Bad review for Dream
 

Just got back from the Dream and wrote a review which was not posted.
Just to confirm the Dream still has the sewage smell every so often, My cabin steward says its a bad vent system design. Overall it's a nice ship but nothing to get excited about, 2 small pools for 4500 people? The food was just so-so, edible but lacked any real taste. So I think we will be booking with Princess next time.

OKay, whatever floats your boat:rolleyes:

perhaps the OP will come back and provide a review within this thread ? Always good to hear personal opinions about a cruise for reference ;)

I doubt it after ruthless boss posted what to me is a rude comment.

I wouldn't.

I am hoping all the smell issues were fixed with Magic, which I have booked. I will also be doing the preview of Magic when it comes into Galveston, Ill be waiting for it and plan on taking a lot of pictures.

Am sailing on the Dream this in 10 days. First time on this ship. I have heard nothing but good things about this ship, this is why we are sailing on her.

Naturist, it takes a while for a review to show up, so don't give up! I'll be interested in reading it when it's posted.

Sure I'll do a follow up.I know everybody has there own idea of what is good and bad, and we have taken enough cruises on several different lines to feel that we have a way to compare each of them. When the raw sewage smell is so bad that half of the crowd at the art auction had to leave the room, then I think it smells. It would just appear and then drift away after 10-15 min. We had this happen all around the ship and almost everyday in our cabin #11423. we felt the entertainment was lacking and the main shows where just OK. We only ate in the dining room once and used the other options on the Lido deck for the rest of the time. The Pasta,burrito and deli had good food,but only open from noon to 3PM. The buffet was edible but tasteless and the desserts were awful! Thank god for the ice cream machine. They only have 2 small pools for over 4500 people so forget about those. Plenty of hot tubs, but those fill up with kids who use them as a playpool. Had a hot tub in the adults area but they seemed to have the same group in them ALL day long? got to wonder about the water quality if you know what I mean! I will say the spa thermo rooms are the best I have ever seen and having a co-ed dry sauna was a nice touch. I did check the steam room out in the gyms locker room and found a small (6 people) steam room that towards the end of the week looked like it needed a good gallon of bleach. What amazed me was seeing guys walking in there barefoot! So all in all, the Dream is a nice ship but not much different than other Carnival ships. Only bigger. We have found that Princess tends to put out a better quality in the food department. Granted there ships are a little smaller and not the same party crowd that Carnival gets. Thats why we bounce around to different lines. Depends on what we want at that time. Hope this helps, and no the negative comments to my post's won't bother me one bit.

If this person wasn't pleased with Dream, clearly not to his liking.
If Princess is his personal choice, so be it. Go to Princess.
I will agree, in my opinion, I had a great cruise on her, but I did not find it exciting either. That does not mean I need to go to another cruiseline, just find another ship that meets my fancy.

Would suggest you try another line such as Celebrity and woul bet you do not have these problems.

We also just got back from the Sept 10th sailing but didn't notice any smell at all. But I have to agree with "Naturist", we thought the shows had a lot to be desired. They're not as good as they use to be and seem to geared to the younger crowd with a lot of break dancing. This was our 10th Carnival cruise and out of all of them, I would have to rate the shows on this ship as the worse of all. We love going to the shows after the main dinner and actually look forward to seeing them, but it was a struggle to sit through these.

The comedians on this particular cruise I would say were the best we've seen in a very long time. We would go see them again in a heartbeat.

The CD and the staff was excellent as usual. We never complain about the service we receive on the ship in any department. They all work very hard to please the people and do a very fine job. Think about it, who could go seven days a week, doing the same thing every day, over and over again and smile about it. It's like groundhog day each and every day! It takes someone special to be able to do this, deal with all sorts of people and their personalities plus how many brats they must put up with. I can say that I sure couldn't do it. They deserve a lot of credit and I'll never say anything bad about any of them.

As far as the interior of the ship, like I've stated in other post, was very disappointing. No frills or thrills at all, in fact I thought it was very boring. We love Carnival ships but I think they did a very poor job designing this one. I will always sail on Carnival and plan on booking another one soon, but if I had a choice between the Dream or another ship, I would take the other. I have no interest going on the Dream again.

I have no problem booking Carnival and feel that you get your money's worth. To me it's the best vacation you can take.

