So how is the Dream?

[SJChaput]

I have only been on one cruise in my life and that was last year's Honeymoon cruise on the Legend. I love the ship and had an amazing time with my amazing wife.

 

Naturally we decided to book another cruise to celebrate our 1st anniversary.

 

We booked the Dream and leave this Saturday.

 

I don't think the itinerary is as good, we did Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman... Now we're doing St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Nassau) but I am sure we're still going to have an AMAZING time.

 

But I'm wondering how the Dream stacks up to the Legend.

 

Any advice as far as what not to miss on the ship and hey even what not to miss at port I would appreciate. I recently got a new job and haven't had nearly the same amount of time to look into this cruise as I did the last one. So I am kinda unprepared :)

 

Thanks!!!

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

You are going to have a fantastic time on the Dream. I sailed her this past June with my family and we went to Isla Roatan, Cozumel and Belize (we missed Costa Maya due to Hurricane Alex). I am sailing the Dream again this coming June and doing the Eastern (I personally like the eastern ports better!!). But anyways.. the ship.. its a beautiful, yet massive ship. There is a lot to do, but not enough time in the day to do it all which is why some of the comedy shows will be repeats from the night before. Speaking of shows.. theater shows & comedy shows, allow yourself to be there a half hour prior to the show if you want good seats. Both venues fill up FAST! Just be patient, there will lines here & there in the Gathering during prime lunch hours.. just got to keep in mind that there is 4,000+ people with you & they are all hungry, LOL. I definitely recommend the Mongolian Wok, great stir fry made to order. Ocean Plaza is a nice little spot if you want to enjoy a drink and just stare off into the water. Lido Deck is a hot spot, just like all the other ships, so I'm sure you are aware to get out there early if you want a lounge chair by the pool. There is two pools, both of them tend to be on the crowded side, main one more than the aft pool. Definitely try out the Water Works Slides, they are great for all ages!! I had a blast on the two sides.. I like the Drain Pipe better, just make sure you don't use it if you have a sunburn on your back! ;) What else... OH, mini golf is great. A lot of people tend to play on Fun Days at Sea but its a fun time. The speciality restaraunt, Chef's Art Steakhouse is FANTASTIC.. best steak & cheesecake.. they literally give you a quarter of a whole cake!!

 

If anything else you are interested in, please let me know. As far as Nassau goes, I plan on getting a day pass to the Aquaventure at the Atlantis resort.

[TheRejector]

The only thing I can add is don't miss the pasta bar, some great eating up there.

[arpie05]

There's another thread from last week that lists all the great things about the Dream. Someone mentioned in a post today that they served lunch in the Serenity area. I wasn't out there at lunch so I'm interested if true and what they served.

 

I enjoyed the Indian food and Main dining room at lunch (ICE CREAM SUNDAE!) and my son loved the burrito bar.

 

The cooking demostration in the steakhouse during the sea day was cool - and it was a great light lunch.

 

We did eastern - we like sea days. I would love to do Western on the Dream but too many ports! Next time we will go to St Croix and skip St. Thomas.

[estebofarr]

 

If anything else you are interested in, please let me know. As far as Nassau goes, I plan on getting a day pass to the Aquaventure at the Atlantis resort.

 

Could you tell me where you get this and how much it is, please?

[Madelyn's Mom]

You can get lunch in the Serenity area but it is a very limited menu--chicken ceaser salad, turkey wrap and something else--they have it already prepared in a plastic to go box type thing. Not a lot of choice but good :)

[MileHiCrzr]

Check and see if you can get a room for the day at the Comfort Inn on Paradise Island. Comes with all the amenties of Atlantis and might work out cheaper than the day pass - especially if you buy it from Carnival. Atlantis limits the day passes - but the resort is only 35% occupied at the moment (I just came back two weeks ago) - so I'm not thinking it will be a problem. Legend and Dream are two different types of ships - they are both wonderful. The pasta bar is upstairs from the buffet - only serves lunch - but it is to die for! They make it to order. If you have any other questions, ask away!

 

Sue

[papillon cruiser]

No one mentioned the barbeque on deck 5 for lunch. It was fantastic.:D The dream was our favorite cruise so far and we are platinum. We didn't really have any issues with lines except when we came back from Cozumel. But I had sun poisoning and a 2 people line would have killed me:eek:

[tiyana4]

OP, you will have to come back let us know how you and your DW liked the Dream.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

As someone mentioned, the Lanai BBQ that is held on the Sea Days is very good.. sliders & quesidilas, YUM. Pasta Bar is very good as well.. very limited hours, 1:30 to 3:30 I believe, but you won't deal with any lines. They will simply give you a paper to fill out that lists different types of pasta, toppings, sauces & a pasta of the day (lasagna for example). You

go sit at a table & they will bring the food to you once its freshly, cooked to order!

 

Atlantis Aquaventure.. as someone has previously mentioned, booking a room for the day at Comfort Inn is the cheapest way. Otherwise Carnival has a shore excursion for this, but I believe it is $169 per person. VERY expensive, I know. But please look at the Atlantis website & see what they have to offer.. very fun, exciting activities & slides.. perfect for the family and adults. I am not sure the price if you were to buy a day pass through Atlantis itself.. I doubt it's much cheaper, and I have heard of people going there just to be turned down due to full capacity.

