Carnival Dream Review Dec 20-27

[RobinKY]

Some background info on us. We are family of 4 with 2 kids ages 13 & 11. This is our 5th cruise.

 

New Orleans - Pre Cruise

We drove down to NOLA and stayed at very nice hotel on Canal street across from French Quarter. We did a hot wire deal and got it for $100. I am thinking b/c not many visitors the weekend b4 Christmas. I talked to someone on cruise who paid $350 for an avg hotel in the FQ. Short walk across Canal street and had a nice time in FQ and had a nice dinner. We didn't stay out long b/c it had been a long day.

 

Parking - Port

We left hotel and it was a 5 minute drive to Fulton garage. I had prepaid online. Service is great there and they are organized. Just remember to bring singles or money for tips. Tips are customary for various things before, during and after cruising.

 

Lines were long at the port. We got there around 11 and it probably took us 1-1 1/2 hours to get thru security and check in but they do a good job processing everyone. I had checked in on line ahead of time so once I got to the counter it was quick.

 

Cabin

 

We had balcony on 9 forward and interior across hall for kids. We had done cruises with 4 in one room so it was really nice to put the kids across the hall. Room steward was friendly and it is really nice to have the room cleaned twice a day. Only small complaint is that it would be nice to have a fresh bar of soap after a couple days without having to ask for one.

 

The balcony was nice for this longer cruise as I would hang out there at any opportunity. We do like to stay out late and sleep in but our neighbors above us would begin opening and shutting (loud) their balcony door and also shuffling their balcony furniture around 6 AM I assume to see the sunrise. Also other neighbors would begin their day early and doors in the hallway would begin slamming shut. Oh well not the end of the world.

 

Food

 

Lido Buffet

 

Be prepared for long lines except for port days.

 

The grill - burgers, hot dogs, fries is open almost all day and while not my idea of cruise food a lot people like burgers, hot dogs & fries coated in cheese.

 

Pizza Pirate - open 24 hours and actually is decent pizza. It is a good go to snack as it is lite and not real doughy. My kids loved it and we usually got it late night.

 

Tandori - very good Indian food. It is only open 12 -230. I went twice on a port day with no wait. On a sea day the line was long and it moves slowly. The hold up was for the naan bread. Being courteous has different takes for different cultures because some in line would wait and take 3-4-5 pieces of bread as soon as they came out of the oven even though many others were waiting. This really slowed the line down. Two people actually got in an argument over the naan bread.

 

Burrito Place - We had this once and it was good. We got bowls and it could have more stuff in it. I guess I could have ask for more.

 

Deli - Basic cold or grilled Sammy's. Nothing fancy.

 

Swirls - kids loved the ice cream machine.

 

We usually ate a late breakfast so we didn't have the buffet for lunch too often as many of the specialty parts of the buffet are only open for a short time period (12-230).

 

Breakfast - I would highly recommend the MDR for breakfast. The buffet breakfast is not good. On port day before leaving for excursion it was an absolute zoo in the buffet. They have like 30 feet for one buffet section and 25feet of it was milks, cereal, fruits, yogurts and then ONE tray of terrible scrambled eggs and a couple of trays of breakfast meats make up the rest of the line. They had ONE guy making made to order eggs but we didn't have time. They need to have more of what most people want is what I am getting at. It would move much faster. Another day when we missed the MDR breakfast the buffet was not all that bad.

 

MDR - We had dinner in MDR scarlet every night. We had late seating which fit our schedule well. Service was good for the most part. I am a basic eater but would find something I liked. There were a few snafus. I had ordered the Chateau Briand but it came out with their chewy flat iron steak instead of the tenderloin. Another night, my wife order the filet mignon and she swears it was the chewy flat iron. It was not tender like filets are usually. Some other meals were decent and others were just okay. This was our 3 carnival cruise within the past 12 months and the food just wasn't impressing us. My favorite were the jerk pork loin and meatloaf. The prime rib was ok. I will say the desserts are incredible.

 

The MDR for breakfast or Seaday brunch is the way to go. The food is so much better than the buffet and it is nice to be served rather than go thru the feed trough.

 

Cheers Program - Drinks

 

We both enjoy our drinks so the cheers program works well for us. Bar service is usually good. Those guys work hard. I do question how strong their drinks are. We would usually start with 3 or so frozen drinks and would never feel anything. One night I had one grey goose tonic before dinner, one at dinner and 3 after dinner and never really felt anything. Would they be serving a less expensive lower proof grey goose?

 

Another issue is my wife ordered a petron margarita and it was included in the cheers program (under $10) and later I ordered one from another bar tender and it wasn't included.

