Carnival Dream Review

Great Family Vacation (With A Few Exceptions)

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Dream
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MsParris
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

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Value for Money
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Sail Date: Aug 2017
Cabin: Deluxe Ocean View
Traveled with children

My husband and I traveled with our two young children (6 and 8). Embarkation was a little long with some unexplained delays but overall not so bad given the sheer volume of people. I do feel as though my suitcases sustained quite a bit of damage while being brought on the ship and to our cabin. We stayed in a four-person cabin with a window (1411). I was worried about the arrangements but it actually worked out great. My children slept well and thought the bed coming from the ceiling was really fun. They also liked that the window was large enough for them to sit and play in. Our bed was comfortable. This cabin had two bathrooms but I wish there had been two toilets rather than two showers. The ship itself was nice and has recently undergone a facelift. My husband found it to be a little garish. I was not "wowed" by any of the ship's features but everything seemed well-maintained. The dining experience was slightly underwhelming. I did not appreciate only having a choice of MDR or buffet for dinner. We avoided the buffet when we could and only ate one lunch and a few breakfasts there. Service and food in the main dining room was great. We did the Dr. Seuss breakfast and the food was good and my kids had a lot of fun, I'd recommend that to anyone. We also did the Steakhouse one night. It was ok.

I have cruised three other times and this was my first time on Carnival so I didn't quite know what to expect. Well, what I got was a domestic assault on my floor one night (man got thrown in the brig for the entire trip), multiple drunk people coming up to me and telling me what a terrible time they were having, and pools full of drunk people behaving stupidly so my children could not swim safely. I think in general the behavior of the other adults was my biggest disappointment. Most of my cruises have had about 5 years in between so maybe I saw this behavior on other lines/ships and just don't recall, but honestly it was such a turnoff that I'd question sailing on Carnival again. And these were people in their 30s and 40s, not college-age kids behaving this way.

On the last day the water stopped working on Deck 10 so all of the people waiting to get off the ship couldn't use the restroom. Or they could but nothing would flush. That was unacceptable.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean View

Cabin 6L

More comfortable than I expected for our family of four. Would be cramped with teenagers. We really liked that you could sit in the window. It was quiet, conveniently located, and had a lot of storage. The beds were comfortable.

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