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The Carnival Dream Cruise by
Charles M from Burlington, NC Sailing date: Nov 2010Pros: Beautiful ship, courteous and helpful crew. Cons: Quality of :food at"dinner" meals was poor. "Shows were okay but not exceptional. We recently sailed on the Carnival Dream to the Caribbean. The ship is beautiful and the crew were great. We especially enjoyed the comedy performances and the hyptonist. We had expected that there would be an early eveniing show for those who had signed up for the 8:15 dinner, but found (after arrival ) that we would have to attend a 10:30 show since the first show was while we were eating. We had requested the 6:15 dinner since we had six grandchildren with us, only to find that it was filled.We had previously sailed with Royal Caribbean and Disney, and the food at dinner was much, much better on both ocassions than the food on this trip. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodThe best meal we had on board was a lunch at the pasta bar one day. Went back the next day to try to repeat the performance only to be told that there would be a 45 minute wait for lunch. You should enlarge the pasta bar or send those cooks to handle the main dining room. Stateroom Quality
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Nassau, BahamasHsad been to Nassau before and didn't find it very interesting. Didn't get off the boat this trip for that reason.
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.Took a tour of the island at St. Thomas and really enjoyed it. The guide was good and the scenery great.
Philipsburg, St. MaartenAlso took a tour of St. Marten and thoroughly enjoyed it. What a beautiful island.
Don't Miss: The airport at St. Marten where the incoming planes provide an additiona breeze to the sun bathers.  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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  A Mixed Bag by
Elizabeth U. from Washington State Sailing date: Apr 2012Pros: Loved the itinerary, the shore excursions Cons: The noisy-loud ship, poor dinner service, disruptive kids We were excited about the itinerary, and our expectations and hopes were fulfilled in this regard. We were disappointed with the ship -- it is VERY noisy -- the only quiet place was our own cabin. We couldn't enjoy a show or the dance music without earplugs.
The ship is very clean, but also very glitzy-shiny, like too much tinsel on a Christmas tree. Dance floors were sticky, decks were slippery if even slightly wet.
Crowd control was very good, lines minimal (considering 4600 passengers), organization good. Ship QualityHUGE ship, easy to get lost, clean. Too shiny and glitzy. Dining/FoodService in Scarlet Dining Room was often very slow. We sat down at 6:00 and received only water and bread for over an hour before our dinners arrived at 7:15 or so. Then, shortly after dessert was served (but before coffee), we were told we needed to be out of the room in 5 minutes because they needed to set up for the late seating.
If this happened to me in a restaurant, I would walk out and never return.
Dining room was very crowded -- almost no room to walk between tables. Stateroom QualityWe were pleasantly surprised to have TWO bathrooms! Room was quiet and comfortable. The only downside was really ugly artwork on the walls. Good storage, comfy beds. Ship Staff QualityStaff is mostly very friendly and willing to help, but heavy foreign accents sometimes made communication a challenge.
They'll listen politely to complaints, but rarely do anything about the problem. Once they have your money, they'll never give it back. Entertainment & ActivitiesEverything was WAY too loud!! We could not enjoy a show without earplugs for protection. Even the dance bands were too loud, and didn't respond to requests to back off on volume. We're older, and our hearing is not what it used to be, but everything was still way too loud!
Events and programs often coincided, and we were forced to make choices rather than to attend everything we might have liked to do.
