Our First Cruise
Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 20, 2015
Ship: Carnival Dream
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 8429
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
Overall, we did really enjoy the experience that Carnival provided. Our two boys, ages 13 and 10 really had a good time between the water slides, pools, hot tubs, putt putt golf course, and football table. My husband and I enjoyed ourselves, but found that 7 nights was a bit long. Sharing a stateroom with our boys was a bit cramped. If we were to ever do this again, we would definitely look to get two separate rooms.
If if you are not willing to fork over the money for excursions once you dock, then buyer beware. We were at the mercy of the locals who were not very honest. This made for a bad experience that was still expensive.
Our favorite part of the cruise was getting to know our dining room servers. They made each evening so much fun for us and our children. We really looked forward to seeing Pik, Wayan, and Dewa! THEY WERE AWESOME! We will remember them always!
We also really enjoyed the magician, Rezaul. He was so down to earth and my boys still talk about him constantly. We also really enjoyed the juggling show by Dana Tison.
We we were disappointed with the cleanliness of the bathroom and our stateroom. My sister and her family have been on 4 other cruises besides this one and she said that this was easily the dirtiest ship she had been on. However, the cleaning was very helpful and friendly.
The food was good overall. We would definitely recommend the dining room for dinner just to change things up and receive exceptional service. You definitely will have plenty of options daily to choose from. We enjoyed eating on the Lido deck for breakfast because you could get anything that you wanted in small or large quantities.
My children did not use the kid's clubs at all and were old enough to play and swim while doing scheduled check ins. Again, overall an enjoyable experience...just too long and we weren't willing to pay the high prices for the offshore excursions, so things got a bit redundant day after day.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Ports of call
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
5 Comments
JusMe 8 years ago
For non ship excursions I can suggest the "Ship Mate" app for your smart phone. The app will let you get information on non ship excursions, join the chat of other people on the same cruise and also have information left by past travelers of where is good to eat and what is good to see in the ports that you will visit.
Most of all welcome to Cruising.
Ewoodspark 8 years ago
Excursions run by the cruise line are of course very expensive but there are plenty of alternative tour companies. However, these do need to be sorted out prior to sailing and you need to do a lot of homework to find the correct one for you. Leaving it to when you arrive in port is not a good idea as you can sometimes be ripped off. These are things you do learn however as you carry on cruising
noname111 8 years ago
Thank you for posting your review. Your comments were fair and honest, which I value in my decision-making when considering cruises on the same ship/itinerary.
You are absolutely correct about DIY excursions once reaching ports of call. This is a risk that we have opted out of, we either book through the cruise line or do a lot of online research and find a private excursioneer ahead of time. Happy sails!
dkf97 8 years ago
CrusinTim 8 years ago
Kudos on a great review and I am glad you enjoyed the Dream. We sailed the Dream back in 2010 and had a great time. Just a few suggestions if I may....On your next cruise, you really don't need to get 2 separate cabins, maybe just upgrade to an oceanview or a balcony. I feel it would be less expensive than getting 2 cabins and you will have more cabin space verses an inside for 4 people. As for the excursions, if you do some research pre-cruise, you will find that there are less expensive trips you can take on your own for no more than the cost of a cab. For example, when in Cozumel, you can take a taxi for $15 USD each way (for the cab, not per person) to Paradise Beach. There they have a huge pool, massages on the beach, jet ski's nearby and water toys for the kids. Entry is $2 USD and use of other amenities come additional. Day pass is $10 USD. When you see what you think you may like, go to Trip Advisor and see how your choices reviewed. I think with a larger cabin for your family, you may find that 7 day's may be to little for your cruise!! ;) Bon Voyage......