Carnival Cruise

[drcollie]

7 days on the Carnival Dream, largest and newest ship in their fleet, 9 months old. 3,600 passengers, 1,600 crew. Just some notes:

* Was cooler in the tropics than home, by about 20 degrees and 20 points on humidity. Go figure.

* Amazing how much corrosion and rust was already on a ship less than 1 year old. Salt water takes it toll.

* Very low ceiling heights on this ship. I'm sure they did it to get in one more deck of cabins. Somewhat claustrophobic compared to other cruise ships.

* We put the kids in an interior stateroom to save money, but my wife and I had an oversized balcony on the fantail of the ship. I have now been ruined by that fantail balcony - so much nicer than a mainstream side balcony room. Shower stalls on the DREAM are actually big enough to use (on Royal Caribbean ships you have to leave the door open, they're so small.)

* Ship never stopped rocking, even in dead calm seas.

* Ever watch 3,000 people all try to hit the Buffet Line from 11:30 to 12:30 a.m? It ain't pretty....survival of the fittest.

* For a ship 1/4 mile long, it had the two smallest swimming pools I've ever seen. Just stay away unless your idea of a good swim is to jump in an oversized hot tub with 50 other people.

* Casino was GREAT! They had two Texas Hold Em Poker Tables that were all electronic like a giant video game. Each table would accommodate 12 players. I met a lot of great people at the poker table (same group played all the time). I stayed up to 3:30 a.m three nights out of seven playing poker. Most the other guys were really good, they made me work hard for my winners.

* Steakhouse was by far the best restaurant on board. If you go, book it (costs extra)

* I absolutely hate Karaoke. I don't see the attraction.

* Really great kids clubs on board. And the water slides were excellent.

*Carnival spent a lot of money furnishing this ship. There are some very costly custom furniture / chairs / tables on the DREAM, and interior components. That didn't jive well with the cheap plastic 8 oz glasses used around the ship. And I could not get a fresh brewed ice tea anywhere on the ship (that was killing me....MUST HAVE MY ICED TEA).

* Nassau sucks. Amazing how the continue to push that stale-piss-smelling, broken-down little town to the cruise lines. Ever been to Nassau? It hasn't changed except its falling apart even more than when you last were there. Even the Atlantis Resort isn't aging well. Miserable little port.

* Sailed on a 12 meter Americas Cup yacht. Ever been on a $ 15 million dollar racing boat? Very cool....Canada 2, we raced Dennis Connor's "Stars and Stripes" in St. Maarten. Light air that day made the downwind legs pretty miserable, however. I must do that when they have a good blow going. St Maarten.

* Snorkeled the reef at St Johns - island next to St Thomas . Most Excellent.

* I saw more morbidly obese women on that cruise than I could count. We're talking 300 lbs +. They would eat all day and into the night, nonstop. I didn't think people would take a cruise just to eat....I was wrong. They do. Must have been 500 or so of them (was it a eating club of some kind?), and they would get dressed up on these itty bitty shoes with 5" heels and strut down "Dream Street" on the way to go eat...and I'd be like "Wow - that's really totally un-natural....kids, stay clear in case she comes off those heels, she'll go right through the deck and take everyone with her in a 6 foot radius".

* There needs to be Bikini Police on these ships. There is a certain point when a 50 year old woman with faded tattoos and a 24-pack beer belly should NOT wear a 2-piece. Someone needs to tell them. I had nightmares from it.

* Really good service staff on that ship. They work those people HARD. They do 12 to 14 hour days, 7 days a week without a whimper. They earned their tips, all of them.

* Disney has better food and shows (and is hospital clean), but no casino and too much Mickey Mouse on their ships.

* Royal Caribbean has better public spaces and ship layouts, but food / shows are no better.

* I would never move back to Florida. Flat, Straight, Sandy. I like the hills, trees and curvy roads of Virginia. But it was great to get away and just read a few books, play some poker, and jump in the vibrant blue waters of the Caribbean.

[aaron]

Ever watch 3,000 people all try to hit the Buffet Line from 11:30 to 12:30 a.m? It ain't pretty....survival of the fittest.

Wow. If people eat like that in the middle of the night, I can only imagine what things were like during the day.

[Dgw9]

Quote: * Nassau sucks. Amazing how the continue to push that stale-piss-smelling, broken-down little town to the cruise lines. Ever been to Nassau? It hasn't changed except its falling apart even more than when you last were there. Even the Atlantis Resort isn't aging well. Miserable little port.

Be careful there--the casual reader might think you have a problem with Nassau!

Now you've got to check your insights on CruiseCritic and see where the agreements and disagreements are and what you noticed that others didn't and vice-versa.

[drcollie]

LOL, I get confused by CruiseCritic, and the opinions swing wildly from "Best Ship In The World" to "Miserable Rust Bucket".

We go mostly for the kids, they really have a blast as teenagers on the ship. I'm was totally hooked on Texas Hold 'Em and stayed up way too late playing poker with my ship mates and swapping lies around the table.

I like to get to an island or port and rent a Jeep then pile in and just GO. But my wife read about the 14-year-old off a Carnival Cruise ship that was shot and killed in St. Thomas a month ago, and she put the clamps on that. Too bad, because we found the best beach I've ever been to doing that three years ago in Cozumel, away from all the tourist excursions and had it all to ourself by just striking out in the Jeep. Port towns are just boring....same old jewelry / watch / t-shirt / cigar stores no matter where you go.

