New Year's Dream!

[johnlo81]

Great reviews... I cannot wait until our Dream cruise Super Bowl weekend! :) Only 33 days to go!

 

One thing to keep in mind... When they CONFIRM your dining time before the cruise this just means that they have CONFIRMED YOUR REQUEST and not that you will actually get that time slot... That isn't decided until you check in...

 

I cannot wait to have another Fun Ship Special! :)

[plgmom]

We were on the same cruise-- but it was our first cruise ever. WE LOVED IT!! I was very nervous after reading all the reviews, but we all had a great time.

 

We were in a family room (I think it's called Deluxe Ocean View) on deck 1, a friend who cruises often suggested a room on a low floor towards the center of the boat to minimize movement and she was right. Other than one night (between Roatan and Belize) we barely felt anything. There were plenty of closets and having 2 bathrooms was great.

 

Embarkation was smooth, the only issue with the port was a sign that said all carnival boats to the left (but the dream was to the right) but a quick u-turn fixed that.

 

We enjoyed the Lido buffet very much, I will agree with everyone else that the Mongolian Wok takes too long, we waited 45 minutes and never bothered with it again. Once we found the Tandoor Grill and the Deli (probably on the 3rd day :rolleyes:) we really enjoyed them. Kids loved the ice cream and hot chocolate machines.

 

We had anytime dining in the Crimson Dining room, the food in the dining room was mixed, some great some horrible but mostly adequate.

 

My kids ate with Camp Carnival (11 and 7 yos) 3 nights and they loved it. They did cake decorating one night and pizza making another.

 

My DH and I ate at the Chef's Art twice and really enjoyed it, it's worth every cent. The service, quality of the food, and presentation are spectacular.

 

The Lido pool was always packed, I never did get a chair there during peak sun hours. No problems finding a spot to watch the afternoon movie on the big screen though.

 

Kids spent most of their time on the slides, I do think that Carnival needs to put one of the bins of the white towels up there, I hated going up there to try and find my kids blue towels in a sea of wet blue towels.

 

The kids went to 2 of the shows with Camp Carnival, they liked them. Camp Carnival was great, there were 1400 kids on the cruise but I never felt it, my older one was able to sign in and out and he loved that. My younger one loves all the programming.

 

DH and I really enjoyed the Comedy Club and Piano Bar. I do agree that the "Fun-Dude" wasn't really funny at all. We all really enjoyed the Family Fun Hop, I thought Todd and the other staff were great, my daughter really hit it off with Amy and was right up front all night during the family fun hop.

 

The laser shows were a lot of fun, my 11 yo son really enjoyed them.

 

As for the ports, Cozumel and Costa Maya beaches were great, I thought Roatan was fine, kids loved the chair lift but it started to rain just as we got settled. Belize, well I'll just say I met a lot of people who were not getting off of the ship and if I'm ever on another cruise that stops there I'll be one of them.

 

As for my concerns before we boarded? Lines? Never had a problem other than mongolian wok. Crowded elevators? Never a problem. Smells? Never an issue. Motion Sickness? Never happened. Boredom? Hah. There was too much to do!

 

Hope you enjoyed my review of the Dream from the perspective of a first time cruiser.

[Cruzin4aBruzin]

I know some have responded to various comments but I'll throw in some things:

 

-Because we had kids with us, believe it or not, they would not step in there because they saw "adults only" written everywhere. So, we didn't use it. We only walked through. It seemed like there were a few chairs in there available.

 

-We didn't have a need to use the fridge, so we didn't have it unlocked. However, judging by the niceness of our steward, I'm sure we would have emptied it for us.

 

-Is there something similar to the schooner? Hmm...as far as ambiance goes, no, not really. But, as far as something comparable I would say either Sam's or the Atrium bar. Both tend to feature piano music and singing.

 

-I could definitely see the ocean from the balcony, however I didn't keep the door open.

