REVIEW - a family trip on Carnival Dream in February 2018

[Cruisin4fun_vacationtime]

Following. Great review so far!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[B4May]

A towel animal on every chair. My kids loved this!

 

For the fellow runners out there, 7 laps to a mile. :D

[RS77471]

following

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review so far.:)

[RS77471]

Embarkation-

 

Carnival’s embarkation process in New Orleans is always a smooth experience - especially when compared to Norwegian's mess at the same port.

 

Our check-in time was at 11am and we arrived at the garage about 11:20 because there was a little more traffic than usual being Mardi Gras weekend. It is $140 to park in the port garage for the week but worth it IMO for the covered parking and the ease of dropping your bags with the porters inside the garage.

 

A little tip - take the elevator down to the 2nd floor rather than the 1st like the sign says and you can get right off and in the line for screening. Another advantage of the garage as you avoid the escalator bottleneck of those who parked elsewhere. Thank goodness for some helpful folks in the elevator who told us and saved us a lot of time. The lines move quickly from there and we had our cards in hand walking on the boat less than an hour after arriving.

 

When we got our cards, she said our room was ready so we headed there first. I guess it wasn't actually ready though because we had just enough time to drop our carry-ons before the steward shooed us out. I guess the posted ready time is 1pm. ��*♀️ But we were rid of our bags so we set out to explore the ship.

 

 

Do you have to make a reservation to park there?

[wkuheather02]

Following...on the Dream in a week and a half with our 10 year old and 4 year old

[Keith1010]

I'm following your review.

 

Keith

[Sjb0704]

Following. We board the Dream at the end of April

[j603]

Love your review so far. We sail on her in August.

[dsotm73]

Do you have to make a reservation to park there?

 

Not in the garage that is attached to the terminal.No reservations required (or accepted, as far as I know).

[JaniceB]

Great start to your review. I like they way you have it written, very easy to follow.

[B4May]

Not in the garage that is attached to the terminal.No reservations required (or accepted, as far as I know).

 

Yep, no reservations, just follow the directional signage for Carnival. We drove in on Henderson and made a left at Mardi Gras World and the garage is just past that on the right. They have credit card machines right there and you pay as you enter. Very simple! All floors are enclosed except for the top level.

[B4May]

Kids Club - Camp Ocean

 

Both my boys spend quite a lot of time in Camp Ocean and really enjoyed it! They were in two different groups - Penguins for 2-5 years old and Sharks for 9-11. They had fun theme nights in the evenings that the kids loved - Pirate Party, Color War, Prince and Princesses, etc. The younger ones made fun crafts like a telescope, a crown, bug hats, and there was a lot of face painting for that age group as well.

 

My older son loved all the video game consoles - TVs were all around the room with a different game on each one. They also spent time doing more active things like playing gaga ball. Like I mentioned previously, the only thing that was a little odd was that his group was sometimes down in the Club O2 area or in an empty conference room on deck 4. Not a huge deal but it made it a little inconvenient for one parent to pick them both up or drop them both off.

 

There are a few times during the week when Camp does a fee-based or "independent" activity. For the 9-11s who could check themselves out, they sent them on a ship scavenger hunt and those who couldn't check out had to stay behind and so some other activity. Also there's a Build A Bear workshop time, and a Groove for St. Jude party on the Lido deck.

 

One thing I super love about Carnival's kids club is the kids dinner. Both my boys love getting to eat with their buddies and we love getting to eat dinner by ourselves. They don't offer anything like that on Norwegian. It's offered at 6pm each night in Pasta Bella, so they are in a totally separate area from other diners. The menu is different every night and is listed in the Camp activity schedule. Also, all age groups eat together, so that's great for siblings to spend some time together as well.

 

Also, something important to note is that Camp Ocean starts at 2 years old, a year younger than Norwegian. And they give you cell phones if you have a younger child so they can contact you if needed while you're out and about on the ship - you get it at the beginning and keep it all week. That is a nice added benefit for peace of mind.

 

The last evening is the Kids Fun Farewell and they usually watch a movie and get a little souvenir of some kind. It used to be Carnival t-shirts that they colored but this year it was string bags with their group's animal. Both my boys really liked them.

 

You can pick up the printed camp schedule for the entire week on the first day.

[topspin1267]

Following...on the Dream in a week and a half with our 10 year old and 4 year old

We're on the same March 4 sailing. Will be our 5th time on Dream

[topspin1267]

Could you tell me if they have the new or old menu for breakfast in the dining room on port days (new has dosa and avocado toast)?

 

Thanks

[wkuheather02]

We're on the same March 4 sailing. Will be our 5th time on Dream

 

How cool! This will be our first time on carnival and we’ve heard great things about the Dream!

[B4May]

Could you tell me if they have the new or old menu for breakfast in the dining room on port days (new has dosa and avocado toast)?

 

Thanks

 

I think it was the old menu - we only ate there once for breakfast but I don't remember seeing avocado toast. My husband had the broken egg sandwich (which is also available in the lido breakfast buffet) and I had the salted caramel pancakes, which were delicious!

