Ocean suite Dream. Who people who get balconies and suites

[spleenstomper]

this post is going to sound all wha wha and frou frou but I don't care. Scroll on by if you feel the need to make snarky comments.

 

We usually book suites. I love putting my chin on the balcony and looking down into the water. You know, I like personally communing with the spray and the different color blues, the sea weed, the flying fish etc.

 

I noticed on a youtube video last night that the dream ocean suites (we are on 7) don't have this! There is a balcony below on 5 with chairs for laying out and hot tubs!

 

I'm very slightly concerned (more like bummed knowing that yes, I'm on a cruise and yes, cruises are great, etc) that my whole privacy factor seems now lost.

 

Did anyone feel that way?

[jdemps]

did you go to cruise deck plans to see the actual deck plans to see what is above/below you? that would help you to see what you're getting.

[spleenstomper]

Too late now :D Leave in 13 days. When I booked last year, there were only 3 ocean suit cabins available for booking.

 

I'm just curious if anyone noticed a difference in mood or whatever (private, solitary person) in not having the ocean right below the balcony and having to look at a seems to be 5-8 foot distance to see the water.

 

Did anyone notice a noise factor? Used to be ocean there and now people are there.

[bury me at sea]

For spray, deck 7 is way too high in clement weather.

 

I love the dream class and have sailed Magic and Breeze. My opinion is anything above deck 6 will give you a great view side to side, up, out, and down.

 

Deck 5 goes all the way around the ship, which is lovely while your on deck 5. I enjoyed our deck 7 view, though preferred deck 9. The higher you are the less is the distraction.

 

This is all tied to personal preference. Obviously all balcony cabins are sold by sail date, so they must all offer something for someone.

 

We're trying a cove balcony, deck 2, for our next cruise, specifically to be closer to the water. Nonetheless we enjoyed everything about our view from an aft-extended balcony on deck 7. Sorry that I cannot speak to suites. I have never been interested.

[Gumbo4Life]

We enjoyed the Ocean suite on the Breeze, deck 7. When I booked it I saw that there was a deck on 5 beneath us and thought it would be a problem but it wasn't. Honestly most of the time I didn't even see it. When you sit on the balcony and look out you only see water. There was only one time I even heard anyone in the hot tub but that might have been since we sailed in February! The hot tub closed about 10:00 so there was not any late night noise to worry about.

[spleenstomper]

Ok, good to know. Yes, we usually prefer fantasy class ships. I believe Dream may be even bigger than the Pride of Hawaii (now the Jade), so I think I am oblivious to the size of this ship.

 

She will be the biggest one we have been on... and I just checked: The biggest by far.

 

Hum. We choose cruises out of New Orleans. The ship is one of the last concerns of ours.

 

OK. She's huge. I'm not going to have the intimate commune with the sea that I have on the smaller ships. A cove balcony is a good choice for that.

 

I sincerely just realized all of this...

[spleenstomper]

We enjoyed the Ocean suite on the Breeze, deck 7. When I booked it I saw that there was a deck on 5 beneath us and thought it would be a problem but it wasn't. Honestly most of the time I didn't even see it. When you sit on the balcony and look out you only see water. There was only one time I even heard anyone in the hot tub but that might have been since we sailed in February! The hot tub closed about 10:00 so there was not any late night noise to worry about.

 

Ok, thanks. I am relieved to hear you say that you don't notice deck 5 when you sit on the balcony.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We also sail, almost exclusively in suites - across a few lines, many times on all.

 

We had an ocean suite on the Dream - and were NOT pleased with the noise... owing to drunks below in the hot tubs, and some of the same people yelling to people (friends of theirs I suppose) on balconies near us. This was not an isolated event. Sea days were NOT relaxing. how could they be to begin with, on Carnival, who has the dinkiest "suite" balconies at sea!

 

Having said all that - if you're a fan of suites, do yourself a favor and try a suite on Celebrity, Royal, NCL... basically any line BUT Carnival. You'll likely have to pay more (sometimes a tad less, sometimes much more.. depends "how much" suite you want!), but what you'll get in return is worth it, in my opinion.

 

Tom

[spleenstomper]

Tom, oh yeah. I want a butler.

 

Right now, Carnival fits our needs with the New Orleans port. After the kids are all in college, we definitely want to do an Alaska cruise. We may start traveling to other ports, but right now, the convenience of New Orleans is our selling point. It's just too easy for us.

