Carnival Dream Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Despite the long drive..we enjoyed the cruise. Carnival is the most family-friendly cruiseline, we like the amenities, the activities on board  & off board are fun, & our kids enjoy Camp Carnival. Thanks!

We chose this cruise because we did it last year and loved it.  This year we soon found they were economizing.  We were asked to choose morning or evening room service..the stewards were taking care of 40 rooms instead of 20 we were told.  Also, we checked a list of things we wanted..robe for instance. Things we thought were automatic.  Another thing, we were told the dining room service will be changing.

I just completed my 12th cruise with Carnival and feel that it may be time to move to a competitor.  This saddens me because I have invested time and money to get to the Platinum level which brings many perks. 

Here is a short summary...

The embarkation process was smooth and we were on board shortly after arriving at port.  Although we had priority embarkation due to Platinum status, I didn't see long lines of people and did not hear any complaints.

Food was definitely lacking in quality.  I seldom eat on the Lido deck as it seems more chaotic but on sea days for lunch you are pretty much stuck with that option.  Food was cold and unappealing. The specialty restaurants such as the grill and the pasta bar were okay, not great.  Meals in the dining room for dinner were fine albeit it took nearly 1 1/2 hours each night for dinner to finish. Definitely seems like a shortage of wait staff in the dining room.  This is much different from what I have become accustomed to from previous Carnival cruises. My steak wife ordered the "optional" steak for dinner one night at an additional cost of $20.00, there again, it was okay but not great.

Room service was fine but now they ask you if you prefer a morning room refresh or an evening refresh.  Also, they now ask if you want your sheets changed during the cruise.  We had a small LCD TV in our room that never did work right, it would dim to black every couple of minutes and the sound was terrible.

Not that I am a drinker but I generally purchase a couple of bottles to bring back as gifts.  Now the policy is that if you purchase on board or on shore the liquor is held until the day of debarkation.  Previously it was held until the night before which enabled you the time to pack it in your luggage before it was taken that night for movement from the ship. Now you need to go to deck 4 on the final morning and wait in line with many other people to get your liquor and there is nowhere to store it, you must carry it off.  You do not meet up with your bags again until you are off the ship.  I guess you could pack it in the bags then but it is a frenzy of activity and would be challenging.  

Do yourself a favor and do not make a watch or jewelry purchase on board.  They claim to have a "price protection" guarantee, which technically they do.  I bought a watch for $125.00 in one of the shops only to find it online for $99.00.  I called to make a claim for the difference only to be told they do not honor internet pricing.  Hmmm.... Maybe you should state that when you are touting the greatness of the price guarantee?  Just a thought, seems shady to me.

For me, I think it is time to cruise with the competition.

Weather, which Carnival of course has no control over, was the worst part of the trip.  We only had 3 days of nice tropical weather.  It was quite windy and chilly the rest of the time.  Strong winds created a lot of movement on the ship.

That said, the ship itself is outstanding!  Lots more food options than the last cruise we took (12 years ago).  The spa was wonderful.  Also greatly enjoyed the spa sun deck, where only adults are allowed.

We had an interior cabin to save money, as we spend little time in the cabin.  The bed was very comfortable.  My husband was sick one day and we pretty much did stay in the cabin, but we were very comfortable.

I had an excellent time. The wait staff was great. I enjoyed  the shows and entertainment very much. I can't wait to do it again. I thank Leo Knapp for the great planning.

Review is 5.

My husband and I really enjoyed our cruise with Carnival Dream.

Mr. P kept our room clean and in good order through the entire trip. When I asked for additional hangers, I received them quickly. We appreciate him for his excellent care of us.

Our dining in the Scarlet Dining Room was excellent. Japa, Amil and Jonathan gave us exceptional service and we dined in this space each evening of the cruise. They always greeted us by name and took care of our every wish and need. I cannot praise them enough.

Room service failed to deliver us coffee one morning when we asked for it but the next time we requested early coffee, we got it. When I initially called for an extension cord for my CPAP machine, Mr. P got it for me immediately.

The only recommendation I have for improvement is supplying spaces and tables suitable for playing cards and other games. Only one table is really suitable for a group in the library area. Playing scrabble is not good on deck 10 or in the eating area as it is too loud to concentrate in these areas.

Entertainment was excellent. However smoking in the gaming area prevented me from enjoying this area. It was unpleasant going through this smoked filled area to get to other areas for entertainment.

The majority of the people who helped us were very courteous and friendly. Overall our experience was excellent.

Margaret and John Derryberry

Crew were excellent, the ship was clean & very large which took most of the trip to figure out how to get around. The entertainment(main shows) was very lacking & inferior  to other cruises I have been on.  The Food was good but  the bread & deserts were boring.  The embarkation process was worst I have seen.    I lost count of the number of check points & therefor lines we had to go through.

We had a good cruise on the 10 day Carnival Dream from San Juan to New Orleans.  We made stops in two new ports we had not visited previously.  They were St. Kitts and Dominica.  Enjoyed both ports and would be happy to visit them again.  The ship was wonderful and we really love that class.  It has so many deck areas for relaxing, as well as multiple hot tubs.  The outside promenade deck is great for walking.  An excellent ship design.  We did not think the food was up to past Carnival standards.  We also wish the captain would have provided a daily weather report.  There also seemed to be a reduction in the number of entertainment shows compared to past cruises. However, the shows presented were outstanding.  The crew was very welcoming and get high marks from us.  Musical groups were not up to past standards.  The exception was Lado,the violin duo who were great. 

Our contact, K Larue, was great and we will use her again.  This is the first time we used and it was an excellent experience.

