Once again, Carnival delivered its standard “value for money” cruise. The Dream is a nicely maintained vessel. It is not my favorite Carnival ship however. Although a sister ship to the Breeze, it does not have a Guy's Burger Joint nor a Red Frog Pub. It seemed difficult to find a quiet place to have a beer and read a book. The Ocean plaza was always packed with people doing trivia quizzes, crafts or karaoke- fun but loud especially if you’re looking for a quiet place. All of the usual facilities were present and service consistent with Carnivals delivery standards was evident. We found the MDR food to be very good most nights (although the menu was a bit bizarre late in the cruise). Staff were pleasant & helpful- they really do their best to please.

This cruise was classified as a journeys cruise as it extended for 11 nights- we enjoyed the extra couple of days. In regard to the Journeys package, we did not see any major changes in entertainment etc. The line did have a speaker program of day time lectures but the result was mixed. This trip there was a series of lectures with titles as diverse as Photography, On-line Social networking, Food and Celestial Navigation. The problem is that they were all given by the same person. It’s hard to find an expert proficient in so many areas. The lecture on celestial navigation contained very little on celestial navigation and digressed into discussion of the characteristics of Pirates and exploits of various sea captains. The presentation was adequate and mildly entertaining but the slides were amateurish. The information provided little more detail than one could have garnered from a short sit down with an old copy of the encyclopedia Britannica. Lectures at Sea are a great idea but money has to be spent on real subject matter specialists and topics selected to stimulate and teach. Good start though.

The last port of St Maarten was scrubbed as the ship was unable to dock because of swells. It was a beautiful day and two other ships docked with ease. Most passengers discounted the reasons given- its appeared that Carnival did not order sufficient dock space- if the Dream could not dock on such a calm day, it would probably have trouble on most other days as well. Read more