A Princess Cheerleader cruises the Dream.

[Denisern2]

What the heck thought I would give it a try. Great cruiseline, nice ship, good food and the best bed ever. I had fun, Sure I missed my elite perks on Princess. But I Booked another Carnival while I was on board. I am thinking Europe on the Breeze next fall. All I can say is the one thing I would change is the food tasted so good but it was never really hot. Always lukewarm to even cool. Anyone going on the Dream enjoy!

[CorvetteLady]

Glad you had a good cruise. The Dream always seems to get such negative reviews so it's nice to see a positive one, especially from a Princess Cheerleader! :)

 

Having just taken our first platinum cruise I do agree about the perks. My husband commented that it would be hard to give up being in the first self debarkation group. It really made leaving the ship a pleasant experience.

[Pee-ah]

What the heck thought I would give it a try. Great cruiseline, nice ship, good food and the best bed ever. I had fun, Sure I missed my elite perks on Princess. But I Booked another Carnival while I was on board. I am thinking Europe on the Breeze next fall. All I can say is the one thing I would change is the food tasted so good but it was never really hot. Always lukewarm to even cool. Anyone going on the Dream enjoy!

 

Have to agree about the beds.. sigh...:p

[GlendaleCruiser]

Have to agree about the beds.. sigh...:p

 

 

I'm really spoiled by the comfy beds on Carnival and I'm worried about 14-days on Princess going to and coming from Hawaii. I've heard so much about the beds being hard!

[brilliantseas]

One would think the Princess ships would be receiving the same mattresses as they are refurbished as they are owned by the same company, after all. Too bad the Carnival Victory doesn't have the new mattresses yet. I slept so much better on the Dream than on the Victory.

 

On a side note, I am just off the Dream and absolutely loved it. My new favorite Carnival ship.

[LaFinDuMonde]

We just got off of the Dream yesterday and are a bit worried if we will sail Carnival again. There were long lines for everything at all hours of the day and night. It seemed as though there wasn't enough staff in buffet area or staffers helping out at the theater. We had to clean our own tables (when we could find one)! We also noticed that the Dream was not designed for the Tropics. Our balcony has large puddles of water all week, our shower flooded every time we used it, and when in Roatan, the decks overflowed water into the buffet! We're thinking either time for smaller boats or back to NCL and Holland America.

[Cruzaholic41]

We just got off of the Dream yesterday and are a bit worried if we will sail Carnival again. There were long lines for everything at all hours of the day and night. It seemed as though there wasn't enough staff in buffet area or staffers helping out at the theater. We had to clean our own tables (when we could find one)!

 

You're not the only who thought that. However, I could see how it wouldn't bother a Princess lover. Dream Class is very similar to Caribbean Princess and Emerald Princess in crowding.

[LaFinDuMonde]

You're not the only who thought that. However, I could see how it wouldn't bother a Princess lover. Dream Class is very similar to Caribbean Princess and Emerald Princess in crowding.

 

Did you notice that some of the shows were so over-crowded that people people sat in the stairs and not a single employee did or said anything about it? I saw 2 children trip and fall down them because of it...

 

We sailed RCCL Liberty of the Seas in December 2009 and felt like herded cattle...

[Halftocruz]

Did you notice that some of the shows were so over-crowded that people people sat in the stairs and not a single employee did or said anything about it? I saw 2 children trip and fall down them because of it...

 

We sailed RCCL Liberty of the Seas in December 2009 and felt like herded cattle...

 

I keep hearing about balconies flooding on the Dream? How? I'm on the Dream in December on the 7th deck and can't figure out how it can flood? What deck were you on? Was it raining? Maybe I don't get it

[RuthlessBoss]

I keep hearing about balconies flooding on the Dream? How? I'm on the Dream in December on the 7th deck and can't figure out how it can flood? What deck were you on? Was it raining? Maybe I don't get it

I was in a cove, no floods.

[PROCRUISE]

What the heck thought I would give it a try. Great cruiseline, nice ship, good food and the best bed ever. I had fun, Sure I missed my elite perks on Princess. But I Booked another Carnival while I was on board. I am thinking Europe on the Breeze next fall. All I can say is the one thing I would change is the food tasted so good but it was never really hot. Always lukewarm to even cool. Anyone going on the Dream enjoy!

 

Glad you had a pleasant time with CCL. We'll be trying out Princess for the first time in February and expect to have a great time, as we do on ALL cruises. :)

[Dannzzigg]

I keep hearing about balconies flooding on the Dream? How? I'm on the Dream in December on the 7th deck and can't figure out how it can flood? What deck were you on? Was it raining? Maybe I don't get it

 

I was in cabin 7215 and our balcony was flooded for the duration of the cruise. That cabin is the second balcony cabin back from the front. It did rain occassionally on our sailing, but even when the weather was clear, there was standing water on the balcony.

 

I believe it comes from poor drainage. There is always some degree of spray that accumulates at the front as well as runoff from the decks being cleaned. That water is blown down the sides of the ship, via the balcony gutters, and it should leave via drains in the balcony gutters. However, due to some unknown reason - bad engineering, warped flooring, whatever - that water does not always reach the drain and instead pools up on the balcony. I know the foreward-most balcony had a drain, but ours and the next one back did not. I'm sure that didn't help matters either.

 

It really was quite disappointing to not be able to use our balcony due to the constant standing water. I would think that more drains would have made a difference.

[sparkscruiser]

I was in cabin 7215 and our balcony was flooded for the duration of the cruise. That cabin is the second balcony cabin back from the front. It did rain occassionally on our sailing, but even when the weather was clear, there was standing water on the balcony.

