Let me start off by saying that Galveston is one of my favorite ports to sail out of because of it being close to home and its the one I am most comfortable with because I have used it more than any other. My family and I always try to come down to Galveston the night before and stay the night so that we will be relaxed from the long drive to Texas from NE Oklahoma. We have stayed in several hotels on and near the island. Our favorite is the Hilton located on the seawall. I know some think that the Hilton is too expensive on a family's budget but let me explain. The Hilton has free shuttle service to and from the ship (a twenty dollar value one way if you take a cab). The Hilton also offers free cruise ship passenger parking in a secure parking lot (to park your car at the pier in the lots their plan on paying 10 dollars per day so 7 days= $70). So staying in the very nice Hilton for $100 a night is a pretty good deal.
We arrived at the ship around 10:30am and walked right in, no lines, no hassle checked in and off we go through the picture takers and before we knew it we were stepping on board. This ship is very nice everything is new, clean and fresh. To often you find that most ships after a few years shows some wear here and there but not this one, its like brand new (because it is new). The layout of the these Dream class ships take a little getting used to.
we took an elevator up to the lido deck and grabbed some brunch and then kicked back and watched the people file in one by one all 4,000+ of them. My wife and I travel with our 8yr old daughter who was in amazement at the water park in front of the sports deck. It would not take her very long in the coming days to conquer the two water slides, ropes coarse and mini golf coarse which sprawls the entire 2 levels of sports deck. This ship is awesome!
Our cabin was an inside cabin mid-ship. We always try to go inside mid-ship because if the ship does move much, this part of the ship moves less. Very quiet except for an occasional kid running down the hall. Good location.