Carnival Dream Dec 10-17

Hi guys just back from a Carnival Dream cruise to Belize, Cozumel, and Mahogany Bay. We had a wonderful time Dream definitely exceeded expectations.

Stateroom 1-283. Great room with King Size Bed configuration. Everything was functional. Remember only 1 plug in bedroom and 1 in bathroom. "Jay" was room steward. Tipped a $20 at beginning of cruise with more on last day. Ice bucket always full - room very clean- no problems to report. Well run stateroom. Note: We asked for a fan the first day as my wife and I use one at home to sleep. The fan they bring is a SERIOUS fan. (Think Helicopter rotors) made the room very very comfortable for us but you could forget hearing the TV. LOL Note addendum: I improvised a few wall hooks to help with hanging backpacks and steaming clothes. Pick up a few of those hooks at home depot that don't hurt the paint (wallpaper) and release easily when you need them too (end of cruise). Wife brought a steamer which worked a lot better than an iron. Laundry was up one deck and while functional its not real convenient (no chairs). Works off your sail and sign card... bring your own laundry soap. Dispenser was sold out by day 3.

SPA: Thassalosophy Package - worth every penny. As they say the showers in the gym changing room are huge. The handicap accessible shower is like 12' X 6' with body jets etc. (Car Wash!) Never occupied while I was there. Steam room - HOT and I mean perfect. HOT enough that people probably complain.. which is just right in my book! Cool down rooms were great as well. Only problem seem to be people forgetting they were in a meditation area... some just blabbed non stop....

As for the rest of the SPA.. you can have it! The non-stop UPSELL and high pressure sell tactics are way out of line. Wife purchased 3 treatments - massage, nails, and some kind of hair thing. All treatments were reported as wonderful but majority of time is spent trying to sell you something else. 3 of the 4 charges on my bill for SPA treatments were incorrect. Guest services immediately fixed. Note: Prepay for SPA items - be prepared - Cozumel jewelry hawkers have nothing on these spa service salespeople. Quite frankly it was the only bad experience of the trip.

FOOD:

We did late dining in the Crimson Dining Room. Jacob was our wait staff team leader. Food very good and service was above expectation. We ate there 4 of the 6 nights. Lots of dancing by waiters and a general great attitude. Note: Next time I will choose early dining as the late dining messes you up for seats in comedy and shows.

Guys Burgers - great (one line will be huge the other a lot shorter - recon before you line up)

Sushi - awesome

Pig and Anchor - great and worth the line

Buffet - its a buffet

Mongolion Wok - didn't eat there as line was always very very long

Tandoor - nice to have a change of pace from the normal but I can see why they are going to pull it.

Pizza - its pizza

Casino - win some / lose some - smoke is very strong in this part of the ship. If you have asthma stay out.. I mean its bad. They did give me a steakhouse selection-delivered to my stateroom- voucher for my casino play - not too shabby!

Cruise Director - Brandon - Great Job

Shows - The PLAYLIST players are great. Didn't see the Motown thing. Eighties Show was Awesome. Flick was also great. Rock Anthem Show was wonderful! Lots of money spent on set and production. Go see these shows.

Punch-liner - always great but its hard to get a seat if you arrive close to showtime.

Music - the best and lots of variety on board.

Captain's toast - this was a great experience!

Cheers Package - great value!

Alchemy Bar - Hey to FLIP and LIZA best on boat. 3rd floor lobby bar Rusty and co def know their business.

Guest Services - instantly fixed various problems when I brought it to their attention. I prepay for most things however I kept getting charged twice for things. Just keep an eye on your bill through the app.

APP - Lots of good things in this app.

Internet - I chose the value package. Worked great. IMESSAGE worked great. It's satellite so expect it to be slow but it was always on.

On/Off - As always these guys get it done. They don't make you fill out customs forms anymore. Don't sweat customs. Just declare your items. They are very interested in moving you through the terminal. They do not sweat a few extra bottles of booze. Tip- Drop your bags at curb for porters BEFORE going to Fulton Rooftop Parking. So much nicer to just get on shuttle and walk into terminal sans luggage. Fulton Rooftop parking is painless and worth every penny. If you sign up on their website (airportparking.com) you get a $5.00 coupon.

Side Note: Super8 on I-10 will let you park your car for free and will provide an 8 dollar shuttle service to and from. Not a bad hotel but in a rundown looking area however everything looked very secure and is one of the better super-8s I have stayed in. I heard there is a Hampton Inn doing the same but I can't confirm.

This cruise was amazing and we had the best time. I will give it 5 stars on the survey. SPA was only negative experience.

Best

Kevin

Thanks for this excellent review. We are looking to do this cruise in the summer. It's a toss up between this and breeze out of Galveston.

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Thank you for this review!

Great review/report and happy to hear how much you enjoyed the cruise.

Keith

I enjoyed your thorough review and am glad you enjoyed the Dream. Thanks for posting.

Enjoyed your report, thanks.

Thanks for your detailed feedback!

