How NCL cruisers lived The Dream: 1/5/13 Review w pics, Western Carib

[brensr41]

Thank you for the review!! We are considering the Dream in the fall. Really looking forward to the rest of your review!

[magictam]

Excellent review and excellent pictures. Can't wait for more.

 

Thank you for taking the time to do a review with pictures.

[put me on a ship]

Great review so far! We've been on the Dream twice....I really think she's our favorite CCL ship!

 

I'm also enjoying the comparisons between CCL and NCL....we've been pretty much exclusive to CCL....in Dec. we are going on our first NCL cruise!:)

[tomsuelaw]

More pics from exploring the ship:

 

I really liked the Aft Pool, much more quiet and relaxing then the mid ship pool.

We were always able to find a couple loungers if we were patient to a wait a few minutes or willing to move an empty one by another empty one...when in doubt, get creative.

 

 

 

Mini-Golf, did not play ourselves but I believe the putters and balls are available by the mid-ship pool...I think at the towel service desk.

 

 

 

 

 

I apologize I did not get very many pic of the inside of the ship. Maybe it is because I've been on enough cruise ships that very little wow's me enough to take a pic. I love the outdoor parts of the ship because I cruise for the outdoors.

[tomsuelaw]

After exploring and ping pong, we were hot so went to the pool for a while with kids. It was a perfect day, warm, breezy, and sunny.

 

 

 

It is nice that there is a splash area around the pool so your lils can have fun without always being in the actual pool.

 

 

Proof you can find a lounger by the pool in the middle of the afternoon. Lots of places on the ship to lounge, both sunny and shaded. Deck 5 has lots of loungers and deck 10, 11 and 12. Some places quiet, some loud...some good for people watching or some just chilling.

 

 

[tomsuelaw]

After the pool, we did more water slides. Obviously it was busier today being a Sea Day but the lines were always reasonable. It really was a huge perk for our gang.

 

 

A late lunch by the water slides. My kids were spoiled on this cruise. Pizza, Mac n Cheese, and Ice Cream everyday...they loved it!

 

 

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner. 1st Elegant Night. Elegant nights are on the 2nd night (Sunday) and 6th night (Thursday).

 

 

After that we went to our 1st and only production show. Here is my thoughts on the Entertainment:

 

Ok, this is where NCL shines and CCL does not deliver quite as much. Overall, NCL seems to invest more in thier entertainment and does more of a variety of guest appearance type shows and less of the production show thing.

 

To be honest, productions shows are not our thing, it seems a little cheesy to us, the music, the dancing, the fancy costums. In addition to this, the lead female singer on the Dream was driving all of us nuts. It’s not that she couldn’t sing but everything she sang was done in a forced soulful, mo-town kind of voice...even when she was singing more classical soprano type range songs.

 

Mo-town show: it was ok.

 

Dancing in the Streets: We really wanted to see it but could not get a seat, which is another issue in and of itself. OK, so we arrived at 8pm for an 8:30 show and every seat was taken with BINGO players which were playing up until showtime. We thought if we waited till BINGO was over, seats would open, but nothing did. Not a single BINGO player got up to leave,except a few got up to got the bathroom but that was it. I could not believe it, we arrived a half hour early and still nothing!! Who is the genius who decided BINGO is best scheduled right before the premier show of the week??? Unfortunately, the early show was our only option since our little ones turn into evil pumpkins after 9:30pm :) The rest of our family went to the late showing and really liked it. This really was not a big big deal but it is the only production show that features the FunForce so I actually wanted to see it. Well, now we know.

 

Country Show: did not go, but my DFIL went and he said it was so unpleasant because the lead female singer brought her Aretha Franklin wanna be voice to a Hoe-Down, hahaha. Glad we dodged that bullet.

 

Juggling Comedian: excellent, by far the best show all week for us! Very funny and very talented.

 

Punchliner Comedians: we saw the last 2 of the 4 and they were very good! Very funny.

[tomsuelaw]

Cozumel: Paradise Beach Resort, best port day of cruise for us!

 

Woke up, got ready and ate a leisurely breakfast in the MDR since we did not dock until 10am. After a lovely, non-buffet, breakfast, we made our way out to the atrium lobby and sat and waited for a call to debark. It was a close to 10am if not before when they announced we could get off. It was a reasonable quick moving line for us.

 

Waiting in the Atrium Lobby.

 

 

Crown Princess was with us at port.

 

 

Once of the ship, we made our way down the pier, out of the Puerta Maya complex and to the taxi line. Taxi was easy to come by and it cost $3pp for group of 9.

 

After about a 20min van ride we arrived at Paradise Beach Resort. It is a beautiful resort with a pool, beach, restaraunt, bar, facilities, beautiful land scaping, inflatable water slides and trampolines, and kayaks and paddle boards. Admission is free but food/drink purchases are expected. You can rent lounge chairs for $2 or you can buy a $12 wrist ban, which gives you access to all the fun things. We had a lovely time. The kids had so much fun and we found it relaxing. The food was delicious. Overall, it was a great deal and wonderful beach day. The weather was perfect that day too which helped greatly!

 

The pool area.

 

The beach area.

 

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Fabulouskristen]

Enjoying your review. Your kids are absolutely adorable! :)

[tomsuelaw]

There really was something for everyone at the Paradise Beach Resort. Even our lil DS was able to climb (with help) and slide on the inflatables, and jump on trampolines. Both our kids enjoyed a kayak ride with grandma and grandpa. DH and I got to paddle board for the 1st time. The pool is really nice too!

 

If you do have little ones, I recommend bringing their lifejackets. Our kids were able to be more independent and easier to manage when playing with the water toys.

 

No reservations are required. It is all 1st come, 1st served, so the earlier you can get there, the better pick you have of lounge chairs...but loungers are a dime a dozen so no worries, there is plenty of room. Here is their website: http://www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com

 

 

Land trampoline, they also have water trampolines...so fun.

 

 

Sorry, we did not get very many pics of the inflatables but there a few in the background here. You can find plenty of pics on their website though.

 

 

After an amazing and fun day, we got changed and got a taxi back to the ship. Again, taxi was easy to come by. They were lined up outside entrance. It was fantastic!

 

Back at the port. Did some quick shopping and back on board.

 

 

And time to cast off.

 

 

Farewell Cozumel, thanks for the great day:

 

[Kerflop]

Loving the review. I love "Freestyle Cruising" as we'll. we just booked a CC cruise and opted for ADT. Glad for the comparison between the two. Keep it coming.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Georgiagolfer]

Great review. DW and I sailed dream in 2011, and loved most of the cruise. Have to agree with you on the buffet layout on CCL (all ships) leaves a lot to be desired. Still, not a deal breaker for us.

 

Would love to hear comparison with the rooms on NCL vs. CCL.

[tomsuelaw]

 

Would love to hear comparison with the rooms on NCL vs. CCL.

 

NCL rooms are smaller for sure as CCL leads the industry in stateroom size. The bathrooms are comparable. NCL Jewel class of ships have larger showers then the Dream, but less foot space in front of commode. Other then that, they both offer very comfortable bedding, similar quality of decor, and good amounts of storage.

 

Only other negative for NCL here is that they only offer bathrobes to their VIP guests where as CCL makes this standard.

 

Overall, I would give a slight edge to CCL because of size.

[Suntanz]

One of the best reviews I have read. Thanks for sharing. We went to Paradise Beach 2 years ago & loved it.

[Georgiagolfer]

NCL rooms are smaller for sure as CCL leads the industry in stateroom size. The bathrooms are comparable. NCL Jewel class of ships have larger showers then the Dream, but less foot space in front of commode. Other then that, they both offer very comfortable bedding, similar quality of decor, and good amounts of storage.

 

Only other negative for NCL here is that they only offer bathrobes to their VIP guests where as CCL makes this standard.

 

Overall, I would give a slight edge to CCL because of size.

 

Thanks.

[crewsweeper]

Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

 

Am I mistaken, I thought that the 2.0 conversion put a Guys Burgers and a Blue Iguana Canitna on the Dream (although the Burrito Bar has been there since day one--Not quite up to even a Moes, IMO). And realizing that you had children with you but did any of the adults do the Tandoori? Best spot on the ship. And the breakfast buffet isn't crowded at all for that area. What about the BBQ on sea days? Or am I just too early in your review.

 

Next time at PC, look up staying at Country Suites and Inn or the Radisson. Might be more expensive, but Rad's pool is very good and there's Zachary's next door which has good Greek and American food. We found La Qunitas in POM to be cheaper but like the one in Cocoa Beach, starting to head down hill in room quality. Not sure what parking you used but Park N Cruise, just before the last bridge to port has good rates and when combined with the non Parkand cruise rates at CS&I or the Rad, much cheaper all around. Certainly cheaper than port parking.

[cruzecontrol]

OK, so we arrived at 8pm for an 8:30 show and every seat was taken with BINGO players which were playing up until showtime. We thought if we waited till BINGO was over, seats would open, but nothing did. Not a single BINGO player got up to leave,except a few got up to got the bathroom but that was it. I could not believe it, we arrived a half hour early and still nothing!! Who is the genius who decided BINGO is best scheduled right before the premier show of the week??? Unfortunately, the early show was our only option since our little ones turn into evil pumpkins after 9:30pm :)

 

I agree with this 100%. I could never understand why they scheduled BINGO just before the shows :confused:. I've even seen BINGO run over and into show time.

 

Excellent review. The pictures are just great!!

[tomsuelaw]

Thank you for taking the time to do a review of your cruise.

 

Am I mistaken, I thought that the 2.0 conversion put a Guys Burgers and a Blue Iguana Canitna on the Dream (although the Burrito Bar has been there since day one--Not quite up to even a Moes, IMO). And realizing that you had children with you but did any of the adults do the Tandoori? Best spot on the ship. And the breakfast buffet isn't crowded at all for that area. What about the BBQ on sea days? Or am I just too early in your review.

