Dream Review 6/11 to 6/18 Cliff Note Version

[Toast1412]

June 11th through 18th Western Caribbean.

· Trip Down

o Four couples in our party with no kids left from Chicago Midway on Southwest @ 6:50am were in Orlando around 10:30am local time with no issues. Got our bags and hopped in the shuttle to the port. In about 45 minutes we were at the Ship

· Embark

o We typically stay in suites with our kids so we have always gone through VIP. I’ll have to say that our entire group made it through the line in about ten minutes with no wait to get on the ship. We walked right on.

· On the Dream

o It was still before noon so we couldn’t get into our rooms yet. Bought my traditional first Fosters at the lobby bar to make sure the sign and sail card was working. No problems.

o Our group headed up to Lido to get the lay of the land and the lines for food were starting to get a little crazy. Didn’t bother us since nobody wanted to eat anyway after munching on the trip down from Chicago.

o Wandered around the pool areas and upper decks, had few beers and headed to our rooms. We were all aft with two aft balconies 8468 & 8470 and two inside across the hall at 8404 &8460.

§ Aft balconies were awesome. We opened up the partition and all 8 of us fit with no problem. Nice thing about the aft balconies deck 8 and under is that there is no roof so you get lots of sun all day.

· I’ve read stories about soot back there but we never had any issues.

§ We stuck our head into 8466 which was the wrap next door. The balcony is longer but very narrow and the room layout blows. It’s a triangle so the square bed in there just didn’t look very inviting.

§ Ordered some buckets of beer and Margi’s and partied out there until we sailed.

o Headed to dinner “my time” for our first meal.

· Food and My Time

o My time dining worked great. I think we had to wait one night, they gave us a pager and it wasn’t ten minutes before we were seated. We were expected issues with a larger party but it worked out very well.

o Food overall was great. Tons of choices during the day and dinner always met expectations. The only long lines we saw at the “Gathering” seemed to be for breakfast the first morning. We got down early and there was no line but saw them quickly grow. After day one they seemed to get better. Between 7:30 and 8:00 for breakfast was pretty much empty. After 8:30, forget about it.

o Steak House was great too. Pretty much felt like I was at a Morton’s or Ruths Chris. Portions were huge enough for a competitive eater. Food was great and I would suggest everyone try it out for the extra couple bucks.

· 1st day at Sea

o Grabbed some breakfast then hit the gym. Gym was packed and overflowing. Of course it was day 1 and I’m sure everyone was still motivated from their pre-cruise work out routines. By day 3 it was usually pretty empty in there.

o Hogged our 8 chairs around 9:30. Actually had someone sitting with them the entire time while others ate, worked out, etc. Our pool home for the week was deck 12 Starboard looking down at the main pool. Nice breeze up there. Down by the pool it got pretty hot since there wasn’t much air flow down there. The synthetic decking (not sure if it’s epoxy or what) always required something on your feet. It was like walking on hot coals.

§ If we wanted some shade, Serenity seemed to always have a place to sit.

o My only complaint the entire cruise was that they put that idiot “Butch” the cruise director on the pool TV for about 90 minutes straight during his presentation in the main theatre. It was a 90 minute commercial about how to spend your money for the week. If I wanted that info I would have gone in person.

o Basically drank all day, played in the bags tournament (my friend got a ship on a stick), hit the ping pong table for a few and stayed wet a lot. Then drank some more. Great day.

· Ports

o Cozumel:

§ We’ve been to about every beach there so we just went into town for some lunch the back to the ship.

o Roatan:

§ After seeing that port I now know why the Dream can’t always stop. The channel is very narrow with very shallow water 2 to 3 feet on either side. The old ship wreck at the entrance and another at the rear of the bay are good reminders of what can go wrong.

§ Never been before and the entire group really liked it. We just hit Mahogany beach for the day. Actually played a few games of Euchre at the Hurricane Hole. The weather was great and it was just like a postcard.

§ I think that silly chair lift was 15 bucks, no options. Took us less than two minutes to walk to the beach.

§ If you go, rent a kayak and go up the little river / inlet. They have some penned up sharks and sea turtles you can get nice and close to. Pretty cool.

o Belize:

§ Did the cave tubing and zip line through cave-tubing.com. Use these guys over the ship sponsored tour. It was about half the cost and the tubing portion was longer. Oh, and we ate termites on the way in. We floated all the way back to our starting point. The ship tours had to walk back. The zip lining was the highlight of the entire cruise and I highly recommend you try it.

o Costa Maya:

§ Or, the mall of Mexico. Hit some shops for some Margi glasses and a few bowls to bring home. Personally my least favorite port. Been to the beaches before and wasn’t impressed. We’re not a “ruin” group so that was out of the question. Nice time to just walk around some though. Couldn’t get back to the ship fast enough.

