Detailed Photo Review of Carnival Dream 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise 3/10/19

[deladane]

16 hours ago, leight said:

Just love your reviews! We have a cruise on the Elation in Nov with friends to celebrate a birthday. But I have so enjoyed your reviews that while my sister asked me to plan something just for the two of us, I think I have settled on a 4 day cruise on Carnival Liberty in Feb 2020. Just waiting for my new work schedule to be assigned for the next year at the end of may before we book. Always been a loyal Royal Caribbean devotee, but for a inexpensive getaway for my sister and I to relax, it sounds like we can still have a blast on Carnival. Going back to read your other reviews, having a great time obsessing and planning! Thanks 

 

Thanks Leigh!  Carnival has a lot to offer, so it sounds like you will get a chance to experience it for yourself!  Enjoy your cruise!

[deladane]

12 hours ago, Walt fan said:

Thank you so much for this review!  It was so much fun and you put in so much detail, I can take a mini vacay while reading.  Count me in for a vote to your Europe review.  I will keep a lookout!

 

Awesome!  Thanks for letting me know 🙂

[Charm2018]

40 minutes ago, deladane said:

 

That will be such a wonderful trip for the two of you!  Not sure if you have started planning yet, but she can get in to a ton of museums for free at her age so definitely take advantage of that! 🙂

She has been talking about it since she was 5 so I'm sure it won't be a relaxing trip.  LOL

I have already started looking into the stuff I want to do in London, so we will see what is on her "must do" list.  Thanks for the tips about the museums.

[AggieGirl05]

I finally got to catch up on your review! We were on Vista last week. I'm going through the withdraws right now...and wishing I was back in the Caribbean where they're not currently calling for tornadoes...and where my allergies weren't bothering me 24/7!!

 

We sail on Dream next Feb out of Galveston. One question, I've been through her deck plans & saw no mention in your review...does she not have a Red Frog Pub??? Her sister, Breeze, certainly does. It's my favorite hangout!

 

Thanks for such an amazing review! We typically cruise with our kiddo & I don't have the patience to keep up with him & hubby AND keep good enough notes to write up the caliber of reviews I see on here! Ya'll are amazing!

[deladane]

9 minutes ago, AggieGirl05 said:

I finally got to catch up on your review! We were on Vista last week. I'm going through the withdraws right now...and wishing I was back in the Caribbean where they're not currently calling for tornadoes...and where my allergies weren't bothering me 24/7!!

 

We sail on Dream next Feb out of Galveston. One question, I've been through her deck plans & saw no mention in your review...does she not have a Red Frog Pub??? Her sister, Breeze, certainly does. It's my favorite hangout!

 

Thanks for such an amazing review! We typically cruise with our kiddo & I don't have the patience to keep up with him & hubby AND keep good enough notes to write up the caliber of reviews I see on here! Ya'll are amazing!

 

Unfortunately, no, the Dream does not have a Red Frog Pub 😞  I think they first introduced it with the Breeze, and then went backwards to put it on the refurbished Sunshine, but it was after the Dream's time!

 

Not sure if this helps, but if you are considering writing a review on your next cruise, I did not bother taking detailed notes on this cruise like I have done in the past.  On my prior cruises, I practically wrote out what I planned to write in my review verbatim while on the ship, which took a ton of time.  I did it while laying on a lounge chair at the beach or at the pool on the ship or somewhere that most people would spend their time reading a book, but it still took away from being in the moment and enjoying the vacation.  This time around, I only took very sparse notes about things like tour guide names (that I would NEVER remember if I didn't write it down haha), and I just made sure to take a ton of photos.  The photos really help to jog my memory and I basically use them to talk me through the review.  Like instead of writing down the times that different activities started, I take a photo of it and use the time stamp on the photo to tell me what time it happened.  I think that really helped me enjoy the cruise more 🙂

[DownToTheSea]

On 4/14/2019 at 9:48 AM, deladane said:

My alarm clock went off bright an early at 7am.  I jumped out of bed, eager to get this exciting day started!  Peeking out the window at 7:30, it looked like we were already tied up to the dock.

 

 

Once we were both dressed and with our beach bags packed, we went upstairs to Lido for breakfast.  We had good timing because there were only two or three people on line at Blue Iguana, so it didn’t take long to get our breakfast burritos.

 

Breakfast with a view!

 

Like a kid in a candy store, when I finished my burrito, I left DH sitting at the table and sipping his coffee so I could go take photos of the port from the outside decks upstairs.  It was shaping up to be another sunny, beautiful day in the Caribbean!

 

 

 

 

The Carnival Freedom was in port with us today

 

We were in Roatan on Freedom that same day! Very cool!

[mrsv41605]

Thanks so much for doing this review.  It got me through the last few weeks before my Dream cruise on April 14!  We also did the Cajun Pride tour with Captain Danny when the tour I originally booked was canceled, and the St. Louis Cemetery tour the morning of the cruise, both based on your review.

