Thoughts on Our Recent Dream Cruise

[tlund]

Just got back from the Dream. Although we had a good time, there were some things that were a disappointment. My husband and I had cruised the Dream in January of 2010 and didn't really notice some things that bothered us this time. We cruised with a total of 22 people and the majority had the same comments.

I would have done a review with pictures, however the inner-chamber of our waterproof camera got wet so the camera got trashed.

 

Here's our thoughts:

 

Pros: Comedy club was great. We spent most of our time there. Jeff the Fun Dude is getting much better in his warm up than in 2010.

 

The Corner Aft Balcony was spacious. Lots of storage in the cabin. No problem with room steward, although only saw him briefly twice.

 

Steakhouse was a nice experience and food was good.

 

Danicing in the Streets show was good.

 

BBQ on sea days was a good dining option.

 

Cons:

 

The service in the main dining room was awful. Our tables were always the last ones sitting there waiting for our dessert. They typically turned on the bright lights at 8:00 to get the dining room ready for late seating. We were usually sitting there still waiting. Our wait staff could not get it together and I don't think anyone at our tables was very demanding. They would grab the food from the kitchen and let it sit at their station for a half hour before serving. They cleaned off the plates right behind us and left the food piled there. Nothing like trying to have a conversation with loud clanging right behind your head, along with the view of a large pile of uneaten food. The last night, we never got our salad entrees at all. We usually had to exchange plates with each other because they were serving everyone the wrong entree. Never experienced such poor service from the wait staff.

 

Always seemed to be a line for everything. Lines for food. Lines for shows.

 

Carnival really dropped the ball on the design of this ship. The pools are way too small for the number of people. The areas where they would have events were too small. Seemed like they wanted to bring people together in certain spots on the ship, but those spots were way too small. Explain to me why an engineer would place large poles smack dab in a narrow walkway affecting the flow of people.

 

The parties they tried to throw were all line dances or teaching a specific dance. They had an 80's party in the Ocean Plaza. We got there and it was dead quiet, except for the member of the staff teaching the moves to the Thriller Dance. Right right, left left, etc. The party was a total of 45 minutes with the majority of it teaching the moves to the dance. On 70's night, they played disco music in the nightclub. The dance floor was packed. 45 minutes into the party, the DJ switched the music and cleared the dance floor and club. When you have the dance floor full, why switch out the music.

 

We received a letter the night before our Roatan stop that there would be "maintenance" on the balconies. They wanted us to close all the curtains and lock the door from 9-1 on that day. Worked for us since we had an all day shore excursion scheduled. We came back and the balcony did not look any different. On Thursday night, we received a letter that there would be balcony cleaning on Friday and that we needed to close all the curtains and lock the door from 9-1 on that day, which happened to be a day at sea. Why wouldn't they do balcony cleaning on a port day instead of a sea day? My intention was to enjoy the balcony on the last sea day and read my book. My balcony was useless on the last sea day since they were cleaning them and afterward they were pretty much wet all day. Stupid.

 

Piano Bar singer is awful. He was a Barry Manilow wannabee. Instead of singing the songs the way we all know them so everyone could sing along, he wanted to put on a dramatic show of each song (and he wasn't that good at it) so nobody could sing along.

 

The food was not that good. The buffet and a lot of the stations closed down too early. The dinner buffet choices were very limited.

 

The class of some of the people on this ship was lacking. Some obnoxious drunks and a racist guy heckling the black comedian. His wife, and then security, had to get him out of there. Wasted half a show for the rest of us. A lot of scooter people that had no issue with running people over or running over their service dog.

 

We only had 7-2 in Costa Maya. The ship was late getting there and people were not getting off until after 8:00. Got down to the gangway around 8:15 and debarking was stopped for a half an hour for the other Carnival ship across from us to pull into port. Lost 2 hours of a short port visit.

 

Just seemed to us that there was a lack of attention to detail on this ship.

 

As I said, we still had a good time because in my mind, any week away from work is good, but this cruise or ship seem a little off.

[kcwingwalker]

Just got back from the Dream. Although we had a good time, there were some things that were a disappointment. My husband and I had cruised the Dream in January of 2010 and didn't really notice some things that bothered us this time. We cruised with a total of 22 people and the majority had the same comments.

I would have done a review with pictures, however the inner-chamber of our waterproof camera got wet so the camera got trashed.

 

Here's our thoughts:

 

Pros: Comedy club was great. We spent most of our time there. Jeff the Fun Dude is getting much better in his warm up than in 2010.

 

The Corner Aft Balcony was spacious. Lots of storage in the cabin. No problem with room steward, although only saw him briefly twice.

 

Steakhouse was a nice experience and food was good.

 

Danicing in the Streets show was good.

 

BBQ on sea days was a good dining option.

 

Cons:

 

The service in the main dining room was awful. Our tables were always the last ones sitting there waiting for our dessert. They typically turned on the bright lights at 8:00 to get the dining room ready for late seating. We were usually sitting there still waiting. Our wait staff could not get it together and I don't think anyone at our tables was very demanding. They would grab the food from the kitchen and let it sit at their station for a half hour before serving. They cleaned off the plates right behind us and left the food piled there. Nothing like trying to have a conversation with loud clanging right behind your head, along with the view of a large pile of uneaten food. The last night, we never got our salad entrees at all. We usually had to exchange plates with each other because they were serving everyone the wrong entree. Never experienced such poor service from the wait staff.

 

Always seemed to be a line for everything. Lines for food. Lines for shows.

 

Carnival really dropped the ball on the design of this ship. The pools are way too small for the number of people. The areas where they would have events were too small. Seemed like they wanted to bring people together in certain spots on the ship, but those spots were way too small. Explain to me why an engineer would place large poles smack dab in a narrow walkway affecting the flow of people.

 

The parties they tried to throw were all line dances or teaching a specific dance. They had an 80's party in the Ocean Plaza. We got there and it was dead quiet, except for the member of the staff teaching the moves to the Thriller Dance. Right right, left left, etc. The party was a total of 45 minutes with the majority of it teaching the moves to the dance. On 70's night, they played disco music in the nightclub. The dance floor was packed. 45 minutes into the party, the DJ switched the music and cleared the dance floor and club. When you have the dance floor full, why switch out the music.

 

We received a letter the night before our Roatan stop that there would be "maintenance" on the balconies. They wanted us to close all the curtains and lock the door from 9-1 on that day. Worked for us since we had an all day shore excursion scheduled. We came back and the balcony did not look any different. On Thursday night, we received a letter that there would be balcony cleaning on Friday and that we needed to close all the curtains and lock the door from 9-1 on that day, which happened to be a day at sea. Why wouldn't they do balcony cleaning on a port day instead of a sea day? My intention was to enjoy the balcony on the last sea day and read my book. My balcony was useless on the last sea day since they were cleaning them and afterward they were pretty much wet all day. Stupid.

 

Piano Bar singer is awful. He was a Barry Manilow wannabee. Instead of singing the songs the way we all know them so everyone could sing along, he wanted to put on a dramatic show of each song (and he wasn't that good at it) so nobody could sing along.

 

The food was not that good. The buffet and a lot of the stations closed down too early. The dinner buffet choices were very limited.

 

The class of some of the people on this ship was lacking. Some obnoxious drunks and a racist guy heckling the black comedian. His wife, and then security, had to get him out of there. Wasted half a show for the rest of us. A lot of scooter people that had no issue with running people over or running over their service dog.

 

We only had 7-2 in Costa Maya. The ship was late getting there and people were not getting off until after 8:00. Got down to the gangway around 8:15 and debarking was stopped for a half an hour for the other Carnival ship across from us to pull into port. Lost 2 hours of a short port visit.

 

Just seemed to us that there was a lack of attention to detail on this ship.

 

As I said, we still had a good time because in my mind, any week away from work is good, but this cruise or ship seem a little off.

 

Sorry the Dream wasn't all you had hoped for, but glad you still had a good time.................good attitude:)

[Midwestgal]

The main dinning room is my biggest complaint so I hear you.

I hope it's better for us for our upcoming cruise.

As for balcony cleaning I thought they only dd that on port.:eek:

[tlund]

The main dinning room is my biggest complaint so I hear you.

I hope it's better for us for our upcoming cruise.

As for balcony cleaning I thought they only dd that on port.:eek:

 

I guess it must be the luck of the draw on the wait staff you get. There were other people leaving the dining room much earlier than we were. They must've been served well. I could understand if we were late for dinner but we all showed up on time and still it took 2 hours or more.

[SkyMaster]

Had I been you, I'd have had a short chat with the maitre'd. I'll bet he could have helped you.

I have to agree with you about the design of some of the newer ships. Perhaps that's the reason I've started sailing the OLD "Fantasy Class" ships so much recently. Smaller ship, less crowds, some of 'em have pre 2.0 entertainment. (Much better IMO) Better service because of the smaller number of passengers, and it seems to me, just a better, more relaxing cruise, in general. Oh well, as someone above said, any cruise is better than no cruise at all. :cool:

Yep, I'm booked on "Dream" again in February. :eek:

 

"SKY"

[Eliot Ness]

I think the wait staff has a lot to do with timing and delays. I recall one cruise where we would always be seated first, but all surrounding tables were finished before we even ordered desert. It wasn't a big deal because they were pleasant and we always got the right food. It just seemed like even though we arrived first our table was last in the rotation.

 

Last year on the Dream we did ATD but always requested the same wait crew. That worked out well for us as they were very good and we like to bond with our wait staff over the course of a cruise. It is always refreshing to be greeted with a smile each evening and I think they like to feel appreciated too.

 

I agree that Costa Maya is cut too short. As one of my favorite ports I'd like to see at least 2 hours added there.

 

Glad you had a good time in spite of the issues and hope your next cruise is better!

 

 

John

[tlund]

I think the wait staff has a lot to do with timing and delays. I recall one cruise where we would always be seated first, but all surrounding tables were finished before we even ordered desert. It wasn't a big deal because they were pleasant and we always got the right food. It just seemed like even though we arrived first our table was last in the rotation.

 

Last year on the Dream we did ATD but always requested the same wait crew. That worked out well for us as they were very good and we like to bond with our wait staff over the course of a cruise. It is always refreshing to be greeted with a smile each evening and I think they like to feel appreciated too.

 

I agree that Costa Maya is cut too short. As one of my favorite ports I'd like to see at least 2 hours added there.

 

Glad you had a good time in spite of the issues and hope your next cruise is better!

 

 

John

 

 

Last time we were on the Dream, we did ATD. No complaints. This time, it was just off. Way off. The wait staff never greeted us and never made any attempt at talking at all, except to take your order. We've been on enough cruises to know that this is not the norm. Just a bit disappointing.

[tlund]

Had I been you, I'd have had a short chat with the maitre'd. I'll bet he could have helped you.

I have to agree with you about the design of some of the newer ships. Perhaps that's the reason I've started sailing the OLD "Fantasy Class" ships so much recently. Smaller ship, less crowds, some of 'em have pre 2.0 entertainment. (Much better IMO) Better service because of the smaller number of passengers, and it seems to me, just a better, more relaxing cruise, in general. Oh well, as someone above said, any cruise is better than no cruise at all. :cool:

Yep, I'm booked on "Dream" again in February. :eek:

 

"SKY"

 

To be honest, we never saw the maitre'd or head waiter. I did not want to make a scene or get anyone in trouble because I know these people need their jobs. Although, I guess they won't get any better if they don't know what they are doing wrong. We usually tip our wait staff more than the typical tip amount. Needless to say, these guys did not get anything more. You would think that they would recognize that their tip is reflective of their service.

[cruise_pirate]

Carnival should really take note on all of the bad experiences in the dining room. I am sure my HORRIBLE service was not the only complaint they have gotten on their comment surveys..:rolleyes:

 

Lonnie

[cruising maniac]

Wow!! This is very disappointing. We leave on the 23rd for Thanksgiving week. You do seem to really have an easy going attitude and I am glad you did not let it ruin your vacation. Carnival needs to address these issues immediately. I'm sure that the other cruise lines love to hear these complaints.:mad:

[tlund]

Carnival should really take note on all of the bad experiences in the dining room. I am sure my HORRIBLE service was not the only complaint they have gotten on their comment surveys..:rolleyes:

 

Lonnie

 

Speaking of comment surveys, that was another thing we noticed. We were never provided with survey cards to make any comments. We weren't sure if Carnival does that on the cruise (like Royal and Celebrity). I thought maybe they send an e-mail survey after the cruise. We didn't get the opportunity to give our thoughts.

[cruise_pirate]

Speaking of comment surveys, that was another thing we noticed. We were never provided with survey cards to make any comments. We weren't sure if Carnival does that on the cruise (like Royal and Celebrity). I thought maybe they send an e-mail survey after the cruise. We didn't get the opportunity to give our thoughts.

 

They now send them by email. Maybe you were just not selected :/

 

 

Sent from iPhone 4S

[cantwait2cruise]

We had really bad service on the Fascination in August. I hope we don't experience the same thing in the Dream. The waiters are trying to take care of too many tables now!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[TNyankee]

We just returned from Dream as well. We were ATD and went to steak house on first night.

 

Steak house was excellent in food and service as usual.

 

ATD dining was two part story. Part one was a wait team that took wine order, and dinner order and didn't bring wine. Appetizers down and walked away before I could ask about wine so I sat and waited. It was finally recognized and we started over. Things were fine after that.

 

Part two was the wait team we got the next night (and requested each night there after). Arnel, Luh, and Danica while busy, were pretty much spot on for service. A very different experience from ATD night one.

