The Carnival Dream is a huge new ship, first setting sail in September 2009. It is beautiful and clean. The employees were friendly - including our room steward Abe from Indonesia. However, we found the ship to be too large.

With 4000 passengers, too much of the space was for the cabins and too little for entertainment. One floor alone was dedicated to children/teenagers, featuring not one but three dance clubs, a play area and a video arcade. The adult entertainment area included one comedy club (which doubled as a karaoke bar - kids were allowed), a Miami style dance club "Caliente" and a piano bar "Sams".

The Encore theater was small, not nearly big enough for the many passengers and if we wanted to get a decent seat (there were not many due to the poor lay out), we had to make sure we arrived at least 40 minutes before 'showtime'. The shows were not the Vegas style that we expected from the cruise line. Only two singers were showcased each and every show and in the words of Simon Cowell, it sounded at times like bad karaoke. We did manage to see three shows that we thoroughly enjoyed - a magician, hypnotist and a southern comic from Dalton, Georgia. Also, Fun Force (a group of 5 break dancers) were very entertaining. We watched a preview of a show in the Atrium and they were amazing. Read more