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Dream questions


CruiseMomTX
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So excited, just booked the Dream out of NO and leave 2 months from today!! We sailed on the Breeze twice last year so should be familiar with the ship but what differences should we expect on the Dream? Also looking to book the steakhouse and know sometimes the formal nights are different, which nights should they be? We are sailing Western Caribbean, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman & Cozumel. FTTF is sold out but hoping it becomes available but no big deal. I guess we also need find somewhere to stay in New Orleans as we will fly in the night before and stay the night we get back. Will also need to figure out transfers to and from the airport and port. Lots of fun planning ahead!!

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Congrats on your cruise! We also are sailing a similar itinerary on Dream in early August and we are probably on the same sailing. This will be our second trip on Dream. She and Breeze are our favorites. If you are familiar with Breeze, Dream is almost identical. There are a few minor differences. For example, Breeze has a Red Frog pub (snack food, not just drinks) behind Alchemy and Dream does not. The spa layout is a bit different, if you care about that. Others can speak to the formal nights, I kind of play them by ear. For the steak house, you might consider booking it the first night. It will be less crowded and typically your table will get comped a free bottle of wine. We haven't been on Dream for a few years, but just found the the crew to be amazing and friendly. This is not unusual for Carnival, but the Dream crew just seemed a step above.

 

 

Last year, we got off the Breeze in New Orleans rather than Galveston (long story), which is one of my favorite cities in the country anyway. Enjoy the city! I won't recommend particular hotels, but staying in the business district or the French Quarter is close to all the action, and not far from the port. On the morning of your cruise, depending on your check-out time and boarding time, I would highly recommend getting some beignets and chicory coffee for breakfast at Cafe du Monde. But seriously, enjoy the city and the local food, it is a unique place :)

 

 

For transfers, I do not remember what Carnival charges, but we used Lyft during our "unexpected arrival" last summer. The cost to get between the French Quarter to the airport area was about $30 one way. I imagine it would be a bit less to get from the Quarter to the port since it is so close.

 

 

 

Have fun!

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We are on the Dream June 24 and will be coming in late Friday so we can have a full day in one of our favorite cities. We found a pretty good rate at a hotel near jackson square. We plan to uber from the airport to the hotel and then to the port.

Have fun!

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We're leaving on a Western itinerary on Sunday on the Dream. Your formal nights "should" be Monday and Thursday. We booked the steakhouse for Saturday night, but then we heard they brought back Baked Alaska on the final night. So, we moved our reservation to 7pm and plan to go to our regular dining time at 6pm and just have dessert. :-)

 

Never been on the Breeze, but it should be similar. It seems regardless of the ship you are on, Carnival offers the same level of service, so that shouldn't be a problem.

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We typically sail out of NOLA. Getting to and from the airport, try Uber or Lyft. Both are right in line (if not cheaper) than taxis. We have loved our Uber drivers there!!

 

Find a hotel in or near the French Quarter. We have stayed in Place d'Armes, the DoubleTree on Canal and the Bourbon Orleans. All were wonderful hotels.

 

Be sure to be on the top deck for sail away. We love sailing down the river.

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I use airport shuttle new Orleans dot com for airport transfer to my hotel pre-cruise. You can also schedule them to pick you up at your hotel post-cruise to return to the airport. Both can be arranged online in advance. I like to stay at the Hilton Riverside or Harrah's hotel in NOLA. Both are very close to the cruise port and I usually take a taxi to the cruise port from the hotel because it's close. Good luck with FTTF. Have a great cruise!

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So excited, just booked the Dream out of NO and leave 2 months from today!! We sailed on the Breeze twice last year so should be familiar with the ship but what differences should we expect on the Dream? Also looking to book the steakhouse and know sometimes the formal nights are different, which nights should they be? We are sailing Western Caribbean, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman & Cozumel. FTTF is sold out but hoping it becomes available but no big deal. I guess we also need find somewhere to stay in New Orleans as we will fly in the night before and stay the night we get back. Will also need to figure out transfers to and from the airport and port. Lots of fun planning ahead!!

