This was my 10th cruise, and my first going solo. I chose this port and date as it coincided with my office closing for the holidays. I have cruised on Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Carnival, and have had a great time on them all. My previous cruises were out of either Miami, Puerto Rico or Galveston. Embarking from New Orleans made for quite a difference in the type of passengers on this cruise - almost everyone I met were locals who had driven to the port. Football was on TV's in the bars everyday, with lots of enthusiastic and vocal viewers who also brought their "go" cups advertising their home teams.
Embarkation took only 55 minutes from when I arrived at port from the Carnival airport transfer. Long lines but they moved quickly. My first stop was the Dream Lobby Bar, conveniently located on the same level you board the ship - Chocolatini!
The Dream is easy to navigate, and had a similar layout to the Glory which I was on last year for this same itinerary (but out of Miami).
Interior cabin perfect for solo cruiser, with plenty of storage space, good shower size and lots of bathroom shelves. Nice and dark for sleeping - if you want to see what it's like out, turn on TV to ship's front cam view. Deck 9 is very handy - just walk up one flight of stairs to Lido deck for buffet and pools. Walls are very thin - bring earplugs!
Did not do any excursions pre or post cruise.
No excursion in port, walked around shops area, vendors VERY pushy.
Walked down to Mahogany Bay beach area, lots of chairs, no privacy.
This is a tender port, did not disembark ship.
Walked around shops area, vendors not too pushy at this port.