 

-And yes, Host Match, you may most certainly forward my comments about I Made to corporate. He really is a great worker and just a nice guy. He didn't deserve the stress I'm sure that other table provided to him.

[mississauga]

Welcome to cruising! Glad you enjoyed your 1st cruise! May you have many more...:D

[mom2girls]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your review. I really appreciate it! :)

[*Mach*]

 

-And yes, Host Match, you may most certainly forward my comments about I Made to corporate. He really is a great worker and just a nice guy. He didn't deserve the stress I'm sure that other table provided to him.

 

 

Thanks so much! Consider it gone!!

:)

[the dame]

I was quite happy to read your great review of the Dream. My husband and I are sailing on the 9th. His first cruise and my 2nd (1st with Mom of the Noordam). After reading some of the posts about smell,long lines,etc. I was concerned this cruise celebration (his 65th b'day on the 9th and our 25th anniv) would not live up to what our TA had promised. Now we are really excited. thanks again.

[jules815]

Thanks for the great review!

[sunnidayz]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. My husband and I are cruising on the Dream in February. We have only cruised Carnival and every experience has been wonderful (which is why we have not sampled other cruise lines...if it isn't broke, don't fix it). Normally, I don't put much stock into the negative comments found here, but there seemed to be so many about the Dream, that we began to get a little nervous:o. As we chose this as our 10th Anniversary vacation, we wanted to be sure it was the best choice!:) This thread squelched all those nagging doubts!

We too are excited to take our kids on the Dream, as they've loved both of their cruises on the Glory, just not this time;)!

 

Adrienne

[Suntanz]

Thank you for your reviews. I am thinking of booking the Dream and was interested on how the ship is for kids. The reviews on Camp Carnival are great so far. I read where there is nor Camp Carnival the first night, but after that can the kids eat dinner with Camp Carnival every night? Is there any times between 9 am-10pm where you have to pick up the kids?

[purpleblanket]

Thanks to those who posted their reviews. It is greatly appreciated!

 

debbie

[*Mach*]

 

-And yes, Host Match, you may most certainly forward my comments about I Made to corporate. He really is a great worker and just a nice guy. He didn't deserve the stress I'm sure that other table provided to him.

 

 

Cruzin... I want you to know that I've already heard from a few of my friends at Carnival. They send their thanks for your review and I Made will be recognized for the great job he did for you.

Again, thanks so much.

All the best!

Mach

[*Mach*]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. My husband and I are cruising on the Dream in February. We have only cruised Carnival and every experience has been wonderful (which is why we have not sampled other cruise lines...if it isn't broke, don't fix it). Normally, I don't put much stock into the negative comments found here, but there seemed to be so many about the Dream, that we began to get a little nervous:o. As we chose this as our 10th Anniversary vacation, we wanted to be sure it was the best choice!:) This thread squelched all those nagging doubts!

We too are excited to take our kids on the Dream, as they've loved both of their cruises on the Glory, just not this time;)!

 

Adrienne

 

 

We were on the Dream for her first sailing from the US, from NYC. We both thought the ship was brilliant.

Here's a link to my review inculding a number of photos...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1092320

 

:)

[jmcancruise]

Thanks for the great reviews. We are sailing in just over 4 months, and although we have sailed Carnival 4 times before we also have been getting a bit nervous after all of the negativity. We are pretty flexible though. We expect to have a blast just have we have every other time.

[plgmom]

Thank you for your reviews. I am thinking of booking the Dream and was interested on how the ship is for kids. The reviews on Camp Carnival are great so far. I read where there is nor Camp Carnival the first night, but after that can the kids eat dinner with Camp Carnival every night? Is there any times between 9 am-10pm where you have to pick up the kids?

 

I thought the ship was great for kids. Mine (11 and 7) really enjoyed it.

 

Other than the first night the kids can eat dinner with camp-- you bring them to the pasta bar area of the buffet and check them in there.

