Dream 9/30/19

[Tiffany18]

My husband & I just returned from a 5 day on Carnival Dream. I believe this was my 9th cruise. Our last cruise was almost 3 years ago! We took a break and had a baby! This was also our first trip away from her. We live in San Antonio and drove to Galveston. We used Park N Cruise for parking and were happy with them. It was nice not having to wait for a shuttle to pick us up. We were not aware that we did not have to stand in long lines for a sail & sign card! This was fantastic and made the process so smooth. We were walking toward the terminal from our parking spot at 10:55am and were on the ship at 11:20am. We did not have priority boarding. Our boarding timeframe was 11:30-12.

Ports were Cozumel & Progreso. Cruise director Gary was great! 

 

Cabin: 6261. I hesitated with getting a cabin so close to the elevators but it wasn’t an issue. We were directly above the Encore Theater and we definitely heard all the shows. I sleep with a fan so that helped drown out the noise. It wasn't that big a deal for us but if you go to bed early or are a light sleeper it could be a problem. Bed was very comfortable.

 

Food: it was good. We did your time dining. We used the app to reserve a table and never had to wait. Ate dinner in the dining room twice for dinner, both sea days for brunch, & steakhouse twice. Dinner in the dining was just ok. Brunch was delicious and the cheese grits were amazing! It was difficult to choose what to eat with so many options. 

 

Steakhouse: very good, worth the $ in our opinion. My only dislike about the steakhouse is the waitstaff seem very snooty. Of course we want a nicer that usual dining experience but don’t want to be treated like we don’t belong there. They were respectful and service was good. Perhaps they could smile more and engage in light conversation.

 

Room service: I ordered firecracker shrimp from the extra fee menu and it was much better than the fried shrimp in the dining room. On the last night of the cruise just before 10pm we ordered cheesecake and chocolate cake. Service took a bit longer and the dessert was just ok. Slightly dry but it satisfied our sweet tooth.

 

Spa: wow they are like vultures the first day of the cruise. We purchased spa passes for the week in advance. We took a tour the first day. The lady giving the tour wrote her name at the top of the paper for us to use to mark what spa services we would like to get. We had to do the safety drill and when we went back to the spa we did not see the lady. Someone else offered to help us, took our paper, and gave us a new paper with HER name on it. We pointed it out to her and she gave us the original paper back. We upgraded to the “ultimate” spa pass so that we could utilize the Rasul room. The upgrade was $50. You reserve it for an hour. It has 2 showers, a steam room, and use of some spa products. Body scrub, mud, facial cleanser, face mask, moisturizer, and a hair treatment. It’s like a spa treatment you do on yourself or partner. We enjoyed it. We enjoyed the Thalassotherapy pool and the various rooms included in the passes. It was never crowded.

 

Entertainment: not great. One of our favorite things to do is watch the comedy shows. Both comedians were disappointing. We attended the family and R rated shows. We generally are unimpressed with the nightly shows in the big theater. We only saw one show and it was ok. Just looks and sounds low budget. Just my opinion. We enjoyed trivia, battle of the sexes, Q&A with cruise director, country song trivia/sing along in the atrium. We also attended a talk on increasing your metabolism. If you are like me, I rolled my eyes when my husband wanted to go. It was very informative! I think what made it great was the man giving the talk, William. He is a nutritionist and big advocate for holistic lifestyle. Just very eye opening.

 

Cozumel: We booked Del Mar Latino Beach Club in advance. I think we paid $30-35 per person. Adults only. We walked there from the pier but if you have any mobility limitations I would take a taxi. The beach club was exactly what we wanted. A place to relax, not crowded, with food & drinks. There was music playing but nothing too loud. There were maybe 20 people there the whole day. The pool was cool & refreshing. Food was good and the drinks kept coming. Staff was attentive and friendly. They advertise beach access which is a set of stairs with concrete walls on either side. The water looked very rough and not safe at all, especially when drinking. We drank too much so we took a taxi back to the pier. Highly recommend this place! See pictures.

 

I will be posting the dining room menus and fun times in a separate post

 

[bury me at sea]

Thanks for your comprehensive review and congratulations on the newest family member.

 

Would you book a five day cruise again?

 

 

[Tiffany18]

Our preference is 7 days but 5 days is a nice quick getaway.

[Tiffany18]

Day 1

[Tiffany18]

Day 2 forgot to screen shot the menu. It was formal night. No lobster unless you paid the upcharge.

[Tiffany18]

Day 3 I think there was another page to the menu. I didn't realize I had to scroll up to see more. 🤦‍♀️ 

[Tiffany18]

Day 4

[Tiffany18]

Day 5

[Carguylee]

Thanks for taking the time to share all this! 

 

Curious if you went to the buffet at all for dinner and if the choices somewhat mirrored what was on the daily menu?

Edited October 8, 2019 by Carguylee
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[longhorn2004]

Thank you for posting this, our group is leaving in two months on the same ship. Thank you again.

[Tiffany18]

We only ate the Buffet on formal night and they had some of the same food selections the dining room had including prime rib. My husband said the prime rib was 2 out of 5 stars. 

[Bookster99]

Nice review. Thank you!

[Carguylee]

18 hours ago, Tiffany18 said:

We only ate the Buffet on formal night and they had some of the same food selections the dining room had including prime rib. My husband said the prime rib was 2 out of 5 stars. 

thanks! 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

On 10/6/2019 at 3:28 PM, Tiffany18 said:

My husband & I just returned from a 5 day on Carnival Dream. I believe this was my 9th cruise.

Thanks for the review! We are booked on a 5-day on the Dream next March, and it will be my 9th cruise!

 

I'm interested to hear that the metabolism seminar was actually informative. I just assumed those programs were just sales pitches for products they were selling or something...