Carnival Dream Cruise Ship Reviews
At 130,000 tons and carrying some 3,646 passengers double occupancy, the Carnival Dream and her sisters are Carnival’s largest, newest and most exciting vessels. Built in 2009, Dream feels a bit more toned and high-end, design-wise, than her older fleetmates—but let’s not split hairs: The ship is another incarnation of the bright and busy floating resorts Carnival is famous for, and is armed with some impressive new innovations.
For example, yesterday’s ho-hum Internet centers have morphed into the Fun Hub, an onboard social networking tool that guests can access via their own computers or devices, or at one of the 36 Fun Hub stations scattered around the vessel. You can create a personal profile and interact with shipmates, plus access information about onboard entertainment, dining and ports.
There’s also a fresh new indoor-outdoor entertainment space called the Lanai, which stretches from one side of the ship to the other on the Promenade deck ans offers a pair of over-sized ocean-view hot tubs cantilevered out over the ship’s rail, plus a café and a bar. Another industry first: 15-minute laser light shows set to rock music by Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Boston and other classic bands. The daily shows are offered on the giant outdoor movie screen in the Seaside Theatre on Deck 12, where you can also catch films and concerts.
Most of Carnival Dream’s entertainment venues reside on Decks 4 and 5, making the area especially conducive for bar hopping and strolling. The ship has a grand three-story show lounge, a pair of two-deck high main restaurants, a sushi bar, an elegant steakhouse, and a sprawling two-deck-high indoor-outdoor buffet restaurant offering just about everything.
The Cloud 9 Spa and huge gym take up the forward section of three decks, and include the adults-only Serenity outdoor relaxation space. The Deck 10 pool area is hub of skimpy bathing suits, cold drinks and fun contests, while the kids are catered to on Deck 11 in the Dream’s city-sized Camp Carnival play area for ages 2 to 11. Other parts of the ship coddle tweens (ages 12–14) and teens (ages 15–17) with dance floors, Wii video games and more. Fun lovers of all ages will appreciate the four water slides, one a 303-foot long corkscrew thrill ride, not to mention three pools and four hot tubs. There’s also the Waterworks “sprayground” with squirting fountains, splash zones and dump buckets, plus miniature golf course and a combo basketball-volleyball court.
Staterooms on Carnival Dream
As aboard Carnival’s other ships, Dream’s cabins are roomy, with standard inside cabins measuring 185 square feet and outsides a generous 220 square feet. All sport very comfortable bedding, plus a minibar and a small sitting area. A range of higher-category cabins and suites, including special Cloud 9 spa cabins, offer even more amenities and space. For something different, check out the Cove Balcony cabins, set down near the waterline—reminding you that you really are at sea, even on this giant ship.
Carnival Cruise Reviews
To read a review of a particular ship, click the link under "Read the Review." If applicable, our Live Voyage Reports offer a day-by-day overview of an actual cruise onboard. In some cases, there may be more than one report, to be sure to see if your favorite destination is represented.Avid Cruiser Posts, Photographs and Videos Featuring Carnival Dream.
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67 Comments
Dear Mr. Editor:
I am writing your publication to make public my “foul” experience with Carnival Cruise Lines. In these tough economic times, vacations are hard to come by. Families need to guard their funds and carefully choose whom they entrust their families memories with. This year, my wife and I, including our 12 year old son, 9 year old daughter and 6 year old daughter decided to take a vacation with my in laws who are in their 70’s for their 50th wedding anniversary. Also joining us on our vacation were my brother in law, his wife and their 8 year old daughter. This was to be a vacation to provide the type of family memories that can be recalled for a lifetime. This could be the only time we all ever get to vacation together. After weighing our memory dollars very carefully, we chose to sail on the newest, largest, Carnival Ship, the Dream.
Excitement was a bound, and anticipation was high. One day while day “Dreaming” about our cruise, I looked at an online site that reviews cruise ships. CruiseCritic.com. To my horror, most of the reviews talked about a fowl, sewer type, smell on board. We originally made our reservations back in August 2009 for a March 2010 cruise over Spring Break. Now it was January 2010 and other options were all booked. Maybe this was just an isolated few upset guests that are never happy. Not so, review after review, even those that seemed somewhat satisfied with their cruise lauded about the odd, sewer type smell on board. I thought how can a cruise ship marketed towards families smell like a dumpster?
I immediately called Carnival to get some sort of an explanation. I figured that they must be aware of the situation and have it resolved by now. I figured what type of company would allow little kids, seniors and young families be subjected to sewer odors during their Dream vacations. Spoke to several people at the customer service area who had no idea what I was talking about and insured me that there was no foul odor aboard any of their ships. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was connected to Diane. Diane assured me that no odor was present on the Dream ship, but after I insisted, she agreed to call to upper management to address my concerns.
While I awaited a return call, I did some research on the internet and I spoke to Vance Guilikson, Carnival’s media relations spoke person. This was not easy to get him on the phone, but I relented. This is what I read:
Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen responded to our request for comment following multiple reports of a sewage smell on Carnival Dream: “We have been told that initially there were some issues in certain open decks relating to the design of the ventilation systems within those specific areas. The problem was exacerbated under certain heavy wind conditions.
“Working with the Fincantieri shipyard, the ventilation systems in question were reconfigured prior to the ship’s arrival in the U.S. in November. Since the problem was identified, the ventilation issues have largely been contained, however, there have been a few isolated incidents over the past few weeks. The ship’s technical management team continues to closely monitor the situation to determine whether any further corrective actions may be necessary.”
We discussed the issue, and he mentioned that he would put a call into the ship and upper management to find out a date when this situation would be resolved. I never received a return call from him. I did hear back from Diane. I was told that there was in fact a sewer type odor on board, but that it was “only” in certain areas. I thought, oh good, my 6 year old will only have to smell sewage in certain areas, not everywhere on my vacation.
Obviously, I was being sarcastic and upset and couldn’t believe I was hearing the explanation she was giving me. I asked to receive a call from her supervisor Paula Sinclair. I was promised a call from her by the end of the next day. During my wait I decided to e-mail CEO Micky Arison and President Gerald Cahill. I was sure that if Mr. Arison knew of this problem, he would surely fix it, especially since it was his father who started Carnival Cruise Lines with just one ship designed to provide vacations to working families. He wouldn’t let working families pay for a cruise that he knew smelled like a sewer.