 

Next time at PC, look up staying at Country Suites and Inn or the Radisson. Might be more expensive, but Rad's pool is very good and there's Zachary's next door which has good Greek and American food. We found La Qunitas in POM to be cheaper but like the one in Cocoa Beach, starting to head down hill in room quality. Not sure what parking you used but Park N Cruise, just before the last bridge to port has good rates and when combined with the non Parkand cruise rates at CS&I or the Rad, much cheaper all around. Certainly cheaper than port parking.

 

No, the Dream did not get a guys. There was a blue iguana bar but no cantina. Never tried tandoori. Never did breakfast buffet by aft pool but once by mid lido pool and it was way less crowded.

 

We did park n cruise, loved them and felt they are a much better value and service compared to hotel park n cruise plans.

[hlb76]

Enjoying your review so far.. I love reading reviews of any ship especially when we are sailing soon!

 

I am scared now about our pre-cruise stay. I think we are staying at the same LaQuinta. I was having such a hard time picking a hotel so I finally used a bidding site and that is what I got. I just will look on the bright side it's 1-night and when I wake up I will be cruising!

[Funseekers]

Loving your review! TY! Taking a group of 36 on the Dream March 16... and are really looking forward to it.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review... ;)

 

~L

[tomsuelaw]

Ok Everyone, so sorry for the delay. I was wanting to get more pics from my in-laws so I had more eye candy for this review. They totally delivered. Here are a few more pics from Cozumel (Puerta Maya) and Paradise Beach Resort!

 

Paradise Beach Resort inflatables:

 

 

 

Lunch time: Nachos Supreme...yummy and mountainous.

 

 

The grounds at Paradise Beach

 

 

 

Puerta Maya:

 

 

[wb3690]

So funny! we were on the same cruise...In fact in the picture where you mentioned the Chogs (love that term BTW) I am in the bottom right corner...black sunglasses sitting next to a man who is facing the chair next to him.

 

Paradise Beach looked nice. We did Mr. Sanchos that day. We had a TON of fun....great service. I almost booked Paradise, but friends reccomended Sanchos so we did it.

[tomsuelaw]

More pics from Paradise Beach Resort...sorry I am out of order, my upload got jacked up.

 

 

 

Us kayaking.

 

 

 

More Puerta Maya

 

 

 

Crown Princess and Dream

 

[tomsuelaw]

We beat the in-laws back on the ship and they snapped a photo of me and DS on our balcony.

 

 

Fun thing about side by side balcony cabins, you can get pics like this:

 

 

Dinner time.

 

 

Up next...Belize!

[tomsuelaw]

Belize: another great day at port. 8am arrival. Cave Tubing with Charlie Chan

 

We woke up bright and early to get ready while we waited for our room service breakfast to come. As per the norm, we had placed our door hanger out the night before with our order and a request time window of 0700-0730. Well, 7-7:30 came and went and no breakfast. So, at 7:40, we cut our losses and quickly made our way up to the lido buffet.

 

We scrambled fast and still made our 8am rendezvous with DMIl, DFIL, and DN. for FTTF priority tendering, you just go to the guest service desk when you are ready to go to port. From there, you are escorted to the elevators and then to the front of the tender line...it is awesome!

 

After a 20min tender ride on a very packed but nice tender boat, we arrived at terminal 2. Charlie had given us very specific instructions on where to find him for our tour and we had no trouble at all.

 

One of the tenders, the one we road on was a double decker.

 

 

On the tender:

 

 

Charlie offers a wonderful service and I would highly recommend him. From the time we booked online with Charlie until the end of the tour he provided incredible customer service. Charlie has a degree in ecological science. Combine that with his friendly, outgoing personality, the tour is fun and informative.

 

We met Charlie and his sons outside the terminal. He picked us up in a passenger van. Once in the van, Charlie explained to us that we would not be able to cave tube because the rivers were flooded from 3 days of previous rain, making it unsafe to tube. He then offered other tour options to us for the same per-arranged price. We decided on going to Herman's Cave and Blue Hole National Park. Both are located in the rain forests of Belize.

 

We 1st went to Herman's cave. After a short 15min , but very muddy, hike thru the forest, we arrived at a picturesque cave entrance with a river that flowed out of the cave. The path leading into and thru the cave was a moderately difficult path that required a small amount of complex maneuvering on slippery surfaces. It was manageable for us though even with the lils in tow. (Disclaimer, we are avid hikers). We went deep into the cave where you could wade or swim in the cool clear waters all while learning about Mayan culture and history. Glad we had our hiking/water sandals (aka mandals) on.

 

Entrance of cave was beautiful, wish I had a good pic to show you but for the sake of protecting my DN's privacy, I do not. The entrance was gorgeous.

 

 

While in the cave: