Carnival Dream June 26-July 3 Review!!

[duncmelsmom]

There were 5 in our cruising party, me, a 49 year old teacher, my husband, a 56 year old construction foreman, our daughter, an 18 year old HS graduate, and my mom and her husband, 73 year old retirees. This is DH and my 2nd cruise (both on Carnival), my daughter’s first, and my parents’ 20th (rough estimate) cruise (but first on Carnival).

 

The night before the cruise we stayed in the Slidell/Pearl River Microtel. All we needed was a place to put our head, and I hate spending the hotel prices in New Orleans. My parents had a room at the La Quinta on the west side of Slidell. We met at the Olive Garden near their hotel for dinner and discussed our excitement about the cruise!

 

We 3 purchased Faster to the Fun, the Cheers package (for DH and I), and 3 excursions through Carnival. My parents bought the wine package and 2 bottles for their room.

 

We stayed in adjoining balcony rooms: ours – 9231 and parents – 9235. We bought cheap Dollar Store flamingos to put on the outside door as recommended and it helped so much with easily finding our rooms!! So many with younger children, had their children color a picture for their door. Cute!!

 

Our trip was 7 days on Carnival’s Dream: Departure/Sea Day, Sea Day, Sea Day, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Sea Day, Debarking Day

[duncmelsmom]

Day 1: Departure and summary of many things

We bought parking at Fulton Parking Garage online for about $80 for the week. I don’t have anything to compare this to because we used the same place with our first cruise, but it seemed very efficient, shuttle was quick, and directions were easy to follow. I’ve read that they’re the best. We’ll keep using them!

 

Faster to the Fun put us in a quick line, quick check in, but we had to wait a bit to board. The Diamond and Emerald members boarded first, then it was our turn. We did the Faster to the Fun dance while boarding. It was great!! Immediately we went to the bar to start our Cheers program. The computers weren’t up yet; we had to wait 15 minutes. We went to check out our room.

 

I don’t think we were supposed to yet, but we threw down our carry on and went to find Pasta Bella for lunch. Yes, everyone was correct, there was no one in the restaurant for lunch, but there were long lines on the Lido deck for the buffet. The staircase was hard to find but we found it. It’s in the back of the Lido dining; a sort of random staircase going up.

 

Pasta Bella was delicious but so was all of the other food on board! Salad, bread, pick a pasta, and pick a topping was how it worked. We never tried to return to the restaurant, so I don’t know how crowded it was, but it so good. I’m glad we checked it off our to-do list. A couple of busy breakfast mornings we ended up going to eat upstairs at its restaurant for great views and better seating choices.

 

Next we got our Cheers started and had some yummy frozen drinks. Taxes are charged until the ship enters the Gulf of Mexico. Not a big deal, but interesting to know. Was the Cheers worth it?? We had our doubts. I’m not a big drinker, and DH drinks lots of beer. We were worried that I wouldn’t drink enough and he would run out of his 15 and still want more. This didn’t happen. I drank some frozen drinks, Bloody Marys, Mojitos, but mostly Grey Goose, soda and lime. He mainly drank Petron Margaritas, cabernet sauvignon with dinner. One time he was told that he had 1 drink left, so I bought him one (yes, paid) and he had one more. I noticed on our bill later that in the dining room, both of us would order 2 drinks each. Shhhhh…..I think after tipping our drink waiter an extra $20, he started putting all of our dinner drinks on my tab. I think he noticed that I was a lighter drinker than DH. It wasn’t what he was supposed to do, but it really helped! Yes, we pay our tips up front, but like to tip for extra special services.

 

Anyway, the best way to go about the Cheers is to order a drink and bottled water each time. We are big water drinkers and stocking the fridge with water for excursions, our daughter, and hydration was wonderful! We forgot to get the water with drinks many times, but tried to remind each other as much as possible.

