1st time Carnival cruiser (DREAM) complete review & pictorial (from a NCL cruiser)

[sasysutler]

thanks for the video's. Not I'm sure that I can't do the cave tubing with my back!

[mitsugirly]

Next up, Little French Key (my dream place). I have come to realize that I need to start taking (and practicing) more videos at the different locations. It's the one thing I always forget to do when I'm somewhere.

 

Little French Key is full of:

 

1) the hubby & Sakari trying to sneak up on a pony that decided he wanted no part of that.

2) Lot's of talking birds that say "hello" and "hola"

3) Monkeying around with the monkeys

4) Sakari hunting for small crabs...and then finding one

5) Canoeing, yes I'm on vacation, yes I sat back and video taped while I had my 5 year old daughter do all the work (paddling) :D

6) Snorkeling-during the small rain pour we had that lasted a good 15 minutes, a barracuda, lion fish, sea cucumber, and a funny huge crab that found him an empty conch shell as a new home.

7) last but not least, jumping off the 2nd story deck into the water. :eek:

 

 

[falkcor]

Next up, Little French Key (my dream place). I have come to realize that I need to start taking (and practicing) more videos at the different locations. It's the one thing I always forget to do when I'm somewhere.

 

oh these are awesome, i just watched the lfk, i'm glad you're still going at this amazing review. it's so much fun i almost want to book the same cruise as you did to experience the same!

[mitsugirly]

oh these are awesome, i just watched the lfk, i'm glad you're still going at this amazing review. it's so much fun i almost want to book the same cruise as you did to experience the same!

 

Thanks. Sorry I had to drag things out some with this review. I've been hard at work with this summer semester of maternity, OB and community nursing. I'm off this weekend and "supposed" to be studying for my finals tomorrow. I'm beat and my head needed something more relaxing to do for awhile and I figured I would make some videos. :D

[mitsugirly]

Up next, our Ron Jon stay.

 

First up is a tour of our room we stayed in. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this place to anyone. It was a great place and a lot of fun.

 

Second...the water slide. It worked for adults, but for little ones (at least Sakari's height), not so well. When she went down, it kind of flipped her, turned her, and that was enough for us to say she couldn't do it anymore.

 

Third, ahhhh the lazy river. Or is it the "lazy" river? We found ourselves constantly paddling so that we wouldn't get water dumped on us or jumping off to keep from getting drenched...yep, not so lazy indeed. :D

 

Last, a little fun at the big pool...and I do mean BIG.

 

[Nonna50]

LOVED the video of LFK.. We are sailing on the magic the week of Thanksgiving and can't wait to see the monkeys and jump off that deck. Looks like your family had a blast.. Great review:D

[mitsugirly]

LOVED the video of LFK.. We are sailing on the magic the week of Thanksgiving and can't wait to see the monkeys and jump off that deck. Looks like your family had a blast.. Great review:D

 

You are going to have a blast! At least when you go, you'll get to see the baby jaguars. :)

[Nonna50]

You are going to have a blast! At least when you go, you'll get to see the baby jaguars. :)

 

WOW! :eek: no I'm really getting excited.. that will be awesome.

[Nonna50]

I'm so excited about the baby jaguars I can't type... that should have been "NOW I'm really getting excited".. can't wait.

[mitsugirly]

I'm so excited about the baby jaguars I can't type... that should have been "NOW I'm really getting excited".. can't wait.

 

Take pics and share with me since we didn't get to see them. They were building their new cage when we were there and they were due to come back the following week. :(

[Nonna50]

Take pics and share with me since we didn't get to see them. They were building their new cage when we were there and they were due to come back the following week. :(

 

I will for sure:D

[mitsugirly]

So this is what happens when you sail with Carnival...you become famous. Well, not really, but it my own little warped mind...I did. hehe

 

At the sail away party, it was rocking and so much dancing to be done and I was right there in the middle of all of it. I was caught on their camera's, which is later made into a video that they want you to buy at the end of the cruise. They continue to take video's of the entire cruise every day at all of the events. Do you even understand how weird it is to turn the t.v. on in your room and you see yourself on t.v.? Do you realize how embarrassing it can become when you are out on the pool deck and you come up on the G-I-A-G-A-N-T-I-C TV they have there?

