Embarkation - Carnival had left us a voice message the day before our cruise date saying we should arrive at the Port Canaveral terminal at 1:30pm. We actually arrived at the terminal at 10:30am; there was virtually no line...we were all checked in by 11am, and on the ship by 11:30am (having lunch on the Lido deck). We were not allowed to go to our cabins until 1:30pm; after they were cleaned and prepared for us.

Public Rooms - The Carnival Dream was very attractive and clean. We had been on the Carnival Valor a couple years prior, and the ship layout was very similar (I think the Dream has one more deck of cabins). Other interesting spaces on the ship included the hot tubs on deck 5 (on the Lanai), and also the mini-golf on the Lido deck. The waterslide seemed to be a bit hit for the younger kids (up to ~ 10 yrs old) - our older teens went on it several times, but were not hooked on it. The waterslide closed during one day at sea due to high winds. The Serenity Deck was a nice break...there is not a lot of seating, relatively speaking, but if you time it right you could find a seat.

Cabins - We had two cabins on the Empress Deck (7320 and 7344) - both located mid-ship on the port side. 7320 was a standard balcony cabin, and we felt it was a good size. The balcony was worth the extra cost because of the ability to have a private view and sitting area (great for waiting for the significant other to get ready...and for our kids to hang out with us when siblings were still getting ready). We had a couple very windy nights while At Sea and the balcony got very salty from the sea spray...in port half-way through our itinerary the crew did a full exterior wash of all balconies. One day, I chose to clean the window/door glass, railing, and chairs/table myself. 7344 was an interior cabin for our 3 kids (15, 16, 20 yrs old)...it had two twin beds with a bunk bed over one of the regular beds. 7344 was located next to the elevators...no problem, our kids never complained about any loud noise, etc. Read more