 

We unpacked and found lots of storage space in the room. I brought a plastic shoe rack to hold toiletries on the back of the door, but I don’t think it was necessary. I loved all of the shelves in the bathroom. Our interior room on our last cruise didn’t have this. There was only 1 outlet. This was a must: https://www.amazon.com/2R35839-Belkin-5-Outlets-Suppressors-Charger/dp/B01APRVNZ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467815916&sr=8-1&keywords=cruise+outlet

 

We never ordered room service although it looked nice from all of the people’s trays left in the hall who did.

 

On the way to dinner, we met our room steward and he gave us a form to complete with how we’d like our service. I told him that I wanted it 2x a day so that we could have our DD’s bed made at night and put back as a sofa in the morning. I gave him a small gift bag with an assortment of mixed hard candies. He seemed very appreciative. We also believe that leaving a daily $5 tip and thank you with him insures great service. Boy did it ever. Our room was spotless each morning and evening. It was so nice to come back to a tidy room. On the other hand, my parents requested ice for 5pm each day. They hardly received it; had to call room service to get it a couple of times. I don’t know if it was because of no extra tips or why, but I am glad we left $5 each day. It’s like Karma; it pays off! My birthday is at the end of the month and our steward left a $50 gift card to the spa! That was so sweet, even though I didn’t use it.

 

We had assigned dining at 6pm each night. Our wait staff was wonderful. We sat in the Scarlet dining room 2nd floor (deck 4) and watched a beautiful sunset from the back of the boat. It was a great location. The food was great, so many choices, and everything delivered fine. The chocolate melting cake was a great go-to dessert, and the cheese tray was a great appetizer. I loved the kale Caesar salad offer daily. I just love trying things I’ve never had.

 

The entertainment at the Encore! Stage was incredible! The shows are 7pm and 8:45pm normally, so make sure that you plan your dinners accordingly. The first one, I can’t remember its name, was a great song/dance of Motown. I loved the interpretations of each song with careers/occupations. We also enjoyed the Blackjack Band. I’m not really a fan of country music but the rest of the family enjoys it. They played some Lynyrd Skynyrd and other Southern Rock, so it was fun!

 

Bingo was fun, we played twice but didn’t win.

 

I spent lots of time at the casino. I love staring at the slot machines, listening to the bells and whistles. I’d win and lose. I think because I played so much, I got an offer for a cruise with an interior room for free! I need to call, but there’s no telling what other costs are charged…maybe for DH, taxes, etc. Maybe we’ll try it!

[duncmelsmom]

Day 2 and 3:

 

I think I’m covering everything, but these days it was very hard to find a lounge chair. They say not to save one, but I recommend it since everyone else does. I bought some towel clips on Amazon; you really only need 2 or 4 per chair. There is no need to bring towels because there is one per person on the cruise (our room attendant even gave us 3 extra!).

 

Day 4: Montego Bay

We bought the Ultimate Thrill Seekers (ATV, Ziplining, tubing) lunch and open bar excursion. My DD thought this was the best day of the cruise. It was very hot and the package was strenuous. It was a 45 minute ride in a bus (2 buses of us went), with a tour guide giving us some history of Jamaica.

 

Everyone at the Good Hope Plantation/Chukka was incredibly nice and informative. We first got a locker $5 and put our beach bag with stuff in there. I recommend some kind of backpack like most people had. It frees the hands. Next was the Challenge Course. We were nervous. DD went first and was a little panicked but got through it. I was next, and did fine. I think DD was my inspiration. DH didn’t do so well. He has bad knees, arthritis, and is very scared of heights. I’ve never seen him so scared. He wanted to go back down and quit, but I think he saw that he would mess everyone else up. Getting through, he proclaimed that he was done for the day. He spent the rest of his day at the bar drinking and chatting with people.

 

DD and I went ATVing. It was a great ride up through the mountains and seeing the plantation and orange groves. I loved the views of the island.