No response from Mr. Arison or Mr. Cahill. I did get an e-mail from Shela Wever, a guest solutions manager, that sent me this e-mail –“ …Please be advised that when the Carnival Dream first entered service in Europe, there were some isolated problems identified and corrective action was taken via modifications to the ship’s ventilation system. Since the ship has been operating in the U.S., we have received very few complaints on this issue.
Actually, less than two in every 1,000 guests who have sailed on the vessel during this period. Nonetheless, further modifications are being made which will be completed shortly. We do not have a specific date at this time.” I also received this exact same e-mail from Carlos Villarreal. Sounds like they are getting many inquires about this issue and have developed this form e-mail. Unfortunately, all of the reviews I read dealing with the smell on board were written after these modifications were supposedly made.
Except for the money Carnival wants to make, why wouldn’t they put this ship in port and not let one paying family have to sacrifice their memories and their vacation to suffer through a sewer smell while trying to enjoy themselves. Would Mr. Arison sail on his yacht, the MYLIN IV and invite guests if it had a sewer smell on it? Would you invite guests to stay at your house if one of your rooms smelled like a sewer or dirty diapers as one review said?
I called Ms. Wever and she told me that they were aware of the smell onboard and that they were working on the issue, but that they couldn’t guarantee me that the odor would be gone by the time I sailed with them. Is this a joke? She told me to just have faith in them that they will resolve the issue, although she couldn’t promise it. How could I subject my family to this, a waste of our hard earned memory dollars? In a subsequent e-mail by her she wrote – ” …If you sail and are dissatisfied in any way with your cruise you have the opportunity to take advantage of our Vacation Guarantee program. We will not provide a full refund though due to this.”
The guarantee was that my family could get off the ship at one of their stops and they would refund the rest of the cruise price. How many people reading this want to take a chance on a cruise like this, with a company like this? What do I do? What would you do? Cancel the memory vacation for my little girls and their grandma?
Sincerely,
Scott W.
Dear Scott W – I sincerely hope that you did NOT take your family, with your hard earned money on this ship for your Dream Vacation. Since you were so convinced it would smell like a sewer, despite all of your communications with Carnival over the odor, surely you didn’t bother to take the cruise. Certainly, if you did, I’m sure you smelled the odor and it ruined your vacation. I, personally, would prefer not to spend my hard earned money to sail with the likes of you. Keep your attitude elsewhere.
How was the cruise
Really? Hemingway never wrote a missive like this that he didn’t feed to the cats! Say what you need to say and leave it at that.
Don’t need to know about what happened before you we’re wronged in one way are the other.
I cruise a lot, been pissed off a bunch of times. I’ve had the smell of sewage in my cabin before. It happens.
After 80+ cruises I have never read a more detailed pathetic diatribe on a review for a ship ever.
It looks like this idiot used the thesaurus to try and make himself sound smarter, but didn’t know the difference between the antonyms and the synonyms.
“…even those that seemed somewhat satisfied with their cruise lauded about the odd, sewer type smell on board”
Lauded?
“This was not easy to get him on the phone, but I relented.”
Relented?
Idiot.
As mentioned I sailed Dream from New York on a round trip to Florida and Nassau. The only wafting odor that crossed my path was that of turkey roasting for Thanksgiving. I heard no complaints from anyone about a foul smell.
I am acquainted with most of the people Scott talked to, and know if there was any type of problem, it would be attended to “post haste”.
Since his trip is not until March, if I were in his place, i would cast worries aside.
You’ll have a marvelous trip Scott….and clean sea air!
My family and I just returned from a cruise aboard the Carnival Dream. While our overall cruise experience was a positive one there is definitely an odor issue!
We first noticed the odor as we walked to our cabin after boarding the ship. I had read about the odor but had not told the rest of my family about it because I did not want to bias them about the ship. Nevertheless, we all smelled it! Our cabin was located in the forward section of Deck 1 and we never smelled anything unusual inside our cabin. However, outside our cabin was a different story. Where the smell was most noticeable to us was in the hallway near our cabin. Located just down the hall from our cabin was a “crew only” door. If we passed by this door, or other similar “crew only” doors located in the forward to mid ship area (when they were open or after they had recently been open) there was foul odor consistent with what others have reported.
Occasionally, while outside on the top decks of the ship we could also smell the odor. On Tuesday, during our port visit to St. Thomas we decided to cut our visit short and return to the ship to escape the heat. We decided to use the water slides which are located toward the forward section of the ship. Here, the smell was the strongest. Adjacent to the water slides is a large section that appears to be mechanical or ventilation related. This i suspect is connected to the same “crew only” sections lower in the ship.
Did the smell ruin our vacation? Absolutely not. Was it annoying? Yes.
Sincerely,
Bob K.
EVERY ship at sea Has an odor. it is called SEWAGE. On HAL..the stage had to be closed due to the sewer smell when it backed up. It happens. We still sail HAL. GEt real.
Beautiful ship however it was our worst cruise experience. We’ve been on 4 other Carnival Cruises, always in suites and found our March 13, 2010 Dream cruise out of Port Canaveral to be the worst. Issues: we looked forward to the VIP treatment that came with our suites and were surprised and disappointed to be told that only Platinum guests (10 or more cruises) are VIPs – particularly missed the ‘pins’ that my family collects. Very noticeable reduction in staff – slow drink service, dinning service. The dining staff tried but seemed to be waiting too many tables to clear and serve them timely. The maître d’ was not helpful – bordered on rude – only seen once in the 7 days. Surprised at the unexpected odor of sewage on several days at sea – this only happened once before on a far older ship and we never expected to have it happen on the newest.
Here’s Carnival’s response to my note:
Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines. We have received your e-mail message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.
Your continued support and loyalty is valued. At Carnival, we know that great food and great service combined with lots of fun and relaxation are the main ingredients in our recipe for an awesome cruise. We are sorry this was not the case on this sailing.