 

We still have to do the Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica itinerary; Cuba itineraries will open up.

 

I do want to do the southern caribbean cruise out of Puerto Rico, so that will happen eventually. Also, maybe Bermuda.

 

We will look for other opportunities in the future. You just can't beat a cruise. Unpack once.

[spleenstomper]

We are embarking Easter Sunday so I will bring ear plugs just in case.

[xkritter]

We had an ocean suite on Dream - and honestly wouldn't book one again. There was a group that used the hot tub daily - for long periods of time - with music blaring. I'm pretty tolerant of all types of music - but this just wasn't my type of music - at all - and it was loud loud loud. Did it ruin the cruise? Heck no. You'd have to work really really really hard to ruin a cruise for me....lol....but it was the push we needed to try NCL. Now - we've decided that if we are cruising in a suite it'll be NCL - and if we are cruising Carnival it'll be aft.

 

We loved sailing out of New Orleans!! Enjoy your cruise - no matter what - I'm sure it'll be great!!

[spleenstomper]

Yeah, we will make the best of it. I'm going on board with a positive mindset and looking to relax and have fun.

 

We do stay on the balcony a lot though. I'll just have to be flexible and roll with it.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Tom, oh yeah. I want a butler.

 

Right now, Carnival fits our needs with the New Orleans port. ....

 

Yep - we were probably 15+ cruises into our cruising adventures before we tested the waters elsewhere.

 

BTW, the butlers (NCL and Celebrity) are something we can do without - most are just glorified/combined stewards/room service people. We've had a couple that were positive impacts on our cruise experience - one, as a surprise, even went ashore to pick up an arrangement of flowers for Cheryl when the cruise line dropped the ball and didn't process our pre-cruise order!

 

 

Tom

[wcarreto21]

Sailed on the Dream in a grand suite, deck 7 recently. The overall vibe is a little less "one with ocean" and a little more "hotel with a balcony and great view".

 

My suite was just above one of the lanai hot tubs. When people went for a dip, their conversation seemed to filter straight up. Almost like they'd joined me on my balcony! My husband and I had great fun interjecting into their conversations (even though they couldn't hear US). However, it did kill the mood a little.

 

But when the hot tubs were empty, the balcony was nice. Spacious. I'd be more concerned about my neighbors than the lanai.

 

 

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[spleenstomper]

Uugh. Ok. Well, I'll plan to be chill about these things. Thanks.

[CimW]

We had a balcony on the Dream and I remember after booking our cabin, looking at pictures and realized that deck was protruding out, I was kind of bummed. It wasn't all that bad, just different. I don't think privacy is an issue. Noise wasn't an issue for us.

 

 

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[Drazil65]

We typically only sail balcony or OS depending on what is available midship port side deck 7. This past December we were midship, deck 7 on the Magic and could occasionally feel the spray while looking over the railing. Our balcony railing was consistently covered in spray and once in a while the deck chairs. The lanai on deck 5 did not bother us nor did it impede the enjoyment of a balcony on deck 7, we did not hear any noise during the times we were on our balcony from below. Have already booked a cabin for this coming December in same vicinity on Magic!

[Tyme2Cruise]

We are embarking Easter Sunday so I will bring ear plugs just in case.

 

We did the Easter cruise a few years ago out of NOLA. There were 1200 kids under the age of 18 on that cruise. We had a spa suite on deck 11 so it was mostly quiet there, although we caught a 12 year old messing with our message board. We finally took it off the door and put it in the cabin. The rest of the ship was not so quiet. We had a nice cruise, thanks to the spa (no kids) but will never cruise over spring break or holidays again. Good call on the ear plugs. ;)

[spleenstomper]

Ok, thanks, everyone! i read and appreciated all responses and points of view.

 

We are nearing the final countdown! So it's go time-- starting to get my lists together, just ordered some clothes for me and DD, shoes for DS.

 

I have so many things to turn off and sail away from! Deck 5 is truly the least of my problems :D

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Ok, thanks, everyone! i read and appreciated all responses and points of view.

 

We are nearing the final countdown! So it's go time-- starting to get my lists together, just ordered some clothes for me and DD, shoes for DS.

 

I have so many things to turn off and sail away from! Deck 5 is truly the least of my problems :D

 

Have a GREAT time - and enjoy a Guy's burger for me!!

 

Tom