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Just Got off Carnival Dream from 10/9 Sailing, answering questions.

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu
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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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Third sailing on Carnival. We got on the Dream on 10/9 on a 7-Day Western Caribbean itinerary to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and Cozumel, MX.

 

We stayed in a Grand Suite this time around. We stayed in the MDR 5 out of the 7 nights, the other two were spent at the buffet and once in the Steakhouse. We did a beach excursion in Jamaica and it was alright, not wonderful. In Grand Cayman we just explored the town and I'm glad we did. It was wonderful. Cozumel was pretty too, but we did an excursion (Salsa & Salsa and Margaritas) and that was the best part of the entire cruise.

 

If you have any questions about the Dream, I'll be happy to answer them!

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amydresh

amydresh

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What beach did you do in Montego Bay? Did you just get a taxi out of port or hire someone ahead of time?

 

I'm debating between hiring a taxi driver to bring us to Negirl to the Boardwalk Village to hang out at the beach. It would be $140 for the drive and not include anything. The other thing is doing an AI at Sunscape Splash (only 5 minutes from port which I think would be great) with shuttle both ways for $370. I think that's a better value for our money and looks more fun but dh seems to think it would be a lot cheaper to stick with the driver and go to Negril. About how much money would we need for food and drinks for 5 people all day?

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leliamenard

leliamenard

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Hotels in Nola (in the city) in February will be $$$ Metairie and Slidell would be good options. Check Nola.com for info on any parades happening on embarkation day, debarkation days as traffic can be very heavy and some streets closed. We live 2 hours away so we always just drive in the morning!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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amydresh

amydresh

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Did you make reservations for the steakhouse right away or do it the night that you ate there? I think I want to do it one night but I want to see what the menu will be like to decide what night to do it. I just don't want to miss out because we wait and we can't make reservations.

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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Okay, so here we go...

 

Very concerned about cabin temperature as I have heard the cabins can be very hot. How was your experience??

 

Not a terrible experience with Cabin Temperature. We usually sleep with a fan on at night, partially for coolness and the noise. We did not get the noise at much, but we were quite cool at night. I was able to turn the heat up though easily during the day.

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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How many times a day was your room serviced, and were you given an option?

 

Our steward actually came to our door the first night and asked if we wanted morning service or evening turndown or both. We opted for both and that ended up being a good decision since we like to nap in the afternoon.

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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how were the sea conditions ? Any excessive rocking ?

 

The Dream is quite the smooth sailor, she was very smooth 95% of the time. The morning of the last day, we experienced some kind of storm overnight and into the morning and that caused quite a bit of movement that upset many passengers (including my wife, who is prone to that). But if the seas are calm to moderate, than it wasn't bad.

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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Cruising on the Dream in Feb '17 with similar itinerary. First time cruising out of NO. Did you cruise out of NO? We are just now booking and I'm having trouble finding hotels near the port with availability. Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful.

 

We did cruise out of NOLA. Our first time too. We actually did not get a hotel near the port, but rather near the train station since we took one there. I would suggest not letting the distance to port be a factor. We used Uber to get around the city and to get to the port and back to the hotel after. My suggestion if you are going to be taking your car is find a good lot that will store your car there. Some parking services near the port will even offer to shuttle you to the port included in the storage fee. Much less expensive too than if you used the port's parking service (which is why I didn't take my car)

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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What beach did you do in Montego Bay? Did you just get a taxi out of port or hire someone ahead of time?

 

I'm debating between hiring a taxi driver to bring us to Negirl to the Boardwalk Village to hang out at the beach. It would be $140 for the drive and not include anything. The other thing is doing an AI at Sunscape Splash (only 5 minutes from port which I think would be great) with shuttle both ways for $370. I think that's a better value for our money and looks more fun but dh seems to think it would be a lot cheaper to stick with the driver and go to Negril. About how much money would we need for food and drinks for 5 people all day?

 

Very good question, but we actually booked our beach trip through Carnival. We did their "Beach Getaway with Unlimited Food and Drinks". Wasn't worth it, to be honest. Felt overpriced and was very limited for being "unlimited".

