1st time Carnival cruiser (DREAM) complete review & pictorial (from a NCL cruiser)

Ok, on to more of the ship...

Once again, still out on the back of the ship where the smaller pool is, you will find a deli bar. They had the best sandwiches and they make them right there while you wait and how you want them. You could have a sandwich on regular, rye, sub like bun, a wrap...tons of different things and meats and cheeses. The draw back was usually there seem to only be 1 person out there making them instead of 2 people (which they had 2 duplicate sections at the station for 2 employees) and there was always a line and wait when we would show up. There was only one day we were there that they had 2 people working it. Maybe it was the time of day we showed up, maybe not. Oh also, I was told this was one of the many options that was open all the time? Maybe someone else can confirm this.

On the opposite side they had another bar that was like an Asian bar. We never did try it for some reason. We were always full when it was open or it wasn't open when we was hungry, but it looked appealing to us.

A view of the deck area between the pools/hot tubs and the deli area

My daughters grilled cheese sandwich. It was obviously good because she ate 2 of them without coming up for air.

Just a random picture of the tile work in the hot tub that is located back on this deck...I know random...I'm a random kinda girl. :p

Could you mean the Magic? Its the other dream class .... though the spirit class has a lot of fans, which the Miracle is (and I have booked this year to alaska and Hawaii).

 

I have my first NCL cruise booked next year.. enjoying your review.

Yes sorry, that's what I meant, the Magic. I've mixed this name up since we first started looking at these 3 ships with my oldest daughter. As much as she corrected me, I still can't get it straight. Old age is doing me in or I'm losing my sanity.

enjoying the review. Love the pics

Yes sorry, that's what I meant, the Magic. I've mixed this name up since we first started looking at these 3 ships with my oldest daughter. As much as she corrected me, I still can't get it straight. Old age is doing me in or I'm losing my sanity.

Spirit class has its fans because there is more space per pax, so its not a bad choice, but maybe not with a 5 year old in tow.

Tandori is not a bar with drinks, its Indian food .... I loved it on Magic. Its only open at lunch and was one of my favorites. They make the bread right there in front of you so its always hot and perfect. Maybe next time you can find time to try it.

btw the deli is not open 24/7 but it does have a very extended open period. Its the pizza that is open 24/7

Ive always avoided NCL, so its a interesting review... I finally am getting up the nerve to try it.

So since I was talking about food, I'll take you to the buffet area. I found the buffet area to be nice and pretty. It was forever long with plenty of room when we went. However, we found that either our timing was off a lot or it just wasn't open as much as NCL has theirs open. We could always go to the buffet on NCL and find something available, even if it was just 1 area open and serving sandwiches, salads, deserts and a few side dishes. There was always something open it seemed like. This time around we almost always missed it (with the exception of breakfast of course). I found it weird that on the days we would return back from port, by the time we were dressed and looking for food, it was never open. Was I too late? Too early? I already know I was too hungry to wait and would end up at the deli or pizza bar. Can anyone explain?

Anyhow, I found it nicely decorated or maybe I was just impressed because the last cruise I was on it felt like a school cafeteria and left a lot to be desired. Who knows.

There was an area in the buffet that had stairs leading up to something. I'm not sure what it was up there. A noodle bar/Asian food? A steakhouse? It always had a sign saying no entry and looked closed. I actually never found any of the "pay" restaurants, not that I had any intention on going to them, but I still usually take pictures. Could it have been this place? If so, I found it weird to have steps going up from the buffet area.

Now the buffet food when we did get to eat there...hmmm, well I didn't starve and I tried different things. I walked away with a full belly, but yet I have to agree with others on the food quality...it wasn't as good as NCL. They didn't have the variety either. The same goes for the breakfast. I didn't feel like there was too much to choose from and they had the same thing every day. The last 2 days of the cruise I did try out the omelet station and enjoyed that but didn't care too much for the rest of the food. The eggs were runny every day and didn't set well with me. AND THE BACON POLICE???? WHAT???? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I'm not use to that and I love my bacon and I love to CHOOSE my bacon. I want it COOKED, not ready to come up off the plate and walk away. I want more than 2 pieces and I will stand there and tell them more and more until I give me the amount that I want. I also stood there and told them "no not that uncooked piece, give me the cooked stuff." So what good does it do to have someone serve you your bacon if you are still going to get more? I just found this ridiculous and humorous at the same time. Ok, off my rant.

