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Just off the Dream (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel)


HagenDog
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Had a great time. I've learned so much from this site over the past several months while getting ready for our cruise (first time cruiser), that i want to provide a review of our journey so others can possibly learn also. I'll have to do it in sections as apparently i still have a job and the bosses expect some productivity!!! Topics I hope to cover include parking in NOLA, embarkation, river journey, room (balcony), food\dress attire, shows, excursions\ports, cruise director, getting around the ship, HUB app\chat, Internet, of interest to kids, general observations, debarkation. Probably a few more as i work my way through the review. If you have any specific questions, let me know and i'll answer them if i can.

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Parking: Parked at Fulton Garage on the top floor. About $8a day cheaper than parking in the port garage. As soon as you enter, theyattendant takes your pre-paid receipt and lets you go park. Keep in mind, theclearance between your car and the ceiling is minimal. We have a full sized SUVand I was thinking we would hit the roof a few times. Having a car-top carrier onan SUV or a lifted truck and you probably won’t make it.

 

Takes a while to get to the top as there are 9 floors in thegarage. Parked, then found out the elevator only reaches the 8th floor.No biggie really. Just had to roll our suitcases down one level to theelevator. Next time – or if its raining, I’ll stop on the 8th floorand drop off the luggage then park on the 9th. The garage wasn’tcrowded at all.

 

Load your bags on the elevator and go to the bottom floor. Onthe bottom level, the workers load your bags onto the awaiting shuttle bus. There’sa coffee shop and a convenience store for snacks. Quick trip around the blockand we’re at the port terminal. Driver gets your bags off, then a short walk withyour bags to the terminal porter who loads them onto a cart. Then walk to thestart of the embarkation process. We checked two big suitcases and had 2 carry-ons.One carry-on with wine and one with extra change of clothes and all theimportant documents. First time cruisers who packed too much!!

 

When we debarked, the shuttle was waiting in the same spotas when we left. Driver loads the bags, trip around the block to the garage.The shuttle driver says one person from each group can go get the vehicle. Healso tells us where to drive our car to so we can load the bags. Workers allaround to help. I get the SUV, drive to the spot as directed, load thesuitcases and pull away. Make a left turn, a right turn and we’re on I-10.

 

 

Easy. I guess some people like the convenience of parking inthe port garage. But there were long lines to get in. And its an extra $8 aday. At first, I was a little nervous about parking in the Fulton Garage, butnow, I’ll do it every time.

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Embarkation: Our time was 11-1130. Cattle lines. Plain andsimple. But most kept moving and there was little waiting time at any station. Lotsof workers to assist with questions and give directions. I don’t recall the exact process, but I rememberit wasn’t bad. Got your picture taken several times. We were given our sign andsail cards.

 

We carried on a suitcase with wine and soft drinks. The softdrinks cartons were opened slightly by the checker and then she shone (or is itshined?) an ultraviolet light (I’m guessing) through the wine to check thecontents.

 

After all the checking, we were told to sit in a certainsection of the terminal (picture an airport terminal with crowded seating) andwait for our embarkation number to be called. I think we were like number 9maybe? Anyway, only took a few minutes for them to get to our number. Rememberto scream as loud as you can when your number is called. Apparently it’s the thingto do. Another set of lines, some morepictures, then on the gangway to the boat.

 

We watched as huge wire cages filled with suitcase werefork-lifted into the boat. Do not put anything breakable in your checked bag!!!Anything that might leak needs to be in a zip lock bag. We had a shampoo bottleopen but thankfully the mess was contained within the zip lock. Amazing howmuch ‘stuff’ takes place that you don’t really think about. Lines of 18wheelers ready to be un-loaded with the week’s supply of whatever. As far as I know,the ship doesn’t re-supply at any port except NOLA so everything they need hasto be loaded at the start.

 

Once on the ship, we were immediately lost!! We knew fromthis site to make our way to Lido and Guy’s Burgers. But no one told us wherethe elevators were. In a minute we found them and were way back in line. Hottip: That first line you see for the elevators is most likely the line for theglass ones that overlook the lobby area. Walk past those lines and in front of –or behind, depending on your reference point – the glass elevators. There youwill find 8 more elevators and chances are very few folks will be waiting onthem since many, like us, didn’t know they existing.

 

On the elevator to the Lido, Guy’s Burgers and the first useof my sign and sail card. That Ultra was cold and good. I had another just tobe sure. I sat there, looked and my wife and kids on the boat and could finallyrelax. I felt like Clark Griswold when he finally got his Christmas lights towork.

 

Some friends of ours did get bladders of alcohol on board intheir checked luggage. Not endorsing nor condoning, just saying its possible todo.

 

After lunch, we wanted to go see where our room was. I wantto say this was about 1245 or 100. We found our room and it was still gettingmade ready. No problem. We stood in the hall and greeted the steward who was inour room and she asked us if we wanted to drop our carry-ons in the closet.Well yeah we did. I’ve read on this site where it may be rude or inconsiderateto the stewards to drop off luggage while they were still in the process ofcleaning. And I agree. But she asked us and we thanked her for it. So don’tjudge us!!

 

 

Note: As I re-read my typing I notice and correct someerrors. But honestly, I think I’m still swaying just a little. So if you see anerror, please overlook it as my keyboard is not on the same wave as I am.

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Note: As I re-read my typing I notice and correct someerrors. But honestly, I think I’m still swaying just a little. So if you see anerror, please overlook it as my keyboard is not on the same wave as I am.

 

Thank you very much for the review! We are parking at the same location and your information is very helpful! Can't wait to see more!

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Parking: Parked at Fulton Garage on the top floor. About $8a day cheaper than parking in the port garage. As soon as you enter, theyattendant takes your pre-paid receipt and lets you go park. Keep in mind, theclearance between your car and the ceiling is minimal. We have a full sized SUVand I was thinking we would hit the roof a few times. Having a car-top carrier onan SUV or a lifted truck and you probably won’t make it.

 

I've parked there twice and it's been great. I drop the family off with the bags at the terminal and then park and ride over in their shuttle.

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Room: 7391, standard balcony room. Starboard side. King bed,couch bed and pull down bed. The room met our needs. Not exactly roomy, but wedidn’t care nor did we spend much time in there either. Once the couch was madeinto a bed and pull down bed was actually pulled down, the cabin steward wouldjust straighten up the covers each morning and leave them ‘out’. Which, reallywasn’t a big deal. I’m sure we could have asked her to fix the beds back, butlike I said, we weren’t in the room much. We picked morning service which wassometime between 10 and 2 usually. But she (Tina) seemed to never sleep sinceshe was always around.

 

Beds were comfy, pillows were small and thin. Extra pillowshelped. Only one electrical outlet but thanks to CC, we knew to bring anextension cord. Actually ours was a small triple outlet plug that worked well.Three closets. One with shelves, two with rods for hanging. The providedhangers were a little awkward to use but we had brought about 20 cheap wirehangers with us. Have I mentioned the over-packing part yet?? I think there are3 drawers in the desk\vanity for storage. Maybe 4.

