Just back off of the Dream 4/24-5/1 Sailing

[freebird61]

Just arrived home from Port canaveral off of the dream and will over the next few days put in my 2 cents worth of what I thought about he ship, crew and Port. I know there were a lot of Cruise Critics on board...they even got a shout out on the afternoon show with Todd and Jimmy...however my wife and I were on this cruise to chillax. We had our daughter, son-in law and grandson on boadr which was very nice. Over the course of the next few days I will post random thoughts and comments about the cruise and will welcome any questions and will answer whatever I can. I have been on 8 cruises with my wife all Carnival, I am not a cheerleader for them, just like to enjoy what I pay for. If I have a problem on board i ask to get it fixed and don't whine about it over and over. There were a few issues on board not enough to hamper a great ship. First and foremost I have to say that all cruise terminals should send people to watch how Canaveral does it for embarkation and debarkation. All I can say is awesome. On the ship in less than an hour from drop off to walkng on board and waiting for my ride in less than a hour from my zone being called. Just a fantastic job by all parties involved. All of the workers were pumping all of the guests up and smiling and very helpful. More to follow. Sorry no photos. Cabin was 6354 port side upper deck inbetween the bubble tubs. not a big fan of not being able to look down into the ocean but will write more later...more to follow

 

[bob]

Looking forward to your comments............

 

[freebird61]

Have to admit there were times that i did smell the "odor"...it seemed to change characteristics as you went to different parts of the ship...at times it was like a really bad bathroom experience and others it was like a stale port water smell...never really a distraction and wasn't overpowering and didn't last long...i do remember one night going up to deck 12 from the lido steps and we had to leave it was real bad but that was the omly time we had issues with it...don't let it dominate your thoughts if you are going on the ship it won't effect your time on board. The decor of the ship was typical Carnival...very nice actually...my grndson was fascinated by the patterns on the floor and all the reflective mirrors. As a side note I did go up to the camp carnival area and all of the staff were very nice and the facilities looked to be quite the adventure for all ages even big kids as the had PS 2...( they wouldn't let me play bummer)...my daughter was very happy with the babysitting they had and never had a bad thing to say...my grandson's babysitter didn't want him to go...I did volunteer to stay another week to let her watch him...(nope didn't work)...more to follow...next topic everyones favorite FOOD

 

[freebird61]

FOOD...there were quite a few food venues to choose from...all of the ones that I sampled were good to excellent.
1. main dining- we originally had the late seating, then remembered that the grandson goes to sleep at 830pm...bad idea to try to keep a 14 month up past the bed time...we tried to change and were informed that early was full. they took our names and the first night we ate at late seating. defintely a bad idea about the g-son...he didn't make it past the bread and his dad took him upstairs...dinner service was great the first night...they even gave us a full entree to take up to dad...nice touch. The next day we had a card with early dining...nice job dining staff...however we did experience a drop in service...our team as having a rough week. they just couldnt seem to get it together. Thursday was pretty brutal...they were on showtime and we had just got our main course...they were cool and didn't rush us out of there...it seemed the whole dining room was a little behind. I and the wife are good natured so we just let it flow and didn't get upset enjoyed all of the food in main dining. If you are going to get upset over someone not jumping through 20 foot hoops to place food at just the right time and angle on the table and having the right fork at the right time just roll with it or do the buffets. they had different buffets at different stations every meal time. Burgers and pizza were great so of course they were the hardest to get at peak times. Really wish that the pasta bar was open all day for lunch and dinner. Sushi and turkey wraps were always popular and the 5 layer carrot cake at the coffee shop was the bomb. Dining is what you make of it so some will be pissed at the service they get some will not...enjoy it because you don't have to clean up..just shovel it in and walk it off. I had heard that Carnival changed executive chefs...same most of the same meals I had 2 years ago...nice touch was the standbys everyday if you didn't like what was on the menu...flat-iron steak, mahi-mahi very tasty...more to follow

 

[supermt]

Thank you for your comments. We board the Dream in July and can't wait. It sounds wonderful. This will be our first time on Carnival and are excited. We have previously been on Princess and Disney.