 

At the "Red" party daddy and Sakari were out dancing and they were "caught" too. The look on her face when she seen herself up on the big screen above the pool was priceless. She didn't know what to think at first and then waved and smiled. Now I can say that every time they had the video playing for the rest of the cruise...she was looking for herself on there (unlike me who wanted to go hide my head in shame). :o

 

So without further adieu, I'll reluctantly let you all share in my stardom.

 

[mitsugirly]

Oh come'on guys, share in my joy of stardom. It's my one minute of fame and you guys blew it for me. :(

 

 

Anyhow....on to more videos.

 

So for those with small children, or those that have children that want to still be small :p here's the "kiddie" area and their water slides. They have 2 racing small slides, the platform you stand on before sliding has a wheel that you turn and it turns on the water (yes, Sakari learned early on to "trick" the other kids into coming up the steps and then the unexpected would happen...they would great drenched with water coming up from the floor. Hey it entertained her for hours) :D there is a rope to swing on that when you pull down on it, water pours out (another way to catch unexpected kiddos passing by) and that's pretty much it for this small area.

 

[trixiegal]

Thanks for these reviews. I'm also a first-timer to Carnival and your pics of Dream have made me SUPER excited! I seriously don't know which shore excursions to choose from based on everywhere you've been in the Western Caribbean. Too many choices and I'm so indecisive lol.

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for these reviews. I'm also a first-timer to Carnival and your pics of Dream have made me SUPER excited! I seriously don't know which shore excursions to choose from based on everywhere you've been in the Western Caribbean. Too many choices and I'm so indecisive lol.

 

LOL and the reviews will only get worse because I'll visit more places. :D

 

I seriously loved the Dream...like really loved it. She was just very beautiful and loved the water park. I really find myself wanting to go back on another Carnival...either Magic or Breeze of course so it will have the same things. I have the NCL Jewel cruise coming up and all I can do is think how "different it's going to be" compared to my Dream cruise.

[layditx1]

I really have enjoyed reading this for the past 2 hours! I know you said room service was no big deal, but FYI for your next cruise....you can order room service off the TV!!! We discovered this on our last Magic cruise! And the Magic is gorgeous, by the way, hope you can come to Texas and go on her!

[mitsugirly]

I really have enjoyed reading this for the past 2 hours! I know you said room service was no big deal, but FYI for your next cruise....you can order room service off the TV!!! We discovered this on our last Magic cruise! And the Magic is gorgeous, by the way, hope you can come to Texas and go on her!

 

Thanks so much. I think I do recall something on the tv that said room service but we are never in the room very long to begin with (other to change and sleep) so I didn't pay too much attention to it. :o I did take a few pictures of the tv menu so just wondering...would you find this option under Dining Menus? Because I don't see anything that says "room service" on there

 

 

 

I hope to get on the Magic too, but hope some time maybe next year or so that it will change ports with another ship...like in Florida or NOLA because one of the factors I decided against going to Texas was everyone was saying the airport wasn't anywhere near where the port was and it was a long drive from the airport to the port area. I'm not even sure how that would happen (if there's a shuttle or you have to take a taxi or rent a car or what). :confused:

[mitsugirly]

Graduating up to the "medium" slides now.

 

We have Sakari racing mommy, Sakari racing daddy, Mommy racing Kendra, Kendra racing Brayden and so on...lots of racing to do! :D

 

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

Just spent 4 hours reading this. So much fun! Haven't accomplished anything but really appreciate the thought effort and time you put into this! I have really enjoyed Carnival. NCL Star was my favorite cruise ever...but we had the garden villa so it was so over the top...NCL was also the worst cruise I have taken...Sun. Went with my brothers family on Triumph and the kids adored the camp...guess my point is that each ship varies dramatically even within the same line sometimes.

 

Thanks again for a really pleasant morning! Back to reality. :)

[mitsugirly]

Just spent 4 hours reading this. So much fun! Haven't accomplished anything but really appreciate the thought effort and time you put into this! I have really enjoyed Carnival. NCL Star was my favorite cruise ever...but we had the garden villa so it was so over the top...NCL was also the worst cruise I have taken...Sun. Went with my brothers family on Triumph and the kids adored the camp...guess my point is that each ship varies dramatically even within the same line sometimes.

 

Thanks again for a really pleasant morning! Back to reality. :)

 

Glad I could distract you. :p I know what you mean about the cruise ships varying, even within the same cruise line. Actually the same ship. What I might like, someone else might not. Something I might see wrong with the ship, others may not catch. Also they all switch employees around every so often, so that can make a difference as well. So I pretty much take it with a grain of salt and carry on.

[mitsugirly]

Now we have made it up to the "big dog" slides. I think Sakari was the first to try it. I'm a worry-wart and hold my breath every time she does something for the first time...especially something big.

 

The "Drain" was the first thing we decided to go down. It looked short and sweet and we absolutely LOVED the "toilet bowl" drain on the Epic. So much fun! Now I had watched videos and seen pictures of the Carnival one prior to go on the Dream and knew that it was a little different. On Carnival you actually shoot out into the drain and then you are done. You get up and walk down steps in the middle of it to get out where NCL's you shoot around and around until the water pushes you to the middle where you shoot back down another slide to the end. So, I was prepared for this.

 

HOWEVER, I was not prepared for what was about to happen. I had no idea you were supposed to LAY DOWN when you did it. For some reason I was sitting up. When I shot out of the bowl, it slammed me back and you talk about some neck pain! OUCH! I would continue to be sore for the next 2 days from it. But I learned my lesson!!! :eek:

 

I was not the only one that didn't know you were supposed to lay down. Sakari sat up too and she did not have a pleasant ride. I felt so bad for her. She got up holding her neck as well and was not happy about it. Oh just great...now she wasn't going to want to go on the other one that didn't do that. I just knew she would be scared of it now. Well, anyone who knows my child knows that nothing stops her from trying something new. She was definitely game for another slide ride and happily went back up after she recuperated from her neck injury.

 

Since I knew that the twister was just long and twisting, I wasn't sure how Sakari was going to do in it. I decided to go first and I filmed myself going down it. It was a lot of fun, so I agreed to allow her to go. She LOVED it and would continue to go on it over and over and over. We basically had to drag her off of it and tell her to "take a break" and play on the smaller ones here and there. I have to say I felt better about her going on it, since she's so little she actually did sit up on that slide and she went along slowly (unlike us "older" and "heavier" adults). She cracked me up because she screamed like she was on a roller coaster ride every time and every time I worried listening to the "bloodcurdling-high pictched-girly scream every time wondering if she was actually having fun or getting hurt. She would exit at the end with the biggest grin every time. Maybe mid cruise I decided to calm down about the screams and knew they were screams of delight. Take a deep sigh of relief.

 

I can say that you can see the people going down inside the slides (especially when they hit the yellow part of the slide) so I was able to keep track of how far down she was each time...and of course knew when it was her turn from the screams. :D

 

At the very end of the video is me deciding (not a good judgement on my part) to turn my camera around to video tape me going down the slide and the reaction of my face while doing so. Ok, for those that haven't figured this out yet A) This IS NOT the most flattering look for anyone! You get a weird view of yourself that no one wants to see and you definitely don't like putting your head down and creating that double-chin look. YIKES! I don't recommend it. ;) B) It's a little harder to hold on to the camera and you have no idea what you are actually getting in the picture and C) this could cause you to slip and fall when starting...and I did!!! You can see in the picture I lost my footing and fell, but I was still holding on to the bar and I think that pretty much saved me from a bad injury of hitting my head once again. I have a habit of "getting hurt" on my cruises and I "try" to take extra precautions when cruising, but I just attract the bad things I guess. (Yes, I have even broken my hand on a prior cruise and have been hurt ziplining before...sigh)

 

So here is our day of the big slides:

 

[Athankfulheart]

I am enjoying your review :)

I was wondering.... at LFK, do you have to pay for snorkeling in order to snorkel ? When I received the informational email from them it had a package that was price higher that included snorkeling. Were you able to snorkel for free if you had your own equipment ? Would I be okay to just go with the basic package of transportation and lunch if I have people that really want to snorkel ?