 

Air conditioner stayed turned down the entire trip. Room startedout a little warm but slowly got cooler. Keeping the curtains closed during theday is an absolute must. At night the room was comfortable but as the sunburnheat built, the room – and everywhere – was warm. We took a small fan that weused at night to help circulate the air and for white noise.

 

Speaking of noise, the only noise we had was from next door.They would come in late and be rather loud. Late like 2am. And they had no ideaapparently how to ease closed the balcony door. I’m all for having a good time,but they were not considerate of their neighbors. I actually penned in my heada note that I was going to leave on their door about respecting theirneighbors. But I didn’t write it.

 

Hot tip: The safe comes with no instructions. That I couldfind anyway. But the way to lock it is type in a 4 digit code and hit the #sign. To unlock, type in the same 4 digit code.

 

The bathroom served its purpose. There are shelves on eachside of the mirror that, unless you way overpack even more than we did, shouldhold all your stuff. Plus you have the actual counter space as well. I didn’tsee a need for any over-the-door hanging thing. We did take 6 magnetic hooks (thanksCC) that were life savers for holding wet bathing suits and such. Now granted,nothing ever really dries but being able to hang up wet stuff did help. Atleast it was only damp when you put it back on and not soaked. Water pressurewas decent. Shower gel and shampoo are provided but take your own. Soap is providedand decent. The toilet is loud. Prepare yourself. It makes you appreciate alwaysclosing the lid. Hair dryer is in the room in the top drawer.

 

There was a smell in our room and in parts of the hallway. I’mnot saying it was a sewer smell but I don’t know what it was. In the room, itwasn’t very noticeable. But every time we walked to our room, we hit the smellat exactly the same point. Each time we would comment that we were close to ourroom because of the smell. Might be something related to the laundry stations.Don’t know. Wasn’t unpleasant, but noticeable.

 

Balcony is small but enjoyable. Two chairs and a smalltable. We had room service deliver coffee each morning and we welcomed the dayoutside. The Danishes and muffins are good. They give you a little menu eachday for morning room service delivery that you fill out and hang on your door.Order 4 coffees to get enough for 2 adults. Looking straight down off thebalcony, there were some tables used bythe Pig and Anchor place on deck 5. No one used them much as the Pig was onlyopen certain days. No hot tub noise to worry about. Being higher up, you couldsee forever. Balconies aren’t very private as the partitions are thin and thepeople next to you are…right next to you. Luckily neither of our neighbors usedtheirs much or at least may have at times other than we did. I kept thecurtains opened at night so when the sun came up, I knew it was time for me toget up.

 

Room steward was great. Remembered all our names after thefirst day. Didn't pre-tip but tipped well at the end.

 

And here’s something you might want to consider. Whenpicking your room, I found out that picking the port side or the starboard sidedoes make quite a difference. We didn’t pick our room so we just got lucky I guess.As we sailed from NOLA to Jamaica which is south, our room ended up being onthe west side of the ship opposite the east side which is the side of thesunrise. You may think you want to see the sunrise until the sun gets up alittle and the heat makes it unbearable to sit on your balcony. We were on the ‘shady’side of the ship and could enjoy the balcony every morning on the way toJamaica. Although you’re outside, there isn’t much of a breeze on the balconyunless you hang over the rail.

 

From Montego Bay to Georgetown, the morning sun is mostlybehind you as you sail west. Plus, being on the starboard side, you get to seethe coastline of Grand Cayman as you sail along the southern coast of the islandto the port which is on the west side.

 

From Georgetown to Cozumel, the morning sun hits thestarboard side a little more until you get close to Cozumel. The ship then sailsaround the northern side of the island and you see the mainland of Yucatan asyou sail to the port on Cozumel. In the shade.

 

Sailing from Cozumel to NOLA, the ship backtracks a bit and yourparting view is the coast of Cozumel as you head north. The next full sea day,Saturday, the morning sun is finally on the starboard side and yes, its intenseearly in the morning.

 

 

Now none of this port\starboard side stuff may matter toyou, but it will to me the next cruise I take. Knowing the route of the shipcan help you decide which side to pick so to make best use of yourbalcony. We are first time cruisers so I have nothing to compare, but I reallylike the balcony. Its like a different world out there. Many people like theinterior rooms. Some like the cove balconies. Some don’t care as long as theyare on the ship. I get it.

 

 

We had pre-ordered bottled water from the Fun Shops as well as 4 beers to be there the first day. For some reason, i was expecting the beers to be cold. They weren't. Wrapped in cellophane like a gift. Which i guess they really were. Put the beers in the fridge. Took till Wednesday for them to get cold enough to drink. Fridge is useless.

 

 

Saw door decorations. Not all were flame retardant. Stayed up all week. Since we have kids i wished we had decorated our door.

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Room: 7391, standard balcony room. Starboard side. King bed,couch bed and pull down bed. The room met our needs. Not exactly roomy, but wedidn’t care nor did we spend much time in there either. Once the couch was madeinto a bed and pull down bed was actually pulled down, the cabin steward wouldjust straighten up the covers each morning and leave them ‘out’. Which, reallywasn’t a big deal. I’m sure we could have asked her to fix the beds back, butlike I said, we weren’t in the room much. We picked morning service which wassometime between 10 and 2 usually. But she (Tina) seemed to never sleep sinceshe was always around.

 

Beds were comfy, pillows were small and thin. Extra pillowshelped. Only one electrical outlet but thanks to CC, we knew to bring anextension cord. Actually ours was a small triple outlet plug that worked well.Three closets. One with shelves, two with rods for hanging. The providedhangers were a little awkward to use but we had brought about 20 cheap wirehangers with us. Have I mentioned the over-packing part yet?? I think there are3 drawers in the desk\vanity for storage. Maybe 4.

 

Air conditioner stayed turned down the entire trip. Room startedout a little warm but slowly got cooler. Keeping the curtains closed during theday is an absolute must. At night the room was comfortable but as the sunburnheat built, the room – and everywhere – was warm. We took a small fan that weused at night to help circulate the air and for white noise.

 

Speaking of noise, the only noise we had was from next door.They would come in late and be rather loud. Late like 2am. And they had no ideaapparently how to ease closed the balcony door. I’m all for having a good time,but they were not considerate of their neighbors. I actually penned in my heada note that I was going to leave on their door about respecting theirneighbors. But I didn’t write it.

 

Hot tip: The safe comes with no instructions. That I couldfind anyway. But the way to lock it is type in a 4 digit code and hit the #sign. To unlock, type in the same 4 digit code.

 

The bathroom served its purpose. There are shelves on eachside of the mirror that, unless you way overpack even more than we did, shouldhold all your stuff. Plus you have the actual counter space as well. I didn’tsee a need for any over-the-door hanging thing. We did take 6 magnetic hooks (thanksCC) that were life savers for holding wet bathing suits and such. Now granted,nothing ever really dries but being able to hang up wet stuff did help. Atleast it was only damp when you put it back on and not soaked. Water pressurewas decent. Shower gel and shampoo are provided but take your own. Soap is providedand decent. The toilet is loud. Prepare yourself. It makes you appreciate alwaysclosing the lid. Hair dryer is in the room in the top drawer.