The VIP is open to our guests that have sailed with us more than 10 times. We believe in rewarding our loyal guests. As soon as you have sailed with us 10 or more times, we’d be delighted to have you enjoy the perks of Platinum status as well.
You’re right; the ship pins are no longer part of our Past Guest Program. They are very popular and quite a collector’s item. In the future, you’ll find them available in the gift shop.
Also, thank you for letting us know about the areas onboard that need attention. Whether it’s involving staff service, food preparation or ship maintenance, we look at all comments and concerns. Your feedback is appreciated and is a vital part of our efforts to continuously improve the cruise.
Thank you for choosing Carnival Cruise Lines. We look forward to welcoming you and your family back aboard another one of our “Fun Ships” soon.
Cordially,
Carnival Cruise Lines
For anyone about to travel on the Dream, please ignore all the negativity. From the second we all stepped aboard from the second we stepped off, it was hard to find a complaint. I was so worried from the negative nit picky reviews I had read about lines, crowds, rude staff, no elevators etc. If you cant have the time of your life on this ship, I feel sorry for you. Enjoy. You will love it.
scott needs to chill it just a smell now i could under stand if it was worse. he dont need to be a baby about it all hes doing is sucking a passy
Let me start by saying this is my second Carnival cruise. My wife and I have been on 3 other cruises with Royal Carribean. The Carnival Dream is the newest in their fleet and yet seems to be years old.
The walls are paper thin in the rooms. I so enjoyed listening to everyone elses TVs, radios and conversations. The ship is thin compared to what we are used to with Royal. We’ve been on the Mariner and the Freedom and the pool areas are double the size of what the Dream has and the deck seems to be about 50 or 60 ft less wide. Every cruise I have been on has music playing out by the pool deck, whether it live or recorded…..not on the Dream. We suffered as we watched the Sheryl Crow concert on the big screen, 3 times in one week. We also had the joy of watching G3 on the big screen in the middle of the day (you know…the kids gerbil movie).
At about 3:30a one night the air conditioning for the whole boat crashed. It was a nice added feature having the sauna in my room as my walls were sweating and the lack of oxygen woke us. When someone answered our calls finally we were told it would be fixed “soon”. 2 hours later must be soon.
Entertainment? There was none. All week we had one pool activity, the hairy chest contest. On friday, the last day, someone figured out how to get the music to come on. There was supposed to be a putting contest in the Atrium at 1:45p. About 30 of us waited till 2p and when no staff showed up and guest services gave us a “beats me” attitude, we went back to the “tub”.
I know this sounds like a lot of crying, but we sound thousands of dollars every year on cruises and maybe I’m just spoiled with Royal, but I can guarantee I will NEVER be on a carnival cruise again. The old saying, you get what you pay for, is so true in this case. We only took this ship to hit the ports that we have not been to yet in the caribean.
For those of you that have not taken a Royal cruise yet, spend the extra $150 a person and you will see the difference for yourself.
You’ll not be cruising with Carnival again? Good! One less of your kind to be concerned with.
I just got back from my third Carnival cruise, Dream, May 1 sail date. On the smell, It was there. I hoped I wasn’t the only one, and I heard many others complaining about it. It was in various places throughout the ship. I smelled it about halfways down deck 2, deck 10, out on the lido, and when I was at the top of the slide waiting to go down. I figured I would go online when I got back to see if this was a problem on other trips. Other than the smell, which lingered the entire period, 7 days, the cruise was great. The ship was huge compared to the others I have been on, but didn’t seem crowded at all. Lines were hardly ever long, and I always found a seat at a show. Dinner waiters were amazing.
I enjoyed my first Carnival Dream cruise on May 22nd of this year.
Everything was great. Boarding the ship was organized, we were able to get into our room immediately, and a short time later our luggage was there. Friendly service, immaculate rooms, delicious ,hot food, was always present. I will again travel aboard the Carnival. We met other “cruisers” on locations, particularly the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas and our cruise was by far better. They had to endure another yet unfortunate ship crew member suicide causing them to miss St. Thomas. Entertainment? Every night we could not decide which show or piano bar to attend. The Lido deck had entertainment each night followed by a magnificient buffet. Cleanliness? Crew were mopping and polishing 24/7. Odor? None….dont know what that was about but our rooms were so clean, our linens changed each day. Looking forward to the new Carnival ships that are to be built and sail soon. My first cruise on Carnival won me over completely.
My family and I are going on the Carnival Dream very shortly and I was just wondering is the smell that bad?
Our cabin is located in the middle of the ship… therefore I was wondering if we would smell it from in there?!
Let Me Know!
Sincerely,
Ashley T
My 88 and 90 year old parents, along with my sister and brother-in-law and my significant other returned from a Carnival Dream ship criuse to the Eastern Caribbean on October 2, 2010.
Carnival should have called this ship the Nightmare!! It is very dark and extremely confusing to get around on. And by the way, I only noticed the smell a few times, but it is definitely still a problem.
Our staterooms were on the 9th floor, center ship, directly under the Lido deck. Any time day or night, you could here chairs being dragged across the floor….very annoying. Our stateroom upon arrival was extremely dusty and the windows were filthy.
The dining room was a disaster. Food was okay, at best, many times not HOT and took forever to get. There is no way it should take 1.5 hours to finish dinner.
Having been on a Royal Caribbean cruise, this one was a huge disappointment. The only staff that remembered our names were the stateroom steward and a super bar server in the casino.
The entertainment was pitiful at best.
My parents, sister and brother-in-law have been on 5 prior Carnival cruises and raved about them. This time they were very disappointed.
I will NOT be taking another Carnival cruise. Give me Royal Caribbean any time!!!!!
I sailed four times on The Dream. I am one cruise away from being Platinum on Princess….3 cruises on HAL, 3 on NCL, 1 on Celebrity and over 100 days at sea on Carnival. Since 2005. Retirement. Live in Florida. Military.rates. Senior rates. Past Guest rates. Location rates. Close to ports. very rarely casino rates.
I have loved every cruise I ever took on the Dream. it is the class of Carnival. Almost always the bad reviews are over something else….some perceived injustice…that has nothing to do with the entire ship. A lost bag. A refusal for a dining assignment.
