REVIEW: Carnival Dream, April 27, 2013, Exotic Western Caribbean Itinerary

[sweetcurves]

I am WAY behind in posting this review but I went into a deep depression after coming home from this cruise (lol, don't we all) and I didn't want to think about writing about how great of a time I had.

 

My sister is my traveling buddy (and it's looking like she will be for the rest of my sad, single life). This was our second cruise. Our first was in October 2012, on Carnival Freedom (Western Caribbean-Key West, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios). My review is here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1725970&highlight=carnival+freedom+october+14 if you'd like to read it.

 

Forgive me now, but I am not one who takes pictures of her food. I don't want to be the chubby girl taking photos of her bacon mac & cheese in the MDR while wearing a really pretty cocktail dress. Just feels weird to me.

 

Anyway, here goes.

Edited August 8, 2013 by sweetcurves

[momto2kids]

Can't wait to hear about your adventures!

[sweetcurves]

My sister and I flew into Orlando on Tuesday, April 23. We flew Southwest (I'm a giant SW fan and will fly them until they go out of business or kick my ass off one of their flights for just loving it too much). Flight was uneventful and on time.

 

My father, step mother and half brother live in a suburb of Orlando so we stayed with them for 4 days pre-cruise. They drove us to the port the morning of the cruise. We had secured Faster To The Fun but still got that stupid e-mail that says don't come to the port until 1 pm blah blah blah. Although this time they said it was something about an inspection so I thought it was for real and even after calling Carnival, still felt it was REAL and we didn't get to the port until around noon. Faster To The Fun was still worth it as we had NO line and were on the ship eating lunch within a half hour. So I do recommend FTTF. Well worth the $50, in my opinion.

 

So first thing we did was dump our luggage into our cabin. We'd chosen cabin 1438 which is a double wide, on the Riviera deck. It's right behind an employee staircase which I wasn't too worried about. The cabin is HUGE. I mean HUGE. More room than we knew what to do with. I probably wouldn't get it again simply because the noise from the anchor and the engines was absolutely insane and I think I'd rather have a regular OV with a sofa. We don't spend that much time in the cabin so all the space wasn't really necessary. It would be different if we were traveling with a large group and wanted to have somewhere to hang out and have parties. Seeing as how that will likely never happen, this cabin went to waste on us.

 

Anyway, we dumped our bags and headed up to Lido to get some lunch. We fell in love with the Burrito Bar. Freedom did not have anything like this. It was wonderful. The chicken was flavorful and tender and even one burrito was too much for this girl's belly to handle (it was big). We then wandered the ship and tried to get a feel for the layout. We visited the two pools and of course walked through Serenity (where we knew we'd be spending a TON of time as we like to be away from the kidlets as much as possible). Don't get me wrong, kids are great, they are just better on any ship but mine, in my opinion. First thing we noticed about Serenity—NO HAMMOCKS. This was something we enjoyed immensely when we were on Freedom. I saw the hooks for the hammocks but no hammocks themselves. I thought maybe they just didn't put them out yet but they were never put out. That was a bummer. So we wandered the ship for a while and figured things out. For dinner we just ate at the buffet as neither of us felt like dressing up and going to the dining room. I'm one of those people who likes to dress up for dinner in the MDR. I love formal night and participated in both of them on this cruise.

 

Because it was so long ago, I really don't remember what food I ate save for a few meals. I will do my best to try and remember.

 

Later that night we went to karaoke and laughed at a few people. Sorry but karaoke is one of those places where I can't stop laughing, out of nervousness and well, just because some people really can't sing. Sorry but I just can't help it. Anyway while at karaoke, a pair of guys got up to sing and my sister said they looked really familiar. I said they seemed like two regular guys and that's probably why they looked familiar. Thought nothing of it.

 

My sister and I up on Serenity I believe.

 

The long hallway from the door of our cabin into the actual cabin itself.

 

The main cabin.

 

Other view of the cabin. The door on the left is to the bathroom.

 

The mid-ship pool.

[sweetcurves]

Lunch on Lido.

 

Midship pool.

 

Bottom of one of the waterslides (which I never went on).

 

I believe this was the Disney Fantasy?

 

Aft pool.

[sweetcurves]

Mid-ship pool. This was the ONLY time the deck was empty. Both pools were packed pretty much all the time and we never set foot in either.

 

Main lobby from above.

 

View aft, towards another Carnival ship as we were leaving port.

 

Leaving the port.

 

Line dancing on Lido.

[sweetcurves]

Carrie and the big comfy couch?

 

Melissa and the big comfy couch?

 

Gorgeous sunset. I swear sunset from a cruise ship is magical.

 

The Disney ship following us.

 

At karaoke, giggling at and with people.

 

First towel animal.

Edited August 8, 2013 by sweetcurves

[sweetcurves]

The next morning at breakfast (first full day at sea), we ate on the Lido deck. We always eat at the buffet. I don't know why but we never seem to make it to the MDR for anything but dinner. Anyway, I always have some eggs, some sort of carbohydrate, and a few slices of bacon. I sometimes have cereal as well. Later in the week I discovered the omelette station never had a long line and fell in love with the bacon and cheese omelette, so much so that I had one every morning for the rest of the cruise.

