Wrigley80's Carnival Dream Repositioning Cruise Photo Review

[RTravisW]

Re: A Disney cruise full of kids. We went on the Liberty last April and we didn't realize it was spring break. I don't recall the exact figure the cruise director told us, but about 1 off every 3 cruisers were kids. They were everywhere. Something like a thousand of them. And they were annoying and rowdy.

 

Loving the review. We're cruising the Dream out of NOLA in November.

[wrigley80]

Loving this review...:)

 

 

Thank You. I'm just getting started

[wrigley80]

Different terminal was due to a different fuel used for cruising inland via river. Or, so I was

 

told by "man in White".

 

 

Well whatever the reason was our embarkation was still AWFUL.

 

Were you on the repositioning cruise??

[wrigley80]

Re: A Disney cruise full of kids. We went on the Liberty last April and we didn't realize it was spring break. I don't recall the exact figure the cruise director told us, but about 1 off every 3 cruisers were kids. They were everywhere. Something like a thousand of them. And they were annoying and rowdy.

 

Loving the review. We're cruising the Dream out of NOLA in November.

 

 

Thank You. You'll love the Dream. We will be back onboard the Dream in December

[Gon2hwe]

Really??? I was on this same cruise with you, and we commented many times during the first few days how rough the seas were, huge swells, made sitting on our cove balcony not enjoyable at all. Maybe all in perspective, with being down low to the water (when in a cove). We also thought it was very windy for most of the time. However, there was not much movement on the ship, which is always a contributing factor to how people pay attention to the seas! yes..it was a great cruise and would do it all again in a heartbeat!

 

We thought it was by far the roughest cruise we've been on in the Caribbean too. I just thought it's because Dream is one of the smaller ships we've been on.

[Gon2hwe]

So we dropped off our rental car at Budget and jumped in the shuttle to head to the cruise port.

 

First sight of the Dream on the shuttle

 

I think I timed that picture pretty good

 

OK so once we gathered up our bags after we got off the shuttle we gave our 2 big bags to the porters at the terminal. This is where the total cluster fudge started :eek: Now we are Platinum but we were told to go stand in a line with other people who were first-time cruisers, past guests (but not platinum), and more Platinum guests. We stood outside for over an hour and a half. It was absolutely awful :mad: My dad asked to speak with one of the Carnival employees who work at the Port. She was walking around with a clipboard but she was a total "not a nice lady"

After an hour and a half we finally went through security and received our Platinum cards and Priority Boarding cards.....except they were already calling zones and were up to Zone 5. There were 6 lines coming out of the terminal and we all had to merge into one line to get on the ship. I have NEVER experienced such a horrible embarkation. This was due in part because we were at a different terminal due to the repositioning cruise. After about 2 hours we finally made it on the ship.....it was now almost 1:00 pm. I needed a STIFF drink :p

 

We were put in the short line but only because my BIL was handicapped but still stood in line almost an hour. We heard rumors of a fueling problem but after the cruise heard it was a scrubbing down or FDA inspection, because of the noro on other ships the week before. There were some on our cruise that got it but must not have been terribly bad because they let us off. Guess we'll never know. Enjoying the review!

[wrigley80]

We thought it was by far the roughest cruise we've been on in the Caribbean too. I just thought it's because Dream is one of the smaller ships we've been on.

 

 

Wow....I'm surprised y'all thought it was rough. The Dream was our biggest ship so far. I agree it was windy pretty much the whole way down to Aruba. Maybe it's because we had a mid-ship cabin on deck 6

 

 

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[wrigley80]

We were put in the short line but only because my BIL was handicapped but still stood in line almost an hour. We heard rumors of a fueling problem but after the cruise heard it was a scrubbing down or FDA inspection, because of the noro on other ships the week before. There were some on our cruise that got it but must not have been terribly bad because they let us off. Guess we'll never know. Enjoying the review!

 

 

Thanks Evelyn. If they were deep cleaning the ship that's fine with me but they weren't telling us anything and he people working at the port were rude.

 

I just kept telling myself....."Just get me on the ship....Just get me on the ship."

 

Btw how did you guys like the Steakhouse??? We were at a table close-by when you were in there.

 

 

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[JamesEM]

It has been my experience that whenever I have sailed on a repositioning cruise there seems to be some problems that don't usually occur, due to new crew, customs, different schedules, etc.

[UpstateCruizer]

Thanks Evelyn. If they were deep cleaning the ship that's fine with me but they weren't telling us anything and he people working at the port were rude.

 

I just kept telling myself....."Just get me on the ship....Just get me on the ship."

 

Btw how did you guys like the Steakhouse??? We were at a table close-by when you were in there.

 

 

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This is why we get to the port early and expect to wait longer but it's always less chaotic when we are there early. I'll share our experience on the same day so you can see what I'm talking about. When we arrived at the port around 9:30 we were directed into a line with a few other people. That line grew and they started bringing chairs for people that needed to sit along with bottles of water. Super friendly and apologizing that security wasn't allowed to let us get inside yet. They said customs did not want the passengers embarking to have contact with the passengers debarking for security reasons. Not sure but thought that was supposed to be the case all the time. Something was different this time though as they made employees go through the same way we were and they were just as confused.

 

After a period of time they moved is to a different entrance and a few minutes later security was open. It took longer to get through as only one scanner was allowed to be open but still not a big deal. Someone dropped a bottle of red wine shortly after we made it through security. I was sad for them and glad it wasn't ours. The gentleman directing us told us that the chaos was because this was not a normal Carnival terminal. This is the one used by Royal Caribbean. The port is putting new fuel systems in to help with the larger ships. Since the Triumph was in port but did not need fuel they were directed to the docking area that was under construction. We needed fuel so we had to use the dock they moved us to.

 

When we arrived upstairs everything was being done by hand as this was not Carnival's embarkation area and everything was in the process of being moved. We sat in the VIP area and had an enjoyable time chatting with everyone until they called us to embark. They did let the diamond members go first which I thought was awesome and I had never experienced that before. There were no wedding parties so we followed the diamond group on board. Very easy and smooth.

 

Debarkation was a completely different story for us though. Lesson learned self assist is a much better option when you are VIP and it goes much faster and smoother. We had late flights so we did the traditional bags outside the night before.

 

Our experience has always been arrive early less problems.

[Motorcycle Girl]

Our experience with embarkation:

 

We left our hotel in Orlando on the 9:00 a.m. Cortrans Shuttle. We stopped at 2 other hotels to pick up passengers and then made our way to the port. We arrived shortly after 10 a.m.

 

The line was almost non-existent. But, it was moving pretty slowly. The line for Platinum/Diamond/FTTF merged with the regular line once inside. At the time we were there they only had one scanner open but they were working on getting the other open. We were upstairs, with sign & sail cards in hand in less than 1 hour. There were plenty of chairs available in the FTTF area for us. But, it filled up quickly. Once the whole upstairs area was full I heard that they closed down the outside line and wouldn't let anyone else inside as they had nowhere to put them.

 

So, basically, if you weren't there early, you were out of luck. Which, if you were Platinum/Diamond/FTTF was really crummy!!! :eek:

[GTO-Girl]

Rusty's Seafood Bar

 

I love Fishlips.....time to wave we are on the Port Canaveral webcam

 

Grills Bar

 

You definitely won't go hungry in Cape Canaveral :p

 

More development going on....I'm sure it will be built up even more the next time we are at Port Canaveral for a cruise

 

Glad you guys had a great trip!!

 

As we promised hubby and I were at Fishlips to wave you off. In fact when I expanded your picture I could clearly see us standing there waving......:D

 

Very much enjoying your review!!!!

[O2Cool]

Bump. Where's Brianna !!!:rolleyes:

[wrigley80]

This is why we get to the port early and expect to wait longer but it's always less chaotic when we are there early. I'll share our experience on the same day so you can see what I'm talking about. When we arrived at the port around 9:30 we were directed into a line with a few other people. That line grew and they started bringing chairs for people that needed to sit along with bottles of water. Super friendly and apologizing that security wasn't allowed to let us get inside yet. They said customs did not want the passengers embarking to have contact with the passengers debarking for security reasons. Not sure but thought that was supposed to be the case all the time. Something was different this time though as they made employees go through the same way we were and they were just as confused.

