~*On a Carnival Dream (Review) -- 8/31/14 - 9/7/14 -- Isla Roatan, Belize, Cozumel*~

Hi all! :D

Our group sailed on the Dream August 31, 2014 – September 7, 2014. Our group consisted of myself, my husband (this was our fourth cruise), my mom (her first cruise!), and my mom’s best friend (she’s been on many). This is my second attempt at a review. Unfortunately, this review will not be as picture intense as the first review, at least of the ship. While I have a few pictures, it will be mostly commentary on my impressions of the ship.

This was the first time sailing on the Dream for all of us. I’ve previously sailed on the Elation (1x) and the Conquest (2x). I figured I would do a comparison of the two ships, as many people that sail frequently out of New Orleans may be interested in that comparison. We also purchased Faster to the Fun (FTTF) and the Cheers Beverage Program, so I will also discuss how we felt about those programs. I also saved all of our Fun Times and will try to scan those in.

As a little overview of our trip, our ports included Isla Roatan, Hondruas, Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico. While I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the ship, I took a lot of pictures in the ports! This was our second year on this itinerary, so to say we really enjoy this itinerary is probably an understatement. We went on a Carnival excursion is all three ports, so I’ll definitely review those in depth.

We had a wonderful trip and we are already booked on our next cruise on the Dream for May 2015, so spoiler alert – this review will probably be full of warm and fuzzy experiences. However, we did have a few areas we really thought were lacking and I will touch on those as well!

This is truly a pay it forward experience for me, as I feel like I’ve read every review ever done on the Carnival Dream. So, a special thanks to every reviewer of the Carnival Dream as you made my experience on the Dream exponentially better!

Can’t wait to get started! Please be patient, as I work full time. I’m hoping I’ll get the last of my pictures uploaded tonight and can really get into it! I promise not to leave y’all hanging… even if it does take me a little while to get it finished.

Going on the Magic on this same itinerary in Nov. so I am excited to hear about the ports!

I can't wait to read your review as I will be on this same ship and itinary in Nov!

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Just subscribed. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I'm taking my 11th cruise (2nd time on the Dream) in a few weeks. Love reading all recent Dream reviews. Our last time on the Dream was right after she ported in Port Canaveral. :)

We also did this cruise and in the words of a great Jimmy Buffett song:

"It's been a Lovely Cruise"!!

See my comments at:

or copy and paste:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=261719

Others have different views - take your pick!!

Your Mileage May Vary!!

Looking forward to your review. Looking at taking a cruise on the Carnival Dream next summer and trying to decide which itinerary.

Going in Nov, looking forward to your review!

Thank you for your review. I'm doing this cruise in 18 days and cannot wait!!!

We live in New Orleans, so Sunday was the first day of vacation. This is our first year living here, so it meant that we didn’t feel like our vacation started on Saturday like it usually does. I kind of missed staying in a hotel the Saturday night before the cruise! :(

Sunday morning, we got up bright and early. We already had our vehicle packed, with the exception of one small bag for each of us. This would be our first time parking in the Erato Street Parking Garage, as we had always been shuttled to the New Orleans Port by our hotel.

My mother is an over packer, so we barely had enough room in our large SUV for the four of us. She would regret over packing again and again and again. First, when she tried to unpack. Second, when she realized she had no room to bring any purchases home. Finally, and most importantly, when she wasted so much time the last day packing everything up. BEST TIP: If you are a first time cruiser, plan very carefully what you are going to pack. There are limited storage areas and you will spend a majority of your time in bathing suits and cover ups.

We made it to the port for approximately 9:30 a.m. I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult to find a parking spot and unload our car. We breezed right in and got PRIME parking! The porters will stop you upon entering the garage and help unload your suitcases that you will be checking. The porter who helped us unload was very helpful and was tipped very well for helping with all our luggage! :p

Since we had FTTF, our luggage had a special orange sticker added to the luggage tags. Be sure you mention that you have FTTF so that they mark your bags. Our porter already knew, but it is better to be safe than sorry! The porter also checked our boarding passes and our passports to make sure we had all of the necessary items to board the ship.

We walked into the terminal area at approximately 9:45 a.m. The terminal was completely renovated from the last time we were there in May 2013. It seemed to have a much better flow. As soon as you walk into the terminal, you will go up a set of escalators. It is pretty funny, because all the people going up are so happy to be boarding and all the people going down look so depressed because they are departing the ship.