As I mentioned, many times we had to go to the pizza bar for food. The pizza was pretty good and we enjoyed it. Was it the best pizza ever? No but it definitely wasn't bad and definitely something none of us had a problem eating. The lines were crazy to get to it and they were constantly making them. They would pull out 2 pizzas, slice it into 4 pieces and give each person 2 of the huge slices. If one person was standing up there for their spouse or someone else, there goes the entire pizza. You do the math...2 pizzas can be gone in a matter of only 2 people being served.

I noticed there was a "menu" of the different kinds of pizzas. However, the only pizza I ever seen them make was pepperoni. I wanted to try this garlic pizza they had listed, but they never had any. Oh well, I still didn't go hungry.

 

Tandori is not a bar with drinks, its Indian food .... I loved it on Magic. Its only open at lunch and was one of my favorites. They make the bread right there in front of you so its always hot and perfect. Maybe next time you can find time to try it.

 

btw the deli is not open 24/7 but it does have a very extended open period. Its the pizza that is open 24/7

 

When I said bar I didn't mean a bar as in drinking bar, I mean a food bar, like buffet bar. I knew it didn't have drinks. When I looked at the food, I thought it was Asian food because I seen the chicken (which looked like the tso's chicken or sweet and sour chicken) and the noodles (which looked like the Chinese noodles). I wish I would have tried it now but we already had our sandwiches from the deli in our hands headed for a table on that side when we noticed it was open. Next time...definitely!

Glad to have clarification on the deli. I was thinking it wasn't open 24/7 but I know it was open pretty late one night when I arrived. :)

One thing that I really enjoyed about this ship were the SIGNS!!! Signs everywhere. I get turned around easily on a ship and have to use my husband as a navigation tool every time. But this time I only needed for him to tell me which way is the front of the ship and which way is the back, then I knew where I was going. On my other cruises, I never could get it right once we got off the elevator, which side to go down to our room. Carnival made this easy for people like me:

Yep, I showed my husband what's up. LOL I was sprouting wings on this cruise and flying solo a few times and I was able to make it back safely.

Of course every elevator had the normal listing as other ships do:

But this was the greatest...when you were on any particular floor, there was more "bling" with signs to let you know where you were headed. I loved this!!! Of course it just had to be lit up in LED lights to fit in with the rest of the beauty of the sparkle ship.

Did I hear you say you wanted more sparkle bling? Well you got it...even the signs for the restrooms are lit up!

Blue=boy, White=handicap Red=girl...all I had to do was look for the red. Easy peasy for a turned around cruising chick like me.

Stairway bling and a sign to let you know where you are headed...no surprises:

So I always manage to forget something when cruising. My last cruise on the Star I forgot something REALLY important...my battery chargers to my camera. It forced me to have to buy an entire new camera just so that I could give everyone an awesome review once I returned. (This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I am now in love with this new camera).

This time around, I forgot my watch. Now when cruising, I know they say when you are on vacation you are off the clock and time doesn't matter. It's time to relax and enjoy your vacation. However when is this ever true? Definitely not on a cruise. You have a certain time to get off the ship in port, a certain time to get back, a certain time to go eat, a certain time a show is to begin, and a certain time you have to pick your child up from the kids club. Everything revolves around the time on a cruise and I didn't have mine. grrr

Carnival made it easy in several ways, to know what time it was, just as a friendly reminder to those idiots who might have left their watches behind. (Pointing at myself with shame)

Now one other comment about the picture above. It was actually a neat place. There was a night club (and I'm trying to remember if it was the teen club or the Caliente) but this window was located half way down the steps in one of the stairwells and you could view in to the room right where the dance floor is. I thought it was a clever idea.

I will go in to more about my "time" problem later in the review.

