Dream DETAILED Western Review, 5/29/10: Auditory, Olfactory, and Common Senses

[TimeYet?]

I am loving your review so far. Thank you so much for posting it for us.

[willyguy]

Well great review looking for more.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Reat review so far. My Fun Group will be sailing on her next year.

[mom2girls]

Thank you so much for posting! I'm really enjoying your review! :)

[RedRam99V8]

That is just freaking hilarious about the pull emergency cord :) :eek::D:D. OMG HA HA HA HA HA. Yea brandon asked about your daughter a few times. We luckily had are friends as table mates but the service also was horrible. We too had to flag down a bar service waiter several times. We actually ate on the lido and in the Chefs art because of this a few times. Oh and thats great about the looks. Bridie brought some of her sexy dresses that I love. That are rather nice in the top. Nice be it, that is not OMG centerfold type though. You should have seen the looks she got, I although loved it. People are just that... shesshhh. Awesome review so far.

[crewsweeper]

Lady jag...Welcome back...Pictures are wonderful...Can't wait for the rest.

I was going to stick the postcard on your door, but the other cruisers hadn't left yet so I'm glad Yessy put the card in your Mom's cabin. Didn't you just love her smiley face vacuum before 8A every day, LOL.

 

Funny story on the cord. You sure the scowling woman wasn't part of the obviously non-drinking family at dinner? Waiting for the rest.

 

Crew

[cruzkitty]

Love your pictures & Review. Thanks for taking the time to post them. I'll be sailing on the Dream in Sept.

[manonreal]

Can't wait to hear more about your review and see more pics!!! Welcome back!!!

[framerman]

Great review, Jag........keep it coming..thanks

[islandcruisersnc]

Great review, keep it coming please!:D

[topspin1267]

Thanks for the review!!!

 

Do you happen to have anymore pics of the interior spa cabin? We are booked in 1 for our upcoming Dream and this is our first interior cabin.

 

Thanks and I look forward to the rest of your review.:D

[pe4all]

Thanks for taking the time to post the review and pictures. Your daughter is adorable! Can't wait till December to sail on the Dream!

[marci4tony]

Its a shame there isnt a "manners Pre-Requisite" for going on a cruise...My last two cruises the only REAL complaint I had was the arrogance and complete lack of respect for others by other passengers. But what do you do?!

[BeeBeeCee]

More review please :D

 

It"s keeping me busy while I'm waiting on the "Magic Announcement"...thanks :)

[chickie_mite]

This is wonderful, thank you so much for taking time to do this!

 

I'm really enjoying your review! :)

[rzyjzq]

Loving your review. Hope you can post more before I sail on Saturday:). Can't wait!!

[Lady_Jag]

Alex and I wanted to make the best of our last day on board the Carnival Dream, since we would be kicked off the ship the next day in Cozumel. Katie, the entertainment host, had discovered that our friend, Joel, managed to sneak another 5 people and their pet Chihuahua into our stateroom, and she was livid!

We probably would have been able to stay with just a reprimand, but the discovery of the little brown dog pushed Katie over the edge and sent her into a rant. Now my biggest worry would be how on earth we would make it back to the states from Mexico. Eep!

Well, at least now Alyssa would be able to participate in her very first ballet recital. We thought she’d miss it because of the cruise, but there’s probably still time to pick up her costume and let her join the other little girls on stage. There they are now at the purser’s desk. How cute they look in their pink sequenced leotards, frilly tutus, cowgirl hats, and their faces painted to look like mimes…

I awoke from my crazy dream at 7:45am to the sound of room service tapping on our cabin door. Alex and Alyssa were still sleeping in the bed next to me, so I flew across the room to answer the door, tipped the server, and placed the tray on Alyssa’s bed, since it was the closest empty spot big enough to hold the tray. (Alyssa had waken up around 4:30 that morning and crawled into the big bed between me and Alex).

I stared at what would become our semi-standard morning room service order: 2 chocolate muffins, a croissant, some strawberry jelly, some chocolate milk, a decaf hot tea, and a couple of boxes of cereal (for Miss Picky Alyssa to snack on while in port). I poured the tea and spread jelly on the soft croissant, then donned one of the extra plush Cloud 9 Carnival bathrobes hanging in the closet, slid my feet into a pair of Cloud 9 slippers, and silently slipped out of the room. I walked over to my mom’s cabin and very lightly tapped on the door with my fingernail. If they weren’t awake, I figured I’d go out to the front deck and enjoy the ocean air.

