Dream Review July 1-8!

Hey everyone! I’m Katie from Mississippi and I’ve enjoyed reading all the reviews people have done in the past, and wanted to return the favor! I’m posting pictures and hopefully they load!

My husband and I got back today from our 10 year anniversary cruise on the Dream. We have two little boys that we left at home, so we were looking for a vacation where we could relax and be served and do as little as possible! We sailed on the Dream about 7 years ago and loved the experience, so we booked her again last July! I really didn’t pay attention to the ship I was booking, just the itinerary and port and was excited to have found out we had the Dream again. We booked a balcony room, 7381, and Faster to the Fun!

I’ll do my best to provide insight and information from our week. We are pretty laid back people, not too picky, and not huge drinkers so no Cheers package for us, but we definitely had drinks! We got bottomless bubbles though and enjoyed that!

The port was 3 hours from where we live in MS, so we left for the port on July 1st at about 7am. Reserving parking at the Fulton street garage slipped my mind, so when I went to reserve it, it was sold out. So we paid the $140 for the Erato St. cruise terminal right where we embark. Next time we’ll go for the discount, but since we don’t go on big vacations like this often, the ease and convenience of parking right at the port was a thumbs up!

We pulled into the garage and paid and the porters were there waiting for us! We had 3 bags and we just gave them a $10 tip. Since we had FTTF, we pretty much just breezed through all the check in stuff and got to our waiting zone until they started boarding the ship! It was so nice! We got to the parking garage at 11:00 and once they started boarding we were up at the lido deck eating by 11:40. If you’re wondering if FTTF is worth it, from our boarding experience alone I’d say yes!

Pictures are from pulling into the garage, and us waiting to board!

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Hey everyone! I’m Katie from Mississippi and I’ve enjoyed reading all the reviews people have done in the past, and wanted to return the favor! I’m posting pictures and hopefully they load!

 

My husband and I got back today from our 10 year anniversary cruise on the Dream. We have two little boys that we left at home, so we were looking for a vacation where we could relax and be served and do as little as possible! We sailed on the Dream about 7 years ago and loved the experience, so we booked her again last July! I really didn’t pay attention to the ship I was booking, just the itinerary and port and was excited to have found out we had the Dream again. We booked a balcony room, 7381, and Faster to the Fun!

 

I’ll do my best to provide insight and information from our week. We are pretty laid back people, not too picky, and not huge drinkers so no Cheers package for us, but we definitely had drinks! We got bottomless bubbles though and enjoyed that!

 

The port was 3 hours from where we live in MS, so we left for the port on July 1st at about 7am. Reserving parking at the Fulton street garage slipped my mind, so when I went to reserve it, it was sold out. So we paid the $140 for the Erato St. cruise terminal right where we embark. Next time we’ll go for the discount, but since we don’t go on big vacations like this often, the ease and convenience of parking right at the port was a thumbs up!

 

We pulled into the garage and paid and the porters were there waiting for us! We had 3 bags and we just gave them a $10 tip. Since we had FTTF, we pretty much just breezed through all the check in stuff and got to our waiting zone until they started boarding the ship! It was so nice! We got to the parking garage at 11:00 and once they started boarding we were up at the lido deck eating by 11:40. If you’re wondering if FTTF is worth it, from our boarding experience alone I’d say yes!

 

Pictures are from pulling into the garage, and us waiting to board!

 

 

 

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I looking forward to your review; will be on the Dream next month

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We had our first lunch at The Gathering and explored the ship! Our room was ready and we set down our carry ons. We were in 7381 and it was a balcony. Since we never go on big vacations and we were celebrating our anniversary, we splurged on a balcony room. Location of room was fine, but it did have a stinky smell to it, but it wasn’t awful, just weird. Maybe it was by a septic area or something. Anyway, it was what we expected!

We then went back up to the lido and had our first drinks of the trip! I had a Miami Vice and my husband had a blended hurricane. We got our drinks and settled in to people watching, our favorite!

We then went back to our room to nap and hang out on our balcony. We did the mystery drill and headed up for the sail away party where my hubs got a bite of the iguana drink at the tequila bar!

After the sail away we just chilled on our balcony and watched the river as we sailed down it. I listened to music and he read. We’re pretty lame! But like I said, we were there to do a lot of nothing but relaxing and enjoying a week of no kids!

