Dream reviews

[Cushing985]

I just finished reading the latest Dream review on the Home page of this site. Way bad but thought the person was a bit over the top with some of the descriptions. I took a quick look at ALL the Dream reviews (understanding some people have issues way beyond a cruise experience) and noticed that the summer cruises were pretty bad but the reviews outside of the summer months were good. So, my questions are...do slobs only cruise in the summer and two, are kids really that unruly and are their parents really that clueless?

 

We tend to cruise in late May to the first week of June and the kids that are onboard during that time tend to be well mannered but I guess when the floodgates open up after school lets out the pack mentality breaks out.

[crewsweeper]

Cushing985, We've cruise the Dream in winter, late spring (last week of May) and early summer( mid June). I'd have to say we were quite please with all 3 cruises. There were more children on the early summer cruise and fewer, but still kids bouncing around, on the winter cruise. We seem to have this ingrained ability/intuition that keeps us out of the worst of the crowds (except the first change over from family to adult comedy shows:D) by spending our time on the Serenity deck, doing late dining and eating at the lessor crowded venues on the Lido deck during the days. Plus being early risers (love the stillness of the mornings at sea), we avoid the need to battle chairhogs( hammock hogs and clamshell hogs on the Serenity). We stayed in Spa Cabins, thus limiting the flash mobs of teens/tweeners from hanging out in our hall ways. We take stairs or use elevators at less than peak times. Unless we're on an early excursion, we wait to depart ship in port and come back well before the mad rush to the gangplank the hour before sailing. On debarking, we wait until the last possible minute, have breakfast in the MDR and waltz off the ship with few hassles.

 

I suggest you look at late May versus early June and when on board, adopt the big smile, sidestep any rude folks, and just enjoy your cruise.

[Cushing985]

Cushing985, We've cruise the Dream in winter, late spring (last week of May) and early summer( mid June). I'd have to say we were quite please with all 3 cruises. There were more children on the early summer cruise and fewer, but still kids bouncing around, on the winter cruise. We seem to have this ingrained ability/intuition that keeps us out of the worst of the crowds (except the first change over from family to adult comedy shows:D) by spending our time on the Serenity deck, doing late dining and eating at the lessor crowded venues on the Lido deck during the days. Plus being early risers (love the stillness of the mornings at sea), we avoid the need to battle chairhogs( hammock hogs and clamshell hogs on the Serenity). We stayed in Spa Cabins, thus limiting the flash mobs of teens/tweeners from hanging out in our hall ways. We take stairs or use elevators at less than peak times. Unless we're on an early excursion, we wait to depart ship in port and come back well before the mad rush to the gangplank the hour before sailing. On debarking, we wait until the last possible minute, have breakfast in the MDR and waltz off the ship with few hassles.

 

I suggest you look at late May versus early June and when on board, adopt the big smile, sidestep any rude folks, and just enjoy your cruise.

 

Yeah...thats when we book and haven't had any problems. I understand why some need to cruise in the summer because of school schedules but we're empty nesters and can go when the little tykes are still busy with school.

[helen haywood]

I,too, read that review. LOL. I might have worried if they scored the Dream a 3 or a 2 but to score everything a 1 just made me smile. They complained about the fact that it was too hot to sit on the balcony!!! What did they think the weather would be like in summer in the Caribbean?

[Want2Cruise 701]

I just read the review and while some might have been legit complaints it seemed there were too many over the top too hard to be true complaints.

 

Also the OP of that one seemed to be under the impression that the Dream was "redone". Until the Magic just started sailing, the Dream was Carnival's newest ship. Breeze to follow. So I don't understand how they came up with that. They also referred to the aft balcony as "new". There is nothing new about the aft balconies on that ship.

 

They also thought the Dream was a classy ship. Don't get mad at me folks. I am sailing Carnival and the Dream in December but there is no way that any of Carnival's ships are classy. Carnival is just not in that league of cruise lines. Don't get me wrong, Carnival does have its strong points. Every line has their own niche.

 

As far as crowds and children. It is the summer. The Dream is a big ship. Carnival is family friendly. What were they thinking. We are sailing over Christmas and prepared that it will be crowded and have lots of kids. It's just commons sense.

