My Fast Acting, Long Lasting, Dream Review. Just off the Ship this morning...

This is my first attempt at writing a review. I’ve sailed on quite a few cruises, as represented in my signature, but I always seem to let the post-cruise depression prevent me from visiting the cruise boards and following up on my vacation. I vowed not to let that happen this time, so here goes nothing…

A little about us…

Cruisers were myself (30) and DH (30) and my parents both 62, so my review won’t have any insight on kids club or teen activities

How we came to sail on Dream…

We booked the Carnival Dream on a whim in March of this year. My husband and I had our heart set on the Oasis of the Seas, but the price was crazy for the weeks we wanted to sail. We decided on the Dream after visiting these boards and reading several reviews. Our only other experience with Carnival was on the Fascination in 2004; it was not fascinating and we swore off Carnival at that time. Needless to say booking the Dream was a big deal. We took a chance on a newer ship hoping it would provide for a better experience and we were right…but more on that later.

Getting there…

Now for the specifics on how we got there. Initially we were going to ask my parents to doggie sit for us while we were on vacation, but upon finding out we were sailing on the Dream, my parents decided to crash our trip! My DH and I are lucky enough to live in Central Florida. Port Canaveral is only about a 45minute drive from our house, but my parents live in South Florida. For my husband and me, our dog is like our child. We recently lost one of our dogs, so this would be the first time our Basset Hound would be left alone. My parents have a fabulous pet sitter so after much thought; I opted to drive my pup to Fort Myers so that she could have my parent’s dog as company.

My DH had to work, so my pup and I left Thursday morning for the 3 hour drive to Ft. Myers. I spent the rest of Thursday visiting with family. We had a great dinner at a little place called the Riviera Oyster Bar Restaurant in Punta Gorda. I spend Thursday night at my parent’s house and on Friday morning I hopped in their car for the 3hr ride back to my house. Before we left Fort Myers, I begged my parents to stop at one of my favorite places, Norman Love chocolates. My DH and I took a box of Norman Love chocolates on our last cruise and enjoyed them on the balcony with our Champaign, so we wanted to have them again on this cruise. I picked out enough chocolates to fill a 12 piece box (more fun and slightly cheaper than picking up a pre-packaged box).

We made it to Orlando about 2pm. We went through our packing checklists making sure we had everything ready for our cruise. We printed out our FunPasses and attached our luggage tags. Like many others, I cut them to size and laminated them to prevent water damage.

My mom and I had pedicure appointments in the evening at my favorite nail spa in Orlando, Image Nails. If anyone is planning to spend some time in Orlando before their cruise, I highly recommend getting your pedicure at Image Nails. I love it there. The staff is warm, friendly and professional and the cleanliness is impeccable! Not to mention they do a fabulous job!

After our pedicures, we returned to my house to have dinner, do a little swimming, and turn in for the night.

Great Start, I love your writing style and the size of your pics and font........keep it coming.

I was on the Dream last year and I'm looking forward to hearing about the changes that they have put in place to address the long lines in the buffet.

Day 1 – Saturday, Port Canaveral

The morning of the cruise had finally arrived! We are all early risers, so it seemed like we waited around the house forever until we finally left. I read on these boards that you can start boarding the Dream at 11:00 am. So, I planned to leave the house at 9:30am giving us plenty of time to get there, check in, and wait for boarding to begin.

Embarkation

We arrived to the port around 10:30am, unloaded our luggage, parked the car and headed to the check-in area. We were handed "zone 8" cards and made our way to the check in counter. The check-in process was quick and easy. We received our GOLD (whoo Hoo) Sign & Sail cards and made our way down the gangway. The line for the S&S pics to be taken was short and we were able to take an embarkation photo, but it didn’t turn out so hot, so I didn’t purchase it. :o

Like many of the other member's reviews have stated, the Dream is huge and breathtaking!

After a quick look around the Grand Atrium, we proceeded to the elevators and up to the Lido deck.