 

There was a smell in our room and in parts of the hallway. I’mnot saying it was a sewer smell but I don’t know what it was. In the room, itwasn’t very noticeable. But every time we walked to our room, we hit the smellat exactly the same point. Each time we would comment that we were close to ourroom because of the smell. Might be something related to the laundry stations.Don’t know. Wasn’t unpleasant, but noticeable.

 

Balcony is small but enjoyable. Two chairs and a smalltable. We had room service deliver coffee each morning and we welcomed the dayoutside. The Danishes and muffins are good. They give you a little menu eachday for morning room service delivery that you fill out and hang on your door.Order 4 coffees to get enough for 2 adults. Looking straight down off thebalcony, there were some tables used bythe Pig and Anchor place on deck 5. No one used them much as the Pig was onlyopen certain days. No hot tub noise to worry about. Being higher up, you couldsee forever. Balconies aren’t very private as the partitions are thin and thepeople next to you are…right next to you. Luckily neither of our neighbors usedtheirs much or at least may have at times other than we did. I kept thecurtains opened at night so when the sun came up, I knew it was time for me toget up.

 

Room steward was great. Remembered all our names after thefirst day. Didn't pre-tip but tipped well at the end.

 

And here’s something you might want to consider. Whenpicking your room, I found out that picking the port side or the starboard sidedoes make quite a difference. We didn’t pick our room so we just got lucky I guess.As we sailed from NOLA to Jamaica which is south, our room ended up being onthe west side of the ship opposite the east side which is the side of thesunrise. You may think you want to see the sunrise until the sun gets up alittle and the heat makes it unbearable to sit on your balcony. We were on the ‘shady’side of the ship and could enjoy the balcony every morning on the way toJamaica. Although you’re outside, there isn’t much of a breeze on the balconyunless you hang over the rail.

 

From Montego Bay to Georgetown, the morning sun is mostlybehind you as you sail west. Plus, being on the starboard side, you get to seethe coastline of Grand Cayman as you sail along the southern coast of the islandto the port which is on the west side.

 

From Georgetown to Cozumel, the morning sun hits thestarboard side a little more until you get close to Cozumel. The ship then sailsaround the northern side of the island and you see the mainland of Yucatan asyou sail to the port on Cozumel. In the shade.

 

Sailing from Cozumel to NOLA, the ship backtracks a bit and yourparting view is the coast of Cozumel as you head north. The next full sea day,Saturday, the morning sun is finally on the starboard side and yes, its intenseearly in the morning.

 

 

Now none of this port\starboard side stuff may matter toyou, but it will to me the next cruise I take. Knowing the route of the shipcan help you decide which side to pick so to make best use of yourbalcony. We are first time cruisers so I have nothing to compare, but I reallylike the balcony. Its like a different world out there. Many people like theinterior rooms. Some like the cove balconies. Some don’t care as long as theyare on the ship. I get it.

 

 

We had pre-ordered bottled water from the Fun Shops as well as 4 beers to be there the first day. For some reason, i was expecting the beers to be cold. They weren't. Wrapped in cellophane like a gift. Which i guess they really were. Put the beers in the fridge. Took till Wednesday for them to get cold enough to drink. Fridge is useless.

 

 

Saw door decorations. Not all were flame retardant. Stayed up all week. Since we have kids i wished we had decorated our door.

 

Enjoying your review. Going on the Dream for Christmas (different itinerary). The magnet hooks, I bought some to bring, were you able to use them in the shower or just in the cabin?

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Had a great time. I've learned so much from this site over the past several months while getting ready for our cruise (first time cruiser), that i want to provide a review of our journey so others can possibly learn also. I'll have to do it in sections as apparently i still have a job and the bosses expect some productivity!!! Topics I hope to cover include parking in NOLA, embarkation, river journey, room (balcony), food\dress attire, shows, excursions\ports, cruise director, getting around the ship, HUB app\chat, Internet, of interest to kids, general observations, debarkation. Probably a few more as i work my way through the review. If you have any specific questions, let me know and i'll answer them if i can.

 

Which cabin did you sail in? Was it very cool (air conditioning-are you cold or hot natured)? Thanks.

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Room: 7391, standard balcony room. Starboard side. King bed,couch bed and pull down bed. The room met our needs. Not exactly roomy, but wedidn’t care nor did we spend much time in there either. Once the couch was madeinto a bed and pull down bed was actually pulled down, the cabin steward wouldjust straighten up the covers each morning and leave them ‘out’. Which, reallywasn’t a big deal. I’m sure we could have asked her to fix the beds back, butlike I said, we weren’t in the room much. We picked morning service which wassometime between 10 and 2 usually. But she (Tina) seemed to never sleep sinceshe was always around.

 

Beds were comfy, pillows were small and thin. Extra pillowshelped. Only one electrical outlet but thanks to CC, we knew to bring anextension cord. Actually ours was a small triple outlet plug that worked well.Three closets. One with shelves, two with rods for hanging. The providedhangers were a little awkward to use but we had brought about 20 cheap wirehangers with us. Have I mentioned the over-packing part yet?? I think there are3 drawers in the desk\vanity for storage. Maybe 4.

 

Air conditioner stayed turned down the entire trip. Room startedout a little warm but slowly got cooler. Keeping the curtains closed during theday is an absolute must. At night the room was comfortable but as the sunburnheat built, the room – and everywhere – was warm. We took a small fan that weused at night to help circulate the air and for white noise.

 

Speaking of noise, the only noise we had was from next door.They would come in late and be rather loud. Late like 2am. And they had no ideaapparently how to ease closed the balcony door. I’m all for having a good time,but they were not considerate of their neighbors. I actually penned in my heada note that I was going to leave on their door about respecting theirneighbors. But I didn’t write it.

 

Hot tip: The safe comes with no instructions. That I couldfind anyway. But the way to lock it is type in a 4 digit code and hit the #sign. To unlock, type in the same 4 digit code.

 

The bathroom served its purpose. There are shelves on eachside of the mirror that, unless you way overpack even more than we did, shouldhold all your stuff. Plus you have the actual counter space as well. I didn’tsee a need for any over-the-door hanging thing. We did take 6 magnetic hooks (thanksCC) that were life savers for holding wet bathing suits and such. Now granted,nothing ever really dries but being able to hang up wet stuff did help. Atleast it was only damp when you put it back on and not soaked. Water pressurewas decent. Shower gel and shampoo are provided but take your own. Soap is providedand decent. The toilet is loud. Prepare yourself. It makes you appreciate alwaysclosing the lid. Hair dryer is in the room in the top drawer.

 

There was a smell in our room and in parts of the hallway. I’mnot saying it was a sewer smell but I don’t know what it was. In the room, itwasn’t very noticeable. But every time we walked to our room, we hit the smellat exactly the same point. Each time we would comment that we were close to ourroom because of the smell. Might be something related to the laundry stations.Don’t know. Wasn’t unpleasant, but noticeable.

 

Balcony is small but enjoyable. Two chairs and a smalltable. We had room service deliver coffee each morning and we welcomed the dayoutside. The Danishes and muffins are good. They give you a little menu eachday for morning room service delivery that you fill out and hang on your door.Order 4 coffees to get enough for 2 adults. Looking straight down off thebalcony, there were some tables used bythe Pig and Anchor place on deck 5. No one used them much as the Pig was onlyopen certain days. No hot tub noise to worry about. Being higher up, you couldsee forever. Balconies aren’t very private as the partitions are thin and thepeople next to you are…right next to you. Luckily neither of our neighbors usedtheirs much or at least may have at times other than we did. I kept thecurtains opened at night so when the sun came up, I knew it was time for me toget up.