[Briant73]

Great review, still laughing at some of the key points you made.

[drcollie]

When I was on the Cruise Ship, I was anxious to play on the two
electronic Texas Hold 'Em tables, which are a brilliant idea for a
casino because they accommodate twelve players and don't require any
casino personnel to operate. They look like this, but larger and the
Carnival Dream had two of them:

http://filtimex.trustpass.alibaba.co..._Em_table.html

Before I got on the ship, I'd never played Texas Hold 'Em for real, just
a thousand hours of it on my iPhone. So I wasn't sure what to expect.
I learned VERY quickly that my fellow passengers at the poker table were
very good. Some of these guys - actually most of them - were tournament
players. If I wasn't very careful, I was going to get ripped up by
these guys, evident in my first 5 minutes at the table when my first
stake was wiped out ($ 100) and I had to come in with a second one and
make it last. I got better, quick - and realized that this electronic
deck didn't dole out cards in the same way that my iPhone game does.
But these guys could do the math in their heads - they knew all the
percentages of the hands after the Flop, whereas I was like "Yah, well
that looks good".....

Night after night of playing with them and we all got to know each other
pretty well. Take the same 30 hardcore players and spend five hours a
night at a table with 'em and by the end of the cruise you know all
about them and its as much about visiting as it is playing for money.

Two most memorable Poker hands:

* There was a kid of 19 playing next to me, and like most kids his age
he was a know-it-all and had a big mouth, but in a relaxed, friendly
way. His dad was playing on the other side of me, and he was very
friendly as well (both were from southern Virginia). He knew all the
math odds, and commented on every hand (which irritated some of the
older players, but I thought it humorous). So The Kid had been up and
down all night, and was running out of his stake - he had $ 100 left or
so. The hand deals and I have pocket queens (pair). Here comes the
Flop and two more ladies show, giving me four of a kind. I've got the
winner at the table on the flop (first three cards for you that don't
play Poker much, two more cards will follow). Well, The Kid thinks HE
has the winning hand. He starts rolling in the bets and quickly raises
to $ 25 and so on. Everyone else scares off the table so its just he
and I. The Turn comes (4th Card) and its what he's looking for - he's
talking trash now...but whatever he has he isn't beating my hand. He
raises again and the River is exactly what he wants (5th card). He's
giddy.....I push ALL IN on the last bet. He's got $ 27 left of the $
100 we started the hand with. He's getting ready to Call and says to me
'Big Mistake, I gotcha" and shows me his Full House, (3) 10's and the
two Queens already on the table. I laugh and say
"Don't hit that CALL button unless you want to go back to the cabin and
watch TV" and I show him my two queens on my monitor. The look on his
face when he saw I had (4) Ladies was priceless. He says "You could
have cleaned me out, why didn't you?" I chuckled and said "Because its
only 11 p.m. and I like having you here at the table amusing us".....
and he kept his money which he parlayed into another hour of play before
getting wiped out. I really didn't need his $ 27 anyways.....lol

* Best hand though was against Stu from Ohio. Stu was a mover-shaker,
an attorney who prides himself on being a top-rated tournament
player. He takes his poker VERY seriously, and would jump up from the
chair and pace whenever there was a big hand in play that he was a part
of. He was very sharp, knows his craft, and was very dangerous to go up
against. He'd wipe you off the table in a blink, no mercy. I was not
in his league, but I knew it...so I usually folded when he rolled out
the black $ 100 chips on his bets. There was a Poker Tournament on the
ship one afternoon as well, and he won it after roaring back on a short
stack bet. So anyways, its our last night on the ship and because I
had a 14 hour trip to drive the next morning I set a self-imposed curfew
of midnight. Not much was happening on the table, but I was having a
good time and soon it was 12:45 p.m. Damn! I got to go, call it a
vacation and get to bed. I'd only been up $ 20 for the night though,
just limping along. Well, last hand I was playing I got pocket Kings
(pair). Stu's got something, too, He raises $ 50 on the first bet,
which scared off most people. I called along with one other player.
Here comes the Flop. Not much there, unless you were holding Diamonds
and going for a Flush. Obviously Stu was and did. Stu bets $ 100,
banking that the either the Turn or the River would give him another
Diamond....or that I would fold to his $ 100 bet like I had the entire
cruise. Well, this was no way to go out....my last hand......last
night.....and I pushed ALL IN, which was $ 411.00 in chips.
With a Pair of Kings, I was strong but certainly not a superb hand. Stu
JUMPS UP from the table and starts pacing and mumbling to himself, much
to my amusement and everyone else. He has 40 seconds to decide what to
do or the computer folds him. He's really in a twist, because he didn't
expect that from me and if he calls the bet its his whole stack. And If
he DOES call it and beats me, I go home a loser....argh! But that's the
sport of it, eh? Man, you could just SEE the gears in Stu's head
working - I was prepared to see wisps of smoke coming out of his ears
any moment. Finally with five seconds left, he loses his nerve and
folds his cards, losing about $ 200 on the hand. I win the Pot, and
show my cards. His eyes get big as saucers and says "You pushed All In
with just a pair of Kings???!!" I laughed and said, "Its late, I was
bored" and we had a good laugh....then I said my goodbyes and went to bed.

After a week of playing Poker, I left with $ 380 more than I started
with. Not a lot, but I most the people I played with said they were all
down overall the Casino - even Stu (he didn't do well at Craps).

Good fun.