Pasta Bar

After reading so many of the rave reviews of the Pasta Bar, I wanted to try it first. The Pasta Bar is located on the deck above the rear buffet. You have to first check in with the hostess at the top of the stairs. She hands you a pasta order form, pencil, and a number on a stand. I was going to include the menu options, but I actually found it here: http://www.zydecocruiser.com/CarnivalDream/pastaBar.htm

The Pasta Bar became one of my favorite places to eat. I really enjoyed mixing the Alfredo & Bolognese sauce together to make a “pink” sauce with penne, broccoli, chicken and spinach!

Very interesting to read! I'm going in December and I'm looking forward to reading more :)

Ship Tour

After lunch, we walked around the ship so that we could get acclimated with our home for the next seven days. I took lots of photos…

Library

Theatre

Fun Hub (few of these areas located throughout the ship)

Piano Bar

Sushi Bar (also the location of the salad bar on sea days)

Casino

Fun Shops

Nice review!

I can't wait to read this. I am seriously considering booking this for my daughter's senior trip in March (I know...before she graduates but who cares).

Great start - can't wait to read the rest. Doing a B2B on the Dream next March.

One of my questions is if the Pasta Bar would do the two sauces (love rose sauce). Glad to hear it can be done! :D

Fantastic start! Can't wait for more! We sail in the Dream 9/11 so we only have 5 weeks left and love the reviews! Can't wait to try the Pasta Bar!:D

lovin the dream review, like your style.

I hope you can play with photobucket and get photos a bit bigger -should be something like tab that says edit and preview the new size, cut and paste the new URL OR try right clicking on photo if you like what you see and paste into Cruise Critic post. Try it and then just hit preview post before hitting submit button.

I just found by clicking on the photos, they reload in a nice size that is very easy to see.

Smitty

lovin the dream review, like your style.

I hope you can play with photobucket and get photos a bit bigger -should be something like tab that says edit and preview the new size, cut and paste the new URL OR try right clicking on photo if you like what you see and paste into Cruise Critic post. Try it and then just hit preview post before hitting submit button.

Thanks. I posted the photos as thumbnails so that they weren't huge. If you click on them, they get larger. I just didn't want to take up a lot of space.:D

Keep it coming I am enjoying your review.

I've tried right clicking and double clicking on them and I cannot get them to enlarge.

Stateroom

Finally, 1:30pm came and we were allowed to go to our staterooms. We booked Stateroom #9201. It is considered an “Inside Cabin” by price, but it has a window with an obstructed view. The obstruction is actually the "secret" balcony that you read about on these boards. The balcony is located above the Bridge all the way forward on the ninth deck (Vista). I was worried because I couldn't find any photos or reviews of this exact cabin anywhere online. We absolutley LOVED our room! It was HUGE!!!

This last photo is of the actual view out of our window. It's technically considered an obstruction, but as you can see from the photo, there is a perfect view of the horizon. We didn't mind the balcony "obstruction" one bit. I've already submitted these photos to cruise deck plans, so that other will be able to use them when determining their stateroom. I would definitely recommend this room! There have been a few posts regarding a banging sound when staying in forward staterooms. I wanted to address this and let you know that we did hear the banging however it was only on the first 2 nights as we made our way out of the Atlantic Ocean. The banging is actually the ship hitting the waves. It wasn't anything that kept us awake at night and I barely noticed it. Once we were in the Caribbean Sea, there sound subsided.

My parents were in cabin #9209, right down the hall from us. Although they were in a Balcony Stateroom, it was considerably smaller than ours. The only thing that they had that we did not was a couch.

Love the pictures...thanks for the review! My SIL is on the Dream right now...I cancelled that one and booked on the Victory in 2 weeks because of all the shaky reviews on the Dream the first 4 months.

Sorry about all the separate posts. I can only include 6 photos per post so I had to break up the room descriptions.

I was also able to sneak (shhhh...don't tell LOL) into cabin #9205. It's a Suite Stateroom. It had a king sized bed, shower and jet tub, double bowl sink with granite counter tops, separate dressing table, huge closet, balcony and a wet bar. It was a gorgeous room!

