EMBARCATION: Got to Port Canaveral at 10am, dropped off luggage, parked, went through Security and check in, got sign and sail cards and was on the ship at 11:02am. Carnival has got the process down and so easy. SHIP: It is the nicest ship I have been on and so easy to get around. Everything looked great and the decor was very nice to look at throughout the ship. Got to the cabin at 1:30pm. Deck 7 starboard near the rear elevators. Plenty of room in the cabin, nice balcony. Never had any noise from the hallway even though we were close to the elevators nor from the Lani deck (5). Room steward was great and kept the room clean. Asked him to please make sure that I had plenty of ice and it never ran out the whole cruise. Towel animals every night. Could not ask for more. (He got a good tip at the end and he earned it). The layout of the ship was great and easy to find everything. The shops had the usual items for sale. Nothing different than any other cruise line of ship. Casino was large enough, plenty of machines. I made a donation every day. Sometimes I won but always put it back. In the end the casino won. Elevators never seemed crowded, but most of the time I used the stairs. ENTERTAINMENT: Went to "Dancing in the Streets" and it was good. Did the X rated comedy shows every night. Too funny and not to be missed. Sam's piano bar was full every night, smokey at times but bearable. Trivia games were fun. Plenty of things to do all the time. No time to get bored. DINNING: Your time dining in the Crimson dining room. We had a different table and servers every night, but it did not matter. The service was the same no matter where we sat. The food was very good and plenty of it. Did breakfast every morning in the Gathering. Never has to wait in line. Food selection had something different every day. There were so many selection and places to eat that we never did the Gathering for anything but breakfast. Pasta bar on deck 11 was good. Deli sandwiches outstanding. BBQ on the lani on sea days was excellent and this was the only place I had to wait in line but not very long. Room service was always on time when we used it. Good food and service. CHEF'S TABLE: Worth the $75 a person charge and an experience not to be missed if you can get reservations. STEAK HOUSE: Again a $30 charge per person and well worth it. Overall my impression of the food throughout the ship was very good. POOL DECK: Never had a hard time finding a place to sit or lounge anywhere. Space around the pools was always packed but there were plenty of other places to lounge close to the pool. SERENITY DECK: Used the Serenity deck several times and always found a place to sit. Lot of people there but always room somewhere. BARS: Plenty of places to get refreshments, but expensive. I bought "liquid refreshments" from the Bon Voyage department before the cruise and this sure kept the bar tab down. Still, if you drink a lot be prepared to pay. I did not smuggle anything but I can see why some people do. BEHIND THE FUN TOUR: Expensive but very interesting ($95 a person). I would not recommend this on ship tour unless you are mechanically inclined. A lot of the information was very technical. I enjoyed it but the wife did not for the most part. DEBARKATION: Quick and easy. I did not do self debarkation. Ship docked at 6:20am and was off the ship at 7:30. Not bad at all. THE GOOD AND BAD OBSERVATIONS: I read all the reviews for several months and I really got concerned. The smell was there for a few seconds at Port Canaveral on deck 10. That was it for the entire cruise. Nothing overpowering or anything. Not a concern at all. Did not experience "chair hogs" on deck or in the theater or comedy shows. No drunks or kids running up and down the hallways or anywhere else on the ship. Children were well behaved and were not a problem. From my observations and experience on this cruise, 99.9% of the "bad" reviews that I read were totally unfounded. Would I recommend this ship and would I sail on it again. DEFINATELY.

I can only say that if you are considering a Carnival cruise on the Dream, don't believe all you read. Go and experience it for yourself. I am sure you will have a great experience on a ship where the crew go out of their way to make sure you have a great experience.

If you have any specific questions you can e-mail me at firehse1@earthlink.net and I will try any answer your questions