B2B on Carnival Dream Western & Carnival Victory Southern Caribbean! Review w/Pics!

[nessz79]

Subscribing! This will be a great review :)

[Payd]

Carnival Dream Exotic Western Caribbean - October 1-8, 2011

 

Embarkation Day Dinner & Evening

 

After Sail Away, we explored the ship a little more and then got ready for dinner. We had 8:15 seating in the Lower Crimson Dining Room. Our Team Head Waiter was Alexander and our Assistant Waiter was Norman. They were both excellent, among the best dining room teams that I have ever seen on Carnival. They went above and beyond to make sure that not only were our basic needs taken care of, but that we were entertained as well (and I'm not just referring to the song and dance either). Our table of 4 was shared with a couple from Detroit with whom we got along with very well.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Carnival's new menus (I miss my Shrimp Cocktail and am not a fan of the "Denny's Dishes" as one person put it), but we found things that suited our taste buds almost every night. I apologize for not taking pictures of most of the food, I just never thought of it. Night one consisted of:

 

Caesar Salad - 3/5

Love the fresh dressing, but it wasn't super cold as salads should be. Instead it was just slightly below room temperature, which I understand given that they take a long journey from the cooler to the serving line to the dining room. Just wasn't as good as the fresh tossed salad I had at the Pasta Bar at lunch.

 

Sweet & Sour Shrimps - 4/5

One of my favorite dishes. Four extra large shrimp, breaded and fried, served with sweet and sour sauce and some sort of rice noodle/vegetable stir fry on the side. This was new to me, as last time I had this I remember it being served with fried rice. The rice noodles were a bit tough, but the shrimp was excellent.

 

Vanilla Creme Brulee - 5/5

Served with fresh berries on top, this is my favorite Carnival dessert. It is only served on the first night of the cruise, so don't miss it!

 

After dinner, we went to the Welcome Aboard Show, which is basically the same throughout the fleet. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. A little singing and dancing by the Carnival Dancers, some talking/sales pitch about the Fun Aboard/Fun Ashore presentation by the Cruise Director, followed by one of the variety acts onboard and a 10-minute comedy set by one of the fly on comedians, with some CD speils in between. Entertaining, but the pacing could be better with less talking/sales pitches by the Cruise Director. That being said, Butch Begovich was the best Cruise Director I've seen in my four cruises, and he deserves credit for that.

 

Up Next: First Fun Day at Sea and Hairy Chests!

 

I'm enjoying the Dream review...but especially looking forward to the Victory review!

[brilliantseas]

Carnival Dream Exotic Western Caribbean - October 1-8, 2011

 

First Fun Day at Sea

 

The first day at sea is almost like rest and recover from the trip to the port day, so we slept in late (but made it to Late Riser's Breakfast), then grabbed a few chairs on Deck 11 Port (near the ping pong table) and enjoyed the warm Caribbean air as we sailed past Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. Not much sun on Deck 11 until late afternoon, but with the temperatures in the mid-upper 80's and plenty of opportunities for sunburn ahead in our four ports, we didn't mind spending a little time in the shade on our first day. About mid-day, we passed the Destiny headed back to Miami from her call in Cozumel.

 

We really didn't have much planned for the afternoon other than to enjoy the music on the lido deck, take a trip down the water slides (we only did it once, the seams on the slide are kind of painful), hang out in the whirlpools, and of course, enjoy the mid-afternoon pool games.

 

Over the course of the afternoon, we witnessed ice carving, the mixology competition, and of course, the hairy chest competition.

 

 

 

 

 

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Some of the faces in the background (especially the children) are even more hilarious than the contestants themselves.

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Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our first Elegant Night on the Carnival Dream. More commonly referred to as "Lobster Night" by anyone who isn't an officer on a Carnival ship, we were excited to get dressed up and enjoy our first elegant night of the cruise.

 

Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms - 4/5

As good as I remember, but the filling could use a little more flavor. It seemed to be mainly bread crumbs this time, but still delicious.

