Dream Cruise June 8-15

[billys5764]

Day 2 Sea Day

 

I love sea days!!!!!!!

 

I put out room service breakfast card for delivery at 6:30am. I'm not a morning person except when cruising. I love to get up before things get crowded. I feel like it is my personal ship. DW and I got up around 6:15 and sat on the balcony. I told her at 6:25 I should go in so I can hear when room service knocks. at 6:27 the phone rings. Room service is calling saying they could not deliver our order because no one answered the knock. Well, they were early! They promptly came and delivered. I tipped the guy a couple of bucks.

 

I had ordered coffee, OJ, and croissants. I was hoping the coffee would be the coffee served in the dining room, but, alas, it was the Lido deck coffee, and not very hot either. We had our pre-breakfast on the balcony and then went up to deck 11 to enjoy hotter coffee. DW always gets her morning coffee from the coffee bar. She says it's closer to Starbucks.

 

I got a cup from the Lido deck. It was much better than last year on the Valor. It was hot. Of course, it's not as good as the dining room coffee, but it will do. We sat in what was to become our usual spot on Deck 11 aft until time to go get ready to meet our friends for the comedy brunch.

 

After a rainy night this is what greeted us this morning.

 

Another view

 

 

We got ready for the brunch. We woke up DS (no small feat). However, before we went to the dining room at 9am, I went to Deck 11 and staked out 4 chairs for us. Yes, I know some of you will scream at me for saving seats. This part of the ship really never filled up. When we came up after brunch there were still empty chairs.

 

We all met at the Scarlet Dining Room for the Comedy brunch. I had OJ, good coffee, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage, and perhaps the best ceasar salad I've ever had. It had bacon in it. Bacon is nature's perfect food you know. We al enjoyed our food and service. As we were leaving the comedy was starting so I can't comment on how it was.

 

DW and I quickly ran to our cabin, brushed our teeth, and changed clothes. We headed up to Deck 11 for the day (at least me).

 

Our friends came by for visits during the day. They don't tolerate the sun like DW and me. DW had a snack later in the afternoon. I didn't want to leave the sun.

 

Around 4pm DW went downstairs to our cabin to start getting ready for dinner and elegant night. You saw the pix of the bathroom in our cabin? I really don't like it. Everyday, when I would leave deck 11 I would go to the spa and shower there. I can only speak for the men's side, but there is a steam room and 2 HUGE showers. Each shower is bigger than the entire bathroom in our cabin. I "chilled" in the steam room for a while where I met a band member. We talked about some mutual friends/students/colleagues that work or have worked for Carnival. He told me some interesting things. Carnival is really downsizing their live entertainment. Most ships will not have a live band in the theatre anymore. It will all be tracks. He has a few more weeks on his contract then he is leaving. He's been with them 8 years.

 

I showered and went back to the room to get dressed. DW and DS were getting ready when I arrived. DS got dressed and then took off to meet his friends. (We told him before the cruise, the only rule was he had to eat dinner with us.) DW and I got ready and went up to the bar behind the casino.

 

Me

 

DW (I definately married "up')

 

 

We met up with the others at dinner. Everyone looked nice in their elegant clothes.

 

DW and DS

[bydefault]

bydefault i will be on the dream with you cant wait

 

Are you on the FB roll call page??

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[retiring soon]

Hi ALl1

 

 

billys5764 ~ loving your review so far!:D I was on the Dream, my 1st Carnival cruise in April & really liked it. I stayed at DB & SIL's condo at

Sunglow Resort & had breakfast at Crabby Joes. Have to hang on to your money or CC there as they sometimes blow into the ocean!!:eek:

That is a beautiful beach to walk along.

 

Love DW's dress & necklace, very nice!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[billys5764]

Day 2 Part 2

 

Our NC friends

 

 

Our FL friends

 

 

So much for our good looks. Now on to dinner! For my appetizer(s) I had ceasar salad and shrimp cocktail. DW, DS, and I each ordered surf and turf -- Prime rib and lobster. I assumed that they would throw a lobster tail on the plate with the prime rib, but they brought out the full lobster dinner and then the full prime rib dinner. Whew! The lobster was one of the best I've ever had. It was tender and not overcooked. The prime rib was so-so. It was a bit bland. I like a spicy rub on the outside of mine when I cook one. But I ate it anyway.

 

For dessert I ordered the apple in puff pastry. I had had this last year on the Valor and loved it. It was still very good. Of course, I had to have ice cream with it -- 2 flavors, chocolate and vanilla.

 

Apple in puff pastry

 

Ice cream!

 

 

My goal was to photograph every meal but I got so involved with conversation and eating that it didn't happen!

 

Our wait staff put on a show for us. Our head waiter was Dedi. Our Maitre D' was Shane. He was really great. He was known as "Mr. Helllllooooo." He came by our table nearly every night and talked to us (we were close to the entrance).

 

Entertainment

[billys5764]

Day 2 Part 3

 

After dinner we went to our room and changed clothes for the casino. This time I won $200! I usually play until midnight then go to bed. So, I went back to the room, sat out on the balcony for a while and read, and then went to bed. Tomorrow is Cozumel!

 

DS came in at 4 am. I don't know how he does it. Yes, I do, he's only 17.

 

I forgot to mention that DW went to a meet and greet in the afternoon. I had seen on the Carnival website forums roll call for our cruise a facebook page for this cruise. I "liked" it and so did DW. DW really got into it. The person getting this going was Stacy from Savannah. She was a very nice lady who really loves doing this. They had at least 25-30 show up for the meet and greet at the aft pool bar. They did a gift exchange and the whole nine yards. I just followed them on facebook. I was not about to give up my deck time!

[billys5764]

Hi ALl1

 

 

billys5764 ~ loving your review so far!:D I was on the Dream, my 1st Carnival cruise in April & really liked it. I stayed at DB & SIL's condo at

Sunglow Resort & had breakfast at Crabby Joes. Have to hang on to your money or CC there as they sometimes blow into the ocean!!:eek:

That is a beautiful beach to walk along.

 

Love DW's dress & necklace, very nice!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

We love Daytona. I've been going there since before I can remember. When we married, I told DW that would be our primary vacation spot. I was not giving that up for love!

 

We've never done breakfast at Crabb Joes. I've heard it is very good. If you are ever in Daytona on a Sunday you MUST go to brunch at Aunt Catfish. It is on the Halifax (mainland side) at the Dunlawton Bridge. It is a buffet and is SO good.

[billys5764]

Hi ALl1

 

 

billys5764 ~ loving your review so far!:D I was on the Dream, my 1st Carnival cruise in April & really liked it. I stayed at DB & SIL's condo at

Sunglow Resort & had breakfast at Crabby Joes. Have to hang on to your money or CC there as they sometimes blow into the ocean!!:eek:

That is a beautiful beach to walk along.

 

Love DW's dress & necklace, very nice!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

 

DW's dress came from Ross. I think she said it was $8. The necklace is not real diamonds:(

[billys5764]

Day 3 -- Cozumel

 

We awoke at our usual 6am. I skipped room service. Instead we headed up to Deck 11 for "our" spot. I got coffee from the Lido deck and DW had her coffee from the coffee bar. The Lido coffee is really better than last year.

 

I LOVE deck sitting early in the morning and especially when we are coming into a port.

 

Sunrise

 

The other direction from "our" spot. You can tell it rained during the night.

 

Looking onto the aft pool area. It is usually full during the day.

 

A closer view of the aft pool.

 

DW drinking her morning coffee.

 

 

Cozumel on the horizon

 

We all had breakfast on our own. DW, DS, and I ate in the Lido buffet. It was really good. I had my eggs fried over medium at the omelet station. No wait! Our head waiter was the bacon ****. He recognized me and gave me PLENTY of bacon. After all, it is nature's perfect food.

 

We headed down to get off the ship. We had to go to Deck 0 to exit. We got to Deck 3 and waited in line. We had to wait until Mexican officials cleared us. We waited at least 30 minutes on the stairs. Once they cleared us, the line moved pretty quickly.

 

We all met on the dock and walked to the taxi stand to go to Mr. Sanchos.

[billys5764]

Day 3 Part 2

 

Mr. Sanchos

 

I booked Mr. Sanchos for all 7 of us online at least a month before the cruise. I got $5 off each by doing this. We all fit into a taxi van. The taxi cost $40 (total, not each) each way including tip.

 

We arrived at Mr. Sanchos, checked in, and got our wrist bands showing that we were on the all-inclusive package. OMG was it all-inclusive. Our "beach boy" showed us to our table on the beach. We had a table that seated us all with a thatched umbrella. There were chaise lounges right there. We were only steps from the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful. He took our drink order (by now it was 11am -- that made it at least 5pm in London so it was OK to order drinks). I ordered my usual screwdriver, DW and several friends had margaritas and 1 friend (Don) had a stinky monkey.

 

Our waiter brought our drinks to us. I took mine with me into the water. What fun lounging in the beautiful Caribbean and sipping a cool drink. Now, these drinks are not the strongest I've ever had. But it was unlimited so one could get their alcohol quota in.

 

You can go to the buffet and/or order off the menu. We did both! On the buffet they had wonderful tortilla chips with salsa, jalepenos, chili, refried beans, and nacho cheese (like you get at a ball game). There were tortillas to make fajitas, burgers, etc. On the menu, you could order coconut shrimp (we did), grilled garlic shrimp (we did), fried shrimp (we did), and all sorts of other foods.

 

Was this the greatest Mexican food I've ever had? No. But it was good and unlimited!

 

Jeff and Linda under the umbrella

 

 

The view from our umbrella

 

More view

 

 

They had kayaks and other things you could take into the water. I'm pretty sure they were included in the price. Jet skis and parasailing cost extra.

 

 

Eating

 

Ocean toys

 

You did have to pay extra to use the big blowup ocean toys (we didn't)

 

The pictures do not give justice to the beautiful colors of the water. I WANT TO GO BACK NOW!!!!!!!

[billys5764]

Day 3 Part 3

 

Still at Mr. Sanchos

 

They have a pool. It is not too big. But, it has a swim-up bar with stools and tables and stools in the pool. You don't have to get out to get a drink. Who came up with this idea? They should win some type of award!

 

You can tell this was a few drinks later in the day!

 

 

 

 

Another bar with swings instead of stools.

 

 

This shows the tables in the pool

 

 

They also had free wifi. I was able to use my phone (for internet, not telephone) to post on Facebook. After many libations and other things (what happens at Mr. Sanchos stays at Mr. Sanchos) we left to return to the port. We did a bit of shopping in the port village (those that could still stand). I went to Los Cinco Soles and bought a liter of vanilla. I love Mexican vanilla (the good kind). It really adds to the flavor of things, especially DW's brownies. We also went to Del Sol and got t shirts and I bought a pair of sunglasses that the frames turn blue in the sun.

 

It was time to head back to the ship -- didn't want to be a pier runner.

 

Isn't she beautiful?

 

We got back in time to deck for a little bit. At the appropriate time, I went to the spa to shower for dinner. At dinner, I had the French Onion Soup and Ceasar salad. I had the meatloaf for my entree. It was good, but it was meatloaf. What can you say about meatloaf? DW had the salmon, and DS had the flatiron steak. For dessert I had the cheesecake. It was OK. It tasted a bit like the Jello no bake cheesecake. This was my least favorite dinner of all. Linda had the short ribs. She said they were very good. Diane had the chicken. She said it was dry. Don had 2 entrees. He got the vegetarian polenta and the the short ribs. The dessert that the others had was the warm fig, date cinnamon cake. They loved it. I don't do figs or dates. DS had the chocolate melting cake (again) with the obligatory two ice creams.

 

The evening was typical -- casino for me and decking for DW. DS came in at some point during the wee hours.

 

Don and Diane went to the comedy show and also the adult comedy show. They said it was funny. They thought the adult show was risqué but not vulgar.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Miastar]

We sail on the Dream on July 6, and your review is making me look even more forward to it! Can't believe Shane is the Maitre D' we have had him as our Maitre D' on other Carnival ships. "Helllooooo!"

[JaniceB]

I have to agree with you about the coffee, it has become much better than it was a year ago.

 

Enjoying your review!

[billys5764]

Day 4 Belize

 

6:30am came around, so we got up and went up to Deck 11. DW, of course, had to wait until 7am when the coffee bar opened. When I got up on deck we were coming in to Belize. I was surprised at the color of the water. It had been a beautiful blue in Cozumel and before, but now it was a green color. It was still pretty, but a surprise. We "parked" out in the water pretty far from shore. The "port" is too shallow. I'm surprised Carnival et al don't dredge a port.

 

Belize the distance with the tenders approaching

 

 

Of course, the joke of the day was "How did the chicken get to Belize? It took the chicken tender."

 

We arranged to meet for breakfast in the Crimson Dining room at 9am. All of the printed materials said that is where breakfast would be. DW and I go there and it is locked up tight. We go over to the Scarlet Dining room and wait for our friends. Don and Diane had already gone in and were seated at another table with "other" people. We waited for Jeff and Linda. We had missed each other somehow in going from the Crimson to the Scarlet. So they had breakfast in the buffet on the Lido deck.

 

DW and I were seated at a table with 7 others. We had a lovely time. One older couple was from Richmond, one younger (than us) couple was from Orlando, and an even younger couple with their very well-behaved 5 year old son from Canada. We had interesting conversation with them all. Our daughter is 21 and autistic. She is in a school outside of Asheville, NC for autistic kids and young adults. The couple from Orlando told us about a place in the Orlando area that specializes in working with special needs people in job placement, housing, etc. We are so glad we met this folk. We are now in the process of talking with the company for our daughter. Her goal is to work at Disney. We'll see what happens.

 

For breakfast, I had french toast, sausage, bacon, and hash browns. The french toast was very good. It was "regular," not the fruit loop crusted kind at the brunch.

 

Since none of our group had excursions planned for Belize, we decided to let those with excursions get off first, thus avoiding long lines. You had to go to the Scarlet Lounge to get a number for your tender. We met around 10:30 and got our number. Our number was 42 and they were calling 34 at the time. We waited in the lounge about 20 minutes before our number was called. We went down to Deck 0 to board the tender. Everything moved pretty smoothly. The waves were up a bit, so the crew was holding everyone's hands as the tranferred from the Dream to the tender.

 

The tender ride was the best part of Belize for us. It took about 20 minutes to make the journey from ship to shore. It was a bit rocky, but I don't have problems with seasickness, so I enjoyed the ride. It was a nice breeze (wind) blowing.

 

On the tender

 

Our ship in the distance

 

 

In Belize, our goal was to walk around at the port and maybe do some shopping. Like Cozumel and other ports that we visited, the cruise lines have a walled off shopping area for tourists, free from the outside world. If you want to get a real taste of the countries you visit, venture out past the gates.

 

The shopping area

 

 

We had coupons for some "freebies" so we went into some stores. DS (who stayed on the ship) really was wanting a fake Rolex. I told him I doubt he could find one on this trip. I had gotten one in Ocho Rios 25 years ago. It worked for at least 10 years. I also got one in Chinatown in New York City. I took it to a jeweler who said it was the best fake he had ever seen. It quit after a few years.

 

Anyway, we went into the Diamonds International store which is at every port. Carnival must own them. Linda got some earrings and a necklace, and Diane made a small purchase. I found a Gucci watch that I HAD TO HAVE. The problem was it was WAY out of my price range. So I had to pass it up.

 

The Diamond Store

 

 

 

We walked around, got some t shirts and stuff. We found a "drug" store. Here you can purchase all of your favorite prescription drugs without a prescription -- Xanax, Percocet, ******, etc. I hate to think what is in those "drugs."

[billys5764]

Day 4 Part 2

 

Our favorite place we visited was the Moho Chocolate store. When you walk in the door you are hit with the smell of chocolate. They had free tastings (which we did) and explained the chocolate process. We purchased too much chocolate. It's amazing how many different ways chocolate can be packaged!

 

Moho Chocolate Store

 

 

Chilling in the shade

 

 

 

The Wet Lizard Bar and Husband Day Care Center

 

 

We walked back to the tender and headed toward the Dream. We spent about 1.5 hours at the port. I'm sure had we taken an excursion we would have enjoyed Belize better.

 

But that meant I had more deck time!

[pmoniz]

billys5764 - Enjoying your review so far!!

 

I had to laugh about your son coming in at 4 a.m.!! It sounded just like my son! He went on his first cruise with a friend for their 16th birthdays & graduation present and they did the same thing!!

 

The first night scared us to death and we searched the ship high and low - only to find them sitting in the middle of the ship talking with a group of kids they had met!! They, too, stood in touch with each other after the cruise!! They met kids from everywhere! He's now 23 and loves his cruise vacations!!

[billys5764]

Day 4 Part 3

 

We did eat lunch in the buffet on the Lido deck. I had a salad (good -- hard to mess up a salad you prepared yourself), a pepper chicken, pork chop, slaw, and potato salad. The chicken was excellent. I went back and got some more. The pork chop was very tasty also, I love their salw and potato salad. We didn't eat in the buffet that much, but it was much better than I remember it being last year. Of course the soft serve ice cream was fine. My motto is "Ice Cream is the best sea sick medicine." That must be why I never get sea sick!

 

After an afternoon in "our" spot we did our ritual -- DW to the room, me to the spa. We went to dinner. I had the spring rolls (again, they are really good) and a ceasar salad for my appetizer(s). I couldn't decide between the shrimp and the filet mignon so they brought me both! For dessert, I couldn't decide between the apple pie and the warm chocolate melting cake, so guess what? I had both -- with ice cream, no sea sickness for me!

 

Our wait staff put on a show for us again.

 

Last year on the Valor, we noticed the table across from us would get these pretty shot glasses with different liquers in them each night. We wanted that this year. We made sure they came by our table the first night. After that they knew to come to our table.

 

Shot glasses

 

Each night was a different color. The colors were clear, blue, amber, green, aqua. I'm not a big liqueur fan, so most nights I passed my glass around the table. The first night had Bailey's, kahlua, and Frangelica. That was good. I think this night was crown royal, apple liqueur and something else. One night was limoncello (yuk). The "green" night was a drink that smelled like Hawaiian Tropic Suntan Oil and tasted like what I would think Hawaiian Tropic would taste like (double yuk). The glasses look nice in our china cabinet. We're putting them to use this week when we have Don and Diane over for a margarita evening -- margarita shrimp tacos and different types of margaritas!

 

After dinner, we went by the photographs and looked. I like to wait until the end and then pick out the best ones to buy. After that, it was the usual -- casino and deck. Lost money again!

[billys5764]

I hope I'm not boring you with my review. Like I said, we are not party animals.

 

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll be glad to answer as best I can.

[billys5764]

billys5764 - Enjoying your review so far!!

 

I had to laugh about your son coming in at 4 a.m.!! It sounded just like my son! He went on his first cruise with a friend for their 16th birthdays & graduation present and they did the same thing!!

 

The first night scared us to death and we searched the ship high and low - only to find them sitting in the middle of the ship talking with a group of kids they had met!! They, too, stood in touch with each other after the cruise!! They met kids from everywhere! He's now 23 and loves his cruise vacations!!

 

I know. But other than falling overboard, what trouble can they get into?!?

[bjcruiser]

Not boring me at all. My DH and I have only been on one cruise but we skipped shows for the casino also. We are trying to decide between Dream and NCL Jewel. the itinerary is the same.

 

Thanks for the review and pics

[pmoniz]

I know. But other than falling overboard, what trouble can they get into?!?

 

Exactly!!! Enjoying the review so far!! Love the pics!!

[hayesktrm]

This is not boring at all!!

 

A couple questions, what time did you leave from Mr. Sancho's? We are in port from 9-5. If we get off the ship at a reasonable time, I guess we would be ready to go back around 3...would that give us enough time get back and shop a little? I wasn't sure how long the taxi ride was. Also, can you pretty much order whatever drink you want or do they have a menu to order from? It should be interesting...DS and DSgf are legal in Mexico (20 and 21). They don't drink much now because they are poor college students (well, and DS is only 20). They should be fun to watch when we go to Mr. Sancho's. From what I hear, DSgf just falls asleep when she has a drink, lol.

 

Do you remember the price of the vanilla?

 

So, with the shots at dinner, they let you keep the shot glasses? Do you remember how much they were? That might be a fun souvenir.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Can't wait to hear more!

[billys5764]

This is not boring at all!!

 

A couple questions, what time did you leave from Mr. Sancho's? We are in port from 9-5. If we get off the ship at a reasonable time, I guess we would be ready to go back around 3...would that give us enough time get back and shop a little? I wasn't sure how long the taxi ride was. Also, can you pretty much order whatever drink you want or do they have a menu to order from? It should be interesting...DS and DSgf are legal in Mexico (20 and 21). They don't drink much now because they are poor college students (well, and DS is only 20). They should be fun to watch when we go to Mr. Sancho's. From what I hear, DSgf just falls asleep when she has a drink, lol.

 

Do you remember the price of the vanilla?

 

So, with the shots at dinner, they let you keep the shot glasses? Do you remember how much they were? That might be a fun souvenir.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

Can't wait to hear more!

 

I think we left Mr. Sanchos around 3 or 3:30. The taxi ride is no more than 10 minutes. On our ship we were in Cozumel until 6. But we were back on the ship before 5 and that included shopping in the port. If they have the liquor they can make any drink. I ordered a toasted almond which has amaretto. They did not have that. You can also order double shots of liquour in your drink if you want them stronger. We met several over-18 but under 21 "kids" at the bar. We loved Mr. Sanchos. If/when we go back to Cozumel, we will do that again.

 

I checked my bank statement for the vanilla. I thought I used by debit card, but I guess I paid cash. I think it was around $15 US for a liter. It is well worth it. I got it at Los Cincos Soles. Be careful about buying vanilla in Mexico. You can get the bad stuff. Never buy clear vanilla, it is not real -- at least the vanilla in Mexico.

 

Yes, you get to keep the shot glasses. We have one set in our kitchen window and the other in the china cabinet. They were $7.95 each and that included the liqueur and the glass.

[hayesktrm]

Thanks so much! Can't wait to hear the rest of your review!

 

 

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[Georgia Peach 4]

Anxiously awaiting more photos please....

:D