Dream or Valor

[TMJJS]

I know the choice of ships is personal, but was wondering which we should take for a July vacation.

 

Pros of Valor: we took this cruise in May of 2007, but the iternary is slightly different (Cozumel vs Costa Maya); Goes to Grand Cayman; $1,000 less than the Dream for our family of 4

 

Pros of the Dream: New, bigger ship; more water slides

 

Wife and I have two sons, 9 & 14 years old. The 14 year old and us scuba dive, but only got certified in 2008 after doing the Valor last time. Obviously Cozumel is great, but Grand Cayman is suppose to one of the best places to scuba. However, having the 9 year old will mean that my wife probably misses the scuba to be with him (don't feel right about leaving him in Camp Carnival while the 3 of us go off diving).

 

Boys really loved the free soft-serve ice cream machines on the pool deck aboard the Valor - does the Dream have that as well?

 

Any ideas, suggestions or things we should be considering is appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

[jdbmga]

We chose the Valor over the Dream for our July cruise. We are also a family of four and the savings was over $800. We dive as well and will be diving in Roatan and Cozumel.

[lidopuppy]

We've done both with 2 kids similar in age to yours. We loved the Valor but the Dream was much better. Well worth the extra $$. The entertainment on the Dream is in a class by itself. You'll have fun on either.

[pe4all]

We had the same "problem" in deciding which ship to sail Xmas/NYE. It was between Valor, Glory, Dream. Itineraries were pretty close to each other. Dream was $1,000 more for the 4 of us. After an incredible amount of agina, we went with the Dream. DH says you "do it" while you can. I am from the "school of cheap" - but I guess he has a great attitude. I will tell you - we loved the slides on Fantasy - Dream has the same ones, plus the toilet bowl slide. I am tired of seeing the same shows over and over, and can't wait to see the new ones on Dream.

[TMJJS]

Thank you for the comments so far.

 

Can someone tell me the main differences between the Valor and Dream? I know the Dream has the Water Works. What else does the larger size of the Dream give it besides more rooms?

[jerseyjjs]

Thank you for the comments so far.

 

Can someone tell me the main differences between the Valor and Dream? I know the Dream has the Water Works. What else does the larger size of the Dream give it besides more rooms?

 

 

I was on Valor's sister ship, Liberty in late May/early June '09' and then on the Dream over Thanksgiving out of NYC. I felt the Dream was VERY crowded and congested. A lot of the extra tonnage on the Dream is dedicated to an extra deck of cabins....the Vista deck. Which means hundreds more passengers loading up the Lido deck, waiting in lines for food, taking up lounge chairs, etc. I thought the area around the Lido Deck pool paled in comparison to the space (stadium seating) provided on the Liberty.

 

The Dream does have the largest Serenity Deck of the Carnival fleet, unfortunately, your entire family cannot utilize it (no children allowed). And the Serenity got pretty congested as well. The Dream DOES offer many hot tubs (10 in all, I believe), but with 4,400 pax on board.....well, you get the idea. The water slides on the Dream were fun and there are some added features (pasta bar, tandoori grill), but not enough...in my opinion, to warrant spending over an extra $1,000 to do pretty much the same itinerary that the Valor offers.

 

I guess in the end, you know what your financial capabilities and personal desires are, and you'll have fun on either ship. But like my g/f and agreed on after cruising both ships in 6 months time, "bigger isn't always better.":)

[TMJJS]

We decided on the Valor. As much as we liked the savings, we also felt the extra port stop in Grand Cayman was a big difference. We probably would have spent the extra $1,000 for the Dream if it had the iternary with Grand Caymen.

 

Considering how much I like food, a pasta and tandoori station sounds like a good thing ;)