 

Now, the beaches in Jamaica (or at least, Montego Bay) were not exactly the prettiest when we got there. I'm not sure if this was a result of Matthew brushing the country by but it was noticeable. BTW, Matthew had little to no effect on the overall landscape of the country.

 

What I will say is that, if you really intend on going on the beaches there, for 5 people the AI is probably your best bet overall I'd say. At least at our beach, the food and drinks were on the high side. $370 seems fair. I hope this answers your question.

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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Will be on the Dream Dec. 18 for an 8 day cruise. How did you like the Dive-In movies?

 

We did the Dive-In movies twice. The first movie was the Intern and the other was Finding Dory. We enjoyed both nights. They show very current movies on the screen, no more than two years old. There is one night they show an R-rated film at 12am. They screened Deadpool that night. You can borrow blanket from them to cuddle up to and grab some popcorn (the popcorn isn't great, you will definitely need salt.).

 

BTW, here's a good story: We had a LOT of Alabama and Tennessee fans on the ship and they were playing each other at 2:30pm on CBS (I was one of the Alabama fans). They showed the game in the Jackpot Bar in the Casino, but a lot of people wanted to watch it on the big screen on the Lido deck. After much pressure, they ended up showing it on the Lido Deck as well.

Edited by cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu
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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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Did you make reservations for the steakhouse right away or do it the night that you ate there? I think I want to do it one night but I want to see what the menu will be like to decide what night to do it. I just don't want to miss out because we wait and we can't make reservations.

 

I made the reservation as soon as I booked because I knew we wanted to do it on our one-year anniversary date. The menu does not change much, if any. Here is a link to their menu. It was never full when we were there, FWIW.

 

BTW, if you book on the first night of sailing or the first elegant evening, you can get a free bottle of house wine of 50% off a bottle of your choice.

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BELSAD

BELSAD

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We did the Dive-In movies twice. The first movie was the Intern and the other was Finding Dory. We enjoyed both nights. They show very current movies on the screen, no more than two years old. There is one night they show an R-rated film at 12am. They screened Deadpool that night. You can borrow blanket from them to cuddle up to and grab some popcorn (the popcorn isn't great, you will definitely need salt.).

 

BTW, here's a good story: We had a LOT of Alabama and Tennessee fans on the ship and they were playing each other at 2:30pm on CBS (I was one of the Alabama fans). They showed the game in the Jackpot Bar in the Casino, but a lot of people wanted to watch it on the big screen on the Lido deck. After much pressure, they ended up showing it on the Lido Deck as well.

 

 

 

I wanted to send you a 'Roll Tide' when I saw your email address but resisted the urge. We are sailing out on the Dream on October 30 so the Saturday coming back will be the Alabama/LSU game. With the ship sailing out of New Orleans I can't help but think there will be a lot of fans for both on board. It ought to be interesting!

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amydresh

amydresh

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Very good question, but we actually booked our beach trip through Carnival. We did their "Beach Getaway with Unlimited Food and Drinks". Wasn't worth it, to be honest. Felt overpriced and was very limited for being "unlimited".

 

Now, the beaches in Jamaica (or at least, Montego Bay) were not exactly the prettiest when we got there. I'm not sure if this was a result of Matthew brushing the country by but it was noticeable. BTW, Matthew had little to no effect on the overall landscape of the country.

 

What I will say is that, if you really intend on going on the beaches there, for 5 people the AI is probably your best bet overall I'd say. At least at our beach, the food and drinks were on the high side. $370 seems fair. I hope this answers your question.

 

That is helpful, thank you! I figured it would possibly be around $200 for food and drinks which isn't much less than the AI. Dh said that was a crazy amount and he doesn't think there would be any way that it would cost that much.

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cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

cwdodson@crimson.ua.edu

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Leaving out November 6th Eekk! Can you tell me if the first elegant night was on the first sea day ( Monday )? Also do you have the Funtimes or know if they have the Burlesque show like on the Magic? Thanks a bunch

The first Elegant night was the first sea day, yes. I do have the Funtimes from the trip, but I do not remember seeing that kind of show on board. I'll check again, but I don't believe so.

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