My thoughts on the Carnival Dream 12/4/2016 – 12/11/2016 Sailing

[NightOne]

My thoughts on the Carnival Dream 12/4/2016 – 12/11/2016 Sailing

Sorry, No Photos - Shot Video which I am still processing. ;)

I just took my first Carnival cruise and wanted to share some of my thoughts. I had previously sailed on Princess and Royal Caribbean. As my last cruise was on Royal I will be making some comparisons throughout.

This cruise left out of New Orleans and went to Ocho Rios Jamaica, George Town Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico. We drove in the day before and stayed at a hotel in Metairie. We got up in the morning and it took us about 15 minutes to get to the port.

PARKING

We had used Fulton Place parking for our last cruise but decided to use the port parking on this cruise. At $20 a day it is twice the cost of Fulton but the convenience was fantastic. As soon as we got up to the parking deck a porter took our checked bags. We then found a parking spot, took the elevator down, and were right where we needed to be in the terminal.

EMBARKATION

Erato terminal was just like Julia terminal that we used last time. Basically a big giant room with lots of chairs lined up in a row. We had FTTF so we were placed in a certain area of chairs. Apparently the number of chairs is severely limited because we were scolded when we tried to leave a blank chair between us and the people next to us. After the wedding party, suite guests, and Diamond/Platinum people went they called us and we got on the ship. We went straight to our room and our checked luggage was sitting by our door.

From here on out I will always recommend that people NOT buy FTTF so that I can make sure we get it every time.

STATEROOM

After arriving in our stateroom we broke out the container Lysol wipes and proceeded to wipe down every single surface in the room. I was impressed out how clean it already was. I would say that the telephone was the only area which needed some work. I immediately notice that there were no upper shelves or cabinets on the desk as there was in our Royal Caribbean stateroom. However, after unpacking I found that there was actually more storage in this stateroom. (more closet space and shelves overall) The bathroom also felt larger than Royal and had more storage space.

Another thing that was awesome about our stateroom was that the bed and pillows were super comfortable. The sheets and covers were comfortable as well. Overall we liked the Carnival stateroom better than our D2 balcony stateroom on our Royal cruise.

The balcony door swings open like a regular door vs. a sliding glass door on Royal. We liked this better. We were in stateroom 2315 which is a Cove Balcony on the starboard side. It was raining on disembarkation day which kept a lot of people off their balcony. However, with the cove we were able to enjoy it regardless of the rain and we did not get wet. Bottom line: Cove balconies are awesome.

PASTA BELLA

By 12:40pm we had the room scrubbed and were completed unpacked. Not too bad! We decided it was time to head for lunch. I have Celiac Disease which makes eating out a big ordeal and I did a lot of research here before going on the cruise. I will make another thread and discuss that issue further. One of the things that my research turned up is that Pasta Bella has Gluten Free pasta as an option and it is not crowded on embarkation day. Both of these turned out to be true. I had lunch at Pasta Bella just about every day. How it works is choose your noodles (only 1 choice for gluten free --- basically spaghetti noodles), your sauce, and what ingredients you want. You check these options off on a piece of paper using one of those “putt putt golf” pencils and then you take it up to the counter. When it is ready they bring it to your table. Overall I was satisfied with Pasta Bella and had several variants through the week. (Chicken, Shrimp, Sausage, etc.)

STEAKHOUSE

We have a ritual where we eat in the Steakhouse the first and last night of the cruise. The food there was delicious and it was never crowded when we were there. I had the Spice Rubbed Ribeye on both occasions. It was delicious. I also had the Wasabi mashed potatoes both times. (once with the Wasabi on the side and once with it mixed in) I also had the fresh fruit for dessert. The first night it had 7 different types of fruit and the last night it had 9 different types of fruit. I was impressed all week long at how fresh and delicious the fruit tasted. Everything in the steakhouse was excellent.

