1st time Carnival cruiser (DREAM) complete review & pictorial (from a NCL cruiser)

[mitsugirly]

Surprisingly with such short notice, there was availability at Almaplena. I am just waiting to hear back from them with their PayPal link. I spotted your review in Tripadvisor & sent you a note there. I really feel like we dodged a bullet at the last minute on this one. I've certainly had my share of excursions that weren't the greatest, & just chalk it up to guess we just won't do that again, but Costa Maya is our last port for this cruise. Otherwise I would feel differently. It would have been such a shame to end our port days with an anticlimax. Thanks again!

 

So it looks like you have sailed already. What did you think about Almaplena? I'm interested in knowing. :)

 

Kim, I want to thank you for another great review and pictures! Our close friends have sailed Carnival Dream several times so I knew they loved it, but they never had pictures like you do to show me why they liked it. Now I see why they keep going back, and I guess I see why they're sailing on the Breeze in August.

 

DH and I have done several cruises, but will be doing our first Western this fall. I have been going back through some of your previous reviews because you seem to like the same kind of shore excursions as we do. So far you have helped me rule out Nachi Cocum because of how hard you said it was to walk in the soft sand. Last time I was on a beach like that I was gasping for breath just walking from my lounger to the water. Not like me at all! Based on your reviews and my own research, at this point I think we are going to Chankanaab. Yes, like you I am a bit OCD about my research! :D As long as my fussy DH can walk down the stairs there and swim without having to walk over rocks to get into the snorkel area I think we will really like it there. Your reports really have been a big help to me, so thank you so much for all you share.

 

You are very welcome. I'm so sorry I just now seen this post. I have been so busy with school and I usually get an email when I get a post, but for some reason I didn't this time around.

 

Let me know how you like Chankanaab. No worries about having to walk on anything but sand until you get to the steps to go down in the water. It's really not that bad getting in and out of the water. If my 3-4 year old at the time we were there can do it while holding my hand, you should be fine. There's handrails at all of the steps. :)

[Bluemoon319]

So it looks like you have sailed already. What did you think about Almaplena? I'm interested in knowing. :)

 

I thought Almaplena was very nice & just as you described. It was a cloudy day with rain off/on. We ended up being the only ones from the ship to go there. A lot of people didn't even leave the ship that day due to the weather. I'm glad we did though. Service at Almaplena was rather laid back, but no complaints. I loved the privacy of the setting & the sandy bottom ocean. We were also able to find some rather cool beach-combing treasures including some decent size pieces of sponge. BTW, the sideways palm tree that was about 5 ft off the ground when you were there is now only 2-3 feet of the ground. Still very nice though. Now you can just walk up & sit on it.

 

We did hear of numerous linofish sitings closer to port so I am especially happy we changed our minds & went here. I'm no wimp,but not stupid either & have no problem with cutting down on risks of nasty encounters.

 

It did surprise me how desolate the road to Almaplena was. We only came upon one other vehicle on the way (we were also the only ship in port that day). Our cab pick-up was arranged as soon as we arrived. I had no issues with this place being further away. In fact, I think that added to the attraction of it for me. Certainly on one could equate this place with commercialism. in spite of the weather. I think we won the prize for the best excursion that day.

 

I'm very grateful that I had come upon your review when I did. Thanks again.

[mitsugirly]

I thought Almaplena was very nice & just as you described. It was a cloudy day with rain off/on. We ended up being the only ones from the ship to go there. A lot of people didn't even leave the ship that day due to the weather. I'm glad we did though. Service at Almaplena was rather laid back, but no complaints. I loved the privacy of the setting & the sandy bottom ocean. We were also able to find some rather cool beach-combing treasures including some decent size pieces of sponge. BTW, the sideways palm tree that was about 5 ft off the ground when you were there is now only 2-3 feet of the ground. Still very nice though. Now you can just walk up & sit on it.

 

We did hear of numerous linofish sitings closer to port so I am especially happy we changed our minds & went here. I'm no wimp,but not stupid either & have no problem with cutting down on risks of nasty encounters.

