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A Winter Escape: Dream Edition

Indytraveler83

By Indytraveler83,
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Indytraveler83

Indytraveler83

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May I ask why Royal Caribbean doesn't appeal to you very much?

 

The RCI ships are beautiful and I'm not going to bash them, I'm sure they have a great product for the people they attract.

 

But what I see is tons of shopping, large dedicated indoor spaces and a few things they spend a lot of time promoting and using space for that we wouldn't use, such as the surf simulator, the rock climbing wall and this new observation bubble thing. The little shopping strip down the middle of Oasis class ships would make me feel like I was at work, rather than on vacation.

 

Now I'm well aware that some things are more polished and done better on RCI, but price wise it seems like Princess and sometimes Celebrety are comparable in price to RCI, and those are widely considered to be upgrades from both Carnival and RCI

 

So I have nothing against them at all, but each line targets a slightly different group, and so far RCI hasn't called to us.

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haleybug

haleybug

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Enjoying your review! Going on the Dream 5/1/16. Funny about the Conquest, we did our First (and only cruise so far) on her when she sailed out of NO. It was a very enjoyable trip! I can't compare them though, so you wont hear me say it was better! At least not yet, lol! :eek:

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KPfromCT

KPfromCT

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May I ask why Royal Caribbean doesn't appeal to you very much?

 

We've done 3 Royal cruises (a 4-night Monarch of the Seas, and two 7-night on the Mariner) and loved them.

 

Actually, the next cruise I wanted to book was either the Oasis or Allure. But they are more expensive than Carnival, and with our family members wanting to do Carnival again we went along with that just to be able to spend time with them. :)

 

I think Royal ships have nicer decor, love their promenade, and they do offer hot items for room service breakfast that Carnival doesn't, among other things.

 

But to get the most bang for your buck Carnival is probably the best. And we do enjoy their cruises too, well, we just enjoy cruising period! :)

 

Honestly, the RCCL ships don't appeal to us either. Well, except for Oasis and Allure. May hop on and try one this summer. Still up in the air.

I am really just not a fan of the décor on their ships. The atrium, the rooms. Just looks "stuffy" and blah to us. We loved the Dream Class of ships on Carnival. Bright and airy. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

But like you said, we LOVE cruising. If someone offered us a free cruise on RCCL tomorrow, we'd take it.:D:D

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Indytraveler83

Indytraveler83

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Honestly, the RCCL ships don't appeal to us either. Well, except for Oasis and Allure. May hop on and try one this summer. Still up in the air.

I am really just not a fan of the décor on their ships. The atrium, the rooms. Just looks "stuffy" and blah to us. We loved the Dream Class of ships on Carnival. Bright and airy. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

But like you said, we LOVE cruising. If someone offered us a free cruise on RCCL tomorrow, we'd take it.:D:D

 

Totally agree! Like I said, I manage a retail store, and the RCI ships just have too much of a "retail" decor for my taste. I actual love the Vegas style of the Carnival ships, even though it has long since been considered outdated. The Dream was much darker than we thought it would be, it reminded us of a 1930's high end hotel. And that's fine by us!

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tbutton

tbutton

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I am enjoying your review. Thank you! I must say that I have giggled quite a lot reading your review. The Conquest guys would have irritated me too, even though I have sailed the Conquest and loved it. I do not mean my next statement in a bad way, but do you realize how many times you have compared your experience on the Dream to the Elation? [emoji3][emoji56] Each time I read the comparison I smile and giggle. Cannot wait to read the rest! Keep it coming.

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Indytraveler83

Indytraveler83

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I am enjoying your review. Thank you! I must say that I have giggled quite a lot reading your review. The Conquest guys would have irritated me too, even though I have sailed the Conquest and loved it. I do not mean my next statement in a bad way, but do you realize how many times you have compared your experience on the Dream to the Elation? [emoji3][emoji56] Each time I read the comparison I smile and giggle. Cannot wait to read the rest! Keep it coming.

