Not a DREAM

Just got of the Dream today. I was on the Dream in 2012. We decided to check it out again and see how it is to port out of a river. We had two other couples with their 5 children ranging from 16 to 7. When I go on a cruise I like to do the competitions like basketball, bean bag (corn hole), dodge ball, ect... Their was only a free throw competition, no game. The bean bag competition was very stupid how it was done. There was no dodge ball. We did play bocce ball which was fun. I was on the Breeze in 2014 and they basketball, bean bag, ping pong, dodge ball. We had a great time on the Breeze. Back to the Dream. This was my brother-in-laws first cruise and i was hoping it would get him excited enough to want to cruise more. I did not see much excitement. He probably will not cruise again. The food I thought was good. We went to the dining room 5 nights out of the seven. Now, we had a balcony that was over looking one of the hot tubs. That hot tub was shut down most of the cruise. It had rust all over it and looked really worn down. I thought they did a remodel back in January but I might be mistaken. There is a really bad smell at certain times of the day and in certain areas. The Cruise Director Matt was awesome. I seen him everywhere on the cruise. Overall, I will stay away from the Dream. I will try the Breeze again. This was my second cruise this year. The first on was in February on the Allure. I know the Allure is new but it had all the competitions that I like. It should not be that hard for Carnival to have competitions. Oh well, that is my two cents.

Sorry that the Dream did not live up to your expectation. Maybe you can have your brother-in-law experience Breeze.

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We just got off The Pride and I am having some of the same feelings.....this poor old ship is in desperate need of some TLC and CLEANING!! We've sailed The Pride several times and this past trip I was mostly disappointed with the look of everything....we had a Vista Suite on deck 8 and the carpet was worn/frayed...the glass on the balcony was disgusting ( I know the salt water does leave a residue, but this looked like it had not been cleaned for weeks and had green stuff caked on it)...rust everywhere....we got two different notices that they would be cleaning the balconies on port days, they may have sprayed off the balcony, but did not clean that glass at all....

But the worst thing I saw....the serenity deck loungers....every single chair pad was stained with what I could only assume was tanning lotion...and they looked gross and some were torn...

Cosmetically, she's in tough shape....

Bean bag (corn hole) was the same on our Breeze cruise, not really a game. I would like to actually play the game, 2 boards 4 people ect.

That's a little distressing to hear how bad a shape it's in. I'm going on it next month with my GF. This is her first time cruising, and I really want her to enjoy herself so we can do more in the future. I guess too late to change anything now, so we'll just roll with it.

Hi Beller

Just wanted to mention, hard as it may seem, not all people fall in love with cruising. Your BIL may be one of those people.

For some especially those with younger families it is nice that some cruise lines offer ships that are a destination in themselves. I wouldn't say that Carnival ships fall in to that category.

You mentioned games, with three couples and five children, you would have been able to play basketball games, table tennis tournaments, dodgeball, etc...all by yourselves. These activities are always available, they don't have to be organized by the ships crew for you to have fun. I am sure you have heard it before, that the vacation is what you make it. Most people (even on Carnival's party ships) just want to take it easy.

It sounds that you generally had a good time but found a few things that you experienced on previous cruises to be absent. Most people wouldn't be focused on them at all. You didn't even mention your port of calls. That is what cruising is all about...the opportunity to visit other countries without the inconvenience required with other travel options.

happy cruising in the future

I love the Dream! But I get what you're saying about the lack of activities turning your BIL off of cruising. That happened to my husband. He had the time of his life with karaoke offered 2xs a day and fun trivias all day long, then we went on a different ship and there were no activities he was excited about during the day. He got bored and decided cruising wasn't as fun as he originally thought. He was already on the fence anyway though or else a lack of activities wouldn't have bothered him. Some people just aren't cruisers, and I married one :loudcry:

We sailed on the Dream the first week in May this year and this was one of our best cruises (this was # 13, all on Carnival). Dream is our favorite ship and although we didn't use the hot tubs, we didn't notice any rust or run down areas. The music and shows were fantastic. Go on any cruise with a positive attitude and have fun. Not everything will be perfect, but you are on vacation so enjoy.

A lot of the cruising experience is what the cruise staff takes the trouble to schedule. Some do a much better job than others.

Did love sailing down the Mississippi last year on the Dream and it was an excellent cruise.

That's a little distressing to hear how bad a shape it's in. I'm going on it next month with my GF. This is her first time cruising, and I really want her to enjoy herself so we can do more in the future. I guess too late to change anything now, so we'll just roll with it.

If your GF doesn't know the difference and you don't point it out to her then it shouldn't affect her experience at all. Cruising is what you make it. I haven't been on the Dream but I heard all kinds of bad comments about both the Triumph and Pride before we cruised and we turned out to love both. Yes, you may notice a few places where she could use some TLC but that shouldn't ruin your whole cruise (or her's) if you don't let it. Go in with a positive attitude. I'm sure she'll enjoy herself.

That's a little distressing to hear how bad a shape it's in. I'm going on it next month with my GF. This is her first time cruising, and I really want her to enjoy herself so we can do more in the future. I guess too late to change anything now, so we'll just roll with it.

It is nothing to be distressed over.

You will have a good time. Don't sweat it.

Ships are in salt water. Salt water causes rust. Carpets tear and get stained, especially with thousands of people trampling all over it week after week and spilling soda, beer, wine, piña coladas and other drinks of the day and food all over it.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

She will enjoy it. Just like everything else, it is what you make of it. If you go in with a negative preconceived notion and start to nit pick and dissect every little cosmetic issue then you most definitely will not have a good time. If you can overlook that and know that rust on ships happen and carpeting gets torn and worn down pretty quickly along with other cosmetic issues , you will be fine.

