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The All New All Things Dream Thread Got Questions?


mzloolue
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RaiderFanin NM made a wish that a new thread devoted to Dream questions, answers and tips be started as the old thread was sadly outdated.

 

So here it is!

A wish has been granted.

Magic hunh?

 

I have a cruise booked soon and I have been searching for information on Dream.

Somehow reviews on Dream that I have read have been really good or really bad.

There seems to be no middle ground.

The food is horrible or it is amazing.

The ship is lovely or it is a filthy wreck.

The crew is wonderful or hateful.

 

Yeah right.

 

I have a question about deck chairs in the shade and have been unable to find the answer.

On Glory, Conquest, and Triumph there were deck chairs on the deck where you embark.

Does Dream have this?

 

If not, where is a good place to look for deck chairs in the shade with a view?

 

Anything not to be missed or totally to be avoided?

 

Secret doors?

 

Anything odd or interesting?

 

Tell all, please do!

Edited by mzloolue
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I just got home from the dream on 7/19/15!

 

We embarked onto Deck 3 where the lobby is so no deck chairs there. Deck chairs were on deck 5, 10, 11, and 12.

 

Depending on where the sun is Deck 5 would be a good place. It also has a slight overhang. Deck 11 also had a slight overhang that you could pull the deck chairs under.

 

Food was hit or miss. We noticed that the bread in the MDR was good and fresh every other night. Menu in MDR wasn't as exciting as past cruises we've done on carnival. But lobster night was delish and I had escargot one night also.

 

Lido buffet (The Gathering) usually had similar stuff to MDR (no lobster though). I do have to say it always felt a little oily up there. But maybe was because of how humid it was.

 

Definitely do the pasta bar on deck 11. You can access it from a staircase in the gathering. Or an elevator in the rear of the ship.

 

Spa was pretty awesome. Boyfriends first time getting a massage. Truly spectacular (except for cost but expected on a cruise ship). Love how they didn't try to sell me anything (on NCL they tried to get me to buy over $200 worth of products after a massage!)

 

Crew was not as nice as other Carnival ships. Not sure why. Our head waiter in MDR was great but seemed to be the only one working with our table of 11 while his assistants helped others tables.

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Thank you for the reply.:)

 

I thought that Dream had the deck chairs and that is the main reason we booked Dream instead of Elation.

 

Then today I found a photo of the deck chairs on deck 5 and realized that is not what DH wanted.

He loves those deck chairs.

Maybe it will work out better than I am thinking.

 

That is sad that the employees seem unhappy.

 

Did you try the Indian grill?

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I'm sorry the deck chairs were not what you expected! When you said deck chairs I was thinking of the sun loungers. They do have some brown deck chairs on the serenity deck which is located behind the waterslides. Those are brown and comfy with a great view! They can get crowded but we didn't have too much of a problem.

 

I think maybe the crew was overworked this trip as there were many many big groups and kids cruising. Our crew was delightful but it just wasn't the same as when we sailed on the Magic in the Mediterranean.

 

We did try the Indian Grill for lunch one night and it was very delicious. It said garlic naan but it seemed to be just regula naan. Probably just a mislabel but it was delicious.

 

We did not try the Mongolian Wok because the lines were super long. I think better planning would have helped in that situation, like going at a later time.

 

Oh! Please do the afternoon tea! It's in the Crimson dining room (lower) between 3pm and 4pm. They serve tea, delightful desserts (some better than MDR), lox on toast, and cucumber sandwiches. I believe it's only on sea days. I went with my cousins and we made sure to go each of our 3 sea days! If you do go, definitely try the scones (to die for) and the strawberries with whip cream.

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Any videos I've seen makes it look like the Dream is really crowded, especially on the decks with pool and sunning areas? Is this all the time, or possibly just the first day when people might be filming videos? I haven't been on a Carnival ship and the Dream doesn't seem to be that much larger than my last ship the Grand Princess. Grand just didn't seem that crowded to me.

Grand Princess Carnival Dream

Length 290' 306'

decks 17 15

Passengers 3100 3652

crew 1100 1369

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Tap Water and coffee

We drank the tap water on the Grand Princess and filled up our water bottles all the time (like from the buffet area dispensers). Anyone that has had both Princess water and Carnival (Dream) water can you chime in. If the water drinkable? I'm not much of a soda drinker and really don't want to pay for water.

 

How about coffee? Is it ok? I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but my husband is. For the most part he is not a picky coffee drinker, but on Princess, the coffee if awful. It is not drip, it is ??? and really bad, but luckily Princess has the coffee card for $25. Chime in on coffee please, especially on the Dream. Is the free coffee good for your average drinker?