 

It did surprise me how desolate the road to Almaplena was. We only came upon one other vehicle on the way (we were also the only ship in port that day). Our cab pick-up was arranged as soon as we arrived. I had no issues with this place being further away. In fact, I think that added to the attraction of it for me. Certainly on one could equate this place with commercialism. in spite of the weather. I think we won the prize for the best excursion that day.

 

I'm very grateful that I had come upon your review when I did. Thanks again.

 

Aww, I hate to hear that it was raining that day off and on. Hopefully it was some of those really quick Caribbean showers and then bright and sunny. It sounds like it didn't spoil your fun though, so that's good.

 

Wow, I wonder what's going on with the palm tree. Is it falling over because of the erosion of the sand from the water coming up I wonder?

 

I was just wondering what you ordered for lunch and how was it? Since we didn't really care for the food we had for lunch (when we let them pick for us) and just wondered what you had and your thoughts on it.

 

I'm really happy to hear that you liked this place and it's always nice when someone reports back with their views. Did you get any good pictures you would like to share? :)

[cjnix29]

Thank you So much for your review and all the pictures! We are taking our first Carnival cruise in a month (on the Breeze), and only our second cruise ever. I am in awe of all the research you do. I spent all day reading it yesterday, and now have to go back to read your review on the Eastern ports, as that is what we will be on. I would love to do more interesting, on-cruise excursions. Do you have a resource you like to go specifically when you are doing your research to find these cool places? Or can I just send you a check and you can tell us where to go. :D New business venture for you?! with all your free time? HA HA!

 

Again, thoroughly enjoyed your review, I'm officially a fan. We used to be neighbors...lived just north in Delaware for several years. Good luck as you finish up your degree!

[mitsugirly]

Thank you So much for your review and all the pictures! We are taking our first Carnival cruise in a month (on the Breeze), and only our second cruise ever. I am in awe of all the research you do. I spent all day reading it yesterday, and now have to go back to read your review on the Eastern ports, as that is what we will be on. I would love to do more interesting, on-cruise excursions. Do you have a resource you like to go specifically when you are doing your research to find these cool places? Or can I just send you a check and you can tell us where to go. :D New business venture for you?! with all your free time? HA HA!

 

Again, thoroughly enjoyed your review, I'm officially a fan. We used to be neighbors...lived just north in Delaware for several years. Good luck as you finish up your degree!

 

You are very welcome for the review and yes, I love to do my research. Most of the time it pays off, only a few times it ended up being not exactly what I had hoped for. The last time I did an Eastern review was 2010 and it wasn't too much of a review. That's when I first started doing reviews, but hopefully you will find some good information there that might interest you. I really miss the Eastern side and after this next cruise, I have vowed to not go back to the Western and go back to Eastern (or Bermuda...some place different). We'll see. :D

 

Honestly, the BEST advice you are going to see and obtain your information is right here on cc. That's where I do all of my research. If I find something that sparks my interest, then I may check some TripAdvisor reviews, google it and look at the pictures and so on when I'm trying to narrow things down. I do searches on here after I see some people mention a certain place and then I start taking notes and asking questions. The people on here are so very helpful and while everyone have different taste in places, you can normally get a decent fill for the place in general. Watching youtube videos or web cams are another way to "see" more of the place. :)

 

I have had a lot of people tell me I should be a TA (on the side of course) and that would be a fun job. However, who has time for that with my schedule (hehe) and it just seems like over the last few years, they are trying their best to weed out the TA (at least in cruising) but not letting them discount prices, give incentives and even pulling from their services. :(

 

Also, hello there former neighbor? I'm actually doing some of my clinicals this summer in Delaware (Powell area) this semester. :D

[Mrs. Squirrel]

Thank you for such a detailed review. I am very sorry to hear about your DD's experience with Camp Carnival. :( Although we no longer cruise Carnival, I can tell you that your experience on the Dream is not indicative of Carnival's Kids' programs in general.

