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Negative Dream Review from Carnival Fanboy Just got back, proceed to flame me

kperkins1982

By kperkins1982,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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kperkins1982

kperkins1982

Posted
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Over all, I feel like a carnival cruise is a terrific value and a wonderful vacation, something I look forward to every year, and nothing wrong with the dream could ruin it for me.

However, if I had to choose again I wouldn't pick the dream.. I always have a terrific experience on other ships without the need for a gas mask.

 

Maybe everybody else on the whole darn ship didn't have a problem, but I did and I'm being honest. hope this helps.

 

Pros-

Steakhouse

Cove Balcony

Mongolian/Burrito

Serenity

Shows

 

 

Cons-paying extra for a balcony doesn't feel worth it if you have the lanai causing you trouble.

the sewage smell

crowded buffet lines

comedy club mc guy

a ship that feels too full considering the staff

price, higher than average carnival ship, yet not different enough to make me feel like its worth it.

 

 

Lanai-I like the idea of the lanai, extra deck space/chairs, extra hot tubs, and more space to look out at the ocean when leaving port, the sunset, etc. however it is excecuted poorly because the balcony cabins above are recessed 20 feet so when they look down they see this, and hear this, and it is unfortunate. I wish that the lanai was there but didn't project from the ship.

 

Chef's Art Steakhouse -to pay 30 bucks for dinner when you can dine for free in MDR it better be exceptional, and it is. It is well worth the money, and makes for a wonderful evening. It kind of brings elagance back to cruising. You go in there in your formal best, and order the best food, in an exclusive feeling atmosphere (because nobody else is in there) and it just really makes one of the last nights of a cruise that much more special and reflective.

There are anywhere from 5 or 6 people waiting on you at any given time. bar people, managers, waiters, assistant waiters, its crazy, you feel so spoiled and are waited on hand and foot. Just try to run out of soda or wine in here I dare you.

The food is different fare from the main dining room. The bread is freshly baked delicious foccocia rolls that are so soft you don't need butter. The steak is perfectly picked/aged/flavored/cooked it is just perfection.

I ordered the new york strip, which comes sitting under a very large garlic clove and is covered in a sauce of your choosing. I recommend the 3 peppercorn. If you aren't eating something they are asking you what is wrong and what can they do, They really want you to feel as if you got your monies worth. The deserts are different than in the main dining room as well and are terriffic.

I can't say enough good things about the steakhouse. We ended up tipping 50 bucks we were just so delighted with the experience.

And if you feel like you can't afford it, skip that outing to applebees before your cruise, and pay the money on the boat, you'll be glad you did.

 

Main Dining Room-the wait staff is great, funny, and very helpful. However I feel like they are overworked. maybe its too many people ordering multiple entrees or maybe just too many people on the boat. but these guys make you kinda feel bad for them. I made sure to tip extra, they have to be some of the hardest workers on the boat.

 

The food, well its anywhere from so-so to terriffic, just kinda depends on your luck I suppose. I guess when you cook 600 of something at a time you can't pay special attention to each dish being just right, thats what the steakhouse is for. But they do their best and I can't complain too much about steak and lobster without sounding like a jerk to people that never cruise.

 

Room Service -the menu seems to quite limited. I would be happy if you could order pizza but then again, with all the eating you do on the boat, walking wouldn't hurt. All in all, for free food its great.

 

Balcony -

I booked a 8b balcony cabin. Didn't like it at all because the lanai on the dream is a few decks down.

I like to sit out there at night and have a drink, just me and the ocean, or maybe my ipod. I find this very relaxing. I also like to sleep with the balcony door open and listen to the sounds of the waves.

Impossible on the dream however

the lanai sends tons of light into the cabin, also drunks come out of the casino or club hooting and hollering like people do at 3-4am when the club closes and they are drunk. Also, instead of looking down directly on the water you see this deck.

I would book the cove balcony, its cheaper and doesn't have any of these issues. My friends were booked in a 7c and I loved it and was jealous of them. We spent all our time hanging out in there room.

Cove Balcony -so close to the water, its amazing to watch the waves and the views are different while in port and leaving port. Highly highly recommended.

 

Deckchairs/Space something was different on the Dream, something special, there seems to be multitudes of deck chairs free. I have never, ever,ever seen this phenomenon, I think maybe where the lanai and some other areas are lined with extra deck chairs people are more spaced out. chair hogs weren't even a problem even on the good weather days. i was pleasantly suprised.