CRUISE DIRECTOR

Our CD was Jase Apps. Bye … I said Bye. He was excellent throughout the cruise. People often mention here that the CD doesn’t make or break the cruise but in my opinion it plays a pretty big role. On our last Royal cruise the CD was terrible in my opinion and it affected the cruise for us. Jase was awesome and made it fun. In Cozumel he actually stood out on the dock and gave everyone a high five as they walked by. The Bye…I said Bye routine doesn’t seem that funny at first but by day 5 or 6 everyone is doing it and it is hilarious. Jase definitely made this a great cruise in regards to the CD.

COMEDY

This is the entertainment trump card for Carnival. I went 3 times and it was always great. They make you clear out the lounge so you cannot go back to back shows. It also fills up to capacity at every show and if you want seating you better get there at least 10-15 minutes early. (I recommend 30) The comedians I seen on Royal didn’t even compare to the Carnival ones. I highly recommend it. Best Comedy at Sea for sure!

ENTERTAINMENT

I’m not much on song and dance shows and we walked out of the Dancing in the Streets show in the middle of it. However, we loved other shows and especially the juggling show. Overall I felt that a great effort was put into the productions even if some of them fall a little short of other lines. I have no real complaints in this area. Don’t miss the Welcome Aboard Show as it is a hoot.

CRUISE CRITIC MEET & MINGLE

This was a huge disappointment for me. On Royal the CD and other staff showed up and gave everyone door prizes. Also, everyone got a chance to mingle with others and they gave away some watches and a bottle of champagne. On Carnival there was an invite sent to our room and it was listed it the Fun Times. In the Fun Times it has an asterisk and it said that it was not affiliated with Carnival. It happened on the 1st or 2nd Sea Day. (I forget) Basically, they gave us a conference room and some fellow guest came in made everyone sit down. We then went around the room introducing ourselves and then it was over. They asked us to group together for a photo and that is when some Carnival photographers showed up and snapped a photo. This was a completely different experience than on Royal and next time I would likely skip it. It seemed to be more for their benefit vs. ours.

MEDICAL CENTER

My wife ended up getting sea sick on the 1st sea day and I went to medical to get some medicine. I had brought Dramamine but it was not helping her. Medical ended up giving us Bonine (Meclizine 25mg) and that along with ginger ale and green apples got her fixed up after a night in the cabin. On our last cruise on Royal I went to medical to get some cold medicine and the experience was very negative. On Carnival they were awesome down there.

MDR

We had 6:00pm fixed dining and it was in the Scarlett Dining room at the rear of the ship. We had a head waiter and 2 assistant waiters. I was only expecting 2 waiters total. All of the food was excellent and I had no problems with any of it. Food is a very subjective thing but in my opinion anyone who says it is bad has issues. LOL We had the American Table and American Feast menus and there were plenty of options for everyone. I mainly ordered from the “From the Grill” section and I actually loved the Grilled Chicken Breast and had it twice during the week.

SEA DAY BRUNCH & MDR BREAKFAST

Regardless of which menu they used I pretty much ordered an omelet, hash browns, and turkey bacon every day. The last few days our head waiter talked me into trying the Gluten Free French Toast and it was pretty good. Quality and speed of delivery were good.

PIZZA PIRATE

In addition to Pasta Bella my other main option for lunch was Pizza Pirate. Pepperoni pizzas tend to come out at a ratio of 10:1 vs the Cheese Only or other pizzas. They are constantly coming out and although the line generally has about 6-8 people in it at all times it moves fast. In my case I ordered a gluten free pizza and it gets made back in the kitchen and takes about 10 minutes or so to do and is cut and plated in the back to avoid cross contamination. Definitely far from the best free pizza I have ever had but it was OK. The wife loved the regular pizza and saw why everyone raves about it.

LIDO

The buffet lines were always very long and it was always crowded in there. One day I got some ice cream and they wife got a plate during the Chocolate Extravaganza. Other times we grabbed apples and bananas from Lido but otherwise we never ate at the Lido buffet.