 

Looking forward to reading your other reviews!  Happy traveling!

[deladane]

On 5/8/2019 at 7:55 AM, DownToTheSea said:

We were in Roatan on Freedom that same day! Very cool!

 

How fun!  It was a beautiful day there that day 🙂

[deladane]

15 hours ago, mrsv41605 said:

Thanks so much for doing this review.  It got me through the last few weeks before my Dream cruise on April 14!  We also did the Cajun Pride tour with Captain Danny when the tour I originally booked was canceled, and the St. Louis Cemetery tour the morning of the cruise, both based on your review.

 

Looking forward to reading your other reviews!  Happy traveling!

 

Oh wow!  I hope you enjoyed those tours as much as I did, and that you had a wonderful cruise on the Dream!  Thanks for reading 🙂

[Border Granny]

Dana, I forgot to ask earlier if the safe used a card swipe or does it have a keypad?  And I’m having withdrawal symptoms now that your review is over, lol.  I am hoping to be cured next month when we are on the Dream:).

[deladane]

3 hours ago, Border Granny said:

Dana, I forgot to ask earlier if the safe used a card swipe or does it have a keypad?  And I’m having withdrawal symptoms now that your review is over, lol.  I am hoping to be cured next month when we are on the Dream:).

 

haha I am having withdrawal too... It was so fun to spend every evening writing up the next post, and then taking a few minutes each morning to post it on Cruise Critic.  Now that I'm done, it's official that this cruise is over 😞

 

The safe in our cabin had a keypad where you can create your own code.  Just a warning though, that safe was TINY!  Don't plan to stuff too much stuff in there... my iPad barely fit!

[Border Granny]

9 hours ago, deladane said:

 

haha I am having withdrawal too... It was so fun to spend every evening writing up the next post, and then taking a few minutes each morning to post it on Cruise Critic.  Now that I'm done, it's official that this cruise is over 😞

 

The safe in our cabin had a keypad where you can create your own code.  Just a warning though, that safe was TINY!  Don't plan to stuff too much stuff in there... my iPad barely fit!

Thanks Dana, that’s great information to know!  May have to rethink what I planned to put in there, but glad it has a keypad:)

[jez1967]

Hey Dana,

Loved your review, especially the sloth and scuba pictures...my daughter and I will be sailing on the Dream over New Years. We would also love to email the maitre'd and ask for your same table...637. I know how to do this on RCI but have never done it on CCL. Any chance you would mind giving me the info on how to do this? Thanks again and look forward to checking out more of your great reviews!

 

Jamie

[deladane]

On 6/22/2019 at 9:03 AM, jez1967 said:

Hey Dana,

Loved your review, especially the sloth and scuba pictures...my daughter and I will be sailing on the Dream over New Years. We would also love to email the maitre'd and ask for your same table...637. I know how to do this on RCI but have never done it on CCL. Any chance you would mind giving me the info on how to do this? Thanks again and look forward to checking out more of your great reviews!

 

Jamie

 

Hi Jamie,  

I sent an email to drmaitred@carnival.com the week before our cruise.  I hope you get that table too!

[deladane]

Hi everyone!  We just returned from our Paris/London vacation and I started posting my review in the British Isles/Western Europe forum.  In case you wanted to read along, here is the link:

 

 

[susanNjay]

Deladane- I have taken several days to read all of your purple print posts. (I love that you used purple-so easy to find!) Thanks for the thorough review.  Re: scuba- if you decide to continue diving, you should go to a good dive shop and buy your own mask.  It shouldn't break suction like that and allow water to drain in when you are clearing.  If buying seems outrageously expensive, just know, I am still diving with a mask that I purchased in 2008.  The trick to long use is to thoroughly wash the equipment after you use it.  Also, about the blurry pictures- that is totally normal.  I have been through multiple dive cameras and my best results have been using a Go Pro in video mode and then doing screen shots on my iPad.  I cannot tell you how many blurry pictures I have taken over the years, and many times I would take several hundred pictures and end up with ONE or TWO good (or even great) pictures.  Thanks again for your review!!

[oskarNZ]

I am so excited to have found another one of your trip reports Dana.  

Your review of the 14 night Celebrity Southern Caribbean was the best review I read prior to doing our own 14 night Southern Caribbean (on Celebrity Reflection) at the start of the year.  I learnt such a wealth of info from it and it really got me excited about our cruise.

 

Our next cruise planned in on Carnival Splendor at the end of this year and it’s a 9 night New Caledonia cruise out of Sydney.  So while this review of yours is not quite as relevant, it’s great to read about your Carnival experience.  Plus, if we’re ever fortunate enough to cruise in that side of the world, we’ll be trying a Western Caribbean since we’ve now done both an Eastern and a Southern.  So I will read about your port stops with interest.  

