Carnival Dream 2020 Cruise Review With Fun-Times & Photos!!

[thecruiserofships]

Information About This Cruise & Me: This was my 16th cruise and my second time on the Carnival Dream. This cruise was January 2-6, 2020 and it departed from Galveston to Cozumel. I try to do the review in parts, by day. I took over 1800 pictures and will try to include as many as possible of the ship, food, and ports. The review is on my personal cruise blog (no ads), which is also where you can find Fun-Times and other scanned handouts from the cruise.

 

Here Is The Review, Photos, & Fun-Times:

Review & Pictures:  http://www.embarkandaway.com/carnival-dream-cruise-review-2020.html 

Fun-Times Newsletters:  http://www.embarkandaway.com/carnival-dream-4-day-cruise-fun-times-activity-newsletters.html 

For those that do not want to click on external links, I will post the pictures from the review to Cruise Critic after I get most of my review online (will be at least a few more days). This is the way I have done several of my past cruise reviews so I will keep the same format!  

 

I greatly enjoyed the Carnival Dream and wish I was still onboard! 🙂 As I write this I still feel the ship rocking a bit! 

 

Feel Free To Ask Questions You Have! I will answer questions as quick as possible! One of my post-cruise activities is compiling my pictures to write a review. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it.  

 

 

 

[thecruiserofships]

Day 1   Galveston,  Texas

 

 

Foggy Arrival In Galveston & Parking:
              The day of the cruise had finally arrived and could not sleep the night before because I was so excited! I woke up around 4:30am and immediately checked the weather because fog was forecasted. My excitement turned to worry when I saw Galveston was under a dense fog advisory because there have been several times when ships cannot dock in Galveston due to fog. After showering and finalizing packing, I started tracking the ship on Marine Traffic. Luckily, the fog did not prevent the Carnival Dream from docking! After seeing the ship was able to come in, we left to head to Galveston! 
                  We parked at EZ Cruise Parking again this cruise. Prior to the day of our cruise, I reserved a parking space on EZ Cruise Parking's website and picked their "Park & Walk Special". Selecting this special meant we received a discount for not using the parking lot's shuttle. Upon arriving at the lot, we showed our online receipt and were instantly directed to a parking spot. The parking process with EZ Cruise Parking was very easy again! After leaving our car, it took about 5-7 minutes to walk to the ship.  

 

    In order to walk from the parking lot to the cruise terminal we had to cross Harborside Drive. The traffic on Harborside Drive was heavy. Several cars were going to the cruise terminal in order to pick up cruisers from the prior cruise or drop off cruisers for the next cruise. A police officer was directing traffic on Harborside Drive and after we waited a few minutes were allowed to cross the road. Once across, cruisers going to the Carnival Dream walked directly to Cruise Terminal #1. The Enchantment of the Seas was docked at Cruise Terminal #2 and cruisers heading to that ship had to walk a little further to get to their cruise terminal.  

 

 

 

 

[Joe817]

So far, so good! 👍

[thecruiserofships]

10 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

So far, so good! 👍

 

Thank you! Please let me know if you have any questions at any point of the review! 

[thecruiserofships]

Arriving At The Cruise Terminal & Check-In
                  After we arrived at the cruise terminal, a porter took our suitcases. One of our luggage tags on a suitcase broke and the porter had a mini-stapler that we used to fix the broken luggage tag. If you are cruising soon, make sure your luggage tags are stapled and taped to prevent them from coming apart easily! Once our luggage was taken we followed the terminal's signage to the check-in area. Since we arrived early, the doors to the cruise terminal were not yet open. A terminal staff member was outside to allow members of the wedding party in a little early, but everyone else had to wait until the doors opened a little after 10:00am. 
                   Once the doors opened around 10:00am, Platinum & Diamond guests were allowed into the cruise terminal first.  After entering the cruise terminal building, we had our passports and boarding passes checked. The staff member doing this scanned our passport and uploaded the passport photo into Carnival's system. If a cruiser's appearance differed from the passport photo a new picture was taken on the spot for Carnival's identification system. Thankfully my passport photo is relatively recent so my passport photo was able to be used. 
                        Following this part of the check-in process we went through security. After going through security, we were directed up an escalator to the cruise terminal's second floor. This was my first cruise being Platinum in Carnival's VIFP club and as a result I was directed to the Captain's Lounge in the cruise terminal. This area was for Platinum and Diamond guests. Some refreshments were available for everyone in this lounge to enjoy. During my wait I kept getting up to walk around and look out the nearby cruise terminal windows. I was able to see the front of the Carnival Dream as well as the back of the Enchantment of the Seas at cruise terminal #2. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

Boarding The Carnival Dream:
                 The embarkation process for this cruise was overall very easy and efficient. Around 11:00am, an announcement was made that boarding for the wedding party was taking place. Once the wedding party was allowed to board, VIFP Diamond guests were allowed to board. Next, VIFP Platinum guests were allowed to board. After Diamond & Platinum guests boarded, Faster to the Fun guests were allowed to board. Cruisers with Faster to the Fun paid extra for priority boarding as well as a few other perks. There were several Faster to the Fun guests sailing on this cruise. Once Faster to the Fun guests boarded, the boarding process continued by zones and arrival appointment times.

