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Quick review of Carnival Dream 6/14


oceanbums
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Hello all,

Just wanted to share a few thoughts from our cruise. Sorry, no pics in this one.

DH and I had a wonderful time, the best cruise ever. I think I say that after each one, tho lol. Here goes...

 

Our cabin was a 4J on Deck 10, all the way in the front with the secret doorway to a "balcony". loved it! It was very quiet and we slept great except for the first night when we had choppy seas in the gulf, I would book this room again. Our cabin was on the end and was not a handicapped cabin and had plenty of space, even a table with 2 chairs in the corner(no couch). people could not see in during the day but could see their reflection in the window. It was funny, at one point a kid, maybe 14 or so was practicing his dance moves, watching himself, and we were in the cabin watching. He had some good moves, too! But most of the time there was no one out there and at one point they wouldn't let anyone out there because of the wind.

 

The ship was easy to navigate, and we didn't encounter to many long lines. The Mongollian Wok was always busy, tho and on sea days the Lido Pool was crowded. The aft pool is not adults only, but was more quiet than the Lido Pool. The Lanai Deck on 5 had quiet spots if you want to read or chill out. We checked out the Serenity Deck and there were chairs available but very little shaded areas which didn't make sense to me. The one shady area is kind of noisy with the Lido deck music. That's when we went to Deck 5 and found a couple quiet shady spots.

 

Embarkation and debarking was easy. We did have FTTF and it was great dropping off our carryons at 11:30. There is also a dedicated line at guest services which we used a couple times. We tried to stay on the ship as long as possible since our flight out was late, but still got off early. I'm not sure FTTF is worth is for us, there's a lot to be said for waiting til later and boarding when the crowd is gone.

 

I thought the shows for the most part were good, loved the hypnotist they flew in from NOLA, it was a riot. The show 8 Seconds was my favorite. I wonder if the dancers have a hard time learning to perform at sea? There has to be a difference from land with the ship moving?

 

Hennie and Nick were good, very personable and entertaining without going over the top with announcements. There was plenty of trivia and games and we took advantage when the weather was bad. I even won a Carnival Medallion by taking a selfie with Hennie.

 

Excursions: We did the Cozumel Bar Hop and it was so much fun, a great opportunity to see the Eastern side and more natural beaches. In Roatan, we did LFK and spent the day at the beach. I would recommend both. This was the first time I booked excursions outside of Carnival and it worked well, the operators are very aware of the time and ships schedule. We planned on staying onboard in Belize to enjoy the empty ship, but weather was bad and many people stayed on so it was more crowded than usual.

 

We ate in the MDR twice and I'm not a foodie but DH said nothing really stands out, it was all good. I thought the vegetarian dish was really good and the lobster good but it's small. The buffet was good, except the desserts. I'm a dessert eater and was disappointed, nothing really had any flavor. Not a big deal really.

 

NOLA: We had a one night precruise stay at Hampton Inn (Convention Center) and would stay again. Very accommodating and they held our luggage since our flight didn't leave until 6. We spent most of the day at the WWII museum, DH loved it, he's a history buff.

 

So it was a great trip, we met a lot of nice people and had fun, had quiet times, enjoyed our excursions, and I've already researched our next one lol.

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Great review! I was on that same cruise with you and was at LFK too :) Loved that place.

 

I've been following your review and loving the pics!

and I would go to LFK again, there are so many nooks and crannies to hang out it would be different each time.

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for your review. Can't wait to sail on the Dream soon. :D

 

We are staying at the Hampton Inn Convention Center and was glad to read that you liked them too.

 

I don't know if you have been there before, but just in case you're wondering, there are restaurants in walking distance and a convenience store near by, too. We took the shuttle to the pier, walking with our carryons didn't seem practical in the heat.

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Good solid review, thanks for taking the time, looking forward to our turn on the Dream in Jan!

 

Thanks! The Dream is a great ship, in filling out my email review that Carnival sent, I really couldn't come up with anything negative that affected our week. That's what I call a vacation :D Enjoy your cruise:)

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You're welcome.

After reading reviews I was a little concerned there would be huge lines for everything and we would never find a lounge chair to relax, but that wasn't the case. The pool areas are small and crowded but we managed to find a spot in other areas. Maybe it was our timing with the restaurants, but it worked out well for us.

 

I did forget to mention the towel animals...I think it was Saturday morning I walked thru the Lido Deck to get coffee and every lounge chair around the pool had a towel animal on it! and in the exit door area off the Lido deck to the back of the ship there were 5 alligators 5or 6 feet long.

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