Dream too big?

[LisaL]

Thinking of family cruise in August and my family all want to go on the Dream, partly to go to St Thomas region. But I have read that it is really crowded. Is it worth the money?

[firefly333]

What is too big for one is fine for another, hard to answer that question what is too big. Im doing oasis this fall.

 

Bound to be some lines, but any cruise would have them. I wouldnt pay a premium price for Dream over another ship going to the same itinerary, its just a bigger Conquest class to me.

[Relayer]

Will let you know in 18 short days!

 

We are huge fans of the Conquest Class and the Valor in particular. However we sailed on the smaller Miracle in November and loved it. A very classy and roomy ship.

 

As long as we are sailing we're happy!

[dallas52]

the only time we noticed lots of people were when we got onboard and everyone was trying to get something to eat at the same time. never noticed it after that.

[LkMISailor]

I'm not a fan of cruising, hate crowds. Having said that I had no problem on the Dream. There are crowded places but was able to find whole sections of the ship that I had to myself, even on sea days. Stay away from the pools (hot tubs and showers and H2O zone/water slides are better anyway), eat breakfest in the MDR, eat lunch after 1:30 and you'll be fine.

[jolyroger]

Thinking of family cruise in August and my family all want to go on the Dream, partly to go to St Thomas region. But I have read that it is really crowded. Is it worth the money?

 

Can I tell you that up until we cruised on the Dream last April I obsessed over reading all I could about that ship!!! Between the size of it and the sewage "smell" to the crowds on the ship, I read it all!!

Can I just say that we had an absolute blast! The ship to us was Beautiful! And yes it was Big!! Whenever we got into a port we'd look back and say "WOW, but she's soo Pretty!!" Yes it is a big ship but we quickly found our way. We went during school vacation and never found it to be crowded. Whether it was at the waterslides( which were soooo much fun) or the buffets (which is all how you time it) could not really complain! The certain smell, yeah every now any then we smelt it but, it was horrible and gotta tell you we smelt that certain smell when we went on a Disney Cruise!

To me its all what you make of it, try the Dream form your own opinions,

 

All in all we will definaly be booking on that ship again!!! Thats all our girls talked about!

[sonicbuffalo]

We cruised The Dream last October and had previously sailed on The Miracle. We found the Dream to be new and all, but we preferred the Miracle. We liked it so much we're sailing on The Miracle again this November. It's a different itinerary but we just loved The Miracle over the Dream. Just imagine trying to get on and off the ship with 1500 more people than the Miracle each time you stop at a port. Then there is the embarkation and disembarkation. Everything takes longer, and the food lines too. I'm not saying we didn't have a good time because we did. I would still recommend the Miracle's cruise to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maartin. We loved that itinerary.

[misstopgun]

Thinking of family cruise in August and my family all want to go on the Dream, partly to go to St Thomas region. But I have read that it is really crowded. Is it worth the money?

We were on the Dream in October and will be on her again in April. I't a ship, a beautiful new one. As far as crowds and services it compares to a other Carnival ship. I really wouldn't mind being on the Legend or Valor instead because they are smaller and my husband has mobility issues. Neither of them stop in costa Maya though and that is one of our favorite ports. That being said, we enjoyed the Dream as much as the other ships we have been on. I would say choose based on itinerary and price, whichever is priority to you. Whatever your decision, I am sure you will have a wonderful time!

[seashell36]

We cruised on the Dream in January, sailed on New Years Day. We've cruised on the Elation, Inspiration and Legend previously. I wasn't sure what to expect with the number of passengers that we would be cruising with. But, the only time we had to deal with lines was when we were waiting to board and two days at lunch. On the Dream there is so much to chose from - whether it's dining options or looking for a quiet place to relax.

To answer your question - is it worth the money? In my opinion it is definitely worth it! I'm trying to talk DH into a b2b on the Dream for next year.

[LBumb]

imo the bigger the better

[2thesea]

Too big No not really. Public areas and pools to SMALL YES! We sailed the 2nd week of August last year and the ship was Sold Out and it was crazy. Boarding went smoothly no issues there BUT once on board the crowds were everywhere. Don't get me wrong we still had a great time, BUT no pool time unless you arrived at the butt a$$ crack of dawn. The ship is larger, more cabins BUT they neglected to add additional public space.

[sassy1ja]

Sadly yes I think it's too big. Just got back from a family cruise last week. I heard the buffet's in the morning were mass chaos and crazy. We always get room service and use that as our wake up call. Chairs were impossible to come by at the pool areas, never experienced this before. Had to lay out on the lanai deck one day as there were NO chairs available anywhere on the 3 pool levels. I saw some people laying out on their towels on the acual ground with out chairs. Many times we couldn't find anyone in our party, had to make arrangements for specific times and places to meet, otherwise hit or miss trying to run into anyone. Also we missed Roatan because Dream was too big to make it into port. This was one of the main reasons we picked the Dream huge dissapointment. Passed another carnival ship in port so I know it was doable just not for our ship.

 

I'm glad we got to experience the Dream there were some positives but I wouldn't pay more money for it, we paid about the same as the Liberty was going for at the time. And i'm not sure anyone in our group would go on the Dream again. Positives to name some were the dining food, some of the best meals we had. Waterslides were awesome. Biggest casino we've seen. One of the best entertainment director's we've had (Butch). The ship itself was super clean and very nice to look at, not so in your face carnival that you feel on the other ships.