When you first enter, you will go through the security area and they will scan all your carry-on luggage. There was no one in line when we got there, but there is a priority line for Platinum and FTTF should there have been a line. If you are carrying on wine or sodas, you will be sent to a table where security officers will inspect all of your liquids very carefully. My mom carried on a 12 pack of Cokes and they literally cut open the 12 pack and took out cokes to be sure there was nothing else in the 12 pack.

Since it was still fairly early, they had not started check in yet. We took a seat and waited a few minutes. I believe FTTF was the first group to be called for check in. Platinum have their own lounge, so I believe their check in took place there. After we checked in, we were directed to a specific area of the seating for FTTF.

This was a HUGE improvement from the May 2013. Last time, there was very limited seating so we could not sit with the other priority boarding. When they start boarding, wedding guest and diamond/platinum cruisers went first. Everyone’s instinct is to stand at that point, so it felt like we had to fight our way through when they finally called to FTTF. This year, they had everyone grouped together and it was a much more pleasant experience!

Another pleasant surprise is that boarding started really early. I was so surprised that boarding was starting so early, I totally forgot to look at my clock. I’m pretty sure that wedding guests and platinum/diamond started at 10:45!

I had to get a picture of my mom walking onto a cruise ship for the first time!:D

We immediately went to the Atrium Bar to purchase the Cheers Beverage Program. It was $603.76 for two people, including gratuity. Last year, it Cheers program was still at the higher pricing. My husband could have easily made it worth it, but I’m not a huge drinker. We didn’t purchase it and the whole cruise I regretted it. I wanted to be sure this cruise that we at least tried it, especially since the price was substantially lower. We had no line at the Atrium Bar and we quickly had a drink in our hands! It was time for vacation to start!

Good review already! I'm dying to see the daily programs...we are going on the same itinerary in December. Thanks!!

We went to our rooms to check them out and drop off our carry-ons first thing! Our room was 10216 a balcony room on the port side and my mom and her best friend were in room 10233 a balcony room on the starboard side. This was our first time trying a room on the Lido! We were previously dedicated Empress Balcony cruisers.

We absolutely LOVED this location. It was so easy to get to the Lido and Aft pool areas. We probably snacked way more than we should have. Late night pizza was only steps away! If we needed a late afternoon snack, we just popped right on over. It also was nice to be able to run back to the room if we forgot something or needed to use the restroom.

My only regret is that both of our rooms weren’t on the same side. We had to go all the way back to the elevator area to get back around to their room. However, we had the ability to see the view from both sides of the ship, which was nice!

View from port side (left):

View from starboard (right):

Thank you for your review. I'm doing this cruise in 18 days and cannot wait!!!

We will be on the cruise with you.

Great review so far!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100015

There's the post I did with my review from the same cruise. The 3 picture per post thing was a little annoying, so I merged mine into some larger pictures instead.

"Since we had FTTF, our luggage had a special orange sticker added to the luggage tags. Be sure you mention that you have FTTF so that they mark your bags. Our porter already knew, but it is better to be safe than sorry!"

Curious, how did the porter know ahead of time that you had FTTF?

After we dropped our carry-ons off at our rooms, we went straight to Pasta Bella. This is a made to order pasta station on Deck 11 Aft. It is directly above the Lido buffets. Y’ALL. Let me just tell you. This made my cruise. I seriously loved this option for lunch. I wish it was open later. I’m still not really sure why all of the Dream’s specialty dining options are only available for lunch. I liked Pasta Bella so much that I ate there three times!

When you walk up the stairs from the lido, a hostess stand is the first thing you’ll see. You walk over and get the order sheets for each person ordering and she will assign you a table number. You fill out the order sheet and return it to the area where they are preparing the food. After the food is prepared, a waiter will bring the food to the table.

This is the lasagna. It was only available at the beginning of the cruise, so I would try it as soon as you can if you are interested. It was filled with roast and vegetables. Got great reviews from our group!

Sorry this one is blurry, but it was my favorite! I mixed tomato basil and alfredo -- so delicious!

For the rest of the day, we just explored the ship, dined in the dining room, and caught the end of the Welcome Aboard show. It was a pretty early night for us!

Cruiserfam1031 -- I will be sure to provide as much detail as I can! I really love these ports. They are all pretty and have unique things to do.

KY_Bride09 -- You're going to LOVE it! I'm counting down the days until we go back. It can't come soon enough. Let me know if you have any questions that I don't answer. What ports are you going to?

teacher32 -- I hope you enjoy it! Do you frequently sail out of New Orleans? Let me know if you have any questions about restaurants or things to do!

ccxnola -- I checked our your review out. I feel like we agree on a ton of things. I hope you enjoyed your trip as much as we did!

megamoo -- Hope you enjoy this review! We've done this itinerary and the one to Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Cozumel. I liked Grand Cayman and Isla Roatan the most, so that's a toss up. But, I liked Belize infinitely more than I liked Jamaica. So, I'd give the edge to that itinerary.

sassykitten74 -- So many people going in November! I hope this helps a little bit. I always appreciated a new review, so trying to pay it over. It made the time go by a little faster every time for me! ;)

ch27088 -- I hope you have the BEST time!! I can't imagine not enjoying yourself on the Dream, but then again, to each their own! :o

lakelodge -- I'll do my very best to get those uploaded. I'm having trouble scanning them. Some may be color and some may be black and white. Some just don't want to be scanned. lol

momof6crazykids -- Another November cruiser... Again, hope this helps pass the time until your trip! Hope your cruise is wonderful! :D

uapyro -- I'll be sure to check it out. Hope you enjoyed yourself!

"Since we had FTTF, our luggage had a special orange sticker added to the luggage tags. Be sure you mention that you have FTTF so that they mark your bags. Our porter already knew, but it is better to be safe than sorry!"

 

Curious, how did the porter know ahead of time that you had FTTF?

When we exited our vehicle, the porters unloaded all our luggage and checked all our boarding passes and passports. The boarding pass has a little FTTF graphic on it. It's small though, that's why I'd always point it out to make sure that they put the appropriate orange sticker on your luggage tags. I'm pretty sure that's the only way they know to deliver your bags early.

I should also mention that our luggage was delivered very quickly. We had all of our luggage delivered and unpacked before muster!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100015

 

There's the post I did with my review from the same cruise. The 3 picture per post thing was a little annoying, so I merged mine into some larger pictures instead.

Lakelodge -- Check out this review for the Fun Times. They're all uploaded for your review. :D

Oh duh, of course that's how they knew. Thanks! Great review so far by the way! Very much looking forward to the rest of it.

Thank you so much for the review and pictures. I thought I knew what I wanted for my first dish at the pasta restaurant, until I saw your picture of the mixed sauce you did. Mmmmm.

I am on her on October 19th! Not much longer now and your review is exactly what I needed. Thank you!

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Cruiserfam1031 -- I will be sure to provide as much detail as I can! I really love these ports. They are all pretty and have unique things to do.

 

KY_Bride09 -- You're going to LOVE it! I'm counting down the days until we go back. It can't come soon enough. Let me know if you have any questions that I don't answer. What ports are you going to?

 

teacher32 -- I hope you enjoy it! Do you frequently sail out of New Orleans? Let me know if you have any questions about restaurants or things to do!

 

ccxnola -- I checked our your review out. I feel like we agree on a ton of things. I hope you enjoyed your trip as much as we did!

 

megamoo -- Hope you enjoy this review! We've done this itinerary and the one to Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Cozumel. I liked Grand Cayman and Isla Roatan the most, so that's a toss up. But, I liked Belize infinitely more than I liked Jamaica. So, I'd give the edge to that itinerary.

 

sassykitten74 -- So many people going in November! I hope this helps a little bit. I always appreciated a new review, so trying to pay it over. It made the time go by a little faster every time for me! ;)

 

ch27088 -- I hope you have the BEST time!! I can't imagine not enjoying yourself on the Dream, but then again, to each their own! :o

We have sailed from N.O. several times. We have stayed close to port before, but for the third time now, we are staying in Covington the night before. Nice area and by the time we are up and have a light hotel breakfast, we have about a 25-30 min. drive to port. We love parking at the port. Easiest ever!

Loved the Dream when it was new in 2010. We did the Eastern from P.C. Can't wait for this one. We've been to all the ports before, but it's been a few since years since Roatan, so we are looking forward to this one.

Love that pasta bar, too. We were on the Sunshine, and they have an awesome pasta restaurant at lunch and at dinner (pay.) Was outstanding!