Carnival Dream Spring Break Cruise (3/27/2016)

Great review! We are doing this cruise on July 24. I agree with your observation about GC. My husband and I went there on a land vacation for our Honeymoon. It is very expensive, but very comfortable for those who have never traveled out of the USA (which my husband hadn't at that time).

We are on the same cruise!

Enjoying your review

Whether it is a positive or a negative is really a matter of personal preferences, but this itinerary puts you in port three days in a row. The third port was a Friday stop in Cozumel. I didn't know what to expect from Cozumel, as I had never been there or to Mexico before. It is one of my FIL's favorite ports, and I think I understand why now. The port area is very nice, there is good shopping, and of course, the beverage are flowing, if that is your thing.

We arrived in Cozumel later than the first two ports (around 11 am, I think), so when my son woke up and wanted his first breakfast (have to have 2 chocolate muffins! :rolleyes:), we headed up to Lido. On the way, we came across a towel animal zoo! My son was in heaven. He thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. So much so, that he made me take a picture of virtually every animal as they "sat" on the Lido deck chairs. It was really cool. After our "zoo" tour and muffins, we woke everyone else up and had breakfast in the MDR. While different than a sea day, it was very relaxing. If you are more interested in the brunch items, be forewarned that this is only breakfast. No steak and eggs to be had. We then got ready to get to get off the ship and head to Chankanaab.

As you are preparing for your day in Cozumel, keep in mind that the pier is quite long here and it is a bit of hike to shore. There are pedi cabs available (don't know if they cost money or not). When you arrive on shore (or close to it) you go through a very, very large duty free shop. On the other side of the shop are the sign for excursions and places to find a taxi, if necessary.

For Cozumel we again booked through Carnival to go Chankanaab for snorkeling and Sea Lion show. It was an all-inclusive excursion. Once we were put in a group, we were led out to the taxi stand and our group leader (who is also your tour guide within the park) broke us into groups of 8 to ride in a few taxi vans to the park. It is a quick 10ish minute ride to the park, where we all met back up with the tour guide, were given bracelets to show we were all inclusive, and told our schedule for the day.

The schedule started with a tour of replica Mayan ruins they have set up in part of the park, then included snorkeling, followed by free time to use the beach, the pool, have lunch, before the Sea Lion show at 2:30. This was followed by a tequila tasting before heading back to the pier.

I should also note here that if you want to head back to the pier before your groups scheduled departure (and ours was 3:50 pm), you can do that by notifying your group leader, who will arrange transportation back to the pier for you (since it was already included in the cost of your excursion).

We thought that park was beautiful, but ended up not participating in much of the groups activities. My son was completely uninterested in the Mayan replica tour, so we skipped that and headed straight to the beach. My daughter really only wanted to snorkel. After spending a few minutes at the beach, my wife and daughter went to snorkel (where they hooked up with another tour guide for that portion of the day) and my son, FIL, and I spent time at the beach before heading to find some lunch.

Lunch is only provided (through the all-inclusive) at a single restaurant near the park entrance called the Dolphin View. There is a buffet with both hot items (Mexican favorites, plus chicken nuggets, fish sticks, fries, etc...), plus fresh fruit and a few salad items. The fare wasn't my style, but my son loved the fish sticks, and the rest of the family was quite happy with the choices. The all-inclusive feature also includes drinks, but there is a somewhat limited menu. Drinks are available both at the restaurant and the pool bar. There are other restaurants and bars on sight, but those are not included and you would need to pay separately for those.

After everyone was fed and watered (or beered), the kids played in the pool until the sea lion show. The pool was pretty cool, with spots of varying depth that allowed them to play alone and with the adults. We liked the sea lion show. It lasted about 20 minutes and they showed all types of tricks and then allowed the kids to line up to meet a sea lion. My kids were not interested in that, so at that point, we decided to head back to the pier. To do that, as I mentioned, we found our tour guide who put in a cab back to the ship. We shared the cab with a family on a Royal Caribbean ship (Liberty, I think) and compared notes on the ride back.

Overall, I thought Chakanaab was very nice, but we didn't really participate in enough of the activities to feel like a tour was worthwhile. That said, not having to think about transportation, or food, and getting drinks included was worth the price of admission. I should also note here that children 5 and under are free. When we booked the excursion through the Carnival website back in December 2015, that was not mentioned, so I paid for all 5 of us. We were told by the park staff that we should NOT have paid for my son, but that since we bought through Carnival it was not there problem. Once we were back on board, I talked to Guest Services (since the Excursion Desk was closed) to let them know of the mistake on the website. I didn't ask for any compensation, but they ended up refunding us the cost of an adult tour (not sure why) since we were not supposed to pay for my son. I thought that was more than fair.

