Carnival Dream Review

My Spa Dream Cruise

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Dream
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SuzieQK
First Time Cruiser • Age 2020s

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Sail Date: Apr 2010
Cabin: Spa Balcony

We(husband 54 and I-53) came into Orlando a day early as usual. We used BeachlineTransportation.net to get us from the airport to the Radisson in Cape Canaveral. Glenn couldnt have been any nicer to us. Once we got our bags we called Beachline and Joe the driver told us where to meeet him outside baggage claim. Beachline charged us $28.50 per person which was cheaper than renting a car for the night. Once at the Radisson we went straight to our room, we didnt get to meet up with anyone from the boards since we got in after 9pm. Embarcation- We were supposed to be on the first shuttle to the port but someone behind the desk screwed up-so we finally got to the port around 11:15. We checked our bags with the porters and went straight to the VIP check n since this was my 11th cruise and hubbies 10th with Carnival. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes to board because the Dream elevators were acting up. Once on board,we went straight to the lido deck to look around and grab lunch.

Cabins— We splurged this cruise and booked a spa cabin , it was cabin 12206. Nothing out of the ordinary, regular cabin size with a balcony with two chairs and a small table. Vida was our cabin steward and she was wonderful. It was very convient to go to the spa or gym from our cabin since we were in the front of the ship. We used the elevator in the spa area to go sunbathing every day. Staying in a spa room entitles you to unlimited use of the thallasopy(sp) pool-which was a giant whirlpool with wonderful jets to pound away the stress of cruising-lol. We used that everyday. The other rooms were saunas with and without aromatharapy, heated stone loungers, and a quiet room where you could have iced cucumber water, tea and assorted fruit. The quiet room only had about 6 chairs, it was quite small. The other sauna rooms were just way too hot to use for us. Also you got to use the Dreams locker room and showers. Using the gym was free for everyone, but you couldnt use the showers, they were strictly for spa patrons. I was told that the Spa sold only 20 week passes for those who didnt have spa rooms. The cost was about $250 per couple. After using the spa if I cruise again on the Dream(which I already booked for next Easter) I would not book a spa room. We didnt feel it was worth the extra money. Dining— We requested early dining and were assigned a table for two in the Scarlet diningroom. Our servers were Kita and Humes, both great at remembering your favorites and very efficient. Food in the MDR was always excellent-never had any complaints. Jim had requested a filet every night in case he didnt like anything on the menu. Kita was always ready to switch out anything at a moments notice. I give the Mongolian Bar an A+, I ate there almost every afternoon. The Deli Bar had delicious corned beef on rye and other yummy sandwiches. On sea days there was a Bar-BQ on the Lanai serving sliders, and hotdogs- I never got to eat there, the lines were super long. Never ate a the Burrito bar, or pizza station but the food there looked great. Same with the Indian Tandoor Bar, I always forgot it was there with so many other choices. We tried the Pata Bar on the first day which was above one of the dessert stations. You had to take a set of stairs to get there. Once there you were given a card and pencil to order your meal. Jim and I split a lasagna and I had penne with meat sauce. The portions were huge and it was just ok in flavor. We never went back to the pasta bar during the rest of the cruise. Overall on the ship Our favorite spot on the ship had to be the Serenity deck area for adults only. It had two hot tubs which were never very crowded and very comfy lounge chairs and clamshell loungers. And of course the chair hogs were everywhere. But it seemed that there were alot more people who were bold enough to remove chair hog items on this cruise. Kudos to those brave soals! We did notice the infamous sewer smell from time to time up on the Serenity deck mainly in the morning. But it wasnt bad enough to affect anything we had planned for the day. Casino- It seemed pretty small, and one side was designated smoking. I always seem to be lucky playing slots, and my husband is just the opposite. All in all I came home with much more money then I went there with. Entertainment- Dancing in the Streets was the best show I have ever seen on a cruise ship, and for the most part on land also. It was fantastic. Edge, the comical juggler was very funny and very enjoyable. At the Captains party on one of the formal nights there were no longer free drinks-just $1 off anything you ordered. Past Guest party did have free drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and it wasnt widely known that on the last night free drinks were given out at the Lido Deck Party. This was to make up for not having an open bar at the Captains party. The lazer show on lido deck wasnt anything spezial. After watching about 10 minutes of it, it soon became rather boring. Ports of Call- Cozumel- We have visited this port at many times , we arn't big partiers so we waited until the rush left the ship and then we took our time walking around close to port. Our mission was to purchase liquor for home use and pick up a few mexican blankets. Roatan—This was our first visit to this island, and since we already ziplined last cruise we decided just to do a tour of this new island. Before we left home I contacted Rony's Tours online and made arrangements for a 2-3 hour tour. Rony actually called me the day after I emailed him to tell us what we could expect to see on his homeland. I was quite surprised that he took the time to call me instead of emailing. We agreed to rent a private car which would take us around the island, to the iguana farm and the little zoo with monkeys that was run by another tour guide Victor Bodden. Once we arrived at the island, it was a short walk past the little shops to meet Rony and our driver. Felix Hernandez was our driver and he was fantastic!! We spent almost 5 hours with him seeing the whole island of Roatan. He would take us to the iguana farm and the monkey zoo and wait until we were ready to leave. He took us to the highest point of Roatan, showed us some of the vacation rental spots, the west side of Roatan where everyone goes for nightlife and to the beautiful beaches. Rony's tours charged us $40 per person or $80 a carload Including tip it cost us $100 for the day. We recommend Rony's Tours for anyone. He knows how to take care of his guests, it was a wonderful day and we cannot wait to go back to Roatan again. Belize—We never made it to Belize. There was a Princess ship infront of us and the story was that the winds were too high for any of the cruiseships to make it safely thru the narrow channel when leaving Roatan that afternoon. We were supposedly to leave later that night but waking up the next morning we were still in Roatan.. A lot of the passengers wanted to get off the ship that night and party in Roatan, but we were told that wouldnt happen. But after getting home we found out that the real reason we were held up in Roatan was that the Princess ship had engine trouble and had to wait for a part. It would have been nice to spend more time there, but it didnt matter to us because we weren't planning on leaving the ship in Belize anyway. There were a lot of angry passengers who had tours planned that had to cancel, but there isnt anything one could do to change what happened. Carnival refunded port taxes to everyones account but it wasnt much of a refund. Sea Days were spent just lounging in the sun, playing trivia and just chilling. Debarkation— This is where Carnival excells.There were people who could leave as early as 7:15am from the ship. . We were off the ship by 8:45am catching a ride in front of the port for the Budget rental shuttle. There wasnt this massive exodus like we've experienced with RCCL. Our flight home wasnt until 9pm that night so we decided to rent a car and visit WDW for the day. This was another great cruise- no major problems or complaints. We feel that a cruise is what you make it. You can do something every hour or just veg. Hope everyone had as wonderful a time as we did on the Dream.

Cabin Review

Spa Balcony

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