Dream review, tons of pics, 3 beach reviews!

[bluejay555]

Hi, I just got off the Dream and thought I'd write a review while everything is fresh in my mind:). I cruised with my mom, age 67, and my daughters, Sara, age 9, and Josie, age 7...and I'm Emily, age 41. I'm an elementary school art teacher (grades k-5). We left my husband home for this cruise. He's not that into cruising, which I cannot even fathom!!! Oh well, we had tons of fun without him :D

 

We had a cove balcony (LOVED IT and you will here more about this later!) and our ports were Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We went to Seawind Beach Club, Tiki Beach, and Nacho Cocom, of which I will be adding tons of pics and descriptions of all these wonderful places.

 

OK, so I took over 600 pics and will be making this a pretty visual review. You will probably get sick of seeing my kids because they're in most of the pics, but here goes.....

 

We left on Saturday, June 7 to make the 11 hour drive from the St. Louis area to New Orleans. We ended up stopping for the night in Hammond, LA, which is about 45 min outside of NO. (this part of the trip was boring so I will skip ahead to the good stuff now)

 

June 8: We arrived at Erato St. at about 11:30am. Parking was $120

 

 

The lines to get on the ship were huge. I couldn't believe how packed the terminal was! But lemme tell you, those people moved us through fast. They've got it down to a science. We were on the ship by 12:15 and went straight to the lido deck, of course! We carried on all our luggage (I hate checking my bags) and our rooms were ready by 1pm.

 

[bluejay555]

This was waiting for us in the room... since we are all past carnival cruisers, we had 4 free drink coupons, which can only be used in the main dining room during breakfast or lunch, so we knew we needed to make an effort eat there at some point and cash those puppies in!

 

Our room had the pull down bunk and the couch converted into a bed. We were packed in there like sardines, and we thought there would be a fight for the bunk bed, but Sara claimed it and Josie was content with the sofa bed.

 

Bought some little decorations at the dollar store, one of those 3M hooks, and some sticky putty stuff to hang everything. The kids had so much fun decorating :)

 

Ahhh....the cove balcony! I will have more pics later, but wow did we love that balcony. It was so nice to be close to the water, and it was so private.

[618mom]

Can't wait to read this! We are also from the St. Louis area, right across the river in Belleville, IL.

[KPfromCT]

Excellent start. Cannot wait to read more!!!:D:D

[Lamar20]

I can't Thank You enough for posting the pictures of the parking entrance to the garage! I have been wondering what to look for when arriving and by your photo's it is pretty easy to find ! Thanks Again!!!:)

Edited June 16, 2014 by Lamar20
Spelling error

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Lizzie482]

My husband and I are going on the Dream in November. Can't wait to see the rest of your review!

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Enjoying your review already!! I love "kid" cruise reviews. I have 4 kiddos myself and its so much fun to see the cruise through their eyes.

[cccer]

Great review so far. Only three more weeks for us, it is going way to slow.

[bluejay555]

Can't wait to read this! We are also from the St. Louis area, right across the river in Belleville, IL.

 

We are 35 miles south of St Louis :D

 

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your comments so far!

 

I forgot a detail about embarkation.... when we went through security, they saw my water bottles and wine bottle and said I would have to go get into a super long line where security people were examining bottles. I was like, yeah, OK, I'll go! But it was so crowded that we just sort of kept walking with the crowd and nobody stopped us. The liquor checks were pretty lax. I feel like we could have easily smuggled drinks on board if we would have wanted to. Truth be told, I could have used a second bottle of wine :cool:

[CRU1Z1N]

YAY!! A Dream review with the itinerary we'll be doing in 12 weeks!!

 

Where was your cove balcony located? We have a cove booked forward, starboard under guest services. It will be our first cove.

 

Did you do carnival excursions or on your own? What is your must do on the ship and excursions?

 

Thanks again and can't wait for more!!! Subscribed!!

[SunnyCameHome]

I am so excited to read your review! My family and I will be on the Dream in 13 days, same itinerary! Thanks for posting!

[bluejay555]

YAY!! A Dream review with the itinerary we'll be doing in 12 weeks!!

 

Where was your cove balcony located? We have a cove booked forward, starboard under guest services. It will be our first cove.

 

Did you do carnival excursions or on your own? What is your must do on the ship and excursions?

 

Thanks again and can't wait for more!!! Subscribed!!