Whoops! They were still in bed. Geez, but they’re light sleepers! At their insistence, I stepped into Joann & my mom’s cabin and visited for a little bit. I told them about my crazy dream, and Joann suggested it meant that I needed more cruises. OK, I’ll buy that!

My mom wanted coffee, and when I asked if she had filled out her card last night to have room service bring it to her this morning, she looked totally confused. Then I reminded her that I specifically asked our room steward, Antonius, to bring us each some more breakfast cards, since we’d probably be ordering from it every morning. “Breakfast cards? What breakfast cards? You mean these?” and she lifted said cards from the desk where she laid them the day before. I laughed and then assured her that she could still get coffee from room service even though she didn’t have the card hanging on her door the night before.

“Just call them and ask for coffee,” I told her.

“Oh, I dunno. Will you call them for me? I don’t know the number.”

“It’s the button on your phone labeled ‘Room Service,'” I replied.

“Can you call them? I don’t know how to order,” she said.

I smiled, teased her a bit for being a wimp, then picked up the phone and pressed [Room Service].

“Room service. Can I help you?” came the voice.

“Good morning!” I replied, “I’d like to order some coffee, please.”

“For how many persons?”

“Just one,” I replied.

“Is that all?” asked the voice.

“Ye……”

“Make it two coffees!” my mom called out, “Joann, do you want anything?”

“Chocolate milk,” said Joann.

“Actually,” I corrected, “Can I get that coffee for two and a chocolate milk?”

“Two chocolate milks!” shouted my mom.

“Uhh…Make that two chocolate mi…” I said.

“And some Equal!” my mom interrupted.

Piece by piece, I finally placed the full order and hung up the phone. My mom turned to Joann, and said “I ordered you 2 chocolate milks, because they’re small. And I wanted 2 coffees, in case the cups were small.”

I told my mom that the coffee came in a carafe, and that they asked the number of people so that they knew how many coffee cups to place on the tray.

“Oh,” my mom said, disappointed, “can you call them back and tell them it’s just for one?”

I excused myself and went back to my room to bang my head against the wall. Actually, since Alex and Alyssa were still sleeping, I decided it would be best to slip into the bathroom and get ready for our first sea day. I was applying moisturizer to my face when I heard Alyssa calling, “Daddy! Daddy! Time to wake up! Daddy!” I smiled. There was a few seconds of silence, and then from the other side of the bathroom door I heard a delighted, “Mmmmmm! I got room service on my bed! Look Daddy, room service! Oooooo! Chocolate muffins! Yummy yummy in my tummy!”

(Note the chocolate crumbs)

[Lady_Jag]

When everyone was dressed, we went downstairs to the Lido deck for breakfast. Joann wandered around, looking for a bar so that she could get a Diet Coke. Now, I’m going to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for Joann’s commentary on the Soda Card: What a PITA! To get a soda, you first have to find a bar. OK, easy enough. There are several on decks 10 and 5. At the bar, none of the bartenders want to wait on you because they already got your money and they’re not going to make any more off you. So you have to wait for everyone ordering mixed drinks to get their orders before a bartender will pay you any attention what-so-ever. Then, they grudgingly pour what’s left from any opened soda cans they have into a cup full of ice and send you on your way. Well, hubby and I can go a week or more without any soda, but Joann always seemed to have a Diet Coke in her hands…if I were to guess, I’d say she drank 4-5 Diet Cokes each and every day of our cruise. So she spent over $50 and a lot of time waiting at the bar for a soda that was usually flat. Crazy! Now back to the show:

(Alex in Wonderland on the Lido deck)

 

The buffet lines inside The Gathering were HUGE! I mean wrapped-around-the-corner huge! But guess what? NO ONE was at the breakfast station that was set up at the Indian Tandoor area outside near the pool! Ha! AND there was NO bacon police at this station! I walked right up, said “good morning” to the chefs, and helped myself to eggs, bacon, hasbrowns and milk. Then I found a table inside by the aisle so that Joann could easily spot us after she retrieved her first soda of the day. (Good theory, I guess, but Joann got lost anyway, and must have wandered around the other side of the ship for 20 minutes before she finally found us.)

