ANOTHER ONE! Photo review of Dream 3/19

[morrieb1]

We were in cabin 1208, a PT category cabin. It was a GREAT cabin. The only downfall was that we had a connecting stateroom with a loud child in it. The older brother constantly teased the younger and the younger had a shrill voice - shouting at all times of the night while the mother was out partying. However, this did not spoil our cruise. For the price we paid for the cabin, we put up with the bratty kid & enjoyed the privilege of having natural light, an ocean view and plenty of space for the 3 of us.

 

For those who wonder: There were 20 hangers in our 2 closets. (LOL! I know somebody is going to thank me for that piece of info!)

 

I am so jealous. That is a HUGE cabin compared to my inside up on Panorama. But I have a porthole on the Magic and I'll be thrilled if its anywhere near as nice.,

 

Em

[APDMOM]

I am so jealous. That is a HUGE cabin compared to my inside up on Panorama. But I have a porthole on the Magic and I'll be thrilled if its anywhere near as nice.,

 

Em

 

I'm sure it will be great! A cabin looks larger just with that bit of natural light too. You are taking a dream cruise... Wish I could go, but Europe will have to wait until our son is older :) Enjoy it, Em!

[brazilgirl]

Thanks for the excellent review!

 

Quick question: is the breakfast in the MDR fairly speedy , or more "leisurely"?

 

Thanks.

 

Kim

[Debbie42467]

TIP: At 5 pm on the last day, there is a Fun Farewell Party in the Burgandy Lounge. It is not advertised at all - just mentioned in the schedule. There are free drinks served during this time for about 1 hour (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). We were surprised to see how few people knew about it... imagine if all 4500 passengers showed up for the free drinks! (Okay, minus kids/minors). This is a well kept secret that mostly CC members seem to know about! We tipped our first waiter $1 for bringing us a free drink and he kept them coming with a huge smile on his face. You would have thought we had given him $100!

 

 

Thanks for posting your review and sharing your wonderful photos. I did not know about the Fun Farewell Party. Thanks :) for this tip. What kind of free alcoholic drinks did they offer?

 

Thanks again,

 

Debbie

[APDMOM]

 

Quick question: is the breakfast in the MDR fairly speedy , or more "leisurely"?

 

Thanks.

 

Kim

 

The service was very fast, but they do not rush you out of there. So, you can have a quick breakfast if you are in a hurry, or leisurely if you prefer. We never waited more than 5 minutes for our food. Happy planning!

[APDMOM]

Thanks for posting your review and sharing your wonderful photos. I did not know about the Fun Farewell Party. Thanks :) for this tip. What kind of free alcoholic drinks did they offer?

 

Thanks again,

 

Debbie

 

The drinks are pre-made and you choose from the tray the server presents. They had wine, champagne, whisky sour, screwdriver, rum punch, beer, some kind of lime concoction... That is all I can remember. As far as the wine is concerned, we did not know what kind. We did not ask if we could custom order. Enjoy! :)

[libbylabby]

Loved the pictures and all your helpful information, thanks for sharing. What night was formal night? We want make reservations at the steak house and don't want to miss lobster in the dining room. thanks:)

[APDMOM]

Loved the pictures and all your helpful information, thanks for sharing. What night was formal night? We want make reservations at the steak house and don't want to miss lobster in the dining room. thanks:)

 

On our cruise the formal nights were Sunday (First sea day) and Thursday (Costa Maya). Enjoy planning!

[Nanookz]

Do you know if the water slides and water park was closed while you were in port?

[APDMOM]

Do you know if the water slides and water park was closed while you were in port?

 

They were open on port days from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. That is the best time to use them since the ship is pretty quiet in port. :)

[truchattycathy]

Great review. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing!

[jtmurph7]

Great review!!! Thanks for taking the time to do it...I just love reading the reviews w/pictures...We are going on the Dream July 30th on the Eastern Route...It makes time pass being able to read about other cruises..:D

 

Thanks again,

 

Tammy

[tandemcruzr]

Thanks APDMOM for your review and pics. We are going on our second Dream cruise in November.

 

BTW, are you the person who takes photos of ships leaving the Jax Port? If so, thank you for that too.

[APDMOM]

Thanks APDMOM for your review and pics. We are going on our second Dream cruise in November.

 

BTW, are you the person who takes photos of ships leaving the Jax Port? If so, thank you for that too.

 

Yes, that is me. You are welcome... You can probably tell that I love taking pictures.

 

Enjoy your cruise - the Dream is definitely unique :)

[tandemcruzr]

This will be our second Dream cruise. This time we scored a cove balcony at a great ES rate.

 

Hope to get back to Jax sometime next year.

[Kelane]

This will be our second Dream cruise. This time we scored a cove balcony at a great ES rate.

 

Hope to get back to Jax sometime next year.

 

After reading this review; it made me want to book on the Dream again, too! I was looking thru the pictures thinking "was THAT there in January? I didn't see that!"

 

Best deal was Cove...now I guess I need to go read more about the Cove Balconies. Was surprised that they were available. (I was looking at August, I think). I know folks seem to love them; must be a reason! :p

[ninneman]

Well, here it is. Another Dream review! This was our seventh cruise. We are not loyal to any particular cruise line, but enjoy a great deal. See my signature for previous cruise experiences.