 

You are going to love the Dream:D

We were in 2603 which was port side under the dining room. It was very quiet above us. Our neighbors were a different story though, which I will elaborate on later :rolleyes:

 

We did 2 carnival excursions and one on our own (Nachi Cocom in Cozumel). Let's see... must do on the ship.... well if you are a water person, you have to go down the racing slides. So fun!!! We loved tea time, the towel animal folding class, the seaside theater.

[wrigley80]

Nice start to your review. I remember you commented often during my photo review of the Dream.

 

One thing to keep in mind for anyone who receives the free drink coupons....you don't have to redeem those in only the MDR. You can also use them at the Atrium Bar anytime before 5:00 pm. That's where we always use ours :)

[gregg204]

Thanks for putting up a review. Was on the same cruise and had a wonderful time. Can't wait to read your take on " has anyone seen Eric?" Lol.

[bluejay555]

OK, once settled in our room, we changed and headed straight to the pool! The pools are pretty small for this size ship and were usually wall to wall people, but we squeezed every ounce of fun we could out of them!

 

 

 

No matter how crowded the pool got, we could always find lounge chairs. Not many chair-hoggers on this ship!

 

Ahhh NOW my vacation has officially begun!

[bluejay555]

Thanks for putting up a review. Was on the same cruise and had a wonderful time. Can't wait to read your take on " has anyone seen Eric?" Lol.

 

Um, yeah, that was a little much! We heard that Eric was a 14 yr old, and he was eventually found passed out in an elevator. What did you hear?

 

And the blaring in-cabin announcements every 15 min starting at 4:30am were a little much. I felt awful that someone was missing though....I was wondering if someone had gone overboard!

[sjcruiser]

Enjoying the review, can't wait to read the rest. Great photos also!!!

[gregg204]

Um, yeah, that was a little much! We heard that Eric was a 14 yr old, and he was eventually found passed out in an elevator. What did you hear?

 

 

 

And the blaring in-cabin announcements every 15 min starting at 4:30am were a little much. I felt awful that someone was missing though....I was wondering if someone had gone overboard!

 

 

The mothers side of the story can be found here. She's trying hard to make Carnival look bad.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/carnival_cruise_lines.htm

[bluejay555]

DJ Tony above the pool. I preferred him spinning tunes rather than watching sitcoms on the big screen. Didn't give me that vacation vibe, and I really had no desire to watch The Honeymooners (or whatever black and white sitcom it was that played daily) while on my tropical vaca, in the middle of the gulf, drinking a cocktail. Bring back the nonstop music, Carnival!

 

Sail away dance party!

 

One thing I thought was interesting was they announced the top 10 states represented on the cruise. I don't remember them all but it was something like

10. Illinois

9. Kentucky

8. Missouri

7. Arkansas?

6. ?

5. ?

4. Alabama

3. Mississippi

2. Texas

1. Louisiana

 

Next, we went up to deck 12 to check out Waterworks water park.

 

 

 

We were wiped out and skipped the dining room, so no food pics from this first night... many to come though! Our room steward, Mark, was very good, but told us the first day that he was overloaded with rooms and would be cleaning our room in the mornings, which was fine, but seriously, he made the wimpiest little towel animals. Like, he was using wash cloths or hand towels. We wanted the big fluffy ones! And our guy last year sometimes made us 2 at a time. Oh well, towel folding wasn't poor Mark's forte.

 

[wrigley80]

Uh oh I can't see your photos anymore. There is a black "X" where the photo should be :confused: :eek:

[bluejay555]

The mothers side of the story can be found here. She's trying hard to make Carnival look bad.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/carnival_cruise_lines.htm

 

OMG, they got kicked off the ship?? Wow! I guess because he had been drinking/smoking pot? And the mom has PTSD now??? Puhleeze. (I would freak if my kid went missing though)

[bluejay555]

Uh oh I can't see your photos anymore. There is a black "X" where the photo should be :confused: :eek:

 

Noooooooo!!!! :eek: I see them on my end.... anyone else having trouble? Boo! Sorry!!!

[redcardms]

Can't wait to hear more. Our family is doing the same intinery in January. We will be driving down from Illinois.

 

We are booked in a cove also.

 

Is the traffic bad getting into the parking deck? How early did you arrive to park.

[christmas]

Enjoying your review! I can see the photos just fine.