Carnival Newbie- Which ship to pick?

I am planning a short 4-night Western Caribbean cruise for November 2019. I’ll be sailing with my 2 sisters and my mom. All of us girls are in our late 30’s/early 40’s, and my mom is late 60’s. My mom normally sails Celebrity and Holland America, and I’ve only sailed Oasis of the Seas. My sisters have never sailed before, unless you count the family cruise we went on in the early 90’s on Dolphin Cruise Line. [emoji3]

With all of that info, which ship would you choose? Our options are Dream, Paradise, Sensation, or Valor. I’d love any insight you can give!

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Dream by far and yonder :) !

What did you like about Dream?

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Just more options for family entertainment . Features of the ship over all. I have sailed on all of Carnivals ships except the latest two. While there are none I totally dislike the Dream class stands out over all.

Just more options for family entertainment . Features of the ship over all. I have sailed on all of Carnivals ships except the latest two. While there are none I totally dislike the Dream class stands out over all.

Thanks!

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I’d pick the Dream for the size and the promenade on deck 5. Shows are good also. I don’t like the smaller ships

I agree with the Dream. More options of things to do. All Carnival ships are great so you can't go wrong.

I also vote Dream. I sailed her recently, she’s a nice ship with a lot to offer.

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I will also agree with the Dream. She is a beautiful ship with most of the latest "bells and whistles" Carnival currently offers. We particularly enjoy the Ocean plaza area on the Dream which has lots of live music, games, or trivia going on and its a great place to sit and relax and people watch.

Wow! Everyone recommends the Dream! This has me super excited. I’m reading lots of reviews and watching stuff on YouTube. She looks like a great ship!

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I am planning a short 4-night Western Caribbean cruise for November 2019. I’ll be sailing with my 2 sisters and my mom. All of us girls are in our late 30’s/early 40’s, and my mom is late 60’s. My mom normally sails Celebrity and Holland America, and I’ve only sailed Oasis of the Seas. My sisters have never sailed before, unless you count the family cruise we went on in the early 90’s on Dolphin Cruise Line. [emoji3]

 

With all of that info, which ship would you choose? Our options are Dream, Paradise, Sensation, or Valor. I’d love any insight you can give!

 

 

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Dream for sure...Cloud 9 Spa with huge T-Pool is the bomb. And you can always find one or twenty deck chairs outside on deck 5...far far away from the loud and sometimes disgusting chaos that is the Lido Pool area.

The only one of these I have cruised on is the valor. I love this size ship for the people you mentioned. My mom and sister and our kids went on thanksgiving day and the ship was a perfect size to both enjoy family time and have a lot of relaxation. I do tend to like the older larger ships so I would vote for the dream in that case since I love the freedom and breeze. I think they are in the same class. Also I would want to do a Caribbean port as opposed to Bahamas , just my choice. Although a friend of mine just did a four day out of Florida to Bahamas , overnight and they rented a hotel at an all inclusive so they made a hybrid cruise vacation, best of both worlds.

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The Dream for sure! We are sailing her (for a 2nd time) in Nov 2019 for a very affordable 5-day Thansgiving Cruise!:hearteyes:

I am planning a short 4-night Western Caribbean cruise for November 2019. I’ll be sailing with my 2 sisters and my mom. All of us girls are in our late 30’s/early 40’s, and my mom is late 60’s. My mom normally sails Celebrity and Holland America, and I’ve only sailed Oasis of the Seas. My sisters have never sailed before, unless you count the family cruise we went on in the early 90’s on Dolphin Cruise Line. [emoji3]

 

With all of that info, which ship would you choose? Our options are Dream, Paradise, Sensation, or Valor. I’d love any insight you can give!

 

 

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That is easy, DREAM.

One more vote for Dream. Larger ship has plenty of entertainment, and more dining options, especially during lunch (Tandoor for Indian, Blue Iguana for tacos/burritos, Guy's Burger, and for an upcharge, Bonsai Sushi). Like many, but not all, ships, Dream has an Alchemy Bar, if you are into that. As for layout, on the Dream, the promenade deck (5), wraps around the entire ship, so you can walk around outside more easily, or even do laps if you are so inclined. Finally, New Orleans is an awesome port to sale from.

We are going back to Dream in August. She is a fine ship!

One more vote for Dream. Larger ship has plenty of entertainment, and more dining options, especially during lunch (Tandoor for Indian, Blue Iguana for tacos/burritos, Guy's Burger, and for an upcharge, Bonsai Sushi). Like many, but not all, ships, Dream has an Alchemy Bar, if you are into that. As for layout, on the Dream, the promenade deck (5), wraps around the entire ship, so you can walk around outside more easily, or even do laps if you are so inclined. Finally, New Orleans is an awesome port to sale from.

 

We are going back to Dream in August. She is a fine ship!

The Dream moves to Galveston by then, and the Valor to New Orleans. :( So to OP, make sure you check out the ways to get from the airport to Galveston (if u choose the Dream), as it is not the cheapest transfer to make.

One more question for OP...

Did you check out the 5 day cruises on the Dream that month? For the extra night, the price is only a little more, and split between all of you, it is actually cheaper per night.

ETA: a balcony room looks to actually be cheaper on the 5-day:o

If you family is accustomed to sailing Celebrity and Holland, only the Dream may be comparable. The other 3 might be considered serious downgrades, esp. the 2 oldest.

Now before someone accuses me of being a snob, I've sailed Paradise twice back in 2003, and Valor 7 times. I'm just being realistic with the parameters the OP has set.

If you family is accustomed to sailing Celebrity and Holland, only the Dream may be comparable. The other 3 might be considered serious downgrades, esp. the 2 oldest.