Anyway, in one of the incredibly long buffet lines, I saw Ms. Scowl from the laser show…and she was STILL scowling! Honestly, the woman did not even feign a smile the entire time she was in line! I was fascinated. You remember when you were a little kid and your mom would tell you “keep making that face, and it’ll stay that way!”? Well, it’s TRUE! Ms. Scowl is living proof! So listen to your mamas, boys and girls!

After breakfast, we split up for our various activities – Alex and Alyssa went to the Waterworks area, Joann found a lounger somewhere to lie in the sun, and my mom watched Alyssa play for a little while, then went back to her cabin to rest. I decided to check out the Spa area.

(A view of the main staircase in the Atrium)

The Cloud 9 spa was…um…interesting. To get into the VIP access areas, you have to go to the reception desk and hand over your S&S card. In exchange, you get a rubber wristband (mine was white because of our spa cabin), and a white access card. So far, so good, although it would have been nice to have my S&S card pre-programmed for spa access.

I walked over to the doors that led to the VIP area where a woman was trying to get out through the door. “Trying” was the operative word here! She pushed, she pulled, and she shook the door, but it wouldn’t open. She fiddled with the latch at the bottom, rattled the door some more, and still nothing. When I got to the door, I swiped my VIP access card and opened the door for her. YIKES, that was one HEAVY door! The woman thanked me, as did the 2 other people who filed out behind her. I smiled, said “you’re welcome,” and slipped into the hallway that led to the various saunas and relaxation room. (Sorry, I didn’t bring my camera with me, so I didn’t get any pictures of the areas.)

The Relaxation Room was nice. When you walked in (again, I stepped aside and held another heavy *$$ door open so that the lady cleaning up could come out with her cart of dirty glasses and plates), you faced an entire wall of windows that looked out over the ocean on the starboard side of the ship. Soft, new wave music played, and in front of the windows were a row of padded wicker armchairs and matching ottomans. To the right against the wall was a table stocked with various teas, tea cups, glasses, saucers, carafes of hot water, and about a dozen glass pitchers of ice water (all the pitchers had plastic wrap over the top). On the back wall to the right of the door as you entered, was a table stocked with oranges, apples, lemon slices, cucumber slices, and small plates. To the left of the door was a cart for dirty cups and plates, and a door that read “Emergency Exit.”

I sat in one of the chairs for a while and admired the view. Then I saw 2 girls come out of the door marked “Emergency Exit,” so I thought I’d see what was behind door #2. This door led to one of the dry saunas. It was a large room with another bank of windows overlooking the front of the ship. This room had several of the tile loungers all around the perimeter, and all facing the center of the room. (I thought it was odd that none of the loungers faced the windows.) I considered testing one of the loungers, but two were already occupied by a couple of very relaxed, and very hairy middle aged men, and I felt a little silly being the only girl in the room. Besides, I wanted to see what the rest of the spa was like.

So I exited the room through the door opposite the one I entered and was deposited back into the hallway, with the Relaxation room behind me. I opened a door to my left, and was greeted by a face full of steam and the laughter of the group of women already occupying the steam room. Let’s try the next door on the right.

Now THIS is what I’m talking about! This room was about ½ the size as the one I was just in, but completely empty. It had another wall of windows overlooking the front of the ship and 2 tile loungers next to the windows that actually faced the windows! Around the perimeter of the room were matching oversized tile armchairs, all with built-in lumbar support. Ah! I made myself comfortable on the lounger on the right side in front of the windows, folded my towel into a pillow, and… then…just…breathed…The warm lounger, the ocean, and the music had me in a trance almost immediately.

I’m not sure how much time passed, but a couple of times, I heard some people walk in through the door behind me, then walk out after seeing me in one of the 2 loungers. Eventually, a woman walked in with her elderly father. She set him up on the lounger next to mine, then disappeared from my peripheral view. (I can only assume that she either left the room or took one of the upright tile chairs.) The man was dressed in shorts, long black socks and tennis shoes, which made me smile. A few seconds later, another couple entered the room and sat in the chairs nearest the lounger on the left. By that time, the lounger was no longer warm…it was red hot! Ouch! So I decided a trip to the thelosso pool was in order.