My intention is not to refute nor verify what the O.P said re / the Dream. Simply stating my personal observation. I have sailed the ship twice-- once last year and the last time was on Sept. 17th to 24th, western route, deck 8, balcony cabin. I never smelled sewage anywhere at any time.
I was at the art auction and never once smelled sewage--I saw people leaving because the " free " champagne was slow in coming and people started going to where the waitstaff was bringing it out from the back and by the time they got a tray out, people were taking it off the tray, the waitstaff would have to go back, get another tray, get it highjacked again
so if you were sitting in the art auction area and waiting on champagne, it's not likely you got much, if any.
Re / the food in the dining room, I had no complaints with the exception of what they called prime rib. Were I Carnival, I would simply remove this item from the menu. I ordered it once and got something that was supposed to be prime rib but it was about 1/4 inch thin, tough and pretty much tasteless. Could have been a flavored shoe sole as far as I know.I simply stuck with the fish, chicken and other dishes after that one time and had plenty.
The buffet is buffet food. I thought it, for the most part, good, as there's some things I liked and some I didn't--same as a buffet in Vegas or anywhere else.
Re / the desserts in the dining room and buffet, they were plentiful and varied and, in my opinion, very good. Again, some I liked better than others but as I said, I'm not here to refute nor verify what the O.P has said.
We had late seating, lower level in the Scarlett Dining room. The Maitre' D did a good job--he was very visible. kept a good eye on the dining room and the waitstaff were efficient.
The cabin stewards were efficient and did their job well.There were 3 couples of us and no one had any complaints.
I only went to the pursers desk a couple of times for change for smaller bills when going ashore and once for priority tendering. My experience with the staff there was that they were efficient and friendly.
We ordered room service breakfast a couple of times and it was very quickly served up, although on Carnival you are limited for breakfast to pretty much rolls, pastries, cereal, coffee etc. No eggs, bacon, etc.
I don't do reviews and haven't meant for this to be one. I'm simply stating my experience on the Dream a week and half ago-- we had no complaints, smelled no sewage, saw no one leaving the art auction because of odors, although a large group could have silently passed gas that caused a mass exodus ! ;)
The ship was clean, well maintained, the crew efficient, and helpful.
The only thing I didn't understand was when we first started to go through the security check line, there were 2 distinct lines--one for Platinum guests and one for non Platinum. However when the lines reached the security point, they merged into one line-- why have 2 lines--one marked for Platinum guests, one for the others and then merge the lines at the end--made little sense to me but we were aboard within 45 minutes from entering the terminal. We had a good cruise and had no complaints.
Again, my purpose by writing this was not to refute nor verify anything that was said by the O.P re / his cruise--simply stating my experience and that of the other 2 couples with us.

Great cruiseline, older passengers, a little more "spoiling".

On my one and only Celebrity cruise I found the ship to be dirty,That ship had just had a complete makeover before that season began. In several places you could see behind walls and there on the floor were piles of construction debris. Wood, nails, peices of carpet among other things. All of that mess should have been cleaned up before presenting that ship to the public again. That does not present Celebrity in a good way in my mind.

Laura

I too, have sailed "Dream" twice, and NEVER noticed the smell, at all. I can't imagine how the OP can say the food in the dining room was bad, when he/she only ate there once. We found the food in the dining room to be very good, and yes, there were exceptions, but overall, very good. Yep, there are lots and lots of people aboard, but with a little planning you can avoid the lines. I too think the BIG shows are geared to the younger set. I couldn't care less about "break dancing", and probably won't go see that show again, or stand around in the atrium to watch them roll around on the floor there. I'd book "Dream" again in a heartbeat. I personally, think that "Dream" was a far better cruise than the last "Princess" cruise I took. (Ruby Princess) That cruise certainly wasn't up to what I've always considered the "Princess Standard". I won't book that cruise again,,,unless it's an absolute "give away".

"SKY"

I have only two very minor comments:

The capacity of the dream is supposedly 3700 ? approx.

My 2nd comment applies to almost all cruise ships - yeah the pools will be busy but you know that when you book. Yet folks complaining even when they know that will be the case.

If anyone wants the name of a hotel where you are guaranteed your own private pool - pm me - it is in India :)

I agree with Skymaster - you get what you pay for - on balance most cruisers receive value for money.

BTW I have been advised not to cruise Carnival or NCL by friends- they know my quirks. :)

Annie
Annie

The 3700 figure is based on 2 to a cabin. The CD announced on our cruise that there was over 4500 aboard. This would mean there was alot of familys and 3 or 4 to a cabin. Thats how they come up with the larger number.

OK :)

Certainly too many folk for me :)

I have sympathy with the sewage smell though.

