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I know you were asking OP, but if I could make a suggestion - last fall when we sailed Panorama, we hiked up to the El Faro Lighthouse (it is a Carnival excursion). Carnival rates it a "difficult activity level", but It's a lot like climbing Diamond Head in Hawaii (in regard to how strenuous it is). We absolutely loved it - great exercise, amazing view from the top. But I should clarify, we had perfect weather for the hike (cool and breezy), I've heard the it can be brutal in hot weather.

Agreed - we spent a week dodging Hurricane Kay on Panorama. For the last 2 or 3 days of the cruise the pools were drained, the weather was terrible, most outside decks were closed, we had to skip a port, and of course we had rough seas. Nobody (that I'm aware of) expected compensation - it's the chance you take when you cruise, but I did hear more than a few people say that was their first and last cruise.

I wasn't crazy about it when we were there last month, and it didn't help that I got tons of mosquito bites. From now on, I will probably get off for a quick walk/run on the beach and then return to the ship. On our trip every single thing was sold out from the cabanas to the clamshells. We chose the bike excursion - It was fun to do once, wouldn't do it again.

And the Dream - No complaints at all (we ate there 7 out of 8 nights).

My daughter's college spring break is the 1st week of March, so I would agree, March seems to be College Spring break and then the younger kids in our extended family have the first full week of April as their Spring break.

We were on Celebration in January and really liked it. As someone mentioned, it's very much like Mardi Gras. I agree with everything mentioned above except I didn't realize ChiBang had a lot of negative reviews - we loved it on both Mardi Gras and Celebration (we ended up choosing it over Cucina most of the time). One thing I did notice with the cabins being more narrow, I saw way more scooters parked in the hallways, so I'm guessing they don't fit in the rooms very well.

I actually don't prefer the upper decks anymore. I used to believe the higher floors were better (because that is what they tell you when they want to sell you an upgrade) but recently we tried a cove balcony (deck 2) for the first time and absolutely loved it. We loved being able to take the stairs to the common areas on decks 3, 4, and 5. We loved being so close to the gangway for getting on and off in the ports among other things. I don't necessarily care if I'm on a higher or lower deck, but I do care what is above and below my room because I'm a light sleeper. Congrats on the spa cabin upgrade - sounds like it worked out perfectly for your needs.

We love cove balconies too! We could hear the sound of the waves (even with the balcony door closed, and it helped drown our loud laughter/talking in the hallway that usually wakes me in the middle of the night. I'd book again for that reason alone. We also loved being on such a low deck when getting on/off at the ports (we are usually on 7 or higher). We saw dolphins multiple times. We had some pretty good storms but stayed dry and out of the wind on our balcony. With it being shaded, we used it so much more than a balcony where we'd get hot and have to go inside. I'd take that offer in a heartbeat!

Great suggestion - I found a good video of one of these rooms on Horizon. It's pretty cool but does not seem to be a cove (at least not like the cove I was in). I'll try to paste the link below.

Very interesting - we were just in a cove balcony on the Dream but they did not have any on the back of the ship (those cabins were ocean view w/a window). We absolutely love the cove balconies on the side of the ship but I don't know if I'd like one on the back. The airflow/breeze is slightly reduced due to being a cove, and then our aft balcony cabins in general never had much of a breeze, so I'd worry they might get hot and stuffy (I guess it depends on the weather). I'm curious to hear what you decide!

I'm so neurotic about room location that it wasn't until my 25th cruise that I finally went for balcony guarantee. We ended up with a cove balcony (with the dining room above us) on the Dream and absolutely loved it. We came home and immediately booked another cove balcony (on Horizon) in a similar location. As far as when you will receive your room assignment, we got ours much earlier than I expected. On the Dream it was about 75 days out, and on the Vista about 50 days prior.

With so many suggesting you should get 2 rooms, I can't help but chime in and say you have a plan that is very doable and can save a lot of money (sometimes enough to take a second cruise!) 🙂. We have put 2 parents and 2 teens in an interior cabin several times and it was just fine (in fact now that my kids are all adults, I really miss those days and look back on those trips fondly. We were almost always in the cabin at opposite times. We tend to get up early and hit the track, whereas the teens would stay out late and sleep until noon. There is so much to do and so many places to go (other than your cabin) that we spent very little time in the room (pretty much were there just to sleep). A couple organizational tips/tricks that I still use today (even though it's usually just the 2 of us) - bring a portable/pop-up laundry hamper (it folds flat into about a 10 inch square - easily fits in my carry-on). A portable shoe organizer can also be helpful (especially if the teens are girls).🙂 Have a great trip!

The Indian Vegetarian (and I'm not a vegetarian, I just love it that much).

We've had 2 issues w/luggage (out of 25 cruises) and now only travel with carry-ons. The first was a lost bag (lost for the first 3 days of a 7 day cruise) but it really wasn't Carnival's fault. From what I understand, multiple teenage boys were sharing the room next door and grabbed it while moving their luggage in (not realizing it didn't belong to any of them). And yes, leave it up to teenage boys to not realize, even after it sat in their room for days, that it wasn't one of theirs. The cabin steward finally figured it out. The other issue was more recent - a damaged bag - it arrived with a wheel torn off (and a sharp screw sticking out where the wheel used to be) and a 3 inch tear in the bag itself (fortunately nothing damaged/missing). I'm not necessarily freaked out about Carnival and checked luggage, it's just easier overall to travel with just a carry-on (on the flights and the cruise) since we have to fly to nearly every port. We have also had Southwest lose our checked bags on the way to a cruise. Maybe we just have bad luck with luggage.

I agree - we have been on Mardi Gras twice, Celebration once, and should be on the second sailing of Jubilee (fingers crossed no more cancellations). The Excel class ships are a game changer.

Wow so jealous - I'd love that deal!

It's interesting to me that a higher floor is considered an upgrade, I would rather be closer to the water. I think your location on deck 5 is better.

I'm with you 100% - same happened to us on Panorama. Glad we got to try it, but the ship spas are not for us (we found it to be extremely crowded, not relaxing at all). I'm not sure if this is the case on all ships, but we had to skip a port and they were selling day passes like crazy (way too many in my opinion). But I did absolutely love the very quiet cabin environment.

I agree - the ship got bigger and the elevators got smaller! 😄 I love the Vista class elevator system.

I posted a picture of it on Saturday: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2934248-carnival-dream-right-now/#comment-65294204

We were on Valor in November and enjoyed it - I love the fact that the port is within walking distance from several hotels. I've learned to avoid the 3 or 4 day itineraries along with holiday weekends, but I think a 5-day would be fine.

We have been pretty lucky with our TBA rooms - on the Dream it was assigned 75 days before the cruise, and on Vista it was roughly 50 days out. Let us know how it turns out! 🙂

I said the exact same thing the one time we had a spa room on Panorama - we will never book a spa room again for this reason. It was so crowded on sea days (and we ended up missing a port due to weather, so we had mostly sea days).

Totally agree - we were planning to quickly drop our carry-ons (we always try to be quick and stay out of their way). Our room steward saw us heading for the cabin and he came down, introduced himself and gave us our S&S cards and told us we could stay in the room if we'd like (we didn't). This was our 14th cruise since cruising resumed, and only the second time our cabin has been ready that early so I just wanted to give them props.

I was super impressed this week on the Dream when our room was ready as soon as we boarded w/the platinum group (that never happens anymore).