Carnival Dream Review May 20-27

[h_blond2]

Cozumel!

 

This was my 10th time in Cozumel and I still love it! We typically just grab a taxi and go to Playa Palancar, but we decided to rent a car this time. We rented it from Alamo and I believe it cost around $90 and that included every type of insurance possible. I forget what our car was...maybe a Chevy March, but it had AC and that's all we cared about. We first headed downtown and made a few stops before heading to the east side of the island. We had originally planned to spend some time on the beaches there, but the beaches were closed due to extremely rough water conditions. We drove along the coast a few times and made stops along the way to take pictures and just take in the beauty of it all! We decided we just couldn't help ourselves, so we headed to Playa Palancar for lunch. We were only there for about an hour and it rained most of the time we were there, but that didn't stop us. After we left Palancar, we headed back to the east side and headed back to town using the transverse road. After making our way back to Puerta Maya, we dropped the car off, did a little souvenir shopping and headed back to the ship. We quickly showered and headed up top for a bite to eat and for sail away. We left about 45 minutes late and we saw an ambulance pull up to the ship and unload a stretcher. The ambulance left about 10 minutes later with someone following behind them with their luggage. I hope whoever was in the ambulance was ok! We left shortly after that. That night we went to the show, which was 80s Pop.

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[h_blond2]

More Cozumel pictures

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[Raxter54]

h_blond2 - You said you stopped at the Vicksburg battlefield park. How was that? We are planning on doing the same when we drive home from our Dream cruise in February. My great-great-grandfather (his picture is my avatar) fought in the battle for Vicksburg and I wanted to visit the battle field and see the monument to his regiment. Was their an admission price for entry to the park? Just curious about your experience....

[h_blond2]

h_blond2 - You said you stopped at the Vicksburg battlefield park. How was that? We are planning on doing the same when we drive home from our Dream cruise in February. My great-great-grandfather (his picture is my avatar) fought in the battle for Vicksburg and I wanted to visit the battle field and see the monument to his regiment. Was their an admission price for entry to the park? Just curious about your experience....

I think that there is typically a $15 per vehicle charge to drive through the park, but there was no one there taking money when we were there. It is mostly a driving tour with monuments erected to different people and regiments. There is only one structure that is original. However, I loved the USS Cairo! That was the highlight of Vicksburg for me!

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[NWACruiser]

My 4th Great Grandfather is buried at Vicksburg. He was in the Alabama Infantry. He perished without knowing about his son, who is my 3rd Great Grandfather. The Confederate Army are buried in the public cemetery just outside the battlefield grounds.

 

I enjoyed the Battlefield and the USS Cairo.

[Raxter54]

My 4th Great Grandfather is buried at Vicksburg. He was in the Alabama Infantry. He perished without knowing about his son, who is my 3rd Great Grandfather. The Confederate Army are buried in the public cemetery just outside the battlefield grounds.

 

I enjoyed the Battlefield and the USS Cairo.

I certainly hope my great-great-granddad wasn't responsible for the death of your 4th great grandfather [emoji853]

 

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Forums mobile app

[Raxter54]

I think that there is typically a $15 per vehicle charge to drive through the park, but there was no one there taking money when we were there. It is mostly a driving tour with monuments erected to different people and regiments. There is only one structure that is original. However, I loved the USS Cairo! That was the highlight of Vicksburg for me!

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the info. Sorry if I hijacked your thread [emoji55] We now return you to our regular programming....

 

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Forums mobile app

[h_blond2]

Thanks for the info. Sorry if I hijacked your thread [emoji55] We now return you to our regular programming....

 

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Forums mobile app

No problem! If you go to the military park, you also need to go to Grant's Canal. It's a little drive away from the park, but it's pretty neat to see! Have fun at Vicksburg and on your cruise!

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[pghsteelerfan]

I just got back from my amazing cruise on the Dream! This was my 10th cruise, but was a cruise of many firsts for me. It was my first 7 day cruise, first never feeling sea sick on a cruise, first time on the Dream, first time at a tender port, first time in Belize and Roatan...and last, but not least, it was my first time cruising through, and eventually outrunning, a tropical storm! This cruise definitely did not disappoint and I hope you all will follow along as I relive this awesome cruise![ATTACH]422154[/ATTACH][ATTACH]422155[/ATTACH]

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

 

I just started reading your review, but can't help but commenting now. We were in NOLA from 5/17 - 5/23 and watched the Dream sail in from our hotel (well, I did since I was the only one crazy enough to get up at that hour) on the morning of 5/20. We didn't get to see her sail back out (we were on Bourbon Street by then), but also saw Triumph sail in the next morning. Loved watching both ships sail in with the sun coming up in the distance. I'm getting ready to get caught up on your review and looking forward to following along. Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

 

 

 

1cruisingal, I also tried to quote your post where you mentioned you were on Dream the week of 5/13 - 5/20, so the pictures I have are your cruise sailing back into NOLA.