 

I promise this entire review will use the word "Elation" less than we heard the word "Conquest" in a single dinner! Lol

 

I'm at least trying to compare/contrast. It was as if he had sailed with the singular purpose to prove how much better the Conquest was than any ship on the sea.

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movingimages

movingimages

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Good review. We were on the same cruise. Really enjoying all of your detail, and it's fun to see experiences from another perspective, to see what was similar and dissimilar. We also had Jimmy. He must have used all his energy to give you good service. LOL! I had similar observations about the increased ship size (compared to Fantasy and Spirit and even Conquest -LOL!, great description of your dining room experience), but public areas being about the same. Having cruised a good bit on Carnival, we're pretty good at avoiding the "herds," but it was very challenging on the Dream. I'm glad we had a cove balcony, which I really loved (and was the reason we tried this ship). One final note, related back to my comment about perspectives, it was my daughter you were describing at the Harry Potter trivia. She wasn't upset that she 'lost' - she was frustrated that the other team seemed to have cheated on one of the questions, which seemed rather silly, as they were a huge team of people playing against one person. She doesn't play a lot of trivia, just Harry Potter and Beatles, but we still often see people cheating. Aside from that, she has so many ships on a stick, that we're considering selling them on eBay. :) Charlie was really funny, and we enjoyed her for Beatles trivia, as well.

 

Alright everyone, I was looking at the Fun times, and realized I totally omitted something from Sea Day #1 that was worth adding:

 

We decided mid-day to attend Harry Potter trivia. We are both avid fans of the series and figured we might be competitive. Well we weren't the only ones, and struggled to find a seat at trivia.

 

Once we found a few chairs, we waited just a few minutes, and Charlie, a member of the entertainment staff got to the mic. She described herself as a blond midget from London, and insisted that cockney was the only way to speak. Therefore all references to her beloved series would be to "Airy PoTTa" and not "Harry Potter." Threats of Dementor attacks were directed at anyone who didn't speak "propA englishhhh." She then reminded everyone that cookies were as good as correct answers. Jase arrived around this time with a handful of cookies for her, which she then doled out points at random for the cookies. She. Was. Hilarious!

 

The trivia itself kicked our collective butts, and we realized that we didn't know nearly as much about the series as we thought. While people watching though, we noticed that about half the group was having a very fun time, and the other half was intensely scribbling answers as if that ship on a stick were made of solid gold. In the end we scored 4 out of 15 points, and had a blast. We felt sorry for one woman in front of us who scored 15 points, lost in a bonus round, and appeared furious she didn't win trivia. As we left, it was clear that her and a few others were going to be firmly planted at trivia for the duration of the cruise. Never understood that. It was a good 20 minute event, but not a reason to spend thousands of dollars on a cruise.

 

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, prepare for sea day 2!!

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Indytraveler83

Indytraveler83

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Good review. We were on the same cruise. Really enjoying all of your detail, and it's fun to see experiences from another perspective, to see what was similar and dissimilar. We also had Jimmy. He must have used all his energy to give you good service. LOL! I had similar observations about the increased ship size (compared to Fantasy and Spirit and even Conquest -LOL!, great description of your dining room experience), but public areas being about the same. Having cruised a good bit on Carnival, we're pretty good at avoiding the "herds," but it was very challenging on the Dream. I'm glad we had a cove balcony, which I really loved (and was the reason we tried this ship). One final note, related back to my comment about perspectives, it was my daughter you were describing at the Harry Potter trivia. She wasn't upset that she 'lost' - she was frustrated that the other team seemed to have cheated on one of the questions, which seemed rather silly, as they were a huge team of people playing against one person. She doesn't play a lot of trivia, just Harry Potter and Beatles, but we still often see people cheating. Aside from that, she has so many ships on a stick, that we're considering selling them on eBay. :) Charlie was really funny, and we enjoyed her for Beatles trivia, as well.

 

Well I really do hope you and your daughter had a fantastic cruise, and certainly hope I didn't offend. We'd never attended trivia before, and had heard how seriously some people took it, but really didn't realize it. That is one intense room! I do agree that Carnival should have figured more out. The staff takes trivia much lighter than the guests, making it easy to cheat and it could certainly be organized better.