I excused myself and walked back out into the hallway. Now it was my turn to get trapped by the entry door. I turned the lever and pushed, then pulled, but the door wouldn’t open. Ack! Fortunately, there was a woman behind me who told me the secret – with one hand you have to twist the latch below the handle to the left, and while holding that little knob, you have to pull down on the door lever with your other hand, then push open the heavy *$$ door! That is so NOT the ideal way to start or end a relaxing experience!

Anyway, I walked to the other side of the spa to the room marked “Thelosso pool,” and swiped my access card. A red light flashed, and the door wouldn’t open. I tried again. Nothing. On the other side of the door were 4-5 people who were trying to come out. They did the push-pull-jiggle door routine until one of them finally figured out the right trick. I let them all exit before walking in and up the stairs to the pool.

3 of the 4 walls in this room were glass. One bank of windows looked out to the entrance of the spa, and the other 2 overlooked the gym. The pool itself was very crowded today! Several bodies rested on the “bench” seat (which consisted of 4-6 metal tubes in the back and another 4-6 metal tubes on the bottom) along one side of the pool. It reminded me of the scene from The Matrix, where Keanu Reeves escapes his little wet “pod” in the real world, and he sees the rows of people hooked up to the matrix. Oh well! There was room for two more bodies at the far end of the “bench,” so I hung up my robe and towel on one of the hooks around the room, and stepped into the pool.

The pool was lukewarm, and I was hit by several jets as I walked across the pool to one of the empty seats. This was going to be GOOD! Or so I thought. I tried to lie back and rest against the back of the seat, but my body kept trying to float to the surface, making the top bar of the bench put some terrible pressure on my neck at the base of my skull. I grabbed onto one of the bars and pulled myself down, but constantly trying to keep my body from floating just wasn’t very relaxing. I sat up for a little and just sort of soaked, then I finally gave up and left. This time, I was able to open the door on only the second attempt. Getting better!

(A view from inside the glass spa elevator.)

 

I walked up the spiral staircase to the Serenity deck. Wow! It was a really nice area! There were people all over, but I managed to find a comfy spot on one of the couch areas. I looked around and saw just a few chair hogs (one had placed a towel on a lounger, then pushed one of the upright chairs up against the back of the lounger to keep the towel from blowing away). Then I remembered that my S&S card was still at the reception desk. Drat!

[lillian marie]

Great review, thanks.

[Lady_Jag]

So I went downstairs to retrieve my S&S card, and then walked over to the Waterworks area to check on Alex and Alyssa. Talk about crowded! Man, the place was crawling with people! I spotted Alex on one of the benches near the base of the racing slides. Alyssa was playing in the kiddie area and having a blast on the mini-slides.

I told Alex I’d watch Alyssa while he tried the Drainpipe, so without a second thought he jumped in the very long line for the slide. Alyssa continued to play with another little girl in the kiddie area. Each time I looked up at the line for the Drainpipe, Alex had moved a few feet closer to the top. His wait really wasn’t that bad - probably 10 minutes or so. When he came back to our spot, he said, “I think I need to take some asprin now.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I didn’t have my hands behind my head, and that slide is rough! When I came out into the bowl, the G-forces slammed my head back. Now the back of my head hurts!”

Headache aside, Alex thought it was a great ride and I think he might have tried again later on in the cruise.

By now, Alyssa spotted Alex and wanted to slide with him. So he talked her into going down the tall racing slides with him. Now the minimum height for the slides is 42”, which is exactly how tall Alyssa is. When she got to the slide, the crew member made her stand next to the measurement sign, then placed his hands on either side of Alyssa’s head, and all but picked her up by her ears to make sure she reached the “must be this tall” mark. LOL!

Alyssa LOVED the racing slides and wanted to do them again and again. Then, she pulled Alex over to the kiddie park, and made him go down the mini racing slides with her. I left them playing in the water and went back to the cabin to change into some dry clothes.