 

I believe it comes from poor drainage. There is always some degree of spray that accumulates at the front as well as runoff from the decks being cleaned. That water is blown down the sides of the ship, via the balcony gutters, and it should leave via drains in the balcony gutters. However, due to some unknown reason - bad engineering, warped flooring, whatever - that water does not always reach the drain and instead pools up on the balcony. I know the foreward-most balcony had a drain, but ours and the next one back did not. I'm sure that didn't help matters either.

 

It really was quite disappointing to not be able to use our balcony due to the constant standing water. I would think that more drains would have made a difference.

 

Did you report the standing water to Guest Services? I ask as maybe they could have done something to rectify thesituation. Good to know as we will be in a foward cabin on our Dream cuise.

 

But I would much rather deal with standing water than the sewage odor we had on our RCCL cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas. I reported it to guest services and they told me they had a problem with the sewer ventilation - and since we paid a premium for a balcony that was not usable (Rhapsody does not have very many) it was very annoying. Even my contacts with shoreside guest relations went nowhere.

 

If I have standing water on my balcony, I will get it off even if I have to use all the towels in my room to do it.

[LaFinDuMonde]

Our balcony was on the 9th deck and had the same issues that Dannzzigg mentioned. There was no drain anywhere to be seen so the water simply pooled up and stayed there. The puddle took up about half of the balcony and was rather annoying. It was there from the moment we got into the room until the day we left. We did get a letter stating they were going to be cleaned during the morning in Roatan but we were hit with a massive storm and it only got worse.

[TTinAZ]

Just got off the dream yesterday...had a cove balcony, never flooded, wet yes...but you are on the ocean! The day it was pouring rain there were issues with rain and the atrium elevators, but they got right to work on them. The wind really picked up that morning and the lido deck got drenched, but again saw workers out there when it stopped raining, mopping up the water.

 

Lines were bad at the buffet at "peak" eating times. The only time i waited was on debarktion morning though. LOVED any time dining and even asked to sit with the same waiter every night. Didn't run into rude Carnival people, but a whole lot of rude,loud (outide our cabin door at 2am), pushy cruisers. Never seen so many obnoxious self centered people. One man asked if he was going to get a partial refund because the elevators (a small portion) of them didnt work on the rainy day!!! Really?!?

 

I am not a Carnival "cheerleader" and was actually was worried about a Carnival ship. I thought it was a beautiful ship with great service and great food. Guess I should do a review!

[Beth]

We were on the Dream 10-1-10-8 and had a super time. We did not find the lines any longer then other ships, but did not eat at prime times. We thought there was more to do and better entertainment then smaller ships. Loved the band Blackjack.

[tandemcruzr]

I thought it was a beautiful ship with great service and great food. Guess I should do a review!

 

By all means, please do. :D

[brilliantseas]

We just got off of the Dream yesterday and are a bit worried if we will sail Carnival again. There were long lines for everything at all hours of the day and night. It seemed as though there wasn't enough staff in buffet area or staffers helping out at the theater. We had to clean our own tables (when we could find one)! We also noticed that the Dream was not designed for the Tropics. Our balcony has large puddles of water all week, our shower flooded every time we used it, and when in Roatan, the decks overflowed water into the buffet! We're thinking either time for smaller boats or back to NCL and Holland America.

 

We were just on the Carnival Dream on October 1-8, 2011 Western Caribbean sailing and had a great time. No problems with crowds. The only long lines we encountered during the entire cruise were for the mongolian grill (long on all ships because it is cooked to order) and a small wait for tenders (about 15-20 minutes) in Belize. I actually felt more crowded on the Victory the following week.

 

We rarely ate in the main buffet lines, opting instead for the specialty options for lunch (deli, burritos, pasta bar, pizza, indian), and rarely had more than 4-5 people in front of us in line. We usually did breakfast via room service or the omelet stations either at the Mongolian station or back at the Indian station. Never had to wait long for breakfast either.

 

We did the water slides on Sunday (the first sea day) in the mid-afternoon and waited maybe 5 minutes in line. Not bad at all.

 

We were always able to get good seats in the comedy club and the main show lounge by arriving 10 minutes before the start of the show. The new system of clearing the lounge after every comedy show solves the problem of seat hogs that used watch all 5 shows in the same seats, but we had no problem just exiting and going right back in if we wanted to see 2 or 3 consecutive comedy shows.

 

In regards to water on the balconies, we had balcony cabin #8248 and only had water on our balcony after it had rained the previous night or shortly after they cleaned the balconies (I believe they do this every Wednesday). There is a drain with a little gutter system on each balcony below the railing, but if you have rain or strong sea spray, there might be a few puddles until they have time to evaporate. That being said, it was never a big deal for us.

 

The Carnival Dream is my new favorite Carnival ship. I found it far nicer and less crowded than the Victory and Triumph and it has far more amenities than the Fantasy class (Imagination). I enjoyed it enough that I'm booking two of my next three cruises on Dream class ships.

[gelo7]

Glad that you had a good cruise.

[GloriaF]

Thanks for the review. We also have mainly Princess cruises, platinum - not elite yet, and have a Carnival cruise booked next. We are on one of Carnival's smaller ships, and know we will have a wonderful time. Looking forward to trying the comfy beds!

 

I'm really spoiled by the comfy beds on Carnival and I'm worried about 14-days on Princess going to and coming from Hawaii. I've heard so much about the beds being hard!

 

Lots of people request egg crate foam mattresses be put on their bed on Princess. I think you can do it when you fill out the online registration, but you can always ask your room steward once you board also. Also ask the steward about feather pillows, if you aren't happy with the ones on the bed.