 

Also, drunk teenagers everywhere. That surprised me and I find it hard to believe unless someone can tell me that they've witnessed this also.

 

This review I am not going to pay too much attention too. I can see some complaints. Nothing's perfect in life. We are going to have a wonderful time on our Dream cruise in December. It's a holiday and our family vacation together. :)

[Rhitson88]

I,too, read that review. LOL. I might have worried if they scored the Dream a 3 or a 2 but to score everything a 1 just made me smile. They complained about the fact that it was too hot to sit on the balcony!!! What did they think the weather would be like in summer in the Caribbean?

 

 

 

You didn't know that Carnival controls the weather now?? Thats old news haha!!

[Rhitson88]

"The shipped was so overcrowded it was impossible to get anywhere on board without a long line. While I hate to use the word trailer trash, I can't help it. There were 1,100 children/teenagers on our cruise. OUT OF CONTROL, rude, nasty, kid's."

 

 

Haha, so are they calling the kids "trailer trash"? This is funny. And it sounds as if this person personally met each of the 1100 kids and they are all bad. I understand maybe sometimes kids can misbehave on a cruise, but lets be realistic because some adults aren't any better!! But, you don't notice because they blend in. To be honest, I was one of these misbehaving kids on my first ever cruise with my cousin. About 15 yrs old. Now 23 with 2 kids, but come on. Its all fun. If they get completely out of control, security will eventually do something I am sure. Just walk the other way in the mean time.

[vermonter16]

Well, I just went and read the review. I think the OP wrote it in haste after having a bad experience.... However - the review doesn't actually tell me much except that dinner service was slow and the waiter was sweating....there were lots of kids, and soot covered the aft balcony (I have heard that before).

 

DH and I cruise at off times to avoid kid crowds. We don't mind children at all but being that we don't have any - just prefer to cruise when there aren't as many on board.

 

Hmmm.....I don't even know what else to say regarding the review.... I'll go ahead and post my own after I sail in November ;)!

[Cushing985]

That review has so much nonsense in it I'm surprised CC allowed it. But I was curious and found that most of the reviews written during summer trips weren't nearly as good as the ones written about cruises in the fall and winter.

 

I like kids (I used to be one) but don't think I would enjoy a cruise nearly as much in the summer when the little ones are on vacation.

[tropicaledrink]

We sailed May 21 and the demographics were pretty perfect. There were only 3800 on board (nowhere near the 4000 numbers I've seen in for the Summer months), and only 400 kids under 18 years old. Did we encounter rude people? Yes. Did we occasionally have to wait in a line or for your YTD? Yes, but never more than a 10 minute wait. Were we well taken car of? Of course! Did we have FUN? heck yes! I would repeat this cruise again in a heartbeat!

 

I think it's all in the timing. The last week of May was an awesome experience for us. The pool area can get a little crowded, but Carnival really got it right on this ship and spread whirlpools throughout the ship. We were nearly always found on the Lanai deck. :)

[MSRussell]

I didn't read the review, but I did cruise in early March on the Dream. I didn't realize it was during Spring Break. I was really impressed with the way the kids were.

I mainly sat and people watched, enjoying the faces on the kids when they were carrying their ice cream cones, etc.

 

The only problem I saw, or heard, was teenage girls SHRIEKING in the hallway one night..of course, their staterooms were in my area. But it was nothing a couple of aspirin didn't cure.

Melanie

[NeuroQueen]

I guess I have been lucky! ( knocking on wood as I say this)! I've been on almost forty cruises ( live in Florida, and it is much cheaper than Disney World)! I've cruised CCL,RCI,NCL, & Princess during all times of the year, Summer, holidays, etc. I have never witnessed some of the antics people describe on their cruises (overtaking elevators, taking room service menus off of the doors, barging into tender or buffet lines)! I also read the said review, and all of the other, not so kind, Dream reviews! Does it make me a little worried about taking the Dream over Thankgiving week....well a little bit, I must admit! But...the only way to stay in a cove balcony is on the Dream!!!