WATER ACTIVITIES

Across 3 different days I rode the Drain Pipe water slide 2 times and the Twister slide 10 times. In fact one day I rode Twister 6 times in a row. The entry point to the slides is the best view on the ship by the way. I thoroughly enjoyed the slides. I swam in the main pool and the aft pool and it was never crowded. I was actually totally shocked by this as I expected them to be mobbed. I also got in to the Serenity hot tub, Lanai hot tub, and Lido hot tubs and they were never full during the times I went. This was probably my biggest surprise on the cruise.

CASINO / BINGO

I brought a significant budget for the casino but ended up not using most of it because I didn’t care for the types of slot machines they have. Back home casinos rotate through different machines too and it is not unusual for me to experience the same thing at home casinos. If they would have had some different types of machines I would have spent more. My wife got in 1 slot tournament and I got into 2 of them. The tournaments are statistically not a good deal but it was fun! We played Bingo one time as well and while it was also a bad deal, it was fun to play and it didn’t last too long. (a good thing)

SHIP

I figured I would have every nook and cranny of the ship figured out in a day or two like I did on my last cruise on Royal. However, this proved not to be the case. The ship is large and feels even larger than it is. Every place I visited at was clean, tidy, and everything looked good and worked properly. The balcony divider door was missing the rubber piece that prevented it from banging against the bracket and rattling but it was fixed quickly after I reported it. I really liked the ship and the layout. The only negative would be that the walkway by lido was very slick on several occasions and I almost busted by butt one time walking through there.

THE NEGATIVE STUFF

Feel free to skip this section if you wish.

First, let me say that 95% of the negative stuff I read about Carnival here on Cruise Critic turned out to be absolutely true. About 3% of the passengers on this cruise did not belong on this cruise ship or any other cruise ship as they were of low character / class and conducted themselves poorly. Also, you are probably going to have to go to the Sturgis Bike Rally to see more tattoos. (and that is just the women)

Crowds can be very bad a times and there seems to be lines for absolutely everything. The regular line at guest services was atrocious and people literally had to wait 2 hours on the last sea day. I would say it was 25-30 people deep on the last day. However, there always seemed to be 6-8 people in line all cruise long.

Some of the crew showed signs of being overworked. Some of them appear constantly tired. However, they are all friendly to the passengers and do not complain.

I went into this cruise with the expectation that this was going to be a “Carnival Cruise” … that the price was cheap and I was just going to make the best of it … hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad and I would survive no matter what.

However ….

NEXT CRUISE

By day 4 or 5 I had realized that I was having tons of FUN!!! In fact, it was the most FUN I had ever had on a cruise. No wonder they call these Fun Ships. Yes, there were some problems but the good outweighed the bad about 95% to 5%.(or maybe 98%) I was thoroughly enjoying the cruise and when they put a flyer in our mailbox stating you could get $100 OBC for booking your next cruise onboard the wheels in my head started turning. The next day I told the wife that I want to book another Carnival Cruise onboard and cancel our upcoming Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruises when we go home. (she said yes.. and I did) I visited the Future Cruise Desk and JoAnne got us booked for the Carnival Dream next year on 12-10-2017.

DISEMBARKATION

We decided to put our regular checked bags and our carry-ons outside the door on the last night and let them handle them all. We had to be in the Crimson dining room at 8am since we had FTTF. We went and had our last breakfast in Scarlett and heading up to Crimson. At 8:01am we hadn’t even had a chance to find a seat and they said we could go. It took some time to get through the gangway tunnel but we were on the road at 8:45am.

 

WISH I WOULD HAVE BROUGHT

Binoculars – Small, compact, but powerful. Recommendations for a pair $50 or under???

CONCLUSION

We loved our first Carnival Cruise and we’re going again! It was a pleasant surprise as our expectations were lower than normal. Yes, there are some problematic things on the Dream but it is obviously not enough to deter us from going again. The good greatly outweighs the bad! Almost all of our fellow passengers were friendly great people and were not concerned about status and loyalty card status (like they were on Royal). Food was great. Activities were plentiful and fun. Carnival Dream is a wonderful ship with a great crew. I have no hesitation in recommending it to others. We are looking forward to going on her again next year.

