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My Dream Review...and I took LOTS of pics!


bluejay555
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I sailed with my daughters, ages 8 and 10, and my mom. My husband got sick of cruising (crazy!!!) so this is our 3rd annual ALL GIRLS cruise. We had an amazing time and I have lots of details to give about our time on the ship and our excursions (Little French Key, Starfish Island, and Nachi Cocom).

 

Before I get involved in my review, I want to get the negatives out of the way:cool: I have a few gripes that did not ruin my cruise in any way, but things that I don't like. The rest of my review will be mostly positive, so bear with me for a minute here....

 

first, we were disappointed with anytime dining, which we chose because 6pm dinner was not available when we booked the cruise, and 8pm is too late for the kids to eat. It took hours, literally, to make it through a meal. We were getting there at 5:45 and not finishing up until after 8pm. We had to leave before dessert (which was fine) on the last night because we wanted to watch an 8pm movie at the seaside theater. And we never got to personally know the wait staff. We missed that part the most. I hope to never do anytime dining again! It was definitely not the end of the world, just not for us.

 

Second negative: WE MISS THE CHOCOLATE! I know, I know, super petty and not a big deal, but my kids love getting the chocolates on the bed. BOO on Carnival for taking away that small perk.

 

Third and final negative: I am gold VIFP and am no longer invited to the past cruiser party (or whatever they call it). I have been to that party many times and now I'm not eligible anymore?? And my free drink coupon could only be used on the last day of the cruise after 5pm. So basically they're telling me "OK here's a free drink coupon, but we really don't want you to actually use it, so we're going to try to make you forget about it." And my mom and girls didn't get their free drink since they aren't gold. (they got free drinks last year) They got bottled water instead, which I had already purchased a 12pk anyway. So OK, whatever. Again, small stuff here, but it does make a difference.

 

Alright, done with the venting and on with this review! I took over 400 pictures so this will be a pic heavy review :)

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We drove from Missouri to Hammond, LA on Saturday and stayed at the Hampton Inn. It took about 10 hours...way longer than google maps claims! They don't factor in traveling with little girls. Sunday morning we had an hour drive into NOLA. We got to the port about 11am and were on the ship around noon. It was crowded but they move you through quick at that port. I've always been impressed with their efficiency. I parked at the Erato Street garage and it was $16 per day.

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Getting excited!

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We always carry our own bags on. I'm so afraid mine will not make to my cabin somehow!

 

First thing we did was sign up for the Seuss breakfast. There was a table set up right inside the doors to the lido deck, so it was easy to spot.

 

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Then straight to the lido deck for lunch!

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And now our cruise has officially begun. I always start my cruise with a Miami vice :D

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KenMo, St Louis area. Just took hwy 55 all the way to the outskirts of New Orleans. It's not a bad drive at all.

 

Thank you!

 

I'm in St Joe, so I think you're a little further south than I am. Still...doesn't sound like it would be too much longer.

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I sailed with my daughters, ages 8 and 10, and my mom. My husband got sick of cruising (crazy!!!) so this is our 3rd annual ALL GIRLS cruise. We had an amazing time and I have lots of details to give about our time on the ship and our excursions (Little French Key, Starfish Island, and Nachi Cocom).

 

Before I get involved in my review, I want to get the negatives out of the way:cool: I have a few gripes that did not ruin my cruise in any way, but things that I don't like. The rest of my review will be mostly positive, so bear with me for a minute here....

 

first, we were disappointed with anytime dining, which we chose because 6pm dinner was not available when we booked the cruise, and 8pm is too late for the kids to eat. It took hours, literally, to make it through a meal. We were getting there at 5:45 and not finishing up until after 8pm. We had to leave before dessert (which was fine) on the last night because we wanted to watch an 8pm movie at the seaside theater. And we never got to personally know the wait staff. We missed that part the most. I hope to never do anytime dining again! It was definitely not the end of the world, just not for us.

 

Second negative: WE MISS THE CHOCOLATE! I know, I know, super petty and not a big deal, but my kids love getting the chocolates on the bed. BOO on Carnival for taking away that small perk.

 

Third and final negative: I am gold VIFP and am no longer invited to the past cruiser party (or whatever they call it). I have been to that party many times and now I'm not eligible anymore?? And my free drink coupon could only be used on the last day of the cruise after 5pm. So basically they're telling me "OK here's a free drink coupon, but we really don't want you to actually use it, so we're going to try to make you forget about it." And my mom and girls didn't get their free drink since they aren't gold. (they got free drinks last year) They got bottled water instead, which I had already purchased a 12pk anyway. So OK, whatever. Again, small stuff here, but it does make a difference.

 

Alright, done with the venting and on with this review! I took over 400 pictures so this will be a pic heavy review :)

 

When we had anytime dining on the Dream in April, our meals never lasted more than 75 minutes.