· Night Life:

o Each night was pretty much the same routine.

§ Drinks on the balcony with the whole group

§ Grab dinner / my time dining.

§ Hang in the Casino and sports bar for a while; check out pictures of the day.

· They use some cool face recognition software (matches to the cheesy picture you pose for when boarding) so you don’t need to search like the old days. Just slide your card and the system brings up all the pictures you are in. Pretty cool technology

§ Hit the Burgundy lounge for the comedy show. I think we saw three total, they were all pretty good.

§ We’re not “show people” so never bothered going to the main theatre.

§ Back to the casino and on to the disco.

§ And repeat

§ I ended up winning $715 buck at 3 card poker over two nights. My wife took the winnings straight down to the purser’s desk and put towards our tab. By Thursday morning our running total was only like $30 bucks. Managed to buy about $280 in booze the next day though.

· Last day at sea:

o Somehow spent $280 on booze through the day and evening. I was just happy to still be on this great ship and buying everyone rounds.

o Played in another bags tournament but no ship on a stick this time. Some brothers from NC were kicking butt.

o Hit every hot tub at least once, all the water slides, and a little putt putt. The hot tubs hanging over the side on deck five are a complete waste. There’s just nothing to see or do there.

· Debark:

o Pretty much got up, ate breakfast and hung out for about an hour and walked off the ship. Couldn’t have been a smoother process. It was nice to have the airport style baggage claim on the belt. No looking for your bag in the warehouse.

o The whole group got there bags, the shuttle was waiting outside, and it was back to MCO.

o Quick lunch at the airport and we were back in Chicago before we new it.

That’s it.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

No Blatz Beer???

[Texarribean Chick]

You sound like my kind of folks :D - glad you had a good time!

[sail-a-bration]

What is a bags tournament?

[Toast1412]

What is a bags tournament?

 

Corn Hole / bean bags

[2Zornot2Z]

which shuttle service did you use?

[Toast1412]

Dup message

[Toast1412]

which shuttle service did you use?

 

I believe it was Cocoa Beach Shuttle. There was 8 of us and we had a nice mini bus all to ourselves.

[steelerjen]

Thanks for the quick review! Sounds like you and your group had a great time!

[FloridaCouple05]

What's this about facial recognition software? Do they still place all the photos on the walls in the photo gallery, or do you look at them all electronically now?

[Toast1412]

Thanks for the quick review! Sounds like you and your group had a great time!

 

It was great. Anybody claiming that the ship, service, or food is somehow marginal needs to get their head checked.

 

My only beef was with "Butch" the cruise director and his little side kick. I kept hoping they would both be left behind at port.

[Toast1412]

What's this about facial recognition software? Do they still place all the photos on the walls in the photo gallery, or do you look at them all electronically now?

 

They still have most of them on the wall. The kiosks for viewing are great though. PLus you can order or downlaod straight to your own memory card if you want.

[FloridaCouple05]

So if you want you can still spend an hour searching the walls, but if you prefer, you can just use a kiosk, and see all the same pictures instantly?

[EMc&DrS]

It was great. Anybody claiming that the ship, service, or food is somehow marginal needs to get their head checked.

 

My only beef was with "Butch" the cruise director and his little side kick. I kept hoping they would both be left behind at port.

 

Agreed--we were on there with you. I think of all the June and July Dream cruises, we lucked out the most. Perfect weather, we made it to all ports, and no mechanical problems. It was a fantastic week!

[tiger belle]

I believe it was Cocoa Beach Shuttle. There was 8 of us and we had a nice mini bus all to ourselves.

 

was it a per person charge or a single price for the group? about how much?

[donaldsc]

Did you do anything but drink?

 

DON

[kujobie]

Did you do anything but drink?

 

DON

 

Yea. They played bags, gambled, went to comedy shows, ziplined, ate, went to the disco, bought pics, etc. Didn't you read the review?

[kujobie]

You sound like my kind of folks :D - glad you had a good time!

 

That's what I'm saying. I coulda wrote this review. I wanna cruise with these guys!

[Toast1412]

So if you want you can still spend an hour searching the walls, but if you prefer, you can just use a kiosk, and see all the same pictures instantly?

 

Yes, it isn't perfect if say your picture was taken walking off the ship and you had sun glasses and a hat on.

 

Although it did find me a few times with the hat and glasses on too. Pretty cool

[Toast1412]

was it a per person charge or a single price for the group? about how much?

 

It was $110 each way for the 8 of us.

 

And is was Coaco Beach Shuttle.