 

I have an extensive background in teaching 3 to pre-K 5 year olds and have used both Carnival and NCL's Kids' programs a lot over the years for my own DS and Nephews. The differences between the two lines programs, in our experience, are summed up like this:

 

Carnival prints a schedule of activities. Those activities and times do not vary. It does not matter if the group doesn't want to do those activities or if they were having a great time with the previous activities, when it's time to change. . .it's time to change. This can be both a plus and minus. If you have a more outspoken, talkative child, they will have no trouble speaking up that they don't like or want to do what is scheduled next. This can label them unfairly as a 'troublemaker' or 'unwilling to play along'. On the other hand, If you go at 3:00pm specifically, say, for facepainting. . .facepainting it will be. It is easy for the kids to catch the activities they really want to do that way. Carnival's program has more crafts in its schedule.

 

NCL prints a schedule of activities. They may or may not do those activities depending on the mix and wants of the group in attendance at the time. If something is not working well with the kids, they will substitute another activity or separate the group and do more than one activity simultaneously. This is also a plus and a minus. If you have a child who had their heart set on facepainting, but the group prior to their arrival all said they wanted to continue playing dodgeball, well then. . .you can have disappointment. On the other hand, the flexibility to adapt is a useful tool for the counselors. Why force a roomful of kids to color when none of them want to just because the clock says it's time? NCL's program has more physical activities and games in its schedule.

 

I would not say that for us, one program has been better than the other in quality of childcare but being that our DS is craft averse and likes games and movement, he prefers NCL, so that is where we are for vacations now.

 

I know you are very busy with work, school and your family, but please try to make sure that you write or e-mail corporate about your experience. Treating children in a manner that makes them and their parents feel unwelcome is inappropriate in any setting, vacation or otherwise.

 

Congratulations on the new grandbaby!

[mitsugirly]

Thank you for such a detailed review. I am very sorry to hear about your DD's experience with Camp Carnival. :( Although we no longer cruise Carnival, I can tell you that your experience on the Dream is not indicative of Carnival's Kids' programs in general.

 

I have an extensive background in teaching 3 to pre-K 5 year olds and have used both Carnival and NCL's Kids' programs a lot over the years for my own DS and Nephews. The differences between the two lines programs, in our experience, are summed up like this:

 

Carnival prints a schedule of activities. Those activities and times do not vary. It does not matter if the group doesn't want to do those activities or if they were having a great time with the previous activities, when it's time to change. . .it's time to change. This can be both a plus and minus. If you have a more outspoken, talkative child, they will have no trouble speaking up that they don't like or want to do what is scheduled next. This can label them unfairly as a 'troublemaker' or 'unwilling to play along'. On the other hand, If you go at 3:00pm specifically, say, for facepainting. . .facepainting it will be. It is easy for the kids to catch the activities they really want to do that way. Carnival's program has more crafts in its schedule.

 

NCL prints a schedule of activities. They may or may not do those activities depending on the mix and wants of the group in attendance at the time. If something is not working well with the kids, they will substitute another activity or separate the group and do more than one activity simultaneously. This is also a plus and a minus. If you have a child who had their heart set on facepainting, but the group prior to their arrival all said they wanted to continue playing dodgeball, well then. . .you can have disappointment. On the other hand, the flexibility to adapt is a useful tool for the counselors. Why force a roomful of kids to color when none of them want to just because the clock says it's time? NCL's program has more physical activities and games in its schedule.

 

I would not say that for us, one program has been better than the other in quality of childcare but being that our DS is craft averse and likes games and movement, he prefers NCL, so that is where we are for vacations now.

 

I know you are very busy with work, school and your family, but please try to make sure that you write or e-mail corporate about your experience. Treating children in a manner that makes them and their parents feel unwelcome is inappropriate in any setting, vacation or otherwise.

 

Congratulations on the new grandbaby!

