Review of Dream 10/1/17 Cruise from a First Time Cruiser

PART 1

My husband I went on the Carnival Dream cruise out of New Orleans from 10/1/17 - 10/8/17 with ports of call including Mahogany Bay, Belize (which ended up being skipped), and Cozumel. We from the Baton Rouge area and are in our late 20s, no kids, this was my first cruise and my husband’s second (first was on RC at the age of 15). We chose a cruise as our vacation because it was the cheapest way to enjoy a 7 night vacation for the two of us. We both enjoy being outside and while we are a fairly active couple we also really enjoy just relaxing and reading a good book so a cruise seemed like a good mix of activities and relaxation. From the beginning Carnival was my last choice, but we ended up choosing that line anyway because it was the only one sailing out of New Orleans at the time when we were available to go. We chose sailing dates based solely on what worked best with our schedule. I am a very big planner and especially enjoy planning vacations and since I had never been on a cruise before I did a LOT of research before deciding on a cruise for our vacation and then while deciding on all the details of our cruise. I debated writing a review but then I thought about how much I enjoyed reading others reviews of their cruises and so I wanted to do my part and contribute. I hope this is a comprehensive review and that it helps others as much as others reviews helped me!

Here is a picture of me and my husband right before we began sailing down the Mississippi River on our first day:

Side Note: Nate

When we booked this cruise I knew it was during hurricane season and I knew the risks that were involved with booking a cruise during that time. Unfortunately we were affected by hurricane Nate. We missed a port (Belize) and due to the New Orleans port closing at noon on Friday we had to hang out in the gulf for a while in order to avoid the storm. Saturday and most of Sunday it was rainy all day and I was disappointed in the bad weather. The boat was also very rocky on Monday and on Saturday. Originally they told us we would dock on Monday but we ended up docking on Sunday night around 9pm. They announced anyone who wanted to disembark that night could between 9:30 and 11:30 and those who wished to disembark that night should be in the Encore lounge at 9:30pm. We arrived at the Encore lounge at 9:15 to find it already packed. While I have read several people complaining that it was a very disorganized operation our experience was very pleasant. There were a lot of staff in the lounge seating people and keeping things organized and we were waiting for our Uber to pick us up outside by 10:30pm. Carnival did a fair job of keeping us informed about the storm and opened up their phone lines Friday (and for the duration of the cruise) to allow people to make calls home for free. Over all the storm caused us to miss a port and have bad weather for two days (one of those days we weren’t even supposed to be on the ship) and we disembarked about 15 hours later than planned. It was sad that it was a negative experience on my first cruise but it was not enough to keep me from wanting to cruise again.

Instead of breaking down my review by day I am going to break it down by category (cabin, dining, embarkation, etc.) and review each one individually. Additionally, I will start out with a general Pros and Cons list and end with an I’m Glad I Brought This and I Wish I Had Brought That section. Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of pictures and the ones I do have are nothing special but I may post some along the way.

PART 2: Pros and Cons List

PROS:

• Embarkation and Debarkation - both fast and efficient. We were prepared for a very long wait and a slow process so maybe that helped us view it as a more positive experience in the end.
  
• Food - all around delicious! Again, we went in with rather low expectations and came out extremely pleased.
  
• Service - all around outstanding. Almost every interaction was positive.
  
• Cruise Director - Chris Williams was amazing
  
• B-Low - I am not sure how to spell his name but B-Low was part of the fun squad and I enjoyed him almost as much as I enjoyed Chris. He ran all of the Bingo games and even though we never played bingo we enjoyed watching him lead the games.
  
• Entertainment - really enjoyed the shows in the evenings and the multiple show times allowing flexibility when eating dinner
  
• YTD - really loved having YTD. Allowed us to eat when we wanted and only had a long wait on the first night.
  
• Cleanliness - I can’t imagine the effort it takes to clean up after 4000 people on vacation (I am assuming people are even messier on vacation) but somehow the crew did this. The deck and most public areas were always spotless - especially the bathrooms!
  
• Hub App - so convenient, enjoyed having the schedule and other info right there on my phone (for free)
  
• Muster Drill - Super fast and well organized. Our station was in the encore lounge. We were in and out in about 30 or 45mins.
  
• Ship Layout - took us a couple days to figure out where everything was but that was part of the fun!
  