To cut gratuities for the staff, who work 247 is mean spirited and defines the small people who like stepping on smaller people. IMHO.
I hve cruised on the Dream twice. We stayed in the Spa rooms level 12.
There was no smell only some topless sunbathers on the serenity deck. No one seemed to mind or complain about that. Food was good if you did not like the buffet you could eat many other places. Explore the ship and find out all the different places you can get food which is a lot. I love cruising
there is so much to do but people are people and some aways complain
about something. Enjoy your trip visit the Spa some of the things are free
and lots of fun. Sincerely, Sandy C
I was on the November 6-13, 2010 Carnival Dream Cruise ship. Cigarette smoke and marijuana smoke were issues for us. People were smoking on the adjoining cabin balcony and in one cabin down our hallway. This creates problems with people with respiratory issues. We always open our balcony door to air out the room after the staff clean to eliminate some of the chemical cleaning odors. At times, due to the wind direction,the smoke from the ship’s smoke stack was a bit overpowering and sometimes it smelled like sulfur. The Gathering dining area did have too many people smells and of course the various cooking odors. We preferred to eat in our assigned dining room where the food is much better. Overall, we had a really good time even with very rough seas. The staff on this cruise were wonderful.
I have a group booking for the Dream on 1/22/11. I am greatly concerned because they hold me responsible if it is a good cruise or bad. This is my 2nd group cruise to escort, the last being the Splendor. Then we had waiter troubles all week. Some from that cruise (52 people) said they would never go on another Carnival. I thought they wanted return guest. If service and the ships continue to go downhill, then they will lose and their bottomline will drop, not sure why the big shots are repsonding to these complaints. I have had 2 NCL bookings in the last month. That tell me something when I try to push Carnival, and they are biting.
This is their largest ship, so to be sure – there are LOTS of people. We are going on our 3rd Dream cruise soon and we actually love it. We’ve stayed in the same cabins each time – on Spa deck. If you are on the spa deck, it’s like you have the boat to yourselves. We use the spa, go to formal dining rooms and the italian restaurant in the back & don’t do the buffets. If you do the buffets, you get into the masses of people. Sometimes, I agree, just the greedy pushy passengers are a pain and no fun. I think if you stay in a room with the masses, you’ll be miserable. If you choose a room, like ours, away from the masses and do the private dining and the spa, you’ll be fine. So, in a nutshell: it depends on where your room is, as to whether or not you will enjoy this cruise.
this ship is the best. i had so much, and i met alot of people. there food is amazing and there music is for everybody. the teens will have the most fun because the club is so fun.
We had 3 staterooms over Christmas and New years aboard the Carnival Dream. My wife and I were in 8439 – kids in 8445 – my sister forward on the 7th deck. There is no question – there is a ripe sewage smell – it comes and goes – the staff know. Avoid deck 8 – staterooms 8395-8439 as well as the same section below on Deck 7 – I didn’t find the smell entered the stateroom however my wife did – but it was certainly wafting down the hallways in the areas aft deck 7 & 8…can’t be sure about others levels. I am not an engineer or plumber but I know a sewage venting issue when I smell it ….this is no Dream.
I am staying in room 2220 on the Carnival Dream. Just wondering if anyone has anything to say about this room? Noise, etc..
Thank you.
We just got off the Dream (March 7-13) Western Caribbean. I can tell you the odor (at least on deck 2) was definitely there. It seemed to be at mid ship and was clearly a problem with sewage. Our other issue was with our Cabin…#2431….with the Galley directly above our cabin, the banging of pots and pans at the dishwashing station started at around 1-2am (when we returned to our cabin) and continued throughout the day….good sleep, no….nap? uh-uh. Would highly recommend the Cove cabins, just don’t get close to the galley!
Out of all the carnival cruises I have been on (7) and my parents (14), this ship by far was the worst ship I have been on. The cruise we took was during 3/11 and we stayed on the 6th deck where our room was located directly above the encore theater and on the first night, after a long day of traveling, me and my girlfriend decided to go to be around 10 pm. when we got to the room, we could clearly hear the entire show that they had going on below us as if we were in the theater itself. Throughout the week any time we wanted to take a break from people and go to the room for a bit and something was going on in the theater, we heard it. On the 5th night, they decided to practice in the theater at 1 am. For a 130,000 ton ship, we rocked significantly for common 6-8 foot waves. The crew was typical and the cruise director was good but the activities simply did not meet par. There were a few fun activities, but for someone in their 20s, there were huge gaps of time during the day and nothing to do. The comedian, June Boykins, aka Just June, was great and entertaining, but she is limited to a few 30 minute sets. The other comedians were decent for a cruise and entertaining for their 30 minute sets. I am no expert when it comes to cruises, but I have had my fair share and am truly disappointed with this ship in many ways. As I was on the 6th floor, I only ended up on the 2nd floor once and was clearly aware of a smell that I would not want to deal with for 7 days. It smelled like a lot of cleaning products but the smell of sewage was still obvious.
Just got off the Carnival Dream today (April 2, 2011. We had a group of 28 scattered all over the ship – from deck two to deck 9. No one noticed any type of odor on the ship.
We had a great time with great service.
This is our 21st cruise with 6 of the last 7 on Carnival. Carnival does provide fun for everyone from our 4 year old to someone over 70..
I have been on 6 Carnival Cruises and on each cruise Day at Sea there was a Slot Tournament. Is there going to be a slot tournament on each Day at Sea on the Dream?? If so what is the price??
I just took the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Dream. Our family had a wonderful dining experience with our waiter named Lemean(not sure of the spelling). We would love to send him a thank you or email him. Does anyone know him?
HI…I just returned from a seven day cruise on the dream. The positives (I like to start with first) Great staff…room steward was fantastic, bartenders very attentive and friendly. My husband and I were celebrating our five year anniversary so we got a Spa room on the 12 deck. We enjoyed the food and would highly recommend Chef Arts Steak restaurant. Very good food and lots of great service. It is a additional cost to go to this restaurant but well worth it. The room was a balcony and was up to par with past rooms. Very nicely decorated and on a small hall way.
The few things for thought. The 12 deck is right beside the Waterworks park….(water slides and stairs) It all is placed very odd. We were getting the spa area to “relax” and be near the serenity deck (adults only). The layout really very odd. Lots of children running up stairs and yelling so napping was non-exist or relaxing for that matter. The children would also open the door to our hallway (right under the water slide) and run up and down the hall. Also the railing for the above deck is right above your head to the balcony in your room. So people were basically standing right above your room talking loudly along with the screaming kids. We also had a episode with the staff moving chairs at 1 am for the next day.
In addition we were in the spa area to also utilize the spa immenaties and get some treatments. The massage was very nice and we enjoyed that part. We also got pedicures we were up- sold on everything! Eye treatments, lotions, massage oils, cooling lotions and much more. The pedicure was not relaxing at all it came across very pushy and sales driven. I even got my hair done for formal night and the hair stylist up sold me on some face mineral base make-up…it turned my skin orange and had to remove it immediately. (I actually laughed about how silly I looked) Just be warned you will be up sold!
Will I cruise with Carnival again yes I’ve cruise many times and have never run into the above problems before so I’m hoping this is The Dream issues and not something that has changed Carnival across the board.
Our 11th cruise, all on Carnival, and this was..by FAR…the absolutely WORST cruise we have EVER been on. BORING, just kids movies on the big screen on Lido deck at night. (People slept more than anything else on Lido) Food was cold at every breakfast, and we have never heard so many people complain about a ship as this one. Nothing seemed planned out…just confusion, and the ‘laser’ show lasted all of 14 minutes! A beer is $7, mixed drinks $8.34, and don’t forget to REMOVE that $70 gratuity fee they tack on every card..even kids cards. About 30% take these charges off, and 60% don’t know you can do it. All we heard was how people were saying…this is the Carnival NIGHTMARE. We got home this afternoon, and couldn’t wait to post this. (Dried food in the corners of the Deli were there the entire 7-day cruise) Boring every night…don’t waste your money on this piece of crap cruise…anything is better.
how do you get the gratuity charges taken off?
Returned today 10/15/11…THERE IS A BAD SMELL ON DECK 2. Mid ship. There is a red stain on the floor near where the smell is. You can’t miss it. It lasts for about 3-4 rooms walking down the hall. We had a room about 15 down from where the smell is/was. Luckily most of the time we just avoided the smell leaving our room, by walking to the back of the ship, going up a level, then walking to the front of the ship that way when necessary. I agree it’s a sewage smell that it seems they try to cover up with Citrus smelling cleaning products (which in my opinion only made it worse.) Did it ruin the vacation, no? Easily avoidable for us? Yes. I do not know if the people in the rooms near the smell complained…I can only hope the smell did not reach their rooms. Oye.
This was our first Carnival Cruise. We have cruised before on a Disney ship. Family of 3 with a teenage daughter.
Our stateroom staff were both great, our dining room waiters were phenomenal (Suriana and Vergel). The entertainment staff had only a few bright spots (Lisa ~ Lady Ha Ha & Amy ~ 6.3). Our Cruise director Butch was great as well (he and Amy left the ship today, to start new contracts on a different Carnival ship.)
3 Production Stage Shows during a 7 night cruise? Really? That’s it? Lame.
The food was good most of the time (veggies were usually terribly undercooked and steaks were overcooked.) We NEVER had a less than amazing meal on our Disney cruise.
Things you may have read previously about deck 5 being a madhouse during dining times (due to photo “booths”) all true. It gets even worse when there is some sort of sale/raffle going on in the “Fun Shops” (watch sale, jewelry sale, jewelry raffle, gold by the inch, etc.) Ridiculous and good luck walking through there!
The Encore! Theatre where all the big shows are held, is too small…not enough room for half of the people to sit and there are more bad seats in the house than good. Arrive very VERY early if you want to catch a show and SEE everything.
The comics on our sailing were mostly enjoyable (Thomas Brown and Tommy Drake were freaking hilarious and should just stick around and leave the other two behind.) Once again though, the Burgundy lounge is small, arrive very early for a seat! Sucks to waste more than 30 minutes before a show, just sitting in your seat so you can HAVE one.
Movies on the big screen on the Lido Deck….great idea! Now change it up and actually have 7 different movies! AND, throw in a not released movie! Disney does it! Every night on the Disney boat, we watched a movie that had not yet been released in the theatre. (A week, 2 weeks early….didn’t matter, but it was free! Not on demand for $8.99 in our stateroom.)
We will likely cruise with Carnival again….probably just not aboard the Dream.
I wouldn’t say NIGHTMARE like previous people….but it was no Dream for us.
Of course St. Thomas and St. Maarten were gorgeous and Nassau….well, it’s Nassau (lol, if you’ve cruised before, you’ve probably already been there!)
I’d give our cruise 3 out of 5 stars.
The odor you were probably smelling was from the newborn baby they found dead on that ship. We got on the same ship on the 15th and stayed in 2417 and did not smell anything. We loved everything about the Carnival Dream and plan on going back!
I have never travelled on a Carnival ship, but I have been on a large ship carring 2,000 passengers. Never again! I felt like a was travelling on a large live stock ship (cattle etc) and it certainly did not feel I was on the sea. Having to wait for everything and pay for the smallest thing. Not for me. I have just come off a small cruise ship (330) passengers and 200 hundred crew. Yes! it was expensive but well worth it. As I’m 78 and friend is 😯 we wanted comfort and to be waited on. We enjoyed it so much that we have booked again for next year 2012
Of course you get what you pay for. I have been on quiet a few cruises the first in 1950 (Yes a long time ago) but it was wonderful. These big ships are not for me. I live in Australia.
Just returned from Carnival Dream. Huge disappointment! This is only our second cruise, Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas was SO MUCH BETTER!! There was nothing to do on Carnival, we were bored. Pools very tiny. Gross smells like sewage and musty smells. VERY ROCKY with hardly any waves. Very bad layout of the ship. Very crowded feeling, running into people everywhere. $70.00 gratuity charges automatically added to everyones card, even our 2 children. Didn’t know we could have taken those off!!!! ARGH! Our counters were never wiped in our stateroom ONCE! If I were you, I’d spend extra money and sail on Royal Caribbean!!!
