Very nice for Carnival

Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 49

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Dream

7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 09, 2015

Ship: Carnival Dream

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8268

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

I really didn't want to sail on Carnival again, but the departure port was non-negotiable.

The boarding process was as complicated as it was before, altho a bit quicker (was on board within 45 minutes). The cabins were ready when we boarded, which was a nice surprise.

The food was good, but not four or five star--for that, there was a surcharge. I have to single out my dining team, because they were absolutely extraordinary -- Jose, Anthonius and Zoya. Ask for them if you want superb service!

The big failure was in Guest Services. It is (literally) impossible to get them on the phone, so you have to go down to the 3rd level. No matter what time between 9 am and 9 pm, there was a line. On the last two days, as expected, the line was long, and the crew members snarly. They are open 24 hours but I valued my sleep.

I used a shore excursion from and cannot say enough good about it. In Cozumel we chose the "Chocolate, Tacos and Tequila" and had an absolute blast. It is held at the Discover Mexico Museum, and is so much more than anticipated. There is a scale model walk-through of all the ancient Mayan temples which is astonishing. There is a professional-level tequila tasting, which taught me a lot more than expected. If you go on this excursion ask for Erick. You can't go wrong. 

The BIGGEST disaster was the tendering at Belize. It was extremely disorganized, and time-consuming. If it hadn't been for the fact that Belize does not have daylight savings time we would have missed the excursion connection.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
We had a wonderful steward, Charles, who was always available. I was taken ill from an allergic reaction, and he stepped in to make sure I was taken care of while in the cabin. The towel animals were so cute and imaginative -- the duck and frog were extraordinary.

Ship tip

Altho Room Service is posted as 24/7 there are no breakfast items by phone and only contintenal breakfasts by door tag. You are much better off going to the Lido deck for the breakfast buffet. The Room Service menu does not change with the dayis the same for the entire cruise.

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

1 out of 5
Port very dirty, despite being a dedicated Carnival port.

Belize City, Belize

3 out of 5
Getting to the destination required a tender, which was the most disorganized thing about the cruise. Thank heavens they were one hour behind or we would have missed our excursion despite being in the departure area as soon as it opened.

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5
After disembarking, use the pedicabs. It is almost a half mile from the gangway to the flea market!
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4 Comments

Whittfamily    9 years ago

I agree with you the guest services line was crazy all the time. The BIG thing why FTF was worth it! My husband had library books to return to guest services on last sea day. We went down to guest services and no joke the regular line was over 50 people long. FTF line no one, he walked right up and was waited on. He turned to me and said that was worth the $50 bucks. We had a excursion in Belize so didn't use the FTF tendering. But they gave us all the info for it. We also called guest services once and they answered right away, I wonder if that was cause we had FTF. 

Babygirl94    9 years ago

Miami too is great

glomarrone    9 years ago

I have taken so many cruises on Carnival that I am now Platinum Level and receive Free Laundry service, which I love especially on a longer cruise.  I was happy to read that you had a very good cruise on Carnival Dream.  I have cruised on her too.  Although you had a few issues, it was nice to know that you didn't let them spoil your vacation.  Thanks for posting.

Babygirl94    9 years ago

Next time dont trouble yourself. There are 2 kiosks located on the ship. You can add money to your account, take money off your account, change bills, and print out your summary. Now if thats NOT what you need, sorry :-(

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