[sassy1ja]

I should add we had a sold out cruise with around 4100 people, not sure if the normal amount of people would have made a significant difference?

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I sailed the Dream last year in June and it was a full sailing. We had a fantastic time. You certainly don't feel that there is 4,000+ people onboard. There will be lines for breakfast & lunch during prime hours, but that is found on any cruise as well. The ship is massive, but easy to find your way around. Carnival did a great job with the layout; after day one, I was walking around like it was my home, lol. I love Dream - that ship has it all. I will be sailing her this coming June as well.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Been on the Dream THREE times. The second and third would likely not have happened had we not booked each with other CC'ers we want to sail with again. Carnival has it's focus on "sardine" cruising with each new class of vessel. They already modified the Dream class (Magic) to add dozens of additional cabins over the Dream's plan!

 

On the Epic now... and REALLY loving everything about it! Saw a "Murder Mystery" lunch today, eating at Japanese steakhouse tonight, and seeing a Second City comedy show at 11. Already have Blue Man Group and Cirque Dreams under our belt! NCL (at least on the Epic) really knows how to give options and provide entertainment.

 

I am REALLY glad that there are alternatives. Carnival has a good product, but they need to lose the cookie cutter approach... REALLY!

 

Tom

 

PS -- I forgot to mention... for the Meet-n-Greet on the Epic, NCL put together a VERY nice meeting. It was attended by 8 senior officers - including the Captain, Hotel Director, F&B manager, Exectuive Chef, ETC.. they ALL spoke as well. A note to Carnival" "you can't touch this" (because you DON'T EVEN TRY)...

[mysh442olds]

we had a great time on it with our group we had a cove balcony and would do in a second

but way too many people lines all the time 2000 more people in the same space

we loved the adult area way better than other ships

we booked early and rates were great

we loved the ship if it only had fewer people on it

enjoy

[cruisecrzy]

WE were on the Epic last October, and yes there are a lot of entertainment/dining alternatives BUT you have to pay EXTRA for most of those you mentioned, even bowling.

 

I would rather have a cruise that has "cookie cutter" alternatives that do not nikel and dime me to death!

[Heather1321]

We are going on June 25th on the Dream and I am worried about the size size of the ship, the long lines and the "smell" that everyone is talking about. I can still switch to the Legend out of Tampa...ANY thoughts anyone?

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I think some people exaggerate about the "smell" cause I never smelt it when I sailed the Dream. And it's really not THAT crowded, every cruise will have a line during peak hours for breakfast & lunch at the buffet.

[emenheiser]

We are going on June 25th on the Dream and I am worried about the size size of the ship, the long lines and the "smell" that everyone is talking about. I can still switch to the Legend out of Tampa...ANY thoughts anyone?

 

We were booked on the Dream for June 2012...and just today I switched to the Legend out of Tampa. I'm sure that we would have had a great time on the Dream, but I wondered if it would just be too big (after reading many reviews). We are traveling with my in laws and my mother in law has some mobility issues, so the Dream may not be best for her. We also are going with our 3 children. We like for them to have a LITTLE freedom on the ship, and I wondered if the Dream would just be too big to do that. I also wondered how big an impact having 1500 more people in the ports would have on our time there. The itineraries are very similar and switching saved our family $800. Good luck in your decision! I'm sure you'll have a great time either way!

[DDFla]

Went in October on same trip as SonicBuffalo, I didn't have too many issues, had a good time. I liked the extra hot tubs, never had a wait. Carnival never has enough pool space. The added dining areas, pasta bar, burrito bar, Mongolian bbq etc were a plus. Otherwise it didn't feel any more crowded than other ships I've been on. I wish it would got to Half moon cay instead of Nassau. I'm on Legend in June, I hear it's just right in size, but maybe not for Carnival's bottom line.

[H82seaUgo]

Thinking of family cruise in August and my family all want to go on the Dream, partly to go to St Thomas region. But I have read that it is really crowded. Is it worth the money?

 

i found the destiny was too big for carnival. no way have i tried anything larger.

[deborahjo]

It is to big for us. We have decided after our April 2010 cruise on the Dream that we are going smaller. Lines were just to long and the ship was to crowded.

[Snorkel2Much]

Just off the Dream and yes, she was too big to dock in Roatan while other ships had no issues that day. I've sailed Freedom and Glory in comparison. The Dream seems to have added a number of eating options but didn't seem to add the extra tables and chairs for the extra folks. After a while we stuck to the Dining rooms for many of our breakfasts/lunches.

 

The sea days felt very crowded, if we had kept to the original itinerary with only 2 sea days it would've been OK. I wont ever book a trip on her with more than 2 sea days. We had a good time, but it couldve been better. Some people enjoy crowds, I'll pass.

[PictureChris]

MissTopGun, quick question, what is it that you like so much about Costa Maya? I generally have heard negative things about it but would love to know what you do when there? Thanks in advance!

 

 

We were on the Dream in October and will be on her again in April. I't a ship, a beautiful new one. As far as crowds and services it compares to a other Carnival ship. I really wouldn't mind being on the Legend or Valor instead because they are smaller and my husband has mobility issues. Neither of them stop in costa Maya though and that is one of our favorite ports. That being said, we enjoyed the Dream as much as the other ships we have been on. I would say choose based on itinerary and price, whichever is priority to you. Whatever your decision, I am sure you will have a wonderful time!