Pros and Cons of Carnival Dream, Carnival Vista & Carnival Glory

[mygirlsemandsam]

We have narrowed our potential next cruise down to three ships. Anyone have any pros or cons for any of these ships: Carnival Glory, Carnival Vista & Carnival Dream? 

[Indytraveler83]

You didn't mention itineraries at all, but the Glory sails out of New Orleans, which is a fun experience in and of itself.  As far as the 3 ships:

 

Glory is the smallest and least crowded of the group.  That said, she is the oldest and has the least new features.

 

Vista is a pretty new ship with a ton of features.  She is also the most crowded of the three.

 

Dream is in between the two both on features and crowds.

 

All three are good ships.  The Dream and Vista have similar cabin types, while the Glory lacks the cove balconies, yet has some cool forward facing ocean view rooms. 

 

If it were me, I'd base the decision more on price/itinerary and rooms.  

[Runaway Parent]

If you have sailed the Magic or the Breeze, the Dream will be a disappointment. The decor is older, no Cucina, and just...tired. The Serenity deck is also smaller with very few clam shell chairs (I think I counted 11), and none of them are forward facing in the main Serenity area. 

 

Having said that, upon it's return this weekend it is going into dry dock for 2 weeks. We just returned on the 12th from a Dream cruise and sail out again on her on March 6th. It will be interesting to see what changes take place! So why did we sail Dream? The timing just worked. 

 

I've sailed all three you've mentioned, and I'd choose them in this order: Vista, Glory, Dream. Having said that, itinerary is probably more important than the ship. Depending on how many/ages are going, you might consider the Havana cabins on Vista--LOVED them!

[brilliantseas]

Of the three options, I would skip the Glory. I have never been a fan of the Conquest class ships. Choppy layout and the Lido midship area has the tiered / stair-step seating, which reduces space and makes it feel crowded. 

 

Vista has the most new features. I enjoyed the additional specialty restaurants, the dedicated Limelight Lounge, and the IMAX theater. 

 

I would put Dream in second. I've heard she is currently in need of a refurbishment, however as others have said, she is due for drydock later this month and will hopefully get the TLC she needs. I've cruised on her twice and loved both experiences. 

[jlabs03]

I have been on both the Glory and the Dream, I will be on the Vista in a couple of weeks.  I generally do not sail for the ship but for the itinerary and timing. I am not extremely impressed with any of Carnivals ships compared to other cruise lines but they do get the job done, generally are cheaper, give me great casino rates (and free rooms), and I have always had a great time. 

 

As others have stated the Glory is smaller, I generally prefer smaller ships, but I liked the Dream better.  It was just a little nicer but I would sail on the Glory again.  The Dream has a larger casino and a separate smoke free casino, which is great since I do spend a lot of time in the casino. The Dream sails out of Galveston which is only about an hour away from where I live while the Glory out of NOLA takes me about 5 hours.  NOLA is usually cheaper to sail out of than Galveston.  I have taken three cruises out of NOLA and sailing down the Mississippi was nothing special.  There is not much to see and it gets dark pretty quickly, but a lot of people enjoy it.  I have also been hearing about a lot of cars parked at the port being broken into at NOLA, so since I drive to that port I probably will not be back there for a while.

 

 

 

 

[Saint Greg]

For ship I rank them Vista, Dream, Glory. There isn’t as big of a gap between Dream and Glory since Dream doesnt have the bells and whistles Breeze and Magic have. Glory does have the positive of being out of New Orleans if you are planning a pre or post cruise stay. 

[BTromboneFrack]

Been on the Glory and the Magic.   I actually like the Glory better, but we've loved all of the Conquest class ships we've been on.   Going on the Vista in two months and then the Glory again twice (b2b).