Unfortunately, Carnival Dream has been more of a nightmare since we left New York yesterday as the sea is rough, the wind is well, windy, it's grey outside and generally very unpleasant.
Even more unfortunate is the fact that the filthy weather means they can't open the waterslides so I have not been able to have a go on them. There's the 303ft-long Twister, the DrainPipe, which they describe as a giant funnel attached to a 104ft spiral slide and an 80ft racing slide.
Luckily, I managed to have a good look around the ship while we were tied up in New York and it was still possible to walk in a straight line. I'm pleased to report that my first impressions were correct - the interior design is a lot less outlandish than on previous Carnival ships.
That's deliberate, according to Joe Farcus, the interior architect who has designed Carnival's ships for more than 30 years, who says he is trying to raise the image of the ships. So out go the mermaids and Medusa heads, and in come muted, calmer designs.
Well almost. Farcus decided to have a little "concept design" fling in the Burgundy Lounge, which is all based on carnival in Venice with masks on the walls and ceilings. This is the room that has the Dr Who-style giant red spiders.
While I might not want his designs in my house, I admire his imagination and have always been amazed at the attention to detail he gives to everything he creates. Whether outlandish or muted, that hasn't changed.
There are several really nice features on this ship. The kids' and teens areas are huge - I even caught myself saying "wow" as I went inside Club O2, for the 15-17s, as it is enormous - and they have made clever use of the atrium, with a stage above the bar.
The Serenity adults-only area, above the spa and split over two decks, will be good when they are cruising the Caribbean from Port Canaveral in the sunshine. I especially like these big whicker hooded chairs - remarkably similar to the ones on the Celebrity Solstice-class ships!
There's also a great new so-called inside/outside Ocean Plaza entertainment area on deck five, which houses the main public areas of the ship.
What makes this area different is that instead of being a corridor with net-curtained windows so you can't see out, as you get on the equivalent deck on other ships, one section on Dream has floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors leading from the inside to, yes, you've guessed it, the outside.
More specifically out to the Promenade deck, where there are "scenic" whirlpools. At least I'm told they are scenic; in this weather I am happy to take their word for it.
The Ocean Plaza itself has a coffee bar, a stage for a live band, a dance floor and a bar, a combination of features that seems to make it work well as a venue in the daytime and in the evenings as well.
One of my favourite areas is The Gathering, a strange name for the self-service restaurant. It's awful at breakfast, because all the food is in a line so you have to queue past the milk, yogurt, fruit, cereals and so on before getting to the hot stuff. Fine if you want it all, tedious if, like me, you just want a bit of bacon or a bread roll.
However, come lunchtime, this place transforms into my idea of heaven, with different stations serving different food from around the world. There's a Mongolian wok area - I filled a bowl with vegetables, took it to Joseph and he stir-fried it all up with meat and sauce of my choice. It was hot, fresh and tasty. Just perfect.
There is also an outdoor tandoori and a new Pasta Bar, in its own area above the rest of the self-service. As I can't decide which to have today, I'm planning to try them both. Not great for the diet I know, but so far I haven't been very impressed with dinner so I'm making up for that. Or at least that's my story.
Up one more deck from the Pasta Bar is the Chef's Art steakhouse, the speciality restaurant. It's very elegant and from past experience on a Carnival ship the food will be good, but we've not had a chance to eat there because this is a revenue cruise to nowhere and they want passengers to have first pick of the tables as they are paying $30 per person supplement.
Jane Archer
