This was our second cruise on the Dream once before the dry dock. Must say the 2017 dry dock did the Dream some good! Honestly, I had reservation about booking again on the Dream since our first time it was just ok. The additions of Guy's Pig & Anchor and Blue Iguana Cantina were big hits for us on this trip. We did have the late seating for dinner in the Scarlet Dining Room. Our waitstaff was decent with no major faults. The dining room appeared to be at 60% percent occupancy. Not sure if the lack of occupancy was from the many anytime dining goers or cruisers utilizing several pay restaurants. We enjoyed our Steakhouse night on the first cruise night and having a complementary bottle of wine put us in the relaxation mood! I wouldn't call the Steakhouse fine dining but the extra attention and food quality is well worth a visit at least one night. Being a frequent Carnival cruiser we have noticed the cutbacks and such. One of those I believe is with the waitstaff as they are not as attentive as they used to be. Just 5 years ago, I recall them anticipating my needs before I ever needed to ask. One example is the Bubbles package, if you have it and after the first night dining with them, every night thereafter you would have your soda brought to you before asking. This doesn't happen or hasn't happened to us for the last 4/5 years. The Playlist shows were good and the talent was top notch. We enjoyed 80s Pop to the Max, Flick, and American Rocks! We sat on the lower lounge area and always had a great view of the show. Everyone should see at least one (if not all) of the shows, we skip Hasbro and Love & Marriage. Our ports included Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel which all had their unique qualities. We did not use any excursions through Carnival and always book independently. Our favorite was the Cave Kayaking in Belize with ViV tours. As it turned out, my husband and I were the only two people with our guide on the Kayak tour and it was amazing having his full attention. He did a great job telling us about Belize, pointing out fun things in the cave, and some how convinced my husband and I to hold a tranchula that was just hanging by the side of the path. Even though most excursions are not close to the Belize City cruise port, it is a shame if you chose to stay on the ship. Belize is a tender port and it takes about 15-20 minutes to arrive at the dock. The Dream sailed out of NOLA and embarkation and disembarkation was easily navigated. We parked at the cruise port for about $140, we spit the cost with our friends which made the port parking more economical. We drove right into the garage, the porter met us immediately, took our bags, and then we drove up 2 floors and parked. From parking garage to Lido with a drink in our hand was less than one hour. All my hesitations about sailing Dream again quickly faded once on board. Barring any major breakdown, unusual defect, or unusual cosmetic wear and tear I see no reason we would sail the Dream again. Read Less

