There were several good and bad going on with the Carnival Dream.
Pros - The gym was huge and very clean. Always an available chair at the pool. For having like 4200 guests on the boat, lines at the buffets moved quickly. I ate lunch every day at the Tandoor station and am SO grateful Carnival offers this dining option. Our waitstaff Gilbert and Imade took excellent care of us. I found the rotating indian vegetarian dinner fabulous. I think we ordered it 5 of the 7 meals. The ship is huge with plenty of activities. We thoroughly enjoyed the wine tasting. The sommelier was extremely knowledgeable and really taught us a lot. We also did the Chef's Table. IT WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER. The food was exquisite and well presented. Getting to know the head chef was nice. It is a must do experience. And finally, all the awesome people we met on the cruise really made the trip fantastic.
Cons - For whatever reason, our room was directly across from a main crew door. Every morning from 4a.m. on I was awoken by the sound of the staff slamming the door, banging carts around, and talking to each other. There were several times that we got out of bed and complained to staff and the management, but no resolution could be reached. All the previous reviews of this boat about the strange odors are true. It made for some funny conversations. I was also a little put off with the amount of children running around the casino. We requested to sit with a group for dinner, but were instead placed at a two person table at the back ship window. The view was beautiful, but we had no one else to chat with. The food in the dining hall was so-so (excluding the indian vegetarian which was always fabulous). The didya ever menu mostly consisted of fried/buttered foods that were too rich to eat.
It was a traditional balcony room that has 4 beds. I hated being across from the loud, early rising crew members. Also, my cabin was directly above one of the smoking sections making the balcony unusable. Lesson learned for the next cruise.