 

If you're into fancy and elegant I recommend the The Hotel Monteleone. If you area cheap-o like me I suggest the Chateau Orleans. It's very inexpensive but super close to everything, located smack dab in the middle of the French Quarter... But set back on a quiet street so it's not loud at night. It even has a little courtyard and pool. You can find them on AirBnB for even lower rates. I'll be staying there in August of 2019 before sailing out on the Valor for Cozumel and Progreso and I'm SUPER DUPER excited too lol! And mine is over a year away lol! Generally the formal dinner is the second or third night depending on the length of the cruise but I have read in many different places that the best time to go the the Steakhouse is the first night. They often have special promotions like free or reduced priced bottles of wine and other neat stuff. And speaking of promotions I have also heard over and over that FTTF is not really worth it... But I don't have any personal experience with that. Hope I said something helpful :D Have a great time!

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We typically sail out of NOLA. Getting to and from the airport, try Uber or Lyft. Both are right in line (if not cheaper) than taxis. We have loved our Uber drivers there!!

 

Find a hotel in or near the French Quarter. We have stayed in Place d'Armes, the DoubleTree on Canal and the Bourbon Orleans. All were wonderful hotels.

 

Be sure to be on the top deck for sail away. We love sailing down the river.

 

 

oooooohhh..... Thanks for the top deck tip. I hadn't even thought of that!

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We are probably on the same cruise!

 

We are from NOLA so we are biased. We living in Houston now and will be staying at the Hilton Riverside. Looking forward to Cafe Du Monde the morning of the cruise!

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Hello, if you are on the July 8th cruise like us, please look at your accomodation rapidly. There is a music festival in town and all the hotels were fully booked months ago. Many of us had to book hotels 1 hour away from downtown. Good luck!

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We are probably on the same cruise!

 

We are from NOLA so we are biased. We living in Houston now and will be staying at the Hilton Riverside. Looking forward to Cafe Du Monde the morning of the cruise!

 

Try a Muffalatta Sandwich. They are great! https://www.thespruceeats.com/muffaletta-olive-salad-sandwich-recipe-913341?utm_term=muffaletta+sandwich+recipe&utm_content=p1-main-2-title&utm_medium=sem&utm_source=msn_s&utm_campaign=adid-3dafd6dc-8d4c-4a4e-aba6-f573f6b3b081-0-ab_msb_ocode-4597&ad=semD&an=msn_s&am=broad&q=muffaletta+sandwich+recipe&o=4597&qsrc=999&l=sem&askid=3dafd6dc-8d4c-4a4e-aba6-f573f6b3b081-0-ab_msb

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We're leaving on a Western itinerary on Sunday on the Dream. Your formal nights "should" be Monday and Thursday. We booked the steakhouse for Saturday night, but then we heard they brought back Baked Alaska on the final night. So, we moved our reservation to 7pm and plan to go to our regular dining time at 6pm and just have dessert. :-)

.

 

 

why thursday and not friday?

 

you are aware that showing up at 6pm you might have to wait for dessert as its not put out on the line yet

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We just sailed on that exact cruise on Dream 2 weeks ago. We live close do did not have to do any travel or hotels. For the Cruise, the formal nights are Monday and Thursday I believe. We did the Steak House on Monday not realizing it was the first Formal Night which was mistake as they had steak and good food in the MDR anyway. So I would pick a different night to do the Steak House. I don't think the FTTF is worth it, we got on and off the ship pretty fast and the wait on rooms the first day was not bad at all, they were ready at 1:30pm, we boarded at 11:30am.

 

The shows were great each night, highly recommend those as well as the comedy club. Tipping the bartenders $1 frequently really does work, they remember your name and will spot you among the crowd most times.

 

Alot of folks who had latter boarding times had trouble parking in the garage so if you need to park which I don't think you do but others might, get there early. We had a full ship on the May 27 sailing.