If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask. :)

Edited December 14, 2016 by NightOne

[JaniceB]

Thanks for your well written review. The Dream is a very nice ship. I think she will be getting an update in 2017 so your next cruise she may look a little different.

[Clarea]

Excellent report, thanks!

[bury me at sea]

Thanks for taking the time to reflect, write and post this review.

 

Without going into cutbacks that seem like losses to us, I agree with your conclusion that a Carnival cruise is still fun.

 

Happy sailing.

[BoDidly]

Thanks for posting , that's a good review.

[KPfromCT]

Excellent review! Thank you!!!:D:D

We were debating between the Dream and Magic for next year, but DH didn't want to go out of New Orleans, so the Magic won.

We have been on the Breeze twice, so we know what to expect for the class of ship....

 

I think some SUPERSIZED cigar store in Orlando had something to do with his choice.:rolleyes::rolleyes::D

[BoDidly]

THE NEGATIVE STUFF

 

Feel free to skip this section if you wish.

 

 

First, let me say that 95% of the negative stuff I read about Carnival here on Cruise Critic turned out to be absolutely true. About 3% of the passengers on this cruise did not belong on this cruise ship or any other cruise ship as they were of low character / class and conducted themselves poorly. Also, you are probably going to have to go to the Sturgis Bike Rally to see more tattoos. (and that is just the women)

Crowds can be very bad a times and there seems to be lines for absolutely everything. The regular line at guest services was atrocious and people literally had to wait 2 hours on the last sea day. I would say it was 25-30 people deep on the last day. However, there always seemed to be 6-8 people in line all cruise long.

Some of the crew showed signs of being overworked. Some of them appear constantly tired. However, they are all friendly to the passengers and do not complain.

I went into this cruise with the expectation that this was going to be a “Carnival Cruise” … that the price was cheap and I was just going to make the best of it … hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad and I would survive no matter what.

 

That' a fact :D

[easyboy]

Glad you had fun. Thanks for your balanced review.

 

 

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[amydresh]

Great review! Reading these reviews makes me even more excited for our cruise a month from TOMORROW! Eeeeeee!!!

[blainesterrr]

Thanks for the review! 25 days and I'll be on the Dream! I got a good laugh at you not recommending FTTF so you can always purchase it! I love FTTF!!!

 

So out of Carnival, Royal, and Norwegian... which one would you prefer?

[funat55]

I really enjoyed reading your review and was pleased to hear all the positive things you had to offer. I'm going on the Dream in July with my family and I have no doubt after reading your review that we will have a great time.

[NightOne]

Thanks for your well written review. The Dream is a very nice ship. I think she will be getting an update in 2017 so your next cruise she may look a little different.

 

 

Yes, the speculation is that it will get more Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades like Guy's Burgers & BBQ. However, no official word so I guess we will find out at the end of January.

 

 

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[Jamman54]

GREAT review Carl. Glad that you enjoyed your first Carnival cruise and that you are coming back for more, Perhaps I will see you aboard one day! Thanks for sharing. :)

[NightOne]

Thanks for taking the time to reflect, write and post this review.

 

 

 

Without going into cutbacks that seem like losses to us, I agree with your conclusion that a Carnival cruise is still fun.

 

 

 

Happy sailing.

 

 

Most fun I've had on a cruise. :)

 

Not sure what was cut in the past but wasn't really any different than my previous cruises.

 

 

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[NightOne]

Great review! Reading these reviews makes me even more excited for our cruise a month from TOMORROW! Eeeeeee!!!

 

 

I'm excited for you. :)

 

 

 

 

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[NightOne]

Thanks for the review! 25 days and I'll be on the Dream! I got a good laugh at you not recommending FTTF so you can always purchase it! I love FTTF!!!