 

At breakfast we noticed the two guys from karaoke. My sister swore to me that they were on our last cruise. I told her that was impossible but if she was so sure, she should go ask them. She chickened out, so I grew a set and went over to them. I said, “I have a question for you guys” they said “sure”. I said, “were you on a cruise in October?”. They said yes. I asked if they were on Freedom. They said yes. So I told them we were on the same cruise. We confirmed dates and then had a good laugh at the craziness that we ended up on the same cruise. Turns out they were from Ohio but lived in Kentucky and were brothers who cruised every 6 months. We went our separate ways after they joked that we were stalking them. We were not, I might add. LOL

 

Anyway we headed to Serenity and who comes by not an hour later? The KY boys. So we did formal introductions and chit chatted a bit. A few hours later we ran into them again in the casino and we decided to ask them about dinner. They had early seating, we had YTD. So they said they would talk to the maitre' d and see if we could join them for dinner. That night was the first formal night. We agreed to meet at their dining room at 6.

 

We ate lunch out on the lanai where a bbq was set up. There was bbq chicken quesadillas and mini sliders along with some salads. It was pretty delicious. I have pics below.

 

After some time up on Serenity we got ready for dinner and then joined the boys at their dining room. We really got to know each other well over dinner. I had the spaghetti carbonara (which I'd had on Freedom and enjoyed). I also had WCMC for dessert. After dinner the guys had planned on karaoke, and my sister and I had planned on going to the Motown Trivia/Sing a long on deck 5 (near the lanai). So we made plans to meet up with the guys and go to comedy after and possibly join them in the casino as they had taken an interest in playing 21.

 

We went with the guys to karaoke for a bit and then we went to the sing along and enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was something we'd done on Freedom and we loved it. We then met back up with the guys and we went to comedy while they went to the casino. We met up with them again at the casino after comedy and I quickly became a good luck charm for one of the guys as after I sat on his right side, he got two Blackjacks. So from then on if we were in the casino together, I was on his right side, and he ended up doing very well over the entire cruise.

Edited August 8, 2013 by sweetcurves

[sweetcurves]

Sunning on deck 5 near the lanai.

 

More sunnin.

 

BBQ set up on the lanai.

 

[sweetcurves]

Ready for dinner.

 

 

Sunset.

 

 

After dinner on deck.

 

[sweetcurves]

At the Motown trivia/sing/dance along.

 

New towel animal.

 

The beginning of our towel zoo.

[sweetcurves]

The next day was Cozumel. I always do a ton of research on excursions and have yet to book one through Carnival. I booked us a swim with the manatees at Chankanaab Park. Our swim was booked for 2 pm Cozumel time. Ok the whole ship time thing totally screwed me up and we got to the park way too early and were SO bored.

 

Before that though, we had to make our way through the port village and say “no, gracias” about 4,568,906 times. I HATE having to say no so much, but the shop keepers can be VERY pushy. My sister did end up buying a ring and managed to bargain the shop keeper down really low. My sister is a born bargain shopper though. I don't have the patience or the will to care.

 

Anyway, at Chankannab park, we got our bracelets and bought some sunscreen that was safe for the water in the park ($21 later). There was a school group at the park so the pool was packed full of kids. It was a REALLY hot day (although from what I understand, it's always super hot in Mexico, lol). We sat under the umbrellas, shared a diet coke light, used the free wi-fi and people watched. Our manatee swim was awesome and totally worth the price. I would recommend it. Now the big sticking point is...if you want photos of your totally awesome experience, be prepared to pay for them. The disk of photos (which were great quality—I will post some below) was $120. Seriously. We figured it was once in a lifetime and we weren't doing any other super expensive excursions so why not.

 

We did our swim with a Mom and daughter who were on the Dream with us so we cabbed it back to the port with them and with another family. The taxi ride was $11 each way and is no longer than 10 minutes. But no a/c, just the incredible breeze coming through the windows while flying down the road at 70 mph.

 

We got back on the boat pretty much right away as we were both exhausted and just wanted to change into a dry swimsuit and lay out on Serenity and do nothing. And that's what we did. That night we hung out with the boys some more, spent time with them in the casino etc. I can't remember if there was comedy that night or not. I'm thinking there wasn't as it wasn't usually two nights in a row. We may have gone to karaoke. I really can't remember. I also can't remember if we ate in the dining room or not. Sorry for the lack of details.

 

Pics below.

[Aphelion]

Loving the review so far. Were leaving on her saturday and leaving home in less than 24 hours :cool:

[sweetcurves]

Ship from dock in Cozumel.

 

My sister and I in the shopping area of the port.

 

 

Inside Chankanaab Park.