 

Thank you very much for you description and knowledge between the 2 lines. It's very helpful to know. However, our daughter is very versatile. She loves to be active (as many people on these boards know that she is an extremist and does ANYTHING we do as adults), but yet she also loves, loves, loves her crafts and activities. She loves to draw (and could and does do that all day long if allowed), loves to put anything together or anything craft related. While she's only 5 years old, for the last few years, for her birthday or from "Santa", we have pretty much stopped buying her toys (we may get 1 big toy for her) and started buying craft items for her to do as gifts because she loves them so much.

 

She's very cooperative and easily goes with the flow. She also doesn't mind watching a show or having story time, which is what I noticed A LOT when we peeped in on her. They just always seem to be sitting down in front of the t.v area....which I thought was kind of weird. But obviously she did do the crafts (but they stated she did not) because we sure did find a lot of things in the box where she wrote her name on them. :confused:

 

One thing I have noticed on previous NCL cruises, the counselors seem to take a liking to her. She's very caring and very lovable. If someone gets hurt, Sakari is there to the rescue to make sure they are alright and that there are no boo-boo's. I have seen her in public with the counselors and at the shows and you will see the counselors hug her and I have even seen them put her on their lap and the smiles and laughter. I have had many compliments from other counselors. I'm just bothered by the negative remarks the Carnival Club had about my daughter...I know this is just not the description for her. It just doesn't "fit the bill" so to speak. After noticing the "attitude" we received from the counselors and their words spoken, I'm pretty sure it wasn't my daughter, but these particular staff members. :(

 

I am in my last week of school this week and then next week is finals. Maybe I'll get a chance to sit down and write to the Carnival staff about our issue we had.

 

I do think (and hope) that this experience we had was a limited experience and doesn't reflect the way the rest of the kids clubs are on Carnival.

[TheGirlNextDoor]

LOVE your review!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing.

[mitsugirly]

LOVE your review!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for your comment. :)

[roaminggoat]

Great review. Your port reviews were really helpful too! I love snorkeling so I'm glad you take so many underwater pics.

 

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[lostone65]

Dang Kim it seems the only time I get to "see" you is in the Carnival board now. Lol. Glad you are getting close to a school break, getting closer to finishing now!

On a serious note please write to Carnival about how Sakari was treated. They need to know. I hope you have a great school break!

 

Tammy

 

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[mitsugirly]

Great review. Your port reviews were really helpful too! I love snorkeling so I'm glad you take so many underwater pics.

 

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Thanks for the comment. I love taking the snorkeling pictures. I probably take more of those than I do of the port. :D

 

Dang Kim it seems the only time I get to "see" you is in the Carnival board now. Lol. Glad you are getting close to a school break, getting closer to finishing now!

On a serious note please write to Carnival about how Sakari was treated. They need to know. I hope you have a great school break!

 

Tammy

 

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Really? I didn't think I was over here too much. I mean the only thing I can relate to is the Dream. LOL (But I will hopefully be able to add another next year :p to the list).

 

Actually you will normally find me the most over in the Caribbean port boards. :D

[CruisinCarps]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review! Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time out to post it. We are going on our first Carnival cruise in a few months (sailed one other time with Disney).

 

I am thinking of posting a trip report when we get back. Do you take extensive notes? (Please say yes and that you didn't remember this much detail in your head...LOL! I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday...;) )

[Chief Cruiser]

Fantastic Review! Well worded and organized. Loved the snip-its of humor along the way. I appreciate your effort of time and commitment to such a detailed review.

 

BTW, welcome to Carnival cruising and your review of the Dream is just in time as we sail her for the first time next month. From your pictures, I can hardly wait to see and experience her.

 

Well done and happy sails to you in the future.

[mitsugirly]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review! Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time out to post it. We are going on our first Carnival cruise in a few months (sailed one other time with Disney).

 

I am thinking of posting a trip report when we get back. Do you take extensive notes? (Please say yes and that you didn't remember this much detail in your head...LOL! I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday...;) )

 

Thanks for your comment.