On to more exploring of the ship...I know, how did I fit all this in when I first got on the ship you ask? Well remember, this is a compilation of pictures throughout the cruise. hehe

More glitz, this was on the wall and I took several pictures of it. I was trying to capture the way that it kind of changed colors but it just wasn't working out of me. It reminded me of a fountain that NCL Star had in the atrium (I think it was)...I never could get that right either. Blah

This is the library. Every time I ever tried to go in there it was closed/door locked. One night I was out exploring when we had taken a nap after returning from Costa Maya, I couldn't get the daughter or hubby to wake up from this so called "NAP!!!" that turned in to an all-nighter...so I went exploring. That night I found the door locked once again, but wait, there's people in there. Do they know that I'm an NCL person and I have been marked as a "no entrance allowed" person? That had to be it. On to investigate a little more. I walked around and happen to find another entrance on the opposite side...ah ha! I'm in anyhow Carnival. You can't keep me out. I actually like you now. So in I went to take pictures trying to keep others out of the frame.

When I quietly snuck out, across the hall was another place I had not noticed before now. It was called the Rendezvous Club Lounge. There wasn't anyone in there and I'm completley unsure of what it was to be used for. It was small and had a few places to sit. There was a huge big screen tv in there and everything was done up in like a western theme. To me, it reminded me of a cigar bar or something.

Thanks to the lovely settings of cc, it will only allow you to add 6 pictures at a time for each posting. Here is the other picture of the lounge (the ceiling painting):

Some of the art work in the stairwells. I loved the colors.

There's my time again...just so I know.

If you can't tell by now, I was walking the stairs taking pictures of just the artwork there (you can tell by the time changes, which gives you an indication just how fast I was moving along from floor to floor=1 minute each...huffing and puffing the entire way from all of the food I consumed all week and the nice 6 pound weight gain souvenir that I brought home with me). Well except for that last picture, which was an hour later. Maybe I had to stop for more food and there was a delay in picture taking. Oops.

I believe this was called the Song Lounge?

Time to throw in another odd ball picture just to keep you all on your toes.

This place was never used (that I could tell) and was always empty and abandoned when I passed this area. I'm not sure what it is suppose to be or what it use to be? I believe I took this picture after heading up the blingy steps (which you see to the right of the picture).

Once again, just so you know which way you are heading...more blingy signs.

According to Carnivals Dream layout, I think this is the Ocean Plaza maybe? Someone let me know and feel free to correct me on anything that I have misnamed or don't know the name of. All I know is I liked the blue and red mixture of the colors.

There was a little bridge like entrance that went over to this place. I think it was Caliente? When we boarded the ship, there was a wedding going on and a reception in there.

I think you are making us all smile. I too press both buttons for the glass elevators and the regular ones often and have to run between them. Did you know one ding is up and two dings is down on Carnival? Or is it the other way around, anyway ... listen for the dings.

I keep forgetting something important, my phone charger.. my tablet charger, OMG I was miserable, it was on Magic and they had the 24/7 $39.99 special for the whole cruise and there I was on a B2B with 3 hours of battery life. My watch didnt make it last time either. I throw stuff into my suitcase the last minute and it shows.

the place you said was never used.. did you happen to check it between 5:30 or so.. it looks a little like the taste bar to me. Was it on deck 5?

I think you are making us all smile. I too press both buttons for the glass elevators and the regular ones often and have to run between them. Did you know one ding is up and two dings is down on Carnival? Or is it the other way around, anyway ... listen for the dings.

 

I keep forgetting something important, my phone charger.. my tablet charger, OMG I was miserable, it was on Magic and they had the 24/7 $39.99 special for the whole cruise and there I was on a B2B with 3 hours of battery life. My watch didnt make it last time either. I throw stuff into my suitcase the last minute and it shows.

Are you kidding me? There's a system to the dinging elevators? Now you tell me. :D Well I'll know that NEXT time. Yes, there WILL be a next time if everyone hasn't figured that out yet. I will watch for this for sure and learn the routine quickly. Yea for Carnival. Another plus (although I didn't know about this). Thanks!