 

Room steward was great. Remembered all our names after thefirst day. Didn't pre-tip but tipped well at the end.

 

And here’s something you might want to consider. Whenpicking your room, I found out that picking the port side or the starboard sidedoes make quite a difference. We didn’t pick our room so we just got lucky I guess.As we sailed from NOLA to Jamaica which is south, our room ended up being onthe west side of the ship opposite the east side which is the side of thesunrise. You may think you want to see the sunrise until the sun gets up alittle and the heat makes it unbearable to sit on your balcony. We were on the ‘shady’side of the ship and could enjoy the balcony every morning on the way toJamaica. Although you’re outside, there isn’t much of a breeze on the balconyunless you hang over the rail.

 

From Montego Bay to Georgetown, the morning sun is mostlybehind you as you sail west. Plus, being on the starboard side, you get to seethe coastline of Grand Cayman as you sail along the southern coast of the islandto the port which is on the west side.

 

From Georgetown to Cozumel, the morning sun hits thestarboard side a little more until you get close to Cozumel. The ship then sailsaround the northern side of the island and you see the mainland of Yucatan asyou sail to the port on Cozumel. In the shade.

 

Sailing from Cozumel to NOLA, the ship backtracks a bit and yourparting view is the coast of Cozumel as you head north. The next full sea day,Saturday, the morning sun is finally on the starboard side and yes, its intenseearly in the morning.

 

 

Now none of this port\starboard side stuff may matter toyou, but it will to me the next cruise I take. Knowing the route of the shipcan help you decide which side to pick so to make best use of yourbalcony. We are first time cruisers so I have nothing to compare, but I reallylike the balcony. Its like a different world out there. Many people like theinterior rooms. Some like the cove balconies. Some don’t care as long as theyare on the ship. I get it.

 

 

We had pre-ordered bottled water from the Fun Shops as well as 4 beers to be there the first day. For some reason, i was expecting the beers to be cold. They weren't. Wrapped in cellophane like a gift. Which i guess they really were. Put the beers in the fridge. Took till Wednesday for them to get cold enough to drink. Fridge is useless.

 

 

Saw door decorations. Not all were flame retardant. Stayed up all week. Since we have kids i wished we had decorated our door.

 

 

 

Love reading your review we go in January. Same agenda what excursions did y'all do and did it take long getting off at tender port

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I am enjoying your review. My husband and I are going to be on the Dream in January. This cruise will be our first also! I noticed you mentioned that you over packed for the trip. I am curious to know what you think you should have left at home and if there is anything you didn't carry that you wish you had. Thanks for sharing your experience!

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Hello, are there irons in the rooms? Thank you!!

 

 

 

Room: 7391, standard balcony room. Starboard side. King bed,couch bed and pull down bed. The room met our needs. Not exactly roomy, but wedidn’t care nor did we spend much time in there either. Once the couch was madeinto a bed and pull down bed was actually pulled down, the cabin steward wouldjust straighten up the covers each morning and leave them ‘out’. Which, reallywasn’t a big deal. I’m sure we could have asked her to fix the beds back, butlike I said, we weren’t in the room much. We picked morning service which wassometime between 10 and 2 usually. But she (Tina) seemed to never sleep sinceshe was always around.

 

Beds were comfy, pillows were small and thin. Extra pillowshelped. Only one electrical outlet but thanks to CC, we knew to bring anextension cord. Actually ours was a small triple outlet plug that worked well.Three closets. One with shelves, two with rods for hanging. The providedhangers were a little awkward to use but we had brought about 20 cheap wirehangers with us. Have I mentioned the over-packing part yet?? I think there are3 drawers in the desk\vanity for storage. Maybe 4.

 

Air conditioner stayed turned down the entire trip. Room startedout a little warm but slowly got cooler. Keeping the curtains closed during theday is an absolute must. At night the room was comfortable but as the sunburnheat built, the room – and everywhere – was warm. We took a small fan that weused at night to help circulate the air and for white noise.

 

Speaking of noise, the only noise we had was from next door.They would come in late and be rather loud. Late like 2am. And they had no ideaapparently how to ease closed the balcony door. I’m all for having a good time,but they were not considerate of their neighbors. I actually penned in my heada note that I was going to leave on their door about respecting theirneighbors. But I didn’t write it.

 

Hot tip: The safe comes with no instructions. That I couldfind anyway. But the way to lock it is type in a 4 digit code and hit the #sign. To unlock, type in the same 4 digit code.

 

The bathroom served its purpose. There are shelves on eachside of the mirror that, unless you way overpack even more than we did, shouldhold all your stuff. Plus you have the actual counter space as well. I didn’tsee a need for any over-the-door hanging thing. We did take 6 magnetic hooks (thanksCC) that were life savers for holding wet bathing suits and such. Now granted,nothing ever really dries but being able to hang up wet stuff did help. Atleast it was only damp when you put it back on and not soaked. Water pressurewas decent. Shower gel and shampoo are provided but take your own. Soap is providedand decent. The toilet is loud. Prepare yourself. It makes you appreciate alwaysclosing the lid. Hair dryer is in the room in the top drawer.

 

There was a smell in our room and in parts of the hallway. I’mnot saying it was a sewer smell but I don’t know what it was. In the room, itwasn’t very noticeable. But every time we walked to our room, we hit the smellat exactly the same point. Each time we would comment that we were close to ourroom because of the smell. Might be something related to the laundry stations.Don’t know. Wasn’t unpleasant, but noticeable.

 

Balcony is small but enjoyable. Two chairs and a smalltable. We had room service deliver coffee each morning and we welcomed the dayoutside. The Danishes and muffins are good. They give you a little menu eachday for morning room service delivery that you fill out and hang on your door.Order 4 coffees to get enough for 2 adults. Looking straight down off thebalcony, there were some tables used bythe Pig and Anchor place on deck 5. No one used them much as the Pig was onlyopen certain days. No hot tub noise to worry about. Being higher up, you couldsee forever. Balconies aren’t very private as the partitions are thin and thepeople next to you are…right next to you. Luckily neither of our neighbors usedtheirs much or at least may have at times other than we did. I kept thecurtains opened at night so when the sun came up, I knew it was time for me toget up.

 

Room steward was great. Remembered all our names after thefirst day. Didn't pre-tip but tipped well at the end.

 

And here’s something you might want to consider. Whenpicking your room, I found out that picking the port side or the starboard sidedoes make quite a difference. We didn’t pick our room so we just got lucky I guess.As we sailed from NOLA to Jamaica which is south, our room ended up being onthe west side of the ship opposite the east side which is the side of thesunrise. You may think you want to see the sunrise until the sun gets up alittle and the heat makes it unbearable to sit on your balcony. We were on the ‘shady’side of the ship and could enjoy the balcony every morning on the way toJamaica. Although you’re outside, there isn’t much of a breeze on the balconyunless you hang over the rail.

