While I was enjoying my Eastern Caribbean voyage aboard the Carnival Dream, our first port of call was Nassau, Bahamas. Like most of the ports I have been to, there were things I did like and things that I did not. These things were not things that the cruise line could control but could possibly make me want to stay on the ship.
The Straw Market. Need I say more? Nearly everyone who visits Nassau will go shopping here. Upon arriving, this is one of the easiest places in the city to find and also one of the city's most famous spots. I do not understand why though. Although some of the vendors offered low prices on their goods, most of the vendors would follow me around, pressure me to make a purchase, and rip me off with their prices. To my surprise, other stores around Nassau who were selling the same things as the Straw Market and even offering some other things had much better prices and much better customer service.
Walking around the city of Nassau made for some interesting and beautiful sightseeing. Because we were in the Caribbean, the beauty of the resort hotels and colorful buildings was breathtaking! That's one thing I love about the Caribbean in general. As many times as I've been to that part of the world, I never get tired of the charm that is uniquely Caribbean.
Overall, there were two things that made me not love Nassau. The first was the fact that most of the vendors in the Straw Market would pressure you to buy things and also rip you off with many of their prices. The other is that there wasn't much to do without paying a lot of money to do it. There were things but for the most part, they would cost quite an amount of money. I have done shore excursions before and they were a great time. When I do take another Caribbean cruise that may visit Nassau, I might just stay on the ship. Honestly, there's more to do onboard than there is to do in port.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Dreaming the Carnival Dream
On February 9th, 2013, I set out on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean voyage aboard the beautiful Carnival Dream. As this is my first blog post, forgive me if it is not completely "perfect." For the most part, the trip was absolutely wonderful. However, I do have a few minor critiques. No need to fear though! I'll give some praises, too!
The massive size of the ship was both a pro and a con in more ways than one. One of the pros was the wide variety of things to do on the Dream as opposed to other Carnival ships. I thoroughly enjoyed the extra pools and hot tubs, as well as more locations for on-board activities. Unfortunately, the guest service was not as fabulous on this ship as on others. My personal theory is that because there were so many guests, over four thousand in all, that the service was not as friendly or as personal. I greatly appreciated our waiting staff in the dining room but they didn't spend as much time with us as our waiting staff on previous Carnival vacations.
Oh, the food! The food aboard the Carnival Dream was one hundred percent outstanding! Everything from the ice cream to the lobster was to die for! Rolando, our head waiter, got the wrong order for my dad 3 times throughout the week but he made up for it on the final night. On Valentines night on the voyage, I was prepared to order baked Alaska from the menu but we were all brought heart shaped chocolate fudge cakes instead. Rolando knew how excited I was for the baked Alaska but I sadly did not receive it that night. Fortunately, he decided to surprise me the next night. My mother and I went to see the Carnival legends show in the main lounge and when we got back, there was a baked Alaska sitting on the table in our stateroom. My father informed me that while we were gone, Rolando brought the dessert by and said "I thought Miss Grace would enjoy this." I thoroughly enjoyed every single bite of the dessert and will never forget the friendliness and generosity of our head waiter.
Carnival made the debarkation process very easy. Even though we chose to carry our own luggage, we were off the ship in very little time. The Carnival Dream staff was very helpful in the process, giving us step-by-step instructions and being very friendly all the while. There was not one crewmember that morning who did not have a smile on their face or did not speak to us.
Overall, I give my Eastern Caribbean voyage on the dream an 8 out of 10. Points were deducted because the dining service on the Dream was not as personal as it was on my previous Carnival cruises. Deductions also came from the ship being very tightly crowded at times. Will I take another voyage aboard the dream? Most likely. Was it as great as my previous Carnival voyages aboard the Glory and Liberty? No. Although I had my few minor critiques, I did greatly enjoy my time aboard the Dream and am looking forward to my next Carnival voyage.
The massive size of the ship was both a pro and a con in more ways than one. One of the pros was the wide variety of things to do on the Dream as opposed to other Carnival ships. I thoroughly enjoyed the extra pools and hot tubs, as well as more locations for on-board activities. Unfortunately, the guest service was not as fabulous on this ship as on others. My personal theory is that because there were so many guests, over four thousand in all, that the service was not as friendly or as personal. I greatly appreciated our waiting staff in the dining room but they didn't spend as much time with us as our waiting staff on previous Carnival vacations.
Oh, the food! The food aboard the Carnival Dream was one hundred percent outstanding! Everything from the ice cream to the lobster was to die for! Rolando, our head waiter, got the wrong order for my dad 3 times throughout the week but he made up for it on the final night. On Valentines night on the voyage, I was prepared to order baked Alaska from the menu but we were all brought heart shaped chocolate fudge cakes instead. Rolando knew how excited I was for the baked Alaska but I sadly did not receive it that night. Fortunately, he decided to surprise me the next night. My mother and I went to see the Carnival legends show in the main lounge and when we got back, there was a baked Alaska sitting on the table in our stateroom. My father informed me that while we were gone, Rolando brought the dessert by and said "I thought Miss Grace would enjoy this." I thoroughly enjoyed every single bite of the dessert and will never forget the friendliness and generosity of our head waiter.
Carnival made the debarkation process very easy. Even though we chose to carry our own luggage, we were off the ship in very little time. The Carnival Dream staff was very helpful in the process, giving us step-by-step instructions and being very friendly all the while. There was not one crewmember that morning who did not have a smile on their face or did not speak to us.
Overall, I give my Eastern Caribbean voyage on the dream an 8 out of 10. Points were deducted because the dining service on the Dream was not as personal as it was on my previous Carnival cruises. Deductions also came from the ship being very tightly crowded at times. Will I take another voyage aboard the dream? Most likely. Was it as great as my previous Carnival voyages aboard the Glory and Liberty? No. Although I had my few minor critiques, I did greatly enjoy my time aboard the Dream and am looking forward to my next Carnival voyage.
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