ATTN: KroozLov'r- Promised Dream Review

[PROCRUISE]

Your previous question was whether The Dream was already worn. We didn't see any signs of this but did see the crew members cleaning, polishing, and vacuuming the entire cruise.

 

A brief review of our impression of The Dream 12/3-12/09.

 

This was our 11th cruise with Carnival since 2002. Our TA says he loves to hear from us after a cruise because we are easy to please and always give positive comments. We rated all our previous cruises with Carnival as an A with A+ to The Legend, The Spirit, and The Splendor. The best possible grade I can give The Dream on its first cruise out of Port Canaveral is a C+.

 

We liked the new toned done decor and Antonio, our room steward and Ollie our dinning room server were the highlight of the cruise. As Ollie stated, most of the dinning room staff wants off this ship, but he wants to stay aboard and try to help make things better.

 

We took two friends with us who had never been on a cruise before and were so excited about the ship being decorated for Christmas and seeing San Juan. Bet you know where this is going! We were stunned when we got aboard The Dream, during the first two weeks of Advent, and found not a single Christmas decoration anywhere. We have cruised with Carnival several previous times during this same December time period and loved the beautiful decorations. When I asked an officer(from Canada) why the ship was not decorated he stated,"it will be decorated for Christmas when you get off the ship!" By the way, we found the general crew members to be some of the most friendly we have ever encounter but the officers never even spoke, unless spoken to.

 

We were in cove balcony 2309 which luckily was forward. The smell of sewage on deck 2 was often present but seemed to be particularly bad aft. We brought an officer up to the floor to take a smell and he acknowledged that it had been an on going problem-not yet solved. We also smelled it one night in the gift shop area on deck 5. The cove balcony was enjoyable.

 

San Juan the most beautiful port on the whole cruise, you probably already know about. As we stood on deck 10 with hundreds of other passengers the captain made the announcement that we were skipping the port because the ship didn't fit! There was total disbelief that Carnival had years to get ready for this day but couldn't measure the dock overhang correctly. We felt very bad for our friends who had planned to do all their shopping there and enjoy the beauty of the old city, but it didn't compare to those on deck crying into their cell phones and telling their family and loved ones on the dock that we were now simply sailing on. We understand one staff member even had her husband fly into San Juan so they could spend the day together. Carnival, you blew it big time with a ship that was 95% past cruises and many hundreds of Platinum card holders.

 

If you like classical music and the usual string trio, you won't find them on The Dream.

 

If you like the large open atrium, large pool areas, and are expecting a larger shopping area and casino, you won't find them on The Dream. This ship has more cabins/passengers and squeezed smaller general areas. If The Magic is just going to be an identical sister ship to The Dream, we'll pass!

 

If you are going on The Dream, please go and enjoy. It might be the perfect ship for you and you could have the best cruise ever. For us, this inaugural Port Canaveral cruise did not meet our expectations by a long shot. Merry Christmas CEO Cahill-a sentiment that was never extended to us on The Dream 12/3-12/09.

[KroozLov'r]

Thank you for the review! I appreciate your taking the time to post it!

[katiel53]

I am hoping that by the time we board January 2, more of the problems that have been reported will no longer be problems. We love sailing from Pt Canaveral and have sailed on Glory many times and loved that ship. We chose Dream because of the port and the fact that it's new.

 

I know we will have a great time and I hope that it will be so good that we will want to sail on her again and again as we did Glory.

 

Thanks for your review.

[AriesMoon]

Did Ollie happen to mention why most of the dining room staff wants off the ship?

[GlendaleCruiser]

There was total disbelief that Carnival had years to get ready for this day but couldn't measure the dock overhang correctly.

Are you sure it was a Carnival problem, or did the Port of SJ promise they would build the guy wires around to allow it in? Just curious.

 

If you like classical music and the usual string trio, you won't find them on The Dream.

We did on the European Med tours. One night there was a classical opera soprano with string orchestra. I guess they decided it didn't fit in the Caribbean tours.

 

We did the inaugural and I will do the Magic inaugural probably to see the same ports. We loved the ship and had a great time.

[sallyb]

Wow, I'm so perplexed as to why the Dream is getting so many negative reviews. We are locked in at this point and will enjoy our cruise because we tend to do things off the beaten path, but I sure do hope that Carnival is listening and will do their best to improve the cruise experience on their newest ship.

[scgamecock]

I sure do hope that Carnival is listening and will do their best to improve the cruise experience on their newest ship.

 

+1

 

I sure do agree with you there. I could pay half as much and get a far better itinerary on the Freedom or Liberty. If I don't hear of some improvement soon, we may have to rethink our September Dream cruise.

[sallyb]

Actually, we didn't end up paying more for this cruise than most others, because I am diligent about getting price reductions as long as possible. I am truly looking forward to this cruise just as much as any other.