 

[sweetcurves]

Some of the professional pictures from our manatee swim. I didn't include them all as there are 30 or so and it's all the same thing. The manatee swim was a lot of fun though. You had to constantly feed the manatees in order to keep them interested in spending time with you. So I think I fed them like 10 heads of lettuce each by the time we were done. Most people do the dolphin swims but my sister has always wanted to swim with manatees so we did that instead. It really was worth the money we paid (it wasn't all that expensive). The photos were such a rip off but I like having the pictures to remember the event.

 

 

 

 

 

[sweetcurves]

The next port was Belize. I'd originally planned for us to go cave tubing but I wussed out and we cancelled. So we just we took the tender (omg it was SO hot and sweaty) and did a little window shopping at the port. We also stopped and had a virgin mango margarita at one of the bars inside the port. We found the people in Belize no different than the ones in Mexico. They all want to make money so they are a little aggressive. But a simple “no thank you” usually worked. There was lots of pretty stuff to buy in Belize, including lots of nice dresses but I was on a budget, both financially and also for space in my suitcase. Here's a few pics I took while in port. Oh the tender is LONG and HOT. Bring something to drink, seriously. We crammed people in every inch of the boat both going and coming back and by the time I got back to the boat I was REALLY miserably hot and just wanted a cold shower.

 

When we did get back on board, the pools were packed so we headed to Serenity. While lying out in the sun, we saw a really bizarre situation unfold in front of us. There was a hot tub less than 10 ft away from us. And these people rolled this older lady (I mean she had to be in her 80s) up to the stairs of the hot tub in her wheelchair and kinda sorta helped her climb the stairs (she was in her swimsuit). But if you know how narrow the stairs are, it's not like someone could really hold her hand to help her up the stairs. She could barely propel herself up the stairs. It took her a good 5 minutes to get to the top of the stairs and to the edge of the tub. Then she's standing there and has to climb down at least a couple more stairs to be IN the hot tub. But neither of her family members attempted to help her or offered to get into the tub first and be there to lead her and help her into the tub. I thought it was so bizarre that they kind of left her to handle it herself. If it were my family member, I would have had one person stand behind her and another go ahead of her to help her up the stairs and down the stairs in to the tub. She was clearly not very stable on her feet as she was in a wheelchair and watching her try to climb and then descend the stairs was torturous. I wanted to go over and help her but felt I'd probably get told to mind my own business. I took pictures of the whole thing but obviously don't want to post them...lol. I just found the whole situation so strange. Then again I work in the medical field and I know what makes sense as far as mobility goes.

 

I think that night we ate in the MDR and I had a burger. I don't really remember. We ate in the MDR 4 times for dinner...that I do know. And I had WCMC every single time. I do remember we went to comedy and Doug Williams was one of the comedians. He was GREAT. We both got our pic taken with him after the show. He had performed two nights prior and we loved him then. This was his last night on the ship.

 

Belize

 

 

The tender ride was SO hot and sticky. Humidity and I are not good friends.

 

 

View of the ship on our way back.

Edited August 8, 2013 by sweetcurves

[sweetcurves]

Doug Williams, comedian.

 

[sweetcurves]

Quitting for now...will do some more tomorrow most likely.

[WAHMto5]

Thanks for the review. Can't wait to read the rest;)

[pmoniz]

Enjoying your review!! Keep it coming!!

[4hunters]

Awesome review! I remember reading your first review and enjoyed it as well. Keep up the good work. ;)

[MnMomW3Boys]

Great review so far...can't want for more :):)

[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review.

[shoppingfever]

Love the review! Thanks for sharing!

[YankeeFan4Ever]

Awesome review and pictures so far, can't wait to read more!

 

Thank you for taking the time to post it! :)

[sweetcurves]

Next port was Mahogany Bay, Roatan. We'd made arrangements with another travel pair from cruise critic to take a tour of the island through Victor Bodden's tour company. So we met up with our tour buddies and climbed the hill outside of the port to meet up with our tour guide. Of course I don't remember his name name but he was wonderful. He drove us all over the island, pointing out some of the resorts etc. He took us to the top of a hill that looked down on the island (it was beautiful). We then went to Victor Bodden's place with all the birds and monkeys. Victor himself is ridiculously handsome. I am not one for mingling with the wildlife too closely so I held the purses while the others went in the cages and played with the monkeys. Just not my deal. I'm a wuss. Oh well. After the monkeys, our drivers took us to Fosters. Fosters is a beach club. We paid $10 each for entrance and for a beach chair. The beach itself was really clean and the water nice and calm. We ran into our guy friends there and hung out for a while. We also had a drink at one of the cool tables that had swings as chairs. After the beach we had a little more of a tour of the island and then were dropped off at Mahogany Bay. We did a little shopping, had our passports stamped and then got back on the ship.

 

We met up with our guy friends later and hung out with them for a while. We spent a lot of time in the hot tubs on Serenity. Actually at one point one of the guys and I were standing on the edge of the hot tub looking over the edge of the ship into Mahogany Bay. We could see a sting ray frolicking in the water. We watched it for a while. I got a tiny bit of vertigo and a lot of sun while standing up there. But it's such a cool experience to be up so high and get an incredible view of the island and the beach. I fell in love with Roatan and the people. I would go back there on a land vacation with no hesitation.