 

 

 

 

[h_blond2]

I just started reading your review, but can't help but commenting now. We were in NOLA from 5/17 - 5/23 and watched the Dream sail in from our hotel (well, I did since I was the only one crazy enough to get up at that hour) on the morning of 5/20. We didn't get to see her sail back out (we were on Bourbon Street by then), but also saw Triumph sail in the next morning. Loved watching both ships sail in with the sun coming up in the distance. I'm getting ready to get caught up on your review and looking forward to following along. Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

 

 

 

1cruisingal, I also tried to quote your post where you mentioned you were on Dream the week of 5/13 - 5/20, so the pictures I have are your cruise sailing back into NOLA.

 

 

 

 

Great pictures! I'll post about our crazy day in Belize later this afternoon!

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[h_blond2]

Belize

 

Let me start this part of my review by saying this: Belize was the port I was most excited for and our very carefully made plans quickly fell apart. :(

 

We woke up early that morning and headed to the Burgundy Lounge to get our tender tickets. We ended up in Zone 6 and thought we would have a long wait, but it really wasn't too bad. After about 30 minutes we were on the tender boat and headed to Belize! The ride from the ship to the Belize Tourism Village took about 15 minutes, but the water was so gorgeous and I loved the ride! Once we arrived, we quickly found Coral Breeze, the tour company we planned to spend the day with. We had booked their Snorkel with Sharks and Rays Tour and for an entire year of my life I was looking forward to it! Once we met the Coral Breeze employee (I believe her name was Star) we found out that the other 5 people who had signed up for the tour weren't there yet. No biggie...it was still about 30 minutes until it was time to leave. We did some shopping and I checked with the employee again and she told me that we were going to give the 5 other people 10 more minutes and then we were leaving. I confirmed that we would leave in 10 minutes...no matter what. When mom and I got back there 10 minutes later, two of the other people had shown up, but three others were still missing. It was then that my perfect day began to fall apart...

 

The Coral Breeze employee told us that they could not just take 4 people on the excursion. She then told us that they would send the four of us with their friends on their snorkeling tour. She would not tell us the name of the company that their friends worked for and would not show us the boat would take us to Caye Caulker. She told us we would have to get in a small boat that would then take us to the larger boat that would then take us to Caye Caulker. All four of us repeatedly asked the name of the company and she would not tell us. Ultimately, we all decided that it just felt a little off and decided not to go. We understood the decision to take just 4 people on the excursion, but could not understand why we weren't told the name of the company she wanted to send us with and why we couldn't see the boat we would be in. The employee was apologetic, and we did get our refund back, but I'm not going to lie...I was pretty mad. We had booked with Coral Breeze because of the numerous amazing reviews they have received on Trip Advisor. We weren't comfortable going with a company we knew nothing about.

 

At first, we considered just getting back on a tender and spending the day on the ship, but we ultimately decided to take Belize City/Rum Factory Tour. It was $25 per person and was about a two hour tour. The van we were in had AC, but it was still about as hot as the surface of the sun in there. The driver took us through the nicer part of Belize City and he then announced that we were going to go through the hood. Downtown Belize City is obviously extremely poverty stricken, but the driver did point out some interesting features. We made a quick stop at the rum factory, where they still make the rum on site. I love rum, but ended up buying a bottle of blackberry wine, instead. The wine is made from blackberries grown in Belize and I have never met a blackberry wine that I don't like. After our time at the factory was over, we headed back to the van and it wouldn't start. It took the driver THREE tries to get it started. We were all a little panicky at that time. We were dropped back off at the tourism village where we made a beeline for the tender boat and got back on the ship. We were both so hot that all we could think of was sending time in the pool. Mom and I rarely get back on the ship super early and we almost never get in the pool, but we did that day.

 

I was pretty pissy during the tour and I really didn't enjoy it at the time, but after I had time to calm down a little, I realized that we had made the best of the day and that I was officially able to mark visiting Belize of off my bucket list.

 

That night we tried to watch Black Panther at the Dive In Movies, but it started about 45 minutes late. No one really seemed to be monitoring what was going on. I think we watched about an hour of it. As we were leaving Belize, it began to storm, but it stayed away from us. The rain clouds and the lightning made for some amazing views.

 

All in all, I'm still glad I went to Belize, but if I ever go back I will book an excursion through Carnival, which I have ever only done once before.

