Why do some people take any criticism of the Dream so personally??

[Kurbanfan]

Stations don't help to ease congestion. I actually see the Carnival design as separate stations - deli, hamburgers, pizza, mongolian, were each a separate/different station. Each one had its own line and wait.

 

Now on Princess the buffet area was laid out in lots of mini stations - created mass confusion - which way in/out, where did lines begin and end, total mis organization which I would say would be the stations that you are suggesting that Carnival should have.

 

The deli, burgers, pizza etc are all made to order which will understandably have lines...........the buffet doesn't need to have long lines if it is set up with different stations like Princess and RCCL. I never experienced mass confusion with the buffet stations on Princess or RCCL.......on the Mariner which is a big ship like the Dream the buffet stations rocked.......

[Nunu]

Not that it's justification but I've never seen it done any other way on a Carnival ship...

:)

 

And from reading on here as the ships have gotten larger so have the problems... It doesn't necessarily need to be that way. :)

[LemurCat]

The deli, burgers, pizza etc are all made to order which will understandably have lines...........the buffet doesn't need to have long lines if it is set up with different stations like Princess and RCCL. I never experienced mass confusion with the buffet stations on Princess or RCCL.......on the Mariner which is a big ship like the Dream the buffet stations rocked.......

 

NCL uses the action-station model on their newer ships as well. The problem is usually the older folks who don't get that there is no line and complain about people cutting in front of them in a line that doesn't exist. (Not to slam the older set, of course, but after getting slammed in the ankles with walkers a couple of times, it left a rather distinct impression in more ways than one.)

 

Usually by the second day, everyone's more or less figured it out.

[Nunu]

NCL uses the action-station model on their newer ships as well. The problem is usually the older folks who don't get that there is no line and complain about people cutting in front of them in a line that doesn't exist. (Not to slam the older set, of course, but after getting slammed in the ankles with walkers a couple of times, it left a rather distinct impression in more ways than one.)

 

Usually by the second day, everyone's more or less figured it out.

Or just eat dinner after 4... :p

[songbird1329]

Pick a cruise line...or a theme park...or a hotel chain...or a chain restaurant.

 

There are people who love every aspect of the cruise line/theme park/hotel/restaurant and think everyone should love it as much as they do, and think anyone who has issues with the cruise line/theme park/hotel/restaurant is crazy or stupid or just plain wrong, and they take it as a personal affront to their own sensibilities.

 

Nothing is perfect. the Dream is a brand new ship and there's a learning curve for Carnival to successfully operate it.

 

Most of the reviews have been positive.

 

I saw the ship last night as it sailed out of New York, and it looked beautiful. I certainly wouldn't mind booking a cruise on the Dream.

[jimm]

Ive only sailed carnival, mainly because of price....but they badly need a new clean sheet design for a larger ship. They keep making ships slightly bigger but with disproportionate increases in passenger numbers.

 

Destiny Class:

 

101,000 Tons 2600 passengers

 

Conquest Class:

 

110,000 Tons (9% increase) 2974 passengers (14% increase)

 

Dream Class:

 

130,000 tons (18% increase) 3652 passengers (23% increase)

 

 

This is not a good trend. I was on destiny 10 years ago and it was crowded. To think the newer ships are worse is not encouraging.

 

I find this very interesting especially when you compare it to Royal Caribbean.

 

Voyager class:

138,000 tons 3,114 passengers

 

Freedom class:

160,000 tons(16% increase) 3,634 passengers(17% increase)

 

Oasis class:

220,000 tons(38% increase) 5,400 passengers(49% increase)

 

RCCL Oasis tonnage per passenger is 40.74 tons while CCL Dream is only 35.60 tons. Based on this rather rudimentary analysis one could come to the conclusion that a passenger on RCCL would have more space and amenities than on CCL. CCL may have added mostly cabins in their 20,000 increase in tonnage from the Conquest class, thus the longer lines and crowds. Having said that, I am sailing on the Dream on December 12th and I plan on having a blast.

[LemurCat]

Or just eat dinner after 4... :p

 

That's not dinner .... that's "soak up the alcohol from the afternoon" :D

[Guest JJWW]

OP ,This is a message board ' INTERNET " with all types of people with different ideas of what a cruise or ship should be like to them .

 

Taken with a grain of salt and a little chest thumping " sorry Lady's".

Its just opinions and everybody has one .

 

It will be OK when your on that Island swimming in the ocean.

Having your DOD ;) Don't sweat it .

[trock]

First of all, I am a Carnival lover, although I have sailed on several other cruise lines as well. I think Carnival has a great product for the money and will continue to book cruises with them.

 

Having said that, Carnival is a corporation, and no corporation is perfect all the time. It just amazes me that the people who have sailed the Dream and posted their honest observations are continually blasted for having the audacity to say that something wasn't quite perfect with the ship. It is especially troubling when the same complaints are voiced over and over again. That alone tells me that it may just be a legitimate concern. I especially respect the opinion of people like Host Mach who give the good along with the bad. A fair and balanced review is something I always give more creedence to.

