but that first hour or so was great. The buffet was underwhelming, but there were a lot of other free choices to make up for it. I particularly enjoyed Guy's Burgers. FTTF was worth it for being able to go directly to my stateroom and having a priority line at Guest Services. I miss the Suite Lounge on Royal Caribbean. The staff here are working incredibly hard to be helpful, and the spa here is light years better than on the Liberty of the Seas. I bought myself a VIP spa pass.

[marci4tony]

We enjoyed the Dream out of New Orleans a few years back.  She's a great ship.

We just got off the Vista (also in Galveston) and I was not impressed; I would go back to the Dream in a heartbeat.

Enjoy!  And please keep writing!

[grandmarnnurse]

Following along. Can’t wait to read the whole live review! Embarkation day is actually my favorite day! So exciting! 😎🛳🌴🏖🍷🍹🍸

[TravelGirlinDallas]

Looking forward to following along. We will be on the Dream in March.

[MEUB1112]

We were on the Dream in March for B2B, Loved it. Will be following, have a great cruise and maybe a mojito.

[Petroplex]

Sorry it took me do long to add something. A bartender forced me to drink a delicious cocktail. It was brutal. Actually, I'm writing this from the Alchemy Bar come to think of it.

 

My Ocean Suite is a lovely cabin, and the beef is incredibly comfortable. I wish there weren't white drops of what I assume to be paint on the chairs. 

 

Not having the drinks package work on embarkation day sucked. It got annoying to Pau $2.50 every time I wanted a club soda. Compared to Royal, however, they did have better alcohol choices while we were in port. 

 

The steakhouse was nice. I was impressed that even the shrimp cocktail had thought put into it. The chopped garlic on the shrimp was a very nice addition. The steak (18 oz ribeye) was very good, but not great. 

 

The casino has the same bad table rules as Royal. I scared a dealer and a host when I displayed enough knowledge to ask good questions about Zimbabwe, their home. 

 

The spa is straight up nicer than the Liberty of the Seas. I bought the VIP pass, and there are plenty of places for me to get lost in there. 

 

I normally sail in suites, and I very much miss access to any kind of suite lounge. 

 

The internet access on this ship has actually been quite good. I just made a wifi call home. Royal stinks at this. 

 

The layout of this ship is awful. It is frequently hard to get from one place to another on the same deck without going around something or up a deck. 

 

THEY JUST BROUGHT ME BAR SNACKS!!! I am trying to attach a picture below. 

 

Anyway, I'm off. I have reservations at Chef's Table tonight. I'll try to write tomorrow de Cozumel. Hasta luego, compadres.

 

[Petroplex]

I know what I forgot. The buffet. I prefer the buffet on Royal Caribbean. There are more choices, and the lines move better. However, I have very much enjoyed adding some of the free options Carnival has. Guy's Burgers for free is an enormous upgrade on paying foot Johnny Rockets. I need to quit drinking before the Chef's Table. We apparently walk through the kitchen, and I don't want that to end tragicomically.

[Mary Louise]

The Cheers package is not available for embarkation Day, how many days then do you pay for it? On RCCL you can use it the first day.