Dream Western Review with Pics - Cove Balcony

So after many many many months of doing research and reading reviews I can’t believe it is finally time to write one. I think we booked our cruise in Jan or Feb this year so we had about 10 months to wait and plan! We got back today from our trip on the Dream doing the western route of Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya in a cove balcony. We did things in each port that I’ll try to cover day by day.

I’m going to write this review in segments and hope to get it done over what is left of this weekend! All in all we had a wonderful week and enjoyed the trip immensely. I wouldn’t say that everything was perfect, but then again we didn’t really have that expectation. Having had the time to research I’ve read a lot of reviews where a few things might have gone wrong and “ruined the cruise.” Our philosophy is this… you have seven days to do with as you wish, one event shouldn’t make or break an entire week. There were a few things that I’ll try to remember to mention as I go along, but nothing that would stop us from going again! Our future cruise certificate was delivered under our stateroom door this morning and we’ll certainly put that to good use.

I’ve got over 1400 pictures to sort through and start to upload so I can include them here.

I have a cove balcony booked for next May and can't wait to see your pictures...

Looking forward to reading your review! We were on this cruise too (also in a cove), and I'm interested to hear your take on everything. We had a wonderful time...our 2nd time on the Dream!

Oh goodie another Dream review! I have a Cove in Sept 2012, too! I'm subscribing:D

I guess it might be easiest to start with some general information and comments that I’ll try to reference as I go along.

We traveled as a group of 16 and all in all the trip went very well with a group of that size. We had things planned in three ports and just did the shops briefly in Belize. Having a solid plan before we left with contact and “reservations” for each stop was a great way to stay organized and coordinated with a group that size.

Butch – some reviews have said he was great, others that they wouldn’t sail with him again. I can honestly say that he didn’t have an impact on our cruise one way or the other. We didn’t do all the shows so maybe that had something to do with it. I think I saw him on stage twice during the week just doing introductions of the production shows. He was on the PA on embarkation and debarkation, but other than that maybe once a day and just in the public areas. I saw the assistant CD much more than him, but even she wasn’t around enough to have an impact. I tend to think it may have been from our approach this time around which was to lay a little low and not be in the heart of the action all week long.

Shows - We did a few of the shows during the week which ranged from incredible to leaving fairly early to go find something else to do. There was so much going on that we certainly couldn’t do it all. We could go back on another sailing and have a different trip by incorporating the other activities we couldn’t fit in this week. I’ll include a little about 8 more seconds, Karen Grainger, Dancing in the Streets, and the others in each days synopsis.

Service – This has been debated back and forth on various threads with many differing opinions on the matter. We hadn’t sailed Carnival in 5 years so I didn’t really have much of an opinion until now. I lean towards the side that says that the service isn’t what it used to be. BUT – it wasn’t terrible, or even bad, to the point were it impacted the cruise. Our first night in the MDR was slow, disjointed, and certainly not what we had hoped for. We found out though that it was the assistant’s first cruise so it could be somewhat expected. It got better as the week progressed but wasn’t ever to where it was on previous cruises. The cabin steward was prompt, but not notable. This was the first cruise we have taken where we didn’t feel compelled to tip additional on top of the prepaid gratuities. Again, it wasn’t anything that even warranted a complaint to the maitre’ d or guest services and it won’t stop us from going again.

Ship – Wow!! This thing is huge! It never felt like it was too big though. We finally hit a few of the out of the way places on our last sea day. We had over 4250 people onboard this week. It obviously felt a little crowded on embarkation, but other than the Lido deck, there weren’t many options available. The elevators always seemed busy, but we didn’t have an issue taking the stairs since it was typically only a couple of decks. With three banks of elevators you would think it would be smoother, but it got to the point where we didn’t even attempt it towards the end of the week.

Smell – I think I smelled it, but had it not been a common theme I would have never noticed it. In fact, the first few times I smelled it was after the fact when I realized it and then it was an odd sense of “did I just imagine that.” It was always only in passing, one sniff at the most, and nothing was too strong. In fact – when we walked forward on Deck 2 there was a batch of cabins that smoked inside all week long and that was by far more noticeable, stronger, and lasted longer.

I'm working on embarkation now and have some of the pictures loaded. We were in 2392 on the port side. For the western route I would highly recommend this side since all the port action is on that side! We stood here for awhile and watch the dogs sniff the supplies being loaded on board.

I'm working on embarkation now and have some of the pictures loaded. We were in 2392 on the port side. For the western route I would highly recommend this side since all the port action is on that side! We stood here for awhile and watch the dogs sniff the supplies being loaded on board.