• Beach Towel Checkout - I LOVED being able to check out new towels on the Lido deck and in the Serenity area and then check them back in so we didn’t have to tote them back and forth from our room. An automated system where they just swiped your S&S card would be better though than the worker having to write down everything by hand.
  

CONS:

• Water - Basically just tasted real bad. Will probably invest in ordering a few packs of water to our room next time. I would be interested in a Beverage Plan that included only unlimited bottled water.
  
• Ports/Excursions - this is not really Carnival’s fault but nevertheless we did not have great experiences at the ports
  
• Cabin Decor - I didn’t care for the decor of the Dream in general and the dark colors in the cabin make it feel even smaller than it is. From what I have seen RC and NCL do a much better job with decor.
  
• [lack of] Conditioner - Doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to add this to the showers and my hair would really appreciate it
  
• no coffee maker in the cabins - I would really have liked to have that so I could make my own in the mornings and not have to worry about ordering room service. It would also be nice to have it in the evenings without having to walk to the Lido Deck
  
• Additional Fees - It would be nice if all the additional fees and gratuities were automatically included in the cost instead of being added on later. It would make it easier to plan and budget.
  
• Pools and Lounge Chairs - The pool on the lido was so small and the chairs were always full (either with people or towels).
  

PART 3: Cabin and Spa Room Benefits/Amenities

CABIN:

We had an interior spa room on deck 11 (Room #11219). While I would have loved a balcony room we were not looking to spend more money than necessary on our vacation so we went with the budget friendly interior room. Neither of us are claustrophobic and we knew we wouldn’t be spending much time in our room anyway. I did upgrade to a spa cabin due to reading many reviews that said the location was very good and the access to the spa and the little extras that came with the room really appealed to me. I believe it was only an additional $50 total for both of us so it seemed like a good deal.

The room was very small but once I got over the initial shock of how small it was it never really bothered us. I kept our room picked up to keep it from getting messy and with just two of us it never felt crowded. The decor was alright. I didn’t hate it and it didn’t really effect my experience but it was not my favorite. We both thought the bed was very comfy but that may have just been because we went to bed exhausted every night. There was more than enough storage for all of our stuff (we each brought one regular size suitcase) and I really liked the shelves in the bathroom. The room temp was very nice. We keep our home set around 72 or 73 and we were very comfortable in our room the entire trip. I even had to bump it up a little because it was too cold toward the end of the trip.

The towels were very scratchy, I did not like them at all. The bathroom, though small, was plenty big enough to meet our needs and we never needed air freshener even though I read many people who recommended bringing it. I brought my own hair dryer and an extension cord both of which came in handy. The tv remote did not work very well and the channels were limited although we got the main ones (ABC, NBC, FOX) the whole trip. The movie channels literally played the same three movies the entire cruise.

The best part about our room was that it was VERY quiet. I don’t think I ever heard any of our neighbors. Occasionally during the day I could hear someone talking out in the hall but that only happened once or twice. If having a spa room means no kids running up and down the halls and screaming then that was worth the extra $50 alone. We enjoyed being on deck 11 as it was close to the Lido deck and serenity deck and climbing several flights of stairs to get to decks 5, 4, and 3 when we needed to attend dinner or other activities helped counter all the delicious food we ate.

Our room steward was very nice. We met her on the first day and she asked us if we wanted morning, evening or both and we chose both. I also asked for a bucket of ice in the evenings. She always replaced our towels and had our bucket of ice ready for us. I felt so spoiled getting back from breakfast and having our bed all made up and then getting back after dinner and having it turned down and ready.

SPA ROOM PACKAGE:

So we got a few different little perks since we had an interior spa room. I already mentioned that our room was very quiet. We had yellow Serenity beach towels in our room which I discovered are the same as the regular blue ones… just a different color. We had robes and slippers in our rooms and while I never used the slippers the robes were nice. The towels in the bathroom were very scratchy… I don’t know if those were different than the ones in the regular cabins but we ended up just using our beach towels as bath towels and signing out more beach towels on the Lido Deck. We had special Elmis brand shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, lotion, and linen spray which was nice. I used the shamp, cond, and shower gel all week. The room was supposed to have better “spa like” decor… it was not anything special.

We visited the spa a few times and enjoyed the steam room, thalassotherapy pool, relaxation room, and steam rooms. The locker rooms were very nice and had really big showers and towels were provided throughout the spa. While I certainly enjoyed our few trips to the spa I don’t think I would miss it if I didn’t go next time. While I liked the “spa experience” I would just assume be laying out by the pool in the sunshine.

PART 4: Dining

• Room Service - I ordered room service (coffee and a box of cereal to snack on later) every morning so I could enjoy coffee in my robe in bed while my husband got an extra few minutes of sleep. Three mornings I put the door hanger out with my order. One morning when we were going to be in port I even underlined 8:00am because I wanted it at 8 instead of in between 8 and 8:30 and it arrived right at 8am. The other mornings I just called when I woke up and ordered it and it usually arrived in about 15-20mins. I always tipped a dollar.
  

• Breakfast - We attempted Sea Day Brunch on the first sea day but upon finding a very long line we changed our minds and decided to just do the buffet. Later on in the week we tried the Sea Day Brunch again and found a much shorter line. It was very good. I got an omelet and my husband got eggs benedict. One of the eggs was overcooked but the other was good. Overall we were pleased with it. The rest of the mornings we ate at the buffet which was very good. While the scrambled eggs tasted like powder eggs I didn’t mind. The bacon was good (the server gave us plenty each morning-more than we could eat) and I also had a bagel with cream cheese and a piece of fruit. Husband had a breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana one time and he said it was really good and we both enjoyed omelets from the omelet station that were really delicious. Watching the chef make the omelets four at a time was almost better than the omelet itself. On the last morning I did find a hair in my eggs which really grossed me out. I had heard quite a bit of negative comments about the coffee and while it certainly wasn’t the Community Coffee that I love it was enjoyable.
  

• Lunch - My favorite lunch spot was Pig & Anchor BBQ. The pulled pork butt there is AMAZING. We also enjoyed Guy’s Burgers. I loved how the topping bar had mushrooms and onions, bacon, and other toppings. The burgers were greasy but good. Blue Iguana had really good chicken tacos and we got pizza a few times from the pizza place. I like a little bit thicker crust but the pizza was better than I expected it to be. I usually got a salad from the buffet to go along with whatever I was having for lunch but I don’t think we ever ate lunch actually at the buffet. We did have turkey sandwiches from the deli and man, do they load those sandwiches up with meat! So yummy.
  

• Dinner - We had YTD and ate in the main dining all but one night during our cruise and we had the best experience every night. We certainly do not have refined palettes so we would not be the best judge of whether the food was “top notch” but to us it was really good. Sure, the steak was not the best steak I had ever had but it really wasn’t bad. We both loved lobster night and were pleased with the size of the lobster tail. We enjoyed trying all sorts of different things that we wouldn’t normally order and several nights we each ordered two entrees so that we had a total of four to taste and enjoy along with a few appetizers and of course, dessert. Since the portions were so small I never felt like I was wasting a terrible amount of food even though i never finished everything on my plate. One of our favorite things was this cranberry roll they served on non-elegant nights. The first elegant night was the only night we had a rather long wait, maybe 20-30mins. The rest of the nights we only had a 5-15min wait which was fine. The service was wonderful and our servers always addressed us by name.
  

Overall we really didn’t have a complaint when it came to the food…..

However, the BIGGEST negative of really our entire vacation was the water. I have never tasted water like that. I am really not picky about water but man… this water was BAD. It was so bad. I was not prepared for that. It smelled like pool water and left a really bad after taste. We talked about ordering a few 12packs of bottled water to drink during the cruise but in the end we decided to just suck it up and drink it. After a couple days of making myself drink it I got used to the taste. Next time I’ll consider bringing something to flavor the water with though.

PART 5: Embarkation, Entertainment, Fitness & Recreation, Service, and Public Areas

EMBARKATION:

We had a check in time of 1:30PM. We arrived around 1:45 (we parked at a friend’s house and took an Uber to the port) and were walking into the ship’s lobby around 2:30. The process was very smooth we did not have to wait long at all. I had no idea where to go or what to do but there was very knowledgeable and friendly staff at every point directing us to where we needed to go. We did not use the porters, we only had one medium size suitcase each so we just brought them with us and that was one of the best decisions we made the whole trip. While we did cram into an elevator that took a long time to get up to the 11th floor it was very nice to have our luggage with us the whole time and not worry about when it would be delivered or if it would get lost.