Mine was definitely last minute. I had just finished finals that week and things were hectic to say the least. There was no time for packing prior and it was a grab all you can before you leave situation for us. But it worked out in the end as it always does. (Although truth be known, we forgot our cell phone chargers in the van back at Ron Jon, which not like we would use the cell phones, but it could have been an option to keep track of time). One last thing we forgot was the power strip...yea, it was back in the van as well. :rolleyes: But I gaurantee, once you forget something, you never forget it the next time and double and triple check. :D

I felt that Carnival did have the little "extra" added touches that I usually find on NCL. Here is one and I will point out others later in the review:

Walking along another glitzy hallway you will find the places for the older children and teen clubs. It made me wish I was a teen still because it looked like a lot of fun to hang out in.

Circle C Club. I believe it was for the kids ages 12-14:

Club 02 for those that were 15-17 years old. I thought about trying to act hip and sneak in a few times.

The hallway past the Crimson Dining Room (for those that had assigned dining times). I guess I didn't realize that you were actually separated from those that had assigned dining times by another restaurant. I just thought if you had the anytime dining, you just simply show up at one of the MDR's between whatever time they told you and there was a place to sit. I kinda missed not being able to sit in either restaurant and had to stick to just the one.

So now it's time for us to head to our rooms to see if they are ready. I'm not use to carrying my own luggage around (carry on) with soda in it. NCL lets you check it in with your luggage. Put it in something or not, slap a room tag on it and you're free to go. With Carnival, if you carry on soda, you C-A-R-R-Y on soda and it's attached to your hip during the entire cruise. Just kidding, only until you can drop it off at your room.

We stopped prior to getting on the freeway the day we left home just so that I could buy yet another suitcase to use just for this purpose. I had to have something with wheels. There was no way I was carrying around 3 cartons of soda. (Well, not necessarily me, but me and the hubby).

We stopped by the room prior to them being done and as we were walking down the hall to the room, we noticed the room steward had just finished our room and was headed to the next and 1 of our luggage had arrived outside. So in we went to drop off the soda and pull in 1 piece of luggage that the porter had promised would make it to our room when I handed him our tip.

Now I have read multiple times that Carnival rooms are a lot bigger and roomier than NCL. I don't know what I was expecting, but this was not it. I had seen pictures of an interior room and it also had a sofa in it long ways. But this room did not have anything like that and I can guarantee it didn't seem any bigger than our interior rooms on NCL. It was almost exactly the same.

We always book interior rooms, it gives our budget a break and allows us to cruise twice a year. Cruising twice a year is far more important to us than having a balcony or suite. Would I pass it up if offered? Of course not. But if I have to pay for it, it won't happen. Have I been upgraded before? Yes. Did I like it? Yes of course. But it was at no cost to us. Remember I'm a struggling college student and I only work 3 days a week due to that.

The only difference that I could find was the storage space. The storage space and design of the room was far less superior than NCL. NCL may have some small rooms (?), but I can guarantee they utilize every inch of that small space that they can. Their storage is awesome and we have always had plenty of room for all of our things. They have storage inside of storage. hehe Like our last cruise had the normal closet in the middle and inside that closet they had fold out shelves if you needed more space. If you didn't, you didn't have to fold it out. Inside that closet there was hidden shelves along the side. Not really "hidden", but hidden from the world. They just have wonderful storage. This time, I had to keep some of our clothes in the suitcases and pull them out as needed. I'm not complaining at all. It's just an observation. Would it distract me from cruising with Carnival again? Obviously not!

As you can tell by the picture above, I had started removing the items from the refrigerator to make room for our soda. There was a lot in there and it was jam packed full. I had been told (on here) that if you remove it and wanted it removed from the room, you had to ask the room steward to take it out. Otherwise it would just sit on top of the counter the entire cruise (taking up even more space). However, when I ask the room steward to take it out of the room, he told me NO. I told him we was not going to be purchasing any of it and I would like to use the space on the counter it was taking up and he told me "NO, it has to stay in the room." Um ok then...

