cruisinqt

One of our best tours ever was in Nassau doing a Segway tour. We went through a private vendor for only $65 pp. They met us at the port and took us to a ranch where we were given lessons on how to work them. We were newbies. It was shockingly easy to operate them. ;) Then we took them through the counryside and along the beach where we were given cold drinks and time to take a dip in the ocean. It was so much better than going through the city on sidewalks. The countryside and beach were gorgeous. :D Just look it up in the ports of call section of the boards for Nassau. I did a review of our tour and there's lots of discussions about this there.

Yeah they had salad and bread along with made to order pasta.

The Dream class ships have cloud 9 spa which would be the bigger newer ships like the Dream, the Breeze, and the Magic. Some of the other ships got upgrades in the spa area but they're nothing like the true cloud 9 spas on the Dream class. The Thelasso therapy pool with hot bubbly mineral water was my favorite. There are numerous saunas, steam rooms, etc. it's much bigger and more upscale on the dream class and well worth the price IMHO. :)

Soas is ship on a stick. Lol. :)

I loved the spa and would definitely do that. I could relax in the therapy pool or sauna for hours. :D

I also love tea time in the afternoons. They have fancy teas, hot coffee, and hot chocolate along with cakes, a selection of finger sandwiches, scones, and pastries. Everyone was laughing and talking and having a good time. They do it every sea day in the afternoon.

I also love finding a shady sofa in the adults only serenity area and reading a good book.

The Conquest and the Glory are sister ships. They are identical in size and layout. And they were built a year apart so they are around the same age and they were both dry docked in 2012 so they've both got the 2.0 upgrades. The Splendor is similar in size to the Conquest class but the layout is slightly different. It was built in 2008 so it's 4-5 years newer than the other two. All 3 ships are similar in size but we like the Conquest so much we sailed her twice. :) Hope all this info makes your decision easier.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival have a younger crowd on their ships and lots more nightlife. The piano bars have sing a longs and karaoke going on and the bars and clubs are still going into the wee hours of the night. And carnival has late night adult comedy shows that are really funny.:) These two cruise lines seem to cater to a younger crowd. I'm not your age, I'm in my forties, but I like the younger crowd on Royal and carnival better because there's just more going on. We've tried Princess and Norwegian which were very laid back and mellow but it just wasn't me. On the Grand Princess I went down to the club at ten and it was almost empty. The piano bar was dead too. Ten pm and nothing to do, I was so disappointed. But for some people it's awesome because they just want to sleep, relax, and just have a mellow laid back vacation. I guess it's up to what you're looking for. But on carnival and Royal there was tons to do late at night and the clubs and bars were packed and I'm a night owl so I prefer them. That's just me though.

I like to cruise during warm weather so I can pack light and dress casual the whole time, no coats or winter gear to tow around. I like the Caribbean and I've done eastern, western, and southern Caribbean but we prefer the exotic southern cruises. Our favorite ports are Tortola for the baths area (look it up its cool). Next would be St Marten for the prettiest beaches. Then our third favorite would be Roatan for the fun excursions. First time there we did a tour all over the island that stopped and let us hold little monkeys and birds and other exotic wildlife. Second time there we went mudding in dune buggies. :)

There's lots of websites that you can book cruises on but we can't mention them here. :( These ships are huge and you don't really feel the motion so seasickness is not as likely. The doctor can give you a patch to wear behind your ear that will help.

When you print your luggage tags there's an emblem on it that shows the porters you paid for FTTF. I believe it said F2F on ours. After boarding and eating lunch our luggage was in our cabin. We never received a card or anything like the other cruiser mentioned. A FTTF sticker was put on our sign n sail card. That's how they know you're FTTF, it's on your card. When my daughter lost her card and got a new one they put another sticker on it. :)

As for those who are platinum and complain about FTTF, I understand their feelings. It would bother me too. But Carnival is careful to not step on toes and have hoards of FTTF people on the ship. There is a limited number of FTTF allowed on the ship and it all depends on how many platinum cruisers are on board. If there's a lot of platinum then there's only a handful of FTTF and visa versa. Like I said earlier, when I got in the platinum line it was usually empty and that's on a packed summer cruise. Which proves that there's just a handful of FTTF allowed on each ship. So it shouldn't be a problem. Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise. :)

I've never gotten an email offer before. But I would keep what you have, you have a great location. I would hate being at the bottom of the ship for a window. It's not worth it. But if they offer you a balcony then that might be worth it. :) Btw, there's lots of picky grammar fanatics that will tell you it's not an upgrade it's an upsell because they are charging you. Lol. It's silly I know but they always correct you if you don't say it right. :rolleyes: enjoy your cruise

