We chose this cruise because New Orleans is convenient from our home, Memphis, TN. It was about a five hour drive down, and we love New Orleans in general. I went on this cruise with my family(parents, brother, niece, nephew, sons, etc.); there were ten of us. We had four balcony staterooms and they were very comfortable. We enjoy having breakfast or coffee on our balcony and watching the ship sail into port. The staterooms were sufficiently spacious for two average sized adults, and a very tiny five year old. Our stateroom attendant, Michael, was fine. I've had friendlier attendants, but he was quite efficient and our room remained spotless. I miss having the room serviced twice a day, but this is Carnival's policy and has nothing to do with the stateroom attendant. We had room service a couple of times, and the cookies weren't very good. The hot wings were ok, but they only gave me the weird part of the wing, not the wing with the meaty part. The bathroom was small, but not uncomfortably so. I do wish there was counter space in the bathroom. Our closet was a nice size with plenty of hangers. Of course, there was only one outlet, so be sure to bring your approved power strip.

The Dream is a big ship compared to other Carnival ships I've sailed on (Elation, Freedom, and the one that used to sail from Mobile, AL. I sail Triumph in a few weeks). There were some great amenities, but she doesn't have Guy's Burger Joint. The bars were fantastic and the movie showing on the deck was a hit with the teens in my family. We went to the nightclub once or twice and the drinks were good and it actually turned out to be pretty fun late at night. The shows were pretty entertaining, as was the trivia. The Dream didn't have the Playlist shows that are part of the 2.0 upgrades, but the game shows were pretty funny.

We dined in the main dining room almost every night, and our servers, Joseph and Potu, were great. We made sure they knew how much our table of 10 appreciated them. We made reservations for the steakhouse but ended up canceling them after dinner on formal night afforded me more red meat than I should ever consume in one sitting. We enjoyed the selection in the MDR but some of the items were hit or miss. Cruise food is sometimes about quantity over quality, but I go into it expecting this so I'm never unpleasantly surprised. The signature melting cake dessert was amazing! I'm not a huge fan of the Lido deck buffet, but my family really enjoyed the variety. Tandoor was by far my favorite thing for lunch and I was sad it kept such limited hours. If you enjoy Indian food, try this place as it's yummy, doesn't cost extra, and was never too busy. Read more