I just got back from a cruise on the dream November 12 – 19, 2011. I have to say this was my first cruise with carnival and my last. We never got to pull into roatan “too windy” even though two other ships were pulling in there. We were told by others that the ship was too big and the port was narrow, so why lie? Why even put it on the itenerary? and refund us $9.83? Seriously that was an insult. The service was like it killed people when you asked them a question or asked for more food. I can’t see how most of you people give this ship a good review? We went to a captains dinner and never saw the captain? On Royal Carribean you get to shake his hand and have your picture taken with him. And he personally thanks you for choosing them. Our stateroom was nice except everytime we took a shower the bathroom flooded with 2 inches of water and took 25minutes to drain completely. Not happy with this cruise at all. Won’t be back to carnival and won’t recommend it either.
Nice review Sherry. But you did leave off one thing. Your birthday celebration at dinner service was unforgetable.
how can a single person be so stupid, did you even try to find out about the port facilities?
did you think that was the first time for that ship to dock in roatan? about the food well you must be an elephant or something bigger bacause food is thing wich the ship has the most next to water, so…. and your questions well i have no coments you can annoy anyone.
ok the last one the captains dinner, one captain 4000 people so use that thing that god gave you and think how the hell he is gonna sit with you he doesn’t eat with pigs, he has his own place where to eat, and he is somewhere shaking peoples oily hands and taking pictures. be happy and for shure that was the worst 200 usd you ever spent hahahaha
We are about to embark on the Dream in a few weeks. As I read a lot of these posts, I am also reminded that not everyone enjoys a Carnival cruise. I personally have been on Costa, Princess and lastly Royal Caribbean. Costa was a long time ago( and very geriatric), but I still had fun. Princess was great in many ways, but it seemed the ship shut down very early as far as late night entertainment, and a much older crowd (we were in Alaska too). On Royal Caribbean, I was not impressed. We only went because the price was somewhat affordable since it was in September that we went, and I had alwasy wanted to try RC, but I could never see spending any more than we did on that cruise. Again, we would venture out to the clubs at midnight, 1 a.m. and no one was there! You had to get dressed to leave the pool, to go downstairs to get some food, where Carnival I can get food at the pizzeria, or any number of different mini-restaurants without having to change and take an elevator below deck. I also like eating upstairs outside, but once down in the lower levels of Royal Caribbean, you may as well eat there cuz who wants to carry all their food back upstairs? Many people will pay the extra money for these other cruise lines, but my opinion is, I pay for excitement, entertainment, good food and lots to do. With the exception of the Flow Rider on Freedom, my kids were bored. But we have never been bored on Carnival ships. So no matter what, I am looking forward to my trip on the Dream and will report back with a review when we return. But we are so totally Carnival cruisers, that the others don’t compare. I can’t understand paying extra to go on a cruise, so you can sit there in peace and quiet and get waited on…how boring. Get involved, be a participant and uninhibit yourself and have a good time folks!! Everyone knows Carnival is a Fun ship…know before you book and you won’t be disappointed. For the record, we are in our 50’s with 4 kids ranging 25-15, and have yet to have a bad Carnival cruise. It’s all in your perspective when you step on board!!
I will never travel with Carnival again!!! Woke up one morning to a foul smell…..almost like the ship was on fire….no explanation as to why, yellow water in toilet and sink water. Rude employees except for our wonderful wait staff and room attendants. Food was cold at BOTH buffet and dining room!! A window on the lido deck that is there to act as a railing and for your safety was smashed and I have never seen a dirtier ship in my life!! I must admit that we got what we paid for I guess….will spend the money and stay travelling on Royal Carribean!!!
no sewage smell on 10th deck 10238 and 10242 …….rocking and swaying was crazy for calms seas and we did have an issue with water not going down the drain!!
We just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Dream Dec 24 to Dec 31/11. This will be our first and last with Carnival. Never mind Carnival Dream how about Carnival is dreaming. Deck crew service was poor; they were all unfriendly & totally disinterested in serving anyone.Tables were left dirty & uncleared. Guests were tripping on dishes & glasses on the ship decks. Food in the dining rooms and hot buffets were cold. Our plates & glassware in the “anytime dining room” were dirty & greasy and full of fingerprints. Service was very slow. The only hot meals were from the outside grills; the food at the outside grills was pretty good.
The room stewards were friendly and courteous. The rooms themselves were quite comfortable although the hallways at night were noisy. Nightly entertainment was OK.
We would rate this experience as being at a 4.5 star resort with 2 star food and service.
We were on the same cruise and did not experience any of what you are describing, so I guess it’s all in the opinion of the cruiser. We will continue to cruise on Carnival as I have yet to have a better time on other cruise lines. We enjoyed the food, the entertainment and had no problems with service whatsoever. Tables were cleared as soon as people got up, kind of like our room…we’d be gone for 30 minutes and come back to a totally clean room. Our dinnerware was always clean and the crew went out of their way to make our cruise memorable. This was our 9th Carnival cruise, and we have also been on Costa, Princess (which was a great Alaska cruise) and were quite disappointed on Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas (the only good thing there was the Flowrider, and that got old real quick! Too stuffy for us too…everything seemed regulated and inconvenient). So apparently you had a different experience than we did. We enjoyed every bit of our cruise, as did our teenagers, so to others reading on here, there were others that totally enjoyed every aspect of this cruise…don’t let a few bad reviews spoil the good time you will have on this ship. We met lots of nice people and had some memorable experiences, just as we have on our other Carnival trips.
After hearing about the latest accident I am not suprised. we were on princess cruise ship 15 years ago. We hit rock leaving mexican port, the whole ship shuddered. Nothing came on about it but in the morning we had been sent out to sea because it had hit our fuel tank and we were putting fuel all over the ocean. The mexican army surrounded us and we didnt get off the ship tell next day walking a plank to a ferry to take us back to land. That was for the 81 canadians onboard. Nothing was done about it not even a refund the I fought for. Guess what it was an italian captain that had just taking over that day and had never made this route before. Rumor was they had a big party and then decided to pull out at 2.30 am in morning. Was not impressed when nothing came about it. I thought then I guess they will wait tell something bad happens and then do something about it.
Total Rot. Carnival has some of the best food at sea. The Steakhouse is the best at sea. We have cruised every line but RCI, and we have cruised Celebrity. Carnival…………….wins. Princess is as good. HAL……good. NCL at PAY restaurants. MDR..food was almost inedible. Did like the Blue Lagoon. Celebrity..famed for food…..the worst. Loved the ship. Loved the activities. loved the entertainment. But the Food. Pork bellies ? lots of Veal dishes. which I don’t eat. Everything smothered in sauces or gravies. Very European I guess. Very salty.
Desserts were great. Cookies were divine. Entrees…………..not so good. Lost weight on that cruise. And I loved the ship. totally.
Most likely people are enjoying taking their cruise at the best cruise lines and i agree with that. Specially the old ones who needs to relax.
This paper will give an examination of the nature, the typology and the management of a well known corporate brand operating in the Tourism industry: Royal Caribbean Cruises Line Ltd (RCCL).Adam Weaver in his article Complexity at sea: Managing brands within the cruise industry(2008), stresses how in the late eighties, corporate consolidation within the cruise industry, had as a result many cruise brands to be a part of a brand portfolio. In the complexity of the cruise industry, culture, languages and country of origins represent a major challenge for managers when adapting their brands across an international environment and portfolios are always bigger (Weaver, 2008).
Read more here…..http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/180656/royal-caribbean-cruise-line-rccl-a-brand-portfolio-analysis#inside
Went on the Dream on 1/21, as one other reviewer here mention that the captain decided
to skip one of the ports because of “rough seas” This also happened to us on this trip, when in actuality that morning the swells
were no worse than on any of the other ports. If this is a normal occurrence shame on Carnival.
This ship carries a lot more people than any of the other carnival ships, the problem is that
they have the same number of elevators, buffet serving areas, and theater seats, which of course will produce lines just about everywhere. Our shower stall also had the problem of very slow draining mention on several other reviews.
The spa and gym area are indeed very poorly designed, you have to wander around hallways,
passages and decks just to go from one to the other.
No more Dream for us.
Just got off boat on Sunday. Really not that impressed. The food could have been alot better. Going back to royal carribean. And the big water slides were always closed.
Dear Sir,
apologize,
i am family of the galley steward crew were called
I GUSTI NGURAH GEDE SURYAWAN, and his ID is 446848.
we needed him immediately at home because there is his family member being sick.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best Regards,
Widya
my husband and myself sailed on carnival dream 12/1/2012 for 7days and will never sail on it again, it was not a dream it was a nightmare. rough seas, foul smell as well as terrible food, buffet not any better. we were charged for liquor from the mini bar which we never took. did complain and the charge was taken off our bill.have sailed on several of carnivals other ships and have had no problems. my husband asked on of the crew why they weren’t using the stablelizers and he was told that they captain wasn’t using them because it was cutting down on his speed. well, what are they used for if not to make the ship safe and not make the ride rough. on this cruise kids were running the elevators like they owed them, no parents around to take control of them.security couldn’t catch them. we are going to give Royal Caribbean a try if not probably one of the other ships we have sailed on in the past, but not the Dream
http://napavalley.patch.com/blog_posts/booked-a-carnival-cruise-better-get-a-refund-now
We just returned from our 7 day cruise aboard the Carnival Dream on February 9, 2013 where we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. This was our first 7 day cruise. The ship, the food and the service were all great. Yes, we noticed the smell on or about deck 2 and 3 aft. It wasn’t that bad and seemed to dicepate over time. There was a code of Brightstar called on our deck the 2nd day as we were preparing to disembark at Cozumel. Saw several officers milling in the hallways and heard many hushed whispers. Upon returning to the ship in the afternoon, we saw an ambulance leaving the ship and saw a do not enter sign by order of the captain posted on a cabin down the hall. Not sure what happened and staff was very tight lip. Other than wondering what happened, our time on board and on the shore excursions was amazing. Looking forward to doing the western caribbean route again aboard the Dream again next year.
Literally got off the ship today (7.20.13). Had a great time. The staff was super nice. The food was good. Ship was clean. As for the smell. No smell to report. Unless you want to nit pick about the smell that result from someone throwing up (idiots drinking too much). They steam cleaned the area in question and it was back to normal.
I stayed in room 2-352. Noise was fine, except for two times when people came back to their cabin very loudly. So I do not think you will have to worry about it Jess.
We had a great time on the Western Caribbean. The ports of call were amazing – the private beach at Roatan was incredible and the sleepy town of Costa Maya was picturesque. We made a real connection with our waiter who was excellent and super friendly. The bed was very comfortable and the shower was better than mine at home. There were more fun activities on board than we had time for. We did a lot of walking down every hallway of the ship and didn’t smell any odor. I would definitely recommend the Dream to others!
I cruised on the dream April 27, deck one. There was a sewer smell in the corridor on several occasions
No One is mentioning………….Carnival, or at least the ships I have been on…Freedom. Dream. Glory. Legend. Fascination. Breeze. booked on the Liberty…………….CLEAN. To the MAX. In over 100 days of cruising on Carnival. During all seasons of the year. NEVER been on there when there was a NORVO outbreak. Never….
Caught it on Princess. It was the pits. I Still love Princess. BUT Won’t ever sail it again during the period of Thanksgiving to March. Ever. Just cancelled a cruise because the ship has had outbreak after outbreak of Norvo (Celebrity. )….when I rebook it will be Carnival or a Newer ship on Celebrity. I have a theory that Older ships get NORVO more often. Just me. Nothing scientific.
