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Spring Break Cruise by
Hardy S from Montgomery, AL Sailing date: Mar 2013Pros: Fun vacation Cons: Dining experience This was my seventh cruise on Carnival. After each cruise I was ready to go on another Carnival cruise until this one. It wasn't a bad experience, was just missing some of the 'over the top' experiences we have had in the past. The entertainment was good, just not great. The food was good, just not great. Maybe it was because the cruise was during spring break. Ship Quality
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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   Eastern Caribbean by
Jan M from United States Sailing date: Jan 2013Pros: scenery Cons: crowds at the Buffet lines ship was nice and clean
people are still saving the deck chairs with towels etc, this needs to change
cabin and balcony was comfortable although until we arrived at St Maarten the glass on the balcony was dirty Ship Quality
Dining/FoodI could not use the Scarlet Dining room..the location made me seasick.
More tables for your own dining times need to be allocated. Stateroom Qualitystaterooms are OK but a little small. Ship Staff Qualitystaff was very friendly Entertainment & Activitiesshore excursions were expensive, especially to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Based on the time allowed in port $100 per person to visit Atlantis was to much. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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A nice Christmas cruise by
A Traveler from Canton, OH Sailing date: Dec 2012Pros: Camp Carnival was fantastic for our kids! Ports were wonderful! Cons: Food in main dining room not very great at all. Like cafeteria food. The waterworks water slides were fantastic. Very friendly staff. The ship was very large but we were always able to find somewhere to lay in the sun. We cruised over Christmas and it was packed with passengers so I think that says a lot. Ship QualityCleanliness was amazing! The public restroom areas were well kept - even the overused one by the pool. Dining/FoodThis is my only disappointment about this cruise. This is our 7th cruise and by far this was the worse quality of food we've ever experienced on a cruise. The service in the dining areas was great but the food quality was comparable to hospital cafeteria dining. Things were soggy that were supposed to be crisp. The selection was not what it used to be. No escargot. Fried shrimp was offered 3 times on the featured menu! No variety. The steak was not quality. It was very disappointing. Stateroom QualityLarge stateroom even though we booked the cheapest oceanview they had. Very comfortable beds! Ship Staff QualityStaff was amazing. On our dining room table they placed a dish of margarine for our bread. My husband dislikes margarine and prefers butter. The waiter brought us butter that evening and every night after without us asking! Little things like that make a quality experience. Entertainment & Activities
Children's ProgramsCamp Carnival was a blast for our kids ages 10 and 8! It was their favorite part of the cruise! 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Wow!! What a fun time! by
Drew B from Lafayette, IN Sailing date: Dec 2012Pros: Each port if call was amazing!! Cons: Alcohol was WAY too expensive The ship was amazing! For a first time cruiser, I don't have any other ships to compare it to, but I couldn't have picked a better ship than this for my first time. It was super clean, the staff was extra friendly and knew my wife and I by name, and the food was delicious! Do not waste your time with other staterooms, a balcony is the only way to sail. Absolutely gorgeous! Ship Quality
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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a wonderful getaway by
A Traveler from usa Sailing date: Dec 2012Pros: the shows. the song and dance teams were excellent Cons: not enough scheduled DAY activities to choose from very nice trip for the price paid. certainly SHORT of being a wow trip. would definitely do again. was disappointed that best activities were scheduled so late well into way past midnight for late dinners.i would have preferred to have shows more spread out so didnt have to run from one to catch the other or also choose between them as they were scheduled at same time.I would like to see large print schedule and maps for us with poor eyesight. Ship Qualitynice ship. very clean, hard working staff does a lot to make everything clean and fresh. Dining/Foodgood food. rich. lots of gravies and sauces. certainly dont recommend late night dining hours. personally think 5 and 7 o clock would be much better than 6 and 8 o clock. restaurant staff was excellent. Stateroom Qualityalways clean and neat. responded promptly for requests and room service. never lacking anything to make us comfortable. Ship Staff Qualityvery nice. Entertainment & Activitiesi would like to see the addition of an afternoon show each day. 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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AMAZING CRUISE by
Gladys D. from Florida Sailing date: Dec 2012Pros: TOO MANY THINGS TO CHOOSE ONE Cons: TOO LITTLE TIME AT EACH DESTINATION Western Caribbean on the Carnival Dream was an incredible trip. Ship was beautiful, staff was incredible, food was delicious and the rooms were spacious and very comfortable. This was our second cruise, but our first 7-day cruise and can't wait to do it again. the weather in December is great for the destinations we visited. It was more than we expected!!!! Ship Qualityloved the space in this ship. There was always space to relax and enjoy the outdoors or enjoy listening to live music inside. The Encore show room was beautiful. This is definitely a fun ship and loved how clean it was kept at all times. Dining/Fooddelicious food:) great variety. Just wished they had more chocolate options in the dining room area. The waiters that took care of us were amazing (we will never forget Thutisa, Crisologo and Mantas. Also Rachel the Hostess). They provided exceptional service. Little important details to me like, bringing coffee to our table the way we liked it, cutting the kids steak, being funny and courteous and extremely accommodating. Just absolutely exceptional staff. Stateroom Qualityvery very comfortable. Plenty of space to store things. Housekeeping crew was wonderful, they kept the room clean at all time and loved the towel designs they made with the towels. We were in the 1st floor(Riviera Deck) and really enjoyed it. Definitely recommend staying in one of the middle rooms(you don't feel the rocking of the boat). Ship Staff Qualitywe were very impressed with the staff. They wen't above and beyond our expectations. Guest services was very helpful and the rest of the staff was very informative and always available to answer our questions with a friendly smile. Entertainment & Activitiesall destinations were great. Our least preferred excursion was the Mayan ruins in Cozumel, Mexico. We expected to see pyramids, but there were none in the areas we visited. Cave tubing is a must in Belize. Roatan was our favorite destination. We decided to stay by the beach all day because of the scenery and convenience. Costa Maya was too short of a stay to appreciate, so we stayed in the shops at the port, but still had a great time. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Good, but not Great Cruise by