Edited by YubaSutter
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When we had anytime dining on the Dream in April, our meals never lasted more than 75 minutes.

 

Lucky you! We had a hard time even getting drinks at dinner. I think we were offered something other than water twice. I tell you though, we'd get there at 5:45 and the line to get in would be wrapped around all the way passed the glass elevators.

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Thank you!

 

I'm in St Joe, so I think you're a little further south than I am. Still...doesn't sound like it would be too much longer.

 

Google maps says 14 hours for you. Considering the price of airline tix for a family, it's not a terrible drive.

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I had about 15 family members on this sailing. I will be looking at your pics to see if I can spot them, since they apparently didn't take any, or at elast none that they are sharing! :D

 

Awesome! I hope you spot them!

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We had a cove balcony and LOVED IT. (I'll post better pics of it later) We had one last summer for the first time and just had to have one again this time, too. We were in 2357 and it was a great location. We were directly under the pool/restaurant area (by 8 floors of course;) ) The restaurant was one floor above us and we never had any noise. I've read not to get a cove under the galley. That can get super noisy. It rained just about every night and we could sit on the balcony and not get wet. It's completely sheltered by the lifeboats.

 

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NOLA at sail away

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We spent a lot of time at this pool! It was raining at sail away, so there was no deck party going on.

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We live in Northwest Arkansas. We are from KC and my wife's family is from St. Joe. It takes 10 hours for us to get to NOLA. It is also 4.5 hours to St. Joe. from here. In any case it would be worth the drive just to not have to fly from KCI to NOLA.

 

We like NOLA and stay in the French Quarter. There are a lot of great places to eat in NOLA. We also go to Pat O'Brien's whenever we are there.

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We have sailed the Dream several times. Last year with two grand kids and their other Mimi.

She wanted to do one without the kiddos and I said the coves were neat. She didn't care as long as we took her with us. I booked the same cabin. Haven't read much at all about it, so looking forward to your thoughts.

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We live in Northwest Arkansas. We are from KC and my wife's family is from St. Joe. It takes 10 hours for us to get to NOLA. It is also 4.5 hours to St. Joe. from here. In any case it would be worth the drive just to not have to fly from KCI to NOLA.

 

We like NOLA and stay in the French Quarter. There are a lot of great places to eat in NOLA. We also go to Pat O'Brien's whenever we are there.

 

Thank you for the info...it's appreciated!

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We drove from Missouri to Hammond, LA on Saturday and stayed at the Hampton Inn. It took about 10 hours...way longer than google maps claims! They don't factor in traveling with little girls. Sunday morning we had an hour drive into NOLA. We got to the port about 11am and were on the ship around noon. It was crowded but they move you through quick at that port. I've always been impressed with their efficiency. I parked at the Erato Street garage and it was $16 per day.

 

Looking forward to the review. We are sailing on the Dream in January. We usually drive to NOLA from here in Central Illinois. Drive to Brookhaven MS (about 9-10 hrs), which leaves us a leisurely 2 hour drive to the Fulton Garage ($8 per day for rooftop parking). Don't mind the drive, except for I55 in Arkansas - first 10-15 miles is horrendous :eek:

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Your girls are adorable! Can't wait to read the rest of your review and see your photos because the Dream is our next cruise!

 

Thank you!

 

OK, just got home from Sara's (my 10 yr old) softball game and want to keep reliving my cruise through this review :D ....where did I leave off... oh, our first night in the dining room. I took pics of all the good food we ordered so you'll either be grossed out or really hungry after I'm finished!

 

Flat iron steak. I gotta say, this was consistently good. The last 2 cruises it was hit and miss. My 8 yr old, Josie, orders this every single time we eat in the dining room, and the last 2 cruises it would be perfect one night, and dried out and tasteless the next. This time, it was done to perfection every time.

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This was pretty good. Why can't I remember the name of this cut of beef?? Oh well

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Of course! Gotta order this or it wouldn't be a Carnival cruise!

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After dinner, we watched caught part of the SpongeBob Movie up on the Lido deck at the Seaside theater. Just an FYI, you can now rent blankets during the movies from the towel stand. I had no idea! They were super warm and fuzzy. Weird for a tropical cruise, but it felt cold out there!

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Can't wait to read the rest of your review. We are also from the St. Louis area and driving down to NOLA in August to board the Dream.

 

Cool! I wish we were driving down again in August :) I'm already ready to book another one!!

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After the movie, we returned to our cabin to find our first towel animal! Yay!

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And here is our free water and my drink coupon waiting for us. I also ordered the 12pk of water for $2.99 and that worked out great. I was watching people struggling to haul their water onboard thinking my $2.99 was money well spent! Oh well, after July, no one will be struggling with water bottles :cool:

 

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