FIRST CARIBBEAN CRUISE!!
A BIT ABOUT US: This was our second family cruise with Carnival. We went on the Splendor last July to the Mexican Riviera and loved it! So we made reservations for an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the new Dream on the July 17 - 24 sailing. My DH and I are 37 & 41, respectively, and have 3 children ~ 9, 8, and 5. We also traveled with my in-laws who are in their late 50's-early 60's and are very active adults. This was their 3rd Carnival cruise. We are Southern California non-smokers and enjoy staying at fine service establishments. We chose the Dream over the Oasis because of the value and we knew what to expect from Carnival. We knew we would get a great vacation for a reasonable price. We are easy to please and our travel mantra is this: Whatever goes wrong, we will always have a good time!
THE START: We flew from Long Beach, California to Orlando, Florida the Thursday before the cruise. We stayed at the Marriott Imperial Villas and spent the next day at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure. With the new Harry Potter rides, I highly recommend this park! Spend the extra money and get the Express Pass. We had an amazing day there!!! Saturday morning, we drove our rental car to Port Canaveral. Seeing the Dream in the distance was superb! She is a large and gorgeous ship!! We were handed a Zone 27 card and had to wait a bit. I loved how many of the embarkation employees had pom-poms and were hooting! It added to the excitement. After about 15 minutes of waiting, we walked the gangway onto the Dream...wow...what a ship!!!!! After reading many reviews, I knew NOT to go into the Lido for lunch. I dragged my family all the way into the back and upstairs to the Pasta Bar. What a treat! It was quiet and the food was amazing. It didn't feel chaotic at all. We dealt with some seating problems with the maitre-d, double-checked our Chef's Table reservations, and then were off to find our rooms. Muster Drill was very easy. We just went to the Encore Lounge for a quick 15 minute video and were done. No life jackets required.
Balcony 9235/9231 are great large cabins. Adjoining rooms and in the forward part of the ship. QUIET. No Lanai problems. LOVED this location!!!!