[topspin1267]

I think it was the old menu - we only ate there once for breakfast but I don't remember seeing avocado toast. My husband had the broken egg sandwich (which is also available in the lido breakfast buffet) and I had the salted caramel pancakes, which were delicious!

Thanks that's actually the new menu. Old menu didn't have the broken egg sandwich or salted caramel pancakes :D

[RS77471]

Yep, no reservations, just follow the directional signage for Carnival. We drove in on Henderson and made a left at Mardi Gras World and the garage is just past that on the right. They have credit card machines right there and you pay as you enter. Very simple! All floors are enclosed except for the top level.

 

 

Thank you so much!!

[RS77471]

We're on the same March 4 sailing. Will be our 5th time on Dream

 

We are going on the Dream for the first time in August. Any advice you can share for that ship?? ; -)!!

[B4May]

Ports - Jamaica

 

We had never been to Jamaica before and I was a little nervous based on some of the things I was hearing about aggressive vendors, it not being safe, etc. But I'm happy to say we had a great experience! We booked an all-inclusive day at Sunscape Splash Montego Bay through Shore Excursioneer. It was $89 each for the adults, $59 each for the kids and I found a coupon code online to take a little more off that - so we felt that was pretty reasonable. We paid a deposit of around $50 at the time of booking and brought cash to pay the balance when we arrived. The company that provided our transportation was Caribbean World and they had a mini bus there and ready to take us and several other passengers to other resorts as well. It was about a 5 minute ride; you can actually see the high rise hotel on the property from the ship.

 

Sunscape Splash is a big resort, with an adults-only side and a family friendly side. Basically the two sides of the pool are separated by a swim up bar in the middle. Each side also has a beach area and there is a water park on the family side with slides, a lazy river, a cool pirate ship and a shallow splash area. There were two restaurants - a big lunch buffet with lots of choices, and a grill for burgers & fries. There was also a coffee cafe that had ice cream, specialty coffees and some desserts. There were several bars dotting the property as well. Everything that was on the resort was included for us and the bartenders did not go light on the alcohol, as has been our experience with other all-inclusives. The one thing I did miss that we enjoyed at Playa Mia in Cozumel, were the poolside and beach side waiters - none to be found here.

 

Our same driver came back to pick us up at the end of the day and he offered to take us to a shopping area before we got back on the ship, but there were a couple very drunk people (from another resort) so we skipped it. The kids were worn out after all the water park fun anyway!

 

Jamaica is beautiful and I would definitely go back there again.

 

Waterpark area at Sunscape Splash

 

 

 

The beach area

 

Pool and swim up bar

 

We found a live sea urchin on the rock jetty - my kids thought that was pretty cool!

Edited February 21, 2018 by B4May

[B4May]

Thanks that's actually the new menu. Old menu didn't have the broken egg sandwich or salted caramel pancakes :D

 

Ah ok, good to know! I guess I missed the toast. :D Too many choices and everything was delicious!

[B4May]

Ports - Grand Cayman

 

Grand Cayman is exceptionally beautiful and everything feels so clean and new. My husband remarked that it felt like we were in Florida and he was right - the whole place felt very "Americanized" which is either a good or bad thing depending on your opinion.

 

Grand Cayman is a tender port, which we had never done before. I actually found it kind of fun! If you get seasick though, try to time getting on the tender right before they leave. We sat for maybe 10-15 minutes while they were boarding other passengers and it was pretty wavy down there.

 

Tender boat coming in to the ship

 

We did not book an excursion here, instead we opted to take the local bus/taxis that charge $5 per person each way to take you to the public beach area/Calico Jack's on Seven Mile Beach. One thing I will point out - if you have Grand Cayman on your itinerary, check and see how many boats will be in port the day you'll be there BEFORE you book. There were 7 ships in port the day we went, and it was crazy busy. Every square inch of beach was covered with people. If we had gone on this same trip the next week, there would have been only two ships in port. But I didn't check before I booked. Doh. :rolleyes:

 

When you get dropped off at the beach, vendors will be on you to rent a chair and umbrella from them but because it was so crowded, and we wanted to explore a little, we opted out of that. We walked the beach a bit and then found a place to relax on our towels not far from Calico Jack's. The kids had a blast playing in the ocean and we could grab drinks from the bar. There isn't much shade in the area, so that's something to be aware of. We grabbed a table at Calico Jack's under their canopy and ordered food when we felt everyone needed a sun break.

 

After we got back to the port, we walked around the shopping area right outside the port. Very nice stores and a great place to pick up souvenirs.

 

Seven Mile Beach

 

So many people!

 

Lunch at Calico Jack's

 

Shopping in Georgetown

[watermelonqueen99]

Embarkation-

 

Carnival’s embarkation process in New Orleans is always a smooth experience - especially when compared to Norwegian's mess at the same port.

 

You obviously didn't have the she-devil who checked us in back in October. LOL Enjoying your review! I love that you mentioned Ben the piano bar entertainer. He is AMAZING!