This was my family's first Carnival Cruise. So even though I booked less than a month ahead, I found the CC forum through Trip Advisor and started doing extensive research making sure I'd get the full picture on what to expect from the Dream. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the awesome customer service and the luxurious feel of many areas of the ship. I'd be head over heels for Carnival if it wasn't for the disappointment in the food.

I was used to cruising RCCL but my last cruise with them 6 years ago made me almost want to give up cruising. We left from a bad port, which equals not-so-great guests filling up a massive ship that closed in on me after 9 days. Our ship was sold out so we couldn't switch rooms when we realized our bathroom was emitting a sewage smell at various times throughout the day. Um, yeah, that was not one of the best vacations.

My family has stuck to going to the Pacific coasts of Mexico almost every other year to stay in a fractional ownership villa at a luxury resort. And I really never gave cruising another thought until I saw a deal on the Carnival Dream I couldn't pass up one day I was trolling the travel sites for a last-minute vacay. My thought was I could go on a 7-night cruise with my DS and DD for the same price I'd pay for R/T plane tickets to just get us to our villa in Cabo! All I'd have to do was drive us to Orlando where DD wanted to visit some colleges and we could see family we hadn't caught up with in a few years before we made it Cocoa Beach for the night. Read more