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[h_blond2]

More Belize pictures

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[h_blond2]

You guessed it...even more Belize pictures

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[sdschwrt]

Sounds like you turned lemons into lemonade. My wife uses a wheelchair and has limited mobility. Did you see any wheelchair users on the tender? Do you need to walk down stairs to access the tender platform or is there elevator access to the tender loading floor? On some ships we have tendered in Belize while on others we could not.

[1cruisingal]

I just started reading your review, but can't help but commenting now. We were in NOLA from 5/17 - 5/23 and watched the Dream sail in from our hotel (well, I did since I was the only one crazy enough to get up at that hour) on the morning of 5/20. We didn't get to see her sail back out (we were on Bourbon Street by then), but also saw Triumph sail in the next morning. Loved watching both ships sail in with the sun coming up in the distance. I'm getting ready to get caught up on your review and looking forward to following along. Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

 

 

 

1cruisingal, I also tried to quote your post where you mentioned you were on Dream the week of 5/13 - 5/20, so the pictures I have are your cruise sailing back into NOLA.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! Such nice pics! Thank you for sharing these. I would have never been able to see this part of my cruise as we’re sail back.

[h_blond2]

Sounds like you turned lemons into lemonade. My wife uses a wheelchair and has limited mobility. Did you see any wheelchair users on the tender? Do you need to walk down stairs to access the tender platform or is there elevator access to the tender loading floor? On some ships we have tendered in Belize while on others we could not.

I did see a few people in wheelchairs and on scooters on the tenders. There is an elevator that goes to deck 0, but you will have to notify a crew member that you will need to use one.

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[bakersdozen12]

So sorry about your tour in Belize. What I don’t understand is, given the fact that it sounds like you had to prepay, why they wouldn’t take you anyway since they had the money from the people that didn’t show up on time? Or am I wrong that it wasn’t a prepaid tour?

 

Btw, thanks for the review. The Dream was my first ship and I have fond memories of it. Can’t wait to read more!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[h_blond2]

So sorry about your tour in Belize. What I don’t understand is, given the fact that it sounds like you had to prepay, why they wouldn’t take you anyway since they had the money from the people that didn’t show up on time? Or am I wrong that it wasn’t a prepaid tour?

 

Btw, thanks for the review. The Dream was my first ship and I have fond memories of it. Can’t wait to read more!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We only had to pay a small deposit and the rest was due when we got there. The tour cost $150 for the two of us and we had only been required to pay a $27 deposit.

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[sdschwrt]

I did see a few people in wheelchairs and on scooters on the tenders. There is an elevator that goes to deck 0, but you will have to notify a crew member that you will need to use one.

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

 

 

 

Thanks. Just the information we needed.

[reerun25]

Enjoying your review!

[h_blond2]

As I mentioned earlier, as we left Belize we saw some thunderstorms form over the mainland. It made for the great views!

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

[pghsteelerfan]

Wow! Such nice pics! Thank you for sharing these. I would have never been able to see this part of my cruise as we’re sail back.

 

We were staying at the Wyndham on Royal Street (French Quarter) right near Canal Street. The Marriott hotel obstructed the view of the Mississippi River, but we lucked out with our room being on that far end. I had the cameras ready and really enjoyed watching her sail in. I know it was not a happy day for those on your cruise, debarkation or as I call it "eviction". ;) But thought you'd like to have these. Feel free to save them if you'd like. I hope you had a great cruise. :)

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, as we left Belize we saw some thunderstorms form over the mainland. It made for the great views![ATTACH]422641[/ATTACH][ATTACH]422642[/ATTACH][ATTACH]422643[/ATTACH][ATTACH]422644[/ATTACH][ATTACH]422645[/ATTACH]

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app

 

Oh wow, I feel terrible how your day in Belize turned out, especially after looking forward to it for so long. I think I'd have done the same thing as you and the others did in not going with the "friend". At least you were able to salvage some of your day, but still not the same. So sorry that happened. I am really enjoying your review and your pictures are beautiful!!!

[Saint Greg]

86 days...

 

[truth429]

Where was your cabin and how was the interior cabin? I will be staying in an interior, front of the boat on the Panorama deck for the first time on the Dream and a little nervous.

[h_blond2]

Where was your cabin and how was the interior cabin? I will be staying in an interior, front of the boat on the Panorama deck for the first time on the Dream and a little nervous.

We were on Deck 1. This was my second time in an interior and I have no problems with them. I have problems with being in small spaces, so I was kind of nervous the first I was in an interior, but it turned out just fine. I do miss having a window sometimes, but I just turn the TV to the camera view when I want to see what's going on outside (like when I first wake up).

 

Sent from my LG-K371 using Forums mobile app