I traveled with a group of eighteen people, most of whom were clergy participating in a continuing education event on board. Overall, we had a great time! My roommate and I were in cabin 2661. This was my first (and probably last) time in an inside cabin. It was definitely my last time being that far forward, and under the lounge where the main shows were held. The unending darkness in the inside cabin was difficult for me. I appreciate the ability to open the curtains and--balcony or oceanview--see the daylight for myself. I also appreciate the quietness of cabins where the thumping of the music from the shows does not disrupt my rest. Other than the noise, the cabin was comfortable and clean, although there is far less storage space than in a balcony cabin. It wouldn't have been enough for my family of three on a seven-day cruise, but it worked for the two of us who shared it. I've been a Carnival cruiser for twenty years, switching to Disney Cruise Lines for two sailings while my son has been young enough to enjoy the characters. Although my early sailings were different, Carnival's service today is no comparison to Disney. I miss the routine twice-daily cabin cleanings. I don't care about having the bed made twice (although it's nice!), but I sure as heck appreciate having clean towels before an evening shower after a long, hot day in a port! Other differences were the lack of tablecloths on the dinner tables, a lack of variety of teas available with coffee, and other small amenities like body lotion, fresh soap every-other-day or so, etc. I really didn't think any of this would bother me, but it felt like quite a step down in service. Please note that (1) the lack of tablecloths isn't enough for me to stop cruising with Carnival, but it's a noticeable difference and (2) I will ask for twice-daily cabin service for all future cruises. This is the first Carnival cruise on which I've seen crew members acting as lifeguards, standing beside the pools. It was a step up in service that I appreciated. I found the ship to be impeccably clean and saw crew members wiping down railings, cleaning windows, and mopping floors all week. Our cabin steward, I Wayan, did an outstanding job. I only saw him once, and my roommate (who arrived late) didn't get to meet him, but he responded invisibly to all of our requests in a timely manner. The dining room meals were all excellent. My prime rib was fork-tender, perfectly cooked, and seasoned well. Roast chicken and stuffing were delicious, although the white meat was dry. The same was true for the southern fried chicken; dark meat was great, breast was dry. Filet mignon and flatiron steaks were as delicious as the prime rib. Our dining room staff, Headwaiter Kijpracha, Team Waiter Pande and Assistant Brian were efficient and friendly. They learned the names of our entire group on the first night, and managed to keep us all straight even though we routinely switched tables to enjoy different company each evening. Lido Deck meals were also good. Guy's Burgers were juicy and there were a nice variety of toppings available. The pizza on board is not my favorite, as I prefer a thicker crust, but the sauce and toppings tasted fine. I didn't try the tacos, but heard nothing but praise for them. We enjoyed the barbecue from Guy's Pig & Anchor, too. For me, the entertainment on board was a mixed bag. There was an absolutely wonderful string trio (Allure), a decent singing duo (Recap Acoustic), and a superb steel drum musician (Ms. Drumz). The Hasbro games were boring to me. They might have been less so if anyone from our party had been chosen to participate, but I doubt it. What I saw of the song-and-dance shows were good but, frankly, the volume in the theater was offensive to my ears, so I never made it through an entire show. Other observations: Negatives: Our group was in Sam's Piano Bar for our learning sessions. I was disappointed at how many people completely disregarded the "Private Session" signs and walked right into our space. It was distracting to us, and to our leader. One day, a man even moved the sign in order to open a closed door--and then propped the door open!---in order to walk through the bar. He could just as easily have exited the Burgundy Lounge through the main hallway, but chose rudeness instead. There was a child (preteen or early teen) who ran the hallways outside our cabin shouting and/or screaming nearly every evening around 10 pm. Neither of these issues is the fault of the cruise line, of course. And neither would prevent me from cruising with Carnival again, but they were unpleasant experiences. Positives: Every time we had to wait in line, people around us were courteous and good-humored. Guest Services staff was efficient polite when (1) I needed a new S&S card because the bar code on mine had misprinted, (2) an excursion ticket was not delivered in a timely manner and I needed a reprint and (3) my credit card was declined because I'd forgotten to tell them I was traveling. Ports of Call: Montego Bay, Jamaica--Meh. We did the Top Ten bus tour, booked through Carnival. There were no photo stops, just stops for shopping. Definitely would not recommend it. We ended at Margaritaville, which was crowded and unimpressive to us. We chose to walk to a nearby park, where we sat and enjoyed the view while chatting with a local. On the walk back to our bus, we were offered (1) a taxi, (2) marijuana, and (3) a man--in that order. Needless to say, we refused all three. Read Less

This was a family cruise with grandparents, parents, and grandkids. The grandkids loved the Ocean Kids Club. We had to pry them away every time we went to pick them up because they were having so much fun. On day one our cabin steward introduced himself and asked if we would like the cabin serviced in the mornings between 9 am and 1 pm, in the early evening, or both. We told him we would like both so we could get fresh towels again in the evening after returning from the pool, etc. We also asked him for a second drinking glass in the bathroom. The glass never showed up...all week. And, our cabin was serviced once a day anywhere between 9 am and 3 pm, not at the time or frequency that we were told it would be done at the start of the cruise. The service throughout the ship was lackluster, uncaring, and slow. This included the staff in the main dining room and buffets, at the bars, in the casino, etc. The food throughout the ship was limited in variety, poorly cooked, generally served luke warm if not cool, and had little taste. While I'm not a stickler for "Formal Night" attire, the couple at the table next to us was allowed in the main dining room dressed in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. Then, again on Formal Night, a man, who I was hoping would be the Maître D', came to our table to perform coin tricks. Internet, even the "Premium" internet that I had paid extra for was slow and spotty throughout the cruise. No hope of streaming anything. Lucky just to get a connection once in a while and to check e-mail. Entertainment was substandard compared to what we have experienced on other similar cruise lines. The smoke in the casino was unbearable. You couldn't get anywhere near the center of the ship where the casino was without having to suffer the from the smoke. Read Less

