Carnival Dream (review) 12/28/14-1/4/15

[Mainah]

My partner and I fell in love with cruising a few years ago after our first cruise on Disney, since then we’ve taken 4 more cruises 2 on NCL and 2 on MSC so this was our first cruise on Carnival. Initially I had reservations about cruising on Carnival because of all the bad press and Carnival’s reputation as having a constant huge party atmosphere on their ships (younger crowd falling down drunk all day) however after reading the reviews and information on this forum plus Carnival’s having a much better price for their cabins than other lines this time of year I had a change of heart and decided to give them a try.

 

We flew to New Orleans a couple of days before the cruise and stayed at the Hilton Riverside. It was a very easy walk to the port from the hotel on embarkation day. We left the hotel about 11:15 and it took about 5-10 minutes to get to the terminal. It was a little hectic and confusing once we got there making it difficult to find a porter for our bags but after a few minutes we got everything sorted and walked inside. I’d say within 30 minutes we were on board the ship having a drink at the Sunset Bar. It was quite fast and easy. Carnival had everything very well organized.

 

We thought the ship’s décor was a little over the top (hey this is Carnival I was expecting it! ;) ) but really quite nice certainly nothing to complain about. I didn’t take pictures of the inside of the ship (except our cabin) or the pool areas however you can find plenty of good ones here on the forum using the search function if you wish.

 

We’ve always wanted to try an aft balcony and were able to snag cabin 8475 for this trip. We loved it. The cabin was a good size and the balcony was great! Sitting on that balcony reading and watching the wake was the highlight of the trip for me (doesn’t take much to make me happy ;) ). The views from the aft are wonderful. Here are some pictures of the cabin and balcony plus a video of the balcony:

 

https://flic.kr/ps/2YFFXB

 

 

The ports were ok we didn’t do much but just walk around the port areas of Roatan and Cozumel for a little while then back on the ship to relax by the pool or on the balcony. We did a little more in Belize taking an excursion called the Belize City Tour and Airboat Ride. In my opinion we could have skipped the city tour, which wasn’t very good, and just gone straight to the Airboat ride which was great! I think we’ve done only 4 or 5 excursions total with the (now) 6 cruises we’ve taken and I can only think of one which was really worth the time and money. I’d rather walk around the port a bit and then get back on the ship and relax to be honest. I do the relaxing thing very well! ;)

 

Let’s talk about the food. We ate at the MDR twice for dinner and twice for Sea Day Brunch. Brunch was excellent, my dinner both nights was very good however my partner didn’t like his one night…well actually it was the shrimp cocktail appetizer he didn’t like, the shrimp had no taste at all however he did like the rest of his meal. After reading here about the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake I had to try it and boy was I glad I did…excellent! The buffet food in our opinion was very good. We loved the food at Tandoor and ate there a few times for lunch. Pasta Bella was good also. The highlight of our food experience was the Steakhouse (or Chef’s Art Steakhouse). We had only planned on eating there one night and ended up going back 2 more times after that first night. What great food and service!

 

As on any cruise the pools on sea days were packed however on our other cruises we’ve been able to find somewhere else to go lounge in the sun if we wanted but unfortunately found it very difficult on this ship. It seemed all outdoor public spaces from the Serenity area to the Lanai were jam packed with people on sea days. This is where a balcony cabin is worth its weight in gold in my opinion and I was very happy to just go sit on my balcony and chill out for hours. If I wanted the activity of the pool and lanai decks I could go up and walk around and soak it in, if I wanted quiet relaxation I’d just sit on my balcony…best of both worlds!

 

We were very fortunate to have had very good neighbors in the cabins on both sides of us. Very nice and quiet people, couldn’t have asked for better! We also found most of the crew that we came into contact with extremely nice, always a smile and a good morning, good afternoon etc., plus many of the other passengers were very friendly….smiling and willing to engage in conversation. The reason this has stuck in my head is because I don’t remember as many passengers being so outwardly friendly on our other cruises.