The Dream and the Breeze are sister ships with identical size and layouts. So it's really a question of itinerary versus cabin preference. We had the same dilemma except it was the Breeze versus the Freedom. We chose the Freedom with a balcony. But that's because we use it so much. I sit on the balcony and read my book. My husband and I often sit on the balcony and sip wine. :D We even eat breakfast out there. And I love people watching, especially the last minute pier runners. ;) Yes I know there will be people saying you can go up on deck to people watch or see sail away or departure. But there's something to be said about having your own private little space to watch without being elbowed or stepped on by others. We've found that since we've done so many cruises that we really research our ports and find cool new things to do in them. Like Nassau for instance. We've been there lots of times and we weren't too excited about getting off the ship. :( So I found a great local tour operator that took us on segways through the beach, Forrest areas, and ranch land. It was a blast and only cost $65!!! So if you do the less than exciting itinerary just make it fun by trying new stuff. :)

We did FTTF on our last cruise and loved it so much that we got it for our upcoming cruise this summer.;) Getting on early and being walked past tons of crowded lines to go straight to your cabin was nice, and getting priority boarding on tenders was cool, but the best perk IMHO was bypassing the huge lines at the pursers desk. :) We always have some issue with our account, or need some problem cleared up but the line at the pursers desk is always at least a dozen or more people (often20) and each person takes 5-10 minutes to be helped. There's usually one, sometimes two people at the desk so it can be a looong wait. :( But FTTF gets you in the platinum members line which rarely has more than one or two people in it. (And I cruise during the summer when it's crowded.) In fact on our last cruise it was usually empty except for once on the last day there were 2 people in front of us. But the normal line had like 30 people in it. :eek: I loved FTTF and will get it every time until I become platinum.

Save your money there's tons of free food on the ship. Carnival has free soft serve ice cream machines and a fresh made to order pizzeria open 24/7 on every ship. Plus there's the formal dining area with a fancy 5 course meal for free, there's the free buffet, and there's free made to order burgers n fries. If I were to order something online it wouldn't be food. Lol. The cooler full of beer, yes, but food, no. Lol:)

If you're on a Dream class ship then you can't get into the Thelasso therapy pool unless you have a special card to swipe to get in. On the other classes of ships you have access to most of the stuff in the spa.

We went on the Dream last summer when it was sold out and it didn't seem too crowded at all. The only time we noticed big crowds was during embarkation, debarkation, and when getting on and off at the ports. The ship is big enough that there's plenty of space for everyone and lots more fun activities to choose from. It didn't seem crowded at all during the cruise. :) We loved the big toilet bowl flush styled slide and the nice large waterpark area. ;) The fresh made to order pasta bar above the buffet area was awesome. And the upgraded dream spa was amazing, we practically lived in the warm bubbly mineral waters of the Thelasso therapy pool. There are several saunas to choose from too. The mini golf was much bigger and nicer than any of the other ones we've seen on previous ships. I would say do the Dream, it's bigger, newer, and there's lots more places to visit and things to do on a bigger ship like this one.

I like to bring my swimsuit and coverup in my carry on so I can go straight to the pool. I just wrap the clothes around the bottle and tuck into a safe place in my carryon.

The one thing that was a big plus for you is what was a turn off for us, lol. I loved our ship and ports on the grand princess but it was way too quiet and laid back for us. Everything shut down around ten pm. We went to the club around 10:30 pm and it was empty. We love the young, fun atmosphere on carnival. Princess was just a little too mellow. We are in our forties with two teenaged daughters so maybe when we are older and don't have kids we will feel different. I did like the buffet on Princess better, there were more pools, and the adults area wasn't near as full.

You can pay daily or weekly but it all depends on how many openings they have. They only allow so many people in the spa per day. The weekly cost for a couple is $249. I can't remember the exact amount per day but it's somewhere in the 30's. Like $34.95 or 39.95.

We cruised the Dream last summer and loved it. There are some major differences between it and the other classes of ships. The spa is huge with much more to offer including the thalasso therapy pool that's heated and bubbly with mineral water. :) There are several saunas too. And the waterpark is awesome! There's a cool toilet bowl flush type of water slide that we loved. The other slide is much taller and faster and we loved it too. There's more water slides, there's water cannons/ guns, etc. it really is more like a waterpark. The mini golf is much larger and nicer than we expected. There are more eating venues like the pasta bar upstairs above the buffet where you choose the pasta and sauce and they make it to order for you. :) I say go for it you will love the Dream.

