This was our second voyage on the Carnival Dream, sailing 2-15-14 to 2-22-14, but this time to the Western Caribbean. We parked again at the cruise parking across the street from the Radisson Hotel in Cape Canaveral (closest to the terminal) at about noon. We took the waiting shuttle for the short drive to the ship. The driver took care of loading our bags, was very friendly and joked around with the passengers. When we arrived, our bags were unloaded and we proceeded to check in with our hand-held bags. There was only a short line and we were quickly on our way to board.

Our room was clean and ready for us right away. We met our steward, Newbon, who welcomed us and asked if everything was okay with our room. He was attentive to our wishes and needs throughout the cruise, and we enjoyed our short conversations with him. After unloading our luggage, we proceeded to the Lido Deck, had a nice lunch, walked around the ship and spent time enjoying the view from our balcony as we left port.

We always spend the majority of our cruise time on our balcony. For this cruise, we were on the Main Deck with a cove balcony in room 2-329 (mid-ship) and we found it to be very comfortable and spacious with a convertible sofa, coffee table, vanity and a king-sized bed. There was plenty of storage in drawers and closets, a safe for valuables, a refrigerator and a hair dryer. We were careful to look at the ship’s plans before booking this cruise in order to avoid having a stateroom near the galley and other noisy spots. Because the cove balconies are three decks below the Promenade, they are in a very quiet location. We chose to cruise on the Dream a second time because we wanted to experience a cove balcony before the ship moves away from Florida to New Orleans. To compare it to other balconies, we enjoyed being so close (about 30 feet) to the surface of the water, and the surrounding structure and lifeboats above shielded us from the sun and wind. We would highly recommend the cove balcony experience. Read more