 

So so far I’m only up to your first sea day, but I’m really enjoying what I’ve read so far.  

I’ll report back when I’m all caught up.  

Thanks! Well done on another great report.  

[deladane]

22 hours ago, susanNjay said:

Deladane- I have taken several days to read all of your purple print posts. (I love that you used purple-so easy to find!) Thanks for the thorough review.  Re: scuba- if you decide to continue diving, you should go to a good dive shop and buy your own mask.  It shouldn't break suction like that and allow water to drain in when you are clearing.  If buying seems outrageously expensive, just know, I am still diving with a mask that I purchased in 2008.  The trick to long use is to thoroughly wash the equipment after you use it.  Also, about the blurry pictures- that is totally normal.  I have been through multiple dive cameras and my best results have been using a Go Pro in video mode and then doing screen shots on my iPad.  I cannot tell you how many blurry pictures I have taken over the years, and many times I would take several hundred pictures and end up with ONE or TWO good (or even great) pictures.  Thanks again for your review!!

 

Thank you so much for that information 🙂  We don't have any cruises planned right now but I'll definitely keep that in mind for the next time I try scuba!

[deladane]

17 hours ago, oskarNZ said:

I am so excited to have found another one of your trip reports Dana.  

Your review of the 14 night Celebrity Southern Caribbean was the best review I read prior to doing our own 14 night Southern Caribbean (on Celebrity Reflection) at the start of the year.  I learnt such a wealth of info from it and it really got me excited about our cruise.

 

Our next cruise planned in on Carnival Splendor at the end of this year and it’s a 9 night New Caledonia cruise out of Sydney.  So while this review of yours is not quite as relevant, it’s great to read about your Carnival experience.  Plus, if we’re ever fortunate enough to cruise in that side of the world, we’ll be trying a Western Caribbean since we’ve now done both an Eastern and a Southern.  So I will read about your port stops with interest.  

 

So so far I’m only up to your first sea day, but I’m really enjoying what I’ve read so far.  

I’ll report back when I’m all caught up.  

Thanks! Well done on another great report.  

 

Oh wow!  New Zealand and Australia are at the top of my bucket list, but with all the things I want to see and do there, I would need at least a month.  Not so sure I can do that trip before I retire haha Your cruise sounds amazing!  Please come back to write a review of your own!!  

[oskarNZ]

5 hours ago, deladane said:

 

Oh wow!  New Zealand and Australia are at the top of my bucket list, but with all the things I want to see and do there, I would need at least a month.  Not so sure I can do that trip before I retire haha Your cruise sounds amazing!  Please come back to write a review of your own!!  

 

I might just do that as I still have a few weeks vacation left when I return from this cruise, so I’ll have time to put together a proper report.  

Unlike the Reflection cruise, where I knew I’d be rushed off my feet with work as soon as I got back, so the review was pretty rushed and no where near as wonderfully detailed as yours.

 

It’s good that you like land travel as much as cruising, as when you do get to this part of the world, I would argue that New Zealand is a country better explored by land.  But, yes, it’s worth factoring a month to see as much as possible.  

We won’t travel to the East Coast of the USA for anything less than 3 weeks, but on the downside, that means saving money and work leave for years in advance.  Oh to win the lottery...  

 

A question if you don’t mind:

 

How did you find the social media internet package? My husband and I use mostly Facebook where we follow a lot of newspaper type pages.  The problem is, when you click on articles, you usually get rerouted to another page.  Am I right to assume that links like this won’t work using the social media package?  

 

 

 

[deladane]

On 7/20/2019 at 2:37 PM, oskarNZ said:

 

I might just do that as I still have a few weeks vacation left when I return from this cruise, so I’ll have time to put together a proper report.  

Unlike the Reflection cruise, where I knew I’d be rushed off my feet with work as soon as I got back, so the review was pretty rushed and no where near as wonderfully detailed as yours.

 

It’s good that you like land travel as much as cruising, as when you do get to this part of the world, I would argue that New Zealand is a country better explored by land.  But, yes, it’s worth factoring a month to see as much as possible.  

We won’t travel to the East Coast of the USA for anything less than 3 weeks, but on the downside, that means saving money and work leave for years in advance.  Oh to win the lottery...  

 

A question if you don’t mind:

 

How did you find the social media internet package? My husband and I use mostly Facebook where we follow a lot of newspaper type pages.  The problem is, when you click on articles, you usually get rerouted to another page.  Am I right to assume that links like this won’t work using the social media package?  

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I'm not the best person to ask about the social media package.  I pretty much just used it to scroll through my FB and IG feeds, to use FB and iPhone messaging, and to check in for our flights home.  I never tried to click on any links so I'm not sure if it would have worked or not.  Maybe someone else can chime in and answer for me?? 🙂