Dream review, tons of pics, 3 beach reviews!

[bluejay555]

 

 

 

 

Nice view from up there

 

[bluejay555]

There was a super cute area for toddlers

 

Tea time again!

 

 

Cherry on Top! I wish I could remember the price/lb. The bags they're holding were $6 but I can't remember if that was a half lb.? oh well, they loved picking out candy and we were in there forever cause they couldn't make up their minds...

 

 

[bluejay555]

Let me just say that this ship has some pretty weird artwork going on. I hated it, and I'm an art teacher. I usually appreciate most any art that I see in one way or another, but this art was just plain weird and out of place with all the glitzy décor. It belonged in camp carnival. Or a kid's bedroom or something. But a flashy, gold and jewel encrusted cruise ship interior?? (there seriously were polished glass tiles and marbles glued to everything that would sit still. My mom kept thinking there were coins on the floor and she'd bend over and it was a glass jewel tile lol) Um, nope! Sorry!

 

 

There is much more gaudy art that I will refrain from posting, like polar bears dancing in a ballroom, penguins playing soccer....

[bluejay555]

Dinner time! Tonight we couldn't find a dish that none of us had ever eaten, so we settled on the sushi, since the girls had never tried it. I am not a fan of the sushi, I will just leave it at that.

 

The little shrimpies. Sara ordered these every single night.

 

Spring rolls were fabulous. I had these a couple times.

 

Black bean soup

 

Chicken quesadilla was wonderful!

 

[wmowan8485]

Really enjoying your review and pics... Your girls are adorable.... :)

[bluejay555]

 

 

Another mini

 

A little night swimming!

 

Sara was told to stop jumping by a worker who was passing by. Kids jump in this pool all day long! stick in the mud.

 

Tomorrow we wake up in Jamaica, mon, and a wonderful day at Seawinds Beach Club!

[bluejay555]

Really enjoying your review and pics... Your girls are adorable.... :)

 

Thank you!

[matondo]

Loving your review! Your daughters look like they are having so much fun!

[Charsmom]

We were on the same cruise as you. Our group of 11 celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary. It's fun looking through your photos to see if I recognize anyone (not yet) and to read about some of the things that you did that we didn't. We did spend a lot of time relaxing on deck 5 during the sea days. I recommend it for when you are wanting to avoid the crowds. The whirlpools were virtually empty.

I agree about the food being a bit inconsistent. Some of it was very good, but others looked better then they tasted.

[Gari]

Please keep the information and review coming. Loving seeing all you guys did. It certainly looks like you had a great time. I am book for a sailing in November and this is just making me even more anxious.

 

Love your review and looking for more.

THANKS

[cruising_diva]

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:

 

Can you please double check this room #? I don't see a 2603 on my deck plan. And only even #'s are on port side.

 

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

Edited June 17, 2014 by cruising_diva

[watermelonqueen99]

I am loving your review! We're booked on the Dream for April, also in a cove balcony. We had a cove on the Magic this past April, and we absolutely loved it! We also saw lots of flying fish, and we were also lucky enough to see some dolphins! I think the cove balconies are one of Carnival's best kept secrets! :D

Edited June 17, 2014 by zumbagirl78

[bluejay555]

Can you please double check this room #? I don't see a 2603 on my deck plan. And only even #'s are on port side.

 

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

Ah you're right! we were in 2306!

[bluejay555]

We were on the same cruise as you. Our group of 11 celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary. It's fun looking through your photos to see if I recognize anyone (not yet) and to read about some of the things that you did that we didn't. We did spend a lot of time relaxing on deck 5 during the sea days. I recommend it for when you are wanting to avoid the crowds. The whirlpools were virtually empty.

I agree about the food being a bit inconsistent. Some of it was very good, but others looked better then they tasted.

 

Well that would be cool if you spotted someone from your group!

 

Thank you everyone who is following/commenting on my review :)

[live2cruise2011]

we are booked on the dream in August for a b2b but on the western with Belize and Roatan. I will do a review on that iten. when we return looking forward to the rest of your review

[bluejay555]

we are booked on the dream in August for a b2b but on the western with Belize and Roatan. I will do a review on that iten. when we return looking forward to the rest of your review

 

Oh I would love to do a b2b someday! I will definitely be looking for your review :)

 

OK, so I left off with Jamaica...

We woke to this sight

 

We filled out our breakfast room service card every night and put it on our door handle, and every morning about 6:30am my mom and I would have coffee on the balcony and wait for the girls to wake up. It was so nice! Our neighbors were on a completely different schedule, unfortunately. They would come in about 2am and we would wake up... those walls are so thin. One night they fought for a good hour. They were shouting the f-bomb at each other and I never thought they'd make up and go to sleep. Well they must have eventually made up because the next night, we awoke to them having super loud porn-star sex. I actually got up and pounded on the wall because hello?? I have 2 children, and I was with my mother for godssake. Embarrassing! They immediately got quiet and we didn't hear another peep. I felt bad about the entire situation because we probably woke them up every morning at 6:30, but we tried to be as quiet as possible. Just on completely different schedules...