 

Next DD and I went ziplining. There was a little bit of a wait at each of the 4 stations, but it was exciting and fun. We opted to skip the tubing part (water was very muddy and there was lightning and thunder off and on). The jerk chicken lunch was yummy and the beer was cold and good. I didn’t try the rum drink, but quite a few on our bus obviously did. 18 year olds can drink in Jamaica although my DD didn’t want to. They made sure we all went to the bathroom before the bus ride back. One girl didn’t and she was threatening to go out the window she had to go so badly. We made it back to the Ship just in time. This was a fun trip for an adventurer; definitely something to check off my bucket list. It was an all day activity, and honestly, it wore me out! If you like this kind of thing, I highly recommend it. DD has said over and over “those were the nicest people I’ve ever met; I love Jamaica!” I loved seeing her so excited.

[duncmelsmom]

Day 5: Grand Cayman

Wow, what a place! There was plenty of shopping right off of the boat. We bought the Barrier Reef Snorkeling excursion and it was my favorite. We had 2 vans from the ship, taking us to a dock. There were iguanas lounging in the sun everywhere. The 2 guys taking us out on the boat were clever, informative and nice. They sold food and drinks, but cans of cola were $2 and small bags of chips $1. I would bring my own food, at least. The Barrier Reef was amazing. We swam and snorkeled for 1 hour. That’s quite a bit of treading water! I never rested, but my DH found it hard to maneuver the mask and all, so he stayed on the boat after about 10 minutes of swimming. DD was afraid of getting too close to the fire coral, so she kept somewhat of a distance. I was all over the place, watching the fish in their habitat, eating, hunting, swimming…it was amazing. There was so much diversity and color. The water was super clear! What a beautiful place to be! This was our cheapest excursion, but my favorite by far. We got back to the ship a little early, which was great for getting a lounge chair and some reading and sun.

 

Day 6: Cozumel

I love the shopping right off the boat. We had fun venturing into the shops and seeing what they offered. Today was an excursion of Waverunners and Snorkeling. I was scared to death as we met the tour guide. He tried to tell us how much strength we would need to do the waverunners. If we couldn’t get on in 2 tries, we would lose our money. Anyway, he offered that we could just hang at the beach for a beach day instead, the cost would change to cheaper, but I decided to take the chance. After riding in taxis, we got to the Resort and were ready for snorkeling. We rented a locker for $5 here too. Again, a backpack would have kept everything together much better than our cheap beach bag. OH! For our two snorkeling trips we used and highly recommend these: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AJP3BNS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They took great pictures with our cell phones under water.

 

The snorkeling was not as good as the reef the day before, but it was nice. Our tour guide had plenty of fish food, so fish were everywhere. The current pushed us down the ocean front of the resort, so no swimming was necessary; only floating. Our guide even found a spider star fish under a rock. It was nice (and DH participated!)

 

Waverunning was exhilarating! Getting on the waverunner wasn’t a problem. The guide off our Ship made it sound like we were going to have to pull ourselves up 6 feet. It wasn’t that big of a big deal.

 

I can’t believe how fast we were going. DD was afraid to go so fast. She went with a slower group. I was wide open and thought I was going to be thrown off a few times. The waves and “bike” beat me up pretty severely but I LOVED it!! I was hurting for the next two days in my shoulders and back (and crotch). I know I was completely airborne many times.

 

After we had lunch (not included) and many beers. It was a nice place and the staff made sure we were 100% safe with videos, etc. for safety.

 

NOTE: We loved our excursions and have no regrets. Now that we’ve done the adventurous stuff, my DH and I have decided a nice resort on a beach with drinks and food will be on the top of our lists on the next cruise.

[duncmelsmom]

Day 7: Sea Day

Drinking, sunbathing, eating, casinoing, reading, and a much needed nap.

 

Day 8: Debarkation

We decided to check our luggage. Our Faster to the Fun package gave us 6 tags. We gave 2 to my parents so they could leave with us. We had to get our luggage in the hall before 10p the night before, and meet in the Crimson Dining room at 7:45am this day. We were called fairly quickly and had a stop and go line off of the ship. Mom and Mike said other cruise lines seem to be better organized with getting people off. There’s not so much waiting in lines. We quickly were taken back to Fulton garage and sent on our way.