[mitsugirly]

I am enjoying your review :)

I was wondering.... at LFK, do you have to pay for snorkeling in order to snorkel ? When I received the informational email from them it had a package that was price higher that included snorkeling. Were you able to snorkel for free if you had your own equipment ? Would I be okay to just go with the basic package of transportation and lunch if I have people that really want to snorkel ?

 

Their more expensive price that includes the snorkeling is where they take you out to the little area in front of the island to snorkel the reef. That is where I didn't go. I was perfectly happy snorkeling right there at LFK at both beaches. There was plenty enough for me to see and I enjoyed it.

 

However, you can get in one of their canoes (and if I have the chance to go there again, this is what I'll do) and paddle out to the boat where everyone else is and snorkel on your own for free. :D

 

At both beach areas, there will be plenty of fish and sea life. That's where all of my pictures came from and I have a bunch more that I didn't even share. I mean one can only take so many snorkeling pictures right? :p You won't see all of the beautiful coral and such, but I was ok with that. I was able to see things that I hadn't seen before and whenever I can see something new, it makes for a good satisfying day for me. We have our own equipment too. So, that might matter to others as to whether or not you do their snorkeling package (if you didn't have your own). :)

[Athankfulheart]

Their more expensive price that includes the snorkeling is where they take you out to the little area in front of the island to snorkel the reef. That is where I didn't go. I was perfectly happy snorkeling right there at LFK at both beaches. There was plenty enough for me to see and I enjoyed it.

 

However, you can get in one of their canoes (and if I have the chance to go there again, this is what I'll do) and paddle out to the boat where everyone else is and snorkel on your own for free. :D

 

At both beach areas, there will be plenty of fish and sea life. That's where all of my pictures came from and I have a bunch more that I didn't even share. I mean one can only take so many snorkeling pictures right? :p You won't see all of the beautiful coral and such, but I was ok with that. I was able to see things that I hadn't seen before and whenever I can see something new, it makes for a good satisfying day for me. We have our own equipment too. So, that might matter to others as to whether or not you do their snorkeling package (if you didn't have your own). :)

 

 

This was VERY helpful. Thank you for taking the time to reply :)

[mitsugirly]

Ok, finally to the end of the videos. I'm truly sorry that it has taken so long. I have been in finals week and it's been a little hectic here and there.

 

I use Smug Mug to host all of my pictures and they just released their "new and improved" version. It's not an add on or upgrade, it's a COMPLETE overhaul and started from scratch. Well, they claim that it's a lot more friendly user and faster....NOT! On average it has taken me 2 days...I repeat 2 days to get just 1 video uploaded!!!!!!!! :mad: Yesterday I spent 6 hours waiting for it to completely upload and then got a "timed out" error message and had to start again. But finally....it uploaded.

 

This is a little video of our "pool" time.

 

Now when you start watching this video, you may thing someone has slipped something into your morning coffee and things look a little psychedelic to you. Let me assure you that it's not you, it's the video. When we first started cruising again, the hubby and I use to fight over who gets the camera during snorkeling. He wanted to be able to take pictures of the things he was seeing even though I was right there with him, he was convinced that I wasn't seeing the same things he was. Well, that is what initially made me decide to buy an additional camera...so that we would both have one. Now they are both point and shoot cameras, so how hard can it be, one might ask, to take a picture? Well, the one thing I have noticed on all of our cruises over the last several years...the pictures he takes and the pictures I take turn out completely different. It's like handing a 2 year old a camera and asking them to take a picture of a bug while they are running by it. Something is not gonna turn out right! My oldest daughter is even worse. I seriously don't understand it. :confused:

 

So with that being said, the hubby took the first half of the videos while we were swimming in the main pool. It looks VERY weird...well that is because he somehow changed the settings and it was on HDR. Grrrr :eek:

 

Well I didn't realize this until we were done swimming in the main pool and headed to the back of the ship to try out that pool.

 

Then we got the huge surprised of our lives when the jet fighter planes raced over top of us. For some reason I decided to play that video back to see if I had even got the plane in it and that's when I discovered the mess up and changed it. Thanks goodness or none of our videos from swimming in the pools would have turned out at all.