Carnival Dream Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,963 reviews

So Glad I Did It!

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Dream
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NotAtWork
First Time Cruiser • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Nov 2014
Cabin: Balcony

My best friend really wanted to go on a cruise for her 30th birthday, but I had never done one before, so I was very hesitant to agree. After going back and forth on dates and destinations, we finally settled on Carnival Dream, visiting Isla de Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.

We are from Portland, Oregon, so we flew into New Orleans the night before, which is what we will do the next time we cruise as well. Even though we were told to board between 1:30-3:30, our cab arrived at our hotel around 1200, so we arrived early. The port was already extremely busy, and we later found out we could have boarded as early as 11:30. I would say that the embarkation process was the worst experience of the whole cruise. There was so much hurry up and wait! Once we finally got on board, I was wondering to myself if I had made a terrible mistake. The elevators were super crowded and it took us forever to get one. We found our room, 6228, and dropped our stuff and then headed to the crowded buffet. I waited in line for about 20 minutes for the Burrito Bar, and took two bites of my burrito before having to spit it out. I think it was the cheese that did me in. Immediately after this, it was time for the muster thing, again a somewhat chaotic experience. I thought I would spend the next 7 days miserable.

After these experiences were over, it felt like a completely different atmosphere! We met our housekeeping steward, who was a nice guy. He did an EXCELLENT job in our room. We went to the Encore for every show they had. The shows were all pretty good. I would say that they were better than I thought I would find on a cruise ship. Mostly they entailed singing from a male lead and a female lead. The first one or two shows featured one male lead and then the rest of the week a different guy took over while that first man was a dancer. I will say that the first male lead was an incredible performer all around-- singing and dancing. The second guy seemed very nervous, and while he hit the notes, he just wasn't as good as the first guy. The female lead seemed a little over the top for me and I think she could use a diction coach, but my friend really enjoyed her performances. I also feel that throughout the week there was something for everyone-- Motown, Dancin' in the Streets, 80s, Carnival Legends... Every night was something different. Do arrive early so you can get a good spot. We showed up about 20 minutes early every night except the last and sat in the very front row. The last night we had to come straight from dinner and ended up having to sit in the balcony where the person sitting next to me promptly fell asleep and loudly snored throughout the entire show.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin 8A

Our room was a perfect size, and we really appreciated our balcony. I was surprised at how big the shower felt, since it looks teensy when you're not inside it.

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