 

Pools - the pools seemed to be about the same as any other ship I've been on. full of children and what they put in the water.

 

Serenity- this is great, should be on every ship, its the adults only area at the top of the ship. there are alot of couches and chairs with actual cushions that you can sit/lay in. It is very quiet and has a hot tub that isn't very often used.

 

Comedy -I've seen all the comedians that were on my cruise before, and some of them had the same jokes, but thats ok, I love the comedy club and always am the loudest person laughing. however I will say that the mc guy is terrible and should be banned from comedy and held in a turkesh prison for crimes against humanity. yes, he is that bad. he goes on for 30 minutes before introducing the comedians with not funny jokes and repeats them night after night even though the comedians change so you sit through this crapfest to get to the good stuff.

 

Shows -dancing in the street was the hands down best entertainment i've ever had on a cruise ship. the dancers are great, the singers are great and the show is very funny and original. Its kindof a variety act with many different sets and is not to be missed.

 

Dance Club -my group stayed in the club until it closed every night and loved it, course we're all in our 20s.

 

Price -the prices on the dream are a little on the high side as it is brand new and in high demand. i feel ike you would have a better value on the Liberty or Glory or something that isn't that old but doesn't have the "new ship" price attached. Having said that the value of a cruse compared to other vacations is still so great that even paying 40% higher price on the dream is better than a standard vacation. But if you are on cruise critic you already know this.

 

Odor -I've read on the forums about a "whiff" of some kinda sewage smell. My little brother went on this cruise 3 weeks before I did and he said it was a non issue. Like maybe you every once and a while smell something but it go away as quickly as it came.

 

Well.......let me tell you, it must come and go cause it was terrible on my cruise. I had 2 days where I couldn't be on the balcony i paid for without having to leave because it smelled like a porta potty. There were huge swaths of the ship, that just smelled terrible. Like to the point where I picked up my food and went inside a few times to get away from the smell.

 

Pizza -I think they put crack in the pizza. it is terriffic and you always want more. I suspect that it is a lower quality pizza than most but because they only ever have 1 up at any given time you always get it fresh out of the oven. Every time I went it was a 1 minute wait for a new pie to come out of the oven all bubbly and delicious.

 

Mongolian -possibly the best food on the ship except for the chef's art steakhouse, but the lines are horrendous. I recommend stalking out the place 10 minutes before noon to make sure you don't have a 30 minute wait.

 

Burrito-this is fantastic, everyone in my group thought it was terrific.

 

Pasta Bar -this is delicious, and a nicer atmosphere. You write your order down and sit down with a number, a staff member brings your order to you. The food is hot and fresh and the place is not crowded as it is kind of hard to find compared to all the other food choices. It is up a staircase back behind the desert buffet. I never saw more than 3 people in there.

 

Lido Buffet -never tried it, there was always a line so long I said "i'll just go get pizza" seriously, its terrible, I feel like the buffet is the same size but the ship has 500 more passengers than a conquest class ship.

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sjcruiser

sjcruiser

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Thanks for the review. Honesty is the best policy! I was looking forward to the Dream, but with all the recent reviews, it may be worth choosing an older ship with the same itinerary. Considering all the reviews, the price may not be worth it either. I expect a little wait for buffet/lido lines, but 30 minutes is ridiculous.

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kperkins1982

kperkins1982

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I don't see why you'll get flamed. Good precise review.

 

Of course, you did say something negative, so you may feel the lick of heat...

 

Shay

 

thats kinda what i was afraid of

 

I did have a positive experience, in the sense that tropical weather, ice cream and being off work is always gonna be good

 

but sometimes I put stuff on here and get killed by some carnival loving nutballs for not giving the company line.

 

In fact, I went back several times and changed things to be less negative

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TOgirl47

TOgirl47

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YEAH!!! 20 somethings ARE travelling on the Dream! Fantastic news :)

I'm going on the Dream on Feb. 13 with my best friend - we're both 27 and are hoping to find others our age to play with :)

Is the outside access directly from the nightclub as much of a bonus as I think it will be??

 

Thanks for the great review - luckily we're in an inside cabin so the Lanai can't possibly be an issue for us :)

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kyrisong1

kyrisong1

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I really appreciated your honesty, I got several hints from you that are going to help a lot when I go ahead and book this ship.