[tracyanns]

As someone mentioned, the Lanai BBQ that is held on the Sea Days is very good.. sliders & quesidilas, YUM. Pasta Bar is very good as well.. very limited hours, 1:30 to 3:30 I believe, but you won't deal with any lines. They will simply give you a paper to fill out that lists different types of pasta, toppings, sauces & a pasta of the day (lasagna for example). You

go sit at a table & they will bring the food to you once its freshly, cooked to order!

 

Atlantis Aquaventure.. as someone has previously mentioned, booking a room for the day at Comfort Inn is the cheapest way. Otherwise Carnival has a shore excursion for this, but I believe it is $169 per person. VERY expensive, I know. But please look at the Atlantis website & see what they have to offer.. very fun, exciting activities & slides.. perfect for the family and adults. I am not sure the price if you were to buy a day pass through Atlantis itself.. I doubt it's much cheaper, and I have heard of people going there just to be turned down due to full capacity.

 

For 2 ppl I would get the excursion directly through Carnival as there's comes with transportation and lunch I believe. We recently went there and went through the Comfort Suites...there was 4 of us...2 adults, 2 kids...the base rate was $199...after all the mandatory fees and taxes it was $365...they charge almost $40 per person in fees...lunch was $90 with tip for the 4 of us...so you figure you may get it a bit cheaper through Comfort Suites but figure $16 round trip for taxi plus tip and another $25-$30 for lunch and it breaks even...if you have more than 2 people it is almost always cheaper to go through Comfort Suites...we do it anytime there is more than 2 of us but when only 2 we get it right on the ship.

 

Also, they do not take cash for anything outside at Atlantis so you need a debit/credit card for lunch, drinks, lockers...it is not a cheap place but they have some good drink specials that come in the yard glasses and the shaker cups...they are heavy on the liquor and they are yummy!

 

Have fun and enjoy your cruise. We have sailed her twice and I love that ship! The steakhouse is great, especially for an anniversary dinner. Don't order the apple dessert thing though, too crunchy on the bottom.

 

The Mongolian and the Burrito bar are good but get to them the first few days or you will be in line for a WHILE! I have to say that is the only bummer about the ship...there seems to be lines all day for food...and you will see some of the same people in all the lines all the time like all they are doing is eating!:eek:

 

Also, if you want really good show seats get there early...there were lines about 45 minutes before the show started and people LOVE to save seats and get all kinds of bent when you sit there anyway...which you can do as they are not allowed to save seats...

 

Don't miss the Dirty Banana Coloda...ahhh1 They also make this VERY good at the Atlantis in the yard glass for only !12...worth every penny!

[Shelbyjane56]

If you want to be away from kids, (though there probably wont be that many) but clearly some people didnt realize there are 2 sides to the serinty area, one side is by the big slide where many kids were, if you go around to the other side there were no kids there at all. It was relaxing, having drinks brought to you along with lunch if you choose

[Hogladyrider]

We sailed Dream Eastern, same ports as your cruise, Sept 11-18 and we LOVED it!

 

Previously we have sailed on Legend. Dream is much bigger than Legend.

 

If you click on the link in my signature you can view my photos of our Dream cruise.

 

We absolutely love St. Thomas and St. Maarten.....what do you have planned while in those ports?

 

We prefer to be on the water.....our excursion with Random Wind was amazing. We sailed right past Maho and the airport and saw the jets landing and taking off as well. The owner of Random Wind e-mailed me a gift cert for future use or to pass along so if you are interested let me know.

 

St. Thomas we went to St. John on our own..........FANTASTIC day.

 

Nassau........be careful you are only in port a few hours, some of our passengers missed the ship and got left behind.

 

We did not even get off the ship in Nassau, we watched others from our cove balcony and then used the Serenity area and I took advantage of no lines at the slide.

 

Of 13 cruises with Carnival, this last one on the Dream was by far our favorite, we are going to sail her again next Sept. as well.

 

We could not eat at all the available selections and we enjoyed the comedy club and all the shows as well; and sitting out under the stars watching the big screen was very relaxing.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

Susan

[katiel53]

We love the Eastern Caribbean route. Nassau, not a big deal. St Thomas, if you get the chance to go to Trunk Bay on St John, do it. It is the most beautiful beach. I think Carnival might have an excursion there, but not sure. If you don't want to go that far, go to Magen's Bay. It's a fun beach day and food and drinks are available as well as floats etc.

 

I love St Maarten. There is a beach that is where the water taxi will drop you off. There is also Maho Beach where the planes fly over the beach but almost so low that you could touch them. If you are looking to buy liquor, St Maarten is the place to do it.

 

On Dream itself, don't miss the pasta bar as others have said. The Steakhouse is another great place and it would be perfect to celebrate your anniversary. I also love the turkey sandwiches at the deli.

 

The comedy club was tons of fun. You are fortunate, I think, to have Butch as your CD. He is a great CD and I wish he were going to be our CD in April, but unfortunately, he won't be. If you like dancing and want to learn Line Dancing, go to his classes. He's a lot of fun.

 

Other than that, enjoy!!!!!