So so.......rip off!

Item: Carnival Dream
Rating: 3.5
Author: 817Stewart

Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

817Stewart

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 10, 2017

Ship: Carnival Dream

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 7360

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

I'm sorry, but knowing that we wasted almost a $1000 on that drink package left us with such an attitude that it has overshadowed the whole experience! I tried to be fair on the other specific reviews.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

It was our first cruise, didn't know what to expect, we purchased a suite and it went pretty fast.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

The food was pretty good, deserts, not so great. Drink? VERY DISSATISFIED! We are not big partiers, this was our first week of of work in 18 yrs and decided to buy the cheers package. There was no alcohol in those drinks. I may have 1 drink a month on a regular basis, I ordered a lot of drinks and never ever had one that I felt any effect from. I didn't pay for that package to get drunk, however, I do feel like I was robbed! That was a lot of money for us!

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Had a hard time finding places outside in the shade that weren't smoking areas or really loud

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The cabin was very nice and clean. It was a big spurge for us! There was a door on the hot tub below our room that kept banging open and closed all night. I asked someone about it and thought it was fixed then by the last couple nights it's was left open again or still broken. They did clean the class on the balcony mid week, which really helped, but if you sit on the balcony you couldn't see anything.

Ship tip

DONT BUY THE CHEERS PACKAGE!!!! What a rip off! We didn't buy the package to get drunk, but this was our first week off work in 18 years and thought we just didn't want to worry about how much every beverage cost. Problem is there was no alcohol, or very watered down. I am 59 years old and probably only have 1 drink a month when out to dinner, and I can tell I had a drink. I would order a couple drinks in a row and nothing, I ordered two Long Island ice teas' in a row.....nothing!!!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5

Key West, Florida Did not visit port

Itinerary changed

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Freeport, Grand Bahama Island Did not visit port

Itinerary changed

Thumbs Up 0

Nassau, Bahamas Did not visit port

Itinerary changed

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Could not have been any easier!

28 Comments

cherylh 7 years ago

I don't get it either because I'm happy with 1-3 drinks a day and maybe a beer or two and that's pushing it because of ports. My tab for two was only a little over $400 for two of us and we ordered whenever we wanted something. This time there's 3 of us and one is a drinker and one won't touch the stuff. So no it won't pay for us, I'd rather spend the money of fun stuff to do.

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levine 7 years ago

good for you Drawdep. we wanna do fun things not get ship faced. my thinking exactly.

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batch123 7 years ago

So why did you spend that? Did someone make you buy it? It's your own fault.

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Drawdep 7 years ago

Never have gotten the drink package in 13 cruises and don't regret it. I don't like to pay for something ahead of time and forcing myself to make it beneficial. With 3-4 port days, embankment day and so forth, there is too much time where you can't take advantage of it. I also don't like to totally get Ship faced, only ship buzzed.

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levine 7 years ago

so sad

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jess38 7 years ago

My husband and I got the drink package on our 1st cruise and we thought it was worth it. I will never cruise again without getting the drink package

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twangster 7 years ago

"Almost" $1000 and that's for two. $800 is almost $1000.

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ronfrank09 7 years ago

I dont like the taste of alcohol so i dont need the drink package. But $1000 for a drink package!? Was that a typo or was Jesus turning water into wine on that cruise?

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maryred 7 years ago

You really need to examine what went wrong. If purchased pre-cruise, a week long Cheers package is about $402.10 per person. Since all regular single serve drinks are included to see how the program fail to pay off. For DH and I we always get it, unless the casino is giving us a DOU card from day 1. We do not do alcohol until after 4 pm, and will maybe get an alcoholic drink every 2 hours, we never reached anywhere near the 15 drink cut off. Here's an example of a typical port day for us... $3.95 - speciality coffee before breakfast. $1.95 - pineapple juice from Lido bar at breakfast. $3.90 - 2x bottled waters for port. $5.50 - milk shake or virgin frozen drink at lunch or as soon as we return to ship. $1.95 - for soda or bottled water before heading to cabin to change for dinner. $14.50 - 2x glass of wine before and with dinner. $2.95 - speciality coffee with dessert. $17.90 - 2x classic cocktails at the main show and comedy show. $6.75 - nightcap to take back to cabin. $58.35 if ordered a la carte. So right there we save $9 per person per day, while only ordering 5 alcoholic drinks. But on seadays we have even more of the unlimited non-alcoholic choices saving us even more. Giving us at least $200 off our bar bill (+ it's paid for before boarding). Now if you're the type of passenger that prefers just beers or wants your drinks in souvenir cups then none of the drink packages are really for you.