There were NO seminars, classes or lectures that were not blatant sales pitches. In other words, there were no program offerings for intelligent people who might like to learn something. 5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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A 3 generation vacation by
Fran from US Sailing date: Nov 2010Pros: Staff was amazingly attentive, ship was clean, room spacious enough at lower level, most entertainment was enjoyable Cons: For the money.. soda should be included and more importantly a decent cup of coffe This trip was taken with my mom, 79 my son 17 and me 52 so it had to cover a wide range of interest. I was pleasantly surprised with our cabin, although not on the higher end it was large enough for all 3, with privacy. The activities ranged from the very physical to non-physical which allowed all of us to fill the days as we pleased. My son fully enjoyed the teen club and met several other young adults he spent the time with and continues to text etc with. My mom and I relaxed, went to the shows, comedy club, a few bars and the casino. We did take on shore excursion to snorkel on St. Thomas and this was a disappointment, the area was bleached of most ocean life, and for the money not worth it. There were two area I found really lack, one the space on deck for days at sea. We were at sea for a total of 4 days and I had to hunt down chairs and help my mom to them as those level to elevators were in short supply and gone by 10:30am. The second and this is for those who enjoy a decent cup of coffee, I mean just plain nothing fancy morning coffee you had to pay to get one. The coffee served for free was watered down and nasty. Really for the money you'd think decent coffee should be included. Ship QualityMy mom has difficulty walking long distances, elevator were plentiful, stopping area i.e. were closely located and the ship was immaculate as far as we could see. As said they only concerns we had were the lack of deck chairs and space level to the pools. Dining/FoodI chose the dine anytime plan, as we did not want to take part in the " formal" nights and this worked out great. We had the choice of eating in the dining room or buffet whichever suited that evenings plans. Overall the food was excellent but the lunch options were by far the best. Stateroom QualityI had a lower level stateroom, with porthole and it was fine for the 3 of us. There were two bathrooms in the room, 1 with a toilet, shower and sink, the other just shower and sink. My son had some privacy and we all had enough personal space. Ship Staff QualityStaff was very helpful, even in the casino. They responded promptly to any concerns, when lost on the ship any staff person could point you to your destination. Entertainment & ActivitiesUnfortunately this area was lacking in quality. The hype of " Boardway" style performances did not hold true for this trip. We have all been on other cruises and this one really lack talented performers, and variety. However the comics were above exceptional and we totally enjoyed those shows. Children's Programs
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Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.Took a snorkeling trip and it was disappointing, we had been several times before and saw amazing ocean life, this time a sunken ship barely visible, 90% of the area was covered in Fire Coral that if you rubbed up against you'd know it and very little ocean life. Rum punch was part of the ride back I guess to help get over the disappointment.
Philipsburg, St. MaartenTook a cab to the beach it was magnificent.
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Fun! But worst cabin on the ship! by
Jennifer A. from Grand Rapids, MI Sailing date: Aug 2011Pros: The service and the food Cons: Our room...2427...right below the gally! Noise every night! Horrible We enjoyed our travels, but the cabin we had was horrible! At night it sounded like they were dropping bowling balls on the ceiling! It was very loud! We did get a 30% discount which was good. They offered to move us to another cabin, but they only had inside cabins and we really enjoyed having a deck so declined.
Also, the second floor must also be where the septic is because in the hallway it sure smelled like it. Every day! Ship QualityThe second floor must also be where the septic is because in the hallway it sure smelled like it. Every day! Dining/FoodVery good! My favorite was the room service in the morning! :) Stateroom QualityMy rating is because of the noise level... Ship Staff Quality
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Children's ProgramsDidn't see much of the kids :)! Nice!
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Nassau, BahamasWe liked the Segways otherwise, there didn't seem to be much to do on the island.
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.Pretty island. Nice shopping. We like the gondalas.
Philipsburg, St. MaartenHad a lot of fun with the horseback riding. Well worth the price.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Carnival Dream is a Big Ship But ....... by
Clint S from colorado springs co Sailing date: Jun 2011Pros: The Hard Working Loving Staff keeps the Ship very Clean and Tends to the Guests Well. Cons: Food and Entertainment was very disappointing most of the time. The Boat packs the folks on but has not added additional programing to compensate. I think the food really suffers in freshness and quality as well! We loved the ship and it's staff! My family felt that Carnival didn't live up to the experiences we have had in the past on other cruises with Carnival and Princess. Boat was well stocked and very clean. Cruise Director Gary was the worst we have seen and the programing really is lacking under his direction. Comedy was the best thing on the ship. Ship Qualityupper deck anytime dining area had a dirty mop smell that made it hard to want to go up and eat. Clean but stinky. Dining/FoodFood was not very fresh! Eating experience is better at a place like Golden Corral Buffet. If this was our first cruise I would have wondered why people always talk about how great the food was on the cruise but we have cruised before and the food was much better on other carnival ships or excellent on the princess ships. Stateroom Qualityvery clean and well taken care of but the beds were very crammed in and state room extremly small. Ship Staff QualityStaff was great! We loved the very sweet staff! Entertainment & Activitiesplain and simple it stunk! Comedians were funny and our kids loved the family shows! The rest was pitiful! Children's Programsone of our kids enjoyed the 13 to 14 programming but our other one did not. I found that age group was not very well supervised. When checking on our kids I found kids left unsupervised in an area that parents are asked not come into and found the kids making out. I was not very happy to see that going on.
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Nassau, Bahamasblue lagoon was great!