Once back at the pier, we shopped (bought some jewelry, t-shirts [a cool sun sensitive Capitan American shirt for my son and Piranha Joe shirts for everyone], a straw hat, and my FIL visited the duty free shop to buy some well priced vodka). We then headed back through the giant duty free shop to get back on board. As a note, if you buy liquor on shore, you turn it in when you go through the ship's security. It can then be picked up on debarkation morning.

Another security note. You have to take all of the metal, phones, etc... out of your pockets and put them through an x-ray machine to get back on the ship. On this particular day, I put my watch in one of the shopping bags to send it through security. Later that evening (before dinner) I couldn't find my watch. After thinking for a while I realized that I had last seen it as security. After dinner, I went to guest services, and they had my watch! Security had found it at the x-ray machine and turned it it. Score one for on board security :).

Since we were back on right before dinner, we got cleaned up to eat. We ended up sailing about 30 minutes late. We were led to believe the next day that a few people were late and had to run for the ship. Either way, after we left Mexico, we were moving fast and for the first time all week, the ship was rocking a little bit. Thankfully, my family was okay with the movement, but not everyone was.

After dinner, we played a round of golf and then saw the show in the main lounge (Game Show Mania) before heading to bed for the night.

I was on this sailing as well. I was also on the same sailing last year. :) I LOVE THE DREAM!!! Amazing and beautiful ship!

My reliving of the trip is almost done :(.

Sea Day 3

When we went to bed after Cozumel, the ship was moving a bit. I was happy that when I woke up the weather seemed to stabilize. I took my son for his chocolate muffin fix and we then played a round of golf before waking everyone else up. Unknown to us, this would end up being our last round of mini-golf on the ship. Once everyone was awake, we did the sea day brunch and then headed for the towel animal folding demonstration (hosted by Brandon) and the towel animal theater. The kids (and the adults too) loved it. They loved the interactive nature of folding the towels and then really liked the show. Brandon was great with the kids. He was showing them what to do and cracking kid appropriate jokes as he went along. We loved it so much, we even bough the towel animal book!

Once we were done with the towel animals, we got ready to go to the slides and pool. At this point, the weather stopped cooperating. When we got on deck for the slides, they were closed because of wind and boy was it windy. In fact the captain made an announcement shortly after we got on deck that swells were running to 10ft and that winds were over 30 mph (at least that's what I think he said). Oh well. We tried the pool, but it was too chilly at 68 degrees.

Since swimming and sliding were out the question, we decided to send the kids to the kids club for a little while and the adults either sat out on Lido or started the process of getting ready to go home. My FIL and I also played a little blackjack before we picked the kids up for lunch. After lunch, the kids went back to the kids club to make t-shirts, and then we attempted to play another round of golf, but it was way to windy. When you placed your ball down, it would blow right off the course!

Before dinner, the Fun Force did a kids show in the main lobby/atrium area and all kids who participated got a medal. My kids loved the Fun Force, so this was a cool opportunity to meet them. We then bought pictures, got ready for dinner, and watch the Final Four on the Lido deck before heading in for the night.

Debarkation

We were all sad when our cruise on the Carnival Dream came to a close on Sunday morning. We had planned to sleep until about 7 (since we had to be out of the rooms by 8), but were woken up by announcements in the cabin at 6:45. At that point, we finished our last minute packing, I returned the medical cooler to guest services, and then we headed to Lido deck for breakfast and to wait for our zone to be called (we checked our luggage).

Debarkation was a bit slow partly because there had been a medical debark and partly because of the port authority (at least that's what Brandon announced). Since our flights were not until 12:45, we were in no rush to get off the ship and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and waiting on the ship. Better to wait on the ship than in the airport! We were finally off the ship around 9:30, got our luggage before immigration and customs, and were out looking for a cab by 10ish. After that, it was a quick trip to the airport. While this has nothing to do with Carnival, I will say that the area that American Airlines uses at MSY is pretty bad. There are almost no food options (as compared to the Southwest area). It was a letdown after a week being spoiled on the ship.

Final Thoughts on the Carnival Dream

Overall, we really had a great time and would certainly cruise again for a family vacation. My kids were ready to get right back on, so I would be it would be sooner rather than later :). That said, I wanted to make some concluding observations:

1. We found our cabin steward to be excellent. When she presented us with the card to choose cleaning times, she didn't balk when we asked for both am and pm service. We also saw here all of the time in the hallway and when we needed something (which wasn't often), she delivered right away.

2. Make sure you check your sail and sign account as soon as you get on board (or shortly thereafter). We had a $50 photo credit that we didn't know about until the very end of the cruise, when we discovered it accidentally. Thankfully, we were able to use it, but it would have been nice to know up front.

3. Both of our kids, while they enjoyed most of the time in the kids club felt the age ranges were hard. Our 4 year old (who turns 5 in a few days) was at the upper end of the age range for his group (the penguins). That meant he was in with 2 years too. He rolled with it, but felt that some activities (like Legos, which were actually Duplos) were not what he expected.

