My Fast Acting, Long Lasting, Dream Review. Just off the Ship this morning...

[CarribbeanTina271]

Great review!! Can't wait to read the rest...

[kdinkus1]

:D

gammy...these are heated. Some times they can be a bit too hot, but if you lay a nice thick spa towel on them and use another towel for a pillow, you'll take a nice relaxing nap.:) In my experience, the spas are less crowded after 4 PM on sea days and in the mid-late afternoons on port days. The relaxation room does get crowded, limited seating, but there is a turn around. DW also went in mornings a couple of times. I never heard her say they were crowded. I do know from using the stairs to the Serenity deck that on sea days there appear to be a lot more people in the spa area during the middle of the day. Meredisney and others may have had a different experience as each cruise is a bit different. Also, you can head for the locker rooms first and drop off your stuff in one of the lockers and not have to mess with it. I personally enjoy the showers in the spa and in the locker rooms across from the gym (a spa pass is not required to use these) better than the showers in the cabin.

 

Hi Grammy3grks! Yes, I tried them out and they are warm. Like crewsweeper, I found that if you lay a towel on top of the lounge chair and then lay ontop of that, it was perfect. Laying directly on top of the tiles was a little too intense for me.

 

The Spa hours are from 8am - 10pm. I have all the Fun Times. I'm going to include them in my signature once I get them all scanned.

 

Thanks to both of you for your quick responses! I can't wait to visit the spa and everything in it!! Dream... here I come!

[gatour]

Thanks for your write up on the Cloud 9 spa.

 

You mentioned that it cost $149 for a singles pass. Was there a couple's pass and if so how much?

[willyguy]

Keep the review going. Thank.

[Hogladyrider]

Thanks for taking the time to write up such a detailed spa review, it is something I have been wondering about.

 

Nice to read that single passes are available.

 

Do they offer tours of the spa prior to purchase?

 

Great review looking forward to more.

Susan

[pinkbugs471]

Thanks for taking the time to write up such a detailed spa review, it is something I have been wondering about.

 

Nice to read that single passes are available.

 

Do they offer tours of the spa prior to purchase?

 

Great review looking forward to more.

Susan

 

There are tours of the Spa on the day you board. They try to get you to sign up for classes and treatments, then. You always have the to option buy at anytime on the cruise.

[TEXAZJEWL]

I have a quick question about your day in Nassau.... were the stores open that morning, since it was a Sunday?

 

I had read somewhere that the stores may not open till noon on Sundays in Nassau. We have been there before, as well, and wanted to just hang around & shop then head back to the ship.

 

Thanks!

[Meredisney]

I have a quick question about your day in Nassau.... were the stores open that morning, since it was a Sunday?

 

I had read somewhere that the stores may not open till noon on Sundays in Nassau. We have been there before, as well, and wanted to just hang around & shop then head back to the ship.

 

Thanks!

 

Hello TEXAZJEWL! Yes, the stores were open in Nassau.

[Meredisney]

Thanks for your write up on the Cloud 9 spa.

 

You mentioned that it cost $149 for a singles pass. Was there a couple's pass and if so how much?

 

Yes, a couples pass was $249, so basically you get a $49 break when you purchase the couples pass.

[jamo951]

We were in cabin 10205 - which is also an obstructed view, we absolutely loved that room, I would take it again in a heartbeat!

 

Would you happen to have any pictures of 10205 that you can share? You can also email them to me if you want, email is in my sig. Thanks!

[jamo951]

Meredisney, great review so far, can't wait for the rest. Good job with the Spa review, do you think the time you spent in the spa with the amenities it included were worth the price for you? I could see my wife and I using it before dinner, since we have the late seating, and about half the ship eats at the early seating!

[Meredisney]

I didn't realize that I would have so much to say LOL! Ok, let’s see if I can get things moving...

 

Water works

After the spa, we hit the pools and relaxed a little up on the Serenity Deck. My Dad, DH, and I actually went down the water slides! It was fun. I liked the corkscrew water slide and twin dual-lane racing slides. I wasn't brave enough to do the Drain Pipe, but my DH and Dad said it was great! The line wasn't too long. I'm guessing that a lot of Guests were still out in Nassau.

 

Dinner

We had John Wayne and Devinia as our servers. We loved them and stuck with them for the rest of the cruise.

DH had the Strawberry Bisque and the Greek Farmer Salad as a starters. I had the West Indian Pumpkin Soup and the Baked Stuffed Wild Mushrooms. I've read mixed reviews of the Pumpkin Soup, but I really enjoyed the flavors. I'd order it again. Unfortunately, I remembered about the pictures half way through my starters, so please excuse the half eaten food photographs. For his main course, DH had the Spaghetti Carbonara. He said it wasn't very good. It was dry and didn't look very appetizing. I had the Duet of Broiled Main Lobster Tail and Grilled Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp, which was amazing.

8 Seconds

After dinner, we headed to the Encore theatre for the 8 Seconds Show. Again, it featured the same two vocalists. The best part of this show was the fiddle playing, Jimmy Hodge! He was outstanding. A word of warning, this show does feature one song that surprised me. There is a portion of the show where the boys are pretending to take a shower (fully covered of course) and they sing a song about they are going to have that night with the girls. At first I thought I was hearing the lyrics incorrectly, but I checked with my husband and he verified what I heard. There are some sexual innuendos that I hope I don't get in trouble for mentioning on this board, but let’s just say that the lyrics play around with the word "come" and leave it at that....Oh My!!

 

Moving on to the Adult Comedy show…

We left the 8 Seconds show a little early because we read on cruise critic that the adult comedy show in the Burgundy Lounge fills up pretty quickly. Well, you guys were right. It was standing room only, so we opted to wait until the 11pm show. The 11pm comic was Lewis Nixon. He was very funny.

After the comedy show, we headed back to our stateroom to go to bed.

[Meredisney]

Day 3 – Monday, Day at Sea

 

We woke up to a knock at our door. We had placed a pre-order for room service the night before. It was so nice to enjoy a leisurely morning in the room drinking hot tea and eating my toast in bed. I definitely recommend taking advantage of this service rather than fighting the crown up on the lido deck.

 

Couples Massage

DH and I had scheduled a couples message for 9:15am. We arrived to the Spa about an hour early. I had read on Cruise Critic that when you book a Spa service you get complimentary use of the Thermal suite and Thalassotheraphy pool for that day. THIS INCORRECT INFORMATION! The Thermal suite and Thalassotheraphy pool are NOT INCLUDED when you book a spa service. It was a good thing that I had previously purchased the VIP pass so that I could get DH into the locked doors to enjoy these amenities ahead of time or else DH and I would have been sitting at the spa waiting an hour for them to call us for our message.

 

Our message therapists were Aressa & Fallon. They presented us with a paper to fill out rating our stress levels, describing our daily activites,etc. prior to bringing us back to the couples villa. The couples villa was really nice. It featured a two separate massage tables, a private bathroom where you could change, and Jacuzzi tub. Of course we only reserved the couples massage, so we didn’t get to use the Jacuzzi tub. They gave us a quick consultation then left the room for us to get under the covers of our massage tables.

 

My massage was good but not great. After massaging my shoulders and upper back, she put this cooling gel on that I’m guessing was suppose to do something for my muscles. Because of the gel, I spend the next 50 minutes freezing. It was pretty hard to relax while shivering. DH agreed that he had better massages in the past. We were kind of bummed out because we paid $269 for the so-so massages.

 

Serenity & Lanai BBQ

We headed up to the Serenity deck after the massage. There were still plenty of open lounge chairs. We grabbed a double wicker lounger with a cover that could be either tied down or used as a shade. We spend the day laying in the sun and napping. For lunch, we went to the Lanai BBQ. IDH and really enjoyed the chicken quesadillas and pork tacos! They were great. DH said the sliders were a little dry..

 

We headed back to the room around 2pm. DH took a nap and I went to tea in the Crimson Dining room with my mom at 3pm.

 

Tea Time

The tea was very nice. My mom and I sat at a table for two. We were presented with a tea box filled with an assortment of tea and a rolling cart filled with pastries and cucumber tea sandwiches. It was nice mommy/daughter time. I was so stuffed after the tea that we decided not to join my parents for dinner in the dining room.

Casino

While my parents had a private dinner for two, DH and I hit the casino for a few hours. I expected the casino to be a lot more smokey, but to my suprise it was not. The Casino is in the middle of Promenade Deck and is primarily non-smoking. There are a few designated tables and slot machines located away from the main walk that are labled for "smoking". You actually have to be seated at the table or sitting at the machine to smoke. You can’t stand and smoke while watching others play.

 

After a pretty eventful night, I broke even in the casino and we headed upstairs for bed.

[Meredisney]

Day 4 – Tuesday St Thomas, USVI

 

Again, we took advantage of the of the breakfast order card in our cabin, requested what we wanted, and hung it on the outside of our door the night before. Our tray was delivered at 7:30am. Like I said, we are early risers.

 

DH went up to the jogging track which is located on the same deck as the mini-golf course. You have to do 7 laps around the golf course to equal a mile. I took advantage of my Spa VIP Pass and showered in the spa. We enjoyed the view from the “secret balcony” as we sailed into St Thomas around 10am.

St Thomas

We didn’t book an excursion in St Thomas. My parents had visited the island before and my mom was anxious to show us around. It was a $4 per person ride into town from the port. You could walk, but the streets are busy and construction filled, so I don’t recommend it.