It was around 1:15, so I called my mom to see if she wanted to accompany me to the BBQ on the Lanai, and she told me she had just ordered room service not to long ago. I told her to bring it with her, and we’d eat in the Ocean Plaza or something. “Nah,” she said, “they told me it would take 45-60 minutes.” Wha?!?!? 45-60 minutes for room service? Yikes!

So I told her I’d go to the Lanai and then bring my stuff back and we could have lunch in the cabin. She seemed happy about that. There was a line for the BBQ, but it wasn’t as long as I expected, and it moved really quickly. I grabbed 2 plates, put 2 sets of rolled silverware in my pockets, and then made my own sampler platter to share with my mom - a chicken quesadilla, a couple of sliders, and some chips. A bar was set up at the end of the food area, but I skipped it.

(Photo from the end of the line to the Lanai BBQ)

Getting back to the room was a difficult enough since I was balancing 2 plates and trying to open the door against the wind, but I made it to deck 11. I had to walk across the open air deck above the pool to reach our room, and just as I was ½ way across, a gust of wind swept through and blew several of the chips back over my shoulder to…well, I’m not really sure WHERE those chips went, but I hope they didn’t hit anyone in the eye!

I called my mom to ask if her order arrived yet. Since it hadn’t I told her to call room service and see if they would send it to my cabin and since I didn’t have enough hands to carry a drink, to ask if they would tack on a milk. They told her that they weren’t sure if her order had gone out already, but if it had, they would send the milk to my cabin. I went to my mom’s cabin to wait, and within 5 minutes, her order arrived. I carried her tray to my cabin and set us up on the table by the couch/Alyssa’s bed. The milk arrived at my cabin not long after, along with a card from the Maitre D’ indicating our request had been granted, and our new table # was #456. (Wouldn’t it be funny, I asked my mom, if the Stick-In-Mud family also requested a table change and got the same table? LOL!)

My mom had ordered some sort of chicken wrap that was supposed to come with a side of guacamole, and a side of veggies that was supposed to come with a side of ranch. She was disappointed that they forgot both the guac and the ranch. Bummer. The sliders and quesadilla were cold by the time we ate them, but I thought they were ok. Not “wow,” but not bad either.

My mom went back to her cabin to rest, so I decided it was a good time to shower and clean up, while I had the cabin all to myself. I no sooner started the water when Alex and Alyssa walked in. So I showered, brought Alyssa into the bathroom, then cleaned her up and tucked her in for a little nap. I kissed her goodnight and walked over to my mom’s cabin to escort her to tea time in the Crimson dining room mid ship.

I loved that the afternoon tea was in a large space like the main dining room, but really missed the live piano music that other ships have when they host tea in one of the aft lounges. The music in the dining room included a piped in easy-listening/adult contemporary sound track. (I distinctly heard Willie Nelson at one point.) Still, tea time was better attended today than any I had ever seen! Guess the secret is out! I was also pleasantly surprised to see so many kids in attendance. In fact, there were 3 kids around 11 years old having tea by themselves at the table next to ours. It was entertaining to watch.

(A previous reviewer mentioned the net across the ceiling of the atrium, in case any of the glass bubbles fell. Here's what it looked like up close.)

(Can you tell the atrium was one of my favorite photo spots?)

 

After a relaxing tea, we wandered the shops, where I bought a ship pin and ornament for me, and a couple of T-shirts for Alyssa. It was almost 4:00, so I thought it would be a good time to get ready for our first elegant evening, and maybe get a couple of pictures. (We planned to skip the captain’s party this time.) I was very surprised to walk back into the cabin and see that Alyssa had not napped, but was watching TV with Alex!

Since I was back, Alex decided to try out the spa for a little bit before dinner. So I turned off the loud war movie on the TV, read Alyssa a story, and cuddled up next to her on her bed. We both fell asleep! I awoke at 4:30 and got dressed while Alyssa continued to sleep. Alex came back a little after 5:00, and she was STILL asleep! Boy, was it tough getting her up!

We all made it to the dining room, though, and located our new table – a partial booth set for 5 on the opposite side of the dining room, a few tables away from the windows. Perfect! Our wait team were Savio and Dindo, and they were much more attentive and efficient than our wait team the night before. I asked if they could retrieve the leftover champagne we had brought to our previous table the prior night, and we all made a toast to do-overs.

(Tonight the waiters sang "That's Amore," and Alyssa dragged Alex out into the aisle to dance.)

