Carnival Dream 9/14/14 - Short review

[bigman01]

Just got back yesterday from the Dream from New Orleans, going to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. There's someone else giving a detailed review of the cruise, so I'll make mine brief. I'm going from memory, and I'll probably forget a few things, but I'll give it my best shot.

 

Quick background - this was my 14th cruise on Carnival, so I've been around the block a time or two (both on Carnival and in life!). Anyway, my thoughts:

 

I'll get the bad out of the way first. When I got to my cabin on Sun., 9/14, the first thing I noticed was that there was virtually no water coming out of the faucet. I gave it a little while, thinking maybe they were flushing the system or something. Waited until dinner time, wasn't any better, so I went to Guest Services to let them know. They sent someone immediately to "fix" it. Worked fine for a couple of hours, then started again. I waited until Mon. morning, and it wasn't any better. We were having to use bottled water that we brought onboard to wash our hands and brush our teeth. I went down to Guest Services again Mon. morning to complain again. Again, they sent someone immediately to fix it, and again, it worked ok for a little while, then stopped up again. I finally went back down that afternoon and basically told them to either get it fixed so that I could wash my hands and brush my teeth, or move me to another room. Finally, on Monday evening, it was fixed...more than 24 hours after I first complained about it.

 

There was also a problem with the toilet - it would not fill up and there would only be maybe an inch of water in the bottom. And, because of that, it wouldn't flush good. On Tuesday morning, they finally got that fixed.

 

Now, the rumored air conditioning problems we've heard about. Yes, it's true - my room was not cool enough. I was on Lido (10276), and while I won't say my room was HOT, it was definitely not cool enough, and uncomfortable to me. It was, of course, worse when the sun was shining on my side of the ship in the afternoon. And, strangely, it seemed to be warmer in the cabin at night than in the daytime. Luckily, I had heard about the problem beforehand, and brought a small battery operated fan with me. If not for the fan, I would have been very uncomfortable at times. And, my friends who were in the cabin next door complained about their cabin being hot the entire week. Someone came to "fix" their's one day, and it worked better, then got bad again. I did talk to another passenger when we were in Roatan, and he had the opposite problem - he said his room was freezing, and no matter how warm he turned the thermostat up, his room would never warm up enough. So, apparently the cooling problems are widespread - some cabins are warm and some aren't.

 

This part is NOT Carnival's fault - I blame the passengers, not Carnival. We heard doors slamming (cabin doors and balcony doors) all night long. And, we'd hear balcony chairs being dragged around at 3 am. And, the passengers around us would like to stand outside in the hall and talk very loudly to other passengers 5 or 6 cabins down the hall, no matter what time of the day or night it was. We also had that problem the last couple of cruises we took out of New Orleans, and that's why we quit cruising from there. Don't know what it is, but it seems they just have no respect for other passengers. I know that can happen on any ship from any port, but it seems as if it's worse when cruising out of New Orleans.

 

Now on to some of the good:

 

Food - food in the MDR was very good, and service was excellent. As soon as we were finished with Starters, our main course was ready. And the same with dessert. There was no long pause in between courses.

 

The steakhouse was, as usual excellent.

 

Pizza, deli, breakfast - all very good.

 

Lido buffett - about on par with other recent cruises. Not great, but not bad either.

 

Shows - The first show in the Encore Theater was "Get Ready". It was a good show - your standard run-of-the-mill Carnival show.

 

The second show (Wed. night) was "Dancin' In The Streets". This was an excellent show. In addition to the normal singers/dancers/show band, they brought in a break dancing group called "Fun Force". It was a notch above the standard show on Carnival, and it's the one show on the Dream not to miss.

 

The 3rd show (Fri. night) was "8 More Seconds". I had seen it a few years ago on the old Holiday I think it was. It was also a good show.

 

On Sat night, "Fun Force", the breakdancers that were in "Dancin' In The Streets" had a small show of their on in the main show room. They are definitely good, and were very fan friendly and interacted with the audience.

 

I did not go to the Welcome Aboard show, or the Legends show, and there was a magician (The Magic Cat Bob Brizendine) that I also didn't go to. I also didn't see any of the comedians. So, I can't comment on any of those.

The ports - I have been to Cozumel many times, and, as great as Cozumel is, I honestly think I'm bored with it. This time, we just took a tazi ride around to the other side of the island, then went back and shopped a little at the pier and ate at Pancho's Backyard. Didn't go to the beach at all, for the first time in several years.

 

Belize - I had arranged a tour ahead of time through NCQ Belize Adventure Tours (http://www.ncqadventuretours.com/index.html). We went to a baboon sanctuary (actually, it was a howler monkey sanctuary, but they called it a "baboon" sanctuary). It was a good tour, and it was a good drive from the port. We enjoyed seeing the "real" Belize. While there was nothing fantastic to see during the drive, we did enjoy the drive and hearing a little history. Nacho and Cynthia (the owners) are great people, and I highly recommend them if you're going to Belize.

 

Isla Roatan, Honduras - we booked a tour through Carnival for Roatan. We went to Maya Key Private Island, and had a great time. We booked the tour that included lunch, and the lunch was good. My only real complaint would be that the beach was rather small. But, it was not crowded, and it was beautiful!!

 

I'm a little out of order here, but the night before the cruise, we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Metairie. It's about 20 minutes from downtown/the French Quarter. We've been to New Orleans several times, and didn't really want to go to the French Quarter, so we fitured we'd stay in Metairie instead. The hotel has a cruise package, which includes dinner in the hotel restaurant, parking during the cruise and transportation to/from the port. After we got off the ship yesterday morning, we just decided to take a taxi back to the hotel instead of waiting for the shuttle, so it saved us 20-30 minutes. The taxi ride back to the hotel cost us a little under $25. I'd definitley stay at this hotel again.