Mostly I'm booking because it has two things I LOVED on Celebrity and will be delighted to have on Carnival, the mud treatment for two, where you and your partner give each other the mud/ salt/spa treatments in a private spa area (it's called Rasul on Celebrity, it's wonderful) and the thallasotherapy pool. This is the ONLY pool I'll go on in the ship, but oh if it's the same as Constellation, it's a huge treat.

I am excited about the cove balconies and the new main dining room lunch and brunch menus, sounds wonderful, cannot wait.

Thanks for the review!!!

Carole

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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Posted

kp...thanks for your "younger" perspective on the same cruise I was on. I agree with some of your comments. G.A.S. was excellent. Service was attentive, until more tables filled. Was your group doing Your Time Dining or the more traditional. I have to agree the MDR is understaffed for Your Time Dining, but late seating in the Scarlet the service was as good if not better than G.A.S. Smell was not a major factor on any of my wanderings around the ship. Just a ligth whiff around the spa areas early in the morning that was gone an hour or so later. Never smelled any sewer odors on the Lido deck or on the Lanai when walking around.

Never had line problems at breakfast, only on sea days did we eat on the Lido. I will say the last day at sea, with weather as windy as it was, the lines at peak noon times were long for everything. But that was to be expected. Agree that Jeff the Fun dude isn't "fun". Tries way too hard. Even when playing hall monitor for the line waiting for the adult show.

 

But a good overall review. i think our expereinces would have been colored a bit differently if the weather had cooperated. Water slides and mini golf and just lounging around on a deck chair away from the pool weren't really doable options for me. But DW loves the spa area which you don't get on older ships outside the Splendor. People I talked with loved the cove balconies as well.

 

For me the ideal setup on the Dream would be cove balcony midship, pay extra for spa pass, and Your choice Dining for elegant nights and G.A.S. for at least 1 or 2 other nights. Lunch at the tandoori or deli with optional burger and pizza to break up the routine. If the line is short, burrito bar also works. DW has other ideas though, LOL.

 

Crew

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halos

halos

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No flames. Just hope Carnival's reading, listening, and addressing.

 

In the meantime, I'm avoiding this ship.

 

Ditto that!

 

OP, I think your review is great. I think that your review isn't negative at all. To me, it's balanced.

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funcky

funcky

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I read negative review first. Dismissed any 5+ rating as i suspect it is fake and do not tell me anything i already know.

 

I went on Valor and have a great time. Stadium seating on pool deck which Dream done away with. Tv was old tube when i went. Hopefully it is flat screen now.

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kperkins1982

kperkins1982

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I thought your review of the Dream was quite fair and I can certainly appreciate your honesty. So for that -- thank you! Your summation of your experience on the Dream is exactly the reason why I booked the Liberty! :-)

 

I LOVED the liberty

 

can't say a bad thing about it, except i'm not there right now, have fun

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kperkins1982

kperkins1982

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YEAH!!! 20 somethings ARE travelling on the Dream! Fantastic news :)

I'm going on the Dream on Feb. 13 with my best friend - we're both 27 and are hoping to find others our age to play with :)

Is the outside access directly from the nightclub as much of a bonus as I think it will be??

 

Thanks for the great review - luckily we're in an inside cabin so the Lanai can't possibly be an issue for us :)

 

my cruise did have young people on it, I would check the club every hour or so at night until it got going. when its full of people and the music is going and drinks are flowing its a good time.

 

regarding the outside access,

 

I'm not quite sure what you are getting at, but you can exit onto the lanai which is very quiet, but I would recommend checking out serenity at night, if you meet somebody

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mississauga

mississauga

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A fair and balanced review. I think the biggest issue you had was your 8b balcony room. Sounds like you loved the cruise except for that. If you had had a cove balcony, you probably would have enjoyed the cruise a lot more. Accommodation-wise you didn't feel you got fair value for what you paid.

 

I agree with all the positives you stated. We had an amazing cruise as we loved our cabin location.

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Cruiser_SG77

Cruiser_SG77

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Comedy -I've seen all the comedians that were on my cruise before, and some of them had the same jokes, but thats ok, I love the comedy club and always am the loudest person laughing. however I will say that the mc guy is terrible and should be banned from comedy and held in a turkesh prison for crimes against humanity. yes, he is that bad. he goes on for 30 minutes before introducing the comedians with not funny jokes and repeats them night after night even though the comedians change so you sit through this crapfest to get to the good stuff

 

 

This I agree with 100%,

 

Was it by chance Jeff the "Fun Dude"?

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