We enjoy getting away from the colder weather in January. We love cruising from New Orleans and have tried to do an Eastern Caribbean for several years. Originally we booked this itinerary as an August cruise only to have it changed to Western when a hurricane threatened. The revised embarkation process is very smooth. We did a jazz brunch in New Orleans and had a 1:30 boarding time. Other than my forgetting to remove a metal object from my pocket as we went through security everything was quite fast. With our later boarding time we elected to forgo the buffet on the Lido deck. We went straight to our cabin and began our unpacking. The safety assembly was smooth with the newer process of a scan of your Sail & Sign card taking role working well. I believe it was the quickest we've experienced. Our 39 year old daughter was also on the cruise in her own cabin. She treated us to dinner in the Steak House the first night (something of a tradition for us). The slightly more formal atmosphere and relaxed service time are a joy. The food was enjoyed by us. My wife had surf & turf and the lobster was excellent. She was not able to finish off her steak but enjoyed it as well. My daughter and I had the filet. Since we have slightly different concepts of appropriate cooking, her steak was medium and mine medium rare. Both were delightfully cooked as we requested. Our serving team of Aleksandrina and Maria were attentive without being obtrusive. We enjoyed ourselves so much it was decided to return on the last night for a repeat experience. Once again the food, service and ambiance excelled. The main dining room experience was smooth;. our table companions pleasant; the wait staff attentive and efficient; and the food what you expect from Carnival. My only complaint is that on Sea Day Brunch you formerly were offered a pastry or bread upour on being seated. This no longer happens. We did Anytime dining once in the Scarlett with Adrian as our server. He was outstanding. We elements of the entertainment to be disappointing.. Having read a review from December our expectations were not too high. The Encore shows were too high concept. The performers had issues with vocal pitch. I am not sure if the accompaniment tracks are done once and perhaps in unfriendly keys for specific performers. It sure felt that way at times. The Allure Strings (a group of 3 attractive young women) played to techno tracks in the lobby bar. Again, highly amplified experience. I did not detect any attempt to adjust tuning between tunes or sets. My ears failed to detect any recognizable tunes (popular or classical) which was a shame. Chuck on solo guitar was great! He does covers and does them well. The country music ensemble played familiar tunes without much energy and a bit of pitch issues at times. Ms. Drumz on the Lido deck did a good job of making the experience feel Caribbean. Unfortunately, we played out early and did not get to the Comedy Club or to the Dive-In movies. We only did one Carnival excursion: Inclusive Beach in Freeport. The beach was fine with umbrellas for those who desired them.The staff was very pleasant and accommodating. We were the second (afternoon) group and the food service was a bit delayed.When it became available, it was excellent beach buffet. Transportation was what you expect: cue up, wait, bus ride. Disembarkation is never fun. While getting off the ship was done as planned by Carnival, the lines down the ramp to package claim, through customs and to the garage were lengthy and slow paced. We were called to cue up at 8:25 and did not get in our vehicle until 10:47.My thought through the process was: this is the place where an air borne virus will infect everyone. Read Less