 

From Montego Bay to Georgetown, the morning sun is mostlybehind you as you sail west. Plus, being on the starboard side, you get to seethe coastline of Grand Cayman as you sail along the southern coast of the islandto the port which is on the west side.

 

From Georgetown to Cozumel, the morning sun hits thestarboard side a little more until you get close to Cozumel. The ship then sailsaround the northern side of the island and you see the mainland of Yucatan asyou sail to the port on Cozumel. In the shade.

 

Sailing from Cozumel to NOLA, the ship backtracks a bit and yourparting view is the coast of Cozumel as you head north. The next full sea day,Saturday, the morning sun is finally on the starboard side and yes, its intenseearly in the morning.

 

 

Now none of this port\starboard side stuff may matter toyou, but it will to me the next cruise I take. Knowing the route of the shipcan help you decide which side to pick so to make best use of yourbalcony. We are first time cruisers so I have nothing to compare, but I reallylike the balcony. Its like a different world out there. Many people like theinterior rooms. Some like the cove balconies. Some don’t care as long as theyare on the ship. I get it.

 

 

We had pre-ordered bottled water from the Fun Shops as well as 4 beers to be there the first day. For some reason, i was expecting the beers to be cold. They weren't. Wrapped in cellophane like a gift. Which i guess they really were. Put the beers in the fridge. Took till Wednesday for them to get cold enough to drink. Fridge is useless.

 

 

Saw door decorations. Not all were flame retardant. Stayed up all week. Since we have kids i wished we had decorated our door.

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Answers to questions thus far:

 

We didn’t try the hooks in the shower, just the bathroomdoor and walls. There is a small clothesline actually in the shower for hangingwet clothes.

 

We were in cabin 7391, standard balcony, starboard side. Theroom was warm to begin with but we turned the air conditioner way down immediately.The room did cool off. Keep the curtains closed as much as possible and closethe balcony door as quickly as you can to keep the cool air in the room. I’mgenerally hot natured.

 

Excursions: River Tubing in Jamaica, Captain Marvin’sStingray Swim in Grand Cayman, Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel. I’m going to write areview of each one in the ports of call section. When I do, I’ll provide thelink in this thread.

 

Over packing: Forget trying to have an outfit for each timeof the day. Mix and match. No one cares nor notices what you have on. When you’repacking and you say, “I might need this.” Then leave whatever it is at home.

 

You’ll see a wide variety of outfits while on the cruise.Some people like to dress up even during the day. Go for simple and minimal. Beforethe cruise, we bought 2 of the really large suitcases from TJ Maxx. The bigones. We have 2 kids. Both suitcases were packed to the max. Looking back, wecould have packed all the clothes we needed for all of us for the week in oneof the big suitcases. What I’ve read on here many times is so true: Take halfthe clothes and twice the money you think you’ll need.

 

Women: Bathing suit with cover-up will work from morning tolate afternoon. But bring two so one can be drying (to some extent) while youwear the other. One pair of khaki shorts to pair with four tops will get youthrough the week during the evenings. But bring another pair of shorts thatwill also work with the four tops. If you go to “elegant night”, bring only oneoutfit and use both nights. One sun dress. About 3 tee shirts. No heels.

 

Guys: Two pairs of quick drying shorts that can double as a swimsuit. Columbia type shorts. About 4 tee shirts. One outfit for “elegant night”.Keen type shoes will work all week. About 3 collared shirts for night time. Maybeone Tommy Bahama type shirt.

 

You don’t need a fresh outfit for each dinner. The samecasual shorts can be used for every night, just swap out a shirt. Keep itsimple and very casual. Run out of clean clothes? Wash them and start over.

 

I’ll comment on “elegant night” attire when I address thefood and dining options later.

 

Note: I saw several people slip while walking down thestairs around the pool areas. Regular flip flops can be super slick on thesteps. Just be careful. Don’t take towels. Take a small backpack for excursionsand stuff for the pool area. We took snorkel gear for the kids to enjoy at thebeaches. Take cheap wire hangers, pop up hamper for dirties. Water-proof casefor your phone to take pictures while on excursions. Wife took one long sleevedtee shirt which she did wear once.

 

 

No iron in the room that I saw. Might be a fire hazard.

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The Food\Cheers

Guy’s Burgers: First thing you do when you get on the shipis head straight here for the best burger you’ll ever have. Get it with thedonkey sauce (I think it’s a mayo based sauce with a little kick). Comes withfries and there is a condiment stand with some toppings. Mine? Just cheese anddonkey sauce. The line might be long but it moves very quickly. Hot tip: Thereare 2 lines. The most common one is obvious as it builds towards the right to the doorway to the elevators. There is asecond serving area on the opposite side of the venue, left side as you’relooking at the place from the pool area. Go ahead and get 2. You’ll eat both.

 

Blue Iguana Cantina: Your first stop for breakfast. Burritoswith eggs, Mexican eggs, ham, sausage, hash browns and an assortment of otherfillers. Made your way. Wheat or jalapeno tortilla. Big enough for 2 people.Very nice. A great place for lunch also. Regular Mexican type food. Reallygood. Next to the Cantina is a drink station. Water, ice, tea, coffee, lemonade.Sweeteners and such.

 

The Gathering: Has a buffet line for breakfast. Typical foodfare. Plus there is an omelet station. Cooked to order with about 6 differentfillers. Line moves quickly. Didn’t eat anything in here but several omelets.

 

At least 2 locations for 24 hour self-serve ice cream. Mightbe 4.

 

Pizza place at rear of ship: Ok pizza. Only 5 choices withonly one with any meat (pepperoni). Open 24 hours but line can get long if lateat night. Bar right next door. Cool pool back there and 2 hot tubs.

 

The Carving: Buffet type food with some of the sameofferings as the MDR. Not a bad option.

 

We had “Your Time Dining” but only ate in the Scarlett (Ithink) Room only 3 times; Monday, Tuesday (Elegant night) and Saturday.Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we did shore excursions and when we got back onship, we grabbed a bite to eat and ended up not being hungry when the realdining times came around. Plus we didn’t want to get dressed for the MDR. Foodwas decent in the Scarlett Room. Not much on the menu for smaller kids althoughboth of mine liked the flat iron steak. Chocolate Melting Cake is fantastic.Service was good but time to get our food was a bit lengthy. The dining timeopened at 5:45 and pushing it to get to a show around 7-7:15. The dance routineperformed by the waiters was cute.

 

We got to the dining room around 545-630 each night and wereseated immediately. No waiting. No way I would have the early dining time,especially if booking excursions. I want to relax on vacation, not try to hurryand eat at a certain time. Sometimes you just want to grab a ‘whatever’ andrelax on one of the decks. Having the late dining time may be suitable forsome, but not sure why.

 

Attire for the casual nights was just that, casual. Anythingfrom button down shirts and pants\jeans to a suit to a pair of shorts, flipflops and a tee shirt. Believe me, on casual night, do not worry about what you’rewearing. No one else will either except those who feed off that kind of worry.

