"Dream" Review March 2016

[kc58ab]

I have been slacking on posting my review from my cruise on the “Dream” March 6th thru the 13th. A little background, I went with my husband, two teenage children (ages 16 and 19) and my brother. This was my 4th cruise, and 3rd year in a row. I was excited to have my brother come along as he had never cruised before. It was also a new port for me (New Orleans) and a new ship. Knowing the Dream is one of the bigger ships I was really expecting it would be my favorite afterwards. I was wrong. I think the Freedom has it beat considerably. I really missed Guy’s Burgers, a lot! I’m not even typically a big burger fan. Fish and Chips was also missed. I did try Pasta Bella on the Dream. I normally enjoy pasta. We tried it for lunch the 1st day aboard as I had heard it was the least busy place typically then. I’m certain we were served our pasta faster than we could have gotten through the really long buffet line. The pasta was decent, the lasagna was pretty tasty. With that said, I would rather have Guys or Fish and Chips. My kids tried the Seaside barbeque one of the last days and they were impressed with that. The food in the MDR was always at least good. Several items were fabulous. Our dining crew was amazing, they earned an additional tip above the standard tip! I had read that John Heald would try to accommodate MDR request via his FB page. I can say he came through for us on a private table request 

 

Another thing I greatly missed was the AFT pool that was adult only like the Freedom had. There are always so many children in all the pools it makes it difficult to enjoy. I cannot say I got in either of the pools at all because of this. There were more hot tubs on the Dream which was really nice. We all did enjoy those on several occasions. I’m amazed at how many children pack into the hot tubs with no adult supervision. Our 1st cruise years ago, our children were young. We didn’t let them run wild. That is part of the reason we didn’t cruise again until they were older, because they were pretty bored. We didn’t utilize the Camp Carnival though as we didn’t feel comfortable leaving our children. Nothing against them, just personal choice that we didn’t ever have a non-family member babysit our kids on vacation or not. One night we, all 5 of us, were in a hot tub. Honestly would have been room for a couple more people comfortably. Along comes 4 children, oldest I would guess around 10 and the youngest probably 5ish. They all get in and start diving under the water and splashing with ice-cream in hand. One of the little girls just chatted nonstop with us, which was fine had she not been there without parents. My husband asked them to please not splash everyone and they did settle down. Eventually after some considerable time passed here comes the two parents who cram themselves into the hot tub making 11 people in there. Instantly the youngest starts back attempting to dive in the hot tub although he is in the middle with no room. I guess they must have read the shock on ours faces because they left pretty quick after that. People please watch your children!! I know we want to think it is safe place, but with thousands of people there are bound to be some bad eggs.

 

I have always went with an interior room mid ship on lower floor, as I tend to get slight motion sickness. I’ve taken medicine on my other cruises and had to take a couple pills no big deal. This cruise I used ALL of motion sickness medicine I brought with me. This boat was ROCKING the whole trip. Considerably more than the others I have been on. We didn’t really appear to have bad weather so I’m still dumbfounded as to why it was so much more movement. This cruise went to the same destination as the one I went on last year just from New Orleans rather than Galveston. There was even times they announced over the intercom to expect some additional movement for a period of time as we were leaving port one day. Several people I talked to said it moved more than most they had been on. One poor lady who said she grew up with parents that had a small boat was so sick she had to go get a shot to stop the vomiting. I don’t know if was a fluke or if the Dream is always like this, but I personally won’t be trying it again on this ship.

 

A bigger and newer ship sounded so appealing, but I have to say I wasn’t impressed. Maybe I had my expectations too high. I had a couple things that I experienced that I hadn’t ever before that weren’t positive. Firstly, our room was hot the whole trip. It was bad enough that it did make sleeping uncomfortable. When they checked the temp the room was 76 degrees and they said that was in their acceptable range! I realize I probably tend to have my house cooler than some, but 76 I think is warm to most people. The only solution was a box fan, which I was grateful as it did help some. I also got stuck in one of the middle elevators on floor 5 for about 10 mins which was quite scary. Thankfully as we were trying to open the call box it started making some odd noises and then moved. Needless to say I did not take any middle elevator the rest of the trip, and walked stairs most of the time. I called to let them know which elevator so they could check it, and they sent us chocolate covered strawberries for reporting it. It wasn’t a trip ruining experience, but it was nice they sent a thank you.

 

My husband’s birthday was a couple days after the end of the cruise. Online I didn’t fill in the birthday as the reason we were cruising, but I guess they knew because you input all your DOB’s. It was a nice surprise to see a $50 Spa certificate, one free photo, and $30 wine certificate with a HBD card from Carnival. So if you are celebrating something they wouldn’t know like an anniversary/graduation I would fill it out online as I bet you will get a nice surprise 

 

Overall I enjoyed my vacation. We made all ports and thoroughly enjoyed them and all the excursions we did. We did the cave tubing in Belize and jet ski and snorkeling in Cozumel. I’m sure some will think I’m being negative, but if you read my other two reviews you will see in the past I haven’t had anything really to complain about with Carnival. I will say I won’t sail on the “Dream” again for sure. Will I cruise again on Carnival, probably so, but I think I would go Freedom next time. If you have specific questions feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer them.

[maeormaenot]

I think your review was very fair and extremely accurate. I had many of the same experiences on this ship in late February. I'm with ya, will be sticking to the smaller ships here on out!

 

Thank you for taking time to review.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report, sounds like Dream is not your best ship.

[luvsviola]

We were on it last week.

 

1) The packs of children are super annoying. Mine are 9, 7 and 5, and while I know we are conservative, I was amazed at the number of 9-11 year olds running around the ship (literally RUNNING) with no adult supervision. WTH. I don't even let my daughter wait at the bus stop by herself, let alone run around a ship full of drunk strangers.

 

2) The food was way better on our March 2016 trip than it was in April of 2014. Steaks were moist and juicy, food was the proper temperature. Obviously in the last 2 years there has been a change in management for the better. The hummus has vastly improved at Tandoor. Yum!!!

 

3) Entertainment was way way way better than 2014 in terms of talent. Singers were good, dancers were good, and the band was excellent. I'm a music teacher, and in 2014, we walked out of the shows most nights. It is much better now.

 

4) Steakhouse--I was underwhelmed with the steakhouse this trip. We've eaten there before and had the wow factor. It was OK, but not $70 plus a tip amazing. We won't do it again. There were several families in there with kids being kids, and I can have slow service with loud kids in the dining room for free.

 

5) Bottomless Bubbles--the bar tenders take FOREVER to get you sodas. I swear they wait on every alcohol customer first. From the time I would get to the bar to the time I would leave having signed my slip (which is stupid since I have the sticker on my card to make me have to sign a ticket) could be 15-20 minutes. My drink was always long gone before I got the ticket to sign it. In the dining room, I was lucky if I got two cups of Coke a night. The waiter came around at the beginning and never checks back unless you flag someone down. Very annoying. I for sure did not get my money's worth out of the Bubbles program.

 

6) Comedy Club--fantastic. Loved it. Wish it was bigger because some shows we couldn't get a seat when we showed up 10 minutes before showtime. I would love if they would host Punchliners in the main theater instead.

 

7) Room steward--only saw him 3 times the whole cruise. Never saw the paper picking what I wanted. Finally left him a note to get robes and more than 2 bath towels. They should at least leave 3 in there--a girl needs a hair towel and a body towel! Was not overly impressed--we've had some great ones before and this one didn't even come introduce himself at all on embarkation day. We didn't see him til the evening of the first sea day.

 

8) Sharks and Rays Snorkel/Caye Caulker excursion through Carnival in Belize--AMAZING. Caye Caulker was so cool! Will definitely do this one again.

Edited March 29, 2016 by luvsviola

[Micahs Grandad]

Thanks for review we will be on the Dream in just over a month

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your review.

 

Keith

[kc58ab]

We were on it last week.

 

1) The packs of children are super annoying. Mine are 9, 7 and 5, and while I know we are conservative, I was amazed at the number of 9-11 year olds running around the ship (literally RUNNING) with no adult supervision. WTH. I don't even let my daughter wait at the bus stop by herself, let alone run around a ship full of drunk strangers.

 

2) The food was way better on our March 2016 trip than it was in April of 2014. Steaks were moist and juicy, food was the proper temperature. Obviously in the last 2 years there has been a change in management for the better. The hummus has vastly improved at Tandoor. Yum!!!

 

3) Entertainment was way way way better than 2014 in terms of talent. Singers were good, dancers were good, and the band was excellent. I'm a music teacher, and in 2014, we walked out of the shows most nights. It is much better now.

 

4) Steakhouse--I was underwhelmed with the steakhouse this trip. We've eaten there before and had the wow factor. It was OK, but not $70 plus a tip amazing. We won't do it again. There were several families in there with kids being kids, and I can have slow service with loud kids in the dining room for free.

 

5) Bottomless Bubbles--the bar tenders take FOREVER to get you sodas. I swear they wait on every alcohol customer first. From the time I would get to the bar to the time I would leave having signed my slip (which is stupid since I have the sticker on my card to make me have to sign a ticket) could be 15-20 minutes. My drink was always long gone before I got the ticket to sign it. In the dining room, I was lucky if I got two cups of Coke a night. The waiter came around at the beginning and never checks back unless you flag someone down. Very annoying. I for sure did not get my money's worth out of the Bubbles program.

 

6) Comedy Club--fantastic. Loved it. Wish it was bigger because some shows we couldn't get a seat when we showed up 10 minutes before showtime. I would love if they would host Punchliners in the main theater instead.

 

7) Room steward--only saw him 3 times the whole cruise. Never saw the paper picking what I wanted. Finally left him a note to get robes and more than 2 bath towels. They should at least leave 3 in there--a girl needs a hair towel and a body towel! Was not overly impressed--we've had some great ones before and this one didn't even come introduce himself at all on embarkation day. We didn't see him til the evening of the first sea day.

 

8) Sharks and Rays Snorkel/Caye Caulker excursion through Carnival in Belize--AMAZING. Caye Caulker was so cool! Will definitely do this one again.

 

 

I agree the comedy shows were good as they have always been for me. And I got the bottomless bubbles for my son and we had the same experience except in the dining room. We also didn't have any robes in our cabin, but we did meet our steward and he gave us the form to request morning/evening.

[BigB0882]

Thanks for your review. I will say that I have been on the Dream twice and never had an issue with a lot of movement. For whatever reason there must have been big swells. That can happen even without bad weather.

[k2excursion]

We were on it last week.

 

1) The packs of children are super annoying. Mine are 9, 7 and 5, and while I know we are conservative, I was amazed at the number of 9-11 year olds running around the ship (literally RUNNING) with no adult supervision. WTH. I don't even let my daughter wait at the bus stop by herself, let alone run around a ship full of drunk strangers.

 

2) The food was way better on our March 2016 trip than it was in April of 2014. Steaks were moist and juicy, food was the proper temperature. Obviously in the last 2 years there has been a change in management for the better. The hummus has vastly improved at Tandoor. Yum!!!

 

3) Entertainment was way way way better than 2014 in terms of talent. Singers were good, dancers were good, and the band was excellent. I'm a music teacher, and in 2014, we walked out of the shows most nights. It is much better now.

 

4) Steakhouse--I was underwhelmed with the steakhouse this trip. We've eaten there before and had the wow factor. It was OK, but not $70 plus a tip amazing. We won't do it again. There were several families in there with kids being kids, and I can have slow service with loud kids in the dining room for free.

 

5) Bottomless Bubbles--the bar tenders take FOREVER to get you sodas. I swear they wait on every alcohol customer first. From the time I would get to the bar to the time I would leave having signed my slip (which is stupid since I have the sticker on my card to make me have to sign a ticket) could be 15-20 minutes. My drink was always long gone before I got the ticket to sign it. In the dining room, I was lucky if I got two cups of Coke a night. The waiter came around at the beginning and never checks back unless you flag someone down. Very annoying. I for sure did not get my money's worth out of the Bubbles program.

 

6) Comedy Club--fantastic. Loved it. Wish it was bigger because some shows we couldn't get a seat when we showed up 10 minutes before showtime. I would love if they would host Punchliners in the main theater instead.

 

7) Room steward--only saw him 3 times the whole cruise. Never saw the paper picking what I wanted. Finally left him a note to get robes and more than 2 bath towels. They should at least leave 3 in there--a girl needs a hair towel and a body towel! Was not overly impressed--we've had some great ones before and this one didn't even come introduce himself at all on embarkation day. We didn't see him til the evening of the first sea day.

 

8) Sharks and Rays Snorkel/Caye Caulker excursion through Carnival in Belize--AMAZING. Caye Caulker was so cool! Will definitely do this one again.

 

(3) The Dream is one of the few remaining Carnival ships that has held onto the good entertainment, and Dream is the best of all of them. I'm glad that you enjoyed this aspect of the Dream, as I always have, but this is definitely not the standard for Carnival ships.

 

(6) The Dream's comedy club is too small, but if you sail the Magic or Breeze (sister ships), theirs is even smaller than Dream's.

 

(7) My parents just sailed the Magic, and they had the same thing. Only 2 towels were provided, so they requested to have 3. I guess it's the standard now to only provide 1 per person unless you ask for more.

 

Thanks for your review. I will say that I have been on the Dream twice and never had an issue with a lot of movement. For whatever reason there must have been big swells. That can happen even without bad weather.

 

I haven't had much movement either in 3 sailings aboard the Dream. On my first sailing, we had some rough waters, and the ship seemed to handle it very well. I was actually quite impressed in how stable the Dream seemed. It could have been a fluky thing on this sailing. Perhaps the waters of the Gulf have been especially rough this month. Some other reports lead me to think that this is the case. And it's true what you said. The only time I have ever gotten motion sickness was on board the smallest ship I've been on, the Holiday, and there was no bad weather at all when the ship was rocking horribly.

 

I have been hearing scattered reports of the AC issue on the Dream and other Carnival ships. They really should get a better hold on that, and they need to stop telling people that 74 or 76 is good enough. It would be for me, but not for many people. My last time on Dream was in the forward of deck 1 in a deluxe OV room, and it was so terribly cold. We had to turn down the AC, as I thought icicles were about to form. So that would be a good spot for those that like it cold.

Edited March 30, 2016 by k2excursion

[WhoDatNation]

Great review as I will be on the Dream in June

[luv2trvlnow]

We were on it last week.

 

1) The packs of children are super annoying. Mine are 9, 7 and 5, and while I know we are conservative, I was amazed at the number of 9-11 year olds running around the ship (literally RUNNING) with no adult supervision. WTH. I don't even let my daughter wait at the bus stop by herself, let alone run around a ship full of drunk strangers.

 

 

We had the same problem with the packs of children running on the Magic last week. They were running everywhere, through the halls, around the decks and the pool, They would pound on the cabin doors. I have been on spring break cruises before but this one seemed a little bit more out of control.

 

I really don't blame the kids, I blame the parents. The only time I got any response from the parents is when I would point out that their kids were running and diving to get to the benches around the pool. I said they could slip and plow head first into one of those hard benches and break teeth and do real damage to their face. Then and only then did they tell their kids to stop running around the pool.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Thank you for the review- sorry you didn't love the Dream. I am surprised about the amount of ship's movement as we did not notice any when we sailed her- but I suppose that all depends on the seas.

[Yvonne]

I enjoyed reading your review, but sorry the Dream didn't live up to your expectations.

 

I, too, would be annoyed at children in the hot tubs especially if there were already adults in it and really no room in it for kids but they push their way in anyway. I do avoid the hot tubs on cruise ships though, because of kids in them and the adults that stay in them way too long while drinking one alcoholic drink after another and never get out to use the bathroom. Ick.

 

And I wouldn't be happy with a hot stateroom either. 76 degrees was "acceptable" to the crew who checked it after you brought it to their attention. Wouldn't be "acceptable" to me. Hopefully our room won't be that hot all the time.

 

We will be on the Dream next January, and we have enjoyed all our other Carnival cruises so hopefully this will be the same.

[kc58ab]

You're welcome to all that enjoyed the review. I hope it will help others determine which ship might be best for them.

[spyingeyes]

I'm going on the Dream for the first time in June. I've been on the Magic, Breeze, Conquest, Triumph and Fascination and really enjoyed each of those ships. However, I've seen so many complaints about the Dream, that I'm starting to get a bit worried. Hopefully the Magic and Breeze haven't spoiled me [emoji4]

[fmrlkr]

We too were on this cruise. It was our 3rd time on the Dream but nearly 20th out of New Orleans on Carnival and NCL. This was one of the roughest of our cruises and it was rough for mostly the whole week. Our other 2 Dream cruises were not nearly this rough so I tend to believe it was the condition of the ocean and not the ship.

 

I think every cruise has a personality and this one was rude. We did meet some very lovely people, however there were a lot of rude people to be found, pushing, ignoring elevator etiquette. This was not the children, it was adults.

 

On the first day our cabin steward asked if we wanted morning or evening service. We said we wanted evening but would like extra towels and ice. We never saw him in the AM but he came by with towels and ice and made up the bed while we were gone in the morning. We saw him every evening as we left for dinner. We had to request robes and he brought them when we asked. We actually preferred having him once a day while we were at dinner.

 

It is a joke with family and friends that I always come back from a cruise and say that it was the "BEST CRUISE EVER". This was the first cruise I was unable to say that but I did say that it was the best cruise I took last week.

 

We are already planning our next two cruises.

[Podna's]

I'm going on the Dream for the first time in June. I've been on the Magic, Breeze, Conquest, Triumph and Fascination and really enjoyed each of those ships. However, I've seen so many complaints about the Dream, that I'm starting to get a bit worried. Hopefully the Magic and Breeze haven't spoiled me [emoji4]

 

 

Although I thought op's review was fair and balanced I wouldn't worry one bit. The Dream is one of Carnival's highest rated ships for a reason. Everyone has their preferences. She's definitely a favorite of mine. (3rd Dream cruise booked this summer) Enjoy your cruise, you'll be ok. Thanks op for taking the time to do the review.

Edited March 30, 2016 by Podna's

[stormy_weatherman]

Your review sounds on par to what we experienced cruising the Dream last March during Spring Break. Perhaps I also had unrealistic expectations since she was a newer ship than others we had been on, but it was quite crowded and overall did not live up to expectations. We had YTD and waited almost every night to be seated (at least 10 mins and over 30 on elegant nights). We went back to our Conquest-class ship this year (Liberty) and loved it. Felt a lot less cramped than the Dream.

 

We still had a fun cruise, but the Dream just wasn't all we'd hoped it to be.

[JaniceB]

Thank you for your report.

 

I have a friend who really likes the Dream but loves the Freedom. He lives in FL so was very sad when they both left the area.

[kc58ab]

I'm going on the Dream for the first time in June. I've been on the Magic, Breeze, Conquest, Triumph and Fascination and really enjoyed each of those ships. However, I've seen so many complaints about the Dream, that I'm starting to get a bit worried. Hopefully the Magic and Breeze haven't spoiled me [emoji4]

 

Don't worry, I'm sure you will have a good time. Even though this was my least favorite and there were several things I didn't enjoy there were also some great things. Nothing negative overall ruined the vacation..afterall almost any vacation with family is better than work. I hope your cruise turns out to be everything you expected and more!

[kc58ab]

Thank you for your report.

 

I have a friend who really likes the Dream but loves the Freedom. He lives in FL so was very sad when they both left the area.

 

 

I have been on the Imagination, Fascination, Freedom, and Dream. Freedom wins hands down. Big enough to have the nice extras without being too big. I'm thinking now after this one it may be very hard to beat for me.

[luvsviola]

We've done Fascination and Dream, and I like them for different things.

 

Fascination is great because it is small, easy to navigate, and lines aren't as long. But the kids club is small, the water slides are small, and there is only one (super crowded) pool. There are usually 15 or fewer kids in the kids club at any given time. For my special needs spectrum son, it is great. For my older daughter...she gets bored.

 

Dream has better water slides, bigger kids club, steak house, more deck space in the shade, and more entertainment. But more crowds and longer lines in EVERYTHING you want to do.

 

I would book either one again (and have already booked Dream). But there were a few areas I think they can improve.

[JaniceB]

I have been on the Imagination, Fascination, Freedom, and Dream. Freedom wins hands down. Big enough to have the nice extras without being too big. I'm thinking now after this one it may be very hard to beat for me.

 

I guess I am going to have to try the Freedom.

[Heirloom]

Interesting how all of our negative experience was indicated by others. We

will enjoy ANY cruise, but given a choice will opt out of Dream family ships.

 

Not bad mouthing for those about to cruise on Dream/Magic/Breeze. Just

saying we experienced crowds everywhere, wobbly movement at all times,

noisy mid-ship empress balcony overlooking a deck rather than full ocean,

and thin walls between rooms. (on Dream about 4-5 years ago).

 

For us, smaller is better, as in Spirit class. But if you have kids that make

a lot of noise and want to meet a lot of new kids.....go Dream !

 

Meaning, we're kinda old to be objective.