My wife and I are in our mid 40's and have been cruising each year for the last 10 years. Our anniversary is Dec 31st so we always try to do a cruise near that time. We have been on about 9 cruises before (all with Celebrity) and LOVED every one of them. We decided to try out Carnival and the Dream because it was a brand new ship and we liked the fact that it went out of Port Canaveral. After booking our trip, I researched and reviewed the Carnival Dream. There weren't too many reviews being that it was so new, however the majority of reviews were negative and we were quite skeptical as we drove to our cruise. Thats why I HAD TO write this review. the reviews made me nervous and not really looking forward to our anniversary trip. I have to tell you that it was fantastic. Parking at Port Canaveral could not have been easier. I actually could start my car when we got back this morning from our room!!! Thats how close we were to the pier. It was 35 degrees and raining when we got back. Embarkation was as fast as we had ever been witness to. My wife and I asked each other, "that was it?" We were on the boat and in our room in about 10 minutes....no kidding!!

The food, service, cleanliness,activities, accommodations, and the overall atmosphere was above our expectations! People like to complain. As far as the smell on the ship....maybe once or twice we had a vague smell that didn't ruin our trip. The smokers were limited in where they could smoke. I personally can't stand the smell of cigarettes. There were 2 places we noticed most of the smoking...the piano bar (indoors) and the back of the boat, which are both designated smoking areas....we just kept clear of those 2 spots.

The dinners were by far the best part. We had a girl named Tanya as our waitress and she kept us entertained and well fed each night....she was terrific!! The breakfast was okay too. People kept talking about how long the lines were.....we didn't wait for more than 10 minutes on any line (definitely try the deli on the back of the boat....the grilled pastrami was out of this world). The pizza was also very tasty and not more than a 5 min wait. i think most negative cruisers wanted things yesterday and can't wait to complain! Read more