4. We would have liked to have a little more family friendly programming choices in the evening. The dive-in movies were great the first two nights (Minions and Cinderella), but after that were more PG-13 than PG.

5. While we ate the MDR each evening and the service was very good, the pace of the meal was way off. There were many evenings that we didn't get done until 7:45 (or even 8 on the last night). Each time, it appeared that our little section was the only area suffering in this way. We said something to management and the situation improved some, but it was still slow. Some of this might have been that are lead server was training two relatively new people. They were all trying, but did not seem to have their system down yet.

6. Pay attention to signs with the hours of shops. We tired to go to the gift shop the last night and it had closed at 8:30 because we had entered U.S. waters and Louisiana. My kids were bummed, but ultimately, it was my fault for not reading the signs!

I think that is basically it! If I think of something else, I will post more. I am happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

Great review! We'll be on this itinerary in October. I think we're going to do resort for a day in Jamaica as well. We have mostly teenagers in our group of 14, so we're leaning towards the Hilton.

We wanted to do the Hilton Rose Hall, but bc it was Easter week, they were not accepting day passes. I hear from others that it is really the top resort near Montego Bay.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Great review thanks for taking the time to do it!

1. We were the only ones on this particular excursion from the Dream. We were put in a little mini bus, even though there were only 5 of us. With a 4 year old who is normally in a backed booster, we decided that we would not take it along on this trip. We felt safe with the seatbelts in the van and an adult sitting next to him.

 

Resortforaday also had a group going to Sunscape Splash. There was a large group from the ship headed there, and I think (although I am not 100% sure bc we left before them) that they were put on a charter type bus (but not as big).

 

If you do take seats, you will have to take them off the van/bus while you are at the resort. During the five hours we were there, the van driver left and did a run back and forth to the airport.

 

2. There were a ton of chairs all over the pool deck between the kids area and the main pool. While there were not many chairs pulled up to the kids area, I do recall some. The kids area is not very deep (maybe between ankle and knee deep on an adult) and is zero immersion. Most parents either seemed to be standing just on the edge of the pool or sitting in the shallow water.

How much was this excursion?

It was $99 per adult and $79 per child.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thank you for your review. We will be sailing on the Dream in July.

I have a question about your cabin. Did you feel the interior room was big enough for your family? My sister is thinking about an interior cabin. It would be two adults and two small kids 4 and 6.

We only had 3 in the cabin (1 pull down bed from the ceiling and the two beds pushed together in the middle). My FIL and daughter were next door (not a connecting cabin). We felt comfortable and found that we had enough storage space. With 4, you will need a cabin with 2 pull down beds. In that case, I would recommend that you have the lower beds separated into twins. It will give you more floor space between the beds. Here is a picture of the pull down bed.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks for your review - I am so glad to hear (and I think it sums it up) that you were willing to 'roll with it' on occasion. I find that reviews from folks willing to roll with it have happier reviews of things than people with inflated expectations. It is vacation afterall.

We are on this cruise in June - would you say you experienced a lot of line for meals or elevators etc? We have MDR late seating plans which is perfect for us (the kids are older now) but we are worried that if we want lunch at a regular hour (12-1), it will be difficult. I get that feeling from other reviews.

Love the review

We are on this cruise in June - would you say you experienced a lot of line for meals or elevators etc? We have MDR late seating plans which is perfect for us (the kids are older now) but we are worried that if we want lunch at a regular hour (12-1), it will be difficult. I get that feeling from other reviews.

Difficult, how? Food availability? We found there was always good when we wanted it. Whether it is the 24 hour pizza, the deli (which we didn't try, but is open until 11 pm), or room service (which we also didn't use), there were a lot of choices.

On sea days, brunch goes to 1 pm and lunch on Lido is until at least 2 pm (we took the kids for lunch after they went to the kids club the first two days). On port days, I think they serve lunch in one of the MDRs, and on Lido, but we were not on the ship, so I'm not sure.

If it is snacks between a regular lunch and late seating that you are asking about, there are the aforementioned options (plus ice cream). Each sea evening, there is also the Taste bar on deck 5 midship. It gives some tastes of new or popular dishes. We wanted to check it out, but never made it.

If the ship is missing somethings food wise, it is snack food. I would love for them to have a pretzel/chip station that was open most of the day for when the munchies come on from all of the activity and sea air :).

I hope this helps some!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the review.

Difficult, how? Food availability? We found there was always good when we wanted it. Whether it is the 24 hour pizza, the deli (which we didn't try, but is open until 11 pm), or room service (which we also didn't use), there were a lot of choices.

 

On sea days, brunch goes to 1 pm and lunch on Lido is until at least 2 pm (we took the kids for lunch after they went to the kids club the first two days). On port days, I think they serve lunch in one of the MDRs, and on Lido, but we were not on the ship, so I'm not sure.