 

I hope you guys had at least a decent experience with Jimmy. He was fantastic for us, and really a breath of fresh air after having a flat out rude steward last year.

 

It's funny, I am being fairly open about our experiences, and I really hope Mr. Conquest and Ms Ice Cream don't happen upon my review or I'm going to get some heat!

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movingimages

movingimages

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Well I really do hope you and your daughter had a fantastic cruise, and certainly hope I didn't offend. We'd never attended trivia before, and had heard how seriously some people took it, but really didn't realize it. That is one intense room! I do agree that Carnival should have figured more out. The staff takes trivia much lighter than the guests, making it easy to cheat and it could certainly be organized better.

 

I hope you guys had at least a decent experience with Jimmy. He was fantastic for us, and really a breath of fresh air after having a flat out rude steward last year.

 

It's funny, I am being fairly open about our experiences, and I really hope Mr. Conquest and Ms Ice Cream don't happen upon my review or I'm going to get some heat!

 

Yes, we had a very lovely cruise. It wasn't our best, but not every time can be the best, right? I like what you said after your commentary about your challenging sea day. You just find the good things that you enjoy. I can't imagine any cruise being bad (aside from having to face a dangerous situation)! Some of the high points for us: 1) the cove balcony was really awesome - I liked being that close to sea level and took a nap out there twice; 2) delicious meals with superb wait staff in Crimson Dining Room; 3) great snorkeling off the beach in Roatan and 2 great excursions (Behind the Fun & Margarita and Salsa Making in Cozumel); 4) a cool experience sailing down the Mississippi River; 5) a good platinum/diamond party; 6) enjoyed music nightly by talented musician in piano bar (now that I see your pictures, I think I remember seeing you there too!). Compared to other stewards we've had, Jimmy would score near the bottom. He did do everything requested, eventually and begrudgingly. :) We gave him a small extra tip at the end, although not what we would normally leave. I'm glad you had a good experience with him. Overall, compared to other cruises, it seemed like the crew were not as happy and engaging as typical. It made me wonder about management practices on the ship. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

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Indytraveler83

Indytraveler83

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Yes, we had a very lovely cruise. It wasn't our best, but not every time can be the best, right? I like what you said after your commentary about your challenging sea day. You just find the good things that you enjoy. I can't imagine any cruise being bad (aside from having to face a dangerous situation)! Some of the high points for us: 1) the cove balcony was really awesome - I liked being that close to sea level and took a nap out there twice; 2) delicious meals with superb wait staff in Crimson Dining Room; 3) great snorkeling off the beach in Roatan and 2 great excursions (Behind the Fun & Margarita and Salsa Making in Cozumel); 4) a cool experience sailing down the Mississippi River; 5) a good platinum/diamond party; 6) enjoyed music nightly by talented musician in piano bar (now that I see your pictures, I think I remember seeing you there too!). Compared to other stewards we've had, Jimmy would score near the bottom. He did do everything requested, eventually and begrudgingly. :) We gave him a small extra tip at the end, although not what we would normally leave. I'm glad you had a good experience with him. Overall, compared to other cruises, it seemed like the crew were not as happy and engaging as typical. It made me wonder about management practices on the ship. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

Glad to hear you had a great time. So weird Jimmy wasn't great for you. As you'll see in some upcoming posts, he was spectacular for us! Wonder what affects that stuff?

 

You likely did see us in the piano bar. I'll talk more about it in my review, but it is one of the hidden gems of the Dream.

 

We had a good cruise overall, but I agree that the shipboard experience was sort of up and down. I'll likely sail the Dream again, but it will be with a carefully planned strategy to make it the most fun.