 

Elegant nights….slightly better dress. Mostly. Suits, ties,sport coats, linen shirts\pants, polo shirts with jeans. Only saw one teeshirt. Didn’t notice any shorts, but there may have been some. For girls, anice sundress is fine. Guys, linen shirts\pants are fine as well as khakis and adecent shirt. Don’t sweat it. There will be someone dressed better – and worse –than you are.

 

Cheers package: We didn’t buy it since my wife doesn’t drinkand the numbers wouldn’t work out for us. But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day. Or evenone day. I know there are other drinks you can get via the Cheers package, but I’mcommenting strictly on the alcohol drinks. On the days you’re off ship,reaching the 15 drink limit would have to be done in a shorten time frame. Youmight be able to do it one day but if you had to get up and off the ship earlythe next day for another excursion, I bet you’d re-think your purchase. Forsome folks, maybe more than will admit it, the Cheers package isn’t a good dealin hindsight. You are able to share your Cheers drinks with others. Happened allcruise long. Buy a drink at the bar via Cheers. Take it to someone. Wait the 5minutes, go get another one. The bartenders don’t care. Not condoning thepractice, but it happens. Best I can remember, American beers are $7.47including ‘gratuity’ for a 16oz beer. I think that’s right. I drank MichelobUltra and they were twist tops. Came to me un-opened every time. Saw some Budproducts that had to be opened with a bottle opener. So when people debate ifbeers come opened or not, both can be right. Buy a bucket of beers to splitwith someone if outside. Ice melts very quickly and trying to drink 4 beers byyourself before they get warm is difficult. Every beer I bought was ice cold tostart with. Funny…my son had a larger arcade tab than I did a bar tab. I’ll tryharder next time!!

 

Dr. Seuss breakfast is well worth the extra $5 per person.Sign up as soon as you get there. Lido deck just as you get off the elevators.Bring some Dr. Seuss shirts for the family!!! A few of the characters show upand, believe it or not, they take pictures that you can purchase. You can bringyour own camera too.

 

Room Service: Limited free menu but open 24 hours. Hadcoffee\muffins delivered to room each morning along with cereal for the kids. Ontime every morning.

 

 

Bottom Line: Several good places to eat. Iguana and Guy’s byfar the best I tried. Smaller product offerings but the quality and taste werebetter than mass produced food in the MDR. Was not a problem at all. We havekids so our dining choices includes their likes and dislikes. There’s plenty ofplaces to eat and you’ll find decent food. Cheers package? Not for me even if Icould get it. Think about how much you really think you’ll drink before you getit. Believe me…you’ll not want to start your day off with a hangover…to muchfun to be had.

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Answers to questions thus far:

 

We didn’t try the hooks in the shower, just the bathroomdoor and walls. There is a small clothesline actually in the shower for hangingwet clothes.

 

We were in cabin 7391, standard balcony, starboard side. Theroom was warm to begin with but we turned the air conditioner way down immediately.The room did cool off. Keep the curtains closed as much as possible and closethe balcony door as quickly as you can to keep the cool air in the room. I’mgenerally hot natured.

 

Excursions: River Tubing in Jamaica, Captain Marvin’sStingray Swim in Grand Cayman, Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel. I’m going to write areview of each one in the ports of call section. When I do, I’ll provide thelink in this thread.

 

Over packing: Forget trying to have an outfit for each timeof the day. Mix and match. No one cares nor notices what you have on. When you’repacking and you say, “I might need this.” Then leave whatever it is at home.

 

You’ll see a wide variety of outfits while on the cruise.Some people like to dress up even during the day. Go for simple and minimal. Beforethe cruise, we bought 2 of the really large suitcases from TJ Maxx. The bigones. We have 2 kids. Both suitcases were packed to the max. Looking back, wecould have packed all the clothes we needed for all of us for the week in oneof the big suitcases. What I’ve read on here many times is so true: Take halfthe clothes and twice the money you think you’ll need.

 

Women: Bathing suit with cover-up will work from morning tolate afternoon. But bring two so one can be drying (to some extent) while youwear the other. One pair of khaki shorts to pair with four tops will get youthrough the week during the evenings. But bring another pair of shorts thatwill also work with the four tops. If you go to “elegant night”, bring only oneoutfit and use both nights. One sun dress. About 3 tee shirts. No heels.

 

Guys: Two pairs of quick drying shorts that can double as a swimsuit. Columbia type shorts. About 4 tee shirts. One outfit for “elegant night”.Keen type shoes will work all week. About 3 collared shirts for night time. Maybeone Tommy Bahama type shirt.

 

You don’t need a fresh outfit for each dinner. The samecasual shorts can be used for every night, just swap out a shirt. Keep itsimple and very casual. Run out of clean clothes? Wash them and start over.

 

I’ll comment on “elegant night” attire when I address thefood and dining options later.

 

Note: I saw several people slip while walking down thestairs around the pool areas. Regular flip flops can be super slick on thesteps. Just be careful. Don’t take towels. Take a small backpack for excursionsand stuff for the pool area. We took snorkel gear for the kids to enjoy at thebeaches. Take cheap wire hangers, pop up hamper for dirties. Water-proof casefor your phone to take pictures while on excursions. Wife took one long sleevedtee shirt which she did wear once.

 

 

No iron in the room that I saw. Might be a fire hazard.

 

We were on the Dream in 2014 with a different itinerary, and loved the ship. We loved it so much we are going again in October to the same ports you just came from. We have a balcony on the 8th deck (we always get a balcony when we cruise), and we have 96 days left, and I'm counting down and can't wait. Thanks for your review, it does help me even though we had already been on the ship.

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The Food\Cheers

Guy’s Burgers: First thing you do when you get on the shipis head straight here for the best burger you’ll ever have. Get it with thedonkey sauce (I think it’s a mayo based sauce with a little kick). Comes withfries and there is a condiment stand with some toppings. Mine? Just cheese anddonkey sauce. The line might be long but it moves very quickly. Hot tip: Thereare 2 lines. The most common one is obvious as it builds towards the right to the doorway to the elevators. There is asecond serving area on the opposite side of the venue, left side as you’relooking at the place from the pool area. Go ahead and get 2. You’ll eat both.

 

Blue Iguana Cantina: Your first stop for breakfast. Burritoswith eggs, Mexican eggs, ham, sausage, hash browns and an assortment of otherfillers. Made your way. Wheat or jalapeno tortilla. Big enough for 2 people.Very nice. A great place for lunch also. Regular Mexican type food. Reallygood. Next to the Cantina is a drink station. Water, ice, tea, coffee, lemonade.Sweeteners and such.

 

The Gathering: Has a buffet line for breakfast. Typical foodfare. Plus there is an omelet station. Cooked to order with about 6 differentfillers. Line moves quickly. Didn’t eat anything in here but several omelets.

 

At least 2 locations for 24 hour self-serve ice cream. Mightbe 4.

 

Pizza place at rear of ship: Ok pizza. Only 5 choices withonly one with any meat (pepperoni). Open 24 hours but line can get long if lateat night. Bar right next door. Cool pool back there and 2 hot tubs.

 

The Carving: Buffet type food with some of the sameofferings as the MDR. Not a bad option.

