Carnival Dream Review
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We sailed on September 14th and it was our third cruise (all with Carnival). We drove down the night before and stayed at Country Inn and Suites near the port. We had booked their cruise package which included parking and shuttle to/from the ship. Saturday morning we could see our ship waiting for us. Our 9 year old son loved the room because it had a "kids" area partitioned off - bunk beds and twin bed and TV with Chevy wall paper. Their pool was beautiful and crystal clear. Their shuttle driver, Duane, was awesome - comedy show coming and going. I also bet he would win a luggage loading/unloading competition. There were several ships leaving that morning so Country Inn and Suites had a lot of people to transport. We were an hour behind on leaving the hotel. However, once we got to the terminal, we just flew through security and the line to get our room key and we were boarding in no time.
The Dream is beautiful. The 11 story atrium with deep gold painted back lit glass panels greets you as you board. We waited to ride the glass elevators up to our stateroom level and it was worth the wait. Our stateroom (10245) was ready and waiting. We picked the Lido Deck - Forward. Short hallway compared to our previous cruises and very quiet. There was also a laundry room located on that level with 2 washers, 4 dryers, stationary tub (big, deep sink for all you young folks), iron and ironing board. Dropped off our carry on luggage and went exploring.
Best feature of the Dream: the wrap around Promenade Deck (Deck 5). It was so awesome to walk out side all the way around the ship. Our other cruises did not have this (Pride and Glory). Also, it was easy to get from one end of the ship to the other - including the interior corridors. Since we were in the front of the ship and the restaurant was in the back, we had the choice of walking the length of the exterior Promenade Deck (Deck 5), Interior Corridor (Deck 5) or Interior Corridor (Deck 4). We always picked Deck 4 because Deck 5 interior corridor took you through the Casino (smoke - yuck). I found this ship to be very easy to navigate around. Most of the time, we took the stairs. Elevators were available, but had to wait.
Cabin Review
Got a balcony stateroom which is a must for us. Love sitting out there listening to the ocean and watching the cloud formations. The room had three closets when you first enter the room, where the third had shelving. A counter with mirror ran along one wall and there was one undercounter drawer stack (with 4 drawers), top drawer had the hairdryer, 1 drawer and stool at "makeup station", and one under counter cabinet with shelf. The top shelf had a small safe. Two open shelves, where the counter tapers back to the wall, for small items. We had a refrigertor (mini bar) with one open shelf (about 3" high clearance) for our stuff and one shelf on the door was also available. The room only has one plug outlet - not one double plug, one single plug. We knew this before we left and packed a power strip. We had the room set up for one king bed and one twin (for our son) and we had a coffee table. The last cruise, we had the same set up; however, they had removed the coffee table. I prefer to keep the table. All our empty luggage fit under the bed. The bathroom has three glass storage shelves on either side of the mirror. There was one single plug outlet in the upper corner of the mirror (with a tranparent cover plate); however, that outlet only worked when the light switch was turned on. Thought I could use a night light there, but couldn't. We packed a battery powered LED light strip (was used on our son's bike wheel) and used that in the bathroom for our night light - it was really cool looking - thin blue LED light. Our son used the bathroom first and before we could warn him about the toilet sound - AHHH. Too late. It scared the poop out of him. LOL. The shower is cozy and comes with an adjustable/removeable shower head. Shampoo and Bathsoap dispensers are located on the wall in the shower. A corner wire shelf for bar soap. The mini bath mat is too cute. On our last cruise, our son was three years old, I had packed an inflatable kiddie bathtub which fit perfectly in the bottom of a Carnival shower. We picked the Lido deck this time. Not as many rooms on that level and our hallway was very quiet. Only heard some voices as people WALKED down the hall. We had no runners on this trip. There is also a laundry room on this level.We have been on three Carnival cruises and have never been disappointed. Looking forward to our next cruise.