But CARNIVAL. Wins the blue ribbon on NOT having Norvo outbreaks.
my 7th and last cruise on carnival…the food was cold garbage, the shows were terrible,the parking garage was too small to handle all the cars,embarkation took hours…stayed in spa room 11225 nov 9,2014-nov 16…have never seen as many ill dressed, rude, inyour face people as we saw on this cruise…..absolutely horrible cruise………
We just returned yesterday after 7 days with Carnival Dream. Staff was incredibly nice and attentive. The only bad experience is having to walk through the stinking casino! Smoking is allowed there and it is horrible. I am not a gambler and on past cruises, I took my $20 and played the slots. I could not even stay in there and when we had to pass through, I held my breath and my nose, only to come out smelling like an ash tray. Come on Carnival, let them smoke outside!
Other than that, and a rain day in Roatan (our only beach excursion) ????, everything was great ! Food was great. Not sure how much I gained, but I am sure I did, I ate salads as much as possible, but those desserts were incredible! Thanks carnival. We are booking again for 2017. Our 40th anniversary.
I was Sooooooooo excited to go on my first cruise:) And left disappointed and confused why this is all this rave about cruises. The food was so terrible, that I was on Pep-to Bismol night 2. For the breakfast buffet, they pulled ham out of a water bucket…UGH! The best food I had was an omelet, hot dog, and the Steakhouse (which the Steakhouse was incredibly SLOW even with a reservation)! Night three I felt like I had a rock in my stomach and couldn’t eat anything for the next 2 days. Then I though I would try the deli, thinking maybe that would be ok…I couldn’t eat it. The Deli gave a a slab of cheese that you could pick up and it wobbled with warm bread (I took one bight and about upchucked. The servers were rude, which shocked me…I was always told the service was great! I love stand-up comedy, so we went to a couple of shows. However, we walked out not even 10 minutes in because they were horrible. I didn’t even get a good laugh out. Except for one, who was an amazing funny Hispanic guy. The ship only has 2 pools which are SMALL…and I mean SMALL!!! I went to have a beer and relax in the pool, a bunch of kids start splashing around(no problem), but I want to relax so I go to the other side of the boat “thinking that it must be the side with just adults”…NOPE! So, there is NO adult only pool area! So, I was in a pool for 20 minutes on they entire cruise. If you wanted adult only area, you had to go to a small upper deck with nothing but chairs.
The Ports were NICE! Really enjoyed they Excursions, but every time on the way back in all I could think is “Oh god, I have to get back on that ship”.
There are hidden fees as well, which no one tells you from the Casino to Drinks! I spent a grand in the casino (made not a DIME)…the casino sent me COOKIES! Really, Cookies? WTH!
After spending a crap ton for the cruise and getting charged a crap ton while on it…I cannot believe that was my vacation! I don’t feel relaxed, I feel jipped!
All my co-workers are telling me to try Royal or Norwegian before I say NO to cruises, supposedly they are suppose to be way better…I think I am to scorned though.
The one night I just really wanted to get away, I did go up to the Serenity deck to sit in the Hot-tub and stair at the stars. There was a 17 year old kid in there drunk with a bucket of beers behind his heading blabbing about how this was his 12th cruise with mommy and daddy! I thought it was adults ONLY…and how in the hell does a 17 year old get a bucket of beers? So, needless to say after having to listen to annoying crap…I got out 10 minutes later!
Pros: Cabin was nice (and so was our cabin attendant), and the shows (in the main room) pretty good!
Sept. 9, 2015….will never get on the Dream again!!! Food was past the point of disgusting….can’t tell u how many times I spit my food out….seriously had to spit CHOCOLATE of all things out…yes, it was that bad! Highly disappointed in a lot they had to “offer”….like the camps for kids…yeah such a great option…..what they don’t tell u is it doesn’t open till 10am then u have to be back at noon to get them for lunch then they close again at 3’o’clock and don’t open again till 7pm…their is a dress code, so don’t think u can enjoy the pool and send them with a cover…nope….must have proper clothes on so back to the room for a shower and change….and to be honest 95% of the time the kids do nothing but watch movies anyways….A big time consuming WATSE!! This ship SUCKS!!!! Re only reason we enjoyed our trip is because of the off ship excursion we did. Would give it 2?? LEAKING showers….smells
Had a great time on the ship. There was good and bad parts, as there is with any ship or cruise experience. The only specific helpful comment I can provide is that room 9400 smelled like sewage for a couple hours every day. The smell came and went, there must be some issue with the bathrooms above.
Got a sense that they were used to the complaint, and pretended to care but not really. Whatever, spent most of our time outside of the room anyhow.
Carnival Dream is a floating sewer…sewage pipe burst raining raw sewage everywhere on deck 9 staterooms, hallway, luggage and passengers for about 30 minutes before maintenance people arrived this past weekend. They just cleaned up the mess with a shop vac and some rags and got it
ready for the next batch of unsuspecting passengers that were walking
into a cesspool of raw human waste. Now we know how the norovirus is
being spread on this ship. This is so disgusting and unacceptable.Passengers contacted customer service who rudely stated that kind of things just happen on ships and acted like they should be happy it was not worse. Passengers were complaining of foul smell, and plumbing issues since 1st day on board and were dismissed and minimized. The crew told passengers that all ships smelled that way. This is the first ship I have ever been on that smelled like a port a john on a hot summers day. This cruise line is so arrogant that they do not even care if people get sick or have an horrific and unpleasant experience and not book again. They got your money upfront and do not give compensation no matter what happens.
The Carnival sponsored Mayan Ruins excursion is a 4 hour round trip bus
ride on a rickety, noisey, and old smelly bus and they only give you 45
minutes to quickly look at the ruins. Be sure to pack your own lunch,
plenty of snacks and drinks. They do not provide anything – not even for
purchase. They provide a meager lunch at about 3:30 of a tiny piece of
chicken, spoonful of rice, cole slaw, and a sliver of a fried plantain
and do not allow seconds. Drinks (not even water) are not provided and
must be purchased from the restaurant. We all guessed that they did this
so we would all be starving and eat fast since
we only had 30 minutes to scarf down our lunch and get back to the
smelly bus but not before being attacked by crowds of locals trying to
sell you their wares. Be sure to pack sturdy and comfy walking shoes. Several people in our group are avid runners and had a difficult time climbing the ruins. This is definately not setup to accomodate people who have difficulty walking. The Ruins are amazing and next time will rent a
car or get a tour guide so we can spend as much time as we want there.