 

Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Jumbo Tiger Shrimp - 5/5

Traveling with someone who was new to cruising, she was quite impressed that I could tell her exactly what comes on the plate (small lobster tail, scoop of yukon gold mashed potatoes, three jumbo shrimp, broccoli, and drawn butter), and of course it did not disappoint. I try to pace myself throughout the cruise, so I only had one lobster tail. It could have been hotter, but it was just as good as always.

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of most of the food, but I did get a picture of the dessert I tried for the first time.

 

Caramelized Apples on Puff Pastry - 5/5

I'm not big on apple pie for the sole reason that I don't like pie crust (I just eat the filling), but this dessert is nothing like apple pie. It is amazingly light and the caramelized apples are just the right amount of sweet and tart. The presentation is also beautiful.

 

 

Up next: Day 3 on the Dream - A Rainy Day in Cozumel

[brilliantseas]

Carnival Dream Exotic Western Caribbean - October 1-8, 2011

 

Day 3 - Cozumel, Mexico

 

Cozumel was originally supposed to be a beach day at Paradise Beach. I had previously been to Paradise Beach and Mr. Sancho's in Cozumel, and much prefer Paradise Beach, especially when there are fewer ships in port as it is a huge facility and feels completely empty with only one ship in port.

 

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with our plans. We woke up to discover pouring rain as we pulled into Puerta Maya. We had breakfast and waited around hoping that the rain would subside. While we were at breakfast on Lido, Butch came on and said that since it was raining and most guests were choosing to stay onboard instead of braving the weather in port, they were adding an unscheduled movie in the main show lounge that would be starting in 15 minutes. We finished up breakfast and made our way down to Deck 5 (upper tier of Encore! Show Lounge) and watched most of the movie RED. It was cool watching a movie in the show lounge, but I wished they would have lowered the lights at least a little to make it more like a movie theater experience. Anyway, it was a good way to pass the time while it was raining outside.

 

By the time the movie was over, the rain had subsided, so we decided to venture ashore and see if we could salvage the afternoon. We were docked at Puerta Maya (Carnival's private pier complex in Cozumel), about three miles from downtown.

 

 

 

 

Puerta Maya is a beautiful outdoor shopping complex, but definitely not the place to shop for deals in Cozumel.

 

Since it looked like it could start raining again any minute and we were running short on time, we decided to take a taxi downtown and do some shopping rather than pay to go to a beach on such a cloudy/rainy/nasty day.

 

One thing that I was not prepared for was the complete lack of people downtown. Every other time I have been in Cozumel, there were at least four other ships in port, so downtown has always had a crowded street fare atmosphere. This time it was eerily quiet, especially on the far end of town. Unfortunately this also meant that the vendors were that much more pushy in getting you into their shops, which made my friend a little uncomfortable. The entire place felt like a ghost town.

 

We even made our way up to the 2nd floor of Punta Langosta mall downtown to sample the famous blue tequila (free samples, $85/750ml bottle to buy), and found that it was literally the only place even open on the 2nd floor of Punta Langosta, and we were the only ones up there. The man working the tequila store was very nice and gave us 4 different samples (I've only ever been offered one in the past), and we would have loved to bring some of the blue tequila or the chocolate tequila back with us, had it not been so expensive, but unfortunately my vacation budget just can not justify spending almost $100 on one bottle of liquor.

[brilliantseas]

After shopping, we decided that we would grab a snack and some drinks at Senor Frogs or Carlos N Charlies. Carlos N Charlies looked fairly dead (maybe 10 people inside), so we decided that we would head upstairs to Senor Frogs to look for a more upbeat atmosphere. As we were being seated, we quickly realized that we were the only ones in the restaurant! Not the atmosphere I had hoped for, but we decided to grab a drink and enjoy the view from our table next to one of the balcony-style windows and see if anyone else showed up. We also had the dessert nachos (cinnamon sugar tortillas with three different flavors of ice cream, squirted with chocolate and caramel squirt guns), which were quite good, if not too sweet to go with our frozen cocktails. We stayed for almost an hour and never saw another person. By the time we left, it was about 3:30 ship time (2:30 Cozumel time) and they were closing up due to lack of business. Two yards and the dessert nachos set us back about $35, including tip. We had a good time, but it would have been a lot more fun if it had it's normal party atmosphere.