Since we didn’t get a chance to get photos done before dinner, we tried the various venues around the ship, as well as a few pictures in the library. (By the way – the library, though it had only slim pickings, was open 24 hours and the bookcases were never locked.) Alex and I wanted to go to the adult comedy show in the Burgundy lounge tonight (deck 5, aft), so my mom offered to watch Alyssa for us. Cool! We changed into some comfy clothes, got Alyssa ready for bed, and made our way to the back of the ship.

(I thought these masks were a bit creepy)

We had no problem finding a couple of good seats about 20 minutes before the show. Tony Esposito was very funny, and had us laughing through most of his routine. When it was over, Katie announced that there was already a line for the next show with Kim Harrison, so only platinum guests could stay. The rest of us would have to clear the lounge and get in the line to come back in. No problem. We decided to go grab a late night munchie instead. (Yes, we pretty much ate our way around the ship! LOL!)

We walked Upper Dream Street on deck 5, where there was a ship’s photographer in front of the casino who had no backdrop and no props, save one of the bar stools from the casino bar. Weird. Still, we stopped for a few poses, then moved on to the Pizzeria. I ordered a calzone, which would take about 10-20 minutes to make fresh (it was quite tasty), and Alex walked over to the deli just a few minutes before it closed. (He didn’t recognize Todd, our cruise director, who was also ordering a sandwich at the deli.)

After filling our bellies yet again, we slipped back into our cabin. My mom was dozing, but when we came in, she woke up and turned on the cabin lights. A minute later the phone rang.

“Hello?” Alex answered, “Um…no, I think it was an accident. Sorry.” Then he hung up.

Remember the emergency call cord above the bed next to the light switch? Yep! My mom accidently pulled it when she was reaching for the light!

 

Tomorrow will be our first port of call - Cozumel!

[Lady_Jag]

Great review so far.

 

I can't wait until my cruise on the Dream in November.

 

Thank you! You're really going to love the Dream - it's beautiful!

 

Great review!! Can't wait to read the rest!:)

 

I am loving your review so far. Thank you so much for posting it for us.

 

Thank you both for reading and replying. It's been fun reliving the experience. :)

[Lady_Jag]

Well great review looking for more.

 

Reat review so far. My Fun Group will be sailing on her next year.

 

Thank you so much for posting! I'm really enjoying your review! :)

 

Thanks! We had so much fun, we're considering a sea-peat sometime next summer. ;)

[BeeBeeCee]

Still loving the review..:) thanks

[Lady_Jag]

That is just freaking hilarious about the pull emergency cord :) :eek::D:D. OMG HA HA HA HA HA. Yea brandon asked about your daughter a few times. We luckily had are friends as table mates but the service also was horrible. We too had to flag down a bar service waiter several times. We actually ate on the lido and in the Chefs art because of this a few times. Oh and thats great about the looks. Bridie brought some of her sexy dresses that I love. That are rather nice in the top. Nice be it, that is not OMG centerfold type though. You should have seen the looks she got, I although loved it. People are just that... shesshhh. Awesome review so far.

 

Frank, was it a chainmail dress? :eek: Just kidding! I bet she looked beautiful!

 

I'm glad Brandon's chin is getting better. Alyssa was fascinated with his stitches and probably would have followed him all over the ship if she had her way! LOL!

[Lady_Jag]

Lady jag...Welcome back...Pictures are wonderful...Can't wait for the rest.

I was going to stick the postcard on your door, but the other cruisers hadn't left yet so I'm glad Yessy put the card in your Mom's cabin. Didn't you just love her smiley face vacuum before 8A every day, LOL.

 

Funny story on the cord. You sure the scowling woman wasn't part of the obviously non-drinking family at dinner? Waiting for the rest.

 

Crew

 

You mean this vacuum?

 

Every time Alyssa saw it in the hall, she would pull me over to it and say "Look, Mommy! Ha! Ha! That's so silly! It has a smiley face!"

 

I actually wondered if Ms. Scowl was at least friends with the Stick-in-the-mud family. Hmmm...maybe she was part of the other group of 5 who were assigned their table the second night of the cruise - it would have been a great fit! LOL!

 

Thanks again for the note!