Carnival Dream Review 2024 Sea Day

Carnival Dream 2024 6-Day Caribbean Cruise Review
Day 2 Sea Day
Monday, May 13, 2024
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Sea Day Morning Walk:
I woke up early to walk around the Carnival Dream before breakfast. By 6:20am, I was out of my stateroom and decided to start the morning's walk on Deck 3. The atrium lobby was empty and there was no wait at Guest Services.

Deck 3 Atrium Lobby

Deck 3 Encore Theater

While on Deck 3 I stepped into the Crimson Dining Room. Guests normally cannot cut through the dining room during dinner hours, but since the dining room was not open for serving guests the room could be used as a cut through.

Crimson Dining Room

Next I headed up to Deck 4. The atrium area of Deck 4 is home to the Pixels Photo Gallery. Since it was early, the photo gallery was not yet open. I did not spend much time on Deck 4 and ended up walking to Deck 5 after a few minutes.

Pixels Photo Gallery on Deck 4

Deck 4 Lower Promenade Walkway

Alchemy Bar- Looking Into Ocean Plaza

Deck 5 mid-ship is home to Carnival Dream's Bonsai Sushi. This venue serves a variety of sushi, sashimi, rolls, soups, and more. The items are priced ala carte so you will be charged separately for each item you order.

Bonsai Sushi

Sam's Piano Bar

The back of Deck 5 is home to Sam's Piano Bar and the Burgundy Lounge. Both of theses venues were quiet during the morning.

Piano Bar

Burgundy Lounge

First Breakfast On The Carnival Dream:
The Carnival Dream offers cruisers multiple breakfast options to choose from. Within The Gathering several buffet lines were open for breakfast. A continental breakfast buffet line that served pastries & fruit opened at 6:30am. The main Lido buffet lines served breakfast from 7:30am until 10:30am. For cruisers wanting to eat breakfast tacos and burritos, the Blue Iguana Cantina served breakfast from 7:30am until 10:30am. One breakfast buffet line remained open until 12:00pm for late risers, but after 10:30am the rest of the lines closed to start preparing for lunch. Cruisers that did not want to eat in the buffet could eat at the Sea Day Brunch in the Scarlet Dining Room (aft dining room on Deck 3). The Sea Day Brunch was open from 8:30am until 12pm.
The buffet food was similar each day of the cruise, but each morning there were some differences. Bacon was served every other morning. French toast and pancakes alternated days being served. The type of breakfast potatoes and sausage served varied each morning of the cruise. Despite the basics being the same each morning, Carnival changed the food up enough so people would have a variety.

Below are pictures from The Gathering's morning buffet breakfast for this sea day:

Lido Main Breakfast Buffet Line

Lido Continental Breakfast Buffet Line

After breakfast I walked outside a bit. My walk started with the back of Deck 10 and then I eventually headed up to Deck 12.

Pizzeria Del Capitano

View of the Wake

Looking Down At The Lido Deck

While on Deck 12 I saw the Carnival Dream's WaterWorks. The slides were not yet open for the day, but crew members were working on getting things ready to open. The Carnival Dream's WaterWorks has two racing slides, a Twister waterslide, Drainpipe slide, a smaller slide for young kids, and a splashpad. It felt like the Carnival Dream had more at the WaterWorks than the Carnival Breeze.

WaterWorks

Deck 12 Jogging Track

Deck 12 Jogging Track Area

Encore Theater

The Wave Morning Show:
The Carnival Dream's morning show was scheduled for 9:30am in the Encore Theater. Guests can watch the morning show in-person from the Encore Theater or from their stateroom TV. We watched the morning show in-person. This event was not well attended (most morning shows are not) and we watched our cruise director, Andy, & one of the Fun Squad members discuss events & things happening around the ship. The show was fun and informational about everything happening during our first day at sea.

After the morning show ended we went to Deck 5 to walk around, but part of the deck was closed due to balcony cleaning happening on the decks above.

Casino FunPlay:
As part of our VIFP Platinum benefits we received $25 in Casino FunPlay. This FunPlay is redeemed at the casino cashier's desk on Deck 5 and they will load it to Sail & Sign Cards. The FunPlay can be used at both the Deck 4 non-smoking casino or Deck 5 main casino. After getting our $25 FunPlay loaded we walked down to the Deck 4 non-smoking casino. I walked away with a little over $5 in cash! This is a great VIFP club benefit and I hope Carnival keeps it around for a while.

Second Lunch On The Carnival Dream:
The Carnival Dream had many things available for lunch today as it was a sea day and all the buffet lines were being utilized. Here are all of the lunch options available on the ship for this sea-day:

Seafood Shack - The Seafood Shack is located at the back of the lido buffet by the aft pool. This venue costs extra and was open from 11:30am until 10:00pm.
Blue Iguana Cantina - 12:00pm - 2:30pm
Bonsai Sushi - This dining option is located on Deck 5 and costs extra. Bonsai Sushi serves a variety of different sushi related dishes. For lunch, this venue was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm.
Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse (BBQ) - This dining venue is located on the Lanai on Deck 5 and is complimentary. BBQ is served here. The Carnival Dream's BBQ line was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm.
Mongolian Wok - The Carnival Dream's Mongolian Wok is located in the lido buffet near the front area of the interior space. This venue was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm.
Pasta Bar - The pasta bar offers guests the ability to create a customized bowl of pasta. Essentially, guests fill out a paper form that gives options of what can be put in a pasta bowl. The completed form is given to a crew member who gives it to the chef to fix the bowl of pasta. Caesar salads and garlic bread are also available. This venue was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm.
Guy's Burger Joint - 12:00pm - 6:00pm
The deli was open for lunch and dinner. Overall hours at the deli for the day were 11am until 11pm.