 

We decided to stay 2 extra days in New Orleans since DD had never been there. She didn’t feel well (I think she was exhausted and homesick) so she stayed in the hotel most of the time (Place de Arms – our favorite hotel….location, location, location!!). We went to Preservation Hall to see the All-Star Band and LOVED the experience, saw the fireworks, ate, drank and went home. I think our next cruise we will pass on staying more time in N.O. We were ready to go home.

 

In summary:

We loved the Dream! The staff and activities were fun. We loved what was offered. I can’t say that I like a big ship or a small one. I think they are both just fine and love the differences.

 

Food: Fine…I won’t say it was spectacular, but I loved it. I’m a foodie, but I didn’t want the cruise to be centered around food. No tablecloths for non-Formal Nights? No worry! We’re saving the environment but not washing so much linen. I was worried with some comments I read that the food was worse, but it was better than we eat at home, and that’s great to me. I love the 6pm dining to meet my parents and discuss the day’s activities and preview the next day’s. It was fun getting to know our waiters and seeing the same people around us each day. I will always have assigned dining. I thought 6 would be too early, but I really enjoyed it!

 

Entertainment: Shows-fabulous….even my parents said they were better than any other cruise line they’ve been. The live singers/bands…mediocre. The rest of the family loved Blackjack, but they were just a cover band to me. I love music and enjoyed the variety of videos played by the pool on the Lido deck the most. There was one girl playing guitar and singing. I think she was talented in making cover songs her own, but she really couldn’t sing. After she said “I’ll be back in 15 minutes after a break”, the bartender yelled out “go ahead and take an hour break!” LOL

 

Faster to the Fun – not sure if it’s worth it. It was nice to do, but I don’t know if it’s worth the $50. We didn’t use the express guest services, and the express tindering in Cayman was at 7am when our excursion was 11am. We slept in a bit!

 

Cheers – I think my parents had the right idea to order bottles for the room and the wine package (5 bottles for the price of 4). DH who didn’t want to get the cheers, thinks we got our money’s worth and it was worth it. It definitely got us out of our room more than my parents. Maybe we’ll do it again next cruise. I found myself drinking more than I wanted to, but what’s really wrong with that?

 

Balcony room – we loved it, but we seemed to want to stay in our room more. We had an interior room the first cruise and there was nothing wrong with it. It sure would save $$, but who knows which we’ll go with next time. With 3 in the room, it was nice to have. When I wanted to drink some water in the middle of the night, I loved going outside and watching the stars. DH saw some dolphins and we all saw some flying fish.

 

Excursions – I opted for Carnival ones with our DD. Last cruise we did excursions on our own and did fine. Next cruise, more resorts/beaches I think, and buying them online w/o Carnival to save money.

 

It was a clean ship, with a very friendly staff. I just love Carnival!!

 

Questions???

[Clarea]

Great review, thanks!

[JaniceB]

Nice review. Sounds like a great time, glad your parents enjoyed their first Carnival cruise.

[asalligo]

I am on the Dream in March and I am also staying in Slidell at the Hampton the night before. May I ask how long it took you from Slidell to Fultons where I also have parking booked?

 

I have FTTF and a 10am check in time.

[teelovescruising]

Thanks for the review. I have a group of 62 that will be in the Dream 8/21-8/28. Which nights were Elegant nights?

[duncmelsmom]

I am on the Dream in March and I am also staying in Slidell at the Hampton the night before. May I ask how long it took you from Slidell to Fultons where I also have parking booked?

 

I have FTTF and a 10am check in time.

 

I think it took 40 minutes. Our check in was 10:30-11:00, but we still had to wait a bit to board with FTTF.

[duncmelsmom]

Thanks for the review. I have a group of 62 that will be in the Dream 8/21-8/28. Which nights were Elegant nights?

