Carnival Fun: It's Midnight - Do you know where your parents are? :-)

Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

JohnsonL

Contributor Level: Cruise Director

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 299

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Exotic Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 15, 2014

Ship: Carnival Dream

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

The Carnival Dream, Western Caribbean itenary, was the second cruise my wife and I have taken with just the two of us. It's also the second mid-winter cruise we have taken since prior cruises occurred during the summer when our children were out of school. In summary, the cruise was fantastic; we danced, we enjoyed music, late night comedy shows, we met other fun-loving guests, participated in game shows, went to informational sessions, had a fabulous balcony room and great service at our table and in our cabin. Having cruised eastern, western, and southern Caribbean multiple times, excursions were relaxed for us and found us shopping at familiar locations, relaxing at local restaurants while listening to local musicians, and finding our own way for excursions, although we do advise new cruisers to give cruise line sponsored excursions serious consideration. Our previous cruise as a couple, two months earlier, was on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. As RCCL advocates can tell you Freedom of the Seas has great service and Carnival Dream did the Carnival Cruise Lines proud in this area. We would be happy to cruise on either of these two ships at any time in the future. However they are different. For example Freedom's single main dining room is large, formal, and reserved compared to the glitz, fun, dancing and singing performances of the Carnival Dream dining rooms. Both provided good food, prepared well, with great service. More fun versus more formality, both memorable and enjoyable. Both ships have upscale dining at additional costs. Our Steakhouse dinner on the Dream was comparable to the finest restaurants on land in quality and service. Basics such as on boarding, access to excursions, services, ability to handle the large numbers of guests were more than adequate. We did prefer the RCCL Windjammer for its service process on the first day as the wait staff assisted the crush of hungry guests transition from travelers to find open seats and become well fed cruisers. The Lido on Carnival was familiar with food that is upscale buffet for selections, variety and quality. A nod to RCCL in this area. Cabins on Carnival are a bit larger and more comfortable. Shipboard activities are plenty on both although Carnival has better scheduling so that it is easier to get to the events you want to attend. Freedom has great big shows; Carnival has a great variety of fun places for around the clock enjoyment. Fun Ship is a slogan that was delivered on the Carnival Dream and we can't wait for the next cruise. One final comment is that bigger is not better. We have cruised on the 'largest' ship on several occasions and we know that experienced quality, great entertainment and great service make a great cruise.