Carnival Dream Halloween Cruise Review

[ucfalli]

This review is a bit belated. However it's almost Halloween time, so I am posting this for those going on a cruise soon over Halloween. Before my cruise I was wondering what carnival did, so I post lots of pictures of all the Halloween decorations :).

 

Background

Little quick background. I went on this cruise with my fiancee. It was our 3rd cruise together. 2nd Carnival cruise. I picked this cruise becuase of several reasons. The first because Halloween is my favorite holiday. A cruise over Halloween would just double the fun. 2nd I picked this cruise because we live in Orlando, making Port Canaveral the easiest port to leave out of. 3rd, I was excited to go on a newer ship. Both of our previous cruises were on smaller older ships.

 

Quick Tip:

I went into this cruise with the knowledge to bring a power strip. On our last Carnival cruise it was a bit of a disaster. There is only one outlet by the desk and you can't plug in anything that comes down, such as the charger for my camera.

 

Itinerary:

We went on a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise from 10/29/11 to 11/4/11. The cruise stopped at Nassau, St Thomas, and St Maarten

We stayed in an interior room on on deck one towards the aft.

 

 

Day 1: Embarkation

 

Living in Orlando we had family take us to the port which is less then a hour from where we live. We got the port at around noon. This was originally suppose to be a western Caribbean cruise. However there was a depression in the western gulf causing the change in itinerary. The only hold up we had was getting dropped off. It seemed everybody came to the port at the same time and there was a bit of a traffic jam. Once we eventually got to the drop off point and got our luggage taken care off. We went through the check in line pretty quick. It was getting a bit long but you are constantly moving. Port Canaveral is a really good port for this reason. We were on the boat by 1pm. We went to see if our room was ready 1st and luckily it was. We dropped off our stuff and then headed to the buffet.

 

I am not a fan of the main buffet food so I avoided it during the cruise. Instead for almost every lunch I would eat a salad, get a sandwich from the deli and the soup of the day. The Deli is great and there was every hardly any line.

 

After lunch we explored the ship.

 

 

 

 

We played some mini golf, which was just like the mini golf on the Sensation. Wasn't crowded yet. We had the mandatory safety briefing. I don't understand why the muster stations are in random places like the dining room or theater. I would have no idea where our muster boat is in a real emergency. The sail away was shorty after We just hung around the boat and relaxed in the room till dinner. We had the late seating. Dinner was the same as the Sensation. The food is good, I had no problem with it. The wait staff is hit or miss. Took a long time to get rolls/water on a couple of night. Most days they didn't ask if we wanted coffee. One night I ordered hot chocolate and it never came.

 

After dinner we watched the welcome aboard show. Was entertaining, I think they are all very similar. Afterwards we went over the Superstar Live Karaoke. This was new for us since I don't think the Sensation had it. We had some amazing singers on our boat and the live music made it that much better.

 

Then off to bed we went.

 

More to come......

[golfadj]

Better late than never I guess.

[meatloafsfan]

Thanks - can't wait for the Halloween stuff! We'll be on the Dream this Halloween and it will cool to get a preview!

[ucfalli]

Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

This was the main reason I wasn't thrilled that the itinerary got changed from the Western. I had been there once before and that was enough. We hadn't been to Atlantis, so we decided to take one of those taxi buses over. Cost $10 each way for the two of us with tip. We ate in the dinning room for breakfast. On our previous cruise we tried the buffet once but it was a mad house and wanted only peace and calm in the morning.

 

At Atlantis we walked around inside and eventually made it the outside areas. The only areas that looked restricted to only hotel guests was the water park area, the beach, and the main lobby. The hotel is very nice to walk and definitely recommended if you are in Nassau and don't want to just sit on the boat. There are quite a few aquariums that you see, including one you walk through. They also had a pool with sharks and cool suspension bridge. There is also a casino there and various places to catch a bite.

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed back onto the boat for lunch. We tested out the water slides after lunch. Which are really fun. Especially the drain pipe. That was our favorite. We went to the gym before showering and rested up before dinner.

 

After dinner we saw the show "Get Ready" which was not bad and then headed over the the adult comedy show. Diane Ford was sick so Roman did both shows. Get there early for the comedy show is you want seating up towards the front. Each time we did the comedy show there was a line of people waiting to get in.

[ucfalli]

--> Forgot to mention on Day 2 it was the 1st formal night

 

Day 3: Sea day/ Halloween!!!

 

So today was Halloween and I was excited to see what was in store. They still seemed to be setting things up in the morning so didn't get to see everything until later in the afternoon.

 

For lunch we tried the BBQ. I was not wild about it. To me BBQ means grilled meat, corn on the cob, potatoes, potato salad, etc. There were hamburgers but they also had like tacos and none of the normal sides.

 

We just spent the day going to the slides/ going to the gym/ mini golfing. I don't think we went in the actual pools on the boat. Due to crowding and kids too young to be in them. Every ship review I see complains about the size of the pools on which ever boat it is. There must be some reason for why they build them so small since every new boat gets the same small pools. Is it due to limited space? Capacity of the weight able to support? In the end we only cared about the slides we aren't the type to sit out and sun bathe.

 

There was a pumpkin carving contest in the afternoon. That's when they also got most of the stuff inflated for Halloween. People did decorate their doors for Halloween. Kinda wished we also did.