TIP:  Boarding passes are needed several times throughout the embarkation process! As you board the ship make sure you keep your boarding pass with you and ready to show terminal staff members. 

 

 

Officially On The Carnival Dream:
               After getting my boarding pass scanned in the cruise terminal, I proceeded up the gangway to the Carnival Dream. We entered the ship on Deck 3 in the ship's atrium. The first thing I noticed was the ship's Christmas tree and atrium garland was still hanging. I have never cruised around this time of year so seeing the ship decorated for Christmas was neat. Crew members were directing guests to the ship's fwd elevators and answering questions guests had. The crew members operating the elevators were only willing to go to Deck 5, Deck 10, and Deck 11. This is because these decks had food venues that were open and the ship's crew members did not want guests going to their staterooms before 1:30pm. 
                I headed up to the Lido Deck (Deck 10) first because I wanted to eat at the ship's buffet. Due to the ship's elevator area being crowded, I took the stairs from Deck 3 to Deck 10. When I got to Deck 10 I was exhausted! I went from the front of deck 10 and cut across the main Lido pool area in order to get to the buffet. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

First Lunch On The Carnival Dream:
                      The Carnival Dream's buffet is called "The Gathering". As a side note, sometimes in this review I will refer to it as The Gathering or just the Lido buffet. Once I was in the buffet, I saw several different food lines to choose from. The front area of the buffet had two main buffet lines and the ship's Mongolian Wok. The back area of the buffet had another two main buffet lines, the deli, and the main dessert station. Outside the buffet near the main Lido pool guests could eat at Guy's Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina. At the very back of the deck, by the ship's aft pool guests could eat the 24 hour pizzeria or buy food at the Seafood Shack. The Carnival Dream had several Lido buffet food options to choose from on this day of the cruise! 

Here are some pictures I took of one of the main Lido buffet lines, which includes some of the salad bar fixings:

 

[thecruiserofships]

   After looking at what was offered at the ship's main Lido buffet lines, I walked over to the dessert station. The Carnival Dream's dessert station at lunch typically had 6 or 7 cakes to choose from, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, and jello. Besides the dessert station, both sides of the buffet had ice cream and frozen yogurt machines. These machines could be found near the front of the buffet on both sides. Here are some pictures of the ship's dessert station cakes:

[thecruiserofships]

[thecruiserofships]

My first stop at the buffet was the Carnival Dream's deli. I was hungry for a Bacon Lettuce Tomato (BLT) sandwich and was the first guest at the deli. The crew member working the deli immediately made my sandwich and I think I had to wait only three minutes for it to be toasted. The deli has a variety of different sandwiches to choose from. 
                      My family and I all had very different plates for lunch. Here are some pictures of the various things we ate for lunch: 

 

[grandmarnnurse]

On 1/6/2020 at 6:44 PM, thecruiserofships said:

Information About This Cruise & Me: This was my 16th cruise and my second time on the Carnival Dream. This cruise was January 2-6, 2020 and it departed from Galveston to Cozumel. I try to do the review in parts, by day. I took over 1800 pictures and will try to include as many as possible of the ship, food, and ports. The review is on my personal cruise blog (no ads), which is also where you can find Fun-Times and other scanned handouts from the cruise.

 

Here Is The Review, Photos, & Fun-Times:

Review & Pictures:  http://www.embarkandaway.com/carnival-dream-cruise-review-2020.html 

Fun-Times Newsletters:  http://www.embarkandaway.com/carnival-dream-4-day-cruise-fun-times-activity-newsletters.html 

For those that do not want to click on external links, I will post the pictures from the review to Cruise Critic after I get most of my review online (will be at least a few more days). This is the way I have done several of my past cruise reviews so I will keep the same format!  

 

I greatly enjoyed the Carnival Dream and wish I was still onboard! 🙂 As I write this I still feel the ship rocking a bit! 

 

Feel Free To Ask Questions You Have! I will answer questions as quick as possible! One of my post-cruise activities is compiling my pictures to write a review. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it.  

 

 

 

That was the most well made review I have ever seen! Beautiful job! I can’t wait to read the rest! 

[HarborHermit]

Wonderful review so far. Thanks for the pictures.

[thecruiserofships]

23 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

That was the most well made review I have ever seen! Beautiful job! I can’t wait to read the rest! 

Thank you!  I appreciate hearing that!

 

22 hours ago, HarborHermit said:

Wonderful review so far. Thanks for the pictures.

Thank you! I hope you continue enjoying the review! 