The bathroom was average size and what I'm use to I guess. Maybe just a tad bit smaller? I know the shower seemed a lot smaller and it was like a triangle. But it did the trick and no complaints here.

I did find that the sink area seem to have a lot of storage space for things. There were tons of glass shelves to put things where NCL has a few, but usually not enough for us and the sink ends up cluttered.

I loved the little swing out mirror they had attached to the wall. This was an added plus. I need one of these at home. It was a magnifying mirror on one side and a regular mirror on the other. It came out to a position you could see the back of your hair and everything. Excitement at it's best.

The shower was equivalent to NCL with them having the shampoo (which I never use) and the body wash (which I always use)...hey, less to pack right? It smelled flowery and did the job.

I have to say that when we started our cruise, we had 6 towels in the bathroom. By the end of the cruise, we were only down to 3. I'm not sure why. I need (like) a lot of towels. I take 2 showers a day, 1 in the morning to get woke up and look presentable and another at night before going to bed to relax me. Then I have to have a towel for my hair (which is very long). You do the math, that's 4 towels just for me. I'm traveling with my husband and daughter...add 2 more towels. 6 towels was a positive sign and then it diminished from there on. Then if you are out at the pools, coming back from a sandy day in port, even more showers to be had.

There was a closet with our life jackets in there. We had 4 of them (it was a possible 4 person room). They were stacked on top of each other and the room steward brought us another (I guess for our little one, even though the thing seemed HUGE).

Another plus for Carnival (well, it could be for those that would use it) is that they automatically give you robes to wear. We have only had robes once from NCL and it was during a cruise that made us VIP status. Now we have robes at home, but even at home we barely wear them. So, we didn't use these either, but still was a nice added touch that NCL doesn't automatically give you.

One thing I found funny and had never seen before were people wearing their robes everywhere on deck. There were tons of people on the pool deck at night, in their robe, watching the movies. I had never thought of that, but that was the night that the hubby and daughter wouldn't wake up otherwise I would have took the opportunity to blend in with the robe theme. LMAO. Is this just a Carnival thing?

The shelves in the room, well...what was left of them, we definitely used up. They had a few rows taken up by all of the bedding that I guess would have been used if there was another person in the room.

You had your normal sized little safe behind the door. It's the same size as the ones that NCL has in their interior rooms...I know this because my OCD folders I make for each trip fit perfectly in there.

The refrigerator was below that, same size as what we are use to.

I have to talk about the refrigerator. I read comments from others saying that it was a "cooling" place and didn't get the sodas cold. Boy were they right. I wouldn't even say they got them cool. It was terrible! We had soda in there all week that never did get cold. Thank goodness for ice is all I can say. I'm a popaholic and I live, eat, and breathe soda (I know it's bad, but that's just how I am. I don't drink coffee and I need my caffeine fix somehow). So definitely a negative thing, but not something that devastated me of course. Just NCL has refrigerators that will have your soda coda by that night.

Others had also mentioned that you would not get ice unless you ask for it to be filled (another cost reduction by Carnival). Well, ours came filled right from the beginning and was filled every day. No issues and I never ask them to. Not necessarily a positive for Carnival, just something you expect. Had it not happened, no biggie either, I would have just ask for some. Not a big deal to me.

This was the hallway leading to our room:

There were a lot of "people" standing in the hallways all the time (see below)

And I thought they eliminated smoking in interior rooms. These guys obviously didn't get the memo:

Another person on our roll call posted one of a Mermaid, but we never seen her. She must have been hanging out at the opposite end of the hallway because it was the same floor as ours.

I do have to laugh because my oldest daughters room was the last door at the end of the hallway. There was this wall that came out right after it and one of these "guys" was on the wall beside it. It always caught her off guard because she thought a guy was standing there when she would come out of her room. We had to laugh the entire cruise about her "friend" that was stalking her outside her door.

There is a strip on the floor, which I originally thought of it as just being a wire cover or something (like a threshold), but on the last day of the cruise, we found out it was a light strip and they had it on. I'm not sure why it was never on prior to this??? Anyone have any clue?

