Carnival Dream Jan 31-Feb 7 Mini Review

I booked this cruise late because I needed a getaway. While this was not my best cruise, it was an enjoyable one.

The Staff seemed off to me. Cabin Steward did not introduce himself to me until I was on my way to Dinner Monday night and asked if I wanted my cabin services once, or twice a day, but from that point on he was awesome.

Dining room was okay.Our head waiter was the best, his assistants seemed to be either new or have no idea what they were doing.

Black Jack Band was awesome. Almost always packed the Ocean Plaza when they were entertaining at night.

Jase (the CD), while funny, was not visible, and when he was it was just a quick rush through the Promenade deck.

The ports were great. Awesome weather in Roatan, and Belize. Rained in Cozumel. Roatan I did a beach and had a blast. Belize is a tender port, and it took awhile to get off, but I was able to get off and do a city tour and some shopping. Cozumel was a blast. ATV riding on my own. Awesome to do in the rain and the mud.

Only real complaint I have is my neighbors. One set did nothing but argue, but that is okay because my neighbors on the other side made up for them and my upstairs neighbors (I was on deck one) were very "active" as well. The beds do squeak, and there is no mistaking the rhythm!

I liked the Carnival Dream, just feel that the staff were not as friendly or outgoing as other ships I have been on, but it was still a great cruise and like I always say, a cruise is what you make of it, if you are unhappy you will not like it, if you are happy and want to have fun you will!

I was on the ship at the same time and would have to agree. The staff seemed especially frazzled on the first day or so. We noticed they were still handling luggage way after dinner and late into the first night, and they seemed to act like they were really far behind.

Some seemed to recover wonderfully after a day or so, while others seemed to be in a permanent funk the whole cruise. Only place it dimmed our experience was in the MDR, but we still had a great cruise overall.

The weather was perfect for us, we had an ATV excursion in Cozumel, so the rain made it a fun, muddy mess.

We were disappointed in Jase, especially with some of the hype he came with. But did you ever see Charlie? She was everywhere and absolutely hilarious all the time.

Was she the one doing Trivia and say Squirrel all the time? She was a hoot. I would love to see her as CD some day.

Was she the one doing Trivia and say Squirrel all the time? She was a hoot. I would love to see her as CD some day.

DW and I were also on this cruise. It was our first Carnival cruise, and was mostly enjoyable. Our dining room staff was great. Only saw our room steward a couple time, but the room was always taken care of. Charlie the mental blonde midget from London (her description) kept trivia lively and enjoyable. Didn't see Jase much, but he did host the towel folding class and worked well with the kids at the Towel Animal Theater....

Enjoyed the cruise, not our favourite but enjoyable. New Orleans during Mardi Gras was a blast and the main reason we chose this cruise.

First time on the Dream and only complaint worth mentioning were the lineups especially in buffet (buffet/room service food was crap, ok so 2 complaints), MDR food was good, cabin steward was really good after a reminder (ice for me and extra blanket for DW...beyond that I dont care if bed gets made) staff we interacted with were fine, Red Frog bartenders were great.

Wife and I spent way too much in spa getting massages, she got a body scrub and we did the Rasul treatment :) which was fun. First time ever we spent $0 in casino.

Wish we got to get to Mr Sanchos but the weather made us cancel the beach day. Little French Key lived up to the hype IMO and we will go back next time in Honduras.

Next cruise is on the Vista NYC-NYC and REALLY excited about that one!

Can we legitimately start a petition to make Charlie a CD? She was absolutely amazing. Honestly she seems like the sort of "fun" that Carnival tries so hard to embody.

I was on the ship at the same time and would have to agree. The staff seemed especially frazzled on the first day or so. We noticed they were still handling luggage way after dinner and late into the first night, and they seemed to act like they were really far behind.

 

Some seemed to recover wonderfully after a day or so, while others seemed to be in a permanent funk the whole cruise. Only place it dimmed our experience was in the MDR, but we still had a great cruise overall.

 

The weather was perfect for us, we had an ATV excursion in Cozumel, so the rain made it a fun, muddy mess.

 

We were disappointed in Jase, especially with some of the hype he came with. But did you ever see Charlie? She was everywhere and absolutely hilarious all the time.

Jase was a lot more visible and accessible on the Pride last March but now that I think of it John Heald was also on that cruise so maybe Jase stepped it up a notch with the Boss around? Still one of the better ones we've had.

One of our friends didnt get his luggage until mid-afternoon on Monday....no apologies or anything, was dropped off at his cabin 24 hours after he boarded.

I believe our Jan. 3 Dream was her first cruise. She was awesome and really kept the crowd going. You should mention her in your review.

We were on the same cruise and couldn't agree more with almost every input. Crew didn't seem as friendly as past cruises, Jase was so so and Charlie was awesome. We also thoroughly enjoyed the Black Jack Band. Dining service was ok loved the flat iron steak and even thought it was more flavorful than the steakhouse steak we had. We chose morning service only and the room was always taken care even though we only saw our room steward once. First time in a cove balcony and main reason we booked the dream but never really could see all the excitement about them. Overall the cruise was fine but think we'll go back to the Conquest class, fewer people.

Wish we got to get to Mr Sanchos but the weather made us cancel the beach day. Little French Key lived up to the hype IMO and we will go back next time in Honduras.

Our group had reservations at Nachi Cocom, and I was thinking of not going after seeing the clouds and wind. But, we went anyway, and had a blast. Couldn't do the snorkeling due to the surf, but playing in the waves and the surf was a lot of fun. Glad I decided to go after all.

Welcome home.