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tkportersat

tkportersat

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How funny, the Conquest has been my least favorite Carnival ship :) Not bad just off. "Dad" wouldn't have liked me much :D

 

Embarkation Day Part 2:

 

We mostly rested in Serenity until it came time for the muster drill. We made our way down to the muster station, which was the forward MDR and waited. And waited. It seems quite a few of our fellow passengers didn't want to attend. The funny part was that the drill itself took less than 15 minutes. The drill was the first time we heard our cruise directer, which was Jase. He put everyone through the muster drill with just enough humor to make things feel a little more lighthearted, but without straying from the seriousness of the drill itself.

 

After the drill let out, Jase announced (jokingly) that every room and lounge would be locked and that he expected everyone on the lido for the sail away party. Sorry Jase, we booked a balcony for a reason. We proceeded straight down to our room where we found our luggage waiting. As we unpacked it, there was a knock on our door.

 

Opening the door, we met our steward for the first time. He introduced himself as Jimmy and then gave us the standard offerings of the Carnival Comfort program. Out of concern for privacy we opted for the once daily morning service. He insisted he would be sure our room was well taken care of, and we would receive towel animals and Fun Times as usual. We then asked if we could have extra towels (sorry environment, but those white towels are good for a single use only). He said he would supply them, told us to let him know if we needed anything else, and then headed out to greet other passengers.

 

About now it was sail away time, so we cracked open our first bottle of wine, took the two wine glasses in the stateroom to the balcony and toasted our sail away on our own private little deck. The view from the cove balcony was utterly fantastic. The Dream has to execute a 180 degree turn right off the dock as it leaves, and when she was about halfway through the turn, we were facing downriver, almost right in the middle. As the current caught the nose of the ship, it pulled her downriver, and we began a lazy, low speed journey down the Mississippi. This lead to many great photo opportunities, and one of my favorites was captured right as we rounded the first bend:

five_zps4fppzyqr.jpg

 

I really have no idea what these ships are, they look military, but I'm not sure. They are docked side by side and are some heavy duty transport vessel I believe. They always look like they are about ready to load and leave, but I'm not sure they've moved since last year!

 

Shortly after the ship set sail we took another lap wondering around. We skipped the sail away show and instead spent time on the lanai, watching the ship drift slowly down the river. We passed quite a few other ships and got some decent video. Jacob shot a pretty awesome picture of the Domino sugar factory, which with a light bleach filter looks pretty awesome: seven_zpstjb6jv7e.jpg

 

After a while came dinner time (Late seating), and we headed up to the aft dining room to meet our new table mates! We took a quick detour upstairs to the steakhouse and decided to make reservations for the next day (also formal night) as folks on this forum had suggested we needed to go try it out. And then we got into the line waiting in front of the dining room. Last year on the Elation, we had a fantastic table, and we are still friends with each and every one of them. So we walked to dinner eager to see who else we would befriend.

 

Sitting at the table when we arrived was a young lady who was cruising alone and after introductions began telling us how amazing the spa was. Ok, decent start. Then came two young women who were cousins, and they introduced themselves and we all started chatting. Great start!

 

Then sat two New Orleans locals, one young man and middle aged man. They gruffly introduced themselves and began mumbling back and forth to each other. Right after that an older couple sat down. This is where dinner got uncomfortable. The man introduced himself and his wife and took charge as if he was the father of the table. When the wait staff made their way over, he was sure to be addressed first.

 

We all placed our orders, and then he began talking. And this is where the legend began. He was a longtime cruiser, and announced that the Carnival Conquest was the best ship ever. He was giving the Dream a chance to impress him, but it was pretty clear to him already that the Conquest was a far superior ship. Her majesty, the Carnival Conquest could not be beat. It was the Titanic risen again, the golden standard against what all cruise ships could be compared. And the rest of dinner was a tribute to the majestic, the perfect queen of cruising: Carnival Conquest.

 

Now I've never sailed the Conquest, and while I'm sure she's a fine ship, I now hate that ship. I hate it with a passion. Not because of anything he said, and certainly not because of anything that actually involves that ship. But all dinner, all I heard was "This is better on the Conquest, this was faster on the Conquest, Conquest, Conquest, Conquest...."

