We chose the Dream because we enjoyed sailing on her out of New Orleans and got a casino offer at a pretty good rate out of Galveston which is where we live. Embarkation was simple and quick. It was really nice that the muster was indoors since it was mid August.

Our stateroom was on Lido forward. This meant a lot of walking (I had a knee injury and had to use a cane), but we chose this stateroom so that's on us. The room was clean and tidy, but we didn't see much of our steward. Room was cleaned once per day during dinner hour. This is a far cry from the service Carnival provided in the past, though it's no fault of the steward. He did his best.

Smoking areas on 5 and 11 received no bar service. They were very small areas with no access to pool nor whirlpools. Smokers were confined to the very small areas and not allowed to use sun loungers. Deck 5 smoking area was blocked off about half the cruise. Deck 11 smoking was right behind the stack and black oil spots were all over our clothes. Read more