 

Actually no, I don't really take extensive notes. If there's something that I really need to remember, I may jot down something at the end of the day so that I'll remember it correctly, but I mostly go off of all of the pictures I take. I constantly have my camera with me and once I download all of them when I get home, I devide them into "folders" on my computer according to 1) the day and 2) what we did. So for instance let's say I was in Roatan on Monday, I would have a folder that said Monday, May 1 and within that folder I would have all of the ship photos and things we did and then I would have another folder that would say Roatan (with the name of the place we went). Of course since I take so many pictures, I always end up making yet another folder within the folders that say "post" or "ready" and those are the ones I share (otherwise you all would be here for months reading and looking at all of the pictures) :D

 

But, to answer you question, no. I'm on vacation and hope that most of the pictures will spark my memory of what went on that day. :p

[Youngen2505]

Thanks for your awesome review! We have 2 young kids, the youngest is too young for cave tubing, do you have any other suggestion for what to do in Belize and/or what company to use?

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

Fantastic Review! Well worded and organized. Loved the snip-its of humor along the way. I appreciate your effort of time and commitment to such a detailed review.

 

BTW, welcome to Carnival cruising and your review of the Dream is just in time as we sail her for the first time next month. From your pictures, I can hardly wait to see and experience her.

 

Well done and happy sails to you in the future.

 

Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked it. We loved the Dream and hopefully you will too. We will be back to NCL in 4 months, but don't have any of our cruises planned for next year. I will say that I am definitely looking into another Carnival cruise. It's on my bucket list. :)

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for your awesome review! We have 2 young kids, the youngest is too young for cave tubing, do you have any other suggestion for what to do in Belize and/or what company to use?

 

 

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You are very welcome for the review. I'm sorry but the only thing that we have done in Belize is the cave tubing twice and then we did Bannister Island the other time. If we go back to Belize, I'm honestly not sure what would be next on the list. It's kind of one of those ports that is "iffy" for us since it's a tender port. So, we try to plan wisely. Sorry I couldn't help more. :)

[sasysutler]

have you ever done the cemetary in San Juan? We will be there in September during the day, and it looks really interesting.

[mitsugirly]

have you ever done the cemetary in San Juan? We will be there in September during the day, and it looks really interesting.

 

I have never been to San Juan since it's on the Southern cruises. It's on my to-do list. :)

[mitsugirly]

Ok, sorry guys, this is just a post "for me" because I always forget the names of the slots I like to play. What better way to remember than to put it here where I'll always be able to find it. :D :p

 

 

 

[Nonna50]

have you ever done the cemetary in San Juan? We will be there in September during the day, and it looks really interesting.

 

We were in San Jaun 2days in April before our Southern cruise on the Valor. We walked ALL over Old San Jaun and went to El Morro and the cemetery next to it. The cemetery is beautiful. We saw plots for entire families from hundreds of years ago up to present day. Some have the most beautiful carvings in marble I have ever seen. It is a must see in Old San Jaun. (During the day). Also there is a little sidewalk cafe across the street from the cruise terminal called Punto De Vista. Best Mofongo in the world. The place doesn't look like much but the food was delicious. Have a great time on your cruise.

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

Ok, I'm going to try to add a video. This is from our Cave tubing experience. Yes, I LOVE taking pictures, no I SUCK at taking videos. I don't pay attention to what I'm doing and the focus is sometimes horrid and sometimes I get to talking and forget I'm holding the camera up and you may see the ground. LOL A videographer I'm not! So....

 

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

Hopefully that link works. I don't think I have put a video on here before. Let me know if anyone has any problems. :)

[mitsugirly]

Here's my video of Playa Mia. Anyone who wants to know what the new addition to the water park looks like...this would be it.

 

It was a fun day of playing in the kids spash park, Sakari going down the water slide, and playing around in the pool. My grandson has never been too keen on swimming and usually gets scared easily when he's here at our pool. I seen a 100% turn around during this cruise. He insisted on "sissy" (which is what he calls Sakari) wearing her puddle jumper floaties to jump in to the pool and prove to him it was ok to jump...and so he did and loved it. :D

 

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Edited July 28, 2013 by mitsugirly