Annie

Was the sewage smell thoughout the ship or just in certain halls? Just curious because we were on the sister ship, the Magic, and had no issues with smell. Wonder if they fixed it?

I think every ship goes through "sewage smell" issues at one time or another. When we were on Radiance of the Seas it was an ongoing problem and they were gradually replacing the plumbing on all the upper decks.

I sailed on Carnival Liberty in June and enjoyed the cruise but I would have to say that the overall food in the dining room and the buffet was not up to what I had experienced on previous Carnival cruises. Also, the buffet desserts, while pretty, were terrible. Tasteless with icings that tasted like they were made with Crisco and not butter or dairy. These issues were not so bad that I wouldn't book it again. I'm actually sailing on Carnival Liberty next March. However, if the food quality has dropped another notch I may have to rethink Carnival.

Take care,
Mike

no the smell just came and went within 10 min or so. My cabin steward told me that they were told not to talk about it, but we got to know her really good. She said they have had many complaints regarding the smell mostly from the upper two decks.
It has to do with vent pipes and weather conditions. Since we were on level 11 we tended to get "gassed" (thats what she said the crew called it) at least once a day.
Maybe our cabin was right next to one of the pipes? Also I'm glad there is someone else that agrees with me about the desserts. Oh well happy that I could rile some of you up. Happy sailing to all out there.

We have sailed Dream three times. The first time we really smelled the smell. After Carnival did something, when we sailed in April we didn't notice it at all. I do have to say though, we have sailed other ships and have smelled the same thing. It is not an "all day, all night" smell, it just comes and goes. So, OP, I wouldn't be so sure that you won't smell it on another ship.

As far as food, I think Carnival has cheapened it, but, to me, dinner in the MDR is far better than dinner in the sterile-no tableclothes, no atmosphere buffet. But, that's my opinon and I know yours is different. We had the best dessert in the MDR and it would never be one I would choose, but our waiter brought it to us as an extra. It was a fig cake and if it were available every night, I would order it.

I do agree the pools were way too small for the number of passengers. As far as the decor on the ships, sorry, but I totally disagree. I think Dream looks like a ship as opposed to Miracle who looks like someone had too much wine and is suffering from a bad hangover the next day, but the grapes in the dining room are there to remind them!

I am glad there are many cruiselines and ships so we can each find what appeals to each of us. We have plans to sail on Dream in February and I am looking forward to it.

Enjoy your cruise on Princess. We sail many lines and each has something that is better than the other. That's why we switch things up.

Couldn't agree with you more. It's not so much the cruise line as it is the ship. Everyone is just a little different. That's why we jump around so much and sail with just about every cruiseline out there. We are not loyal to one company like so many out there. So it take's us forever to build up travel point's with a single company, Oh well, it's just money.

We are sailing on the Dream the 15th and now not so excited. :( This is going to be our 20 yr anniversary cruise and booked a suite.

We have sailed the Spirit many time and found it a nice ship but have noticed over the years that the food in not what it use to me. When we did the Alaska cruise this past July, we really enjoyed the Steak House, awesome food and awesome service.

Mike, Last September I was aboard Liberty on my vacation. I too found the food in the Lido area to be lacking. I was also disappointed that the Asian Wok had been replaced by a burrito bar. Not as good as it was on my first trip on her in 2007. I was not in the least disappointed with the food on in the dining room.I certainly would not hesitate to book Liberty again as she was one of my favorite ships.
A couple of months later I was on Sensation and everything was great in all dining areas areas that I chose. Soon I will be sailing on Inspiration from Tampa and I hope she is as good as I have come to expect from Carnival over all.

Laura

Sky, I am glad you are saying you liked Dream. I am booked on her for Next September in my first ever aft facing balcony cabin. Over all I have heard more good than bad about this ship.

Laura

Have no fear Laura. You're gonna LOVE the "Dream". As I said, the lovely Mrs. Jones (Vita) and I have sailed her twice, and I can't wait to go again. Maybe we'll join you in September! :cool:

"SKY"

cruznut2, you will love the aft facing cabin, bigger than normal balcony. Whenever we go on a different ship I scope out all the cabins that I can for future trips. Our only complaint with these cabins are total lack of privacy( there angled out and everybody above can look right down on you) and the fact that it gets direct sun most of the time and no wind. But you can't beat the view!! best in the house. Just hope you don't have drunk college kids above you that thought it was fun to piss down onto our balcony. Of coarse security said they can't do anything unless they see them,but that's another post. Have a great time and check out the thermo area in the spa, best one out there.