 

We are in 2392 and my parents are in 2396 (the adjoining cabin) in just 7 days! (I am so excited!) Did you notice any noise from the galley? What about the balcony dividers between these two cabins...I've read that some of the cove balconies can be opened up to make one large balcony (We are hoping this will work!). REALLY looking forward to your review--and pictures! Another coincidence? We also have a large group--17 to be exact! (and I am the official "cruise planner" if the group :-). Did you have late or early seating? We started w/ early (b/c of the kids), but as our group morphed, early was full. Dinner is our one time we'd all like to be together (Aside from some of our port days)...Can't wait to hear more about your vacation! :-)

We loved the Dream!

Embarkation

We left the Orlando area about 8:00 or so on Saturday morning and drove to Park N Cruise. I think we got there about 9:45 or so and they were having delays in getting guests off the previous cruise because of an issue with customs. It had nothing to do with Park N Cruise and they worked through it very well. We pulled off to the side of the lot and waiting about 10-15 minutes and they gave us the go ahead to get started. They have a large warehouse you drive in to and unload all your luggage. Then they load it on to the van and away you go. We happened to hit them when they ran a $3.99/day special! I see now that the rate is $7.99/day, but is still seems like a good deal. The shuttle over was quick and easy and we would do it again.

The process in port was very smooth. We went through a security screening on the first floor and headed up to check in. Afterwards I realized that that was the only real check point. We could have conceivably carried on more than the 2 bottles of wine or just about anything in cans. I had a few 12 packs of soda I had anticipated opening for them but they never even slowed down as the back was scanned. (Getting off today it was a different story for people I saw coming in so your mileage may vary!). We had a little hiccup with one birth certificate but it all worked out. We had finally decided to get passports but it was too close to the time of sailing. We will get them before we go again though just to ease the process. We waiting maybe 30 minutes in the terminal, they called our zone and off we went. One person in our party was taking some pre-boarding pictures and was told that cameras were not permitted in the terminal, no biggie, just seemed odd…

We hit the Lido buffet and found plenty to eat and tables for all 16 of us by the window no less. We went a little further back than most probably wanted but it worked out. A few did the Mongolian grill but most just got the regular buffet. I don’t think any of the 16 did the pasta bar all week! Lunch took us about an hour all together and by then it was getting a little crowded and people were holding trays looking for seats. We went up to deck 11 to look around a little and almost the entire seating area was wide open. We found that to be the case many times this week. If you followed the masses it was busy, if you went just a little out of the way it was wide open.

Rooms were open right at 1:30 so we dropped of the carry-ons and our luggage arrived right about that time too. Muster started right on time in the dinning room with no life vests and no requirement to go to the outside deck. Quick, easy and painless. We tried to get from deck 2 to 10 afterwards to be with family on the “secret deck” in front of their cabins and hit the elevator log jam. We hoofed the stairs up 8 floors and felt the burn :D

Lots of people waving back!!

Nice review! Good job!

We are in 2392 and my parents are in 2396 (the adjoining cabin) in just 7 days! (I am so excited!) Did you notice any noise from the galley? What about the balcony dividers between these two cabins...I've read that some of the cove balconies can be opened up to make one large balcony (We are hoping this will work!). REALLY looking forward to your review--and pictures! Another coincidence? We also have a large group--17 to be exact! (and I am the official "cruise planner" if the group :-). Did you have late or early seating? We started w/ early (b/c of the kids), but as our group morphed, early was full. Dinner is our one time we'd all like to be together (Aside from some of our port days)...Can't wait to hear more about your vacation! :-)

Ha! I got chills as I read this because that was so us this week! My wife's sister and family were in 2396 this week! For whatever reason the balcony doesn't open between those two rooms. It is because the adjoining door is on the wall without the bed of course, and the balcony door is at the foot of the bed. The divider between those two balconies is the steel door that you can't move because then you would seal off the balcony. Really kind of odd but we certainly managed. We toted the chairs between them a couple of times but towards the end just brought the side table over and used that to make four places to sit.

Someone had asked before we left about being able to talk from one to the other and you certainly can. You kind of naturally lean out as you lean against the rail and you can talk back and forth without and issue. We never heard any noise from the galley or even the hallway for that matter. The location was great. A few steps aft and up one (or two) levels to dinner. Go forward and up one deck for the Encore. A few steps aft to the elevator to the Lido ice cream and pizza :)

We had early seating this week. With kids I think that worked best. We were on in plenty of time in each of the ports to get to dinner. They extended Roatan until 7:00 this week so we could have stayed a little longer but didn't really need to.

If you have any questions at all please feel free to let me know. We booked private excursions for just our group in Cozumel (glass bottom snorkel) and Roatan with Juan Carlos. I wouldn't hesitate to go that route again with a group. It was nice to be the only people in our boat/van and not be herded with a bunch of other people.

Here is a photo of my bed that someone else is sleeping in tonight :( I took it this morning after I realized we didn't get one in its pristine state when we first got in.

The evening of embarkation we had dinner in the MDR (as we did every night). I looked back at the menu and I’m honestly not sure what I had. I think it may have been the linguine with sausage and the shrimp dish. My wife had the flat iron steak. All in all it wasn’t anything we were overly excited about. I did try the Didja candied salmon and well, I can now say I did but probably wouldn’t again. It tasted a lot like any other smoked salmon. The service was a bit off this first night. The assistant came around and filled all of the water glasses without saying anything to anyone. When we asked for tea he got a bit confused I guess and poured it into the wine glasses! He said a number of times that he promised he would do better the next night. We were in the MDR a long time this first night and still working on dessert when they raised the lights to full to signal it was time to leave. I hope that the service team gets a better groove sooner than later.

All in all I’m really not too impressed with the new menu. Again, like other things, it isn’t “bad” but wasn’t much of a wow either. I certainly never left the table hungry, but sometimes left somewhat underwhelmed with the dishes I selected. There were a number of nights that it was picking the best of the available options rather than trying to narrow it down from multiple things I would like to try. We did the Chef’s Table later in the week and I asked him about the changes so I’ll try to relay what he said when I get to our Belize day.

I'll work on the first sea day in the morning. I still haven't gotten my land legs back after the last day and a half of rough weather coming home. As I sit in bed everything is still swaying :)

I wanted to include these though and now is as good of a time as any. There have been threads that indicate it is too big of a ship with too many people. This is a lido deck picture on our first sea day and it's busy, but there are still pairs of chairs available. If you look up on the two decks above there are a lot of chairs available there too:

I think these though are a little more telling of what is available if you just look around a little. Deck 5 provided a private hot tub for the kids and more chairs than I could ever cover with every blue towel and flip flop from my cabin!

We are sailing Western for our honeymoon in June,looking forward to your review!!!!

Also cruising Winter 2012 with our kids, it will be neat to see a review from a family with younger children!!:):)

I am looking forward to your review!

We sailed the same route a month before you (posted my long review here....) ... will be great to see the cruise through another perspective.

I totally agree with you about the dining room..... new menu? Meh.

Great start! Looking forward to the rest. We go on 12/10/2011 and can't wait! :)

Great review. We will be "Dream"ing on October 15 so I am really enjoying your review and the pictures.

Love it so far. We leave next Saturday. :) I have a 5 yr old and almost 1 yr old, so interested in seeing what you thought about it with kids.

AWESOME review,looking forward to more.

I meant to include in the last post that we didn't do the welcome aboard show on the first night. Based on some previous reviews about the entertainment we didn't have a huge desire to check it out. They only had one show that night at about 10:15 with the typical bingo and stuff leading up to it. We instead wandered through the shop and around the ship for a little while and were back in our room by probably 9:30 and asleep by 10:00! It had been a long week leading up to departure and we didn't get much sleep the day before with all the "last minute" stuff we had to do. We saw parts of the show replayed over and over on the DVD channel and didn't feel as though we missed anything.

Again, this trip we decided in advance was a chance to relax and really enjoy it with the kids. Last time we did a cruise we did most every activity there was to do and by about day 5 or so all of us were pretty burnt out. I think the Dream and the activity schedule available has a lot of opportunities to partake in things when it suits you and still keep to a reasonable schedule. We never felt like we missed out on something by sticking with a more low key approach.

On to the first sea day...

Day 2 - Sea Day

We ate in the MDR for just about ever meal on this trip. We did the Gathering buffet on embarkation and for lunch on the Belize day. We got up about 8ish or so and headed to the MDR for breakfast. It was nice to be able to allow the kids to order what they wanted and have someone bring it to us. We could have possibly done a quicker meal at the buffet, but finding the table and working the line and go back for drinks since they don’t have trays and… well, it is starting to sound like work! The breakfast service this week was always prompt and good so why not stick with a good thing.

We didn’t get a chance to hit the slides like we had anticipated on embarkation so we got all lathered up with sunscreen for a day of fun. (As Floridians we don't mess with the sun and try to always wear SPF shirts and plenty of sunscreen. Getting burned this week would have been no fun for the rest of the week!) Some of us hit the slides and I took my son to putt-putt for awhile. We all met back at the main pool which was busy, but still had room for the kids to swim and have fun. All of our group of 16 found a place to relax and enjoy the day at about 11:00 on that sea day. Some of them sat in loungers a few rows back from the pool and watched the big screen, and others sat right up next to the pool on a bench that was in the “splash area” of the pool. Me – I found one of those blue rockers just under the covering and in the shade…perfect for me! Before long it was time to dry off and head to lunch in the MDR!

Even at 10:30 on the first sea day there was PLENTY of room on the golf course.

The slide area was a little busy but nothing to cause issues really. One thing I did notice time and again was the extremely slippery conditions. My niece took about two steps and went down hard near the slides. She was near the step up that keeps the slide water contained when she lost her footing and fell into and over that and landed hard on her back since her feet got hung up on that step. Kids are resilient and she was more shocked than hurt. Had it been me I wouldn't have been so lucky no doubt. The tile floors in the Gathering had the same issue all week long. Even with dry shoes walking in directly from the carpeting near the elevators those floors were slick.

We explored a little more after lunch and then decided to enjoy the cove balcony and let the kids lay low for a little while so we could get ready in plenty of time for formal night. I was somewhat surprised to see the Destiny headed back home this close to us!

We got ready for dinner with about an hour to wander the ship and look for good photo ops. With pictures from the ship costing about $20 a pop we figured with all of our cameras we could certainly get some of our own and we are happy with the results. This is one that we took quick of the kids. It gives you a little better idea of what my signature of “Cruising with Kids” really means!

Dinner service tonight was better – in part because we actually had a large glass of tea rather than a wine glass size. Our server said that this menu was the best on of the entire week and I have to agree. It is odd that they put all of the “good” things on one night. This was the night that had lobster tail, spare ribs, prime rib, shrimp cocktail, alligator fritters, pumpkin soup, etc. Why they couldn’t move some of those items around a little in the week and spread out the wealth is beyond me but obviously not my decision to make anyway!

I looked back at the Fun Times for this day and realized we didn’t make this show either. This was Get Ready with the big band sounds of the house band. I think what we did was take the kids to camp and planned to pay the after hours fee to watch the adult comedy show. As it got closer to 10:00 we changed that plan and got the kids and got some ice cream and headed back to enjoy the room and balcony. This picture here gives you a better idea of what family fun means to us. When else can you order rooms service so late at night and enjoy it in bed because your sister fell asleep before it came!

And as the elephant announces - Cozumel is coming up next!

Wonderful review so far , looking forward to the rest. We will be on the Dream in January. We have a total of 9 kids and 8 adults in our group ( 3 of the kids are mine!)and I am the official travel planner...big responsibility!

Really nice photos , you have a great eye!

Kim

Wonderful review so far , looking forward to the rest. We will be on the Dream in January. We have a total of 9 kids and 8 adults in our group ( 3 of the kids are mine!)and I am the official travel planner...big responsibility!

 

Really nice photos , you have a great eye!

 

Kim

Thanks Kim! The price for good pictures is having 1400+ to sort through to find the 30-40 that will make the cut for the album. Oh the joys of a good digital camera. We laughed a little yesterday thinking about how overwhelmed the old school one hour photo would have been if I would have brought all of this in on 35mm :)

If you are traveling west on the Dream I will be happy to give you some additional insight on what it takes to travel with a group that size and keep everyone organized. We had one morning where we didn't "take charge" and that day got off to a bit of a rough start but nothing too bad. I actually laid out a nice itinerary for everyone ahead of time to keep the week in focus.

I tried to attach the .pdf here directly but the file is too large. I loaded it to Dropbox instead. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9557737/Itinerary.pdf

Oh man! I forgot to include in the first sea day section that we did a cabin tour. Before we left we organized it through our roll call and had 9 cabins to go and see. We meet at about 1:00 at the aft Lido bar. We did a poker run were anyone that wanted to participate put $5 in the pot and we drew 5 cards at various stops along the way. We had a pot of $200 with 20 people participating! We saw everything from an interior cabin to the family ocean view to various balconies and an aft wrap balcony to end the tour! It was a lot of fun and something we'd probably try again. Unfortunately I was in charge of the poker run aspect and spent more time with the cards than with looking around on the tour itself :)