 

My parents brought us to Imperial Jewelers, where my mom had made some purchases during their previous visit. I went in the store not planning to purchase anything but ended up getting killer deal. I upgraded my engagement ring and wedding band. They made me an offer I simply couldn’t refuse. I actually had my new BLING appraised today and it is worth $6k more than we paid for it, so needless to say, I am in love with my new purchase! They are a totally reputable jeweler and I highly recommend them.

[Meredisney]

Back on Board

We spend a few hours in town and then headed back to the ship. We hit the pool and water slides. Again, it wasn’t crowded at all due to the amount of people still out exploring the island. I spent some time reading in the spa on the heated mosaic lounge chairs.

 

Dinner

This time, I remembered to take the pictures before I started eating!!! I had the Cream of Sun-Ripened Tomato soup, Beef Stroganoff, and the Bitter and Blanc for dessert. OMG, the Bitter and Blanc was sinfully delicious. The Beef Stroganoff was not so hot. The meat was too well done and tough. The spatzel and mushroom gravy were very good, however. DH had the Fried Mozzarella and mixed greens, Pork Chop, and Tiramisu. He loved all of it. He said the tiamisu was outstanding and the pork was perfectly cooked.

We must have been tired because we skipped the show that night and headed to bed after dinner. Maybe that’s how I gained this extra 5 lbs……

[kujobie]

Awesome review, kid! Keep it coming..

[kujobie]

My main question is, if you didn't have a kagillion bagillion dollars to spend, what would you have cut out, besides the couples massage? We've done that in the past before and thought it wasn't worth it either..

[dane225]

Loving your review!! Waiting for more!!:)

[Cina409]

I love this review! I have to hit Imperial Jewelers...I want to upgrade my DH's wedding ring. If they give us a good enough deal we can upgrade mine too...lol:D

[Meredisney]

My main question is, if you didn't have a kagillion bagillion dollars to spend, what would you have cut out, besides the couples massage? We've done that in the past before and thought it wasn't worth it either..

 

Honestly, we didn't spend a ton. Our bill was about $500 at the end of the cruise. We prepaid for the massage, so that isn't included in the $500.

1. Gratuities were $70 a person, so that's $140

2. The spa pass was $149

3. My DH and I had a glass of wine with dinner each night, sometimes two glasses lol

4. We ordered drinks in the lounge during the comedy show

5. I bought three 8x10 photos and three 6X8 photos

6. My DH got two bottle of Tanquery in the Liquor store on the ship

If you plan it right, you could go without the drinks. We actually brought 2 bottle of Champaign and one bottle of red wine on the cruise. On the sea days, I mixed the red wine with the orange-passion-guava juice and made sangria.

Obviously, you can go without the photos

We keep our bar stocked at home, so that's why we bought the gin, but if that's not your thing then obviously that would also save you money.

You're automatically going to be charged the $70 a person in gratuities. I don't think that can be avoided.

[Hogladyrider]

Loving your review, I have always wondered about the massages, since I get massages at home regularly and they cost a lot less than on the ship I was afraid the ship massage would disappoint!

 

I do enjoy the hot tubs on the ships and I am looking forward to trying the Dream hot tubs on the lanai area. We use our hot tub at home daily and have for years.

 

You did very well with your S&S. We prepay our gratuities, and bring cash for extra tips for room service, wait staff and room steward staff.

 

One can get by on a 7-day cruise very economically with a little effort. Last year we crused Alaska in May and our S&S was only $100, we don't drink much when it is cold!

 

The cruise lines make it VERY easy to use that S&S and I know may people that have huge bills at the end of the week and say "how did that happen"?

 

Looking forward to reading more of your wonderful review.

[Buffettfan 225]

Thanks. I posted the photos as thumbnails so that they weren't huge. If you click on them, they get larger. I just didn't want to take up a lot of space.:D

I like idea of clickable thumbnails- it does make page load faster, and fact they open immediately is even better than it going to a whole album.

 

Now that I finally learned how to post photos to CC posts, I like your method.

Can you give steps on how you did it, and what size you choose? I just joined photobucket and frustrated. Thanks

[hkymumx2]

Meredisney .... your doing an outstanding job with this review. Carnival should hire you to promote the Spa. I'm sold!!!!!

[Buffettfan 225]

thanks for such a great review, love your writing style. you seem to post answers to things we are thinking before we even ask!

Wish I had read your review earlier. We passed on booking the Dream as many negative posts about crowds- long buffet lines, and in public spaces it being too crowded. A post that stood out said something like they should remove 500 cabins as they did not increase lido pool space or buffet area. We are cruisers who do things off cycle from the majority.

What is your opinion on lines,crowd on ship and lines getting off and on in ports?

Thanks-

[luv2gonow]

Loving your review:D