 

So out of Carnival, Royal, and Norwegian... which one would you prefer?

 

 

FTTF is awesome in my opinion. Shhhh! :)

 

I've never been on Norwegian so cannot discuss that.

 

In order of fun for ME personally:

 

1. Carnival

2. Princess

3. Royal

 

In other areas they rank differently but fun is very important to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[NightOne]

I really enjoyed reading your review and was pleased to hear all the positive things you had to offer. I'm going on the Dream in July with my family and I have no doubt after reading your review that we will have a great time.

 

 

Hope you do. Although I have pointed out some negative things my experience was very positive so I hope it comes across that way. Obviously I didn't cancel my upcoming Royal cruises and book Carnival again if I didn't have a great time. :)

 

 

 

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[SiraJoy]

Thank you for taking the time to do this excellent review. I appreciated the little details you included, since I often find them helpful. I'm very much looking forward to August and my own Dream cruise.

 

Blessings and Merry Christmas,

 

SiraJoy

[NightOne]

GREAT review Carl. Glad that you enjoyed your first Carnival cruise and that you are coming back for more, Perhaps I will see you aboard one day! Thanks for sharing. :)

 

 

Thanks. I have read many of your reviews and I'm glad I finally got to go on Carnival and enjoyed it so much.

 

If I ever see you onboard I promise I will be buying you a Thirsty Frog Red! :)

 

 

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[gumballz]

Hi Carl!

 

Nice little write-up! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. Happy to hear you're booked on the Dream next year. We will be sailing with you, so....see you then! :)

[kgb46]

Great review and glad you had a good time. Unfortunately for me, I was getting off the boat as you were getting ready to board): But I was ready to get home and see my guys! On your next cruise have your wife (an you too if you think you need it) start taking Bonine 2 nights before cruise and every night of cruise. It does not make me sleepy and I have not had any sea sickness. On Saturday, 12/3, the water was at 5 to 6 foot swells and that boat rocked enough that I run into the walls. I did continue the Bonine for 2 days afterwards because I had sea legs after getting home. Again, congratats for booking with Carnival again!

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[NightOne]

Hi Carl!

 

Nice little write-up! Thanks for taking the time to share with us. Happy to hear you're booked on the Dream next year. We will be sailing with you, so....see you then! :)

 

I started a roll call the other day. :D:D:D

[NightOne]

Great review and glad you had a good time. Unfortunately for me, I was getting off the boat as you were getting ready to board): But I was ready to get home and see my guys! On your next cruise have your wife (an you too if you think you need it) start taking Bonine 2 nights before cruise and every night of cruise. It does not make me sleepy and I have not had any sea sickness. On Saturday, 12/3, the water was at 5 to 6 foot swells and that boat rocked enough that I run into the walls. I did continue the Bonine for 2 days afterwards because I had sea legs after getting home. Again, congratats for booking with Carnival again!

 

Will get her to do that next time. Thanks for the tip.

 

Funny think is that I brought the Dramamine for me as the wife was always on boats and stuff growing up and never gets sea sick. (until now)

 

I think we had 10-14 foot seas on 12/5. :eek:

[meatloafsfan]

Thanks for your review.

 

Too bad about the Casino slot games. I found that on the Pride the first time we sailed on it; thankfully by the next time, they had changed out a few machines and had a better selection. Hopefully by next year, they will have made enough changes to the machines that you have a better casino experience.

 

I do very much enjoy Carnival though I have a Royal sailing coming up; truthfully, I only book those when I find one super cheap because 2 things I love most about vacation (beds and food), I find lesser on that line (though for our 6 night Freedom cruise, I am paying a little under $3000 Canadian which includes our cabin, non-alcoholic drink package, 2 nights of specialty dining, gratuities and $25 OBC).

 

I think each cruise line has it's place and I'm not loyal to any - Carnival definitely has a strong place in my heart with it's "Fun" ships.