[thecruiserofships]

Touring The Carnival Dream After Lunch:
                     After lunch, I took a walk around the Carnival Dream to explore the ship. Due to the weather looked like it could rain at any time, I decided to walk around the outside decks of the ship first. I exited the buffet at the back of Deck 10 and ended up heading up to Deck 12, which has several of the ship's outside amenities for guests to enjoy. 

 

When I got up to Deck 12, I first saw the Carnival Dream's jogging track. The jogging track goes around the back half of Deck 12. On the track, arrows are marked to guide users which way is the proper way to walk or run. Since the cruise just started, no guests were using the track yet, but later in the cruise several people would be outside walking or running in the mornings. 

As I walked towards the front, I came across the Carnival Dream's mini golf course. The mini golf course is located in between the jogging track. There are 18 holes in the Carnival Dream's mini golf course (based on the mini golf scorecard I got on the ship). Each hole had a different obstacle or theme. This was a really nice mini golf course and in a place the minimized wind (although it was still a little windy when the ship moved). Mini golf clubs and balls were located for guests to take and return themselves. 

[thecruiserofships]

  After walking past the mini golf course, I came across a long row of deck chairs and an area that I could look down on the main Lido pool. Very few deck chairs were occupied because of the weather. I continued walking until I came to the Carnival Dream's WaterWorks. The WaterWorks area on the Carnival Dream had a Twister Waterslide that was mostly enclosed, two long slides that could be used for racing, and a Drainpipe slide that started with guests going through an enclosed area and ending in a large circular bowl. A splashpad was also part of the WaterWorks as well as a small slide for younger children. 

 

 

[thecruiserofships]

I went up a stairwell from Deck 12 to Deck 15. Deck 15 is the highest deck on the ship and is home to the Carnival Dream's Serenity Adults Only Retreat. This area is for guests that are 21 and older only. A variety of different deck chairs, clamshell chairs, and hammocks were available in this area for guests to use. Carnival Dream's Serenity also had a few hottubs. The Serenity is also on parts of Deck 14 at the front of the ship, but I did not take pictures of this area due to several guests being on this level of the Serenity already. 

 

 

[thecruiserofships]

 At the front of the Serenity Adults Only Retreat on Deck 15 I saw a door that opened up to a glass stairwell. I followed the glass spiral staircase down and came to Deck 12 of the Cloud 9 Spa. This deck of the SPA is home to the Carnival Dream's gym. Unfortunately, the gym was blocked off so I was unable to go inside to take pictures, but since the entrance was not completely closed I was able to stick my camera inside and snap a picture. 

    After leaving the Cloud 9 Spa,I went to the Promenade Deck (Deck 5). At the very front of the Promenade Deck is the highest level of the Carnival Dream's main show lounge, the Encore Theater. I took a look inside from this level and then walked to the very back of the ship. Deck 5 is home to the Carnival Dream's Fun Shops, casino, Ocean Plaza, Coffee Bar, Bonsai Sushi, Alchemy Bar, piano bar, and aft lounge. The Ocean Plaza, which I will show more in Day 2's review, was very crowded with guests waiting for the staterooms to open. Due to the crowded areas of Deck 5 I did not take pictures on this day of most of these public areas. 
 

[thecruiserofships]

When I reached the back of Deck 5 I walked down to Deck 4's back area. I came to the Scarlet Dining Room and went inside because it was empty. This dining room is used for guests with fixed seating at either 6:00pm or 8:15pm. The Scarlet Dining Room is located on both decks 3 and 4. Here are a pictures of this dining room:

 

[grandmarnnurse]

Beautiful pics! I love looking at pics of the Decks and inside of the different ships. 

[Saint Greg]

Great job with the pics!

[grima625]

Great start to the review.  The pictures are great. 

[thecruiserofships]

21 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Beautiful pics! I love looking at pics of the Decks and inside of the different ships. 

Thank you! I enjoy looking at the decks and insides of different ships too. For me, it is especially fun to see ships that have the same layout, but a different decor theme. 

[thecruiserofships]

20 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Great job with the pics!

Thank you so much! I really enjoyed your recent Carnival Magic cruise review that you have posted on your blog. You take really good pictures!  I was scheduled to sail on the Carnival Magic a few years ago when it was out of Galveston, but had to cancel the cruise. I was never able to reschedule on the Magic while it was still out of Galveston, but hope to someday sail on the ship. 

[thecruiserofships]

9 hours ago, grima625 said:

Great start to the review.  The pictures are great. 

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you like the start of the review. Please let me know if you ever have any questions! 

[Saint Greg]

8 minutes ago, thecruiserofships said:

Thank you so much! I really enjoyed your recent Carnival Magic cruise review that you have posted on your blog. You take really good pictures!  I was scheduled to sail on the Carnival Magic a few years ago when it was out of Galveston, but had to cancel the cruise. I was never able to reschedule on the Magic while it was still out of Galveston, but hope to someday sail on the ship. 

 

Thanks! Stick around. Next entry is tomorrow.