Carnival dream oct 1-8 premier cruise

To start off we stayed in Metairie at the Qaulity inn pre-cruise. Great price, a few little things wrong. Although i would not recommend this hotel it did serve its purpose. At just 7 miles from port it was very easy to get to port quickly.

We left early for port as we were parking at harrahs garage (free if you are platinum or seven star) And we wanted to have a little casino time. We had free breakfast at harrahs won about $30 each and were headed to port. It is a $8 per person taxi ride from harrahs but we chose to walk. This was the first time i had done this and being a larger person i was a little worried. It was a very easy walk but just be advised there are about 25 steps at the end that you must walk down carrying your luggage so if you cant do this take a cab.

Arrived at port at 10:30 am and we were boarding by 11:10. We headed right to room as it had been a very long day and we needed a nap (thats my age showing) lol So after a nap we went exploring. I had just been on the Dream in August so nothing new for me. Was really surprised some of the staff recognized me, this made me feel like i had come home :) After muster drill we went to a private premier sail away party. To tell you i wasnt impressed. If you go to any party where they are serving drinks and snacks sit on the ground level as very rarely do the servers come up the steps. They had the first on many cash drawings Which we did not win :( but to no avail we are off to dinner.

Dinner was great just as expected dont remember what i had but there really are no bad choices, just differences in ones palet. After dinner friend was going to explore i went to casino. YESSS i won !!!! lots of drawing for premier guest, we didnt win :(

Day 2

Day at sea

Woke up at 5am was having coffee at 5:30. What a beautiful day its going to be. Breakfast at 7:30 and off to todays activities. played trivia listened to some music had some lunch took a nap (you will see napping is a real trend with us) Went to dinner and then off to show then comedy. it was a late4 night for us as i went to casino afterwords WON AGAIN!!!!! bed around 2am.

Day 3

Day at sea

Pretty much did the same as day 2. Stayed out of casino except for drawings (we did not win) lol

Day 4 Mohogany bay

This was a beach day for us. I have to say that i am not a beach person at all but my friend is so we went. We paid for the unlimited lift rides and chairs with clamshell and floats it was through carnival and was $49 for 2 people (not each) We got out there early because we wanted the front row. Which we got. Was a beautiful day mostly. It did rain just a little at first then for about 10 minutes then it was over. The water was amazing. The rain was COLD lol but we just stuck it out and still had a amazing time. Although it was VERY crowded When you get about 20 feet into the water it drops off very fast and about 20 more feet there is a sandbar. This works out perfectly for those who wish to not be around all the masses. Once you get past the sandbar it is very quiet and peacful. Stayed out in traquility way to long and got a nasty sunburn....lol Back on the ship about 1pm just before the hotest part of the day. Lunch nap and trivia. Dinner, show and Casino for drawings that was our day. We were informed on this day that we would be missing Belize and would be going to cozumel tomorrow. Friend was dissappointed but safty is #1. Exteneded stay in cozumel, it was announced we would not be leaving until 9:30 I do love cozumel at night. All the changes do to hurricane Ivan? I think thats what it was called....lol

Day 5 Cozumel

Well woke up this morning to captain anouncing that we would have to leave by 5:30 to stay ahead of storm. Well phoeyy!!!! Wait a minute, are you seeing what im seeing there are 7 ships in port. HOLY CRAP!!!! We got off early as we really just wanted to go to Haley Davidson shop. So glad we did!!! Started back to ship it took 35 minutes just to get through the liquer store going to peir. It was soooooo crowded 3 mega ships alone at our port. I have been to Cozumel many times and this is the most crowded it has ever been. Was just glad to get back on the ship. Back on the ship got my ice coffee and my book and read the afternoon away. It was a very nice afternoon. Shower, dinner, Casino, comedy bed.

Day 5 day at sea

Everything is out of whack today, we are doing Saturdays scheduel on Friday. Everything was behind today and staff was working hard to keep up. Spent most of the day in casino donating thier money back....lol Dinner show and bed. it was a early night.

Day 6 Day dooing circles at sea....lol

So we are informed today that we will not be getting home on time but they dont know when we will be getting home....UMMM OK!!! They are shooting for Monday morning. They did open the phone lines for 10 minutes for all to call home. Open lines also ment your cel would work if you had a signal. you had to pay your carriers fees. They had lots of activities today to keep us busy. We did the show also it was amazing.

Day 7 day at sea

Did alot of reading today. Went to casino had fun loat a little. Just took it easy today as i didnt sleep to good last night.