 

 

 

 

After Senor Frogs, we decided to head back to Puerta Maya with no real plan other than taking a few pictures, browsing the duty free shop, and making sure that we were back onboard the ship in time for sail away.

 

 

 

 

As you can see, it never did really clear up while we were in Cozumel.

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Back at Puerta Maya, we finally found the party at Fat Tuesday around 4:00pm ship time. The Fat Tuesday at Puerta Maya in Cozumel is really two bars in one. Closest to the little beach area (see pictures above), there is a nice quiet bar with swingset seats overlooking the water for those who want to relax and look out over the aqua blue water at the ship, and on the far side (closest to the pier), there is a live DJ and a very lively crowd. We stopped on the quiet side for drinks and pictures on the swings, and then headed over to the party side to watch the fun.

 

 

This is definitely where the party is late in the afternoon in Cozumel as it seems like most passengers want to be able to drink until the last possible second before leaving Cozumel and heading off to Belize. We literally watched people run down the pier until after the third ship's horn (I'd be running at the first horn), and sailed almost on time with everyone aboard, which is apparently a miracle in Cozumel.

 

 

 

 

 

I forwarded the last photo along to Jeff the Fun Dude, the comedy club manager / resident comedian on the Dream, and he agreed: "Now that's how you have fun, dude!"

 

Just remember...

WHAT HAPPENS IN MEXICO...

[brilliantseas]

... ENDS UP ON THE INTERNET!

 

 

 

Up next: Day 4 - Snorkeling in Belize

[trvlqueen]

Loving your review. We almost did this same B2B - but I couldn't convince hubby to take enough time off work - so I settled for a couple extra days in San Juan before the Victory and we are booking Dream for next year.

 

Looks like a great time so far - Coz is strange when it's not full of people! We had a similar experience last May - it's almost like the shopkeepers get frantic - except for the ones who sell anything you'd actually want (like the blue tequila, lol). We had cases where my dd looked at a necklace in passing at the little carts off the pier, said no thank you, and 10 minutes later would find the vendor, holding the necklace she had looked at, offering a lower price. "C'mon, missy - a good deal, just for you" It got annoying enough that we hid in the hammock area -

 

I just showed her the pics of the Dream from that area and said "where is this" - and she said "Cozumel!" - love it!

[brilliantseas]

So before I get to Belize, I just want to take a quick time out to talk about the Piano Bar and Punchliner Comedy Club on both the Carnival Dream and Carnival Victory. As a big fan of both, they can play a role in making or breaking my evening experience onboard any cruise.

 

Carnival Dream

 

Punchliner Comedy Club on the Carnival Dream is quite an experience. Jeff the Fun Dude is the Comedy Club Manager, and is easily the best entertainer I've ever seen on a Carnival ship that isn't a fly-on act. Not only does he look like Rod Stewart's twin, he also does great job of running the comedy club (including making everyone clear the lounge between shows and get back in line so everyone has a chance for good seats and can't be chair hogs all night), and he does a full 5-10 minute warm-up act before each comedian comes on stage. Jeff deserves to be a Cruise Director today! He really makes the experience.

 

Even though I can't remember their names off the top of my head (I saw 8 of them between the two cruises), the fly on comedians were great as always.

 

On the Carnival Victory, the comedy club manager (I think her name was Laura?) was just the opposite. She is obviously not a comedy person, but instead just a random entertainer that they stick in the lounge to introduce the comedians. She doubles as the DJ on the Lido Deck during the day, and she even struggles in that role. Her British accent is about the only thing that she has going for her. I was disappointed that she does not clear the lounge after every show, so if you don't get to the lounge before the 2nd performance in the main show lounge lets out, you'll never be able to get a good seat in the comedy club. When she comes on stage to introduce the comedians, she finds it necessary to force out a few bad one-liners that range from groans to a mild chuckle for the audience. It'd be better if she just introduced the comedian and got off the stage because she clearly isn't cut out to be an entertainer herself.