 

However, I keep seeing certain people repeatedly swearing up and down that there is NOTHING wrong with the ship and if someone dares to complain that must mean there is something wrong with that person. They take any criticism of Carnival like they are being personally attacked. Is this website not Cruiise CRITIC? I thought the purpose of these boards was to discuss the good AND the bad, and to critique your cruises, not to only praise Carnival like it's the second coming of Jesus.

 

What I also find puzzling is the middle school mentality of some posters. You know, the ones that feel you can't like more than one cruise line at a time. If you say a kind word about RCI that must mean you hate Carnival. It really is ludicrous. Honestly, it is possible to like both. I find it quite amusing that any criticism of the Dream is immediately met with "Just wait until you see how horrible it will be on the Oasis...". The Oasis may very well be the downfall of Royal Caribbean. I just think that we should all wait until the reviews come in before condemning it. They may end up surprising us all.

 

 

I could not agree more..

 

Another problem is some readers take a review very literally.. I know when a poster writes all staff members were rude, -that the writer means the staff they personally encountered.. I know they didn't mean everyone working this particular ship.

 

Now I must preface that with saying I didn't intentionally single out any one's comments- but it was an obvious one to mention.

 

Also a lot of posters respond based on their feelings, their experience..-if the review or comment is 180 to theirs -some cannot comprehend it. What is acceptable to some travelers is not to others.. We cannot measure our thresholds based on those of others as everyone has a different tolerance level.

 

I also love when there is a negative opinion and the person who holds that opinion is brow beaten into backing it up..

Why? It is what it is.. people feel what they feel...what's the point?

 

I didn't like ABC because it was blue and I don't like blue- I expected green.. -Well it wasn't that blue- What degree of blue did you expect? Maybe your expectations were too high...

 

 

Ridiculous analogy but I am sure you get my point...

:)

[Traveler353]

I thought the Holidays (anyone remember her) setup of the Buffet was pretty good. Two main food lines, a seperate salad station, seperate desert station, seperated sanwitches and pizza stands. I don't think that I ever had to stand in the main line longer than 5 minutes.

[Jeafl]

I could not agree more..

 

Another problem is some readers take a review very literally.. I know when a poster writes all staff members were rude, -that the writer means the staff they personally encountered.. I know they didn't mean everyone working this particular ship.

 

Now I must preface that with saying I didn't intentionally single out any one's comments- but it was an obvious one to mention.

 

Also a lot of posters respond based on their feelings, their experience..-if the review or comment is 180 to theirs -some cannot comprehend it. What is acceptable to some travelers is not to others.. We cannot measure our thresholds based on those of others as everyone has a different tolerance level.

 

I also love when there is a negative opinion and the person who holds that opinion is brow beaten into backing it up..

Why? It is what it is.. people feel what they feel...what's the point?

 

I didn't like ABC because it was blue and I don't like blue- I expected green.. -Well it wasn't that blue- What degree of blue did you expect? Maybe your expectations were too high...

 

 

Ridiculous analogy but I am sure you get my point...

:)

 

OP here...I totally agree that some people take reviews way too literally. Your example of "all crew members being rude" is a great example. That poster may have run into a few rude employees and then concluded that all employees are rude. Most logical people would know that not every single employee on a ship could possibly be rude. I also think that once you get in that mindset that everyone is rude you start LOOKING for rude people to support your opinion, right or wrong.

 

Also, the whole buffet line thing is very subjective to me. If you go to lunch at noon, it's a pretty good bet that there will be long lines no matter how it is set up. Also, what a long wait to one person is not long at all to another. The point is, there is only so much space on a ship and all the people have to go SOMEWHERE. If I was really concerned about waiting in line I would go earlier or go later. Most of the time I am no hurry anyway since I will most likely be sauntering back to my lounge chair to lay around and do nothing anyway. :)

[WES143]

first of all, i am a carnival lover, although i have sailed on several other cruise lines as well. I think carnival has a great product for the money and will continue to book cruises with them.

 

Having said that, carnival is a corporation, and no corporation is perfect all the time. It just amazes me that the people who have sailed the dream and posted their honest observations are continually blasted for having the audacity to say that something wasn't quite perfect with the ship. It is especially troubling when the same complaints are voiced over and over again. That alone tells me that it may just be a legitimate concern. I especially respect the opinion of people like host mach who give the good along with the bad. A fair and balanced review is something i always give more creedence to.

 

However, i keep seeing certain people repeatedly swearing up and down that there is nothing wrong with the ship and if someone dares to complain that must mean there is something wrong with that person. They take any criticism of carnival like they are being personally attacked. Is this website not cruiise critic? I thought the purpose of these boards was to discuss the good and the bad, and to critique your cruises, not to only praise carnival like it's the second coming of jesus.

 

What i also find puzzling is the middle school mentality of some posters. You know, the ones that feel you can't like more than one cruise line at a time. If you say a kind word about rci that must mean you hate carnival. It really is ludicrous. Honestly, it is possible to like both. I find it quite amusing that any criticism of the dream is immediately met with "just wait until you see how horrible it will be on the oasis...". The oasis may very well be the downfall of royal caribbean. I just think that we should all wait until the reviews come in before condemning it. They may end up surprising us all.

