Review of our Spring Break cruise on Carnival Dream

[KruznKel]

Thanks so much for starting the review.. was very much looking forward to it.. but I did take offense to your comments about obese people.. and you have now lost me.. actually thought alot more of you than that...very shallow enjoy the rest of the cruises you and your family take and I hope that obese people don't intrude on your vacations again:rolleyes:

[gsp158]

Good review

[tandemcruzr]

Paul -- thanks for taking the time to do this. We look forward to the rest of your review. I will be interested to see how your experience compares to ours of this past January.

 

Our only complaint was the cold weather. ☺☺

[jstblj6]

Yeah! I'm along for the "ride". Love what you have posted so far. Keep up the great work, eagerly awaiting more!!

[ChaylaT]

Thanks for the review!!! MORE MORE!!!!!:D

[mferris77]

Hey, you flew into Melbourne, my home town. Nice "international" airport, huh?

 

It's actually nice to fly in/out of over the alternative of Orlando. Get there 30 minutes before your flight instead of 2 hours.

[Ilovepj]

Checking every 30 minutes for more, lol.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this, while I wait for October to get here.

 

Helen:D

[mom2girls]

Thanks for posting your review! I can't wait to read more! :)

[pam7553]

Can't wait to read the rest! We are staying at the same hotel in November and wanted to know when you reserved the shuttle over to the port?

[Wags67]

More...More...More...

[DGP1111]

Just a small thing. I believe that what you are calling the Dream concept video had nothing to do with Carnival. It was a shipyard concept ship that happened to be shown in Carnival colors.

 

Hi, Dan! Even looking beyond the CCL colors, and the crescent-C logo . . . the use of the trademarked funnel design screamed 'Carnival' in a big (and legal) way.

 

The tag line at the end of the concept video was a Victor Hugo quote from 1862, "There is nothing like a dream to create the future" (note: the bolding is mine - not that way on the video). Since the Dream name had already been announced, I will readily admit I was also one of those who put more into the concept video than was actually there, so . . . .

 

After all the Cruise Critic chit-chat began to stir about what all this might be about, and some making up theories about origin, and tales of how it got to all our eye in the first place, I figured why not go to the horse's mouth. With the aid of a colleague who is fluent in Italian, I (well, he actually) wrote to Maurizio Cergol, Senior Chief Designer for Fincantieri, and asked something to the effect of, "Hi - What a superb video that's making its way across the internet highway/ocean! So, what's up with the very obvious plan for a future Carnival ship??"

 

The short answer back was basically a Thanks for the compliment, and a comparison to concept car sketches/models that are routinely seen from "your Detriot, USA" design studios. He advised that multiple concepts are routinely presented and this was just one. Since I'd mentioned I was booking Carnival Dream immediately, he said he hoped I'd enjoy my cruise.

 

No great info by any means, but it was cool to get a reply. :)

[Time2CruiseAgain]

Anxiously refreshing and waiting for more!!! I have never read one of your reviews, Paul, but they must be good from what I've read, and so far I am not disappointed!

 

We will be sailing the Dream in a few weeks!!

[PaulMedik]

Thanks so much for starting the review.. was very much looking forward to it.. but I did take offense to your comments about obese people.. and you have now lost me.. actually thought alot more of you than that...very shallow enjoy the rest of the cruises you and your family take and I hope that obese people don't intrude on your vacations again:rolleyes:

 

 

KruznKel,

 

I am very sorry to have offended you. The original post was lost to cyberspace and I had to rewrite it. Perhaps I did not make the point clear enough that people had to move from the front of the place to the back for load balance on the flight to Charlotte, then on the same type of plane from Charlotte to Melbourn, there was no mention at all of anyone needing to move to the back to balance the load.

 

Additional comments were of statements made by airline emiployees and in no way reflected my opinion.

 

The only opinion I offered is that if I owned the airline, I would not have allowed them to fly simply because it was unsafe for their fellow passengers and crew. I have not reread my post and don't plan to, but I also stated that I would have paid to have them transported via ground to Melbourn. The people in question were not obese; they were beyond morbidly obese.

 

In my emergency medical career I spent a few years as a flight medic and our weight limit for patients was 250 pounds. As a 911 medic the largest patient I transported was just over 1100 pounds. I transported several patients in the six hundred pound range. With rare exceptions, each of these people were unable to walk due to their massive weight and my partner and I managed to lift and move them and transport them sometimes with assistance and sometimes without. Our stretchers were not rated to carry the weight we placed on them, but we HAD to transport them somehow. In the case of these people, they were on a commercial jet not designed to hold that much weight in one chair section and multiple crew members had to assist them on to the plane.

