Smell on Carnival Dream

[the herd]

After reading most if not all the reviews for the Dream it seems the most common complaints are the sewage smell, lots of movement (stabilizers not used?) and chair hogging. My question to Host Mach or anyone else who reads John Heald's blog on a regular basis - Has John been asked about these things and/or has he responded?? I read the blog on occasion and tried to search it, but haven't had much luck. I'll be on the Dream for the 8/21/10 sailing and eagerly anticipating that week!

[cimarrongirl]

I'm with you on these issue's! Why in the world wouldn't the stabilizer's be put into use when the ship is rocking? This is very perplexing to me. We are sailing on the Dream in 6 wks. and I'm very concerned regarding these issues. The odor is a major concern. Hopefully we won't have rough seas and the odor will be controlled by then.

[CorvetteLady]

We were on the Dec. 3rd sailing and never noticed the smells. We were on deck 11, foward, we did not think the ship rocked at all. The movement was the same as other ships we've been on.

 

Our biggest complaint was long lines to see the shows. There was talk about adding a third show for "Dancing in the Streets" don't know if they have done that.

 

We would sail on the Dream again.

[MrPete]

Why not just check one of the ten other threads on this topic. You may find your answer there.

[mferris77]

Why do people act as though, as Mach said, the Dream smells like a garbage scow? One person says they got a whiff of something foul for one brief moment and the next thing you know everyone thinks their vacation is going to be ruined by the ever-present stench of death. Yes I've seen lots of people say they smelled something - immediately followed by the fact that it was no big deal and they paid very little attention to it. Even more reviews saying they never smelled anything. Only one review have I seen anyone making a big deal of it.

 

People need to calm down... if someone posts a review and says that a server forgot to put ketchup on their hotdog once, we'll soon see John Heald responding to wild rumors about how Carnival is phasing out ketchup or charging extra for it.

[LemurCat]

People need to calm down... if someone posts a review and says that a server forgot to put ketchup on their hotdog once, we'll soon see John Heald responding to wild rumors about how Carnival is phasing out ketchup or charging extra for it.

 

OH MY GOD! How much is this new Ketchup Charge? Can I opt out of it if I don't eat ketchup? Can I buy a Ketchup Fun Card?

[MrPete]

OH MY GOD! How much is this new Ketchup Charge? Can I opt out of it if I don't eat ketchup? Can I buy a Ketchup Fun Card?

 

It's not as much as the Iced Tea charge.

[foreverleanna]

OH MY GOD! How much is this new Ketchup Charge? Can I opt out of it if I don't eat ketchup? Can I buy a Ketchup Fun Card?

 

anyone have any good ketchup smuggling tips???

[JimA49085]

What about mustard? How much is that?

I know the iced tea is free, but I saw someplace that there will be a charge for the ice in the tea.

[crewsweeper]

What about mustard? How much is that?

If you keep quiet about THE SMELL, mustard and ketchup are free on the Lido deck, but not in the MDR. But if you complain to your room steward or the Hotel Director or any of the staff, Carnival will impose an additional $6.95 charge to your S&S card--for your OOD--and, of course, add the 15% gratuity.

[mrpayroll]

OH MY GOD! How much is this new Ketchup Charge? Can I opt out of it if I don't eat ketchup? Can I buy a Ketchup Fun Card?

Heard you can purchase Ketchup card and let family members use it, sort of like the soda card . After all, Carnival is making way too much money...:rolleyes:

[Tenga1899]

I'm with you on these issue's! Why in the world wouldn't the stabilizer's be put into use when the ship is rocking? This is very perplexing to me. We are sailing on the Dream in 6 wks. and I'm very concerned regarding these issues. The odor is a major concern. Hopefully we won't have rough seas and the odor will be controlled by then.

 

Bigger ships catch more wind that can buffer the ship as well, not just rough seas. But a ship rocking? Never heard of it! ;) It happens, the stabilizers arent going to make the ship act like a stationary object, oblivious to the weather and seas around it. What you should be wondering, if anything, is what would have been going on if they WEREN'T using the stabilizers!!! :eek:

[chuckyb]

I just got off the Dream today. I can comfirm the ship rocked a lot, far worse than any other cruise I've been on. It was about 5:00pm on the last sea day when the ship stopped rocking.

 

I didn't notice any bad smells or long lines. There were lines for your time dining, but they moved quickly.

[kwala]

Rocking makes sleeping better. It is a ship, on the water. What do you expect. These blogs about SMELLS, ROCKING, and whatever are so funny. Makes my day when I read them. I know that some prople are serious, but some need to "get a life", stop complaining, worring and enjoy your cruise. Nothing is perfect.

[travelntreats]

I'm with you on these issue's! Why in the world wouldn't the stabilizer's be put into use when the ship is rocking? This is very perplexing to me. We are sailing on the Dream in 6 wks. and I'm very concerned regarding these issues. The odor is a major concern. Hopefully we won't have rough seas and the odor will be controlled by then.

"Fuel Costs Savings" by keeping those stablizers from being extended like "oars" ;)

[UpstateCruizer]

After reading most if not all the reviews for the Dream it seems the most common complaints are the sewage smell, lots of movement (stabilizers not used?) and chair hogging. My question to Host Mach or anyone else who reads John Heald's blog on a regular basis - Has John been asked about these things and/or has he responded?? I read the blog on occasion and tried to search it, but haven't had much luck. I'll be on the Dream for the 8/21/10 sailing and eagerly anticipating that week!

 

Sorry Op for the responses this is going to generate. I'm not sure if John has been asked but you could try to send him the question yourself and see what his response is. You are not going to get the answers you are looking for from most of the responses here. You will find those that are about to sail on any ship will defend that ship to the end and negate any thing they don't want to hear about.

 

I will be sailing this ship next week and have read all the reviews with an open mind. I can't focus on what others are saying about the ship because my experience will be completely different. The seas are never the same from one cruise to the next (heck they change minute by minute in some cases). What I may consider "rocking" may be different than what someone else may think.

 

The Op's question is a legitimate one to him or her. There is no reason to be snarky in responses. There may be first time cruisers out there reading and concerned about these issues. What we may value in our cruising experience may not be the same to them. I will always remember those months prior to my sailing for the first time and how much I scoured these boards to prepare myself for my experience aboard the Triumph :)

[Lejardin]

Sorry Op for the responses this is going to generate. I'm not sure if John has been asked but you could try to send him the question yourself and see what his response is. You are not going to get the answers you are looking for from most of the responses here. You will find those that are about to sail on any ship will defend that ship to the end and negate any thing they don't want to hear about.

 

I will be sailing this ship next week and have read all the reviews with an open mind. I can't focus on what others are saying about the ship because my experience will be completely different. The seas are never the same from one cruise to the next (heck they change minute by minute in some cases). What I may consider "rocking" may be different than what someone else may think.

 

The Op's question is a legitimate one to him or her. There is no reason to be snarky in responses. There may be first time cruisers out there reading and concerned about these issues. What we may value in our cruising experience may not be the same to them. I will always remember those months prior to my sailing for the first time and how much I scoured these boards to prepare myself for my experience aboard the Triumph :)

 

Maybe not, but it will always prevail ;)

 

Personally, I am tired of hearing about the Dream smell...and most reviews I have read have only mentioned a passing smell, and it was not a constant issue everywhere on the ship.:rolleyes:

 

Have a great cruise -- I can't wait to see for myself in 35 days.

[sippican]

Thanks Upstate.

Although I regularly read posts here and on the TA forum site. I sometimes hesitate to post a question, not wanting to feed new material to the comedian lurkers. (Although it is very entertaining at times.)

Hopefully the OP will take it all with a grain of salt, and realize their are many members who want to be helpful.

We sail on the Magic in '11 and hope the kinks reported on the Dream will be worked out in the new ship.

[gonzo1124]

Sorry, I was sick to my stomach the whole week...

[chelle41]

We were on the Dream the week of April 3rd. I did post this elsewhere in response to someone's question about the odor. We definitely noticed it but by no means did it ruin our cruise! The first day we smelled it near the "Waves" pool and other times we smelled it on and off in the stairwells and hallways. It was a passing odor -- it definitely smelled gross (like a broken septic tank) -- but it was fleeting and you could easily go somewhere else on the ship when you smelled it. We didn't notice any unusual rocking, and I am the first to get motion-sick. I didn't even wear a patch this time and I didn't feel anything. I wouldn't think twice about going on the Dream again - it was so much fun. Definitely get to the "Dancing in the Streets" show early if you want a good seat. It was fantastic!

[mamalicious]

OP, you and I will be on the same sailing...

 

My worries about the dream is bigger that it is a larger ship, more people onaboard causing there to be longer lines.

[Uncle Deane]

Just got off the Dream this morning. Had a 6M on the Riv deck. In our second bathroom the sink drain gurgled (the sound of the drain trap being sucked out) and then the poo smell would fill the bathroom. This happened 3 or 4 times that I know of and the smell was bad! In my nonprofessional but amateur plumber opinion there is a vent problem with the drain system. If the system was vented correctly the drain trap wouldn't gurgle and the gas wouldn't escape from the sink drain.

 

This didn't, however, have any affect on our enjoyment of the cruise!

 

They do need to fix this problem. I didn't bother reporting it because to me it wasn't worth the hassle and as I'm very type A, I don't want to wind myself up.

[UpstateCruizer]

We were on the Dream the week of April 3rd. I did post this elsewhere in response to someone's question about the odor. We definitely noticed it but by no means did it ruin our cruise! The first day we smelled it near the "Waves" pool and other times we smelled it on and off in the stairwells and hallways. It was a passing odor -- it definitely smelled gross (like a broken septic tank) -- but it was fleeting and you could easily go somewhere else on the ship when you smelled it. We didn't notice any unusual rocking, and I am the first to get motion-sick. I didn't even wear a patch this time and I didn't feel anything. I wouldn't think twice about going on the Dream again - it was so much fun. Definitely get to the "Dancing in the Streets" show early if you want a good seat. It was fantastic!

 

Normally we don't go to the dancing/singing shows but after reading so many positive reviews about this show we may try to catch it on the upcoming cruise. There is something about the light effects and the lound music that put me right to sleep. You'd expect the opposite but I find myself nodding off shortly after the shows start.

[SuperStar1]

I just returned from my cruise on Dream this month (September 11 -17, 2010) and it was the first time on "that" ship. The ship was nice and very large with lots of rooms meaning lots of people. I did smell the yuck smell, but only in passing as others said as well in hallways or toward the bow of the ship. It could be a sewer issue indeed with the number of people on the ship all doing what comes natural at once. Who knows? It didn't ruin my trip; it was only in passing. I did over hear a several stateroom neighbors complaining about the smell in their rooms. If I was to had smelled said gross odor in my room for the entire week; It would have bugged me a a lot; especially after the large $$$ paid for our Ocean Suite. By the way, the Ocean Suite is the bomb; very nice room! Best room ever so far with my cruising experience. The balcony doors slam like crazy, but I'm not complaining, who cares, it is vacation right; no work in the morning. My stateroom neighbor actually told us to stop slamming our door; by the way, we never slammed ours; as it pulled to seal tight as they are supposed to do; we gently stopped and pulled the door to a click. The doors however did continue to slam above, below, and beside us as I laughed inside at her. Her crowd was very loud at night; we could hear them through the walls; never said anything. Again, "you should make the best of vacation and have fun" right?

 

The staff on my particular hall wasn't as friendly or say as personable as on past cruises. I think it could have been a cultural difference or perhaps experience.

 

I definitely think they should add another pool or two and some more deck space for the number of passengers cruising on this monster. There was a lot of "chair hogging" as one called it, but of course they were on vacation just like me, so they were entitled to the chairs just the same as me. It was hot and only two very crowded pools to swim in; need more swimming space! Also, the hot tubs were nice; just looking at them; they stay packed the entire trip.

 

I will cruise again, just on on Dream due to my personal preferences while cruising. I enjoyed Fascination better - service, food, staff, and so on

[Lady N Red]

If it rocking that means alot of passengers are getting busy(if u know what i mean). If there is a smell, i will hold my nose and make a face at the person walking in front of me. Otherwise, if it not sinking or sunk, i'm going to be on that ship in 20 days having a great time.