Inside the room you have the flat screen tv's and you can access your account and such from it. My daughter didn't realize this until I told her the second to the last day of the cruise.

One positive thing about Carnival, they have a Kiosk up on the deck (toward the main atrium) that you can check your balance at any time and it will actually print off your charges and everything. You can also add money to your account that way (which she did her entire cruise). Way to go Carnival for having this. On NCL, you will take yourself up to the desk and wait in multiple lines to apply money or check your balance. Awesome idea. If this is a way to cut back on expenses (from having employees serve you) then it was an awesome cutback IMO.

So now it's about time for us to go to the "Save you own life if the ship sinks" drill. Everyone was assigned to different areas on the ships to meet. It's according to what is on your sail and sign card. Our meeting spot was in the Encore Theater. I'm glad they have it inside, most of the NCL ships have it inside, but the last few they were outside, in the heat, wanting you in a single filed line. Not fun with a child.

Now what I find weird was that they tell you where each area is, you go in and sit down and they periodically come around and ask if you are supposed to be in area "......" and you agree. What they didn't do what account for everyone. How do they know everyone was there? They didn't have a list, they didn't take our names or room number. On NCL, you sign in with them and they make SURE you are there. If you are not, you get this nice little letter telling you that you were bad for not attending and they tell you a time you are to report to another room for your slap on your hands meeting about not attending. How do I know? Not because I got the nasty letter but because they had this meeting at the place that our meet & greet was on the last cruise and I was the person that put it all together and those naughty people were coming into our room and eating all of our drinks and snacks provided to the cc members. That's how I know! Do you think you are getting served snack and drinks for being bad?? Ok, sorry, that just brought back memories for me. LOL

So once they showed us how to put on a life jacket, we were free to roam. It was off to the sail away party on the deck. They had some good hamburgers, hotdogs and fries to get our bellies full and I was ready to sit down in peace an quiet while we drifted off to sea.

A view of us still sitting in port:

We just had to be sitting by Mickey and his gang:

Everyone looked like they were having a blast over there riding the AquaDuck...me dreaming about how maybe some day I'll be able to afford Disney. Sigh. I was really hoping that Disney pulled out before us. I wanted to hear their "Wish Upon a Star" horn. But, that didn't happen. My oldest daughter set up on a higher deck (I found out later) waiting to hear it and it never happened.

Meanwhile, here I am sitting on the deck watching this cruise line that I had never been on FULLY PACKED TO CAPACITY...yes, no rooms available, another first for me, getting ready to leave the port in silence as we drift out into the sunset quietly like a ship in the night ninja and all of a sudden...here we go...time to PAR-TAY! The music started blaring, the chairs were moved off the deck and there was Julie the cruise director getting everyone pumped up and ready to dance. Can I get a h3ll yea?! You bet. I was super excited at that point and ready to get my dance on. Whoever said Carnival was a boring, no music ship was out of their minds.

Drink in hand and party on dude!

Have you ever watched yourself dance? Well you shouldn't. You will feel complete humiliation the rest of the cruise when you see yourself on the big screen tv on the deck in front of millions. Just a warning people. I danced until I couldn't dance anymore. I had the time of my life. WHERE WAS MY DAUGHTER DURING THIS???? Still hoping to hear Mickeys horn and not to be found. She's my dancing partner and partner in crime. Darnit. We are best friends, we do everything together...and yet not to be found. Sigh.

But then again I think I have a little "dark" side in me anyhow...I do work with dead people ya know and I get a thrill every time I hear a trauma alert called at work...you'll find me running. :D Yea, I'm a little morbid but that's ok with me. :p

Nah, you're an ED nurse in the making. We are all slightly bent. I used to love getting a code at 0530 when I worked nights--it would keep me busy until the 7 a.m. crew got there. :o

Great review, and good luck with school--there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

So excited you were on the Dream! I've read your port reviews and decided to go to Chankanaab in Cozumel because of your reviews!! Super excited to follow your review of the Dream as we will be on her in July :)!! We too have cruise NCL so I like all the comparisons.