We had a similar experience last summer on the Dream. I just brought out my phone and played my favorite music loudly enough to drown them out. My teenaged daughter found out they weren't fond of hard rock and her music made them leave quickly. As soon as they left we turned off the music. My neighbor on the balcony on the other side of us thanked us. I even had someone below me thank us. Yes they were THAT loud. Lol. :)

On the dream class ships a spa cabin includes full access to the spa. We did the dream last year with a spa balcony and loved it. :) You get full access to the Thelasso therapy pool, numerous saunas, huge ceramic tile walk in showers, the locker rooms, etc. And the spa suites have upgraded amenities with the really nice spa quality toiletries. The robes are to your ankles instead of your knees and they much more plush. And the slippers say cloud 9 spa on them. Your beach towels are a little fancier and they're yellow instead of blue. The comforters, linens and room decor are a little fancier too. But the cabins themselves are not any bigger. :( I hope this helps.

We were on the Dream last summer in a spa balcony with our teenage daughters ages 14 and 15. My husband and I got spa bracelets. You just go to the spa, show your spa bracelet, and they take your S&S card and give you a spa card. You use it to swipe at the door to get into the different facilities. On the first day my daughters went with me because they wanted to use the free workout room and showers. No one questioned them going with me because there are free things like the shower area, the workout area, and some people are headed in for a previously scheduled massage. Well I headed into the thalasso therapy pool and my daughters went to the locker room. Within just a few minutes they were knocking on the glass window and waving at me because they couldn't figure out which door lead to the locker area. :rolleyes: Someone immediately opened the door for them and long story short, they ended up in the pool with me. They couldn't resist its allure. :) And after that they just waited while I got the spa entry card and they went in and used the spa facilities with me for the whole cruise. I figured that with the exorbitant summer prices we were paying we deserved this extra little perk. And they are both very tall and pretty mature and well behaved so no one questioned their presence. Most of the time there were only a couple other people there other than us anyways. :)

And as for the previous poster that said young ones can't use the spa, well that's not true. There are many advertised spa treatments for young ones. We did the mother daughter mani pedi. And the mother daughter massage. And my daughters booked some of their own treatments like special conditioning treatments for their hair and one of them got a facial. Young ones can make appointments in the spa. :) I would encourage it, it really makes for a memorable cruise. And it's a great way to reconnect with your kids.

We sent on the Dream last summer and they were the tightest I've seen so far. I couldn't win at all. It was a summer cruise with lots of families and the slots didn't get a lot of play on a number of occasions so maybe that had something to do with it.

We were on the Magics sister ship the Dream last year. We couldn't pass up a great deal on deck 12 with the spa across the hallway from our cabin. But it was very far forward and up high. I worried about feeling movement being so high up and forward but we hardly noticed a thing. I think it's because of the size of these ships. The are so huge and heavy that they don't really rock much at all. A smaller ship might be a different story but the Dream class ships are massive. If you're looking at a great deal that's forward I would say go for it.

I personally LOVED having FTTF on our Dream cruise last year. :D We were lead past long winding lines of people and right onto the ship when we boarded. We figure it saved us a good 30-45 minutes. And getting to walk right to our cabin and drop off our stuff was great. While on board, the platinum/FTTF line at the pursers desk usually had no one in line and I just walked right up and got help immediately. It was so neat not having to wait in line with at least a dozen people in front of you like we usually had to. And on the last night of the cruise the line at the pursers desk was a nightmare, but the platinum/FTTF line had only 3 people in it. :) Debarkation was very quick and easy too. FTTF was the best $50 I've ever spent. Even my cheap tightwad husband agreed to getting it for our upcoming cruise this summer. Hope this helps. ;)

I have two teenage daughters ages 14 and 16. They usually make friends in the teen clubs (they are in different age groups too) and then they hang out with those friends on the ship without using the club. They play in the arcade, shop, swim, play mini golf, or go to shows together. :) Usually both girls and their friends all hang out together. We feel better with them hanging out in a group together. It's safer than just one or two girls together. Creeps and perverts take vacations too. Lol. :rolleyes: Just be sure to have a serious talk with your teens about proper behavior in public when mom and dad aren't around. Our daughters are all too aware of the consequences if they misbehave. And they have to eat dinner and breakfast with us as a family. And they leave stick it notes on the mirror in our cabin to let us know where they are at all times. Hope this helps.

We've always done port side (even side.) We love seeing the port from our balcony. :) My husband usually heads back early and waves to us from the balcony as we are returning. But our favorite thing to do is watch from our balcony as the pier runners try to catch the ship before it leaves. :p I've gotten some beautiful pictures of the ports we visited from our port side balcony. On our last cruise we got our first starboard side cabin and really disliked it. Every time we pulled into port our balcony was facing open ocean which is what we see most of the time as we are sailing. We prefer to be able to see the beautiful port city we are visiting. Many cruisers will tell you that port side doesn't always face the port but after 10 cruises port side has almost always faced the port in our experiences. We discussed this at length with a senior crew member that told us they always try to have port side face the port. If they don't they get too many complaints from cruisers that expect their port side cabins to be facing port side. Hope this helps. :)