 

If you have other specific questions post them and will be happen to help.

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Thank you everyone for the help and information! We have been to New Orleans several times so are excited to have a little time there before and after the cruise.

 

New Orleans is my favorite port city for a pre-cruise stay. The people are so warm and friendly, the food is great, the city is very walkable in the daytime, and I love the casino being so close to the cruise port. If you do gamble, be sure to sign up with Harrah's Total Rewards program. I can usually get my pre-cruise room and food comped there, and I'm not a big gambler at all. I don't think I mentioned it before but I plan to be on the same Dream cruise with you. Best wishes for a great cruise!

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We just sailed on that exact cruise on Dream 2 weeks ago. We live close do did not have to do any travel or hotels. For the Cruise, the formal nights are Monday and Thursday I believe. We did the Steak House on Monday not realizing it was the first Formal Night which was mistake as they had steak and good food in the MDR anyway. So I would pick a different night to do the Steak House. I don't think the FTTF is worth it, we got on and off the ship pretty fast and the wait on rooms the first day was not bad at all, they were ready at 1:30pm, we boarded at 11:30am.

 

The shows were great each night, highly recommend those as well as the comedy club. Tipping the bartenders $1 frequently really does work, they remember your name and will spot you among the crowd most times.

 

Alot of folks who had latter boarding times had trouble parking in the garage so if you need to park which I don't think you do but others might, get there early. We had a full ship on the May 27 sailing.

 

If you have other specific questions post them and will be happen to help.

 

Thanks! We put in for steakhouse reservations for the first night, free wine is a bonus, and will probably try for another night also. We have sailed with and without FTTF so no big deal but do like it and we port in Grand Cayman so its nice for the early tender. We have 12:00 boarding and will uber or taxi to the port so luckily don't need parking. Our last few cruises have been on the Breeze so was surprised to see the Dream doesn't have the Italian restaurant, was that replaced with anything else? Thanks again everyone for the help and input. We normally sail from Galveston since its a short drive but are excited to have a reason to spend a few extra days in New Orleans. The kids are already talking about their favorite places to eat that we can't miss.

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No Italian except the 24/7 pizza station :). You basically have buffet, Guy's Burgers, Guy's BBQ, Pasta Bar, Steak House, Coffee Shop, Pizza Station, Indian (India) Station, Burrito Station, MDRs (Coffee shop costs unless you have Cheers)

 

Tip you might already know, don't stop at the first section of the buffet as that is what everyone does and it gets packed, go to the back section of buffet near back of ship and most times have same stations but no lines. Also the one Station outside at back of boat(opposite side from Pizza) serves breakfast items along with doing Omelets and no one goes there so no line.

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  • 1 month later...
We have a balcony room on the Upper Deck for our September cruise on the Dream. I'm hearing on fb posts that these cabins have a fridge (cooler) in the cabins. Can anyone confirm that?

 

We had a mini fridge in our cove balcony last year on the Dream so I am sure yours will too. We loved the Dream so much last year we booked her again this year! We also are going in September so I am sure you are getting as excited as I am! Have a great cruise!

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No Italian except the 24/7 pizza station :). You basically have buffet, Guy's Burgers, Guy's BBQ, Pasta Bar, Steak House, Coffee Shop, Pizza Station, Indian (India) Station, Burrito Station, MDRs (Coffee shop costs unless you have Cheers)

 

Tip you might already know, don't stop at the first section of the buffet as that is what everyone does and it gets packed, go to the back section of buffet near back of ship and most times have same stations but no lines. Also the one Station outside at back of boat(opposite side from Pizza) serves breakfast items along with doing Omelets and no one goes there so no line.

 

Pasta Bella was still there in March.

Is it gone?

It is really good, to me anyway.

I don't like those cold burgers and fries they were serving.

Or the dry skimpy pizza...

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We are on an August sailing and looking for parking. $20 per day for the cruise terminal is high. Have any of you parked at Machu Picchu garage? Website says $14 day with free shuttle. I assume they add fees also.

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