 

I can’t comment on any of the shows as we didn’t go to any. I guess too much relaxing made us too tired to do anything at night…;).

 

I’ll close by saying that we really enjoyed our first Carnival cruise and will definitely consider another. We’ve also become aft balcony addicts and now will want one every time we cruise if possible.

 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

 

I'll leave you with this:

 

[johnlcruise]

Nice Review. Thanks for taking the time to report.

We will be sailing on the "Dream" in 4 weeks!

[lstrong]

Yes, a big thank you for informative review!

[Astromaid]

I have a couple questions about your aft stateroom. I have been reading about them and several people mentioned that they got ash on their balconies from the stack on the ship and constantly had to wipe the furniture down before using them. Also, they said that the movement on the ship was much more pronounced at the back. Did you have any of these problems?

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your wonderful report.

[Flyingfish48]

Very nice review, Mainah! My wife and I cruised on the Dream a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Thinking back on it, I can't remember one shortfall worthy of a comment.

It sounds like you and I have very similar cruising styles, especially when it comes to shore excursions. I was sorry to read, though, that you didn't venture past the dock-side shops while visiting Roatan. If you ever cruise to Roatan again, please consider visiting my most-favorite on-shore venue. It's called the "Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum" and it's like a leisurely walk through paradise! The staff is absolutely delightful... in fact, I was so impressed by the visit I started asking questions about immigrating to Roatan! Alas, I have not.

 

If anyone is interested, they have a nice website with a very informative video: http://blueharbortropicalarboretum.com/

 

Going back there (on the Dream, too) Feb 1st and I can't wait! :)

[Mainah]

Nice Review. Thanks for taking the time to report.

We will be sailing on the "Dream" in 4 weeks!

 

Thanks johnlcruise. Have a great cruise!

 

Yes, a big thank you for informative review!

 

Thank you lstrong.

[Mainah]

I have a couple questions about your aft stateroom. I have been reading about them and several people mentioned that they got ash on their balconies from the stack on the ship and constantly had to wipe the furniture down before using them. Also, they said that the movement on the ship was much more pronounced at the back. Did you have any of these problems?

 

Most days there was little to no ash/soot on the balcony. If there was any I just asked the room steward to clean it. One day after a heavy rain during the night there were a few fairly large chunks of soot by the door which I could easily step over to get on the balcony (nothing was going to prevent me from using that balcony! :)). It's funny but I never saw soot on the chairs. I always made sure to check them though before sitting on them. It wasn't a big problem for me and won't prevent me from getting another aft balcony in the future however your experience may be different.

 

As far as movement at the back I didn't notice it being any more pronounced than in other parts of the ship however my partner did notice it a little more but he's prone to seasickness and I'm not so that might make a difference. (He took bonine and was fine after that though).

 

Hope this helps!

[Mainah]

Thanks for your wonderful report.

 

Thank you PathfinderEss.

[Mainah]

Very nice review, Mainah! My wife and I cruised on the Dream a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Thinking back on it, I can't remember one shortfall worthy of a comment.

It sounds like you and I have very similar cruising styles, especially when it comes to shore excursions. I was sorry to read, though, that you didn't venture past the dock-side shops while visiting Roatan. If you ever cruise to Roatan again, please consider visiting my most-favorite on-shore venue. It's called the "Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum" and it's like a leisurely walk through paradise! The staff is absolutely delightful... in fact, I was so impressed by the visit I started asking questions about immigrating to Roatan! Alas, I have not.

 

If anyone is interested, they have a nice website with a very informative video: http://blueharbortropicalarboretum.com/

 

Going back there (on the Dream, too) Feb 1st and I can't wait! :)

 

Thanks Flyingfish48! We will certainly consider the Blue Harbor Tropical Arboretum next time we find ourselves in Roatan. Have a great cruise!