 

Now before someone accuses me of being a snob, I've sailed Paradise twice back in 2003, and Valor 7 times. I'm just being realistic with the parameters the OP has set.

I agree wholeheartedly with this comment. And it's not snobby at all. There is nothing wrong with different pricing for different quality. It's nice that the industry is accessible to almost any travel budget.

Of these 4 I have only been on Sensation and while we had a fabulous time and loved her, she was, let's face it, the least "sensational" ship I have been on since the old Premier (Big Red Boat) cruises I took back in the '80s (see signature).3

The Dream is the largest, newest, and fanciest of those you listed. There is also the issue of the other passengers. Carnival is the lowest end of the mass market cruises, and the passengers run the full spectrum of humanity, nothing exclusive about it. Particularly the Paradise and the Sensation which offer bargain basement pricing, will likely fall well short of your family's expectations based on prior experience.

One more question for OP...

 

Did you check out the 5 day cruises on the Dream that month? For the extra night, the price is only a little more, and split between all of you, it is actually cheaper per night.

 

ETA: a balcony room looks to actually be cheaper on the 5-day:o

The tricky part is that we are looking for a cruise that runs over a weekend. I think the 5-day cruise runs during the week. We are actually looking at October 24th on the Dream, or October 31st on the Valor. I'll see what 5-days are available, but not sure we can all get away for that long (my sisters have younger kids).

If you family is accustomed to sailing Celebrity and Holland, only the Dream may be comparable. The other 3 might be considered serious downgrades, esp. the 2 oldest.

 

Now before someone accuses me of being a snob, I've sailed Paradise twice back in 2003, and Valor 7 times. I'm just being realistic with the parameters the OP has set.

I appreciate your feedback! I think I could be happy on any of them, since I'm likely to book an inside cabin and am going just to spend time with family. But it's my mom I worry about. She's not thrilled to be sailing Carnival in the first place, and will probably want an ocean view at minimum. Is the Valor significantly smaller than the Dream?

I agree wholeheartedly with this comment. And it's not snobby at all. There is nothing wrong with different pricing for different quality. It's nice that the industry is accessible to almost any travel budget.

 

Of these 4 I have only been on Sensation and while we had a fabulous time and loved her, she was, let's face it, the least "sensational" ship I have been on since the old Premier (Big Red Boat) cruises I took back in the '80s (see signature).3

 

The Dream is the largest, newest, and fanciest of those you listed. There is also the issue of the other passengers. Carnival is the lowest end of the mass market cruises, and the passengers run the full spectrum of humanity, nothing exclusive about it. Particularly the Paradise and the Sensation which offer bargain basement pricing, will likely fall well short of your family's expectations based on prior experience.

Thanks for your great feedback! Yeah, I've kind of been thinking along those lines and have narrowed it down to Dream or Valor. Dream is my first choice, but I personally could not fly in the night before that one, and we all know how stressful that is. :o:o

Thanks for your great feedback! Yeah, I've kind of been thinking along those lines and have narrowed it down to Dream or Valor. Dream is my first choice, but I personally could not fly in the night before that one, and we all know how stressful that is. :o:o

Valor is 5 years older (2004 vs. 2009) and 18,000 tons smaller (110,000 vs 128,000). If you can't do Dream easily, Valor is not going to be drastically "worse" or anything. It's just we are all trying to get you as close as possible to the lines you mentioned, and Dream is likely to be the closest. Personally I would love to give Valor a whirl and almost booked her for next year March, but August to Canada won the family vote.

Carnival has certain things common to almost the full fleet that people tend to like - 24 hour self-serve soft serve ice cream, walk up counters Guy's Burger Joint (noon-6 daily) and Blue Iguana Cantina (around 7am-3pm daily) which has breakfast and lunch burritos that get rave reviews.

If the Valor it is, then your mom can still get one of the nicer rooms or a suite, eat at least a meal or two in the steakhouse and one at the chef's table, and enjoy other upgrades that will make the experience a little closer to what she is used to. There is a serenity deck, there are evening song and dance shows, casinos, afternoon tea on some sailings. It's not like it will be camping on somebody's jon boat. :) She may want to avoid the hairy chest contest and the battle of the sexes or love and marriage game shows, which can get a bit naughty in a silly and harmless way.

By going in October, you will avoid some of the noisy kids that are common on a line that is set up largely for family fun. It's all just a little more kitschy and less elegant than other lines. But I have been on Celebrity and Disney and recently, Royal Caribbean and personally I like Carnival just as well as any of the others.

On Oasis of the Seas we played trivia with a couple of old ladies who were grumbling that it was so loud and crowded compared to most of their cruises. So we asked what ships they had sailed on. "Cunard. Cunard every year for the last 20 years." We were like. . . why did you think Royal Caribbean would be just like CUNARD? So your mom is partially right that Carnival is a little different, it's geared to a younger demographic and will not be exactly what she is used to.

yeah you're lucky that a ship like the Dream will now be doing 4-5 day cruises in the near future. I'm really kind of surprised it's going on shorter cruises when it's relatively new ship with most all of the "bells and whistles". I have noticed that Carnival has been able to keep prices pretty high on 4-5 day cruises in Galveston in comparison to other ports. Maybe they are making a killing on those cruises

The Dream moves to Galveston by then, and the Valor to New Orleans. :( So to OP, make sure you check out the ways to get from the airport to Galveston (if u choose the Dream), as it is not the cheapest transfer to make.

Darn, I didn't realize she was moving. Do you know if any large ship (Dream or Vista class) will be replacing her in NOLA? We sailed Breeze out of Galveston, and found the port not to our liking (mostly for flight and transfer costs). :(