Here are some various pictures of food items and desserts from today's Lido buffet lunch:

Lido Buffet Salad Bar

Good Eats (Comfort Food) Line

Below are pictures of the Carnival Dream's Lido buffet dessert station:

Lido Dessert Buffet

Pasta Bar:
The Carnival Dream's Pasta Bar is located on Deck 11 directly above The Gathering during lunch hours. If you are planning to eat at the Pasta Bar you will want to use the aft elevator/stairwell area and enter the buffet by the hostess station. The hostess will give each person eating a slip of paper and this is what you use to select the ingredients you would like in your custom pasta bowl. Bread and Caesar salad are available too. I decided to eat at the pasta bar for today's lunch and wanted my food to go. After checking in at the hostess station I was given a paper and filled out my pasta as follows: linguini with red sauce, shrimp, chicken, broccoli, spinach, onions, and mushrooms. From the time I submitted my paper to the time I left the pasta bar with my food was less than 10 minutes. They were quick! The pasta bowl was very good, but filling. You can request a half portion if you would like.

Pasta Bar: Bread

Pasta Bar: Caesar Salad

Pasta Bar: My Custom Bowl - Linguini with Red Sauce, Shrimp, Chicken, Broccoli, Spinach, Onions, & Mushrooms

Towel Animal

After lunch, we went back to our room. Our stateroom steward had come by in the late morning to clean the room and he left a towel animal on one of the beds. Our steward's total animal abilities were great throughout the cruise.

During the afternoon we walked outside on Deck 5 for a little bit as the outside area had been reopened. The line for Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ looked long, but it seemed to be moving quickly. The water was calm and it felt nice outside. There was some haze in the distance, but nothing too bad.

Deck 5 Lanai

View From The Back of Deck 5

Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal:
At 2:30pm in the Encore Theater was Deal or No Deal. This gameshow was based on the popular TV show. Guests were able to enter to play by purchasing cards starting a few hours in advance of the game-show starting. Game cards were sold before the game and had to be purchased early because when it is time for the game show it is too late to buy a gamecard. Two rounds were played with two different contestants. I have written a post about Deal or No Deal on here if you are interested in checking it out: Click Here to View
Deal or No Deal lasted about 45 minutes in total. The show was hosted by our cruise director, Andy. The show was fun to watch and Andy was a great host. Deal or No Deal was a highly attended event during the afternoon. One guest won a 5 day cruise vacation!

After Deal or No Deal we walked to the front of Deck 9 to have a look outside. This area was closed during the morning due to high wind, but the winds had calmed down so we were now able to go outside. The water was nice!

View From Deck 9's Front

View From Deck 9

Nice Blue Water!

Table For The Evening

Cruise Elegant Evening Dinner In The Crimson Dining Room:
Tonight was our first cruise elegant evening. The dining room had a more strict dress code that was published on the Carnival Hub App. Your-Time Dining was scheduled to be open from 5:30pm until 9:00pm on this night of the cruise in the Crimson Dining Room's deck 3 and 4 levels. At 5:20pm, the Your-Time Dining opened for check-in on the Carnival Hub App and I checked in. We were assigned a different table compared to the first night and had a different set of waitstaff.
Since this is a 6 night cruise, we have two cruise elegant evenings. The second cruise elegant evening has complimentary lobster as Carnival no longer serves the lobster complimentary on the first elegant evening. This order change was implemented a while back. Tonight's bread was the cranberry bread which is my favorite bread Carnival serves. For appetizers I had caesar salad & shrimp cocktail, for main course the broiled striploin steak, and a banana split from the kid's menu for dessert.

Below are pictures of our food from the evening's meal:

Cranberry Bread

Starter: New England Clam Chowder

Starter: Caesar Salad

Starter: Shrimp Cocktail

Starter: Linguini Alfredo

Main Course: Broiled Striploin Steak

Carnival Dream Duet of Filet Mignon and Short Rib

Main Course: Duet of Filet Mignon and Short Rib

Jumbo Shrimp without the fish cake

Dessert: Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake

Ending Set After Flick Ended

Playlist Productions Show: "Flick"
Tonight's Playlist Productions show was "Flick". This show had a variety of songs and soundtracks from movies. The effects in this show are very neat and showcases Carnival's ability to use lighting, lasers, & other features to make the show pop. The show took place twice in the Encore Theater. One of the showtimes was 7:30pm and the other was 9:30pm. Doors opened to the Ovation Theater approximately 30 minutes before the show started. The pre-show entertainment started approximately 15 minutes prior to the show's start. Our Carnival Dream Playlist Productions cast was talented and did a great job performing "Flick"!

Flick was over shortly after 8:00pm so we had some time to walk around the ship and enjoy the ship at night. I was less tired than the first night so I enjoyed walking on the Lanai and also walking through the ship's Promenade. The piano bar was open and playing music late into the night and the Ocean Plaza had live music as well. The Carnival Dream is a lively ship at night!

Deck 5 Lanai

Before going to bed I went to get some water from The Gathering on Lido deck. I wanted to get to sleep early before our first port of call stop in Costa Maya. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions, we were going to have another day at sea and we just did not know that yet.

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