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: 8

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: 1 month 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?