 

 

Late afternoon we got changed into our costumes. Was surprised at how many people were dressed up! Practically everyone out and about was in costumes. A lot of creative costumes also. It was fun just walking around looking at everyone's costumes. Most people crowded into the main atrium. Of course all the kiddies were cute. We seemed to be the only people without kids watching the kiddie costume contest. What can I say... I love Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had the late dinner show prior to dinner tonight. It was the comedy & Juggling of Thien Fu. The juggling part was really good. The comedy was I'm sure was tamed for the kiddies. For dinner they had a special ghost desert. After dinner we did even more people watching.

 

Later on in the night they had a thriller dance class. They were about to cut it short right before the dancer got to teaching us the part you swing you arms back and forth. We all protested and won. Afterwards they did the main costume contest. Like I said lots of creative costumes!

[ucfalli]

Halloween Pictures Part: 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

[k2excursion]

Nice review. Keep it coming! We were getting on the ship when you were getting off.

[ucfalli]

Day 4: St. Thomas U.S.V.I

 

Today we did an excursion in the morning. We did Carnival's Captain Nautica's Ultimate Snorkel Expedition. I would definitely recommend it. The staff was fabulous and it was a small group not more then 20 people. They took us two different locations. The first location we swam with sea turtles. The second one was a ship wreck. The gave out drinks and had fruit/shrimp.

 

I do not have any underwater pictures due to fugifilm finepix underwater camera living up to it's reputation. Right when I got in the water the latch that holds the battery/memory card opened up, frying the camera. I bought it only cause of the price and at least it was a few years old.

 

 

 

Afterwards we headed back on the boat. Took a shower and got lunch. It was very lovely sitting outside eating with the view of St. Thomas.

 

 

 

 

 

We did head back out and did some shopping in the port. I kinda wish now we watched the sunset from Paradise Point. Decided against it last minute to save our money. A couple from dinner did and highly recommended it.

 

Before dinner we watched some of the Pink Floyd laser show. It wasn't as bad as some reviews made it out to be. It just could of been choreographed better.

 

Tonight was the show "Dancing in the Street". Which everyone raves about. All the raving is 100% true. This show is not to be missed. The best one I have seen on a cruise so far.

 

After the show they did "Mardi Gras Fun". Where in the Atrium they just threw beads out from the 2nd floor to down below. Seemed random....but hey everybody loves to get beads!

 

There was more superstar karaoke tonight, with more great talent. Definetly better then standard karokee.

[ucfalli]

Day 5: St. Maarten

 

Today we got up and headed out for our excursion. We did Carnival's Scenic Coastal Hike. This has been my favorite so far. It is a moderate hike that can be quite taxing. You hike along the coast of St. Maarten with beautiful views of the water all along the way. Our guide was excellent. At the start of the tour you are given a water bottle and a snack bar.

 

 

 

 

There are some thorny bushes you have to watch out for. Someone in our group got caught by them. You also have to watch your footing since some areas are very close to the edge! We hiked down to the water. The beach at that area was not sandy, instead had stones along the coast. I loved the sound of the stone's every time the waves came crashing in. Along the home stretch we walked along the beach. Since there are strong currents at the water in that area we were not allowed to get in the water. At the end of the hike you are given a selection of soda, beer, or water to drink and given some time to relax before heading back to the boat.

 

 

After getting back to the boat we once again took a shower and ate lunch outside with the beautiful views of St. Maarten. We headed back to the port once again for some shopping and then relaxed before dinner.

 

Tonight was an exciting day as my Fiancee played the Vault game in the casino and won an ipad 2 and $500! People really do win!

 

The Mexican Buffet was also tonight. We are always too stuffed from dinner to eat at the buffet, but we always check it out. We were exhausted from the day and went to be right after.

[ucfalli]

Day:6 & 7 Day at Sea

The last two days actually went by pretty quick. Never had 2 sea days back to back before. We just did the typical slides, mini golf, gym, giant chess game, and relaxed. The Love & Marriage show was entertaining like it always was. The show, along with the 2nd elegant night was on day 6. There was also one more show on day 6 "8 More Seconds" which was ok. Nothing lives up to "Dancing in the Streets". The punchline comedy club was also open for the last 2 nights. The lines were not as bad on the last night, as a lot of people were probably packing.

 

On day 7. We actually had to make a quick stop at Nassau due to one the passengers becoming ill. He had to be taken off the boat for further medical services. We didn't mind the detour. We just drank the champagne I had brought aboard and watched the sunset. I don't think the boat came in much later as it was scheduled. We did get some good sunset pictures at the mini golf. It was COMPLETELY deserted.

 

 

On the last night of the cruise Carnival had the Legends show which was not too bad. Good to see fellow passengers performing. But the show is something that you don't have to see. We didn't worry about getting our luggage out early. We just packed later when we got back to the room. Self debarkation is the way to go :)

 

Sadly we got off the boat as soon as we could the next morning as I had to work as soon as we got back home :(

 

Back to reality!

 

[Elmo31]

We were also on this cruise. We had a blast especially halloween night (what I remember of it....yeah it was fun) we are doing another halloween one this year on the Destiny (B2B 10 days) I cannot wait. I agree Nassau is sucky. Ive been a few to many times.