Keith

Our first cruise for my husband and I was on the Dream. We loved it!!!! We had an aft balcony and it was wonderful!!! The crew was extremely friendly and the layout of the ship was wonderful!!! The Blackjack band was awesome!!! We listen to them every time they played. One of our favorite ships!!!!

One thing that I forgot to mention was the kids. There were a lot more kids on this cruise than others I have taken around the same time. Some were acting good, but there were a lot that were wild and rude. There were a couple that were always running and pushing all the elevator buttons when the doors opened, some that would sit and block the stairs and get an attitude when you tried to get past them.

I don't mind kids being kids, but parents need to make sure they parent on vacation as well and not let the kids run wild.

One thing that I forgot to mention was the kids. There were a lot more kids on this cruise than others I have taken around the same time. Some were acting good, but there were a lot that were wild and rude. There were a couple that were always running and pushing all the elevator buttons when the doors opened, some that would sit and block the stairs and get an attitude when you tried to get past them.

 

I don't mind kids being kids, but parents need to make sure they parent on vacation as well and not let the kids run wild.

The kids I noticed were mostly in the evening/night and by the elevators. Overall, they were respectful, but probably having more fun (noise-wise) than I would have preferred. Then again, I'm older now and want kids to act like sober adults and not kids. That's not very fair of me. I think once I may have had to tell a younger teen to back off or calm down or something, but he totally did. I guess I was luckier than you, but I also don't put up with it.

I saw Jase on the TV a couple of times and heard him over the PA system… but I don't cruise for the CD, so that doesn't matter much.

The comedians were good, wished I could have gone to more shows. We also enjoyed the nightly shows in the main theater. I loved listening to Lexi, the Piano Mat, and the Blackjack Band each day. But I tell ya, I'll be happy if I never have to listen to the majority of the music DJ T-Willy played at Caliente nightclub ever again.

Our excursions were great, even if the weather wasn't so great in Cozumel. It held for us as long as it could.

We had great service everywhere. Everyone who served us was wonderful. I met some great people on this cruise and had a great time with my sisters.

I want to go again with the Hubs and adult kids. Now I just need to convince them.

Wanman - Liked your review and agree with most of it. Can't really say if the crew was more or less friendly than usual, since this was our first Carnival crew. We really enjoyed the crew, and they did seem alot more friendlier that the crew on our cruise on Royal Caribbean.

If anyone is interested in other reviews of this cruise, or just want to get another perspective, here's an excellent review by Indytravelr83:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2313584

And here is a link to my review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2315238

And I believe that Wrigley80 will be posting a review soon. She does excellent reviews, so keep on the lookout for that....

Thank you for your review.

Keith

Jase was a lot more visible and accessible on the Pride last March but now that I think of it John Heald was also on that cruise so maybe Jase stepped it up a notch with the Boss around? Still one of the better ones we've had.

 

One of our friends didnt get his luggage until mid-afternoon on Monday....no apologies or anything, was dropped off at his cabin 24 hours after he boarded.

We were also on the Pridewith you last March and though Jason was ok as CD but not one of the better ones.

Interesting to see him again on the Dream in May. Wonder why so much trouble with luggage?

This was my 10th Carnival cruise, and as I told some friends, not my best one, but not the worst either. Even the "worst" one was great.

There were a lot of problems with Luggage this trip. One person complained because they were platinum and their luggage was not there by sail away, then was griping later because they had a FTTF sticker on their luggage tags.

A few more observations:

I think someone mentioned tendering in Belize on one of their reviews, there were a lot of complaints on that as well. It was disorganized, but I had a Carnival excursion so I can not comment on that part of it, but some in my group said that the non excursion was disorganized and not well thought out as well.

The casino staff was wonderful and friendly. I was only in the shops once and they seemed friendly and happy in there, and it was super busy when I was in there.

I did not use the spa, but my girlfriend did and said apart from the high pressure sales pitch they were nice. She said the hot stone massage was great. She said the one she had on the beach in Cozumel was really good and cheaper.

I think I mentioned the beds, but I am not sure if it was just my cabin, but it seemed one of the two beds was higher than the other when pushed together. I rolled over one night and thought I was falling off at first. LOL

Thanks for your report.

I think someone mentioned tendering in Belize on one of their reviews, there were a lot of complaints on that as well. It was disorganized, but I had a Carnival excursion so I can not comment on that part of it, but some in my group said that the non excursion was disorganized and not well thought out as well.

Yeah, not so much disorganized as not thought out. Since we tender out of the front part of the ship on deck 0, I thought they would have us meet in the Encore theater, on deck 3, so we would only have to navigate 3 flights of stairs, important since DW has bad knees. Instead, we met in the Burgundy Lounge, on deck 5, at the back of the ship. So we had to walk back to the lounge, wait, then walk back to the front of the ship, through the smokey casino, to the front of the ship and down 5 flights of stairs. Wasn't happy that DW had to do all that extra walking and climbing. Still had a great time in port, though....

Yeah, not so much disorganized as not thought out. Since we tender out of the front part of the ship on deck 0, I thought they would have us meet in the Encore theater, on deck 3, so we would only have to navigate 3 flights of stairs, important since DW has bad knees. Instead, we met in the Burgundy Lounge, on deck 5, at the back of the ship. So we had to walk back to the lounge, wait, then walk back to the front of the ship, through the smokey casino, to the front of the ship and down 5 flights of stairs. Wasn't happy that DW had to do all that extra walking and climbing. Still had a great time in port, though....

I agree. Why not have you all meet in the mid deck dining room? That would make more sense.