 

If it is snacks between a regular lunch and late seating that you are asking about, there are the aforementioned options (plus ice cream). Each sea evening, there is also the Taste bar on deck 5 midship. It gives some tastes of new or popular dishes. We wanted to check it out, but never made it.

 

If the ship is missing somethings food wise, it is snack food. I would love for them to have a pretzel/chip station that was open most of the day for when the munchies come on from all of the activity and sea air :).

 

I hope this helps some!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Yes I guess I meant the buffet - and finding something during peak times. Both of the ships we have been on lunchtime was a mess at the buffet. Long lines and then hard to find a seat once you were through. Just not enough seating at the time we needed it. We are not huge buffet people anyway, so would probably seek out the BBQ, the Indian, or something else. Did you try the afternoon tea? Or the Taste Bar? We will definitely need a snack if we have the late dinner seating (my husband's choice - I am a normally early diner). Perhaps we can just order a snack in our room late afternoon. I hear you on the munchie attack! Perhaps we can follow our European diet (we lived in Europe for a time) and do the big late breakfast, a mid-afternoon meal and light dinner later - who am I kidding - we will eat like mad!

Yes I guess I meant the buffet - and finding something during peak times. Both of the ships we have been on lunchtime was a mess at the buffet. Long lines and then hard to find a seat once you were through. Did you try the afternoon tea? Or the Taste Bar? [\QUOTE]

 

 

Seating was an issue at times, but we found tables when we needed them. We also found that if you were willing to carry your food out of the buffet area, there were almost always tables near the Red Frog Rum Bar, the Blue Iguana Cantina, and on deck 11 overlooking the pool. There were also tables that were sometimes not used near the tandoori station by the aft pool.

 

Unfortunately, we did not make it to afternoon tea or the Taste bar. Tea would not have been popular with the kids, and we just never made it to Taste since we had early seating and tried to let the kids chill with some TV while the adults were getting ready for dinner.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[\QUOTE]

 

 

Seating was an issue at times, but we found tables when we needed them. We also found that if you were willing to carry your food out of the buffet area, there were almost always tables near the Red Frog Rum Bar, the Blue Iguana Cantina, and on deck 11 overlooking the pool. There were also tables that were sometimes not used near the tandoori station by the aft pool.

 

Thanks for the tip! I think we are all hoping to eat often at the tandoori station anyway. I heard the burrito bar is always packed - that would be a nice option too.

I agree with you about the kids club ages. My daughter will be one month from being 6 on our next cruise. Ages 2-5 is definitely too big an age spread for this group. Some 2 yr olds are still in diapers while my child is in elementary school and doesn't want to hang out with the "babies". [emoji57]

I agree with you about the kids club ages. My daughter will be one month from being 6 on our next cruise. Ages 2-5 is definitely too big an age spread for this group. Some 2 yr olds are still in diapers while my child is in elementary school and doesn't want to hang out with the "babies". [emoji57]

And I think 2 is too young for the group in the first place. We went on a cruise with our then 3 and 5 year olds (about 3 months shy of 4 and 6). They were in the same group and had a ball, but our 3 year old was hesitant to say the least - and he already had preschool experiences. Perhaps they started letting 2's in to encourage more people to cruise?

Great review! We'll be on this itinerary in October. I think we're going to do resort for a day in Jamaica as well. We have mostly teenagers in our group of 14, so we're leaning towards the Hilton.

We're sailing October 9th with 2 teens as well and inlaws. Never been to Jamaica, was looking forward to it, but all the reviews seem iffy. Also none of the Carnival excursions appeal to us and going out on our own, well, just not sure about that either. Guess I'll check out resort for day.

We're sailing October 9th with 2 teens as well and inlaws. Never been to Jamaica, was looking forward to it, but all the reviews seem iffy. Also none of the Carnival excursions appeal to us and going out on our own, well, just not sure about that either. Guess I'll check out resort for day.

We are doing the zipline/tubing/lunch combo day in June on our cruise. Stay tuned and I can let you know how good it is. We scoured the excursions for something agreeable and still within reason price-wise. The resort day sounds great too - we are doing Mr Sanchos in Cozumel - after two active excursions in Jamaica and Cayman.

We're sailing October 9th with 2 teens as well and inlaws. Never been to Jamaica, was looking forward to it, but all the reviews seem iffy. Also none of the Carnival excursions appeal to us and going out on our own, well, just not sure about that either. Guess I'll check out resort for day.

This is one of the reasons we choose a resort for the day--none of the active excursions appealed to us or my son was too young. We choose not to do a Carnival beach excursion bc our TA recommended the other company and the Grand Palladium, which seemed like a good deal (all inclusive) v. Carnival's beach excursions.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app