Not my Dream Cruise

[Tyme2Cruise]

Cruised the dream Apr 20-Apr27 2014. Not a great choice for dates to cruise, but had to accommodate other family members. Over 1000 cruisers under the age of 18, many of them unsupervised and out of control. Can't tell you how many times I was pushed, run into, and cut in front of (not always by children). Elevator buttons pushed, communication boards for all family members were written on and messages to other family members erased. There were also many that were courteous and well behaved, and I applaud those children and parents. However, I will never again cruise during spring or any other holiday break. This was our 3rd cruise on the Dream, and our cabin and steward were outstanding. I do not think the rest of the ship was as clean as prior cruises. The comedy shows and ocean plaza bands were above average. All other entertainment was average at best. The food was average, except for the Steak House, and it was great. We enjoyed the spa but several times different rooms were not working properly and house keeping was slow to clean the relaxation room. We always make the best out of any situation and overall we had a fun cruise. However, for now, we are going to take a break from Carnival and try another Line.

[Chileancruiser]

Cruised the dream Apr 20-Apr27 2014. Not a great choice for dates to cruise, but had to accommodate other family members. Over 1000 cruisers under the age of 18, many of them unsupervised and out of control. Can't tell you how many times I was pushed, run into, and cut in front of (not always by children). Elevator buttons pushed, communication boards for all family members were written on and messages to other family members erased. There were also many that were courteous and well behaved, and I applaud those children and parents. However, I will never again cruise during spring or any other holiday break. This was our 3rd cruise on the Dream, and our cabin and steward were outstanding. I do not think the rest of the ship was as clean as prior cruises. The comedy shows and ocean plaza bands were above average. All other entertainment was average at best. The food was average, except for the Steak House, and it was great. We enjoyed the spa but several times different rooms were not working properly and house keeping was slow to clean the relaxation room. We always make the best out of any situation and overall we had a fun cruise. However, for now, we are going to take a break from Carnival and try another Line.

 

 

Without experiencing any other cruise line but those vacations day are universal. Those annoying kids will be joining you on another cruise line for the same dates. But with your experience in mind is why I never go on Feb/April vacation or summer vacation. I've had great luck on the 1st week of December and 1st week of October so far.

 

 

 

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[sassykitten74]

We're going on the Dream in Nov., can't wait! We have 2 kids, but they will NOT be running wild!

[HawkIVette]

I have to agree. We have done a few spring break weeks and find the more families, the more chance to run into (or get run in to) children that are of that age where they can be set free by their parents and probably should not be yet.

I don't think carnival is that much worse than any other cruise line, but defineately stay away from Spring break weeks again if you can't tolerate the little ones.

[Tyme2Cruise]

I have to agree. We have done a few spring break weeks and find the more families, the more chance to run into (or get run in to) children that are of that age where they can be set free by their parents and probably should not be yet.

I don't think carnival is that much worse than any other cruise line, but defineately stay away from Spring break weeks again if you can't tolerate the little ones.

 

It wasn't so much the "little ones" that were the problem, it was the med/large sizes. :D

[Tyme2Cruise]

We're going on the Dream in Nov., can't wait! We have 2 kids, but they will NOT be running wild!

 

Have a great time. I think you will enjoy the Dream. :)

[Colorado Buffalo]

Cruised the dream Apr 20-Apr27 2014. Not a great choice for dates to cruise, but had to accommodate other family members. Over 1000 cruisers under the age of 18, many of them unsupervised and out of control. Can't tell you how many times I was pushed, run into, and cut in front of (not always by children). Elevator buttons pushed, communication boards for all family members were written on and messages to other family members erased. There were also many that were courteous and well behaved, and I applaud those children and parents. However, I will never again cruise during spring or any other holiday break. This was our 3rd cruise on the Dream, and our cabin and steward were outstanding. I do not think the rest of the ship was as clean as prior cruises. The comedy shows and ocean plaza bands were above average. All other entertainment was average at best. The food was average, except for the Steak House, and it was great. We enjoyed the spa but several times different rooms were not working properly and house keeping was slow to clean the relaxation room. We always make the best out of any situation and overall we had a fun cruise. However, for now, we are going to take a break from Carnival and try another Line.

 

why not try Celebrity ?

 

we sailed on them April 6th - Western Caribbean and there were 120 children on board but I swear I probably saw half that...

 

the food was amazing in the MDR and their buffet was high quality as well-

I thought the entertainment was better than I expected. Celebrity has

beautiful ships (try the 'S' Class.. the ones with grass growing on deck 15)

 

The vibe on board is more laid back. I think I only heard one announcement per day.

[Tyme2Cruise]

why not try Celebrity ?

 

we sailed on them April 6th - Western Caribbean and there were 120 children on board but I swear I probably saw half that...

 

the food was amazing in the MDR and their buffet was high quality as well-

I thought the entertainment was better than I expected. Celebrity has

beautiful ships (try the 'S' Class.. the ones with grass growing on deck 15)

 

The vibe on board is more laid back. I think I only heard one announcement per day.

 

Thank you. DW and I have discussed Celebrity, and will try them for 2016. Already have a 10 day on Holland America to the Panama Canal for 2015. :)

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Probably a few more kids on Carnival than most lines. Except for Disney.

[cruising_diva]

This is why we cruise between September and November -- most of the kids are in school. :)

Sorry you had bad experiences with your cruise-mates, but as others have mentioned, I doubt that you will see any differences on other lines, if you continue to sail during Spring break season. I'm glad that aside from obnoxious passengers, the rest of your cruise was satisfactory.

[ss70chev]

Try Holland America. We cruised them from Venice and were the youngest on board and I am in my forties. :)

[LSGDRG]

I was recently on the Dream-the repositioning cruise. I posted a review. My husband & I did not have a problem with kids, but did see more discourteous behavior from adults during this cruise. Not sure if Carnival has changed that much or my expectations were high based on previous cruises. My next cruise will probably not be Carnival.

[kajunkroozer]

We cruised the same dates on the Magic and I was honestly expecting there to be more kids on board than there were. I did notice a gang of teenage girls throughout the week who were super loud and obnoxious where ever they went, but other than that it was still better than mid summer.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

This is why we cruise between September and November -- most of the kids are in school. :)

Sorry you had bad experiences with your cruise-mates, but as others have mentioned, I doubt that you will see any differences on other lines, if you continue to sail during Spring break season. I'm glad that aside from obnoxious passengers, the rest of your cruise was satisfactory.

 

It's funny that the people who posted this in this thread have all Carnival cruises in their sigs.

 

Do you honestly think that Celebrity and HAL are as bad as CCL at spring break?

 

Being the cheapest, CCL will attract more spring breakers than a higher costing cruise line.

 

Bill

[nitro2448]

I was on this same cruise, while there were a lot of kids, I was told 1100, I didn't really have much of an issue with them. But I wasn't really in the areas heavily populated with kids.

[golfb4cruzing]

I can say that Princess does not have the roaming herds of crazies on it. I've seen some tipsy argumentative adults but surprised by children. We went last year when Georgia was on break and you couldn't tell.

[nitro2448]

It's funny that the people who posted this in this thread have all Carnival cruises in their sigs.

 

 

 

Do you honestly think that Celebrity and HAL are as bad as CCL at spring break?

 

 

 

Being the cheapest, CCL will attract more spring breakers than a higher costing cruise line.

 

 

 

Bill

 

 

There really wasn't a lot of what you would consider " spring break " kids on this cruise. There were just a lot of family's with kids on this cruise. There wasn't a bunch of spring break partiers on the cruise.