 

We chose this Western Caribbean cruise based on price and port of departure. We left on March 19th and returned on March 26th.

 

My husband, my six year old son and I left Jacksonville the morning of the cruise. We parked at Port Canaveral at 10:45 a.m. and were on the ship at 11:10 a.m. It was the easiest boarding ever!

 

Driving on 528

 

TIP: Driving to Port Canaveral. If you go east on 528, make sure you take the exit for the north terminals. It is easy sailing from there. Follow the signs to drop off your luggage and park in the adjacent parking garage. Parking was $105 for the 7 day cruise.

 

 

We will be sailing the same ship and itinerary on 03/17/2012. Can't wait. :D

 

Thank you for your to the point review. It's greatly appreciated.;)

[EJKorvette]

. I'm just waiting for COSTA to make their 2012 sailings available to USA so that we can book our next adventure! :D

 

One thing I would love to do is to take a another cruise on a Spirit-class ship but on Carnival (notice we were on the Costa Atlantica in January).

 

Have you (or anyone) sailed on both the Atlantica or Mediterranea, and a Carnival Spirit-class ship? Would be interesting to compare and contrast the same ship as done by two different cruise lines.

 

btw I loved our Costa cruise - felt like we were in Europe on the ship!

[APDMOM]

One thing I would love to do is to take a another cruise on a Spirit-class ship but on Carnival (notice we were on the Costa Atlantica in January).

 

Have you (or anyone) sailed on both the Atlantica or Mediterranea, and a Carnival Spirit-class ship? Would be interesting to compare and contrast the same ship as done by two different cruise lines.

 

btw I loved our Costa cruise - felt like we were in Europe on the ship!

 

Yes! We just got off Carnival Legend on the 19th. You can see my review and many pictures in my signature - just click on the link.

 

Costa Atlantica and Carnival Legend have the same layout, as you probably know. I lean a little more to Costa Atlantica as far as public areas are concerned because I think they did a much better job with the Cafe Florian area and the Butterfly lounge. On Legend, these areas are enclosed as Billie's Piano bar on deck 3, and Satchmo's & Dreamteam sports bar on deck 2.

 

On the other hand, Legend has the most beautiful show lounge I have seen on a ship.

 

Either way, if you liked the layout of Costa Atlantica, you will not be disappointed in Legend. It is a beautiful ship. We were planning another Costa cruise when the special on Legend came up. We really enjoyed both these ships! I have heard that Costa and Carnival use the same decorators and it definitely seemed like it. The hallway decorations on Costa and Legend were very similar (if not the same).

 

I'll gladly answer more questions you may have. :)

[Cruisecat40]

APDMOM, Thanks for the great review and pictures...Definitely excellent points to take into consideration for when our time comes around.:)

 

We are sailing the DREAM in March (2012) and I wanted to know how was the weather (overall) during the time you sailed?? Was it above 80 degrees, cooler at night on ship, etc)...Just wanted to get an idea since this is our first cruise (in March).

 

Thanks!!!

[APDMOM]

APDMOM, Thanks for the great review and pictures...Definitely excellent points to take into consideration for when our time comes around.:)

 

We are sailing the DREAM in March (2012) and I wanted to know how was the weather (overall) during the time you sailed?? Was it above 80 degrees, cooler at night on ship, etc)...Just wanted to get an idea since this is our first cruise (in March).

 

Thanks!!!

 

You are welcome! We usually go in March or early April. It is our favorite time to cruise, as the water is more calm and the weather is typically a little bit more mild. (mild for the caribbean, that is!). Considering that the summer and winter temps are only about 10 degrees different, it is still hot and sometimes humid. Evenings are more mild and it is especially nice to enjoy the breeze as the ship sets sail at night.

 

With all that said, it is still summer-like and you will rarely need anything more than summer clothing. The only time I wear a sweater or shawl in the Caribbean is in the MDR :D Hope that answers your question and does not lead to more confusion :rolleyes:

 

Enjoy planning and counting down the days!

[pizzaeater]

"Secret door" on deck 10. There is a similar door on deck 9 - forward

 

 

 

 

 

GRRR!!!! I discovered that area in line and booked 10203 for Sept. 10, 2012 cruise on Dream. Thought I would have that area to myself!!! But noooo! You gave my secret away!!!!!!!!! :eek:

[Lucille Bluth]

Great review! Loved all the pictures! The Dream is on my to-cruise list!

[APDMOM]

GRRR!!!! I discovered that area in line and booked 10203 for Sept. 10, 2012 cruise on Dream. Thought I would have that area to myself!!! But noooo! You gave my secret away!!!!!!!!! :eek:

LOL! It sounds like we should book that cruise too and have a big Cruise Critic Pizza party on "your" balcony :D We wouldn't want you to be too lonely now...

[tip.n.ring]

We will be leaving on the Dream shortly and want to thank APDMOM for her reviews and pictures. The condensing of the aggregation of former tips was great! :)

 

Thanks again and see you at sea.

 

Hopefully I might be able to add something new to the list after our trip.

 

Did anyone take the "Behind the Fun tour"?