Documenting the dream western caribbean 01/21-28/2012; the money monkey goes cruising

[travlngrl1996]

Yay!! Glad that you are back. Can't wait to read more. Welcome back!! :)

[Hogladyrider]

I am soooooooooooooooo hooked, can't wait for more!

[crewsweeper]

 

Crewsweeper, thanks for your concern. It was unnecessary. The cooler passed through security with flying colors.

Good to hear!! From your stats, sounds like you had a great cruise. Can't wait to hear about.

[Rocknsoul]

Before tonight, I had very little interest in the Dream, but I love this thread, and after reading through it, I can't wait to read the rest!

 

Ray, your perspective is captivating. Fran is beautiful. Happy 3rd Anniversary!

[radrayjax]

EMBARKATION DAY: SATURDAY JANUARY 21, 2012

Before we get started, allow me to present a “Money Shot” of the Dream:

 

The Dream, docked at Puerta Maya, Cozumel, Mexico, Monday, January 23, 2012

There, we got that out of the way for the time being. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of other “money shots” as we go along.

 

Looking ahead for the week, what can we expect from Mother Nature? I had been watching Weather.com for almost two months. Here was the latest for three of the ports just before I left:

 

Let the Dream begin!

 

 

We got up about 8:00AM. I did a LOCAL weather check and it was looking good:

 

Danny Treanor, happy with his weather report:

 

Shortly after 9:00AM the proprietor of the RMB&B (that’s Ray’s Mom) ambled into the kitchen and made Swedish Pancakes. By some coincidence one of my dear readers had mentioned the Big Bang Theory. By SHEAR coincidence, I now present the SHELDON COOPER method for eating Swedish Pancakes [crepes] (with a minor modification for diabetics).

 

Please note: other than the use of sugar free maple syrup, there is NO other method for eating Swedish Pancakes.

 

First, we begin with the pancake happily cooking away....

[radrayjax]

Next we have an empty slate, I mean plate.

 

Then we carefully apply one pancake to the plate.

 

Then we take the [sugar free] maple syrup and apply it in a straight line to the pancake:

 

Next, we roll the pancake in a fairly tight spiral in a direction perpendicular to the applied syrup:

 

The rolled pancake result:

 

And enjoy!

 

[radrayjax]

EMBARKATION DAY: OFF TO PORT CANAVERAL

 

We left the RMB&B and headed to the Park & Cruise at about 10:30 and got there at about 10:50.

 

Map of Titusville to Port Canaveral trip.

 

Some images from the Park & Cruise:

 

 

 

 

There was a line through the large “Quonset hut” (above) and the check-in process took about 25-30 minutes. I paid $42.32 in advance and then we left for the port in a van like this:

[radrayjax]

ARRIVAL AT PORT CANAVERAL

It took just a few minutes to arrive at the port, but traffic was fairly heavy. We arrived in the vicinity of the Dream Terminal at about 11:30. As we closed in on the ship I was getting antsy.

The FIRST shot of the Dream, taken from the van, while swinging through Port Canaveral:

 

The Disney Magic, docked next to the Dream:

 

The Disney Magic seen at nearly a right angle to the Dream:

The Norwegian Sun, docked across the port from the other two ships. Sorry, this foggy picture was taken through the window of the moving van/bus:

Closing in on the Dream, still seen through the van’s window:

 

[radrayjax]

ARRIVAL AT THE DREAM TERMINAL

 

Getting off the bus, the first clear shot of the Dream at about 11:40AM:

 

Far aft shot of the Dream while walking towards the terminal:

 

Forward-facing shot of the Dream while walking towards the terminal:

 

Approaching the Dream terminal:

 

We arrived at the front entrance to the terminal at about 11:45. It was a fairly quick process through Security and scanning.

 

Front entrance to the terminal:

Upstairs at the terminal, a shot of the Dream through the terminal windows:

[radrayjax]

IN THE TERMINAL, THE FINAL PRE-BOARDING MINUTES...

Upper level of the terminal:

 

Carnival Check-in. This line went fairly fast. Then we had to sit and wait for our zone to be called:

 

Front and back of our Zone 30 card (Durn, we couldn’t keep the puppy!):

 

 

 

[radrayjax]

APPROACHING THE DREAM, JANUARY 21, 2012, 12:20 PM.

Zone 30 was called and we’re on our way!!

 

The Money Monkey is on his way!

 

Gangplank to the Dream:

 

Aft-facing shot of the Dream from the gangplank:

 

 

The DOOR to the DREAM vacation, 12:22 PM:

 

Tomorrow: First Shots of the interior and more!

[Pennyscandy]

Love your review. Our group is sailing on the Dream April 21st. Did the water taste funny? Should I bring my own. Drink lots of H2O so this is important to me and DH.

Thanks

[radrayjax]

Love your review. Our group is sailing on the Dream April 21st. Did the water taste funny? Should I bring my own. Drink lots of H2O so this is important to me and DH.

Thanks

 

I seldom drank plain water, drank mostly iced coffee and iced tea. Taste is a personal issue. I had no problems with water from the dispensers in the Lido Gathering.

