Is it just the Carnival Dream that’s bad, or is all of Carnival Cruise going this way?

Carnival Dream Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

DaveinTexas

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 13, 2024

Ship: Carnival Dream

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1201

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 4 months ago

Review summary

We just got back from the 8 Days Eastern Caribbean Carnival Cruise from Galveston Texas on the Carnival Dream. My question is, is it just the Carnival Dream that’s bad, or are all Carnival Cruises going this way? For background: My wife and I aren’t professional cruisers. But we’ve done six cruises together split between Carnival and Royal Caribbean. On this cruise we took our four kids with us. If this had been my first cruise, I’d never cruise again. As it is, I’m not sure I’ll ever go on Carnival again. This is the first time I’ve ever left this sort of negative feedback that I can recall. First for the good news: The sweet folks who took care of our room and dinner were GREAT as always. The black lady comedian on the first night was hilarious. It doesn’t seem like their people are the problem. The ports of call were great. Now for the not-good news. Getting food or a drink was always a challenge. We got used to waiting in huge lines for a thin pizza or hamburger as our staples. The only drink that was regularly available was water. We jokingly called our time in line waiting for pizza our “bread and water” runs. We would take turns bringing food back for each other as the line, standing out in the heat, was so bad. Coming back from port, everything but these two restaurants seemed to close down 30 minutes after our arrival. Only half the bars were open. Our family spent much of our time sitting in the empty “Song” bar, which never opened, as it was a place we could sit and talk. The only bar and facilities that was always open and had short lines and servers available was the casino. I don’t smoke, but I smoked a lot this past week. As the only reasonably short bar line to get a drink was in the casino. I’d forgotten what second hand smoke smells like, but it was the only reliable way to get a drink. We never got to see a show. There was only one I heard of, but the last showing was cancelled, out of “an abundance of caution”. (Not sure what that means.) Some of our friends went on an activity with the cruise director. Apparently he wore a net shirt, and the evening consisted of men being told to kiss one-another, and hump each other’s legs. Cameras were confiscated as he didn’t want any pictures of this getting out. In the end, my memories are sadly of sitting in the empty Song Bar, and of my kids being bored. A large part of this cruise was to take a rare chance to get my entire family together for great memories together. My son is a Captain in the Air Force and is deployed much of the time. I really wanted him to have some fun family time. He’s the kind of great kid who never has a foul word for anyone. But after he got home he texted me that, “Dad, honestly if I could go back in time and tell myself not to go on that trip, I would.” Ouch! I also wish I’d saved my money and our time. Staying home the food and entertainment options would have been MUCH better. We had a lot of time to sit together and ponder who this cruise was catering to, as it certainly wasn’t us. Our conclusion was it was really meant for smoking gamblers and gross-behavior. Is all of Carnival going this way, or is it just the Carnival Dream that should be avoided?

Embarkation

2 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

3 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

3 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

3 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

16 Comments

DaveinTexas 3 months ago

Thank you all. The "Grayhound" comment made me laugh, it's exactly how I felt. We've cruised before on the Carnival Breeze and Magic (sister ships to the Dream) and had a great time back then. But it really seemed like the cruise catered just to gamblers and "adult" activities (asking married guys to kiss other guys) that my Christian son didn't want to do. Carnival should advertise that honestly, and not fun family vacations. (And then go out of business.) Then I could have kept my son at home during the only 7 days I got with him this summer between deployments. We would have cooked out, seen a show, and had a lot more fun than we had on the cruise. We made friends with a couple of other couples on the cruise who said they understood that a HUGE population on the cruise were gamblers who were on a free cruise if they gambled. That really made sense. My wife and I returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise one week before we took the kids on this Carnival cruise - and the difference COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE STARK. I'm going Royal Caribbean next time, or trying out something new. But it won't be Carnival!

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KathleenLunn 4 months ago

We love Carnival. Sorry you had a bad experience. We usually go out of Florida but we have used South Carolina and Norfolk. Mardi Gras was my favorite so far.

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daisydoozy 4 months ago

We weren't impressed with our cruise on the Dream either. Food was awful except for Guys Burgers. The pizza lines were so long that we only got pizza once and it was tasteless. We're done with Carnival even though we had some good cruises with them way before covid.

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javawoody 4 months ago

Appreciate your comments

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Gwbigdog 4 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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Shh813 4 months ago

Wow, don’t understand how it was so bad. We’ve been on 10 cruises and loved them all. Hope if you go again it will be better. To us, cruising is the best vacation ever!!!

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Sogmoore 4 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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Gravel6 4 months ago

My cruise group absolutely steers clear of Carnival. It’s too sketchy. So many better options for civilized souls.

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NCLARRY 4 months ago

It’s like the old saying “You get what you pay for”. A low price very seldom means great things are going to happen. If you want a first class experience you’re going to have to pay

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jimbo502 4 months ago

Carnival is now the greyhound water bus. No glamor at all, but it’s better than nothing. Just don’t expect too much in return and make the best of it. My 20th carnival cruise coming up in a few months and I still like them. Lines are long everywhere. Be patient and wait your turn…

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cruising2004 4 months ago

Love the Dream! Sorry you and your family were disappointed with this cruise.

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crusin4gramma 4 months ago

Well, like most I've had good and bad on almost all cruiselines! The event most likely was "Quest" and most likely the captain was not involved! They do always take cameras- social media is the reason! Quest is a blast, but it's not for those easily offended! Too bad you could not make the most of your time together, instead of consentrating on all rhe negative.

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starr68 4 months ago

It sounds like the "event " the cruise director did was Quest.. which I have never done but have heard it's a super fun ADULT game that, yes, can get very raunchy. Camera's are not allowed for obvious reasons. It's too bad your family didn't enjoy the cruise.

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diamondplus4lyf 4 months ago

I can't speak to what direction Carnival is going with their cruises but I can speak from experience that I've had bad cruises on both Carnival and Royal. We made the most of those and didn't let them tank our vacations.

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HeavySeas 4 months ago

Ok then.....thanks for sharing your cruise experience

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missnotanlines 4 months ago

Wow we did a 8 day Horizon in March none of this was true. The cruise director doing something like that I'm sure would be fired not sure I can truly believe this review.

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