Carnival Dream - 12/10/2011 - 12/17/2011

[rtw68]

 

 

Once back on board, we changed into our "pool wear" and hung out at the Lido pool. I took advantage and walked around getting some pictures. We were a little taller then the NCL ship:

 

 

 

 

Hey, another whale tail (apologies to those that are sick of them already, I'm sure not!)...

 

[rtw68]

I knew there was a ship's coin somewhere, and wanted to find it before the week was over with.

 

Well DS & DN were wandering around and found it. So I went to the location and got a couple pictures (won't post one of them because its a dead giveaway due to the reflection. Curse my photography skills!). I won't say where it is, in case some of you want to find it yourselves! :)

 

 

More pics from the day:

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

Enjoyed the buffet once again for lunch:

 

 

 

 

Here is the sign for the pasta bar:

 

 

We left Costa Maya at 3:00PM, after the normal waiting for people to get back on board. Seems like there was always 5-6 people that they had to page for.

 

How hard is it to be on-time? Geez!! :mad:

[rtw68]

The seas were rough the entire day and it continued into the night. I do think the wind had something to with that...

 

 

 

 

 

It was very windy up front on the Promenade deck:

 

 

[rtw68]

Another night in the buffet. We really didn't see anything in the menus that appealed to us that night. Buffet was great! DS saw Joel earlier in the day and he said he missed us!

 

Here was our towel animal for the night:

 

 

We also went to see the "8 Seconds More" show, and while it was ok, nobody was really thrilled with it. The singing was very good, but the dancing and so on was kind of "cabaret" like Simon Cowell would say... :rolleyes:

 

Hard to believe we only had one more sea day and they would throw us off. :mad:

[rtw68]

12-16-2011 - FINAL SEA DAY (BOO)

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, the Dream does absorb crowds pretty well. Of course the pools will be crowded on a sea day, but there were many areas still available to get some sun and relax.

 

Both DW and I don't think the Dream was any more crowded then the Fantasy in the same sea days.

 

We had the Behind the Fun tour at 9:00AM. I was so excited to go on that tour and I have to say that it was WELL WORTH IT! :D

 

They don't permit cameras, recording devices, or cell phones and they wand you previous to going on the excursion. Emma, who was the ship's training director took us on our tour. She was very knowledgeable and friendly and made the tour great.

 

We learned a lot on the tour, and visited many areas of the ship. I won't give too much away but here are the areas we visited:

 

The galley, storage areas, engineering, crew lounge, crew internet cafe, crew dining room and galley, laundry area, we saw the doors for the brig and morgue, the bow area of the ship (crew access only), the ladies dressing room and stage, and finally the bridge! It was 3 1/2 hours long, but didn't feel like it.

 

Also met the captain and had pictures with him on the bridge.

 

To break things up a bit, I will ask you some trivia questions to see if you know the answers about the Dream:

 

1) How much does the food cost for a typical 7 day cruise?

 

2) How much water is consumed in gallons per day on the ship?

 

3) How much is Carnival fined in dollars if food/drink purchased in Mexico is not used before they return to the USA?

 

See the next post for the answers!

[rtw68]

Here are the quiz answers:

 

 

1) How much does the food cost for a typical 7 day cruise?

ANSWER: Over $300,000 for food and drinks, 16 semi truck loads

 

2) How much water is consumed in gallons per day on the ship?

ANSWER: 240,000 gallons. The ship is capable of distilling 280,000 gallons of water per day also.

 

3) How much is Carnival fined in dollars if food/drink purchased in Mexico is not used before they return to the USA?

ANSWER: They can and do purchase soda and beer if they are running low, but have to make sure its used up before returning to the USA. They are fined $5,000.00 per CASE by the USDA.

 

I gained much appreciation for how organized they have to be, how exact they follow not only International Maritime Law, but the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) regulations, and Carnival's own policies.

 

They truly work very hard to ensure that quality is maximized and that every staff member makes your cruise experience the best it can be.

 

If you have the chance to do the "Behind the Fun" tour, do it! You will definitely get more bang for the buck on a larger class ship.