So I chose this date for our Carnival Dream Cruise because my husband wanted to go to the Eastern Caribbean and we had never been to Key West Florida before. The weather beganvery cold from our port in New Orleans- we definitely had to wear our jackets for the first Port of call which was Key West. We walked for most of Key West seeing a lot of the sites, saw the southernmost point of the U.S. We got to see Hemingway's home, and also the bar that he frequented, Sloppy Joes. I had some very good conch fritters there. The weather turned a little warmer as we ended up in Freeport & then Nassau. Freeport ended up being the most favorite Port out of the entire itinerary. We visited the Lighthouse Resort at Grand Lucayan there. Food abounds on the Carnival Dream, you'll not run out of choices from the MDR, to all other choices I felt like we were eating every couple of hours! The buffet, the sea day brunch (steak & eggs) Guys hamburgers (ate about 20 of those entire trip) Guy's pig & anchor BBQ (pulled pork is best), the Bonsai Sushi, (good prices), the Italian place above the buffet(great bolognese), the pizza, the blue iguana (taco salad). The best meal we had on the ship was our anniversary night-we ate at the Chef's Art Steakhouse. The steaks were outstanding. The service there was so great, the ambience was wonderful, our waiter was great. We really enjoyed this, I wish we could have eaten there every night! There were a few things that didn't please us while on the cruise - We saw a couple of instances where Carnival employees were being a bit rude to passengers, but for the majority of employees, they were friendly & helpful. Other things were out of Carnivals control, such as actual passengers being a bit rude by not getting in line for the buffet , just walking right in front of others. Also witnessed parents letting their child "drink" from the strawberry yogurt machine! Our room's balcony was the best part of the room(wrap around after on 7th floor) but it was very dirty. The glass on the inside of the balcony was cleaned by a group of 3-4 employees on the 2nd day of our cruise, but they didn't clean the outside of the glass on the balcony which was the dirtiest part! Overall, the room 7454 was nice, but I do believe from experience the suite rooms have better cabin service from the stewards. I still give Carnival a 4 out of 5 on this cruise. The next cruise on Carnival will be Glory in April this year, so we will see how that one goes! Read Less

Really a nice ship. Staff was excellent: room steward Josephine, wait staff Sunny, Ikatuk & Kadek In Crimson, bartenders Airine (sp? pronounced Irene) and Dwi at Ocean Plaza Bar (next to Alchemy), Tomislav and Harta at the casino, Nana at the Lobby Bar and Dipak at level 10 aft bar. All were EXCELLENT and recognized me by name after first day. Rock band was Excellent, brass jazz/soul band was Excellent too! (Together they were PHENOMENAL!) Steel drum lady was good as well. All other bands were “meh”. Biggest Dissapointment: 1st Caribbean cruise I’ve been on without a Latín band. No salsa, no merengue, no cha cha cha, in other words no spice. The disco was really bad too, not a soul in there probably because the music was terrible, undanceable. Food was very good to excellent. For breakfast go to the lido deck and do the omelette station. Pizza was very good too, open 24 hours. Guy’s Burgers were pretty good but Guy’s BBQ (“Pig & Anchor”) was HIGHLY over-rated. Did not do any shore excursions. Overall, good cruise. Read Less

This was for my birthday, we had the best cruise ever. This was our 17th cruise. Great dining staff, wonderful food. The excursions were very fun. We had no been to these three ports before, Key West, Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. All of the crew were super nice. The cruise director Gary was very funny. Enjoyed his morning show every morning. The shows in the evening was great. The crew in the Fun Shops were very nice. The personal shoppers Vanya and Izzy were very informative and helpful in the shops in the ports of call. When it was time to get off the ship it was so easy and pretty fast. If you are thinking of taking a cruise, I would definitely encourage you to take a Carnival Cruise. You would won't be disappointed. Try a 5 day first then you'll do what my next cruise will be, a back to back cruise. Read Less

Dream Embarkation Wedding Review(Song Lounge and Burgundy Lounge) -I just have to go ahead and say our experience was incredible and completely exceeded my expectations! I did hair and makeup for myself and my bridesmaids at our hotel. We shuttled from our parking space. I definitely recommend giving yourself extra time. We were almost late to check in. This made meeting our coordinator and letting our guests know where to go pretty hectic. Jill was our coordinator, and she was fabulous. She made sure someone brought me lunch to my room. They didn't have our first dance song, but she made it happen. She took care of setting up our decorations in the ceremony and reception spaces. She also made sure everyone signed our guest book. Valeria was our wedding host. She made sure I was never empty handed. She checked in on us throughout the week and made our steakhouse reservations. For hors d'oeuvres we had: shrimp sushi, tomato mozzarella, steak burritos, chicken empanadas, beer battered fish, and smoked salmon. For drinks we had rum punch and margaritas. Our cake was coconut with coconut filling, The food was plentiful and delicious. The drinks were strong and they kept them coming. So strong that half our guests didn't make it the dining room that night! The reception itself was great. We did the first dance, mother/son and father/daughter dance, and cake cutting. The rest was party time. The dj had us dancing the entire time. The reception was only an hour long but I don't think our guests could have handled any longer. Kadek was our photographer and he made the wedding for me! I was so worried about pictures and I had no reason to be. The ceremony was in the Song Lounge and we had the curtains open for natural light. He took us all around the ship for pictures. We took so long that I had to go to Muster Call in my wedding dress. Overall, I'd recommend Carnival for a wedding a million times over. Read Less