Just some photos to show that I do not think I am exaggerating.... Am I??

The loungers looked alot grosser in person....

The loungers looked alot grosser in person....

The black stuff on the loungers is soot from the funnel. Just throw a towel over it and you will be fine.

The fact that you took pics of dirty windows and loungers that are constantly in use everyday by hundreds of people suggests to me that you were going out of your way to find something to complain about.

I am sure I could find dirty things at any hotel or resort or on any cruise line anywhere. I certainly wouldn't be wasting valuable vacation time to fret about it or going the extra step to take pictures of it.

The fact that you took pics of dirty windows and loungers that are constantly in use everyday by hundreds of people suggests to me that you were going out of your way to find something to complain about.

We've been on The Pride several times (atleast 4)...this year, the first place we went was the Serenity area and those loungers were the first things I saw.....if this had been my first time on a Carnival cruise, the sight of those loungers would have definitely been a turn off....I took the photo of the glass on my balcony because it was quite a turn off....and I was thinking (hoping) that they would be cleaned sometime during the week, but they never were....

Overall, I think Carnival has made alot of cuts in maintenance and service in the past few years.....and it is starting to show....and honestly, this has us checking out different cruise lines....

Just got of the Dream today. Now, we had a balcony that was over looking one of the hot tubs. That hot tub was shut down most of the cruise. It had rust all over it and looked really worn down.

That's a little distressing to hear how bad a shape it's in. I'm going on it next month with my GF. This is her first time cruising, and I really want her to enjoy herself so we can do more in the future. I guess too late to change anything now, so we'll just roll with it.

Besides the 1 shut down hot tub mentioned, what is in the OP's review to lead you to believe everything on the Dream is in bad shape?

We've been on The Pride several times (atleast 4)...this year, the first place we went was the Serenity area and those loungers were the first things I saw.....if this had been my first time on a Carnival cruise, the sight of those loungers would have definitely been a turn off....I took the photo of the glass on my balcony because it was quite a turn off....and I was thinking (hoping) that they would be cleaned sometime during the week, but they never were....

 

Overall, I think Carnival has made alot of cuts in maintenance and service in the past few years.....and it is starting to show....and honestly, this has us checking out different cruise lines....

For sure you should be enjoying your cruise after spending your good money. It makes sense to me that with your level of satisfaction it is a good idea to start looking elsewhere.

We've been on The Pride several times (atleast 4)...this year, the first place we went was the Serenity area and those loungers were the first things I saw.....if this had been my first time on a Carnival cruise, the sight of those loungers would have definitely been a turn off....I took the photo of the glass on my balcony because it was quite a turn off....and I was thinking (hoping) that they would be cleaned sometime during the week, but they never were....

 

Overall, I think Carnival has made alot of cuts in maintenance and service in the past few years.....and it is starting to show....and honestly, this has us checking out different cruise lines....

They have all made cuts in past few years. We have been doing more Princess cruises which we feel are a cut above CCL but that is mostly because we want to cruise in Europe.

Besides the 1 shut down hot tub mentioned, what is in the OP's review to lead you to believe everything on the Dream is in bad shape?

Unless the OP meant to say the hot tub had rust all over it. I took it as two separate sentences since that's how it was written. A hot tub was shut down, and there was rust all over. I may just be misreading it. Believe me, I don't want to have a bad time, I'm very much an optimistic person that's not a complainer. I was just distressed to hear that the ship had rust all over and all the loungers were dirty.

We've been on The Pride several times (atleast 4)...this year, the first place we went was the Serenity area and those loungers were the first things I saw.....if this had been my first time on a Carnival cruise, the sight of those loungers would have definitely been a turn off....I took the photo of the glass on my balcony because it was quite a turn off....and I was thinking (hoping) that they would be cleaned sometime during the week, but they never were....

 

Overall, I think Carnival has made alot of cuts in maintenance and service in the past few years.....and it is starting to show....and honestly, this has us checking out different cruise lines....

Just curious, did you ever specifically ask your steward to clean it for you?

I had the same kind of experience you did on the Dream in March. It was my 5th cruise with Carnival, but had it been my first, I can imagine I may have never cruised a second time. Hot tubs never hot, not even one and I circled the ship looking for one. I am not talking about not hot enough for me, just not hot. air temp. I also hated the design of the Dream, but that is another issue. I did love the cruise director Chris Williams.

Just curious, did you ever specifically ask your steward to clean it for you?

The outside of the glass is usually cleaned by the maintenance crew, not the room stewards....we did get a notice stating that the balcony would be cleaned on our first port day (day 4)...when we got back onboard, it was not cleaned....the next day, we received another notice that the balconies would be cleaned on day 6....when we got back onboard that day, it looked the same....so, either they did not clean the balconies at all (as planned) or they are just not cleaning the outer glass....and it looked terrible....

I shouldn't have to tell Carnival when to clean their ship...if they think that no one noticed, they were wrong....

Am I going to make a big deal about it? No.....

Am I going to include this information in my future cruise decisions? Yes...

Just some photos to show that I do not think I am exaggerating.... Am I??

 

 

 

I agree the loungers look gross!! The Soot from the funnel explanation doesn't make it any better.

Not exaggerating in my opinion.

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I agree the loungers look gross!! The Soot from the funnel explanation doesn't make it any better.

Not exaggerating in my opinion.

 

 

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Just curious as to where you thing the soot goes and if weather and movement has anything to do with it.