 

We received some goodies out of the tour, I won't give it away, but it was a nice touch. One thing they gave us was a fact sheet that included the WCMC recipe! Hope to have DW make that for me soon. :D

[rtw68]

More pics from Friday, hope nobody is bored yet?! :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

Thank you for the review, looking forward to reading the rest...we do this cruise September 2012, it will be our first ever cruise :D:D

 

Congrats on your first cruise! If you are anything like us, your first won't be your last! :D

 

DW and I are planning our next cruise. We are hoping to do the first cruise of the Breeze in the USA in November 2012, we will see!

Edited December 18, 2011 by rtw68

[nutley chick]

Loving your review. Brain not working right...kept thinking DN stood for dear niece and looking at the pic thought to myself "she sure has a lot of facial hair". Made another pot of coffee and finally figured it out.

 

That is so very funny because I thought the SIL was sister in law and I said the same thing... a lot of facial hail for a SIL... then I figured it out too but it did take me a while. :D

[rtw68]

That is so very funny because I thought the SIL was sister in law and I said the same thing... a lot of facial hail for a SIL... then I figured it out too but it did take me a while. :D

 

Hope I used the right terms! :D

 

My brain is normally on 50% power anyways... ;)

[MikeHem510]

awesome cant wait for our may cruise on the dream......on the other itenariy though....we are doing the behind the fun....steakhouse....and chefs table .... cant wait if you have some more information on the behind the fun im really pumped for that cant wait.l...only bacd thing is its gotta be the last sea day

[KruznKel]

DW and I are planning our next cruise. We are hoping to do the first cruise of the Breeze in the USA in November 2012, we will see!

 

Awesome review loved it...;)

 

Come join us on the 1st 8 day on the Breeze in 2012 there is a nice size Cruise Critic group going you can find our thread on the main Carnival board:D

[rtw68]

awesome cant wait for our may cruise on the dream......on the other itenariy though....we are doing the behind the fun....steakhouse....and chefs table .... cant wait if you have some more information on the behind the fun im really pumped for that cant wait.l...only bacd thing is its gotta be the last sea day

 

Here is another couple tidbits of info...

 

The Dream uses $700 per motor per hour in heavy fuel. They had five motors running at the time of our tour, so that is $3,500 per HOUR!!!!

 

Over 60 nationalities are represented by the crew of the Dream.

 

Our DD loves baked potatoes, they go through 23,400 per 7 day cruise.

[rtw68]

They had a Christmas theme on the last Sea Day and they made it snow in the atrium! Couldn't get any good pictures of the "snow" but it was pretty cool.

 

DW got a pic with Gary Brierley, the cruise director:

 

 

We bought some more pictures (busted the budget on those :)) and had one final dinner in the dining room.

 

Guess what! MORE FOOD PORN!!! :D

 

 

 

Frog's Legs GOOD!!!

 

[rtw68]

 

 

 

The Mac 'N Cheese was VERY GOOD

 

 

[rtw68]

Dessert!!!

 

 

 

One last WCMC for the cruise, so sad... BUT GOOD!

 

 

We had a picture taken of the group with Joel and Marvin. They were great.

 

 

Marvin (as well as the other waiters) sang to us...

 

[rtw68]

Here was our final towel animal. The boys were responsible for the extra chocolates (won't say how they got them).

 

 

We spent the evening walking around the ship more and doing what everyone else hates about the last night, packing our stuff.

 

They were going to kick us off tomorrow and there isn't a thing we can do about it (except book a B2B).... :rolleyes:

 

The next post will be my last, debarkation and some final thoughts.

 

Thanks for reading this review!

[MikeHem510]

nice cant wait.....love the food stats from the behind the fun.....being that i work in the food delivery industry....everytime after we board im like man i wish i had this route just unload whole truck at one stop.....

[nutley chick]

Hope I used the right terms! :D

 

My brain is normally on 50% power anyways... ;)

 

I'm sure your brain is working, its mine thats having issues :roll eyes:

 

By the way- GREAT review! Loved it.

Edited December 18, 2011 by nutley chick

[rtw68]

12-17-2011 - DEBARKATION

 

Hard to believe after the long countdown and how much we looked forward to this cruise, that it was over.

 

We awoke early and were already in port. We did self assist and were called very early. We left the ship, went through customs, and were out waiting for our ride to the airport by 7:15am. WOW!

 

Port Canaveral does a great job of handling both embarkation and debarkation.

 

We booked a ride from the port to Orlando International through AAA Access Transport. I WRONGLY assumed that it was a private ride, but we were in a vehicle similar to a rental car courtesy vehicle (jammed packed) with a U-Haul trailer on the back of it. It was reasonably priced and worked out fine, but I will ask next time if it's a private ride or in a group.

 

We went through the airport security, and waited for our flight back to Cleveland. The flight was uneventful and we were home by 6:00PM, in the SNOW and COLD.

 

I guess the best way to fight post-cruise depression is to book another one, and we hope to in the next month.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

We always go on vacation with an attitude of hoping for the best, but knowing nothing is perfect. The travel to and from was fine, hotel was great, and the cruise was just fine! It exceeded our expectations in many areas.

 

The cruise wasn't perfect, due in part to the rough seas and high winds, but unlike some others, I won't blame Carnival for that. :D

 

We made all the ports, enjoyed our excursions, and had great food and service throughout the week.

 

I'm not normally concerned with who the cruise director or the entertain staff are, and so that doesn't affect our cruise either way. Gary as the CD and "Sparkles" as the ACD were fine.

 

We avoid the shopping seminars and the craziness of the sales (they normally have enough stuff left over after the sales).

 

The ship wasn't a hindrance to anything we wanted to do, and I didn't mind the layout of the ship unlike others who have not liked it.

 

It's all a matter of personal preference and taste. I didn't honestly know if after we finished with this cruise, we would want to go on the Dream or any of the other Dream class ships.

 

The conclusion DW and I came to is that we would cruise on the Dream, the Magic, or the Breeze without hesitation.

 

In fact, having been on a "small" Fantasy class ship and the largest they have to offer, we would be happy on any Carnival ship. ;)

 

I had to chuckle because DD and SIL had been on an RCI ship before and so there was a tendency on DD's part to compare the two. While we were waiting for our flight back, they were checking pricing for RCI's Oasis and Allure, and it was very high.

 

I have only been on Carnival thus far, and believe we get the best bang for the buck. That's based on much research that I have done in both Carnival and RCI reviews, and pricing. I can't justify spending more on RCI for the differences, which really don't matter to us.

 

I'm not opposed to trying other cruise lines in the future, but for now, we have found a cruise line we like, at a cost we like, with a level of service we like. All cruise lines are cutting back, from what I have read, but with us coming to cruising a short time ago, that's not an issue for us.

 

So, Dream is worth a try. You will never know until you try it out. Those that have future Dream cruises booked, go with a good attitude and have a blast!! :D

 

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope it has been helpful!

[rtw68]

nice cant wait.....love the food stats from the behind the fun.....being that i work in the food delivery industry....everytime after we board im like man i wish i had this route just unload whole truck at one stop.....

 

I forgot to mention that we did watch several trucks come through security, then get unloaded earlier in the day. They always had two dogs checking things over and they would "stamp" it with their approval. I'm assuming searching for drugs or explosives.

 

They have it down to a science, that's for sure!

[gelo7]

Very nice review.

[Uturnalley]

I forgot to mention that we did watch several trucks come through security, then get unloaded earlier in the day. They always had two dogs checking things over and they would "stamp" it with their approval. I'm assuming searching for drugs or explosives.

 

They have it down to a science, that's for sure!

 

Do they have a protein and smoothie bar on the Dream? We cruise every Christmas and will be boarding next Saturday.Loved your review

[Uturnalley]

I forgot to mention that we did watch several trucks come through security, then get unloaded earlier in the day. They always had two dogs checking things over and they would "stamp" it with their approval. I'm assuming searching for drugs or explosives.

 

They have it down to a science, that's for sure!

 

Do they have a protein and smoothie bar on the Dream? We cruise every Christmas and will be boarding next Saturday.Loved your review