 

You have no clue what you are talking about when you say I do not have respect for obesity. I not only did not post pictures of them, I was careful to make sure they were not in any pictures I took. In no way did they interfere with my family or my vacation, nor did I imply they did. If you can't read what I wrote and see the irony, then you are reading with jaded lenses.

 

On a personal level, I weigh 242 pounds and I am 6 feet tall. Whip out a BMI calculator and you will notice that I fall into the category that you say I have issues with. Granted I would prefer to be at my ideal weight, but I am not. Why has our society evolved to a point where ironic comments can not be made involving a large person and not have someone be offended? Did I make fun of them? Did I inject humor at their expense? What exactly did I say that was offensive? Did I say they smelled bad or made odd noises? (I did not detect any odor nor did I hear them make any noise at all.) Honestly, the only thought I had was how can one plane need one person to move to the back when another plane of the same type had a lot more weight at the front and nothing was mentioned about people moving. One could take that thought further and assume they did not ask anyone to move for fear of offending the large passengers. If that's the case, I would hate to think that fear of offending someone prevented safe flight operations.

 

I am through defending the comments I made and can only offer my heartfelt apology for having offended you. I assure you it was not my intent. If you had been with us, you would have had similar thoughts perhaps? If I had only been on the one flight and had not witnessed the passenger relocation on the previous flight, I would not have given them a second thought.

[lollylew]

Yeah! I was waiting for you to get home so that I could start reading your wonderful review with pics! Thanks! :D

[PaulMedik]

Hey, you flew into Melbourne, my home town. Nice "international" airport, huh?

 

It's actually nice to fly in/out of over the alternative of Orlando. Get there 30 minutes before your flight instead of 2 hours.

 

 

mferris77,

 

Yes we did and yes Melbourne is a great airport to fly into. It was also $1300 cheaper than flying into Orlando and quite a bit closer too. We'll definately be looking for flights into Melbourne again.

 

It's a good thing for us that arriving 30 minutes early is OK because we got lost on the way there Sunday morning and arrived a lot later than we had planned! :o

[PaulMedik]

Can't wait to read the rest! We are staying at the same hotel in November and wanted to know when you reserved the shuttle over to the port?

 

pam7553,

 

When I made the reservation there was a comment section and I requested the earliest shuttle then. When I arrived I confirmed they had me booked and it turned out to be a good thing that I checked because they had me booked on the Disney Magic shuttle instead of Dream. :p They use two shuttle buses and schedule departures every half hour starting at 10:30.

[PaulMedik]

Yeah! I was waiting for you to get home so that I could start reading your wonderful review with pics! Thanks! :D

 

 

lollylew,

 

I work the next two days so I won't get much posted, but promise to get more accomplished Wednesday. On days that I work I only have an hour of time off each day so please be patient. ;)

[PaulMedik]

Thank you all for your kind comments. The multi quote reply feature isn't functioning tonight so I will have to answer questions individually. Please ask away if you have and I'll do my best to answer.

 

 

The Ron Jon resort tour we were on was a time share sales pitch. Bascially they show us their resort and all it has to offer then take us back to the main building to crunch the numbers. We hadn't been on a time share tour for quite a few years and they did a great job with the tour. For our time we were given a day pass for the resort which included the water park, fitness areas, beach access, play areas, basketball court for Spencer, and putt putt golf, In addition to the resort pass we received a free cruise certificate where you pay for one and the second passenger sails for free + governement fees and taxes. It is good with Carnival, RCCL, Disney and other major cruilselines.

 

Nearing the main building at the end of the tour;

 

 

After declining several increasingly attractive offers from RCI to buy a Ron Jon time share, we returned to our hotel with plans to visit Ron Jon the next day and enjoy the water park. In the meantime, we enjoyed the pool area at Country Inn & Suites;

 

 

I had Karen get this picture to try and demonstrate just how high the ceilings were in our room (And kel, if you read this, you will see that I did not exagerate on my weight statement) ;

 

 

 

Bryson and I drove over to Jetty Park to watch the ships sail away. While waiting we had a visitor join us on the fishing pier;

 

 

 

The bird was interested in the box of bait on the table and would snap it's beak in it repeatedly. As you can tell by Bryson's expression, he didn't like me having him turn away to pose for this pic;

 

 