 

We had “Your Time Dining” but only ate in the Scarlett (Ithink) Room only 3 times; Monday, Tuesday (Elegant night) and Saturday.Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we did shore excursions and when we got back onship, we grabbed a bite to eat and ended up not being hungry when the realdining times came around. Plus we didn’t want to get dressed for the MDR. Foodwas decent in the Scarlett Room. Not much on the menu for smaller kids althoughboth of mine liked the flat iron steak. Chocolate Melting Cake is fantastic.Service was good but time to get our food was a bit lengthy. The dining timeopened at 5:45 and pushing it to get to a show around 7-7:15. The dance routineperformed by the waiters was cute.

 

We got to the dining room around 545-630 each night and wereseated immediately. No waiting. No way I would have the early dining time,especially if booking excursions. I want to relax on vacation, not try to hurryand eat at a certain time. Sometimes you just want to grab a ‘whatever’ andrelax on one of the decks. Having the late dining time may be suitable forsome, but not sure why.

 

Attire for the casual nights was just that, casual. Anythingfrom button down shirts and pants\jeans to a suit to a pair of shorts, flipflops and a tee shirt. Believe me, on casual night, do not worry about what you’rewearing. No one else will either except those who feed off that kind of worry.

 

Elegant nights….slightly better dress. Mostly. Suits, ties,sport coats, linen shirts\pants, polo shirts with jeans. Only saw one teeshirt. Didn’t notice any shorts, but there may have been some. For girls, anice sundress is fine. Guys, linen shirts\pants are fine as well as khakis and adecent shirt. Don’t sweat it. There will be someone dressed better – and worse –than you are.

 

Cheers package: We didn’t buy it since my wife doesn’t drinkand the numbers wouldn’t work out for us. But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day. Or evenone day. I know there are other drinks you can get via the Cheers package, but I’mcommenting strictly on the alcohol drinks. On the days you’re off ship,reaching the 15 drink limit would have to be done in a shorten time frame. Youmight be able to do it one day but if you had to get up and off the ship earlythe next day for another excursion, I bet you’d re-think your purchase. Forsome folks, maybe more than will admit it, the Cheers package isn’t a good dealin hindsight. You are able to share your Cheers drinks with others. Happened allcruise long. Buy a drink at the bar via Cheers. Take it to someone. Wait the 5minutes, go get another one. The bartenders don’t care. Not condoning thepractice, but it happens. Best I can remember, American beers are $7.47including ‘gratuity’ for a 16oz beer. I think that’s right. I drank MichelobUltra and they were twist tops. Came to me un-opened every time. Saw some Budproducts that had to be opened with a bottle opener. So when people debate ifbeers come opened or not, both can be right. Buy a bucket of beers to splitwith someone if outside. Ice melts very quickly and trying to drink 4 beers byyourself before they get warm is difficult. Every beer I bought was ice cold tostart with. Funny…my son had a larger arcade tab than I did a bar tab. I’ll tryharder next time!!

 

Dr. Seuss breakfast is well worth the extra $5 per person.Sign up as soon as you get there. Lido deck just as you get off the elevators.Bring some Dr. Seuss shirts for the family!!! A few of the characters show upand, believe it or not, they take pictures that you can purchase. You can bringyour own camera too.

 

Room Service: Limited free menu but open 24 hours. Hadcoffee\muffins delivered to room each morning along with cereal for the kids. Ontime every morning.

 

 

Bottom Line: Several good places to eat. Iguana and Guy’s byfar the best I tried. Smaller product offerings but the quality and taste werebetter than mass produced food in the MDR. Was not a problem at all. We havekids so our dining choices includes their likes and dislikes. There’s plenty ofplaces to eat and you’ll find decent food. Cheers package? Not for me even if Icould get it. Think about how much you really think you’ll drink before you getit. Believe me…you’ll not want to start your day off with a hangover…to muchfun to be had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Food\Cheers

Guy’s Burgers: First thing you do when you get on the shipis head straight here for the best burger you’ll ever have. Get it with thedonkey sauce (I think it’s a mayo based sauce with a little kick). Comes withfries and there is a condiment stand with some toppings. Mine? Just cheese anddonkey sauce. The line might be long but it moves very quickly. Hot tip: Thereare 2 lines. The most common one is obvious as it builds towards the right to the doorway to the elevators. There is asecond serving area on the opposite side of the venue, left side as you’relooking at the place from the pool area. Go ahead and get 2. You’ll eat both.

 

Blue Iguana Cantina: Your first stop for breakfast. Burritoswith eggs, Mexican eggs, ham, sausage, hash browns and an assortment of otherfillers. Made your way. Wheat or jalapeno tortilla. Big enough for 2 people.Very nice. A great place for lunch also. Regular Mexican type food. Reallygood. Next to the Cantina is a drink station. Water, ice, tea, coffee, lemonade.Sweeteners and such.

 

The Gathering: Has a buffet line for breakfast. Typical foodfare. Plus there is an omelet station. Cooked to order with about 6 differentfillers. Line moves quickly. Didn’t eat anything in here but several omelets.

 

At least 2 locations for 24 hour self-serve ice cream. Mightbe 4.

 

Pizza place at rear of ship: Ok pizza. Only 5 choices withonly one with any meat (pepperoni). Open 24 hours but line can get long if lateat night. Bar right next door. Cool pool back there and 2 hot tubs.

 

The Carving: Buffet type food with some of the sameofferings as the MDR. Not a bad option.

 

We had “Your Time Dining” but only ate in the Scarlett (Ithink) Room only 3 times; Monday, Tuesday (Elegant night) and Saturday.Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we did shore excursions and when we got back onship, we grabbed a bite to eat and ended up not being hungry when the realdining times came around. Plus we didn’t want to get dressed for the MDR. Foodwas decent in the Scarlett Room. Not much on the menu for smaller kids althoughboth of mine liked the flat iron steak. Chocolate Melting Cake is fantastic.Service was good but time to get our food was a bit lengthy. The dining timeopened at 5:45 and pushing it to get to a show around 7-7:15. The dance routineperformed by the waiters was cute.

 

We got to the dining room around 545-630 each night and wereseated immediately. No waiting. No way I would have the early dining time,especially if booking excursions. I want to relax on vacation, not try to hurryand eat at a certain time. Sometimes you just want to grab a ‘whatever’ andrelax on one of the decks. Having the late dining time may be suitable forsome, but not sure why.

 

Attire for the casual nights was just that, casual. Anythingfrom button down shirts and pants\jeans to a suit to a pair of shorts, flipflops and a tee shirt. Believe me, on casual night, do not worry about what you’rewearing. No one else will either except those who feed off that kind of worry.

 

Elegant nights….slightly better dress. Mostly. Suits, ties,sport coats, linen shirts\pants, polo shirts with jeans. Only saw one teeshirt. Didn’t notice any shorts, but there may have been some. For girls, anice sundress is fine. Guys, linen shirts\pants are fine as well as khakis and adecent shirt. Don’t sweat it. There will be someone dressed better – and worse –than you are.