 

amen......amen and amen again!!! I couldn't have said it better.

[WES143]

I agree with the OP 100%. Some folks amaze me with their comments! I love Carnival, and their ships, but I too have serious doubts about "Dream". If it turns out that I don't like the ship, I'll simply continue to sail the Spirit class ships, which happen to be my favorites.

Same thing with RCI! If you say anything negative at all about "Oasis", you're automatically a RAT! I love the smaller RCI ships, but don't like the big ships. I'm a "spy" from the "other side" according to some people. :eek:

Well, I agree with what they say in the automobile business.

"There's an @ss for every seat" :D

 

"SKY"

An @ssfor every seat!!...LOL I gotta use that one

[Lejardin]

OP here...I totally agree that some people take reviews way too literally. Your example of "all crew members being rude" is a great example. That poster may have run into a few rude employees and then concluded that all employees are rude. Most logical people would know that not every single employee on a ship could possibly be rude. I also think that once you get in that mindset that everyone is rude you start LOOKING for rude people to support your opinion, right or wrong.

 

Also, the whole buffet line thing is very subjective to me. If you go to lunch at noon, it's a pretty good bet that there will be long lines no matter how it is set up. Also, what a long wait to one person is not long at all to another. The point is, there is only so much space on a ship and all the people have to go SOMEWHERE. If I was really concerned about waiting in line I would go earlier or go later. Most of the time I am no hurry anyway since I will most likely be sauntering back to my lounge chair to lay around and do nothing anyway. :)

 

Well said about buffet lines. I've yet to find one that was perfect, and we're on vacation so why all the hurry anyway :)

[ducksoupforme]

I saw problems on the Dream but I don't think that they were design issues. Were there long lines at the buffet? Youdambetcha... There were tons of hungry folks on that ship who wanted to eat at the same time. That produces lines.

 

We saw the lines... shrugged our shoulders and got something to eat elsewhere.

 

Personally, I didn't see any rude staff members. To me, they were typical, smiling Carnival employees. Perhaps some of the rudeness that folks encountered was a reflection.

 

Noise? Yeah, crashing dish carts overhead probably would have woken me up if I wasn't already awake.

 

I can tell you this... for us, at least, the good far outweighed the bad.

There's a perfect example of the OP's point.

Most of us wrote very balanced reviews. Many of the readers here focus completely on the negative and ignore the positive reflections.

And the highlighted piece is priceless.

My biggest problem was unfriendliness of some staff - especially our waiter. On the first night he identified himself and his home country. I replied that I had heard his country was beautiful and that I hoped to visit it. He never smiled and proceeded to be rude and incompetent for the duration. But I guess that is a reflection on me.

Yet Mach mentions earlier the rudeness that he experienced by many people, including some directed pointedly at him. Yet I guess that rudeness is no reflection on him.

I guess double standards reign supreme with the Carnival cheerleaders.

[Kurbanfan]

Well said about buffet lines. I've yet to find one that was perfect, and we're on vacation so why all the hurry anyway :)

 

I agree about buffet lines.......so then make them stations.......

Like some said that all they wanted was a salad and they have to stand in line from the beginning til the end to get a freakin salad:confused: That's just crazy IMO.....

[missdenman]

I don't think it has to do with not wanting to hear negative, but rather those that seem to stretch things out way tooooooo much.

 

Comments like ALL staff members were rude, there is absolutely no way they met every staff member nor would I believe for one second that they were all rude. Same comments were made about staff members on the Pride, on my sailing I didn't meet one single staff member that didnt say hello, good morning, etc. Only had one bartender that just wasn't as friendly as others.

 

40 minute wait in a buffet line - who on here doesn't think that is an extreme over exaggeration. I know exactly this kind of person they have no patience and they over imagine how long they wait. My BIL is the same way, he will wait 10 minutes and swear it was 30 and complain the entire time. If you don't have the patience then go to the dining room to eat your meals or don't eat at the main lunch times.

 

There are just certain things to be expected, I don't think any cruise line can claim that they have no wait for anything at all. It just isn't possible.

 

I for one have never had a perfect cruise, but I certainly don't complain about every little thing under the sun either. You have to have realistic expectations not something outlandish.

 

Agree! There's a lot of exaggeration. Then again, Carnival's not cutting me a check so I am not obligated to them. I love the line and my best friend works for them but that's as far as it goes. I'm not one to choose which ship or cruise line I cruise on based off of a few good/bad reviews. I like to decide on my own.:D

[Lejardin]

I agree about buffet lines.......so then make them stations.......

Like some said that all they wanted was a salad and they have to stand in line from the beginning til the end to get a freakin salad:confused: That's just crazy IMO.....

 

Yes! and wouldn't it be nice if people just let others move forward a bit to get what they needed, instead of getting all riled up about 'cutting ahead?' I never ever got upset when someone needed to move forward in front of me to get what the needed, but others...well, that is a different story. :rolleyes: