Currently onboard the not so Dreamy Dream

[rather_be_crusin]

My husband and I were on this cruise. We only get to cruise once every few years, so this vacation was very anticipated. Cruising is special to us, and we're pretty easy going people. I have only cruised one other time (Carnival Fascination 2011) and my husband is gold level VIFP.

 

The fundamentals which make your vacation good were still there. Open ocean, amazing ports, lots of sunshine, pretty sunsets, and not having to go to work. The live shows are really enjoyable, and the service from Carnival's staff was outstanding. Our steward cleaned our room twice a day - although we did not have turn-down on the first night (didn't matter to us, though). Embarkation and debarkation were fine, probably took 45 minutes each.

 

I hate to say it, but we were pretty bummed out by the food. Most of it is quite bland, and often times dry. We ate in the MDR for most dinners, had Sea Day Brunch twice, did breakfast in the MDR, and fully utilized the Lido Restaurant. We really miss the old menu at dinner. Sea Day Brunch was great the first time, but pretty bad the second. Do not go to afternoon tea if you have really enjoyed it in the past, because it will make you sad. They only offer Lipton and Bigelow Green, and flavored teas are an additional charge. Waiters will come around with one dessert at a time, and that process takes a while. Plus those desserts weren't great. Lido lines weren't terrible. There was not much to do during the day - and shows like "Gender Wars" were presented at night in the Encore Theatre. It's been a while since I cruised, but those (types) were the daytime shows at that time. I felt really stupid being dressed up on elegant night, because plenty of folks were wearing shorts and tee shirts. One guy had a shirt on that said "low class" - it was some sort of low rider car shirt, but still weird to see the phrase "low class" in the dining room with you on "formal" night. I'm not mad that people don't get dressed up, but it made me feel weird to have gotten so dolled up.

 

There were a handful of let downs which surprised us because of all the cutbacks which took place within the last five years. As much as you want to be positive, that stuff just gets to you when you weren't expecting it. We uttered the phrase "aw man" quite a bit.

 

There were a lot of medical emergencies. It seemed like Carnival was caring and professional in these situations.

 

We had a good time - because we really cherish our time on vacation, but are looking forward to trying another line next time.

[cynt]

Dsykes2 just wondering why you haven't changed ships since you don't care for the Dream. I think they're sailing out of NOLA. Is that your home port?

 

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[ldlewis45]

Do not go to afternoon tea if you have really enjoyed it in the past, because it will make you sad. They only offer Lipton and Bigelow Green, and flavored teas are an additional charge. Waiters will come around with one dessert at a time, and that process takes a while. Plus those desserts weren't great.

 

I quite enjoyed the afternoon teas. I actually appreciate that they offer a paid option for better tea, as the teas that used to be free were not very good at all. I believe they all used to be either the terrible Lipton or marginally better Bigelow varieties. The new up-charge teas are very good and high quality, and they lasted for cup after cup. I made 3-4 16 oz cups with one tea bag at the coffee bar (and they retained full flavor), and 1 bag made a huge number of cups at tea time. I never had to wait long for the snacks, either. I always had a full plate within a few minutes of sitting down. True, some of the desserts weren't to my taste, but I quite enjoyed several of them. The chocolate puff pastry thing served at one of them was quite good, as were the apple tart, blueberry tart, and scone with cream.

[PoppyandNana]

Almost glad to be home, after all those medical emergencies. The trip over all was underwhelming. We just went on the dream on 7/3/16 and the trip was over the top. I guess we went in expecting more than we got this time.

 

Everything was "ok" just nothing over the top. The food was good, service for YTD was pretty good, service for brunch and breakfast in MDR was TERRIBLE.

 

Room steward had us choose a morning or afternoon cleaning, I asked if both are available I was told "no", I did not feel like debating on it, but since the form says "morning, evening or both" I would think both is still an option.

 

We are planning another trip for December, and I am sure we will go with the Dream again, possibly Triumph, just hope next cruise is a little more impressive.

 

Why don't you try Celebrity? All your points are 100% the other way.