[laumicmah]

Great review...can't wait for more.

[Melismass]

Welcome back Ray! Cant wait to read your full report! Im right behind you in 46 days!

[radrayjax]

INTO THE DREAM, JANUARY 21, 2012, 12:33 PM.

 

The Dream Lobby (Deck 3)

 

We stepped into the grand lobby. Like the Miracle, the atrium soared!

 

The Dream Lobby (Deck 3) looking at the lobby “band stand” hanging off Atlantic Deck (4)

 

The first thing to do was make an immediate left (shown on the deck plan above) and go to the shore excursions desk to reserve 2 places in the Behind the Fun Tour for Friday the 27th. YAY! This was my biggest concern for the trip: Getting the spots on the tour because only 32 out of over 4000 passengers would be able to go on the tour. There would be two tours of 16 people.

 

Lobby area in front of the Shore Excursions desk.

 

The girl at the Shore Excursions Desk

 

Lobby Deck (3) plaque by forward elevators

[radrayjax]

Before heading up to the Lido Deck buffet, I did a little exploring, a precursor of the huge amount of exploring I would be doing for the rest of the week. This is only a sample….

 

Preview of the Encore Theater, Lobby Deck (3) forward of the Shore Excursion and Guest Services desks

 

 

Looking down at the Lobby/Atrium from the Lido Deck (10) forward

 

[radrayjax]

THE FUN TIMES, JANUARY 21, 2012

 

We got the Fun Times a little later, when we got to the room, but I’ll get them out of the way. I got multiple copies every day so we could tear off the “what’s happening” sheets and I would have extra, complete copies to scan when I got home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This front/back image was created by using two Fun Times at the same time and lining up the tear off sheets (without tearing them off).

 

 

Sorry, this is a short day…I promise to make some PROGRESS tomorrow….

[vermontcruisers]

I'm in...For the long haul.

Thanks Ray.

[KellyJ]

Why do I feel like I just stumbled into an episode of "The Big Bang Theory?" Thanks for taking the time to do this. Looking forward to the Dream portion since we leave in 29 days!

 

Bazinga!! Cruzface

[MadamG2U]

So glad to pop in and see you are back. Reading along is an adventure and I look forward to being there every step of the way.

 

MadamG2U

[radrayjax]

Continuing Aft towards the Gathering for lunch (January 21):

 

 

Shots while heading towards the Lido Gathering

 

Top of the Dream Atrium, looking past Decks 11 (Panorama) and 12 (Spa):

 

Lido Pool area, the Gathering, Lido Deck Aft:

 

Main Pool area on the Lido Deck (10) heading aft towards the Gathering/buffet area:

 

Large screen overlooking the Lido pool area, actually attached at the Spa Deck (12):

 

The Norwegian Star, seen through the glass from the Lido Deck:

 

Main pool on central Lido Deck, looking forward. Panorama Deck (11) is the middle level; Spa Deck (12) is the upper level. The bottom of the slide in the background sits on deck 12:

[radrayjax]

The Grill on the Lido Deck starboard side, just forward of the entrance to the Gathering (see deck plan above):

 

 

ALL HAIL! The first sight of the soft serve! I shall return…

 

Salad station, forward in the Gathering:

 

Taste of Nations: towards the rear of the Gathering:

 

Disney Magic, seen from the Dream’s Lido Deck:

[radrayjax]

We proceeded upstairs at the rear of the Gathering to the Pasta Bar, on the Panorama Deck. We were eating between 1:00 and about 1:30 PM.

 

Diagram of rear area of Panorama Deck. The angle to the aft pool area photo is the red arrow. The series of blue arrows is the route we took forward towards our room, after lunch:

 

Lido Deck Aft Pool as seen from the rear of the Panorama Deck (11) Note the Carnival Ecstasy behind the head of the sculpture:

 

 

Pasta Bar, Panorama Deck (11) looking forward:

 

Looking down to the Burrito Bar on the Lido Deck from the Pasta Bar on the Panorama Deck:

 

 

Lido Deck dessert buffet (rear) as seen from the Panorama Deck Pasta Bar area:

Telephoto close-up of desserts from the above shot (DROOL!!):

[radrayjax]

With the Pasta bar, you fill out sheets specifying the type of pasta you want and the type of sauce. This turned out to be our only shot at the Pasta Bar and the service was very fast. While we were waiting, I went downstairs to the salad bar and brought back a plate of salad, fruit and, slaw (my standard throughout the trip):

 

Let me say this about having at least one serving of fruit and vegetables a day while on a trip:

 

QUOTE:

“Be sure to have at least one serving of fruit a day, even if it kills you.” -Ray

 

I had linguini bolognaise (meat sauce) with sausage:

 

 

Nice garlic rolls at the pasta bar:

 

Fran had linguini Alfredo:

 

Fran and the Money Monkey at the pasta area. Note the size of the bowl.:

 

During a quick potty break (down on the Lido) I discovered that the public restrooms on the Dream had fantastic Xlerator hand driers! If you’ve never experienced these things…they are FAST!

 

We both loved the lunch.