Once the dancing was done and over with, we headed back to our rooms to put our luggage away and finally meet up with our daughter to go to dinner. It had started raining outside and everyone scrambled. I was told that the lobster day is the first night and we got dressed up and ready to go to the MDR. Once I was there I found out it was not on the first night, but the second night, which was formal night. I wondered why everyone was in shorts, jeans and stuff.

I ordered the chicken, with the honey mustard sauce I think it was, for starters

Then I ordered the shrimp, which came on a stick (never seen such a thing) and sweet and sour noodles. The hubby had chicken breast and my daughter picked a PB & J. Geesh.

Later that night we were wondering around and found the same food up at the buffet area. Really? You can get the same thing there and not have to dress up? Sigh.

As for the staff, they were working their butts off, you could tell. I know what some mean but staff cuts because it took us about an hour to get our food. Now, I have experienced this on NCL before (our last cruise was a little slow in the MDR). One thing I truly missed on Carnival was the cheesecake. I love me some cheesecake and there was none to be found. I ask every night and every night I got the reply that it was only on certain nights they had it but it "wasn't this night." Well I finally gave up. On NCL, you can get cheesecake any time, day or night, 24/7 if you'd like and it is good. Insert sad face here.

For desert, they gave my daughter chocolate chip cookies. She wasn't hungry after she ate, so I took her cookies, put them in my small carrying purse and decided I would munch on them later. Remind me to never do that again...not only for the fact that I'm on a cruise ship and there is some type of available food on the ship 24/7 if I get hungry but also for the fact that these things completely crumbled in a matter of a few hip movements from walking. It was a bloody mess I tell ya!

We tried several times to go to the kids club (Camp Carnival) to sign our youngest up and our grandson. They were never open. This is weird. I'm use to NCL being open before sail away and you sign them up, get to view the place, and then after sail away you can bring the munchkins in for play time. Not Carnival. They were not opening until 9pm for sign ups. Wow. Shocker.

So, we went to the atrium and my hubby and daughter got their dance on for awhile. She danced like there was no tomorrow and didn't want to stop when it was time to move on.

Meanwhile, I'm busy snapping pictures in the Atrium and my surroundings as I glanced over waving at her twirling around like a princess and wearing daddy out.

That area upstairs in the buffet is the Pasta Place Pasta the way you want it many selections too bad you missed it/

There is a strip on the floor, which I originally thought of it as just being a wire cover or something (like a threshold), but on the last day of the cruise, we found out it was a light strip and they had it on. I'm not sure why it was never on prior to this??? Anyone have any clue?

I think they are only emergency lights. They were probably on because they were testing them.

Is cheesecake not on room service anymore?

So glad I'm not the only one whose schedule is dictated by nursing school. Our last cruise I had to bring my giant book with me, as we had a quiz on day 1 scheduled, and I was getting back 10pm the night before the semester started. Our next cruise is my "graduation celebration" as I'll be done December 13! Good luck to you with your studies.

P.S. I love all the pics you include in your reviews. Helps bring it to life.

Finally it was 9pm and time to go sign up for Camp Carnival. We signed the kids up and had a look around. The area was pretty big. I've seen bigger, I've seen much smaller, but all in all, it looked like a good time was to be had there and the kids couldn't wait to play...wait, what? You're not open tonight? Seriously? The first night of the cruise and parents are eager to spend money in your Casino and you aren't open? Definitely a negative for me. Sigh.

Just so you know you are going in the right direction for direction impaired people like me...

The front desk, which never really had anyone sitting there. You actually had to go inside at the glass gate and check in with the gatekeeper to pick up and drop off the munchkins. I guess possibly another staff cutback?

Inside CC

The windows you see in the background goes out to one of the decks, which would later become very useful to us...details to come!

The movie viewing area (which is still the same area as previous, this is just where the tv was located)...more on this to come as well.

Daddy and Sakari checking out all of the neat toys on the shelves. She loves dinosaurs and can name the different types. She has a huge box/collection of them at home and as I currently type this, she is watching a dinosaur movie. LOL (Truth be known and keep this our little secret, she is roaring too).