Carnival Dream Maiden Voyage-Value for $

[Ajo]

I sailed on the maiden Sept. 21st Carnival Dream European voyage. It was my 1st time on a Carnival cruise. Previously, I had sailed on Royal Carribean, Princess, Norwegian and Celebrity. The ship was beautiful, food good, staff accomadating +++. I have no significant complaints. The production show that I attended was one of the best I ever saw at sea. It had special effects that I haven't even seen in Vegas. The itinerary was port intensive and awesome. My cruise was priced at about 60% of similar European cruises and allowed me to purchase a bargain priced roundtrip Rome airfare. The Carnival shore excursions were reasonably priced and not marked up like on other overseas cruises. I cruised Europe on a beautiful brand new ship with excellent food for the price of budget hotels, dirty train stations and deli meals. My cruise was an excellent value and I'd cruise Carnival overseas again!

[luvdasea]

We really enjoyed Carnival Freedom when it sailed to Europe. How were the ports for Dream?

[Ajo]

We really enjoyed Carnival Freedom when it sailed to Europe. How were the ports for Dream?

 

We didn't tender at any port. Monaco was fabulous. We took a Carnival excursion that was Nice & Eze On Our Own. We had a wonderful guide that turned out to give us an excellent guided tour with plenty of time to shop. Afterwards, my husband won with 4 aces at the Monoco casino and cashed in-small bet. He gets to say he won in Monaco - it paid for the trip...to the casino!

In Liverno, we took the Carnival Beautiful Tuscany tour. I had toured Florence on a previous trip. Again Tuscany and the tour were top notch.

In Barcelona, we went to Segrada Familia via taxi first thing off the ship. 5 people in line at 9:00AM when ticket sales began. Taxis are the way to go in Barcelona to avoid pickpockets - very inexpensive. We then went to the Gothic Quarter and walked La Ramblas. My husband vowed to return to Segrada Familia when it is completed in 2035. It is a must see.

Rome was great. We took Through Eternity Tours of the Vatican & Colisium(Ann is an AWESOME tour guide). Also, the Scavi tour is a don't miss.

In Naples we went to Capri via jet boat on our own, Dubrovnick was beautiful, but the Carnival Classic Debrovnick tour guide was disappointing. Venice was enchanting, but the shops overpriced compared to other Italian ports. Best to do your shopping in the small Italian towns. In Messina, we went to Tamorina. It was a Carnival "On Your Own" bus trip that turned out to have a great guide.

All the ports were distinctive and I thought the itinerary was awesome. The tours all exceeded our expectectations except for Croatia.