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Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 7
Helpful Votes: 243

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Carnival Dream

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 24, 2016

Ship: Carnival Dream

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10272

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Our Embarkation was quite good, the new "appointment style" worked very well. We did arrive sooner than our 12:30 appointment, since we had to check out of our hotel before noon and all, so we figured on waiting outside for awhile. We were there only a few minutes before our time was called, 15 minutes early!  The Dream was a very nice ship, we were very pleased with the service and the way bartenders in our favorite bar, The Lanai, knew our names and used them all week long. The food was absolutely delicious!  We signed up for Your Time Dining, as we have the previous two cruises. But, this time, we experienced long lines and long wait times, especially for the first formal night. We made reservations at the Chef Art Steakhouse for the second formal night just to avoid the long wait at Your Time. Could it be that the slot has become so popular that these lines are now a regular problem?  It wasn't the end of the world, we waited at the Atrium bar and had a glass of wine. By the time Saturday came around, we hardly had a wait at all, strange!  The Steakhouse was over the top, we felt as though we were in a posh San Francisco restaurant, very intimate. We did wonder why some others in the room didn't know it was formal night, though! Our Room Steward was always around and very helpful. Our cabin was a balcony on Lido Deck, we have been there the last two cruises, too, great location and no noise at all. I only wish the weather had been better, we really looked forward to warm, sunny days, but that cannot be helped, of course!  We loved New Orleans, we stayed there three days before the cruise left. All in all, a great vacation!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
We heard the games in Ocean Plaza each afternoon, fun games, but my girlfriend and I (she and her husband and another couple traveled with us) like to play Mexican Train or Rummicube, we would try to answer the trivia questions ourselves, though!

Entertainment

3 out of 5
We didn't attend any shows.

Children's Programs

We were surprised by the number of children on this cruise, though. They didn't get underfoot but on Saturday one group took over a whole hot tub. Hmm, I didn't think those were safe for kids.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Alexis, our Room Steward, Alexandru in Crimson 3, Ni and Zusana at the Lanai Bar -- all gave us excellent service!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Not much different from all the other balcony cabins we have had, it's fine, we only sleep in it! Balcony is always nice, though, we get to watch flying fish, turtles and the like! We had to close our cabins when we were berthed right next to the Carnival Fascination, though. No big deal but we got to see a lot of that ship with our view!

Ship tip

The Chef Art Steakhouse was absolutely wonderful, can't say enough about it! And, I really don't understand how folks can diss the dining room food, it was great, every bit of it. Beautifully presented and delicious. Lido Deck Buffet "The Gathering" was pretty good, too, no complaints!

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5
Go to Pat O's for a great hurricane and good food!

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5
Wear walking shoes -- if it's windy, wear waterproof shoes! We walked to the end of the pier from the ship, about 1.5 miles. Had Margaritas at the Original Margaritaville, too!

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

3 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5
We were asked to stay within tourist areas, though. We should have booked the Paradise Island excursion, we heard good things about it.
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