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In my opinion, this is exactly why the cruise industry should be canceling cruises in the upcoming weeks. It's too uncertain on if cruises will be able to run logistically. I feel for everyone who has already flown to Hawaii and South America to take their cruise. Cancelling the day before a remote cruise is awful customer service. 

I'm SO excited for your review. We're sailing the Epic in March and I can't wait to hear all about your experience. I'm particularly curious about your plans in port, as we're similar ages and also child free.

Hope you have a great time!

5 hours ago, Diarmuid05 said:

Star did go to Kotor this week, I am watching closely as we sail on the 22nd

Thank you! That's good news to hear. Crossing my fingers!

Does anyone know if the ship made it to Kotor this week? Trying to gauge if it truly is every other week or if they have found a solution to get there every trip. 

32 minutes ago, ppcox said:

Just checked and Cruise-mapper shows the NCL Star in Kotor today lets hope they found a way to make it work, fingers crossed it doesn't miss it again.

This makes me so happy! I'm also hoping that they will find a way to make it work. It looks like such a beautiful port and I'd hate to miss it!

This is awesome! It looks like you are having a great trip. Thank you for posting menus and dailys, those are always so fun to see and super helpful. 

Your pictures are beautiful! So thankful for your review. I'm doing a seven day in November and living vicariously through your pictures for now. 

Thank you so much for posting the cruise compass for each day of your cruise! I love to look at them before my cruise and I know it's a labor of love to upload them.

42 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

 

I have not tried to go to any of them but according to the app, Chops, Izumi and Johnny Rockets are all open for lunch. Giovanni's Table is not. Chops is $22 for lunch.

Thank you!

I'm super curious which specialty restaurants are open for lunch and their price. My cruise compass makes it look like Chops is the only one open for lunch.

I've received confirmation within two to three days for most requests. I made a reservation last week for our sailing on October 22, 2017 and received my confirmation the next day. It may vary from ship to ship, as the steakhouse manager is who confirms.

I don't enjoy chocolate, so the removal of the cheesecake is really disappointing. It was one of the few desserts I enjoyed on board. Although, if I'm being honest, not much dessert was ever eaten at the steakhouse after the huge meal.

I am leaving later in October, but I feel like Carnival is really handling this poorly. While it is totally reasonable that the ports have to change, they should be communicating to their passengers on where they are heading. I hate to say what other cruise lines are doing, but Royal Caribbean has updates through the end of October for their sailings that will be changing. I don't want to waste vacation time waiting in line at the shore excursions desk to figure out what we're doing on our cruise. I like to have our excursion picked out and paid for before we leave.

I didn't regret it, so much as I don't know if I enjoyed it enough to purchase it again. I felt like I was constantly trying to figure out if I was coming out ahead. I don't think we saved enough to justify purchasing it again, especially on port intensive cruises.

I live in New Orleans and I would suggest Uber/Lyft (full disclosure, I only use Uber... so I can't speak specifically for Lyft). The flat rate for a taxi to downtown starts at $36.00. Unless your fare was expected to be much higher with Uber, I would pick Uber/Lyft every time. They usually provide a much better experience in my opinion.

I love Roatan and Grand Cayman (I'd give a slight edge to Roatan for the convenience/price factor)... however, for beaches I would definitely pick Montego Bay over Belize. For that reason, I'd go with Grand Cayman/Montego Bay Itinerary. You really can't go wrong either way!

I am really enjoying your review! I just booked this cruise for October, so I can't wait to hear about the port days. Your sense of humor is so much fun to read.

..and I took this same cruise right after the OP. I agree, we loved it. video below...

 

[YOUTUBE]3PTrHAyYzCQ[/YOUTUBE]

Babycat... Your talent never fails to impress me. There is nothing that gets me more excited about cruising than your videos. Your daughter is going to be so lucky to have those memories. She's precious!

I'm glad to hear y'all had a good time. We leave on the Dream this Sunday. Can't wait!!

Yes! We had our first one last year and it will always be my first choice for location. You can't beat it!

I would highly suggest you try to make it one night. It took four cruises for me to make it and I absolutely loved it! It was one of my all time favorite cruise experiences. It's so relaxing and they usually show a good mixture of new releases and classic favorites. I will always try to plan to do it one night of future cruises. It does get chilly and the towel hut was not opened for the whole movie, so if you need a blanket I'd get it early.

I've been checking 1,000 times a day for our upcoming Dream cruise on May 24, but no such luck. We actually have it, but my mother is coming with us and we can't get it for her cabin.

This is giving me hope that I'll be able to grab one for her, but I hope it happens soon. I'm sick of living on the Carnival website... :o

Thanks for your review! I'm leaving on May 24th and counting down the days... these make the time pass and make me more excited!

I hate to hear that about the piano bar. Somehow, I've never made it to the piano bar on any cruise I've done. I was going to make a point to spend some time there this cruise. I'll cross my fingers they have someone better when I sail on her!

I really missed Guy's Burgers on the Dream last year, but I think they're other options more than made up for it. They have the burrito bar (not as good as Blue Iguana), the Italian station (with it's own seating area), the Mongolian Wok, the Deli, the Pizza station, the Tandoori station (Indian food), and the seaside grill on sea days. And I'm pretty sure I've forgotten options! We did not go hungry. :o

I think the ship is half the trip! I've never been on the Valor, but I would imagine that the Breeze would offer way more if you're into the spa and waterworks areas. Plus, I love all the different dining options that are offered on the dream class ships.

Although it's more money, you'll be extending your vacation for an extra day. We've sailed out of a port we can drive to for the last couple of years and there is something really fun about actually traveling to the departure port that I miss. It just feels like a bigger deal when we travel before, I guess.

On the flip side, I wouldn't splurge on the ship if it meant limiting my options for what I could do on port days or if I felt like it would put a damper on the experience.

Either way, you're going to have a wonderful time! Good luck and I can't wait to see what you decide. :D

While I may not be able to help you with all of your questions, I will certainly try!

Smoking on the Promenade deck (floor 5) on the Carnival Dream is limited to the port side of the ship. Since room 7378 is port side, there is a chance that you may be impacted by the smokers on the promenade deck. I doubt it would be an issue when the ship is moving, but the balcony on the empress deck seems very close to the lanai when you are walking on the lanai. I would be very cautious, as it seems that you have a serious aversion to smoke and I would hate for it to ruin your trip.

More of an issue to me, however, is the second problem you have: the fact that the lanai on the promenade deck may obstruct your view. We cruised on the Dream last year for the first time and our balcony room was on the Lido deck (floor 10). Even that much higher, the lanai impacted our views straight down. Not to the point we wouldn't book a balcony again on the Dream, but the view is definitely different. I think it is fair trade off for the utility the lanai offers, but I would do my best to avoid any balcony cabins on the Upper or Empress decks. The Upper deck balconies have very little privacy and the Empress decks are also very close to where people are walking.

I don't think you will have any problems with lido noise in room 9401. There may be noise if they are moving chairs, but it looks like you'll be more under the tables. I would think they wouldn't move the table and chairs very often, but I don't have any experience with that area.

I'm not sure about the spa balcony being covered, but when we sailed the Serenity area was definitely not rowdy. If I were to be located next to any outdoor deck (other than Lido), that would be my choice.

We've yet to try a cove balcony, but I've heard a lot of praise about them. However, the most widespread complaint is that there are loud noises from the galley in the cove balcony rooms. Of the two room options, I would probably choose 2408 as it is on the edge of the galley above. I would do a quick google search of those rooms to see if there are any specific complaints from those cabins.

Hope this helps!