Day 8 Day at sea

Well this is the 8th day of our 7 day cruise We were informed at 5 pm that we would be able to leave tonight between 9:30 and 11 pm or we couyld wait until morning and get off.

OK here are some things i didnt mention,,

ON the 3rd day we did win a casino drawing and it was pick a bag. You could win cash chefs table or steakhouse. I picked chefs table for 2. I was soooo excited as i could never justify spending the xtra cash for this as there is so very much great food for free!!! Well it was in the galley, that was a bad thing for us as I cant hear with all the background noises and i was struggling to hear what chef was saying. That being said my friend and i went in the a pact, we had to try everything and we must swallow anything we put in our mouth....lol This was really funny because the first course was Mediteranian olives with lemon zest and herbs and neither of us like olives lol :o To no avail we ate them and survived there were 14 courses and a magician. it was 3 and half hours long and we went to the room and ordered room service afterwords. Everything was barely warm or just cold. There were a few really delicious items but most was sub par by best. not worth the cost at all. Now before all you haters start judging me, I have been researching chefs table for quite some time and have seen some outstanding menus I would have loved to try but this was not one of them. I would haver been dissappointed to say the very least if i had dished out good money for this.

That being said, The casino found out that i was not impressed and sent us to the steakhouse on Saturday night.

Just let me say this is WELL WORTH THE MONEY!!!! I intend to visit the steakhouse on every cruise from here on. Everything was amazing and we both left nearly 5 oz of steak each just to get to dessert.

This is why I couldnt sleep sunday morning i had ate wayyyyy to much the night before.

Now .... The stuff that noone wants to hear. Saturday night there was a medical call on deck 6 sadly the gentelman had passed, my condolances goes out to his son who was traveling with him and to his family our prayers are with you during this difficult time.

Sadly this happens more often then you would think.

Well thats about it. If you have any questions please ask i will try to answer.

We were on this cruise also as premier casino fares. I agree that it was hard to get a waiter's attention at the casino sailaway party, but being a New Yorker I am not shy about yelling in a crowd to get someone's attention. Once I did, most of the servers found us and we were also on the outside perimeter.

I won $75 in one of the casino's wild card drawings. And somehow we and another couple were invited to have dinner with the Captain and his top Officers in the MDR late seating on elegant night.

We also ate in the Steakhouse and it was the best meal of the week. However, we weren't comped like you, I'm jealous, LOL.

We participated in the cluster muck debarkation late on Sunday night. There was no priority debark, and for the longest time Carnival had just 1 young crew member trying to manage the chaos in a very crowded theater. YIKES!

I didn't notice many gripes about our "extended" hours on the cruise due to H. Nate. I thought maybe guest services might be swamped with guests demanding to get off the ship or be awarded some type of compensation. I did feel bad for those who had plane tickets and missed their Sunday afternoon flights.

I heard the alarm call for medical services, but wasn't aware that anyone had passed away, so sad. Totally agree that, considering the demographic and the excesses of a cruise, that this doesn't happen several times on each sailing.

Overall, I liked the Dream and the Captain, officers and crew, and would book another cruise on any of the Dream Class ships again.

Awww yess NATE thats it!!!!! I couldnt remember thanks for that :)

We also debarked on Sunday night, it was complete utter CHAOS!!!!!

We got in car headed home by 11 it was ridiculous!! But we needed to be home Monday so we did and we made it about 9 am we stopped for a 45 min snooze alomg the way :)

On Carnival ships that have the steakhouse we dine there every night its always overall excellent, glad you had the experience and enjoyed it as well as we did.

Did you find the Premier cruise that the casino is more crowded....that the table stakes were set higher, and the slot machines tighter?

On Carnival ships that have the steakhouse we dine there every night its always overall excellent, glad you had the experience and enjoyed it as well as we did.

 

Did you find the Premier cruise that the casino is more crowded....that the table stakes were set higher, and the slot machines tighter?

The casino was definitely more crowded, this was the first cruise ever i actually left because of the smoke. Table stakes.... I can only answer for the craps table and the stakes were low. Slots were all the same as they always are.

How did the casino hosts find out you didn't like the Chef's Table?

It sounds like the steaks were better than the stakes.

Thanks, because our last premier cruise everything was tighter and stakes at tables were raised during the entire cruise.

How did the casino hosts find out you didn't like the Chef's Table?

 

It sounds like the steaks were better than the stakes.

They ( casino host) asked me the next day how i had liked the chefs table because i was so excited i had won it. They were surprised that i was so displeased with the total experience. Later that same afternoon they came to me and offered me and my guest dinner for 2 at the steak house. I never complained to anyone until i was asked. Even then it wasnt really a complaint just disappointment in the whole experience.The steak house was a definite experience. Everything was wonderful.