ok so I’ll give a review on my first cruise. It just wasn’t that great. Maybe my expectations were too high? I’ll start with the room. It was nice and our housekeeper did a great job. Beds were clean and comfy. The shower was a terrible design. Every time we would shower the water would pour out to the floor. A lot of water. I always made sure to put the curtain where it was supposed to go but it didn’t matter. The food. I’ve heard from a few ppl how great cruise ship food is. I guess those people didn’t eat on the Dream. It just wasn’t good. All the bread was hard as a brick and cold. All the “hot” food was lukewarm at best. The only good food was the pasta place. The garlic bread looked good but it was cold. All the cakes looked yummy but they were very dry. The pizza was ok. The coffee was not hot at all. The water tasted like metal. Two of the hot tubs we tried were cold. The stops. Ok so Montego Bay was very sketchy. I didn’t like it at all. They tried to sell us weed two times. I was pretty nervous the whole time. Grand Cayman was nice. Mexico was the best! Mr sancho’s was awesome. When the cruise was over, my family of four all had an issue. My husband has a rash on his leg, oldest daughter has a rash on her face and butt, and a bad sinus infection, youngest daughter has sore in her mouth, and I have a bad sinus infection. To sum it up, we spent a lot of money and didn’t really have that much fun. Read Less

I travel with a group every January and our coordinator chose this cruise. We traveled to New Orleans a few days early to enjoy the city. Parking is so expensive we flew this time. That was a great decision. New Orleans is a very walkable city and their trolley system is very easy and inexpensive. It's also thick with Uber drivers. We stayed at the Best Western on Rampart. Fine hotel with the friendliest most accommodating staff I've ever encountered off a cruise ship. They know their city and are eager to refer you to their favorite places. Embarkation onto the ship was very smooth. We stayed in a cove balcony cabin (#2290) on this cruise, our first time. It was fine; same amount of room as a regular balcony cabin. Very convenient to Crimson dining room and Encore lounge. Also note that you barely feel the ship move at all. The only reason I probably won't book one again is that it was always in the shade of the lifeboats overhead. I like a sunny balcony. There were some ongoing issues with the toilet; each time we called they came right away and after the fourth call they just replaced the thing...no more problems. The only excursion I booked was the Twister and Isla Passion in Cozumel. That boat ride was amazing! The island was pretty crowded when we arrived because there were 6 boats in port, but it thinned out fairly quickly (our excursion started at 10:30am). My husband booked a 2-tank dive that really should have been cancelled. The sea was very, very rough the day we arrived so his dive was much more strenuous than normal causing his oxygen to run low. I'm going to assume the dive master was attending to someone else and that is why he didn't attend to my husband. Thank goodness my man isn't a strict rule follower; he started up on his own but the tank was empty by the time he hit the surface...so he was forced to try using a snorkel in very big waves. He believed he was drowning but another boat saw his struggle and sped over to yank him out of the water. We watched the Motown show and the one they call Flick. Both are very good. So is the strings trio that plays in the atrium. I could listen to them for days. Dining room service was hit and miss. Probably depends on how busy they are and how close it is to their Showtime. Room service was wonderful. Steward was wonderful. Laundry service was great. I've started to experience swollen ankles on my cruises and couldn't figure out why. I read somewhere that this may be because they desalinate the water for drinking and cooking and we're breathing salt air. Though I HATE plastic bottles I went ahead and ordered a case of water for drinking (I normally just drink the ship's water). No swollen ankles. We're Platinum so we got #1 debarkation and that was as smooth as embarkation. I really like the size of this ship and am looking forward to our 2 week trip next January on Breeze! Read Less