 

After a period of time they moved is to a different entrance and a few minutes later security was open. It took longer to get through as only one scanner was allowed to be open but still not a big deal. Someone dropped a bottle of red wine shortly after we made it through security. I was sad for them and glad it wasn't ours. The gentleman directing us told us that the chaos was because this was not a normal Carnival terminal. This is the one used by Royal Caribbean. The port is putting new fuel systems in to help with the larger ships. Since the Triumph was in port but did not need fuel they were directed to the docking area that was under construction. We needed fuel so we had to use the dock they moved us to.

 

When we arrived upstairs everything was being done by hand as this was not Carnival's embarkation area and everything was in the process of being moved. We sat in the VIP area and had an enjoyable time chatting with everyone until they called us to embark. They did let the diamond members go first which I thought was awesome and I had never experienced that before. There were no wedding parties so we followed the diamond group on board. Very easy and smooth.

 

Debarkation was a completely different story for us though. Lesson learned self assist is a much better option when you are VIP and it goes much faster and smoother. We had late flights so we did the traditional bags outside the night before.

 

Our experience has always been arrive early less problems.

 

 

Yeah you're right we should have got to the terminal earlier. Oh well we still got onboard and that's all that matters.

 

Our experience with embarkation:

 

 

 

We left our hotel in Orlando on the 9:00 a.m. Cortrans Shuttle. We stopped at 2 other hotels to pick up passengers and then made our way to the port. We arrived shortly after 10 a.m.

 

 

 

The line was almost non-existent. But, it was moving pretty slowly. The line for Platinum/Diamond/FTTF merged with the regular line once inside. At the time we were there they only had one scanner open but they were working on getting the other open. We were upstairs, with sign & sail cards in hand in less than 1 hour. There were plenty of chairs available in the FTTF area for us. But, it filled up quickly. Once the whole upstairs area was full I heard that they closed down the outside line and wouldn't let anyone else inside as they had nowhere to put them.

 

 

 

So, basically, if you weren't there early, you were out of luck. Which, if you were Platinum/Diamond/FTTF was really crummy!!! :eek:

 

 

Yeah there was only one scanner in the line we were in as well. I didn't get to gist the Platinum lounge at Port Canaveral....maybe next time ;-)

 

 

 

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[wrigley80]

Glad you guys had a great trip!!

 

 

 

As we promised hubby and I were at Fishlips to wave you off. In fact when I expanded your picture I could clearly see us standing there waving......:D

 

 

 

Very much enjoying your review!!!!

 

 

Did you see me waving at you??? I was the one wearing a Florida Gators shirt.....I love cruising by all those restaurants leaving Port Canaveral and seeing all those people waving at us as we cruise by

 

 

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[wrigley80]

Bump. Where's Brianna !!!:rolleyes:

 

 

I'm here.....I've had a busy day of watching Chicago Sports. Bulls, Cubs, and Blackhawks all played at the same time......the only team that cares about winning won. GO BLACKHAWKS!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

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[Gon2hwe]

Wow....I'm surprised y'all thought it was rough. The Dream was our biggest ship so far. I agree it was windy pretty much the whole way down to Aruba. Maybe it's because we had a mid-ship cabin on deck 6

 

 

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Seemed like it got better once we got to Jamaica but our excursion got canceled in GC because of weather.but we were able to do a different one.

Not quite sure how the size of Dream fits between Adventure an Freedom of the seas. But dream seemed smaller. I think it's the layout. Didn't find Sunset pool until later and turned out to be my place to go.

[Gon2hwe]

Thanks Evelyn. If they were deep cleaning the ship that's fine with me but they weren't telling us anything and he people working at the port were rude.

 

I just kept telling myself....."Just get me on the ship....Just get me on the ship."

 

Btw how did you guys like the Steakhouse??? We were at a table close-by when you were in there.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

We enjoyed it. I got the steak and lobster so the steak was smaller than theirs. Kinda like the ones in the brunch. They said there's was great but mine just didn't seem worth the extra money. But to each his own.

[Dutch Diver]

Our experience with embarkation:

 

We left our hotel in Orlando on the 9:00 a.m. Cortrans Shuttle. We stopped at 2 other hotels to pick up passengers and then made our way to the port. We arrived shortly after 10 a.m.

 

The line was almost non-existent. But, it was moving pretty slowly. The line for Platinum/Diamond/FTTF merged with the regular line once inside. At the time we were there they only had one scanner open but they were working on getting the other open. We were upstairs, with sign & sail cards in hand in less than 1 hour. There were plenty of chairs available in the FTTF area for us. But, it filled up quickly. Once the whole upstairs area was full I heard that they closed down the outside line and wouldn't let anyone else inside as they had nowhere to put them.

 

So, basically, if you weren't there early, you were out of luck. Which, if you were Platinum/Diamond/FTTF was really crummy!!! :eek:

 

We left Orlando around 9 a.m. and drove 45 mins (plus pit stop) to Hertz in Cape Canaveral. It was very busy and we had to wait over half an hour for a shuttle. We arrived at the terminal at 10:54, a little later than planned. There was a 10 minute line at the scanner and no wait upstairs to get our S&S cards. As we were looking around for seats (there weren't any left) they began the announcements for boarding - Diamonds first, then Platinums. We were in our cabin at 11:34.

[wrigley80]

Seemed like it got better once we got to Jamaica but our excursion got canceled in GC because of weather.but we were able to do a different one.

Not quite sure how the size of Dream fits between Adventure an Freedom of the seas. But dream seemed smaller. I think it's the layout. Didn't find Sunset pool until later and turned out to be my place to go.

 

I heard a lot of people say that they couldn't do their snorkeling excursion in Grand Cayman. We went to Stingray City and didn't have any problems.

 

I believe the Dream is smaller than the Freedom/Adventure of the Seas but not by much. We found the layout to be a little confusing too but we are so used to the layout of Carnival ships that we are used to it by now.

 

Will you guys do another Carnival ship???

 

We really enjoyed the Sunset Bar area and the Aft Pool. It was nice and relaxing back there. We spent a lot of time out there as well

[wrigley80]

We enjoyed it. I got the steak and lobster so the steak was smaller than theirs. Kinda like the ones in the brunch. They said there's was great but mine just didn't seem worth the extra money. But to each his own.

 

I had the cowboy ribeye which was delicious. I was gonna try the surf and turf but changed my mind. Maybe I will try the steak and lobster next time. We will definitely be eating at the steakhouse again. We really enjoyed it

[wrigley80]

We left Orlando around 9 a.m. and drove 45 mins (plus pit stop) to Hertz in Cape Canaveral. It was very busy and we had to wait over half an hour for a shuttle. We arrived at the terminal at 10:54, a little later than planned. There was a 10 minute line at the scanner and no wait upstairs to get our S&S cards. As we were looking around for seats (there weren't any left) they began the announcements for boarding - Diamonds first, then Platinums. We were in our cabin at 11:34.

 

I guess we must have just got in the wrong line during embarkation. Lesson learned again for next time.

[wrigley80]

OK who is ready for more pictures....

 

Our first full day at sea we were up by 8:00 am and ready to head to breakfast. My dad and I really enjoy eating breakfast in the MDR. Today was the first day of the SeaDay Brunch.

 

Have you decided on what you want to order yet?? :p

 

OK how about now.....steak and eggs for me

 

I love this picture.....our table at Brunch was looking right out at the Aft. I love this view

 

More fruit for my dad

[wrigley80]

I ordered the Steak and Eggs....it was pretty good

 

And of course Breakfast wouldn't be complete without a little dessert. :p I love Caramel Cheesecake

 

After breakfast it was time to venture out and start exploring the Carnival Dream. Our first stop would bring us to the Aft Pool area.

 

We enjoyed spending time out here on the Aft by the pool and the Sunset Bar. It was quiet and relaxing out here.

 

[wrigley80]

Gotta love the Selfie :p

 

This was Sam's Piano Bar

 

Promenade

 

Caliente Nightclub.....I really partied it up in here ;)