By chance did you happen to notice whether there was a good rock band on the ship? My wife and I love to dance. There used to be a regular band called 'The Black Jack Band' but I think they are no longer on the Dream.

Thanks in advance for your help.

They ( casino host) asked me the next day how i had liked the chefs table because i was so excited i had won it. They were surprised that i was so displeased with the total experience. Later that same afternoon they came to me and offered me and my guest dinner for 2 at the steak house. I never complained to anyone until i was asked. Even then it wasnt really a complaint just disappointment in the whole experience.The steak house was a definite experience. Everything was wonderful.

I suspected they reached out to you for your feedback and I'm glad to know this is the case. Taking good care of their players is job one.

I would have been disappointed in a first course of olives, too, and I like olives but not as a starter to a pricey meal.

By chance did you happen to notice whether there was a good rock band on the ship? My wife and I love to dance. There used to be a regular band called 'The Black Jack Band' but I think they are no longer on the Dream.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

there was a rock band but it wasnt them the only reason i know that is because i was on the Dream in August and the band had changed since then. They were in the alchemy bar area most of the time and performing in the stage show during the america rocks show.

:)We were on the cruise. We left :oCozumel around 7:30. The captain opened the phone lines for 2 days, at least. We were told that 1250 people debarked Sunday night. We had an easy debarkation Monday morning. We went down the gangway at 9:00 am by ourselves. It should that easy all the time.

Thanks for the report.

there was a rock band but it wasnt them the only reason i know that is because i was on the Dream in August and the band had changed since then. They were in the alchemy bar area most of the time and performing in the stage show during the america rocks show.

thanks again.

The rock band was great as was the rest of the music entertainment. There was a two person singing couple, 3 person group playing the violin, and a lady playing the steel drum.:D

We were on this cruise also as premier casino fares. I agree that it was hard to get a waiter's attention at the casino sailaway party, but being a New Yorker I am not shy about yelling in a crowd to get someone's attention. Once I did, most of the servers found us and we were also on the outside perimeter.

 

I won $75 in one of the casino's wild card drawings. And somehow we and another couple were invited to have dinner with the Captain and his top Officers in the MDR late seating on elegant night.

 

We also ate in the Steakhouse and it was the best meal of the week. However, we weren't comped like you, I'm jealous, LOL.

 

We participated in the cluster muck debarkation late on Sunday night. There was no priority debark, and for the longest time Carnival had just 1 young crew member trying to manage the chaos in a very crowded theater. YIKES!

 

I didn't notice many gripes about our "extended" hours on the cruise due to H. Nate. I thought maybe guest services might be swamped with guests demanding to get off the ship or be awarded some type of compensation. I did feel bad for those who had plane tickets and missed their Sunday afternoon flights.

 

I heard the alarm call for medical services, but wasn't aware that anyone had passed away, so sad. Totally agree that, considering the demographic and the excesses of a cruise, that this doesn't happen several times on each sailing.

 

Overall, I liked the Dream and the Captain, officers and crew, and would book another cruise on any of the Dream Class ships again.

We tip the servers at the Premier party a few $$ each drink and they were coming back very fast lol. Very few people tip in those free party settings but they deserve it and it Def helps getting fast service

Also we grab one of the Pre made drinks they walk around with like a Long Island or Rum drink but then order a Grey Goose and Sprite Zero

After tipping the server the next time he automatically brought us back 2 drinks each saying it was easier for him 😜😜🍹🍹

Thank you for your trip report.

Keith

Can you tell me what your premiere gifts were? The one in the bag and the one later in the week?

Can you tell me what your premiere gifts were? The one in the bag and the one later in the week?

We received.... 2 clip on cups the kind you can clip on your belt or back pack these are aluminum i believe, chocolate covered strawberries, a dozen cookies from cherry on top, 1 very warm and comfy blanket ( i confiscated this one ;) ) and in the bag i had won there where two tumbler cup that are a odd shape lol and dinner for 2 at the chefs table. I was talking with other players and all the gifts were not the same. There were different levels of premier from my understanding. Some got a discounted cruise, some received a free cruise and some got a free cruise with cash back. We were in the middle free cruise no cash back. We had sail away party first night, strawberries second night, hanging cups 3rd night, cookies 4rth night, and blanket 5th night. We won chefs table and went on the 6th night and were offered steak house as a gift from casino on the last night. Others got different things so not all gifts were the same. I was told by a fellow cruiser that they got robes and some got towels. I just know what i got and i was very happy with what i received.