Our Amazing Dream Jan 9-16

[Majesty Fan]

Driving home from the Dream now! It was an amazing 7 days.

 

Pre cruise: we stayed at the Radison at the Port with a rate of $105 but that was with AAA but as you check in there was a discount rack and could have used that but did not see that until later. Our room was by the pool. It was a very nice looking pool and was heated with hot tub. The hotel does provide transport to the pier but the earliest we could get was 1230 pm the Disney ship goes first. The hotel will take you anywhere within 5 miles for free. If you shop at Cocoa Beach Surf Company you get 15% off non sail items. The am of the cruise it was 34! I never thought that it would do that plus it was raining too! We had the hotel get a taxi for us but they don't come up under the awning and 2 other people got our taxi finally we did get a taxi and it was $8.

 

Embarkation. From security to on the ship was a breeze less than 30 minutes. Our cabin was 6480 port side aft balcony.

 

The rooms are not ready until 130pm so everyone was gathering in the Lido food area. As it was raining and cold. The bar staff was selling the coke cups for $7 per day this time I decided not to buy one. There are so many food options that if you can't find something to eat then you need to stay home. There is a 24 pizza with 6 different pizzas to choose from plus a calzone and Cesar salad. Plus a gril and deli which stay open late too. The main Buffett stays open until 330pm plus there is a Pasta Bar which you can fill out a card and choose the type of Pasta, sauce, ingrediants like shrimp, onions. There is a burito bar which you can have different meats plus shrimp and various toppings like beans, corn, onions, tomatoes and cheese. My favorite is the Mongolian wok. This is where the lines are! My wait time was over 35 minutes. You pick your toppings like noodles, peas. Corn onions etc and then your meat and sauce. They first fry up your condiments then the meats are cooked then they are added together just the cooking takes 5 min there are only 2 people doing this.

 

Pools etc: there are 3 pools which are small. Numerous hot tubs. We liked the aft pool as it was the closest pool to our cabin. it had 2 hot tubs plus the bar was there and deli too. I do not do serenity so can't commnet on that. There is a small infant waterslide plus a speed slide a twister slide which is very fast plus the drain pipe. The drain pipe is very fast and is over fast too. Think a frog in a blender. Sea days are too windy for the slide to be open! Port days are the best. There is another pool by the big screen. Due to the rain it would have been nice to have a cover on the pool and the hot tubs too.

 

In the evening there is a sushi bar open plus a mararita bar open. The cofee bar is open and they have specialty coffee plus sweets like chocolate strawberries ice crea

for sale. My husband said the espreso was good.

 

We had my time dinning and chose to go at 830pm we had done this o the Legend and we liked it however this time the service was not so good. One night it took over 10 minutes just to be greated and take the order. The food was very good as was the chocolate melting cake. They still sing and dance.

 

Cabin: I booked a gty balcony cabin and did not know our cabin until we got to the ship. We had cabin 6480 which was near the aft. It had plenty of room or the 2 of us. The bath room had plenty of space. They still use shower curtains. They do supply shampoo and shower gel plus alot of samples of different items like toothpaste razors.

 

Fun Force! There are 4 guys who do some amazing dance acts.

 

There is a comedy show lounge and has shows almost every day one is pg the other is not. Lewis Nixon and Wil Marfoli were the first ones. The stage shows were really good . Dancing in the Street was the best one.

 

Check the capers for daily activity

 

more later

Lexi

[mrpayroll]

Thanks for taking the time to post..Glad to hear you had a good time on the Dream..We are on it Jan23rd..:rolleyes:

[NH Cruisers]

I am on the 2/20/2010 cruise and am staying at the Raddisson at the Port too. Thanks for the heads up on the discount rack, i'll check it out. Maybe I will get a cab to the ship, instead of waiting around.

That was a great short review that I was very happy to read.

I am glad you had a great cruise.

 

Jon,

[Majesty Fan]

I had waited 18 months for the cruise and it looked like we were going to have bad weather. Sunday am the high was 65! I had on sweatpants polar fleece and sweatshirts. It was also rainy too. A lot of activites were moved to inside. We did the mini golf and had a hole in one! You have to get a club and ball from the pool attendant. No waterslides were open today. Nobody was outside most inside playing bingo or shoping. The photo shop has specials on scrapbooking and also can make nice photo books.

 

Lunch: we did Lido and I had to wait at least 35 min for the Mongolian wok. It takes a while but it is very good. After 330pm the Buffett is not set up.

 

Monday Cozumel: warmer now 68 but very windy. My husband had some dental work done. Very cheap in Mexico. He used to work for RCI and had it done in Mexico before. $70 for root canal. We walked around the square and had a Sol beer for $1 and then off to Chakanab. Taxi ride is $10. If the weather has been nicer we would have come earlier. I booked the Manatee Swim onlineWilderness for $39. I love manatees and have wanted to swim with them so now was my chance! You stand on the platform and they let you feed them feed them rub them plus you get to hold them and they give you a kiss. All this is being filmed and photos taken. You can take a disposable water camera with you. Later you get to get all the way in and feed them. It was an awesome tour! If I had done this in Crystal River Fl it would have been close to $200. The video is $60 but you get 3 photos with it. A little pricy but how often am I gonna do it? The water temp was warmer than outside. But If I had not booked this I would not have gotten in the water.

 

Lunch: we had a late lunch I had a Reuben and a slice of cheese Pizza. Both were good.

 

Roatan: now it was still cloudy and 70. We decided to stay on the ship. There was the Grand Princess with us too. There are only a few shops, beach that you can get to by a chairlift. Also very close was a zip line. Not sure how expensive this was. We did the waterslides. No wait! They are open from 10-5pm. The drain pipe is my favorite. For lunch we got there at noon and had less than 5in wait for Mongolian wok. Hubby had the burito bar which was good.