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Thanks for the review! We're looking at taking the Dream on that itinerary in 2019.

Thanks for the review, sailing on dream january 21st

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Hope everyone has a great experience on their cruises. It is very nice to spend a week with a crew that absolutely seemed thrilled to be there. I can't count the number of times crew came up to me and sometimes even in very broken english asked where I was from and if I was having a good time. I know this is great training but most of it seemed very sincere. Also want to point out that guest services was the best I have ever been exposed to. Quick and very professional . They explained my charges and what would happen next (credits). I really like these guys!

Thanks for the review! I'll be boarding the Dream in just under 3 weeks! Quick question, did they have a sail away party on deck for your cruise or was it in the lobby? It looks like if the Saints are playing, they put the game on the big screen and move sail away inside. Kind of hoping it's outside if the weather is decent. Thanks again for your great review!

Thanks for the review.

Excellent review - glad to hear Brandon was a good CD. We will be on the Dream in 20 days!

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Sail Away party was on deck. It was cold but dry the day we left.

enjoyed the review.thanks

Loved the review! Leaving on the 14th. How did you spend the time in each port? Also, when were the formal nights? Any fun times to share?

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Thanks for the review, Kevin. Glad you had a good time. I agree with your wife about the annoying spa upselling. I quit using Carnival's spas because they use up much of the spa time I purchase trying to sell me something rather than on my spa treatment. It's just not worth it.

I am sailing 1-14. Is the prepay for Thalass spa/heated loungers a better deal to prepurchase?

Also do the still offer tea( with pastries in the afternoon in the piano bar?

Thanks for your review.

Hi Guys!

For excursions:

Nachi Com was full so we jumped ship and grabbed a cab and went DOWNTOWN Coz. Cab driver, a resident for like 60 years said we were on the main road from back in the day. Covi Liquors... WOW! What a hole in the wall....but I got Don Julio Anejo for like $20 a bottle. Exchange rate is 19 to 1 but if you have cash the rate is MUCH better. This area is a bit rough. People were very friendly. Loaded up and hit a few pharmacies for a Z-Pak or 2... Note: these pharmacies close to the ships are not any kind of bargain. Meds are very overpriced and I actually got my arm twisted for a less than ideal exchange rate... The cashier even said in a very snooty tone that she can not be expected to change the exchange rate daily. No way will I try and buy meds from anyplace close to tourist destinations... in fact the entire med from mexico thing was an experiment anyway.. I'm back to CVS from now on. Then we went to the restaurant next to the pyramid (across from pier). Food was great and the local dancers put on a show. We shopped a bit and then went back to the ship.

Belize

We took the Starfish Island and Snorkel. This was one of the best run snorkel excursions I have ever been on. Lots of staff and good equipment. They separated people into beginner, Intermediate, and advanced. Head counts, safety checks, etc etc. Reef was shallow and amazing. Worth twice the price. The island.... well they drop you at this little island and its set up with a bar and bathrooms. Lots of chairs to relax in... but how are you going to one up the lounging facilities on the dream. I can not emphasize enough that this snorkel excursion was a well run boat.

Honduras

Mahogany Bay - we just chilled out on the ship.

Thalossophy Spa - Yeah I think its better to pre-pay for everything related to that SPA. Then pretend you don't speak English,French, Russian,Chinese or whatever because the high pressure sale pitch is un-believable.

Best

Kevin

Loved the review! Leaving on the 14th. How did you spend the time in each port? Also, when were the formal nights? Any fun times to share?

 

 

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Formal nights were night 2 and 4. Wait staff works very hard to make it special.

Excellent review - glad to hear Brandon was a good CD. We will be on the Dream in 20 days!

 

 

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A lot of people got sick on this cruise (flu like symptoms). Some crew workers were sick along with guests. Just a heads up. Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize.

Thanks for the review.......but I have a Spa tip for anyone interested!

BEFORE you have your treatment, just tell them not to try to sell you anything and they won't. The most they will do is give you a list or "prescription" of what they used and/or what they recommend. Easy Peasy!

I am sailing 1-14. Is the prepay for Thalass spa/heated loungers a better deal to prepurchase?

Also do the still offer tea( with pastries in the afternoon in the piano bar?

Thanks for your review.

With regard to SPA up-selling . . . I learned some time ago that if you tell them you already use their products (they use Elemis skincare products for their treatments) and that I am completely set and don't need anything up front that they don't bother to try and sell you anything for the rest of your treatment. Works like a charm for me everytime and I get to enjoy the treatment without the sales pitch :)

Hope everyone has a great experience on their cruises. It is very nice to spend a week with a crew that absolutely seemed thrilled to be there. I can't count the number of times crew came up to me and sometimes even in very broken english asked where I was from and if I was having a good time. I know this is great training but most of it seemed very sincere. Also want to point out that guest services was the best I have ever been exposed to. Quick and very professional . They explained my charges and what would happen next (credits). I really like these guys!

Great review again, thx for this! Do you know if there was anyplace to catch a football game? Didn’t see a sportsbar but might have missed it

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