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willwork4cruz 7 years ago

Fortunately it is your choice to buy any packages. Do you math homework first and you won't be disappointed.

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twangster 7 years ago

Agreed. Better they don't just increase all fares $400 and make it included. Sometimes while on medication some folks can't drink alcohol. Some don't drink for other reasons. To each their own.

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FuneralGirl1971 7 years ago

It's definitely something the purchaser needs to figure out for themselves. If I drank like my husband drinks then it would be a no-brainer to buy it. Since for us that is not the case it's cheaper to pay as we go. Cheers to vacation!!

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levine 7 years ago

maybe you should not drink then. I know that's asking alot cause you're on vacation but just try it. I used to look forward to a fun ship drink every time I cruised but when they raised the price up the buck stopped here. I haven't had any since 2013 and learned to have a good time without it. I don't even miss it.i did more excursion like snorkeling which I like better.just try it. if it doesn't work out at least you tried.LOL

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tikishoppua 7 years ago

Exactly, twangster.

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twangster 7 years ago

You sail at 4 but board noon in most cases. You are not charged for disembark day. You don't have to be hard core to make it work, however if one person doesn't drink then you are better to go on demand. Even on port days, Mimosa at breakfast, beer upon returning. Two glasses of wine at dinner, cocktail at a show. Night cap possibly later. Frozen concoctions somewhere in there. I rarely am off the ship from the moment it arrives to the posted departure time, sometimes I come back for lunch. I drink more on vacation, I'm on vacation. 🍻🍹🥂🍾

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kayciara 7 years ago

you just helped me make my decision @mrspotter

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FuneralGirl1971 7 years ago

But what some people do not consider is that on your first day you sail at 4 pm. The last day you get off the ship at eight in the morning. Usually you're off the boat most of the day on three port days. One is only actually on the ship for sea days for only two or three days. Unless both people are hard-core drinkers and/ or do not get off the ship on port days it is not worth it. My husband drinks a lot, me not so much. We usually walk off the ship with a $300-$400 drink tab. It is not even close to being worth it for us. We calculated it out a few years ago so luckily we have not wasted money. We have bought the bubbles package in the past but since each person in the room can bring a 12 pack of soda, I'm contemplating not doing the bubble package this time. I've got two weeks to figure out if it's worth the trouble.

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tikishoppua 7 years ago

With Cheers (15 drinks/day) 7 days x $50 x 2 people = $700 plus 15% = $805. Without Cheers, say 6 cocktails per day at $10, 7 days x $60 x 2 people= $840 plus 15% gratuity. So, with that in mind, are you saying you didn't have at least 5 cocktails per day and that's why you wasted "almost $1000"?

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tikishoppua 7 years ago

We love the Cheers package, but don't use it on short cruises. As mentioned above, if you have 5 or 6 drinks a day, you've paid for your package. Do your homework, know your ports stops. If you feel you "wasted" $1k, that's really on you. If you had 5 or 6 drinks a day, then it wasn't really a waste.

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twangster 7 years ago

You don't have to 15 to break even with Cheers. 5-6 alcohol drink and it pays for itself. Sharing a package is not allowed but since people refused to follow the rules they had to make the rule that everyone over 21 buys the package if anyone does. This policy was a direct result of cheaters.

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srthoma1 7 years ago

We have never done the Cheers package. I did purchase it this time for our cruise coming up Oct 1. Hate to hear someone said it was a waste. Our past cruises have been around 500 bar tab. And we were trying to be conservative. We shall see how this cruise goes. Now that energy drinks, milkshakes, specialty coffee, and others have been included, I think it's worth it to us anyway.

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sfcvan 7 years ago

Not too many people drink 15 or so drinks a day. They do take advantage of you if there's more than one adult in a cabin, all have to purchase one. So 90 percent of the the time it's not worth buy the drink package.

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pacrat 7 years ago

I agree shingling.

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shingaling 7 years ago

817Stewart, I think alot of people have found themselves in your situation. They really overestimate how much they will drink. And few people factor in port days, where perhaps a majority of your drinks will be in port rather than on the ship.

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pacrat 7 years ago

that also depends on what you're drinking.

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swearinerin 7 years ago

how many times does this question have to come up? it's simple. will you drink 5+ drinks a day? then worth it.

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cbcruisin 7 years ago

Did you not get your monies worth?

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moserfam 7 years ago

I was debating on purchasing it. So you're saying it isn't worth it?

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