Andrea S.--my 60th cruise! from Washington, DC Sailing date: Aug 2012Pros: Fantastic staff/waiters/crew, good food, excellent ports Cons: Entertainment (shows), long buffet lines Very good! Ship QualityThe ship was attractive in a Las Vegas style, clean and easy to navigate, although maps were scarce. Stateroom was very comfortable and larger than some other ships. Lots of storage space. Loved the artwork on the stairs and in public areas. Dining/FoodGood variety and preparation. Excellent selections at lunch with pasta bar, tandoori and several other subspecialty stations. Loved the sushi! Excellent waiters. But, we know well enough to plan for a set seating, not "anytime" dining. Our waiters knew us and our service was personalized. Made was our waiter at table 128. Stateroom QualityGreat staff, nice amenities like the mini fridge and the flat screen TV. Lots of room and storage. Ship Staff QualityGReat cruise director staff and wait staff and cabin staff. EVeryone we encountered was helpful and friendly. Entertainment & ActivitiesProduction shows were loud and irritating. All the songs were "overdone" in screechy voices. Worse yet, it was evident that the cast was lip synching. Other entertainers were great in the atrium and casino. Outdoor screen was under used and could have had a better selection of movies. Trivia contests and other games weren't much fun because there was only "team" competition (half the room vs. the other half). The ship on a stick prizes were awful. C'mon, can't they afford a key chain or a pen or something small with a logo instead of those stupid plastic pieces of junk that we all threw away immediately or refused to take. RCCL does it right and I have the key chains, flashlights, hats, wallets, umbrellas, bags and countless other items to prove it. It's good advertising! 6 out of 7 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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Fun but not relaxing by
Sarah O. from Lexington, KY Sailing date: Jul 2012Pros: Service and state room Cons: waiting in LONG lines, the amount of people and children, unorganization Overall, it was not relaxing and the ship had too many people onboard to easily accommodate them all. Unless you enjoy waiting in long lines at the buffets for EVERY meal or like to wait an hour before being seated in the dining rooms for meals, then you will not enjoy this ship. Also, plan on waking up at 8am to save a lounge chair because after that, all of them have been saved. When going on a sunny vacation, I planned on lying by or in the pools. Not on this ship - they had two TINY swimming pools to accommodate nearly 3500+ people and plan on being kicked in the back by children when you're "relaxing" in the water. Also because of the size of the ship, you will walk yourself to death just for a glass of water from the dining hall. Everything is very spread out and is not designed for those who may not walk very well. The ship seemed very unorganized, especially the buffet lines. If you simply wanted a bagel, you had to stand in the entire breakfast line instead of having stations approachable from all sides. The nightlife on the boat was average or below. I went to a comedy show the first night and was disgusted by the amount of inappropriate things said, even though I was prepared for that. Therefore I did not return the rest of the week. The dancing shows were average but felt like once you'd watched one, you had seen them all. Nothing like what I've heard about from other cruise lines. The entertainment staff did a nice job at getting the crowd going at different events and seemed like they really enjoyed their jobs. Other than that, I would not recommend this ship to anyone. Ship QualityThe ship was clean and decorated nicely, however it was extremely congested after events and was not designed to accommodate that many people. The accessibility was okay considering they had elevators but once again, you have to wait about 15 minutes before catching an elevator that isn't jam packed with people. And that's if all of the elevators were actually working (which most of the time did not happen). The layout of the ship is very spread out and it took lots of stairs, time, and walking to get from one place to another. Dining/FoodThe food was decent, once you finally got it. At the formal dining rooms, we waited nearly an hour each night to get a table and in the buffet lines, we waited nearly 15 minutes before seeing food in some instances. At lunch time they had a wide variety of foods like a sushi bar, stir-fry station, deli, and others but most times you weren't on the boat for lunch or not that hungry. I wish they would have had these options for dinner instead of only lunch. Stateroom QualityI enjoyed my stateroom. The linens were nice and the service was great with the upkeep of the room throughout the week. Ship Staff QualityThe staff was great. This was the best part of the vacation and they were very willing to help and always in pleasant moods. Every time I would leave my room and see a worker, they would speak to me, and sometimes even by name. They do a great job and you can tell that they work very hard. Entertainment & ActivitiesThe entertainment was average. As mentioned in the overall review, the comedy show that I attended was extremely vulgar, therefore I did not return to that. The dance shows were average and boring after the first 5 songs. The casino and piano bar were probably the parts I enjoyed most for entertainment. 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Great Ship, Great Ports by
A Traveler from Raleigh, NC Sailing date: May 2012Pros: Everything was GREAT Cons: They found our alcohol we attempted to sneak on. This ship was amazing. Everything met our expectations, and in some cases exceeded them. I would definitely sail on this ship again.
Had a great time overall. Ship Quality
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Stateroom QualityInside cabin Ship Staff QualityCrew were amazing! Entertainment & Activities
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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