 

OK, so back to Jamaica, mon! Just looking at the water from our balcony was getting me excited. Isn't it gorgeous?

 

 

Eventually the kids rolled out of bed and we all watched the ship dock.

 

 

Quick breakfast on the lido

 

 

Only on a cruise can you get away with having an ice cream cone at breakfast!

[bluejay555]

These blue chairs were my mom's favorite place to sit. We almost always found 2 empty ones, too. I guess most people prefer the loungers. These chairs rock like a rocking chair, they're in the shade for the most part, and you can feel the air conditioning every time those glass doors open into the lobby behind them.

 

We got off the ship, walked through a small terminal, and were out on the street, where a shuttle was waiting to take us to the Seawind Beach Club. This is right next door to Secrets Resort, which is adult-only. We had a very nice guide who rode the shuttle with is and chit chatted about the island... my only bone to pick was she asked if I was GRANDMA! Um, I know I'm getting a little long in the tooth, but I'm only 41! I couldn't be a grandma to a 9 yr old... right??? of course she felt so stupid and apologized all over the place, but I said too late. No tip for you! (just kidding :p)

 

We all got a welcome drink, plus the club was all-inclusive, so there would be many more drinks to come!

 

This place was really beautiful. There were a couple tents set up where locals were selling souvenirs, but everything seemed overpriced to me.

 

 

They had a super nice pool

 

 

[bluejay555]

 

 

Now, unfortunately, we all had sunburns, so t-shirts were a must. I'm not sure what happened... we applied, and reapplied sunscreen, but the sea days spent at the pool and waterslides got us, especially Josie. Her little shoulders hurt her so bad and ended up peeling pretty deep. I felt so guilty. We had brought an aerosol spray aloe with lidocane, but she said that made it hurt even worse, so I had to buy this different aloe stuff from the Carnival gift shop for $15. What a rip! oh well, it was necessary.

 

 

This Seawind employee came over and helped the girls build a sand volcano, then gave them this red liquid to pour in, which bubbled back out like lava. It was really cool, and a nice little "extra". He also brought out a big tub of sand and water toys for all the kids to play with. There was a Nerf ball we played catch with for quite a while, so we were really grateful for all the toys.

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

 

My mom was happy to find some pool noodles to use

 

This is where the buffet lunch was. They made several announcements that you had to be dry and clothed to come in. Well we didn't want to get all dried off and put our clothes back on just for a beach lunch! I got my cover up on and went to investigate. The food didn't look all that great (jerk chicken, some sort of fish, beans, veggies), so we opted for the outdoor grill which was serving hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries outside by the pool. The burgers were completely processed cafeteria type burgers but the fries were sooooo good! It was fine for what it was.

 

 

 

There was a DJ who was playing music and hosting games... some were drinking games, one game was name the song, and he was giving Appleton Rum bottles as prizes.

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

My girls were interested in getting their hair braided, so of course I said sure, why not! I guess I didn't realize how expensive it was. It was $25 for half a head, which is what we got, and we were doing 2 heads. Ugh. Oh well, the girl was so good at braiding and it turned out lasting the rest of the cruise. Just beware if you ever do this... they put beeswax in the hair to help braid easier and it's so gross and greasy looking. We took the braids out today and I had my girls wash their hair with Dawn dish soap thinking that would remove the beeswax. Wrong! I finally googled it and found that you're supposed to use olive oil to remove the beeswax, then wash the olive oil out with Dawn soap. Eek! I'm so nervous I'm only going to make things worse! So in hindsight, I would have completely discouraged the hair braiding. Yuck.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh the free drinks... forgot to comment on that part. They were great. The bartenders would make whatever you wanted, except frozen drinks were limited to pina colada or strawberry daq. There were waiters who walked around the beach taking orders and delivering drinks all day. We were impressed. So all in all, this was a terrific excursion. The food was basically awful, but that was such a tiny part of the experience, that it doesn't make me love this place any less. I would definitely go again if given the chance!

[JamesEM]

Enjoying your review and photos, will be on the Dream in Dec. and also have a cove balcony.

[wininbid]

Great review and pics so far. Sailing on the Dream in February, and can't wait. We will also be in a Cove.

Edited June 17, 2014 by wininbid

[cruzelovr]

Loving your review and pics. Going on Dream in February in adjoining cove balconys, one for my wife and I and one for our 4 kids.

 

One thought that i had regarding the artwork around the ship, was that it was purpously kind of weird and dreamlike. Kind of a play on the Carnival Dream moniker. Just my thoughts on it, and believe me when I tell you that the only

thing I know about art is that it's short for Arthur.

 

Can't wait to read more and see more great pics. Thanks for sharing!

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed the report/photos.

 

Keith

[CrusinCyndi]

Looking forward to your review! My husband and I are going on the dream in August AND we booked a cove balcony! Never had one so I am looking forward to your review of it.

 

Cynthia

 

When in August are you sailing? We sail August 3rd and will be in a cove also!

It's gonna be 4 generations on this cruise