 

To make matters worse, our food was being served as many other tables around us were either enjoying dessert or leaving. Jacob had ordered a steak medium rare, and it arrived well done. I ordered the sweet and sour shrimp, and it arrived lukewarm, drowning in sweet and sour sauce with a lukewarm and still pre-formed scoop of rice on the side. We picked at our meals until the staff gave us our dessert menus. We both ordered Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, ate it quickly when it arrived, then excused ourselves from the table. As we walked away we could hear "Conquest, Conquest, Conquest..."

 

We should have right then asked for a different table or dining time. But we liked the girls at our table, and hoped that our next meal would be better. The next day would be the steakhouse, so we decided by then that the bad taste in our mouths would have worn off, and we'd give it another chance. So we headed back to our room to take in the view from the balcony again.

 

Sitting on our bed was a pair of extra towels as requested, but also a blanket that we did not request. We set both items on the couch, and then opened the curtains to the balcony. Since nightfall, a heavy fog had fallen upon the river, and we could barely see 10 feet past the ship. Fascinated by the view, we opened the door and instantly realized why Jimmy had left us the blanket. We put the balcony chairs together and curled up under the blanket watching the river go by.

 

At one point we encountered one of the creepiest things we've ever seen. The Dream glided past a badly aging cargo ship going slightly slower than us. As we passed, fog rolled off the decks and down the stairs of the poorly lit vessel. It looked like a ghost ship, and while we took many pictures, none of them came out as anything but a dark smudge (I swear it really was a ghost ship!).

 

Now we'd gotten a tip in our role call that the Carnival Elation would be making her way upriver this night, and as we'd sailed on her last year, we wanted to see her as she made her way back into port. Waiting, Jacob fell asleep, and I wondered in this heavy fog if we'd even see her at all.

 

After a little while, I nearly fell asleep, when suddenly the fog was replaced by bright light, and out of nowhere a bright white hull pierced the darkness. the Elation had arrived, and gosh she looked pretty!

 

four_zpsgutloogv.jpg

 

In the picture you can barely see the fog if you look at the beams of light cast from the Elation's lower level aft windows. But it was an amazing sight. After seeing many smaller, run down cargo vessels drifting in the fog, the Elation brightened the night for just a minute, then slowly slid out of sight, and the darkness and fog returned. It is hard to give justice the the way that night's scenery unfolded, but I hope this gives you a peak!

 

After a truly beautiful and slightly creepy night on the river, we headed back into our room, which had grown far too cold, turned the heat up, threw the spare blanket on the bed and called it a night. As I drifted off to sleep, I swore I could hear faint words calling from somewhere on the ship "Conquest, Conquest, Conquest..."

 

Up Next: Waterslides, Lido madness and Jimmy the Ninja/Mindreader!

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Indytraveler83

Indytraveler83

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How funny, the Conquest has been my least favorite Carnival ship :) Not bad just off. "Dad" wouldn't have liked me much :D

 

I think this is the type of thing that threw me off the most. Some people like the Conquest, but it's online ratings are right in line with the rest of the fleet.

 

It was as if he'd sailed the MS Amsterdam and mistook it for the Conquest.

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sunluvertoo

sunluvertoo

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Thank you so much for taking the time to do this great review! We will be on the Dream in less than 2 weeks and had been concerned about the amount of passengers this ship holds. Have been on many cruises on all lines but only on Carnival one other time, Victory out of San Juan (which was one of our favorite cruises, best itinerary ever). Booked this one so we could spend some time in New Orleans, just love it there! Looking forward to the rest of your review!

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swmt

swmt

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Enjoying your reviews immensely. Can't wait for the next installment. You have a way with words, maybe you should get out of retail and start doing reviews.

 

After reading this I wish my cruise was this year instead of next.I've cruised on Royal Caribbean, NCL and this will be my 1st on Carnival. I've joked that I'd rather just go to an island and stay put but for some reason I'm cruising again. That's the way the girl's wanted to go, so I'm game.

 

Watch out cruiser's, 14 of us April 2017.

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