 

The comedians were great as always, however. Happy Cole on the Victory stands out as the #2 comedian I've ever seen on a Carnival ship behind Mutzie on the Triumph out of New Orleans in January. I hear Mutzie is doing a stint on the Magic out of Galveston this fall, so if you are going to be onboard the Magic, be sure to catch at least one of his shows.

 

In terms of the Piano Bars on both ships, I was greatly disappointed after having such a great time on the Triumph in January with pianist Dave Ross (who is now at Pat O'Briens on Bourbon Street). Dave Filsinger on the Dream was just ok, but could never really get the crowd involved. It was more like an individual performance than a sing along piano bar. Great for 10 or 15 minutes, but not a spot to spend the evening. Jerry Seelix on the Victory was just painful to watch. I don't think he ever had more than about 10 people in the lounge. You could almost always get a seat at the bar that surrounds the piano (something you could basically never do on the Triumph or Dream), and there is a reason for it. Jerry uses a media player on his Macbook to sing/play back-up to his poor singing skills, and his range of songs is limited to no more than about 30 of the most stereotypical piano bar songs, which he sings like an asthmatic cat. I really wish Carnival would do a better job of screening piano bar players as it seems like it is about 50/50 as to whether you get someone who is very good or very bad on your sailing.

 

On a brighter note, Ana the Karaoke Host on the Victory provided quite a bit of entertainment and told better jokes than her counterpart next door in the comedy club. She was probably the #3 on the Victory entertainment staff behind Assistant Cruise Director Donkey and Cruise Director Karl with a K.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Lovin the pics keep em comin!!

[Niquein99]

... ENDS UP ON THE INTERNET!

 

 

 

Up next: Day 4 - Snorkeling in Belize

 

TOO FUNNY!! :D Great review! We're taking this same route on the Dream in March. Can't wait.

[brilliantseas]

TOO FUNNY!! :D Great review! We're taking this same route on the Dream in March. Can't wait.

 

I loved it so much I'm doing it again next year!

[brilliantseas]

Let's not forget about one of the most important parts of a cruise, the food!

 

Here is what I had on the 3rd Night on the Carnival Dream Exotic Western Caribbean after leaving Cozumel.

 

A Study in Sushi - 4/5

Three different pieces of sushi, including seared ahi tuna, a little square of sticky rice with shrimp, and salmon tartar. I'm not a huge sushi person, but the shrimp and the salmon tartar were both good. I didn't care much for the tuna, but that is just my personal taste. Everyone else at the table seemed to enjoy it.

 

Chicken Sicilian Style - 2/5

The Penne Mariscos is one of my favorite Carnival dishes, but I have had it often enough that I thought I would try something different this time. I skipped out on the Chicken a la Greque, which I like, so I thought I'd try another chicken dish. Unfortunately, this one did not impress. The sauce did not give it much flavor, so it was basically watered down roasted chicken breast. The stewed potatoes were just ok, and the green beans that were hand tied into a little bundle became a running joke about jobs we would not want on a cruise ship. At least Carnival still cares about presentation.

 

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake - 5/5

So long as it isn't cold or overcooked, this Carnival classic is hard to mess up.

 

Warm Fig, Date and Cinnamon Cake w/Rum Raisin Ice Cream - 5/5

I didn't actually order this, but tried a bite of my friend's, and I must say that this is getting added to my don't miss dessert list. Warm, spongy and moist cinnamon cake, with probably the most interesting flavor of ice cream I've ever tasted. If you haven't tried it before, make sure you don't miss it on your next Carnival cruise.

[brilliantseas]

Carnival Dream Exotic Western Caribbean - October 1-8, 2011

 

Day 4 - Belize City, Belize

 

We stayed up late the night before Belize, debating the weather forecast and whether or not we wanted to book an excursion with Carnival for Belize. After doing all of my research here on Cruise Critic, I didn't really want to do much on the mainland, and I knew that the major advantage of booking a snorkeling excursion with Carnival instead of an independent is that the Carnival excursions leave directly from the ship so you don't have to tender 20 minutes each way into town. Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn't changing much during the first two days of our cruise, and with a 60% chance of rain, we didn't want to get stuck paying for a Carnival snorkeling excursion that we wouldn't enjoy because of rough water or rain/wind.

 

After leaving Cozumel, we gave the weather forecast one last check at about 1:00am by calling the guest services desk, and found out that the forecast had changed and there was now only a 30% chance of rain. We decided we were ready to commit. We were going to book the Sergeant's Caye Snorkeling Excursion with Carnival. We turned on the TV to the interactive shore excursion booking system only to discover that they stop accepting reservations for shore excursions at midnight. We took this as a sign that it wasn't meant to be and agreed that we would forego the excursion in Belize, but would make absolutely sure that we booked a snorkeling excursion for Costa Maya instead. This ended up being a great decision, but I'll go into more detail on that later.

 

After a late night, we decided to turn in without making any definite plans for Belize other than we'd take a tender into the port and explore a little after the lines died down.

 

We slept in until about 10:30 and then made our way up to the Lido Deck for breakfast. Knowing that there would be a big rush for tenders, and that we'd have to wait a while if we went downstairs to get a tender ticket anyway, we decided just to relax, take our time, and enjoy a cooked-to-order omelet while overlooking the water off the coast of Belize and watching the first tenders of the day head into port. It was a little cloudy, but looked like it was going to be a nice day, so we grabbed our bags and headed down to the Burgandy Lounge on Deck 5 Aft to get our tender tickets and wait for our turn to head into port. I think we were given #74, and they were in the high 50's when we arrived at the lounge. The lounge was very full, to the point where we almost couldn't find a seat (I can't imagine what it was like when they first started tendering at 10:00am), but they were calling tenders about every 7-8 minutes so it cleared out fairly quickly. They call multiple numbers at one time based upon the size of the next tender pulling up to the ship, so I think we waited about 4 tenders and about 30 minutes before being called. Just as we were leaving the lounge, they announced general boarding and started allowing people to head directly to Deck 0 instead of getting a tender ticket. We were on our tender and headed into the port of Belize City, Belize at about 12:30pm ship's time (10:30am local time).

 

We arrived in Belize City at almost exactly 1:00pm ship's time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The largest and most popular bar in Belize City is The Wet Lizard, which overlooks the tender dock. We didn't have a chance to visit, as ended up on a VERY tight schedule in belize. More on that in a minute.

 

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As we approached the tender pier in Belize City, we were met by several representatives from EcoToursBelize.com (look for them in the aqua/turquoise colored polos) who were offering snorkeling tours for $49, about $20 less than the Carnival excursions. They also do cave tubing and adventure tours, but they tend to leave earlier in the day. As it turns out, our tender arrived just in time as the last snorkeling excursion from EcoToursBelize.com leaves Belize City at 1:15pm ship's time, and it was just after 1:00 when we arrived at the tender pier. The tour is supposed to be 3.5 hours long, and they guaranteed us that we would be back in Belize City by 4:45pm, 30 minutes before the last tender is scheduled to return to the ship. They had 12 people signed up (requires a minimum of 15 for them to go), so we looked at each other and jumped at the opportunity to go snorkeling in Belize after all. As we were signing up, they found two other couples to go as well, so we ended up with a total of 18 on our snorkeling excursion.

 

As it turns out, EcoToursBelize.com visits Goff's Caye, a small barrier island (think of it as a sand bar) that Carnival normally offers as one of the three options for their snorkeling excursions, but were not offering on this particular sailing of the Carnival Dream.

 

We went with the representative from EcoToursBelize.com to the little blue hut hidden behind the Rainforest Rum Cakes shop where they conduct all of their business. We paid our $98, signed our liability waivers, and were taken back out by the tender pier to wait for the boat that would take us out to Goff's Caye. After just a few minutes of waiting, a small V-hulled open bow boat (looked a lot like a parasailing boat but without the tower) pulled up and the crew loaded our supplies (a cooler of cold water, a cooler of rum punch, and our snorkeling gear) and we boarded and were off to Goff's Caye.

