Dream: just the facts

[jollytammy]

I will make this short and sweet. I plan on writing a review, but it will have to wait until I have time to organize everything.

We were on the January 5th sailing and did miss two ports due to the weather. I think it was strong winds more than anything.

 

1. The ship was beautiful. Pictures don't show how beautiful the ship really is and how the colors go together.

2. I never smelled anything except a mildew like smell passing the kitchen areas sometimes.

3. The lines were sometimes long in the food area if you wanted anything that wasn't on the regular buffet. We waited 15 minutes for the mongolian wok, but we didn't mind. One day at the pasta bar the wait was up to 40 minutes. I saw people going very early so they could be first in line when the bar opened.

4. The food was good, there were a few days when the choices were not the best, but I didn't go hungry. I would not refer to the buffet as "golden corral", except for breakfast. And how do you make breakfast good on a buffet. I thought the eggs were very tasty.

5. We did the punchliner brunch. I was disappointed that the comic did about five minutes every hour. Why call it punchliner's if there isn't any comedy? Our food was good, but I wouldn't go for the comedy, LOL.

6. We did your time dining. And yes, you have to wait unless you are there when they open. We went at 6:15 one night and we didn't finish until 8:30 because it was about 30 minutes before our order was even taken. What I didn't like was having different servers each night, I really missed that. And although I said I didn't want to do do the early dining and late dining was too late, we were in line at 5:40 every night so we could get a table and get quick service. After the 3rd night, we asked for the same server every night.

7. We paid for the spa and used it every day except one. It gave us something to do when there wasn't anything we really wanted to do. We enjoyed it very much.

8. We did Chef's table and just LOVED it! Worth the experience. Not sure I would do it again, but what an experience!

9. We found that at 3:30 and 9:30 every day there was nothing to eat except burgers, hot dogs, pizza and ice cream. I couldn't find fruit or anything healthy anywhere. It was just a little frustrating, but not a big complaint.

10. We enjoyed the shows we went to, they were not the big show tunes shows I was expecting. Very upbeat and entertaining. The dance group was worth watching. We loved the comedians, but they do clear the room after each set, so you have to get back in line. And there was usually standing room only for the first couple of adult comedy sets.

11. The drinks. Now the drinks were something I will complain about. I had several drinks and the alcohol content was ok, but the mixer was very watery. I tried several, and even the Miami Vice I had heard people rave about. Each one had the alcohol, but was very weak in flavor. Now, if I got a regular drink, like a gin and tonic, everything was fine. No, I take that back, I did have a great spice margarita one day. But it was just really strange that so many of the drinks I tried were weak in flavor.

12. We did the Fast to the Fun and it's worth the money. We were on the ship and in our room by 11:15. We were able to go all over the ship without our carry on luggage - a great feeling. We also got a separate line to call for customer service. Plus when I went to customer service on deck 3, we had a separate place that always had the shorter line. Plus when we got home, we were the 2nd group that was called to disembark.

13.We didn't lay out, so I can't comment on chair hogs. We had the corner aft balcony and it was really big. But we didn't use it like I thought. I think if we had had friends traveling with us, or family, it would have been a great place to meet and talk. But it was great to have tried having this huge space. The room was a great size.

 

I guess that's all I can think of right now, OH, I know what I forgot. The staff! Everyone was very friendly to us. I never saw anyone that didn't respond back to my greeting. There were some staff that were not as friendly as others, but isn't that what you find in real life every where else? Most of the staff would smile and greet us back. And it's amazing the crew members that remember you after just a few days.

 

Ok, I'll stop for now. I will say that if you want to travel on the Dream, you will not be disappointed. We talked to many different people and what cruises they had been on and what they liked or didn't like. Most liked Carnival and thought they were a good line. Most of them liked the Dream, but the biggest complaint was that the food lines did not flow very well on the Dream. And the Your Time Dining had too long a wait.

[Mrsdigi]

Thanks for the review! We still have a few months until we sail!

 

 

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[sweetcurves]

I'm on the Dream in April! Thanks for the info!

[Cruisefriends]

We will be on the Dream at the end of March with a group of 24. Can hardy wait. Glad to hear you like the ship. Thank you for any review you can give us!!!

[thegoodlife247]

Thank you for the great review. Cruisefriends - will you be on the dream March 30th? Come join the roll call :) Can't wait to sail on the dream. I also found the most recent fun times thanks to a dear CC poster

[dst]

Thanks for the review - we leave SATURDAY :)

[jamin jul]

Thanks for the review jollytammy. we are thinking about doing the dream. what 2 ports did you miss and what did you do instead. I heard the sushi bar closed- did you have any sushi at the buffet. Did you notice alot of smoking at the aft pool/bar? Do you recommend the anytime dining or the set timed dining. Thanks. Julie

[battchief1]

Thanks for the review, we sail June 22 on the western swing.

[jollytammy]

We missed Roatan - which I understand is missed a lot - and Costa Maya. We ended up in Nassau for one day.

 

The Sushi Bar is gone. On sea days, I saw a salad bar there and sometimes wraps. The name has been removed from the area and most days it was empty.

 

There is a Taste Bar near the coffee Bar where you can get samples of food between 5:30 - 8:30. One night there was barbecue from the Blue Iguana, another night a short rib from the steak house. We didn't make it every night, but we would try to swing by there before dinner and get a bite on our way to dinner.

[jollytammy]

I know what I forgot to talk about....I saw lots of posts about the coffee and how bad it was. I LOVE coffee, but I don't like it real strong. McDonald's plain black coffee is way too strong for me - just HATE it! So keeping that in mind, I found the coffee in the Gathering and dining rooms to be perfect for me! I would pour in a little cream, add a couple Splenda's and I was in heaven! If you like Starbucks coffee (not the fancy drinks) and McDonald's plain coffee, then you most likely won't like the coffee on the Dream. But I really enjoyed it.

[wdazew]

we were on this trip and agree with everything you stated. I'm not a coffee snob but could tell that it "tasted" better. With that said I am creamer snob and do not like half half so I brought the International Delight individual creamer cups. Yummy! No problems going to security as I had them in my checked luggage

[KG1924]

Thanks for the report! Which cabin were you in? We also have an aft wrap this time (first time for us!)