Key West/Bahamas Cruise

Item: Carnival Dream
Rating: 3.5
Author: sararamirez0416

Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

sararamirez0416

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 28

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

Verified Review

6 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 07, 2022

Ship: Carnival Dream

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 7217

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

My family of four (2 kids ages 11/8) traveled to Key West/Bahamas on this cruise. The rooms were super small so we couldn't just hang out in the room. The kids had their own bed that popped down from the ceiling. The food on the ship was bland and they charge for coke/Pepsi, etc. so make sure you take your own 12-pack (you can do that, we didn't know). There wasnt too many shows for our kids to attend but they still had fun. the 80's night shows were amazing, the crew did an amazing job performing. CHECK YOUR CHARGES BEFORE THE LAST DAY! we almost got charged $116/each for gratuity ($464), went to guest services and got it removed. we tipped personally and in cash. The crew members were so helpful and amazing though!

Embarkation

3 out of 5

The process to board was hectic especially if your kids arent vaccinated.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

All the food was bland but the waiters/waitresses were amazing! They were all so nice and welcoming and made sure you had a great experience

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

The pools have salt water which my kids did not enjoy so they only used the pool twice the whole trip.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

The 80's Pop/80's Rock shows were awesome but they didnt have alot to do for my 11 year old.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Everyone was so nice and had a great attitude. They do work hard so that things flow as smoothly as possible.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The crew was always cleaning which kept the place pretty nice.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

It was four of us (2 kids 11/8) and the room was extremely small. we didnt have a balcony so it was difficult for us to just hang out in our room.

Ship tip

CHECK YOUR CHARGES EXPECIALLY THE TOWARDS THE END OF THE TRIP!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

It was pretty easy and quick to disembark

13 Comments

GSpringer 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

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nanabrock 2 years ago

Shame on you for cheating the crew members. They were not sneaking charges in on you! I prepay my gratuities and still give at least an additional $100.00 to $200.00 on top. I'm a single 60 year old that only gets to cruise every 3 or 4 years because of money. Please don't teach others to cheat the crew members.

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Luv2Cruise2014 2 years ago

Rookie move, Amigo! The Golden Rule of Cruising is: “If you can’t afford to pay gratuities (or tip), then you can’t afford to cruise.” Also, tipping may lead to better service in a lot of cases, which enhances your cruise experience.

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Kirstiesmom2001 2 years ago

Sorry you don’t like cruising

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xraymomma 2 years ago

Those gratuities you removed are shared with many people behind the scenes that you don’t see. It’s a shame those people worked so hard to take care of you and your family and you stiffed them because you can’t be bothered to read anything before you cruised. If you can’t afford to tip, don’t cruise.

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gwright1129 2 years ago

YOU REMOVED YOUR TIPS?!? Unbelievable! And then you announce it and you're proud? You should hang your head in shame! Those tips also go to people who work behind the scene... washing your sheets, clearing your mess on lido etc.... did you tip them all? Disgusting!

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Appreciate your feedback!

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us

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Dumfy75 2 years ago

If you weren’t expecting the gratuities to be added it can certainly be a shock, but at least you know for future! Ask if you can prepay your gratuities for your next cruise, I always do that as I really can’t face seeing it in my cruise bill, somehow it makes it easier to do it beforehand! Plus as others have said, you will never actually see a lot of the staff and crew who make your cruise experience great, so while it’s great that you tipped for good service, unfortunately a lot of deserving people miss out when the automatic gratuities are removed.

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Ramsey1986 2 years ago

I’m glad you enjoyed your apparently first cruise experience on the Carnival Dream. Now you will have a better idea of what to expect and plan for on your next cruise. We used to reallocate our tips at the front desk according to our usage of the different features of the ship but now we just let it ride and add extra cash for our room steward. The crews don’t get paid a lot and spend a long time away from their families. We have thoroughly enjoyed all of our 8 cruises so far and the service is always great.😎🚢☀️🩴🏝🪸🐠🌺

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willwork4cruz 2 years ago

mayred, that is an excellent breakdown of tipping. On top of that, most people who remove the auto-tips and say they pay in cash don't pay anything close to the recommended tips. I wish tipping was included in the fare. It would be cheaper for all because now, those who auto-tip, are charged more to make up for those who remove their tips.

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woody20 2 years ago

I would hope this was your first cruise that you didn’t know any of this beforehand.

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maryred 2 years ago

Thsnks for your review. But you should of checked the FAQs at Carnival.com prior to sailing concerning tipping. When you tip in cash on board you are expected give a little something each to your waiter, assistant waiter, jr. waiter/kitchen runner, and busperson for every meal and tips envelopes at the end of cruise to your cabin steward, assistant steward, and if used the on call housekeeping attenant. Also you hopefully tipped the public bathroom and changing area attendants as you used those facilities, well as those policing glasses & dishes, if you brought any of those from eatry venues to other public areas like outside. Also don't forget about the housekeepers that clean up any papers from activities and events. Otherwise unlike on land restaurants or hotels tips are not share (that's why cruise lines started do auto-collection of the gratuities) but directly pocketed by the employee handed to no matter how many other tip based crew helped them serve you.

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