 

What a fun group!! The Elegant nights were Monday (I think) and Friday (definitely). I'm terrible at remembering!!

[KPfromCT]

Great review!!!!:D:D

 

SO, I am dying to know......how did you parents like their first Carnival cruise?

Were they hesitant at first? What line do they normally cruise on?

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.......:D

[duncmelsmom]

Answers:

Great review!!!!:D:D

 

SO, I am dying to know......how did you parents like their first Carnival cruise?

Were they hesitant at first? I really couldn't tell, but I think they were. They live out of state and they seemed excited. I know Carnival is cheaper compared to the ones they've been on.What line do they normally cruise on?Princess, Norwegian, Royal Carribean, Celebrity, Holland....

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.......:DYou're very welcome!! I read and research so much from everyone, I felt that I needed to reciprocate!

[Micahs Grandad]

In may our stops in grand cayman and cozumel were shortened by 2 hours due to propulsion problems.

 

Were you affected by that?

[duncmelsmom]

In may our stops in grand cayman and cozumel were shortened by 2 hours due to propulsion problems.

 

Were you affected by that?

 

No, not at all...I was very concerned after reading so many posts about this issue, but we were on schedule each day with no worries!

[Podna's]

No questions but wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do the review. I enjoyed it especially since the Dream is my favorite ship.

[BamaCruisers2011]

Thank you for the great review - we are on the Dream in Jan 2017 with the same itinerary - we have one excursion booked in Caymans, but I think the other 2 ports will be relaxing beach days.

[Micahs Grandad]

No, not at all...I was very concerned after reading so many posts about this issue, but we were on schedule each day with no worries!

 

Wonder if they have fixed the propulsion problem.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for writing and sharing your trip report.

 

Keith

[cajunpowercruiser]

Our family will board the DREAM this Sunday and your review helped to get me in the positive mood. Thank You. I believe a cruise is what you choose to make it. Thanks for the info on the Pasta Bella. You also said you had breakfast there in the upstairs restaurant, does that include the brunch?

[duncmelsmom]

Our family will board the DREAM this Sunday and your review helped to get me in the positive mood. Thank You. I believe a cruise is what you choose to make it. Thanks for the info on the Pasta Bella. You also said you had breakfast there in the upstairs restaurant, does that include the brunch?

 

Oops!! I never mentioned the Sea Days brunch. They were very good and nice. The staff was extremely attentive. We did that on Monday and Tuesday. I highly recommend it!!

 

A couple of times the buffet area's tables were completely full. We would take our plates upstairs only to eat. The restaurant wasn't open; it was just a scenic and less hectic place to eat with great views!

 

Happy sailing! You'll have a blast!!

Edited July 7, 2016 by duncmelsmom

[Davdogg]

Nice review.. I'll cruise on dream in few weeks {Aug 21)..ive bought some decorations so the girlfriend can decorate the door. What did u use to hang your decorations with?

[Viesczy]

Thankya for the time taken to put in a thorough review!

 

I glad you've not been attacked for the surge protector by Surge Protector KGB , the level of "ZOMG" they exhibit is staggering!

 

Glad you had a great time!

[duncmelsmom]

Nice review.. I'll cruise on dream in few weeks {Aug 21)..ive bought some decorations so the girlfriend can decorate the door. What did u use to hang your decorations with?

 

We brought scotch tape. I had magnets that would probably work fine, but I was afraid that someone would mess with them.

 

Have a great trip!!

[duncmelsmom]

Thankya for the time taken to put in a thorough review!

 

I glad you've not been attacked for the surge protector by Surge Protector KGB , the level of "ZOMG" they exhibit is staggering!

 

Glad you had a great time!

 

I was afraid of the surge protector. We brought 2 other small plugs in case it was confiscated. The amazon link of the plug we brought was used for both cruises with no problems at all. It was plugged in as soon as we arrived, and packed away when we left.

 

ZOMG...LOL