The ship was overcrowded. Theaters, lounges and all public places would not hold the amount of people they had on board. Shows, bingo and different informational talks never started on time. Elevators were pitifully insufficient. When any door opened on your floor it canceled your call. As the elevators were always full you could not get another one in a timely manner, thus they were always full. People would ride in either direction just to get on, even if they had to return in opposite direction. Also the elevators were crowded with 10 occupants or 1 wheelchair & 4 occupants. And then they partially failed, stranding people between floors. The loudspeakers in the theater and at the parties areas were deafening. Actually hurt our ears. Casino reeked of smoke. People would smoke next to you in non-smoking section and their was no enforcement of posted policy. Could not find open machines quite often.Had to open an account to receive winnings, even if you had entered cash. Lunch was buffet style and lines were long, seating very limited to sit down and eat. When it rained during any of these events centered around Lido Deck it was genuine havoc, as well as being slick to walk on. Our Port of choice was San Juan, P. R. but due to an engineering error, (Ship wouldn't fit in allocated dock area, we backed out without visiting the Port we were mainly wanting to see). We have Nextel cell phones and were to call home at this port. We were unable to do so, causing our family back home a lot of distress over our safety. There was a refund of Port taxes of $20 each, an apology for their admitted error and another "Fun Day at Sea" of which we already was/were scheduled for 3 on a 9 day cruise, making 4 of the 9 days at sea.(Feed the slots and buy our booze at inflated prices). This was certainly no "Fun Day at Sea" for those that neither drank or gambled. This is a season of Christmas Celebration. No where on board was there any mention of it except for an occasional comment from a crew member or guest. How distressing! Carnival Dream? Or Carnival Nightmare? The only thing that was enlightening was the service in the dining room and the courtesy and help of the room Steward. (And even then, the supervisor came over to the waiter station near our table and PUBLICLY corrected the waiter helper on 2 different days, complete with slamming doors to ice machine and pitching stuff about). I will NOT recommend this ship to my friends or relatives. Another bothersome thing to me was the gratuity system built into the payment machine. I bought a cup of coffee to go, it was placed on the counter and 15% gratuity added. It was not the price of the gratuity, but the fact they added it for a service that involved no added action by the employee. It was like a slap in the face. Will they soon be adding this to buy from the ship stores? They are experts at extracting money from the guests. Be on your guard! If you must edit this comment, please delete it as I want people to know the truth from a 6 Carnival Cruise patron.