Carnival Dream is a BIG ship, over 1000 feet long and holding about 2600 passenger staterooms & suites. During our sailing in early January 2010 the ship held over 4100 passengers and about 1400 crew. We were told the surplus of the usual passenger capacity was due to a lot of "triple & quadruple bunking" in several staterooms, which sounds miserable, considering the miniscule size of most staterooms. I have to say that the ship did feel crowded. On most ships we are able to find quiet areas in which to read, play cards, journal or just relax. Not so on the Dream. During our 7 day cruise we found no unused lounge or out of the way sitting area where we could escape the frenzy of 5000+ people. Long lines for every Lido deck meal were the norm, waits for food in the main dining room were sometimes inexplicably lengthy; one night our table for four had to wait over an hour and a half after finishing our starter course to receive our entrees. By then, the passengers at all the other tables around ours had finished both their entrees, ordered their desserts, finished those and left! Because our wait staff was unwilling or unable to explain the delay, all we could assume was that something had gone terribly wrong in the ship's galley.

The ports of call on this eastern Caribbean cruise were Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Most passengers did not leave the ship at Nassau. I presume this was due to many of us having already read reports of high crime on the island. The only safe attraction here is an excursion to the Atlantis Resort, an overpriced behemoth with which Carnival Cruise Lines must have a passenger delivery contract in order to keep its ships coming to Nassau. St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands is quite a bit safer. A side trip to the beautiful neighboring island of St. John, however, is not recommended when there are six or seven other large cruise ships in port. Shopping in St. Thomas was shoulder to shoulder; you don't want your beach and snorkeling experience to be the same. Still, if this is your one and only chance to visit the Caribbean, go for it; simply realize that you won't be seeing these islands at their best.

Saving the best for last, the island of St. Maarten, which is a small island shared by France and the Netherlands, is the most palatable of the port offerings on this mega-ship cruise. Again, only a taste of what Caribbean life might be like can be had when there are over 20,000 passengers from cruise ships in port at the same time. Even so, St. Maarten is a friendly island that seems a bit more civilized than the previous ports. At least here the sidewalk barkers are not pulling you physically into their stores or forcing ubiquitous 70% off coupons into your hands as you walk by. Read more