My husband and I just finished 21 days aboard the Carnival Dream.  We did a back to back with this trip being the second cruise of the 21 days.  THE ENTIRE CRUISE WAS AWESOME!!!!  We love Carnival and I am only a few cruises away from being Diamond!!

Had a  wonderful time, The ship was in great shape with a very congenial crew and great service. Our room stewardess was very helpful and always had a smile.

I left an additional gratuity for our waiter Eka who was super. The food was great with the exception of the meat. Had a New York strip in the steak house that I could not cut. Had Chateaubriand in main dining room that was the same quality as the steak house. With the exception of two bad meals the entire trip was Excellent.

Keep up the good work.

Jerry & Lurline Gerdes

Great stewards, wait staff, and food! The itinerary was great. Bonaire was my favorite. We hit some big swells so we didn't get to dock in St. Maarten but we had plenty to do aboard ship. The staff made sure there were plenty of activities.

The room steward was great. The crew was excellent with one exception. I called guest services and talked to a man to see if we could get a dinner table for my whole family (eleven people) for a last dinner on board. I paid for all 11 people. The man I talked to was abrupt and rude. He declined my request which was fine but he didn't need to have such a bad attitude. Secondly, I strongly object to the policy of opening luggage and confiscating a bottle of liquor. You could save it and return it after the cruise, as you do with liquor bought on shore. It's not the $40. cost it is the principal. My son Matt had 2 bottles in his luggage and you didn't touch it. I will not book another cruise of Carnival. Third there  was rust on the metal outside my balcony. I have not seen rusty metal on other cruise ships I've been on (Celebrity & Viking). 

Nice cruise overall and I would have given four stars if it weren't for having to miss a port of call due to "rough waters " making it unable to dock the ship safely. There were two other ship that came in at the same time while we were trying to dock and they were able to dock except for us.....strange.

 The rest of the trip was amazing, the food was good and they provided much entertainment on the ship.

We had a fantastic time on the Dream Journey B2B cruise. We had spa cabins and we enjoyed the cloud 9 facilities. The Thallso pool was continually having problems with the drain covers. Loose tiles and some screws resulted. The overall decor needs attention.

I was disappointed that there were very few people under the age of 50 on this cruise because we went with our 21 year old daughter and 18 year old son.  My daughter still managed to find the few people in her age group.  My other disappointment was the last day of the cruise.  The captain could not dock in St. Maarten due to rough seas but two other ships managed to dock.  They also had the option to use tenders to shuttle people to the island but chose to leave instead.  The island stops on this cruise are very beautiful, especially Aruba and St. Kitts.  We only used Carnival for one excursion, Te Amo Beach Snorkel in Bonaire.  I highly recommend this for people who want to snorkel near shore or have never snorkeled before.  Great guides and beautiful fish.  The food on the ship was only fair.  The only standout was the pizza place on the Lido deck by the big pool--it was very delicious.  The dinner in the restaurants was good, but the best dining we had was in the Steakhouse.  The food was spectacular and well worth the money.  Try this at least once, my family is still talking about it.

The Dream is a very pretty ship and very clean, the help is always friendly, entertainment is very good.  We really enjoyed the "Black Jack Band" .  That is the best music on any ship we have been on.

My wife and I are both 80 plus years of age and were really looking forward to this trip.  The Port of New Orleans was wonderful and got us on the ship quickly.  It is obvious that the ship is for a "walking crowd".  Those of us in wheel chairs and scooters were left to fend for themselves.  Elevators were a nightmare and closed before completely getting in.  Dining rooms are too compact and tables had to be moved to accommodate us. This sometimes required people to stand while they were eating and move out of the way.  The theater has very little wheelchair seating which was never enough for this cruise.  We had a handicapped cabin which was adequate for our needs.  (#9453)  Unfortunately, during the cruise, our gentle rocking turned into "heavy rumbling:, so the last several nights, there was little to no rest for us.  Debarkation was a nightmare.  On board the handicapped were helped to the pier.  The gentleman that was wheeling me, almost threw me from the chair going down the gangway.  Other passengers came to my aid and helped to "right" the chair.  The terminal was total chaos.  The line for handicapped was full of people who were staying on board that were pushing and shoveing anybody and everybody.  It appears there was no line for the people to get off that were doing the back-to-back.  It needs taken care of prior to the next cruise.  Very bad situation.  All of these conditions fall back on Carnival.  

     Just got back from our 21 day cruise on Carnival Dream from New Orleans to San Juan and back to New Orleans.  We booked a cove balcony and I just loved it.  Down low where you are almost on the ocean itself.  Loved listening to the ocean waves.

     Had Allan as room Steward for 1st leg of cruise and Heru for 2nd leg of cruise.  Both did a great job.  Harlee in the omelet section was fantastic and after 3 days knew what I wanted without asking!!  Giddyup and Gide dining room headwaiter and 2nd waiter were just great.

     Wasn't to impressed with the shows.  They did have a country western show called 8 seconds and that one was fantastic!!  The hypnotizer wasn't that good.  Don't think any of the people were actually under.

The Carnival Dream was everything we could of asked for in a cruise! The crew was very friendly, efficient and knowledgeable, the ship was clean and easy to get around on and the food was fantastic. We previously crusised mostly on a different cruise line and was a little apprehensive about Carnival. We need not have feared! Carnival hit every mark and then some. 

The overall cruise was very good and my kids have lots of fun. They want to do it again... 

Very good and friendly staffs like the servers and the stewards especially I Putu- our dining server for the whole cruise and our room steward-Nenga who are exceptional in their services. 

Would definitely do it again.