 

I guess this is an advantage of ATD, you can try and find another team, and if you like them can request to be seated in thier area each night. The hostess knows where you were based on cabin number. I would recommend Arnel and his team.

 

Food in general was good for what we ordered with the exception perhaps of the sea food newburgh which was described as sea scallops and black tiger shrimp with garlic/cream lobster sauce served on saffron rice. What arrived was some over stewed shrimp, 3 mussels, and a basic brown rue gravy (kind of tasteless). A disappointment to be sure, but not a cruise breaker.

 

Bitter and blanc, WCMC, and tiramisu were excellent desserts as usual.

 

One evening that the ATD menu didnt look overly inspired, we opted to get salads, breads, cheese, proscuito, and several pizzas and returned to our cove with a bottle of merlot we brought on. That food, some music, and mother nature's sunset and sea made for a great dinner! I recommend it! :-)

 

We really enjoyed this cruise after our hurrican Sandy shortened outing last year.

[Beth]

We just got off the Dram & had a wonderful experience in the DR. We were on a back-back cruise & had requested the same waiter as we had on our Sept. cruise. Neil, Ivan & their assistant were fantastic and very attentive to our needs.

[Mark27284]

To be honest, we never saw the maitre'd or head waiter. I did not want to make a scene or get anyone in trouble because I know these people need their jobs. Although, I guess they won't get any better if they don't know what they are doing wrong. We usually tip our wait staff more than the typical tip amount. Needless to say, these guys did not get anything more. You would think that they would recognize that their tip is reflective of their service.

 

You never saw the head waiter? We were on the dream a few weeks ago and our head waiter took the mike during every meal and talked to us, introduced the dining entertainment etc. he was also at the main entrance to tell everyone goodnight when the meal was over.

 

We had several nights when we were the last to be served our main course, but we also had table mates who were ordering multiple appetizers and they would not serve the main course until that was taken care of.

 

I completely agree about the lines, the buffet hours, and the small size of the areas like the comedy club. They needed to have the comedy shows in the main theater.

[tlund]

You never saw the head waiter? We were on the dream a few weeks ago and our head waiter took the mike during every meal and talked to us, introduced the dining entertainment etc. he was also at the main entrance to tell everyone goodnight when the meal was over.

 

We had several nights when we were the last to be served our main course, but we also had table mates who were ordering multiple appetizers and they would not serve the main course until that was taken care of.

 

I completely agree about the lines, the buffet hours, and the small size of the areas like the comedy club. They needed to have the comedy shows in the main theater.

 

We were in the main dining room on deck 4. I think the maitre'd was always on 3 so we never saw him. Heard his voice over the microphone but never saw him on deck 4. There was never anyone at the entry doors greeting us.

[misstopgun]

We have sailed the Dream twice and have pretty much the same opinions. The reason we sailed the second time was because it was the only ship stopping in Costa Maya, but the second time the port time was decreased as you mentioned, so since have decided we would take other ships rather than our least favorite for such a short stop.

[rooster1961]

We were in the main dining room on deck 4. I think the maitre'd was always on 3 so we never saw him. Heard his voice over the microphone but never saw him on deck 4. There was never anyone at the entry doors greeting us.

 

Originally Posted by Mark27284

You never saw the head waiter? We were on the dream a few weeks ago and our head waiter took the mike during every meal and talked to us, introduced the dining entertainment etc. he was also at the main entrance to tell everyone goodnight when the meal was over.

 

We had several nights when we were the last to be served our main course, but we also had table mates who were ordering multiple appetizers and they would not serve the main course until that was taken care of.

 

I completely agree about the lines, the buffet hours, and the small size of the areas like the comedy club. They needed to have the comedy shows in the main theater.

 

I was on the same cruise with Mark27284 and he is 100% percent correct. But check out this photo i took of our waiters, what should I do?

[tlund]

Originally Posted by Mark27284

You never saw the head waiter? We were on the dream a few weeks ago and our head waiter took the mike during every meal and talked to us, introduced the dining entertainment etc. he was also at the main entrance to tell everyone goodnight when the meal was over.

 

We had several nights when we were the last to be served our main course, but we also had table mates who were ordering multiple appetizers and they would not serve the main course until that was taken care of.

 

I completely agree about the lines, the buffet hours, and the small size of the areas like the comedy club. They needed to have the comedy shows in the main theater.

 

I was on the same cruise with Mark27284 and he is 100% percent correct. But check out this photo i took of our waiters, what should I do?

 

OMG. I can't believe a waiter would provide that evidence of misconduct. I think the picture sums up the attitude of some of the wait staff. They don't want to be there. They don't want to serve you, and you are a major inconvenience to them. I felt that way our whole week. The whole week, I didn't want to complain and get someone in trouble or make a big scene. However, I would definitely provide that picture to Carnival as a representation of their wait staff's attitude.

[Aplmac]

The waiters are trying to take care of too many tables now!

This was particularly noticeable on GLORY

when we did the Canada/New England cruise out of Manhattan, in September.

 

They were rushed off their feet! :eek:

 

 

 

Strangely, we had previously done VALOR back in June, just 3 mths. before

and sensed none of that rushed-off-their-feet stuff. :confused:

 

.

[Eliot Ness]

..... But check out this photo i took of our waiters, what should I do?......

I have to agree with what someone said in your other thread, I don't think he was trying to be malicious or rude. He may have seen passengers doing it while laughing and has no clue what it means. Maybe I'm guilty of giving a poor foreign asst waiter the benefit-of-the-doubt, but I find it hard to believe he would do such a potentially career ending thing on (digital) film while grinning from ear-to-ear.

 

Too bad you didn't notice it in time to mention it to him personally. I don't see any way he comes out of this unscathed if that is sent to Carnival. It's a tough call, but you were there and are in a better position to judge his attitude.

 

 

 

John

[Twinzma]

Originally Posted by Mark27284

You never saw the head waiter? We were on the dream a few weeks ago and our head waiter took the mike during every meal and talked to us, introduced the dining entertainment etc. he was also at the main entrance to tell everyone goodnight when the meal was over.

 

We had several nights when we were the last to be served our main course, but we also had table mates who were ordering multiple appetizers and they would not serve the main course until that was taken care of.

 

I completely agree about the lines, the buffet hours, and the small size of the areas like the comedy club. They needed to have the comedy shows in the main theater.

 

I was on the same cruise with Mark27284 and he is 100% percent correct. But check out this photo i took of our waiters, what should I do?

 

:eek: Seriously!!! I would hate to see the guy get fired, but this is really over-the-top. Maybe in his country, this is a way to say hello? I would most certainly forward it to Carnivals Corporate office immediately and ask for an explanation as to why their staff feels that this is the appropriate way to pose in a photo for a guest.

[pambud96]

I would start a new post and post the photo and ask what everyone thinks.

 

I personally think that some one should tell somebody about it just not sure who to tell.

I wouldn't want him fired, but he needs to know this is not acceptable.

 

I will be on the Dream in December and I will for sure watch out for this guy.

[lfresa]

I just came back from the Dream also. I was on the cruise with the rude heckler. OMG he was even swearing at a lady behind me and I had the rude person who would not move from standing in front of me in the bar area. He was asked by me and Jeff the Fun Dude. What a jerk, but I still had a good time.

 

Have Cove Balcony, LOVED IT!

 

Was on the ship by noon. Went right to the pasta bar and loved it. No one was even there. Room service in the morning always came on time.

 

Had ATD and had Ruffino as our waiter each night. He was awesome!! Our service was quick and he was so friendly. I learned to ask for Lemonade at dinner. I thought he food was excellent, we skipped formal nights since football was on the first night and I did not care for the menu on the other evening.

 

I didn't find the lines bad at all except for the Mongolian. You have remember there will be long lines if you go during peak dining times. We found the buffets in back were not as crowed as the buffet right off the lido area. I did notice my food was cold at one of the buffets during dinner one evening. Oh well! One of the best pizza's we have had on a ship.

 

I found all the staff friendly and smiling. We watched I think all of the comedy shows and loved them. Jeff the Fun Dude did a great job here. I thought the singer as well at Sam's was awful.

 

I do agree that during the sea days they don't really have much. I was disappointed but just relaxed and spent my time at the back of the ship in the aft area. I found the music way to loud on the Lido.

 

For shore excursions I did Nochi in Cozumel, ( don't snorkel there, I had to help a guy having a panic attack the captain left us with a young teen to snorkel with ). Other than than there were only about 40 people that day, Manuel was our waiter and terrific.

 

Goffs Caye in Belize was awesome and the snorkeling was great.

 

I just find it funny in Costa May I love Country music but I would prefer to hear some steel drums not music I can hear back at home.

 

Did the dolphin swim and snorkel at Roatan. Awesome worth every penny. The trick is to dive down to get the sea grass to play with the dolphins.

 

I loved you can find so many places to get a seat on the deck. Just wish the serenity area had their own pool. It got really hot out there and I also did the slides they were fun.

 

Don't hesitate to go on the Dream. Your vacation is what you make of it. These are just my opinions and experiences of the week.