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Quick review of the Dream

VolzCruiser

By VolzCruiser,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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VolzCruiser

VolzCruiser

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As I posted last night I would try and get something up today. Not sure if it just that I am completely jet lagged or just plain out of it today but I do plan on making a more in depth thread later. So here is goes a short good, bad and the ugly.

 

First of all the ship, she is wonderful and if you sailed on any of the Conquest class ships you will have no problems getting around. While they have moved somethings around it doesn't take long until the small differences are easily navigated. One of the things I liked the most while I don't have children, most of their activities are located on deck 4 which really keeps them all together so they all are easier to keep up with. The cantilevered whirlpools while weren't opened at first they all seemed to be by mid cruise, they were very nice to use. The only real complaint I have about the Dream is that there isn't a Cigar or Sports bar to enjoy these activities, while there is a room setup to be the Cigar bar at the last moment they changed their minds and don't have one.

 

The crew has some issues and this is to be expected since it is the very first cruises. While some of the issues can be expected since it is the very first cruise some of what I ran across was just plain rude. Such as being knocked out of the way by an crew member while loading the shuttle bus so that they could get back to the ship on that shuttle. I did think that the crew for the most part really tried to go above and beyond when possible.

 

While there were some really great things I enjoyed about the Dream the things that stuck out the most was the complete lack organization by the shore excursion staff in getting people off of the ship and on to the tours. I will give just one example. In Barcelona my excursion for this day was to leave at 9:45 and they asked that we arrive in the Encore lounge at 9:15. So my DW and head down to deck 3 only to find a mass of people all at the elevators. At first I was like no problem we will seated shortly. Hence 30 minutes later and I haven't even entered the Encore Lounge I asked what was going on. The answer given to me was we don't know why everyone is coming down at this time. First of all why don't they know since Carnival is the one who set up the times with tour providers, with the little bit of checking I did with the few people around me I found at least 5 different tours all scheduled for the same time. You would have thought that the shore excursion people could have spread these all out across the ship so as to not have everyone in the Encore lounge all at once.

 

While the ship and staff have somethings to fix it isn't anything that can't be overcome and I am sure it will be. As for the cruise and ports themselves it was all wonderful. I know that there are alot of questions and I will be glad to answer the ones I can so please ask away. I will trying compose and more in depth review a bit later once it all quits bouncing around in my head.

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CorvetteLady

CorvetteLady

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Was the Ocean Plaza a good thing? Did noise from the promenade deck carry up to the balconies? Was it cool to be able to walk all around the ship on one deck? If you used the Serenity area, how was it? Did they have the Comedy Club for this cruise? How was it?

 

Thanks in advance, really looking forward to your full review.:)

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VolzCruiser

VolzCruiser

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Was the Ocean Plaza a good thing? Did noise from the promenade deck carry up to the balconies? Was it cool to be able to walk all around the ship on one deck? If you used the Serenity area, how was it? Did they have the Comedy Club for this cruise? How was it?

 

Thanks in advance, really looking forward to your full review.:)

 

Yes the Ocean Plaza was quite nice.

 

From the Cabin you could hear bits and pieces from the Promenade on the Balconies and I was in cabin 9272. I did have one sound issue and that was due to how the singer and piano is setup on the stairs in atrium, It allowed for it to be carried all the way into my cabin while I was trying to get to sleep.

 

I did enjoy walking around the whole ship and was a nice way to work off a few of those extra calories I picked up while eating.

 

The serenity area was in the front of the ship while the adults only pool is in the back. The only time I used the serenity area was while we were pulling into Venice. I guess I was a bit busy to actually enjoy this area.

 

They did have the comedy club and what I did see of the comedians I found them quite funny.

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retired1998

retired1998

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Welcome back. In addition to all the other questions, here's mine: About what % of women wore gowns/cocktails dresses for the "elegant" nights. If not many, what did they wear? I'm waiting to see what to pack. Thanks in advance.

 

8/99 Alaska –Celebrity, Mercury

8/01 Scandinavia/Russia -Princess

1/05 Western Caribbean –Celebrity, Constellation

10/05 Hawaii –Norwegian, Pride of America

1/07 Panama Canal -Celebrity ,Constellation

8/07 Hawaii- Norwegian, Pride of America

1/08 South America – Celebrity, Infinity

10/20/08 Mediterranean – Celebrity,Century

6/11/09 Eastern Caribbean –Princess, Caribbean Princess

URL=http://www.cruisecritic.com]countdown.pl?name=retired1998&date=10-15-2009&image=Beach-8&text=&ship=Carnival Dream[/url]

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Tar Heels

Tar Heels

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Thanks for the brief review! Much appreciated.. I am booked on the verandah deck now.. midship. I am thinking of moving up to the Lido deck because we like to be high.. DH said it was a no brainer for $20 more... he loves to be where everything is. Any thoughts on this?

 

We are on the Lido deck. I agree with your DH. I also love being where everything is. :D

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Honeygirl2

Honeygirl2

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We are scheduled for the Dream Trans-Atlantic cruise in about 20 days. I am so excited. My question is: did you bring Euros and about how much did you really need? I am also bringing my credit card. What about american money? Did they take that?

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Essiesmom "Live from...." Rare

Essiesmom

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We are scheduled for the Dream Trans-Atlantic cruise in about 20 days. I am so excited. My question is: did you bring Euros and about how much did you really need? I am also bringing my credit card. What about american money? Did they take that?

Honeygirl2, welcome to Cruise Critic. We have a frantically gabby roll call for the TA, come on over and join the fun! Carolyn J

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=803108&page=671

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VolzCruiser

VolzCruiser

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Welcome back. In addition to all the other questions, here's mine: About what % of women wore gowns/cocktails dresses for the "elegant" nights. If not many, what did they wear? I'm waiting to see what to pack. Thanks in advance.

 

To me is seemed that the women dressed more in gowns than cocktail dresses. I think it had to do more with the type cruise and the type of passengers on this cruise.

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VolzCruiser

VolzCruiser

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How was the food ? I saw some posts that stated that the food wasn't good. What was your opinion?

 

I thought the food was pretty good. There were somethings I thought that just lacked the flavor. Such as the steaks but I think this was more of a European thing more than a Carnival thing. There were some issues with consistency some nights the warm melting chocolate cake would be fixed to perfection and the next night it would be nothing but liquid just below the top layer. The menu items I like the most such as the pumpkin soup and the Long Island Duck were still great.

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