 

The ride to Goff's Caye takes you back out past the area where the cruise ships anchor (providing a great opportunity for photos of the Carnival Dream) and along a long line of barrier islands. The ride takes about 35-40 minutes, so be prepared if you are prone to motion sickness or might have to use the bathroom on the ride. My friend is very prone to motion sickness and was not feeling well by the time we got to Goff's Caye.

 

Here are a few photos from the ride out to Goff's Caye:

 

 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Goff's Caye Snorkeling Excursion by EcoToursBelize.com

 

Price: $49/pp

Purchased at the Tender Dock in Belize City, Belize

Departs: 1:15pm Ship's Time (11:45am Local Time)

Scheduled Return: 4:45pm Ship's Time (2:45pm Local Time) - 30 min prior to last tender departure

 

After our long boat ride out to Goff's Caye, we are immediately greeted by the natural beauty of what can only be described as Belize's own Gilligan's Island. As we arrive, we are briefed on the itinerary for the day. We will dock at Goff's Caye for about 10 minutes to allow time for people to change and use the restroom and then meet back on the boat to be taken out a few hundred yards to the start of the reef on the rocky side of Goff's Caye. We will enter the water from the boat, then snorkel all the way around Goff's Caye and exit the water on the beach of Goff's Caye. The entire snorkeling experience will last about 45 minutes to an hour, and then we will get about an hour of beach time on the island with free rum punch before heading back to Belize City in time to catch the last tender back to the ship. Two guides are in the water with you at all times (one in the lead and one in the back), and the boat follows behind the tail guide in case anyone needs assistance in the water.

 

In the deepest area, the water is about 12-15 feet deep, but many areas are only 6 feet deep or less. I had snorkeled off the beach in Cozumel at Paradise Beach in Cozumel, but didn't see much in the water due to the lack of coral or plant life in the water and the heavy boat and swimmer traffic in the area. This was my first time snorkeling off of a boat and the first time snorkeling over a reef and it was just amazing. We got to see so many types of fish and coral; the pictures don't do it justice.

 

Speaking of pictures, a waterproof digital camera is a great investment before your next cruise. We had so much fun with it not only while snorkeling, but really any time we were at the beach or in the water. My underwater pictures were taken with a Fuji Finepix Z33WP (about 2 years old), but there are several decent waterproof cameras out there in the $150-250. Just be sure to test your new camera in the bath tub for 2-3 hours before your vacation to ensure that you don't end up on vacation with a defective camera as problems with new waterproof cameras are fairly common when they first come out of the box.

 

Here are some of the underwater pictures captured on my Z33WP at Goff's Caye, Belize:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our guide dove down to the bottom and brought up a few different creatures to show us. This is a Star Spider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Snorkeling at Goff's Caye was an amazing experience, and once we were done with the fish, we had a beautiful deserted private island all to ourselves. There were 18 people on our boat, and perhaps another dozen or so from the earlier excursion on the island, so the whole island felt very serene, like our own private beach. You can tell from the color of the water how shallow the water is on the beach side of the island.

 

 

 

 

 

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And finally, a few pictures of our private beach island of Goff's Caye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The little green building at the back of the island is the restroom. They have flush toilets, but there is no electricity on the island, so the only light in the restroom comes from two tiny holes in the wall above the toilet.

 

We found this little guy by the old volleyball court (the poles are still there, but there is no net to be found).

 

The little canopy area is where the free rum punch (and water, but who wants water?) is, making it the most popular area of the island. There was also a woman there selling grilled chicken and bottled juice and sodas, but no one was buying.

[brilliantseas]

Another little guy near the beach.

 

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to our island paradise :(

[brilliantseas]

We were a little nervous about the ride back as it was 4:30 before we left Goff's Caye, and we were promised we would be back at Belize City at 4:45, 30 minutes before the last tender. Our guide re-assured us that although we were leaving a few minutes late, we would be back in plenty of time and they have never had a guest miss the last tender on one of their excursions.

 

Our boat captain seemed to feel as if we were on "island time", however, as he decided now would be a good time to give us the extended water tour of the barrier islands of Belize. Rather than heading directly back past the cruise ship to the port, he would take us around the far side of the barrier islands to show us the finer parts of Belize.