 

Ports - Excursions

 

Roatan - this is a nice port with nice shops. I didn't notice a lot of street peddlers or other street people trying to swindle you like other ports. We did the little French key. It was okay but I was thinking it would be more of a beachy type thing.

 

Belize - we did the cave tubing and zip lining. Overall this was really great. It just took forever to get there. It was a 15-20 minute water taxi ride to the port then we waited in line for close to an hour before loading on buses to the park. They could have been more organized and prepared. It was a hour plus ride to the park but that wasn't too bad. We were told to wear close toed shoes so I wore my gym shoes. We had booked/paid for the excursion thru carnival so I didn't bring much cash with me. When arriving at the park you had to rent a locker and buy water shoes but I only had enough for a locker and shoes for my daughter. My son had to go in his good basketball shoes. I wish I would have read that somewhere that you need to bring cash for these things.

 

Cozumel - just stayed on ship.

 

Disembarkation - we did self assist as we wanted to get off ship early. Our assigned time based on floor was late (930). They called self assist first and when our floor was called we easily walked off the ship. I couldn't believe how easy it was. No waiting at all.

 

Feel free to ask any questions.

[angiem0217]

We will be on the dream for the first time in march. How crowded were the pools and waterslides? My son is 8 and I know that's where he will want to stay

[RobinKY]

We will be on the dream for the first time in march. How crowded were the pools and waterslides? My son is 8 and I know that's where he will want to stay

 

My kids did the slides a few times and they never complained about the lines. I walked by the slides and never saw huge lines. Maybe 10 kids deep. It was cool one day and very windy most everyday so that might have kept the kids away.

 

My wife and I spent a few days by the pool and it was never really crowded in the pool. On sea days the pool deck was much more crowded but we always managed to find chairs poolside.

 

I think your son will like the dive in movies. They start at 7 PM IIRC and there were a lot of kids partaking. They would have popcorn too.

[RobinKY]

A couple more thoughts:

 

Room Service

It is quick, I will give them that. The free choices are very basic items like hot ham & cheese, turkey sammich, etc. Nothing fancy unless you get items off the pay menu.

 

Our Cabin - Deck 9

 

Deck 9 forward was super convenient to getting up to the pool and food on Deck 10.

 

Teen Club Circle C

 

My daughter is 13 and can be shy at times. She really liked the Circle C and met some nice girls. They came by on the last night to say goodbye and I think they exchanged numbers. Being a 7 day cruise it seems like a good feature for teens to find friends and hang out together. At the end of the cruise I noticed other teens, young adults saying their goodbyes to new friends they met on board.

 

Music

 

They had a good selection of musicians on board. I really like a couple of the solo acts - singers/guitarist who would play the lobby, pool deck and casino bar.

[mrsdurham]

Did the cheers program seem to be worth it? My husband and I will be sailing on the dream in June and keep debating about whether or not to get it. We drink a lot normally so it's not the number of drinks that's the issue because I'm sure we would drink enough for the money. I just keep reading that the drinks are not very strong like you said, so I was just wondering if the program as a whole was worth it to you.

[angiem0217]

We had cheers on our last cruise and it was well worth the money. If you drink more than 5 drinks a day then you will save money. I did not notice that the drinks were not strong.

[RobinKY]

Did the cheers program seem to be worth it? My husband and I will be sailing on the dream in June and keep debating about whether or not to get it. We drink a lot normally so it's not the number of drinks that's the issue because I'm sure we would drink enough for the money. I just keep reading that the drinks are not very strong like you said, so I was just wondering if the program as a whole was worth it to you.

 

 

I think it is worth it. We easily would drink 8+ drinks each per day even on port days. The frozen drinks seem to be the least strong so next time I might just do one or two of them to start. If you are beer or wine drinkers then it shouldn't be an issue. Also if you're a wine drinker you can see the prices of the glass of wine. They have a cabernet that is $5/glass and one that is $9.95 and both are covered under cheers and my wife liked the $9.95 much better.

[Ronandal]

We are on the Dream in 5 weeks. What time did you get off with self assist?

[RoscoeJames]

We are on the Dream in 5 weeks. What time did you get off with self assist?

 

We were on this cruise and really loved it. We had FTTF and did self assist. We were on the road by 7:00 AM.

[tkportersat]

Thanks for writing a review. Still can't bring myself to do Cheers, maybe someday. With 3 port days just don't think it would be worth it for us.

[RobinKY]

We are on the Dream in 5 weeks. What time did you get off with self assist?

 

IIRC we were off at 830 with self assist. They call you by decks but I think you can go at anytime. If we did the "relaxed debarkation" our set time was not until 930.