 

Cheers package: We didn’t buy it since my wife doesn’t drinkand the numbers wouldn’t work out for us. But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day. Or evenone day. I know there are other drinks you can get via the Cheers package, but I’mcommenting strictly on the alcohol drinks. On the days you’re off ship,reaching the 15 drink limit would have to be done in a shorten time frame. Youmight be able to do it one day but if you had to get up and off the ship earlythe next day for another excursion, I bet you’d re-think your purchase. Forsome folks, maybe more than will admit it, the Cheers package isn’t a good dealin hindsight. You are able to share your Cheers drinks with others. Happened allcruise long. Buy a drink at the bar via Cheers. Take it to someone. Wait the 5minutes, go get another one. The bartenders don’t care. Not condoning thepractice, but it happens. Best I can remember, American beers are $7.47including ‘gratuity’ for a 16oz beer. I think that’s right. I drank MichelobUltra and they were twist tops. Came to me un-opened every time. Saw some Budproducts that had to be opened with a bottle opener. So when people debate ifbeers come opened or not, both can be right. Buy a bucket of beers to splitwith someone if outside. Ice melts very quickly and trying to drink 4 beers byyourself before they get warm is difficult. Every beer I bought was ice cold tostart with. Funny…my son had a larger arcade tab than I did a bar tab. I’ll tryharder next time!!

 

Dr. Seuss breakfast is well worth the extra $5 per person.Sign up as soon as you get there. Lido deck just as you get off the elevators.Bring some Dr. Seuss shirts for the family!!! A few of the characters show upand, believe it or not, they take pictures that you can purchase. You can bringyour own camera too.

 

Room Service: Limited free menu but open 24 hours. Hadcoffee\muffins delivered to room each morning along with cereal for the kids. Ontime every morning.

 

 

Bottom Line: Several good places to eat. Iguana and Guy’s byfar the best I tried. Smaller product offerings but the quality and taste werebetter than mass produced food in the MDR. Was not a problem at all. We havekids so our dining choices includes their likes and dislikes. There’s plenty ofplaces to eat and you’ll find decent food. Cheers package? Not for me even if Icould get it. Think about how much you really think you’ll drink before you getit. Believe me…you’ll not want to start your day off with a hangover…to muchfun to be had.

 

 

 

But if we had, I would have aseriously hard time trying to reach the ‘goal’ of 15 drinks. Each day.

 

Just as an FYI....you don't have to reach 15 drinks to make the Cheers package worth the price. That's just the cap of how many drinks are covered. I figured 5 drinks, several bottles of water and a couple of Cokes would cover the $50/a day price which is why we bought Cheers on our last cruise (which happened to be our first cruise :). It was fun trying new drinks every day and not having to worry about the bill.

 

 

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@Kathyds: In our circumstance, my wife doesn't drink so buying the Cheers for 2 @ $100 a day wasn't a deal. At most, i had 9-10 beers maybe 2 days at the beginning of the cruise. Port days probably 3-4. For some it works, for us it didn't. Wasn't a problem.

 

Let me wrap up my review with a few quick hits:

 

CD: Matt I think was his name. Very energetic. Did a greatjob I thought. Kept the fun rolling.

 

Getting around the ship: The stairs are your friend. Don’teven look in the direction of the elevators. If going to one end of the shipfrom your cabin, walk as far as you can in your hall and then go up\down.

 

Tendering at Grand Cayman: Tender boats come out like antsonce the ship is cleared for tendering. Big boats, hold lots of people. Doesn’ttake long at all to get from ship to dock. Sign and Sail cards are a must. Never was asked for apassport or ID. And you can bring a conch shell back on board the ship. Don’task me how I know.

 

 

HUB\Chat: Wait until about a week before your cruise todownload the app. Or at least update it before you get on board. Useful app.Easy to keep tabs on your expenses. Daily Fun Times plus you can scroll toupcoming days to see what’s happening. Someone said the app and the paper funtimes are not always in sync. I didn’t notice. Order the internet plan via theHUB app. We used the social plan and it worked fine. The chat feature workedgood although I had an older version that didn’t have some of the search featuresthe newer version has. Heads up on the Chat: We bought the chat plan for mydaughter, she’s 11. By default – and I guess it’s a good thing – for a minor,the chat feature is limited to the guests assigned to your cabin. For us, thatwas a bummer since she wanted to chat with friends in other cabins. After 3trips to guest services and 3 totally different answers, they were able tochange daughter’s age to 23 which allowed her full access to the chat feature. Herfriends did the same. So there is a work around. Looks like Carnival could allowlinking of cabins that contain minor friends for the chat app if both parentsagree to it.

 

Debarkation: Mostly easy. If you can manage your own bags,you have the option of getting off early in the process. Same for Diamond\Platinumguests. Those with early flights too. We checked 2 big suitcases (again,overpacked) in the hall the night before we reached NOLA. They give you a newset of luggage tags that have a number for order of leaving. Ours was 7. Theykept changing the estimated times for debarkation, later every time. Lots ofannouncements to keep the guests informed of the progress being made. Judgingby the time it was taking initially, we went to the Scarlett (I think) to eatbreakfast. About half way through breakfast, I got a text from someone in ourgroup saying they were off the ship. WTH? I didn’t hear any announcement forour number!!! Then I realized that once we stepped into the restaurant, I hadn’theard ANY announcement. Apparently the speakers in the Scarlett were turned offor the announcements weren’t being broadcast in the room. We finished breakfastto find out they had called numbers 1-15 for debarkation. So we made our way tothe lobby. That by itself was a journey since the main stairs in the lobby weblocked off and we had to find a different way down. Carnival could do a muchbetter job with little signs that point the way off the ship. Oh well. Off theship. Lines again. But, they scanned our sign and sail card, took our custom’sdeclaration, we found our luggage and stepped out the door. Shuttle bus rightthere back to the garage.

 

The River: A very enjoyable part of the trip was the journeyfrom NOLA down the Mississippi River to the Gulf. Stay on deck and watch the sceneryand sites. Lots of ships to see. Late Sunday night we passed the Triumph as itsailed up river towards NOLA. Seems like you could throw a baseball between the2 ships they were that close. On our return trip upriver, we again passed theTriumph as it sailed downriver for another cruise. Kinda neat.

 

Walmart of the Seas: There was a thread somewhere discussingsome guests that choose Carnival and how they might be compared to the Walmartpeople. Ok, I get it. Carnival is apparently a good value that allows peoplefrom different economic situations to enjoy the world of cruising. Having thatin mind, I noticed folks as they walked around and did their thing. Yes, therewere people there who I imagine frequent Walmart quite often. There were peoplewho didn’t dress as nice as some, didn’t follow the bathing suit cover-up suggestionin certain areas, did or didn’t do things that might cause some to wonder abouttheir own choice of cruise lines.

 

 

But you know what? What I did see just about all the timewere people having a good time and not worrying about how they were dressed ornot dressed. Kids were running around laughing and yes, doing cannon balls inthe pools!! I saw smiles from kids with ice cream cones. I heard the laughs. Isaw families sitting at tables playing board games, cards and enjoying timewith each other. I saw more than one grandmother dancing with the waiters inthe dining room. My wife told me that our son said, unprompted, he’s glad tohave parents like us who take them on trips like this. He’s 9. Is Carnival theWalmart of the Seas? Don’t know, don’t care. Our family had fun. So did manyother families. And when they swipe your sign and sail card that last time,having had fun is all that really matters.

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