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My husband and I are coffee drinkers and are always concerned about the morning coffee we drink. Most of the time, it is very different to which we are used to; but to help us out in this manner, we bring along some of those flavored dairy creamers. They are the ones that do not require refrigeration and are little cups. They come in a variety of flavors sold at stores such as Walmart. If the coffee is kinda nasty, these little beauties will make all the difference in the world. We gotta have our caffeine and this is what we do

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Tap Water and coffee

 

How about coffee? Is it ok? I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but my husband is. For the most part he is not a picky coffee drinker, but on Princess, the coffee if awful. It is not drip, it is ??? and really bad, but luckily Princess has the coffee card for $25. Chime in on coffee please, especially on the Dream. Is the free coffee good for your average drinker?

 

I am a coffee drinker. Yes the coffee is ok. A couple of years ago I would have said no, but they have changed for the better. We took three cruises from Jan 15 to Apr 15 on the Pride and Dream (twice). I found the coffee to be acceptable. There is a starbucks style coffee bar (extra cost) that runs special everyday. I had a few specialty coffee drinks also.

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We sailed on Dream in May and loved it. Since it was first week in May there were very few kids but it was still a full cruise. We never felt overwhelmed with the crowds and found places that were less crowded to relax. I loved the Pasta Bella for lunch and the music was very good also, especially Music Unlimited. This was our 10th cruise (7 Carnival ships) and the Dream is our favorite (along with the Mardi Gras which was Carnivals first ship). We found the crew to be very nice and efficient.

 

Secret decks are through side doors forward on decks 9 and 10. Beautiful place to watch cruise down river and great view of early morning New Orleans coming into port.

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on the Dream 9/13/15. Can't wait. It is funny how I am addicted to the Boards as we get closer and closer to the sail date.

 

I booked an extended Aft balcony on Deck 9. I have heard mixed reviews on the location.

 

How is the Dream in comparison to the Breeze. I have to say, so far, the Breeze has been my all time favorite ship, with RCI's Freedom of the Seas, a close 2nd! :)

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Any videos I've seen makes it look like the Dream is really crowded, especially on the decks with pool and sunning areas? Is this all the time, or possibly just the first day when people might be filming videos? I haven't been on a Carnival ship and the Dream doesn't seem to be that much larger than my last ship the Grand Princess. Grand just didn't seem that crowded to me.

Grand Princess Carnival Dream

Length 290' 306'

decks 17 15

Passengers 3100 3652

crew 1100 1369

 

Slightly off. Grand Princess is 2600 guests and Carnival Dream is 3600 guests. So the ships are close to the same size, but Carnival squeezes 1000 more pax in there.

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The tap water from the dispensers is fine. I filled up my Nalgene bottle every night to have water in the cabin. We also did buy a 12 pack of water for 2.99 which we drank too.

 

I don't drink coffee so I can't help with that but the coffee bar prices seemed cheaper than Starbucks (for frapuccino type drinks) and those were yummy from what I tasted.

 

The Dream didn't have the American Table menus, at least not in the Scarlet MDR.

 

OH AND THE COFFEE SHOP PLACE CAN MAKE MILKSHAKES!!! It's not on their menu but they make them and they are yummy! Especially vanilla bean! They were about $5 for like a 16 ounce. But it hit the spot. And my brother treated us. Haha

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I didn't really feel crowded on our sailing (7/12/15) and we sailed full capacity with lots of 3 and 4 people in cabins. The main pool gets crowded but the other areas didn't. For 3600 people it really wasn't bad. And we would see the same people around which did surprise me for such a huge ship!

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Sailing on the Dream in Nov - can't wait. It will be the largest ship of my 11 sailings so anxious to experience it. I have a question - what style entertainment in the big theater? The big broadway shows or the new 30 min format shows??? Thanks

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Trustgal11 - the shows on the Dream for my sailing (7/12/15) were like 45 minute shows of singing and dancing. There wasn't really any plot or story. It was almost like watching 45 minutes of music videos. They weren't really connected.

 

Each night it was the same singers and dancers. And each night was themed differently. We stopped going after the middle of the second show. It just wasn't our thing. They do a breakdancing show which I heard was very good.

 

My parents and older family members really enjoyed it.

 

I wish they had had a Broadway like production one of the nights.

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I'm so glad there is another post on the Dream. The other one was outdated and old and I wasn't sure what was true anymore. We sail on her in November and can't wait!

 

Can't wait to hear what everyone else has to say about the Dream! :D

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Is there a way to figure out what the ship time will be prior to arrival? The Dream will be sailing out of NOLA in November. So say we sail out at 4pm CST...will ship time stay CST the entire length of the cruise?

We sailed on NCL before and ship time was constantly changing with each port.

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I didn't really feel crowded on our sailing (7/12/15) and we sailed full capacity with lots of 3 and 4 people in cabins. The main pool gets crowded but the other areas didn't. For 3600 people it really wasn't bad. And we would see the same people around which did surprise me for such a huge ship!

 

 

Same here. Been on the Dream twice, once with 4,100 passengers and never ever felt crowded. Beautiful ship.

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