ENTERTAINMENT:

We went to a couple comedy shows although they were always so crowded you had to get there about 30mins early to get a decent seat. The shows were enjoyable but nothing too special. I enjoyed the big performances in the evenings in the Encore lounge, especially America Rocks, Flick, and Chris Williams show. The Love and Marriage show was also one of the highlights of our trip. Oh, how could I forget the Lip Sync Battle?! That was actually probably my favorite show we went to and B-Low was the best part! I definitely would encourage everyone to make sure they do not miss that!

FITNESS AND RECREATION:

I went to the gym 3 times over the course of the week. I enjoyed doing the treadmill and elliptical although i was disappointed at the view… I was expecting a better view of the ocean and it was actually pretty hard to see. The area was always clean though and never crowded, even when it was rainy outside. I already talked about the spa but it was nice to be able to go enjoy a cool shower and then some time in the steam rooms after working out.

We also used the putt putt course one time. Even though it was in a small area it was a full 18 holes and we enjoyed a fun game.

Personally I was worried about gaining the 10-15 pounds they say people gain on cruises but thanks to only taking the stairs the entire trip and those couple of trips to the gym both of us only gained about 2.5 pounds each! While we tried to not overeat, we really ate whatever we wanted the whole trip including dessert every night and a couple of ice cream cones. I did make a point to eat a salad with each lunch and dinner meal and to order at least one side of veggies with dinner each night. Other than having coffee in the mornings we only drank water the whole trip and I am sure that helped a lot too. So this is just a side note that it isn’t too hard to not gain a ton of weight :)

SERVICE:

Over all husband and I were both amazed at the great service onboard the ship. With very few exceptions the staff we encountered were happy and friendly and engaging, always greeting us with good morning at breakfast and saying hello throughout the day. Almost all had smiles on their faces and seemed to enjoy their jobs. I really liked the lady who would walk through every morning at breakfast extending nice loud “Good morning, good morning!”s to everyone and helping everyone find a spot in line. I also liked how when we would board our ship after a port day there would be members out there to greet us and welcome us back aboard the ship.

PUBLIC AREAS:

I was AMAZED at how clean the public areas were. The bathrooms were typically spotless and there was rarely trash on the floor in any area. There were always crew members sweeping over here or wiping down walls over there. They were constantly cleaning and it really showed. I really appreciated sanitation stations, especially the ones with the automatic handwashing set ups with actual soap and water (I wish they had more!). It seemed like they were making every effort to keep the place clean and as sanitary as possible and I really appreciated that.

PART 6: Ports

MAHOGANY BAY

Our first port of call was at Mahogany Bay. We did not plan an excursion for that port and planned on just enjoying the beach that was within walking distance from the ship. Unfortunately the weather was not the best that day and was overcast and rainy most of the day but we still enjoyed it. There is a cool little nature trail that we walked and there are a few shops and local places to eat. There was one other ship docked at the port but it was not terribly crowded. We put our stuff down on the beach and swam in the water for a while. We went back to the ship for lunch and then went back out and found empty beach chairs to lay on and read for the rest of the evening. The scenery was gorgeous and we enjoyed a pretty relaxing day in port. We were back on the boat about 45mins before it was scheduled to leave. We hung out on the promenade deck while it left and that was cool getting to watch it sail away from the port.

COZUMEL

Originally we were supposed to go to Belize on our second port day but due to weather the boats could not safely tender so we had to skip Belize and go straight to Cozumel. Additionally, we were supposed to be in Cozumel from 7am-5pm but due to the schedule change we were there from 9:30am - 6:30pm.

Before all of the schedule changes we had a snorkeling excursion booked in Belize and were thinking about booking one for Cozumel as well. After the announcement about the schedule change things got crazy and our options for doing an excursion in Cozumel suddenly became very slim due to people having to adjust their excursion times and I guess everyone decided to do an excursion in Cozumel since they couldn’t do one in Belize.

In the end we did a zipline and beach break excursion through Carnival that left around 1:45PM and returned around 5:30. At first we signed up for a waverunner and Snorkel excursion and the only slot left was at 1pm. We showed up at 12:30 and they told us that it was too windy and they were going to have to cancel that excursion. That’s when we got bumped to the zipline and beach break excursion. Since we really had no other options at that point I am glad we did that excursion but I would not recommend it.

The staff at the zipline facility were wonderful and friendly and called us by name the whole time. The ziplines were very unimpressive though. They were short and they all felt / looked the same with the exact same scenery. After about the third one I was over it and ready to move on to the beach but we had to do a total of 11 zips which took about an hour total. After that we went to a beach only a couple blocks from the port (but it took about 30mins to get there from the zip line place due to INSANE traffic).

At the beach resort we were not welcomed or explained anything upon arrival and frankly I felt like I wasn’t even supposed to be there. We wandered around until we figured out where to rent the snorkeling gear. We were told we had an hour with the snorkel and mask. The snorkeling was the coolest part even though I am sure it was not even close to what we could have experience on an actual snorkeling excursion. The water was beautiful and clear and we enjoyed our little snorkeling experience. After that we laid out on beach chairs and enjoyed the view for about 45mins before having to head back to ship.

Overall it was not even close to an ideal trip due to many factors that were out of our control (and out of Carnival’s control as well). We might could have had a better experience if we had booked our Cozumel excursion earlier or if we had been aware of the fact that there was rough weather that could potentially cause our excursion to be canceled. In the end though we still got to enjoy the beautiful sights of Cozumel (the water is the MOST beautiful water I have ever seen) and the adventure was mostly enjoyable.

PART 7: In Summary

IN SUMMARY:

Overall my husband and I both thoroughly enjoyed our week on board the Dream. I thought it was a great experience for the price we paid. I will admit I have already begun to look at future cruises and while I would highly recommend a cruise on the Dream, personally, I would really like to try a cruise on either RC or NCL.

I’m Glad I Brought:

• Sweater for the evenings
  
• Large tumbler for water
  
• Clothespins to hang things on the clothesline in shower
  
• Non-Drowsy Dramamine Pills made with ginger (only had to use once but was glad I had them)
  
• Hair dyer
  
• Ponchos for rainy weather
  

I Wish I Had Brought:

• A hoodie or heavier jacket
  
• Sweatpants or jeans
  
• Lanyards
  
• Aloevera for the inevitable sunburn
  

Very informative review from a first-time cruiser. Written like a pro. Thanks for sharing your experience and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Beautifully written review, thanks much!

What a review! Great job! I'm glad you rolled with the punches....

Like how you gave both pros and cons. We always buy a twelve pack of bottled water and i bring flavoring also.

Well done, very informative review. Thanks for doing it.

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Good job! Thx 4 the review. Im back on the Dream in March. I can't wait!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

Excellent review! If I ever give another review, I'm going to use this "style". :) I'm glad you were still able to enjoy yourselves, even with all the "bumps" along the way.

I've learned, also, that it's worth it to buy the bottled water from Carnival beforehand.

Excellent first review! Good job and thanks!

Nice review and sounds like a blast! - just wish the next 33 days could go by so I can sailaway as well!!

Thanks for the review.

What wonderful information. Thank you

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the effort and time you put into your review.

We were also on that same cruise, so I read your opinions while comparing them to my own. Everyone's subjective experience may differ ( e.g. I thought the disembarkation process late Sunday night was a cluster mess), and I complement you for posting.

P.S. I certainly agree about the BBQ pulled pork!

Nice report. Thanks for sharing.

A thorough and very organized review.

Wonderful.

Keith

Thanks, we agree that the ship's water has a bad taste and the bottled water is a good purchase.

Thanks for your great review. I have a question: you said you're glad you brought a hair dryer...there was no hair dryer in the cabin?

Thanks for your great review. I have a question: you said you're glad you brought a hair dryer...there was no hair dryer in the cabin?

There was one provided for us in our room but I had read several reviews that said it was not very good and I have somewhat long hair that can be a pain to dry so I just liked having my nice hair dryer that I always use. I was not pressed for space when packing and it made getting ready in the evenings a lot faster so I was glad I brought it. To be fair though, I never actually tried the hair dryer in our room.

Thanks to everyone for all the kind comments!

I spent too many hours reading through people's reviews of their cruises and so I tried to put in mine what I appreciated reading and found helpful in others. I'm also hoping to find a few reviews done by others who were on the same cruise so that I can compare our experiences. I have already read a few negative comments about the cruise on the Facebook roll call page and it was interesting to hear opinions from people who have sailed many times before and have more experiences to compare this one to.