 

Embarkation and debarkation was relatively painless. As I stated originally, we're platinum, so it may have been a little more painless for us, but we had no problems with the process.

 

This wasn't a great cruise, but it wasn't horrible either. I'd probably rate it about 7 out of ten. I'd rate it at least an 8/10 if it weren't for the bathroom sink and the air conditioning problems. We had fun, and enjoyed the cruise, but honestly, I don't think I'd sail on the Dream again, and probably not out of New Orleans again either.

 

Well, so much for this being a "short review", but it covers the basics I think. I'm sure there are some things that I forgot, so if I think of anything else, I'll come back and tell it. And if anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them the best I can.

[falkcor]

nice balanced review, thanks for sharing. They really should get simple things like a.c. And plumbing in order as it seems to be a recurrent problem.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for the review, DW and I are sailing on the Dream in Dec., hopefully by then the A/C will be fixed.

[teacher32]

Thank you for your review.

If you don't mind me asking,

how much was the cruise package at your hotel?

I've stayed at other hotels that offered cruise packages, but not with with dinner.

We're sailing on Dream in November.

Thanks.

Edited September 23, 2014 by teacher32

[Donna - dsw]

thanks for sharing - what time were you off the ship?

[momof6crazykids]

Thanks for the review! I am leaving in 12 days and super excited!

 

1. What time did you get to the cruise terminal? How was the line?

 

2. Anything you recommend to do or see on the ship?

 

3. Do you remember what movies they played on the big screen?

 

Thx!

[bigman01]

nice balanced review, thanks for sharing. They really should get simple things like a.c. And plumbing in order as it seems to be a recurrent problem.

 

Thank you. Yes, I agree, there are certain things that we really shouldn't have to worry about. I forgot to mention, but my friends in the cabin next door had very low water pressure in their shower. They did get it fixed on Monday, and it was fine after that. But there is definitely something wrong with the plumbing, at least in some cabins.

 

 

Thanks for the review, DW and I are sailing on the Dream in Dec., hopefully by then the A/C will be fixed.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's fixed by then. But I wouldn't hold my breath - it seems that it's been an ongoing problem, at least for the last few months. But hopefully they'll get it fixed before y'all sail. And, I hope y'all have a great trip!

[bigman01]

Thank you for your review.

If you don't mind me asking,

how much was the cruise package at your hotel?

I've stayed at other hotels that offered cruise packages, but not with with dinner.

We're sailing on Dream in November.

Thanks.

 

We paid $159 plus tax (around $180 total) for the cruise package. But, I have friends going at the end of Oct., and the cruise package for their weekend is $209 plus tax. So, the price can vary some. If you want to go into the French Quarter the day before you sail, Holiday Inn Metairie is probably not a good idea - it's about a 20 minute drive to the Quarter. But if you don't want to go to the French Quarter or downtown, it'll be fine.

 

I just realized I made a mistake in the original post - the cruise package does NOT include dinner, but it does include a free drink from the bar, and a hot breakfast - real breakfast, not the standard continental breakfast with danishes and such. Sorry about the mistake.

 

 

thanks for sharing - what time were you off the ship?

 

I wasn't paying close attention to the clock, but I'd say we were off somewhere around 8 am. May have been a few minutes before, could have been a little later, but it was somewhere around 8.

[bigman01]

Thanks for the review! I am leaving in 12 days and super excited!

 

1. What time did you get to the cruise terminal? How was the line?

 

2. Anything you recommend to do or see on the ship?

 

3. Do you remember what movies they played on the big screen?

 

Thx!

 

 

I hope you have a great cruise, and the weather is good! We had great weather - no rain at all the entire week. Hopefully you'll have the same great weather!

 

We got to the terminal very early - we were there around 9:30 am. The hotel shuttle actually didn't start until 10 am, but they were leaving at 9 to go pick up returning guests, so we just hopped on that early shuttle. I knew we'd have a little wait, but that was fine. Embarkation started probably around 11:45, and being platinum, we were among the first to board (after wedding parties).

 

If you're a foodie, I do recommend going to the steakhouse one night (if you're a drinker, you get a free bottle of wine if you go the first night). The food and service is exellent, and well worth the $35 fee.

 

I think the only thing I'd say do not miss is the "Dancin' In The Streets" show. It should be on Wed., night. Oh, and one morning (it was Thursday morning for us, if I remember right), get up early and go out on the Lido deck - every lounger will have a towel animal in it. Definitely something to see if you've never seen it.

 

The movies showing on the big screen were:

 

Sun: Rio 2 and Maleficent

Mon: The Other Woman and The Fault in Our Stars

Tues: Gravity

Wed: Grown Ups 2 and Ride Along

Thurs: Godzilla

Fri: The Fault In Our Stars and Divergent

Sat: The Amazing Spiderman 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 

Thankfully I kept the Fun Times, so I was able to go back and see what was playing each night!

 

Hope that helps.

[teacher32]

Thanks for the hotel info.

No worries about the dinner included mistake. That is still a good deal.

Having sailed from NO a few times, we don't care to do the French Quarter every time. In fact, this will be our 3rd time staying over in Covington. Super nice area. We just stay there the night before, have a nice breakfast at the hotel, then make the 20-25 min. drive and park at the port.

[momof6crazykids]

Thank-you so much!

[riclop]

Thanks for your review.

[hannahouse]

Thanks for the review...we'll be on her this Dec. for New Years!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review - sorry about some of your issues.

Edited September 24, 2014 by PathfinderEss