Don't Miss: blue lagoon if youhave kids! Very fun day. Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.We rented a Jeep from budget for $79 for the day. It was so much fun touring the very cool island! Ship wanted $69 per person so do this on your own and save a bundle!
Don't Miss: go to the mountain top and then find a beach! water was awesome! Philipsburg, St. Maartenwe snorkled off the Honey Bunny! Fun but the gear was lacking and water not very clear. We were a little disappointed.
Don't Miss: its not snorkleing. 4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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We had a good time by
Larry J from St Augustine FL Sailing date: Jul 2012Pros: evening meal Cons: loudness The evening meal was the most enjoyable thing about the cruise. We had a great waiter, Felipe, who attended our every need as though we were his only diners. The stateroom stewards were great as well, we never came back to our room and it not be straightened up and spotless.
The shows and entertainment was way too loud. I'm very hard of hearing and it all only sounded like noise to me the only songs and music I could understand where the ones I knew.
The loading and unloading went very smoothly, I was surprised at that because of the number of people on board.
All and all I was able to relax as long as I was out on deck on in my stateroom. Dining/Foodreally enjoyed Stateroom Qualityvery nice Entertainment & ActivitiesTerrible 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Great Cruise! by
A Traveler from Hendersonville, TN Sailing date: Mar 2012Pros: Ships staff, very friendly and was great at keeping the room clean and dining a pleasure. Cons: The ship was very rough sailing the first two days there was a lot of movement which was very unusual compared to other cruises I have been on and since the seas were not that rough. Very nice ship but not as well designed as other Carnival ships that I have been on, the design of this ship was good but not great. Ship Quality
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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the crusie was at best was just ok by
Kevin D from Iowa Sailing date: Nov 2011Pros: ports of call Cons: service at the dinning room the ship was clean Ship Quality
Dining/Foodservice was not good on past cruises the wait staff would take the time to know you and on this cruise the staff made me feel like a number. The food was ok not what I have had in the past. If service was better I could over look the food short comings Stateroom Qualitythe room was clean a litte on the small size Ship Staff Qualityabout 60% of the staff would greet you and help you fine things on the ship Entertainment & Activitiesyou could always fine something to do
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Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.had a great time touring and siteseeing
Philipsburg, St. Maartenhad a great time touring and siteseeing
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Good Cruise for a family, not a romance by
Rose W from Los Angeles, CA Sailing date: Mar 2011Pros: The servers worked really hard Cons: The food This ship was clean and the servers and cleaners worked really hard. The food was mediocre and I never had an amazing meal. I didn't pay the $30 to eat in the steakhouse, which is supposed to be better but I did go to the sit down meals every night. We did have a few things that were good but I was never blown away by anything I ate. Even though there were over 4,000 passengers we never felt like the ship was overly crowded. There were some lines but nothing too crazy. Ship QualityClean, which I appreciated. Even though this ship was new it was decorated like it was built in the 90's..kind of odd Dining/FoodThe only thing really exceptional about the dininig was the Servers Stateroom QualityRooms were simple and we had a inside cabin on the 2 floor, but it was really comfortable. Ship Staff QualityWould have given them a hirer score but the barteneders had poor attitudes! Entertainment & ActivitiesThere were lots of things to do but the Singers on the ship and the main performers were horrible. We had a great comedian and the Casino was fun and they had a fun nightclub. Children's ProgramsI don't have kids but they ALWAYS had something going on for them. Good thing since there were 1,000 kids on our ship because of spring break
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Nassau, BahamasFun to take a scooter around the Island!
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.
Philipsburg, St. MaartenGo Scuba diving here! The waters are gorgeous!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Great trip! by
Jennifer H from Atlanta, GA Sailing date: Jul 2010Pros: Everything was taken care of for me Cons: At times, the staff wasn't at 100 % the ship was beautiful. Brand new and super clean. There were about 4600 guests on the ship, so at times, I felt that the staff was a little overworked. Ship Quality
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Entertainment & ActivitiesThe weather was a little dicey with a tropical storm coming in and almost all of the excursions were cancelled. This was nothing that the cruise ship could have helped.
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Nassau, Bahamaswe booked a snorkel and beach excurision and the beach part was cancelled due to the rough waters. Snorkeling was just okay.
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.It rained hard the entire time we were on the island. Don't go too far out on your own with it raining. You risk the streets flooding and not being able to get back to the boat.
Philipsburg, St. Maartenthis was our favorite spot. lots of shopping and beautiful weather. didn't make it over to the french side but will definitely go back.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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