Carnival Dream
 

My cruise on the Dream was wonderful!...as I knew it would be. The ship is absolutely amazing! We had dinner each night in the Crimson dining room. Again, we had great waiters and the food was fantastic. One evening we went to the Chef's Art Steakhouse... The food was great, but I don't know if it was worth the extra money. With wine, it cost me over $100...No regrets, I just don't think it was worth the extra money. The food in the MDR was super. We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches at the Gathering. Good food but a little bit of a wait. The Pasta Bar was very good also, but we absolutely loved the barbecues on sea days on the Lanai. The ribs were to die for!
Our Cove balcony was incredible! We absoltely loved it. When you are that close to the water, you can really see and feel the speed of the ship.
The entertainment was very, very good. Where do they get such talented performers?
We went to Paradise Beach in Cozumel...Great beach...one of a string of great beaches..,We went cave tubing in Belize with Major Tom...Breathtaking ride through the caves! Belize itself, is extremely poor, but the adventure was well worth it. We were disappointed in Roatan. The captain did not think it was safe to take the ship in because of the high winds. I really wanted to visit that port. The last stop was Costa Maya. We just sat in some lounge chairs and watched the dolphins perform and soaked in some sun. Beautiful weather every day!
I made my annual contributions to the casino, however, I did rack up 1500 points on the slots and received free drinks the last day! I did managed to get a little back that way. I recommend the mojitos!
We bought another $100 certificate for the next cruise!
The Dream is indeed a DREAM!
Papa

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, Papa. I'm actually thinking about trying the Carnival Dream for my next cruise, but probably won't be until at least 2012. Sounds like you had a great time, and the ship sounds spectacular.

Sorry to hear about Roatan. A similar thing happened to me on my last cruise when we were supposed to go to Grand Cayman. It was windy and rainy, and it sounded like the port officials at Grand Cayman deemed it too dangerous for the tenders to run, so the port got canceled, and we just had an extra day at sea.

Welcome Back Papa!

So glad to hear you had a great time and thanks for the excellent report! I was looking forward to your comments about the Cove Balcony, glad you liked it. Congrats on the 1500 points! I doubt I can make it.;)

Sorry to hear about Roatan. I know those things happen. Mahogany Bay is already a tight fit, not to mention with high winds. Sounds like you knew about the 1500 points and the Future Cruise Certificate from somewhere.

A Mojito to you!:D

Papa, Since the "On Us" drink program is rather new on most of the ships since the 1st of this month, I have a question for you. What happened when you did reach the 1500 points? Did they give you a card?

Thanks,
Dwayne

I was over 1500 and remembered the Drinks on us perk. I asked the casino hostess and within minutes I had a card. They don't give it to you automatically. You have to ask for it.
You can only use it in the casino and you must be seated at a machine or card table to use it. I spent most of the last day in there trying to win some money back so it was great for me even tohugh I did get a little tippsy! :)
Papa

Thanks so much for the info! Nothing like a first hand report of how something works. I doubt I'll be able to reach the 1500 on a 5 night cruise, but we'll see. Did you get much light in the Cove balcony?

Cove
 

Thanks for the info on the Cove Balconey. We have a Cove booked on the Dream for this August. Ours is near the front of the ship (#2283), was there any addtional noise with being so close to the water?

Welcome back to reality, papa58;) Sounds like a fabulous cruise. Sorry about Roatan, it is a great port. However, that gives you an excuse to keep trying, LOL! It is definitely a hard port to dock in. When we were on the Valor, it took the pilot 6 tries before he finally got in. There was another Carnival ship docked and we kept thinking that the crew on that one was laughing at us.

So where are you off to next?

We were midship...We only noticed the sound when we opened the balcony door...My wife wanted to leave it open all night..Love that sound!

There was plenty of light...The lifeboats are just above you but really no problem.
Papa