More on the Carnival Dream

Any time I’ve been on a Carnival cruise ship I’ve always felt like I’ve stepped into someone’s schizophrenic dream of multiple personalities. I’m truly curious to know if some psychologist has ever tried to analyze Joe Farcus, the man who has designed the interiors of virtually all, if not all, of Carnival’s ships, based solely on his interior designs. And though the new Carnival Dream is actually the most subdued I’ve ever seen – FOR A CARNIVAL SHIP – I still had that strange feeling as I moved from room to room that this ship just doesn’t know who it is.

I’ll give you a perfect example of what I mean. In the middle of any large cruise ship, you’ll find the elevator banks. On either side of the elevators are two stairwells. On the Dream, if you use the stairs on one side (I don’t remember which was aft and which was forward), you’ll find artwork at each landing that is surreal, storybook-like or fantastical. There was no rhyme or reason to the art, each was distinctly different from the others. OK, fine, there’s a theme there. BUT, if you then switch to the other staircase, the artwork is 20s- or 30s-era slightly cartoonish Hollywood-esque paintings. Similar images, though not the same, line every cabin corridor. Separately, I liked the two themes, but together they just don’t make any sense. There is no way for me to relate them to each other, and so I’m left feeling like two different people, with widely different tastes, chose the ship’s décor. I can’t help it I find it confusing.

And that feeling pretty much sticks with me any time I move through a Carnival ship, there’s just no way to make sense of the interior designs.

With that said, the Dream is the most staid of the three Carnival ships I’ve sailed on. There is glitz, glimmer and burnished metal, it really wouldn’t be Carnival without it, but there’s less of it. And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. I spoke to several travel agents for an article who said pretty much the same thing. They were surprised by the ship, that it wasn’t as over the top as Carnival ships usually are. Pleasantly surprised.

Of course, as with any Carnival ship, there are lots of places to get a drink (they’re not known as booze cruises for nothing) and lots of activities to partake in. It is a Fun Ship, after all. One of the coolest things on the ship is the new water park, the largest on any cruise ship. Of course I barely got to see it as it was rainy and cold during my few hours on board the ship. But the water park has lots of water slides, splash zones, spray toys and the longest corkscrew water slide at sea. I wonder who will use it the most? Kids or adults?

One of the things I liked the most on the Dream was a new breakdance troupe that the cruise line has brought aboard, both for onstage entertainment, and as a roving troupe in the evenings teaching people basic breakdance moves. I gotta say, watching a drunk 40-something white guy trying to break dance is pretty funny!

The Carnival Dream Naming Ceremony

Carnival Cruise Line's newest, and largest, ship the Carnival Dream made its US debut yesterday in New York City. In a laid-back ceremony designed to be fun, since Carnival is the "fun ship" cruise line, guests were treated to a performance of hip-hop acrobatic troupe "Fun Force" and entertained by Carnival's blogging senior cruise director John Heald. Finally, ship godmother Marcia Gay Harden swung an official Yankee bat, signed by A-Rod himself, at a larger-than-life champagne replica, thereby christening The Carnival Dream.

Stay tuned for a report on the Carnival Dream's inauguration

I'll be attending the inaugural ceremony and festivities for the Carnival Dream this Thursday evening. It will be my first cruise ship inaugural ceremony. The Dream's godmother will be actress Marcia Gay Harding, and all the cruise line bigwigs will be on board.

I will be writing about the occasion, and posting pictures from the event on my blog. I hope to get some of it up by Thursday evening but that will depend on if there's Internet on the ship. Otherwise I'll have stuff up on Saturday.

The Carnival Dream is supposed to have some cool new features, like a water park, so I can't wait to see it.

Stay tuned for my report!

Cruisin' to the '50s

When I was a kid, after seeing the movie "Stand by Me," I became obsessed with the '50s and listened almost exclusively to '50s music (at the time CBS 101.1 was the channel of "oldies"). Even though that fad faded quickly for me, I still have a soft spot for lots of things '50s. One of my new favorite eateries is Cheeburger, Cheeburger, which not only has great turkey burgers but features a great '50s era Malt Shop ambiance. So when I got an e-mail a few days ago from Carnival Cruises about their latest theme cruise, my attention was immediately caught. The Malt Shop Memories cruise will bring together a group of musicians from the '50s and '60s to entertain passengers for five days.

In partnership with a company called Sixthman and inspired by Time Life's Malt Shop Memories collection, the five-day cruise sails May 13-17, 2010 onboard the Carnival Inspiration, traveling roundtrip from Tampa, Florida and featuring one stop at Cozumel, Mexico. But what makes this sailing so special is the collection of musicians gathered onboard including Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Lesley Gore, The Original Drifters, The Platters and Lou Christie.

In addition to the non-stop music, passengers will get to interact with the musicians and will enjoy other '50s and '60s era activities including sock-hops, beach parties, dance contests and more.

If you want to find out more information about the cruise, including the cost, visit www.MaltShopCruise.com.

Win a free MSC Cruise

I love contests, raffles, sweepstakes, the lottery, anything where I have a chance to win something. And of course I love it even more when it’s free to enter!

So of course I love MSC Cruises new "Poetry in Motion" sweepstakes – become a fan of MSC Cruises on Facebook and you could win a balcony stateroom for two aboard a 7-night MSC Poesia inaugural Caribbean season cruise.

The sweepstakes runs through November 10 and entering is free. First become a fan of MSC Cruises, then click on the "Win a Cruise" tab and "Enter Now" button to complete the sweepstakes registration form. The Grand Prize winner will be randomly selected on or about November 20.

For those who don’t know how to use Facebook or don’t want to become a fan, sweepstakes registration is also available online on MSC Cruises Web site.

Of course I probably shouldn’t be sharing this, as the more of you who enter the more competition there is for me!

Carnival offers kids the chance to become Dream Godchild, donates to St. Jude

I am not a big fan of Carnival Cruise Lines for many reasons, but what they are doing with their new contest is something I thought was important enough to share with others.

On September 21, Carnival Cruise Lines will introduce its new ship, the Carnival Dream. In honor of the launch, the cruise line is inviting children, ages 7 to 12, to participate in the Virtual Book of Dreams contest. By entering and sharing their own dreams, kids will earn the chance to become the world's first-ever Godchild of a cruise ship waterslide. The winning kid will will travel with her or his family to New York City to christen the WaterWorks aqua park on the ship, and will receive a free two-night cruise on the Carnival Dream when the ship makes its North American debut in November.

While the contest is all nice and good, its not really what I care about. What I think is newsworthy is the fact that for every entry in the Virtual Book of Dreams contest, Carnival Cruise Lines will make a $2 donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Furthermore, the line will donate $1 for each vote on the Virtual Book of Dreams Web site, with a maximum contribution of $25,000.

For such a huge company, I think that's a pretty paltry amount of money but it will still do a lot of good for the hospital. And I suppose considering how bad the cruise industry has it right now, with millions of dollars in losses, $25,000 might actually be a lot of money (right now).

So if any of you have kids or know a kid between 7 and 12 tell them to enter and do their part to help out other kids in need. To enter the Virtual Book of Dreams contest, children must complete the thought "I'm always dreaming up fun stuff. Wouldn't it be awesome if..." in 250 words or less, along with a corresponding hand-drawn picture. The entries must be submitted on the contest Website by the parents or legal guardians of the children who wish to enter. Entries must be received before Sept. 18, 2009. Four finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges, and one Wild Card finalist will be selected via public online voting (remember $1 for every online vote!). The public will then vote for the winner.