Dolphins and a Stingray also made appearances at the pier, but the pics of them were just shadows in the water. Slower water critters allowed for pics;

 

[PaulMedik]

Both ships in port were due to sail at 4:00PM, but it was closer to five before they actually made their way out to the pier;

 

 

Even though it wasn't our ship, it was still exciting to see them sail away;

 

 

I am a 'balcony snob,' as they say here on Cruise Critic, but I'm not so sure the Fantasy Class balconies could not have been better designed to blend in with the sihp's lines;

 

 

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the pier is much longer when walking back after watching a ship sail by than when we're walking out;

 

 

The Disney ship had all the kids from Jetty Park screaming with delight as it played When You Wish Upon A Star on it's horn;

 

 

The Disney ship's design always makes them seem so much larger than other ships that are actually larger;

 

[PaulMedik]

The Disney ship is a pretty sight as it makes it's way out of the channel to the open sea;

 

 

After the ship's were both out to sea we returned to the hotel for some more pool time;

 

 

Kids can wrestle in a pool for hours. Wouldn't it be great to harness that energy and maintain it forever;

 

 

The hot tub at Country Inn & Suites has a refreshing water fall feature that sets in apart;

 

 

We enjoyed the pool area until dark then had supper at Burger King. Yes, we flew nearly a thousand miiles to an area with world class cuisine within easy driving distance and we let the boys choose and they insisted on Burger King.

 

The Cape Canaveral Burger King is not 'fast food.' It's slow and they don't try to hurry, but the burgers are woth the wait! We tried them again on the day we got off the ship and they were even more slow that day, but again the taste made up for their slow service.

 

Country Inn & Suites complementary breakfast includes all the essentials; scrambled eggs, bacan, sausage, gravy, bisquits, grits, cereal, toast, make your own waffles, fruit, pastries and more that I can't recall. We enjoyed our early morning breakfast on a table by the pool;

 

 

After breakfast we checked on the gator;

 

[PaulMedik]

Closer to the gator;

 

 

Going back in I got a shot of the fitness room at the hotel. Not the biggest nor the most equipment, but enough to keep you toned;

 

 

We drove back to Ron Jon's for our day at the water park;

 

 

Britt playing volleyball;

 

 

Bryson and Spencer playing teens and demonstrating why it was a good thing we didn't buy a time share;

 

 

The mini golf course is fun;

 

[PaulMedik]

After we left Ron Jon's we drove by the pier and an RCCL ship was in port;

 

 

Here's what it looked like when I zoomed in closer;

 

 

We had dinner at Zaccary's after turning in our Hertz rental at 6:00PM;

 

 

Zaccary's looks a lot larger from the outside than when inside. The food is great and the atmosphere is very laid back. We were surpized over the next few days on the ship to notice that five other groups that were at Zaccary's were also on Carnival Dream with us;

 

 

The morning of our cruise finally arrived and we anxiously awaited the arrival of our shuttle bus. As it turned out, it arrives right on time and they board via list of who signed up instead of who waited outslide the longest;

 

 

Our first glimpse of the Carnival Dream funnel as we approached the port;

 

[PaulMedik]

Approaching the ship, I was struck with how familiar her lines were. She looks like a Conquest class ship from the front;

 

 

She towers over the terminal;

 

 

First impressions of her aft was that she looks like a Spirit class moreso than Conquest;

 

 

We went through security and proceded to VIP check in. After a short wait we were issued our S&S cards then given two Zone 1 placards to share with our friends and sent on our way to the ship;

 

 

The excitement builds as we walk along the hallway leading to the gangway;

 

 

After a quick S&S shot with Cannon digital cameras instead of the web cams on the ship, we then lined up and waited;

 

[VernaCS]

I cannot wait to read the rest!!!! Great review so far!!:D

[PaulMedik]

After a while the passengers boarding after us were lined up tight behind us and port rerpesentatives were urging everyone forward to allow for more S&S pics to be taken. All forward progess was stopped and we were no longer moving;

 

 

Instead of one or two people doing S&S photos, there was a line of eight photogs carefully zooming in with hand held cameras;

 

 

After a while a Carnival rep came into the line and informed us that boarding would be delayed until 11:50 due to elevator inspections through out the ship. We were then led around a corner and provided chairs for being VIP;

 

 

Click on this pic, then make it large and read the sign posted above their heads;

 

 

I am sorry, but I have to pause here and get some sleep. I've gone over my hour of free time and I'm cutting into my sleep time. :o I'll do my best to at least get the review on to the ship tomorrow. :)