Just got back from the Dream and I have thoughts...

[Bingotommy]

I was on the carnival Dream on 2/17/2020——2/22/2002 and I cas say it was one of the best cruises we have ever. Taken. The crew was bending backwards to make sure we. We’re happy.......never needed. Anything the whole cruise. Will certainally take another one

 

 

 

 

[Tapi]

About waiting for food, I agree that the lines can be long, and I’ve also dealt with the frustration for what seems like an eternity. But here’s a suggestion for Carnival. We just returned from a cruise on Holland America. At their NY Deli and Pizza, as well as the Dive In (burger joint), you order and they give you a pager. You then go find a table and they buzz you when the food is ready. There was never a line, even though they only had two workers at a time and everything was made to order. A simple thing, but it made a world of a difference in the overall experience. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Tapi

[Eli_6]

On 3/6/2020 at 2:33 AM, zombiehunter said:

Thanks for all the replies. Yes my vast knowledge of waiting tables let me know that sometimes people join their party late... You deal with it. It also let's me know that my job isn't over once I take an order.

 

I did walk over to the bars, I did try the wandering alcohol minstrels, it was consistently 10-15 minutes for a drink with maybe three under five. So yes...I probably spent 6-8 hours waiting for drinks over the course of the vacation. Except the first day when I was paying for each.

 

As far as sharing my drink package... Lighten up, Francis. The 15 drink rule is partly to keep people from getting totally sloshed and partly because of the abusers. I guess I could have just dumped them out or made a stick about not liking them... But it's vacation and three shared drinks does not an abuser make.

 

I definitely looked at the app to check my drinks and it didn't show mine vs my gf so I just added to what was there. It was a mess with no real way to prove or disprove anything.

 

We did have a good time though. I just see things that could be handled better. And they're not huge expensive things, just small common sense fixes. Like let me use my drink package for a bucket of beer, if I share them then that's on me and my 15 but it would save three trips to the bar.

 

I'm not sure who we'll sail next. I kind of want to do RCL for the laser tag haha

 

And I was on Dream, 2.27-3.2 from Galveston

Yup!  That was the sailing we were on.  

 

The drink lines were excessive.  Every time we went to the bar, it was a 15 minutes wait or more.  I just felt like they were understaffed and it seemed like it was that way at ever single bar.  (And I am not talking about people walking around taking drinks...I saw no one doing that.)  For example, around about 5 p.m. one day, they had one person at the Ocean Plaza bar and no one at Alchemy...and it seemed like the bartender had to go to the back for every single drink to get something. My husband and I also felt like any of the "frozen" drinks had almost no alcohol in them.  We eventually just started drinking champagne and beer because there wasn't anyway to water that down.  I won't do Cheers again.  

[bingomamma19]

On 3/6/2020 at 2:33 AM, zombiehunter said:

Thanks for all the replies. Yes my vast knowledge of waiting tables let me know that sometimes people join their party late... You deal with it. It also let's me know that my job isn't over once I take an order.

 

I did walk over to the bars, I did try the wandering alcohol minstrels, it was consistently 10-15 minutes for a drink with maybe three under five. So yes...I probably spent 6-8 hours waiting for drinks over the course of the vacation. Except the first day when I was paying for each.

 

As far as sharing my drink package... Lighten up, Francis. The 15 drink rule is partly to keep people from getting totally sloshed and partly because of the abusers. I guess I could have just dumped them out or made a stick about not liking them... But it's vacation and three shared drinks does not an abuser make.

 

I definitely looked at the app to check my drinks and it didn't show mine vs my gf so I just added to what was there. It was a mess with no real way to prove or disprove anything.

 

We did have a good time though. I just see things that could be handled better. And they're not huge expensive things, just small common sense fixes. Like let me use my drink package for a bucket of beer, if I share them then that's on me and my 15 but it would save three trips to the bar.

 

I'm not sure who we'll sail next. I kind of want to do RCL for the laser tag haha

 

And I was on Dream, 2.27-3.2 from Galveston

Your sign and sail accounts are completely separate.  Each person has their own account, so there would be no combination of both your drinks under one account.       

[mike_ga]

I had a similarly disappointing cruise on Magic in 2016. Seriously understaffed. Lido and Panorama decks were dirty.  MDR service was so bad that we finally just stopped going, opting for the Lido Buffet. 

The next Cruise I went with RCCL. Afterwards I went straight back to Carnival. Beautiful ships, but terrible food, Went to a bar one night and met a group of fun people. Attila, the bartender decided to very seriously tell us that he didn't like us. We got up and went to the nightclub leaving his bar empty and had a blast with better bar staff.   Good lord Everything on the Pool Deck, Bars included were closed by 8:30 every night and the worst offense was that over 300 people got food poisoning and RCL reported it as a norovirus outbreak...  Everyone on the ship was randomly discussing with other PAX that the only people that had gotten sick had eaten either the hotdog in Labadee or a fish dish served in the Windjammer that day.  No one else got sick. including my cousin I was traveling with, despite the fact that her son slept with her, facing her, breathing on her the night he was sick...

So, I went back to Carnival.  There will always be cruises that are better than others, that's not necessarily indicative of the overall Cruise line, or even the crew currently on that ship.  Will I book with RCCL again?  Yes, if the itinerary is right and the price is good.  The best overall service and experience that I've ever had was with Holland America.  I've had great staff crew on some cruises, some that were lacking in one area or the other.  I had a Steward on Victory named Putra who was without a doubt the worst steward that I've ever had... And I even a steward who I somehow never laid eyes on. 

I've had terrible bartenders like Attila on Independence of the Seas and I've had amazing bartenders like Zsolt on Carnival Breeze..

I'll keep rambling if I don't stop myself. But, my point is that I'm not going to stop cruising or dismiss the enjoyably of a line based on one cruise. 

[Joe817]

3 hours ago, bingomamma19 said:

Your sign and sail accounts are completely separate.  Each person has their own account, so there would be no combination of both your drinks under one account.       

That's not quite true. My wife & I were on the Dream back in July. She would put her drinks on her S&S card, and me on mine. Separate purchases. And when we got our settlement sheet the last night before we debarked, ALL of our separate purchases were under that one settlement sheet. Mine.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Joe817

[bingomamma19]

10 hours ago, Joe817 said:

That's not quite true. My wife & I were on the Dream back in July. She would put her drinks on her S&S card, and me on mine. Separate purchases. And when we got our settlement sheet the last night before we debarked, ALL of our separate purchases were under that one settlement sheet. Mine.

Your HUB app and expenses while on board are completely separate accounts.   So as you are cruising, when you check your card, only your charges show up.   My DD is 14 and is always under my credit card, she has her own charges under her own name, they do not show up under mine.

 

The sheet that you get at the end may show them on one piece of paper because its under one credit card....but during the cruise...its based on your sign and sail number and card and you can check them per individual.

[Sagittarius traveler]

Best advice , go walk up to the bar you'll get the drink faster because the servers are trying to talk to other cruisers and make their money hahaha 

 

On 3/5/2020 at 5:45 PM, Aprilfoolx said:

Maybe its just me, but being on a large cruise ship and not expecting lines for food and drinks is like going to Disney World and expecting to be the first one on the ride... not gonna happen.

And if you want your drink faster, walk up to the bar, instead of laying by the pool.