 

On Sea days you have to pick them up for lunch, but camp stays open. It does close for a few hours (one day was 3-4 pm, one day was 4-6pm) and it's open from dinner through 10pm and babysitting starts at 10pm.

 

On port days if you're off the boat the kids eat pizza for lunch with camp, but if you're on board they ask you to pick them up for lunch.

 

My suggestion is that if your kids are interested in the super late nigh party (from 10-3am) sign them up the first day. My 11 yo got shut out and he was not happy about it.

 

HTH.

[Cruzin4aBruzin]

Host Mach, I'm really happy that I Made is going to be ok. I think he was slightly concerned about the incident because I notice one night he was talking to us and said something like 'I might be coming back to port canaveral with you.' Thanks for the help.

 

I hope all of you future dreamers enjoy her; she's a great vessel.

[*Mach*]

Host Mach, I'm really happy that I Made is going to be ok. I think he was slightly concerned about the incident because I notice one night he was talking to us and said something like 'I might be coming back to port canaveral with you.' Thanks for the help.

 

I hope all of you future dreamers enjoy her; she's a great vessel.

 

 

It was a pleasure to be able to forward your words to folks who can make a difference...

Again, thanks so much for your review. I thought you did an excellent job... Look for your review to reappear on John Heald's blog tomorrow...

http://johnhealdsblog.com/

:)

[Suntanz]

Jennifer, thanks you so much for your answer. that was real helpful. One last question, on port days, do you have to pay extra to leave the kids at camp? We went on Norweigen 3 years ago & there was an extra charge for that.

[Donnask8pro]

Do you happen to know if Made came from another ship? I think we had him on the Spirit last year and if so he was awesome.

 

Unless its like some of the other countries who name all their kids the same name just 1,2,3 or 4.

[legalmom]

Thanks for the wonderful review. We were on the same sailing and had a blast. We were concerned with all the negative reports. I have no idea where those folks got their information, but nothing like that happened while we were on the Dream. For those of you who are booked on the sailing, you will have a blast. We can't wait until our next cruise in April. This will be my 20th cruise and my husband's 26th cruise. Bon Voyage to all.

 

Lois and Ben:)

[mississauga]

Do you happen to know if Made came from another ship? I think we had him on the Spirit last year and if so he was awesome.

 

Unless its like some of the other countries who name all their kids the same name just 1,2,3 or 4.

 

Yes, apparently there is an I Made in every Indonesian family. In iver 20 cruises we had never seen the name. Then on our October cruise on the Liberty we had a fantastic head waiter named I Made. He made an impression. Then when we were on the Dream in December, I noticed on our servers' card on the table in the Crimson that our assistant waiter's name was I Made. When I made a comment to the head waitress how co-incidental it was that we just had a waiter by the name of I Made on the Liberty, she said there is one in every Indonesian family. She was right. A few days later when we were seated at another table across the dining room, we had another waiter by the name of I Made. Cruzin4aBruzin's I Made was in the Scarlet Dining Room so I guess there are a lot of I Mades on the Dream....LOL

[mississauga]

Do you happen to know if Made came from another ship? I think we had him on the Spirit last year and if so he was awesome.

 

Unless its like some of the other countries who name all their kids the same name just 1,2,3 or 4.

 

Yes, apparently there is an I Made in every Indonesian family. In iver 20 cruises we had never seen the name. Then on our October cruise on the Liberty we had a fantastic head waiter named I Made. He made an impression. Then when we were on the Dream in December, I noticed on our servers' card on the table in the Crimson that our assistant waiter's name was I Made. When I made a comment to the head waitress how co-incidental it was that we just had a waiter by the name of I Made on the Liberty, she said there is one in every Indonesian family. She was right. A few days later when we were seated at another table across the dining room, we had another waiter by the name of I Made. Cruzin4aBruzin's I Made was in the Scarlet Dining Room so I guess there are a lot of I Mades on the Dream....LOL