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More pictures from getting on the boat! I’m going to stop here for a bit because the room is rocking like I’m still on the boat - I guess I should just turn around and get back on! But back to reality and children need me!

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We’re enjoying your review and pics! We’ll be embarking for the first time on the Dream next month. We sailed Carnival Magic years ago and it was one of the best cruises we’ve experienced. Please point out any must see/do’s on the Dream. Thanks!

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Thanks for following!

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We’re enjoying your review and pics! We’ll be embarking for the first time on the Dream next month. We sailed Carnival Magic years ago and it was one of the best cruises we’ve experienced. Please point out any must see/do’s on the Dream. Thanks!

 

 

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I will!!! It was a great trip!!!

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Thanks for your thoughts.

Yay!!! On the anniversary vacay without the kiddos. You two are adorable. Look forward to more of your review.

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Thanks for posting.

Great start to your review, nice pics.

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Hey Katie! I'm subscribing and excited to follow along. Looks like your vacation is off to a great start.

Yay!!! On the anniversary vacay without the kiddos. You two are adorable. Look forward to more of your review.

 

 

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Yay to any vacation without the kids!!!

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We got ready for our first night at the main dining room (MDR) and headed down around 6. We had your time dining, and requested to sit alone. Although we sat alone, the tables are so close together that you get to know who you’re by anyway. I didn’t take any menu pictures. There are a ton out there and they’re all the same. The menu doesn’t change much from what I can tell. I did write down what we had though.

My husband had shrimp cocktail. Small shrimp, basic sauce, nothing to write home about. I had the smoked chicken quesadilla and they were pretty flavorful. We shared a calamari and the lemon aioli was delicious. Hubs had a Caesar salad and said it was kinda like ranch. I found that most of the salad dressings lacked flavor. Hubs had the beef brisket which tasted a lot like roast beef and the corn thing was like smashed corn bread. I didn’t see much on the menu for this night that sounded good to me so I got the salmon and it was pretty good. Both of us had the tiramisu and it was excellent. I grew up in a strong Italian area and have high expectations for tiramisu. Mississippi has awful tiramisu so I was ready for something good, and it was excellent! Best dessert of the trip I think!

After dinner was the welcome aboard show and it was great! Singers/dancers were excellent!!!

Because we’re knee deep in children at home, we were exhausted and ready for bed!

No pictures really from the evening.

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July 2, Sea Day

We fully planned on doing nothing this day, because you know, it’s vacation with no kids!!!

We woke early, like 6:00. So we grabbed our mugs and got coffee and went up to deck 11 and found a spot over looking lido aft pool. We enjoyed quiet cups of coffee with no children climbing all over us and no cartoons. After a few cups we went in for breakfast/brunch in the main dining room.

Brunch was good, both of us had eggs benedict. You can get this in the lido buffet every morning and it tastes just as good.

After breakfast I went up to the gym to get a workout in while my husband went and had a cigar and read up on deck 11.

The gym was pretty decent. Had what you needed for vacation workouts.

Once I was done working out we put on our suits and went down to deck 5 right down from Guys bbq place. It’s quiet there, gets a great breeze, and was our main hangout spot!

This day was the first elegant night so we got ready, drank our wine, then headed down to dinner. We were seated with Natalia and she was the BOMB! We requested her every night.

For dinner the hubs started with fried oysters and said they were pretty good, I had the appetizer size spaghetti carbonara, and we split the pork tartlets. All was yummy! We both had prime rib, and split a lobster tail since we aren’t huge lobster fans. Main dishes were excellent! For dessert Adam had creme brûlée and I had the melting cake and both were fantastic!

I can only post 6 pictures, so next post will be the show and our first visit to the alchemy bar!

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After our elegant dinner, we went to see the 80s Playlist show and it was awesome! I really enjoyed it. Great selection of songs! Singing was pretty good. Some may be very critical of the shows, but they’re great for a cruise ship. It’s not broadway so I wasn’t expecting it to be. Some of the shows throughout the week were better than others, but great overall!

We had time to kill before the comedy show, so we went to the Alchemy bar. I LOVE chocolate martinis so that’s what I requested , and she mixed it with muddled raspberry.

My husband likes whiskey so he got something with some blackberry. He said it was pretty good!

