Just back Carnival Dream! Exceeded expectations!

[XJflyer]

Just back from Carnival Dream, and I have to tell you I am very impressed with my first Carnival Cruise! As you can tell from my signature I have been on many Royal Caribbean cruises, and all these years I have avoided Carnival, believing it to be inferior. This year, trying to pinch pennies, we could not ignore the price difference at hand, and reluctantly tried Carnival. We were delighted!! Service: Oustanding! Food: Outstanding! Facilities: Outstanding! If I were keeping a scorecard I would give RCCL a few points and Carnival a few points and in many respects they were tied. The thing I missed most was the Solarium pool on the RCCL ships - a quiet adults only pool. Fellow cruisers that had been on RCCL agreed with me. But I loved the Serenity area almost as much (hot tubs but no pool). The water slides were fun, the entertainment was of high caliber but not as much variety as what we were used to. I love the singers and dancers but every night? No magicians, no ventriloquists, and the only comedy was the first night short teaser to encourage you to visit the comedy club on board. I intended to go but the only options were during dinner, during the main show or really late and I was always too tired to go late, so that is my own fault! So I will admit the comedy club (Punchliners) is an attraction, but my comment stands that the variety in the main shows was missing. But I am being very picky here because in almost every other way this cruise exceeded my expectations! The variety of options at "The Gathering" (buffet) was astounding! Beats the Windjammer (on RCCL) any day of the week. The Burrito Bar, the Mongolian Wok, Pasta Bar ... amazing!!! The service was spectacular. Our cabin steward provided us our pool towels and switched them out for dry ones every night (RCCL we had to do that ourselves - maybe we just didn't have the right cabin steward?). Dinner service was as great as ever and our sodas (we purchased the soda packages) were waiting for us on the table when we got to dinner! Refills were prompt as well. I have to say, I am very, very impressed! Our one Norwegian Cruise was very disappointing... horrible service, sub-standard buffet, etc. But this isn't about that, this is about Carnival and I just wanted to say they have won us over!

[Maryscooking]

Thanks for the review!

 

We have cruised mainly RCCL and Celebrity, with one Carnival trip thrown in, and we are about to give Carnival another try.

 

Did you have kiddos in your party by any chance? Any input on Camp Carnival, or the Waterworks area? Did you use the spa facilities?

[CruisersNC]

Glad you had a great cruise XJ. We'll be on the Dream again this fall and can't wait!! :)

[maldenmusic]

Glad to read positive reviews.

[cruise_girl2002]

glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. i agree with the food with the windjammer on rcl...wasnt that great. carnival grills their burgers fresh, rcl left them sitting out. The dream is an amazing ship

[Tutankhamen]

GREAT NEWS!! Thanks!

[marygal]

I will agree with you ....we were also on the Dream last week and had a wonderful time...not my first Carnival trip but it was a wonderful ship...Loved the Serenity area and there was always chairs and empty hot tubs to enjoy!

Food was good service was great and the Buffet had a great variety of food..

Looking forward to number 8 :)

[LetzCruze]

Just back from Carnival Dream, and I have to tell you I am very impressed with my first Carnival Cruise! As you can tell from my signature I have been on many Royal Caribbean cruises, and all these years I have avoided Carnival, believing it to be inferior. This year, trying to pinch pennies, we could not ignore the price difference at hand, and reluctantly tried Carnival. We were delighted!! Service: Oustanding! Food: Outstanding! Facilities: Outstanding! If I were keeping a scorecard I would give RCCL a few points and Carnival a few points and in many respects they were tied. The thing I missed most was the Solarium pool on the RCCL ships - a quiet adults only pool. Fellow cruisers that had been on RCCL agreed with me. But I loved the Serenity area almost as much (hot tubs but no pool). The water slides were fun, the entertainment was of high caliber but not as much variety as what we were used to. I love the singers and dancers but every night? No magicians, no ventriloquists, and the only comedy was the first night short teaser to encourage you to visit the comedy club on board. I intended to go but the only options were during dinner, during the main show or really late and I was always too tired to go late, so that is my own fault! So I will admit the comedy club (Punchliners) is an attraction, but my comment stands that the variety in the main shows was missing. But I am being very picky here because in almost every other way this cruise exceeded my expectations! The variety of options at "The Gathering" (buffet) was astounding! Beats the Windjammer (on RCCL) any day of the week. The Burrito Bar, the Mongolian Wok, Pasta Bar ... amazing!!! The service was spectacular. Our cabin steward provided us our pool towels and switched them out for dry ones every night (RCCL we had to do that ourselves - maybe we just didn't have the right cabin steward?). Dinner service was as great as ever and our sodas (we purchased the soda packages) were waiting for us on the table when we got to dinner! Refills were prompt as well. I have to say, I am very, very impressed! Our one Norwegian Cruise was very disappointing... horrible service, sub-standard buffet, etc. But this isn't about that, this is about Carnival and I just wanted to say they have won us over!

 

No paragraphs, indents or line spacing, couldn't read.

 

Glad you enjoyed the dream though based on the thread title.

[RuthlessBoss]

No paragraphs, indents or line spacing, couldn't read.

 

Glad you enjoyed the dream though based on the thread title.

Would you like a rewrite for you? I see this is not your first time making this type of comment.

I read it okay.

[LBumb]

good news

[nlktx49]

Sounds like you went with an open mind and a good attitude - glad to hear you had such a good experience. With the money you save on Carnival you can cruise more often!

[kawaiidmc]

Good to hear! I'll be cruising on the Dream in 5 days! It will be our first, so I am really excited!

[balcony bound]

Happy to hear you enjoyed your first Carnival cruise:)

 

Dream is one of our favorite ships and it's always nice to read that others find positives to say.

[theneals4]

XJ~ I am glad you had a WONDERFUL time on the Dream! We have been on her once already and getting ready to go back in 5 days. And i cant not wait!!

 

Hopefully, you will be planning many more cruises with them!

[leja9802]

Thank you. We'll on the Dream in August. It's our First Carnival Cruise.

[XJflyer]

No paragraphs, indents or line spacing, couldn't read.

 

This comment is troubling (and embarrassing) to me because it actually did bother me to write it in one paragraph. I admit I do not post often on here, and I wrote it first in a text editor, because I am more comfortable composing it that way. Some forums do not accept line breaks and I could not remember if CC was that way or not, and I thought people wouldn't really mind. You are right, it is a bit hard to read that way. I had a busy day and was posting it in a hurry.

 

I just wanted to be sure it posted correctly with no hiccups so I just did a quick copy/paste. Sorry if it was difficult to read.

[etwright]

This comment is troubling (and embarrassing) to me because it actually did bother me to write it in one paragraph. I admit I do not post often on here, and I wrote it first in a text editor, because I am more comfortable composing it that way. Some forums do not accept line breaks and I could not remember if CC was that way or not, and I thought people wouldn't really mind. You are right, it is a bit hard to read that way. I had a busy day and was posting it in a hurry.

 

I just wanted to be sure it posted correctly with no hiccups so I just did a quick copy/paste. Sorry if it was difficult to read.

 

Unfortunately you can't make everyone happy.

 

Glad the OP had a great time:)

[vivavegas]

Great Review! Sounds like you had a great cruise!:)

[Cruising240]

Would you like a rewrite for you? I see this is not your first time making this type of comment.

I read it okay.

 

So did I...great review! THANKS for sharing your positive experience with us!

[MommaOf3Princesses]

Which itinerary was it?

[combatboots2jimmychoos]

This comment is troubling (and embarrassing) to me because it actually did bother me to write it in one paragraph. I admit I do not post often on here, and I wrote it first in a text editor, because I am more comfortable composing it that way. Some forums do not accept line breaks and I could not remember if CC was that way or not, and I thought people wouldn't really mind. You are right, it is a bit hard to read that way. I had a busy day and was posting it in a hurry.

 

I just wanted to be sure it posted correctly with no hiccups so I just did a quick copy/paste. Sorry if it was difficult to read.

 

Don't worry about that hijack poster. We all read your post fine.

[Purplesaurus]

Thanks for the cruise review!! I look forward to all postitive reviews on the Dream. We are going in a few weeks and I am looking forward to it. Thanks again!!!!!

[waykaylincruz]

We felt the same way when we tried Carnival in October 2010 on the Liberty. We had been on several lines but RCCL had been our favorite and most frequently traveled line. I was nervous about trying Carnival but decided to bite the bullet and give them a try. When we got to the port, I started all the comparisons of RCCL & Carnival. However, after about 30 minutes on the ship, I forgot all about comparing the two lines as I was having a blast and everything was so wonderful!! We had our all time favorite cruise that week and are going on the Dream in 8 days. We are looking forward to it and will for sure go back on RCCL again but with the pricing, Carnival just always seem to win out.

[donnaandtim]

Tank you for this wonderful post I have been on FOS but our next cruise is on the Dream, was wondering what the differences were. Both the pros and the cons.

[WAHMto5]

Glad you had a great cruise!! We have been ont he Dream before and going again this fall, can't wait!!