I've tried right clicking and double clicking on them and I cannot get them to enlarge.

Hmmmm....did you try just a single left click? That's what has been working for me. Sorry you are having difficulty seeing the pictures.

I just left click and it opens the picture in a new window....full-size....try it again it should work.

Good stuff.

This is by far the best review I've seen and I've seen some great ones. Thank you a ton, my parents will be in the cabin next to yours I think and we are going to be right above that on the Lido deck. I'm glad you cleared up a lot of the rumors I'm hearing about those forward cabins. I can't wait to read more. Your doing a great job.:)

This is by far the best review I've seen and I've seen some great ones. Thank you a ton, my parents will be in the cabin next to yours I think and we are going to be right above that on the Lido deck. I'm glad you cleared up a lot of the rumors I'm hearing about those forward cabins. I can't wait to read more. Your doing a great job.:)

Awe...thanks! That's very sweet of you.

Our suitcases arrived pretty quickly. We unpacked, organized our cabin, and made our way to the Cloud 9 spa for a tour of facilities. I ended up purchasing a Spa VIP pass to use the thermal suites for the length of the cruise, but I will get into the Spa amenities in day two.

Safety Drill

Our Muster station was in the Encore Theatre. It consisted of the typical life vest demonstration and a short film. This was the first time that we attended a safety drill that didn’t require us to put on those stinky life vests. We were so pleased!

Sail Away Party

After the safety drill, we headed up to the lido deck for the Sail Away Party. We wore our swimsuits and cover-ups to the party and were surprised to find one of the spas on the Serenity Deck free of other guests. We got in the spa and enjoyed the view of Cape Canaveral restaurants, Jetty Park and even two manatees as we sailed out of the channel and into the open water. After the sail away, we headed back to our cabins to shower and change for dinner.

Anytime Dining

Guests that have selected Anytime Dining are assigned to the 2nd floor of the Crimson Dining Room. With Anytime Dining, you are automatically seated at the next available table for your party size; however, on the following nights of the cruise you are able to request your server. If that server has a table available the hostess will accommodate your request or give you a pager, if you choose to wait for that particular server. The Assistant Matr’ d was named Alton. He stopped by our table on the first night to introduce himself. Alton told us that the busiest dining times were between 6:30 – 7:45 and if we chose to dine during that time, we may encounter a wait. I was a little in awe during dinner and totally forgot to photograph my meal. As an appetizer, I had the Fried Chicken Tenders with Zesty Honey Mustard sauce and the Sweet & Sour Shrimp as my entrée. Both were superb. After hearing so much about it, I had to try the Chocolate Melting Cake for dessert. It was good, but not great. My Dh had the creme brulee and said it was phenomenal.

Shows

Okay, I have to preface this by stating that I am a dance teacher and choreographer, so naturally, I am more critical then the average audience member. I tried to watch most of the shows. On some nights, my DH wanted to go to see the adult comedy shows, so it wasn't possible to do both. When I did get to see a show, my assessment was always the same. The two singers are very talented performers. They were the only two singers every single night so it would have been nice to change it up a little bit. The dancers have tons of potential, but they lacked basic technique. Again the majority of the audience wouldn't have caught the flexed feet and bent legs, but I did. I also caught it when they fell out of turns and were off count. Also, the choreography was outdated. I anticipated more up-to-date choreography with the growing number of dance shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, America's Best Dance Crew, etc. All of that aside, the shows were entertaining.

The Welcome Aboard Show was good, but Todd, the cruise director came out on stage halfway through the show to do a 30minute infomercial about the Carnival Dream. No offence, Todd, but I'm already on the ship. No need to sell me on it. We would have much rather seen more singing and dancing.

After the show we headed upstairs to the Lido to see the Laser Show. Unfortunatly it was a little disappointing. Again, it consisted of another Carnival Dream informercial on the big screen. This time set to music and lasers. I didn't quite understand why they kept hyping up the ship. We had already paid and we on it, no need to see us on it any further.

After the lasers, we headed down stairs to our cabin. We had a great night's sleep. No noises or rocking kept us awake.