Embarkation was a mad house in New Orleans. There were so many people and the maze had come to a dead stop when we learned that the ship had a surprise inspection. Once the line started again everything went pretty smooth and fast. We stopped in the atrium to sign up for a 5 bottle wine package since we had decided to not do the cheers package - we did all of our drinks a la carte - which actually saved us money in the end. We went to the buffet and had the made to order pasta and lasagna. The food was really good. Our cabins were ready (we were with a big group) and when we walked into the cove balcony we were pleasantly surprised. It was a nice cabin and being so close to the water line was really cool. The bathroom was larger than some other cruises we had been on in the past - especially the shower. I was surprised that there were no shampoo, conditioner or lotion bottles in the bathroom. There was a shampoo and shower gel dispenser in the shower. We unpacked and went to the muster drill - all was well. At dinner the first night our waiter was not so friendly and it was apparent that he wasn't fond of women. The ladies at our table were served after the men. Only towards the end of the week did he get polite to the women. Our meals were tasty, hot and well seasoned. We had escargot one night and lobster another night, my hubs had frog legs one night even. Most nights we would order the seafood dish - they were consistently delicious. Our ports were Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay Jamaica. In Cozumel we just wandered the shops. In Grand Cayman we did the sting ray and beach excursion. The sting rays were amazing and the beach was small and not much of a beach to sit out at. There was a restaurant (pretty pricey) - we had Jerk Chicken which was good. In Montego Bay my hubs went zip lining with some of the guys in our group and had a really fun time. The 2 sea days were relaxing for the most part. We sat by the pools and joined in with some of the ship board activities. I found it odd that around the pool there was no service staff taking drink orders - so we would have to go get our own which means you might loose your spot by the pool. This was also true when our group would meet in the atrium every night for cocktails before dinner - there was never any wait staff. It took forever to get a drink at the bar with the long lines. Seems like they could increase there liquor sales with more wait staff. The atrium bartenders were also very rude and never smiled. Any lounge we went into we would have to get our own drinks. At dinners our service problems continued with our waiter. Never would he pour our wine. He would set the bottle down and say "here's your wine." I guess we have gotten spoiled with good service on our past 12 cruises. This was the third time on Carnival and we won't go on Carnival again. Most of the staff was rude and unhelpful. We had a couple of dealings with the customer service desk and those folks were very helpful. Our room steward was superb, friendly and always called us by name. The entertainment on the ship was good and there was a good variety to choose from. Disembarkation was smooth and going thru customs was easy. We took the Carnival transfer from the ship to the airport and it was very efficient. We had fun with our group. Some of our group were on their first cruise and they were not impressed. Sadly they feel like every cruise is like this one. We cruise a lot and now we know that we won't be doing Carnival again. For us the Dream was too big with 4200 passengers and the bad service. We will continue to cruise, just not with Carnival.