 

Comedy Club: the 2 comedy club guys were there and they were very funny but the later shows are adult. The Carnival Fun Dude is not very funny. We also saw the Dancing in the Street which was fantastic!

 

Belize: still cloudy and now 74 we had been here last year on the Legend and were not impressed. You need to do a shore excursion here. You also tender here and 4 ships in port with a possibility of over 10,000 in port! We stayed on the ship! The ship stays on EST but all the ports were CST we took a lot of pictures around the ship with it empty and spent time by the pool hot tubs and water slide. The sun came out too! Nice and warm at 77!

 

Costa Maya. 3 ships in port and as we were next to the Voyager the photo guy asked to take our picture. Not a big deal except he was from RCI! So now our picture was on the Voyager! It was finally warm and sunny about 80! The water was so blue! But at thus time of year I would get a wet suit! There is plenty of shopping right there along with a nice salt water pool with a beach. You can take a taxi for $5 and go to a much better beach and shopping. You have to be back on the ship by 230pm. We returned by noon and did the pasta bar! The pasta bar you are given a card and a pencil and told to fill it out. Options were different pastas with different sauces and then additional ingredients. Not many people were there as you have to go up stairs.

 

Comedy club: new comdiens on the ship they were ok but not as good as the ones earlier!

 

Sea Day: I did the behind the fun tour and it lasts almost 4 hours. You must wear close toed shoes and shorts or pants. I signed up as soon as I got on the ship. It costs $95. You go to the galley, crew bar, laundry, provisional area. Engine control room, back stage area, bridge and chefs art steak house. You do get some photos taken with the Capt a hat a lanyard, and a bag plus the photos. My tour was at 845am. The waterslides were closed due to high wind of around 50. Luggage had to be out by 10pm. The sun was out but very windy. I am sure the cruise lost money and that was due to the weather. It is a very nice ship I would have put a retractable roof on the ship and have some hot tubs by the big screen and have covers on them. I would love to go back on her! But our next cruise will be on Disney to the Panama Canal!

[bots99]

always nice to hear someone's impression of the Dream

[ladycaveat]

I also just returned from Dream's January 9th cruise. Great review Lexi and very honest. Despite the weather (very chilly, windy and on and off rain) . . . I had a wonderful time. The best day was our last port day . . . Costa Maya (I actually got to sit in the sun). I had to cancel my dolphin swim in Cozumel (too chilly and gale force winds) and my submarine ride in Belize (they were afraid the underwater current might damage the delicate coral). Didn't plan any excursions in Roatan or Costa Maya.

 

I don't know if it was because so many excursions canceled or bad weather that kept a lot more people on the ship than usual . . . but I met so many fantastic people on this cruise. It was as if no one was a stranger . . . so many email address exchanged and plans to cruise together again.

 

Because I cruise solo, I had my usual 1A cabin with a single bed and portholes . . . lots of room and perfect for one traveling alone.

 

Food was good (I had late seating and couldn't have asked for better tablemates), entertainment was great (especially the four guys Lexi mentioned . . . they were fantastic). Loved the piano bar which was always full after the late dinner seating . . . lots of fun. Don't gamble but the casinos were full morning, noon and night when not in ports. My cabin crew and dinning room crew where some of the best I've ever had . . . very friendly and actually called me by name.

 

As a side note . . . I stayed at the Radison the night before and would never stay there again . . . it was like a mouse maze unless you were close to the pool (both the pool and hot tub looked really nice). I was in the third "set" of rooms (they are in the front and back) and I always got lost trying to find my room (and no . . . I was cold sober . . . tee hee).

 

The drive from the airport to the hotel (which was about five minutes away from the port) was forty-five minutes and cost $33.00 on the Cocca Beach Shuttle (which you should book before leaving home). I took Carnival's shuttle from the ship to the airport ($35.00). I also used the "luggage express" . . . love that service and aways use it. You put your bag out before eleven in the evening the last night at sea. You don't see it again until you pick it up at the airport at your final destination. This service is $20.00 and well worth the price.

 

To all those who will be sailing on the Dream . . . bring your walking shoes . . . that ship is huge! Just walking from one end to the other has to be several football fields long. Have a wonderful cruise . . . she is a beautiful ship . . . :)

[LynnAnne]

Husband and I on this cruise also. What a great ship!! We did the my time dinning and liked it. I would of loved more sea days and less ports. First time I did a 7 day with 4 stops. Belize was a big joke, unless you have a excurtion booked, stay on the ship. We took a cap to the beach in Costa Maya, had a relaxing day. Sat on the beach next to Mom and daughter, Hi, if you see this, I enjoyed visiting with you two. Never did run into them again on the ship. Great to home here in Michigan, cold but nice to be home. Of course would love to be back on the Dream!!!!

[sunlover5]

Where do you sign up for the fun tour at??? My DH and BIL would love to do that!! Thanks!

[scperk]

Where do you sign up for the fun tour at??? My DH and BIL would love to do that!! Thanks!

Sign up at the excursion desk and you need to do it as soon as you board because it's limited and goes fills up pretty fast....Dennis

[mtt32]

Thanks for the review. My husband and I will be doing the Feb 13 Eastern Caribbean cruise with 8 other people.

 

We are excited, love reading the reviews. Ship sounds great.

 

MT

[Starfire_rules]

Great review! I'll be on the Dream on the 23rd of January. (6 days and counting) I feel better now for booking Altun Ha excursion in Belize now after reading your review. Wasn't sure if I was missing something by bypassing the area by the port.

Hopefully the weather is a little better next week, though.:D