My next drink was a peach cosmo, right up my alley and I loved it!

We then headed to comedy show and it was good from what I remember! Afterwards we called it a night. We had an early day for Cozumel and our first excursion!

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Thanks for the review Katie, loving it. Heading out on the Dream in December.

Thanks for the review Katie, loving it. Heading out on the Dream in December.

I’m jealous! I want to go back!

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Excellent review! Some day I hope hubby and I can cruise sans kids. We’d want the exact same kind of cruise as you’re taking. “Rest, relaxation, and time with just each other.”

We thoroughly enjoyed the Dream in 2016 and am looking forward to going on her again next fall.

Excellent review! Some day I hope hubby and I can cruise sans kids. We’d want the exact same kind of cruise as you’re taking. “Rest, relaxation, and time with just each other.”

 

 

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Dream in 2016 and am looking forward to going on her again next fall.

I hope you can too! It definitely was needed and worth the time and money away!

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July 3, Cozumel, Cenote Hopping w/ Lunch

We had coffee delivered in the morning since our meeting time to get on the boat to the main land was early. We got ready, drank that on our balcony, then headed up for a quick breakfast. Gathered our towels, sunscreen, and book bag and went to the crimson dining room. I took a Bonine pill because I’ve heard of tons of people getting motion sickness on the boat to the mainland. I don’t usually get sick, but I didn’t want to chance it.

We loaded up onto the boat, and we picked a top seat on the edge so I could have the wind blowing on my face the whole time. That helped a lot with not getting sick I think. The ride was about 40 minutes. We got on the dock and met our tour guide, Alex. He led our group down the pier to an air conditioned bus.

Funny story, we stopped to go to the bathroom and you had to pay the attendant a quarter or two. I was thinking we had no other option and I had to go bad. All we had on us were twenties so I went into the gas station store and bought some chips so I’d have change to give the lady. Well I wasn’t thinking and got change back in Mexican money! So it was the most expensive bathroom break EVER, and there was one as soon as we got to the Cenote. So silly!

It was a 45 minute bus ride to the park. Once we got there we had fresh fruit and water waiting for us. Then Alex lead us down some man made paths to the first of four cenotes we’d see.

Once we got to the first one, we stripped and got ready to jump or swim! You could zip line and fall in or just jump. We did both. The next two pics are of us just jumping.

The next stop was a really cool one where we could swim under the cave a bit and see stalactites and bats!

They were just so pretty! If you didn’t want to jump you could just swim off the dock. This is the name of the place we went.

Following. I've been on the Dream twice & she's one of my favorites.

Cozumel, continued...

The third one we went to we zip lined over it on three different lines, then canoed back to where we started. This Cenote was HUGE and just beautiful!!! I have lots of pictures from this one!

The last one we went to was our favorite. The water in all of them was fresh and cool. This one was shaded, and colder than the others, but still refreshing. We jumped off the cliff for this one, but then floated around on life jackets. It was so peaceful!

At the end of the excursion we walked down to a Mayan village to have lunch. We had rice, black beans, chicken, pork, fresh salsa, guacamole, and hand made tortillas! It was delicious! Here’s a pic of where we got our food.

After lunch we got back on the bus, headed back to catch our boat back to the Dream! This was a PHENOMENAL excursion and I highly recommend it!!!!

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Cozumel, continued...

 

The third one we went to we zip lined over it on three different lines, then canoed back to where we started. This Cenote was HUGE and just beautiful!!! I have lots of pictures from this one!

 

The last one we went to was our favorite. The water in all of them was fresh and cool. This one was shaded, and colder than the others, but still refreshing. We jumped off the cliff for this one, but then floated around on life jackets. It was so peaceful!

 

At the end of the excursion we walked down to a Mayan village to have lunch. We had rice, black beans, chicken, pork, fresh salsa, guacamole, and hand made tortillas! It was delicious! Here’s a pic of where we got our food.

 

After lunch we got back on the bus, headed back to catch our boat back to the Dream! This was a PHENOMENAL excursion and I highly recommend it!!!!

 

 

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I am doing this excursion next month, so glad you enjoy and happy I picked it. What time did you get back to Cozumel and how much time before the ship left?

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Following. I've been on the Dream twice & she's one of my favorites.

I can now say I’ve been on her twice! Loved it both times!

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