(bucket list, what can I say). So we will take off driving to almost the furthest Florida port from our town (5 hours, aghhh!, I know we are spoiled) and hopefully I will continue to be lucky! I just don't know how one cruise can be that bad. I admit some cruises have been better than others, but they hated almost everything. Sending good thoughts to all of you sailing soon!

[maryanne356]

I just sailed on the Dream August 13, 2011. I have 2 teenagers and a 21 year old. I never witnessed any drunk teens, teens barging the buffet lines. I must also be lucky because we have sailed the last 3 years during the summer and never had any problems. We all really enjoyed the ship. The only complaint my 3 kids would have to say is they wish the basketball court and golf was open late at night after the shows.

[Socref124]

I just finished reading the latest Dream review on the Home page of this site. Way bad but thought the person was a bit over the top with some of the descriptions. I took a quick look at ALL the Dream reviews (understanding some people have issues way beyond a cruise experience) and noticed that the summer cruises were pretty bad but the reviews outside of the summer months were good. So, my questions are...do slobs only cruise in the summer and two, are kids really that unruly and are their parents really that clueless?

 

We tend to cruise in late May to the first week of June and the kids that are onboard during that time tend to be well mannered but I guess when the floodgates open up after school lets out the pack mentality breaks out.

 

We generally cruise in May or Oct and have not noticed unruly kids. We were on the Dream last Nov and had a great time. Not sure about the reviews because I prefer to experience things myself and make up my own mind.

[IwannaGo Now]

I was on the Dream in May of 2010. I found it too be too crowded, and the MDR was much too noisy. I don't remember the kids being an issue, but I wish I had done the Freedom again, instead....a bit smaller, and didn't seem to be as crowded.

There are slobs on most cruises, unfortunately....not just Carnival, either!

[Fairway Cruiser]

My wife and I were on the Dream last Sept. 25 (Eastern Carib). I did not notice any problems with young people at all. Of course, with school back in session, I'm sure the number of kids was much smaller than on a June cruise.

 

Lots of great features on the Dream....... (Ocean Plaza area, Deck 5 wrap around promenade, Serenity Deck area, Water Park, Deck 5 Barbeque on Sea Days, Cove Balconies, etc.) I really enjoyed this cruise.

 

However, the conquest class is still my favorite class of Carnival Ship, having cruised on both the Conquest & Glory.

 

We are booked on the Legend in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to experiencing the "Spirit Class"

[Socref124]

However, the conquest class is still my favorite class of Carnival Ship, having cruised on both the Conquest & Glory.

 

We are booked on the Legend in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to experiencing the "Spirit Class"

 

You will absolutely love the Legend. The Spirit Class ships are so much easier to navigate around and everything seems to be right there for you. Let us know what you think of the Legend when you get back.

[melli_fera]

Cushing985, We've cruise the Dream in winter, late spring (last week of May) and early summer( mid June). I'd have to say we were quite please with all 3 cruises. There were more children on the early summer cruise and fewer, but still kids bouncing around, on the winter cruise. We seem to have this ingrained ability/intuition that keeps us out of the worst of the crowds (except the first change over from family to adult comedy shows:D) by spending our time on the Serenity deck, doing late dining and eating at the lessor crowded venues on the Lido deck during the days. Plus being early risers (love the stillness of the mornings at sea), we avoid the need to battle chairhogs( hammock hogs and clamshell hogs on the Serenity). We stayed in Spa Cabins, thus limiting the flash mobs of teens/tweeners from hanging out in our hall ways. We take stairs or use elevators at less than peak times. Unless we're on an early excursion, we wait to depart ship in port and come back well before the mad rush to the gangplank the hour before sailing. On debarking, we wait until the last possible minute, have breakfast in the MDR and waltz off the ship with few hassles.

 

I suggest you look at late May versus early June and when on board, adopt the big smile, sidestep any rude folks, and just enjoy your cruise.

 

+1

You described my experience on Dream last week to a "T". We were told there were about 4200 guests and 1100 crew on board. 1000 of the guests were children. I don't have any idea where 4200 people were during the course of my cruise. Never had any of the issues OP mentioned, with the exception of debarkation in Nassau.