Carnival Dream Review
Will consider other cruise lines from now on.
Rating by category
Additional details
I guess we should start from the begining.
This was my step-son’s introduction to cruising. It was my 5th with Carnival and Maria’s 2nd. I have been on a total of 12 cruises now and do not consider myself a novice cruiser anymore. I have come to expect a certain level of service and competency while cruising and enjoy being pampered. This is why we primarily book suites although or last cruise on the Breeze was a Cove Balcony and was very nice. This time was a Grand Suite for the extra room with my step-son coming along.
I have done Owners Suites, Grand Suites, and Family Suites on RCCL; Neptune Suites on Holland America and have come to expect a certain level of service when booking a suite. Early embarkation is a standard that I have experienced and was expecting from Carnival. Carnival has now cheapened this experience with the placement of the Platinum and Diamond members first in the boarding process. Not a big problem but sort of cheapens the deal of getting a suite with the expedited embarkation and debarkation being the prime selling points for being a suite guest. The only other reason is to get the extra room. There is no other special treatment received like on other cruise lines. You even need to purchase “Faster to the Fun” if you would like immediate access to your suite upon boarding or you need to wait until all cabins are open in this case at 1330. This is another perk for upper tiered passengers but not for suits. I did purchase FTTF due to this policy and still found that access to the suite was not available unless you took it upon yourself to go through fire doors that are closed and not normally operated by passengers.
Cabin Review
Grand Suite
Grand Suite 7307 is a spacious stateroom. If traveling with one extra person or another couple, this room gives you ample space for your cloths and enough room for moving around even with the sleeper sofa opened up. Having the separate changing area, sink, makeup area worked well.
The only downside to the cabin was the closet doors with the automatic lights. The door handles have all been broke/bent/repaired and need to be replaced. The lights in a couple of the closets stayed on all the time due to misalignment of the doors and/or bad switches. This was the only maintenance issue we saw with the entire suite.
Service by the steward was standard with nothing special and he along with his helper seemed to be leery of talking with us after we requested twice a day service. I was not impressed but nothing to complain about. Balcony area was great and was a good spot to relax.