Carnival Dream Review
Carnival Dream - July 2017 Western Caribbean
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This was our 4th cruise and our kids' first ever cruise. We had a wonderful time, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. The Carnival Dream is a really nice ship. We were very impressed with its bright colors and cleanliness, as workers were always tidying up everything. Plenty of activities, and our kids really enjoyed the water slides which were much faster than we expected! There were two pools which were busy at times, but decent. (I think there used to be 3 pools on this ship a while back, so that would have been nice in easing the number of people in the pools.) There is a kids' club with programs for children of all ages (arts & crafts, video games, etc) but our kids opted not to participate in that. They just enjoyed swimming and preferred to being in the sun most of the time with us.
In addition to the land excursions, we also did the 'Behind the Fun' ship tour, which was a guided tour through the engine control room, massive kitchen areas, show stage and dressing room, recyclables processing area, and the bridge (which was the most fascinating part getting to talk to the captain and seeing all the navigation computers/controls.) This tour costs $95 a pop, but I highly recommend it if you want to splurge, as it is 3 hours long and worth the investment. Note: Cameras and phones are not allowed on this 'Behind the Fun' for security reasons, which is understandable, but unfortunate. (There is a security guard who accompanies the tour and monitors any use of recording devices.)
We went to a couple of the nightly shows (80's music and movie themes) which were quite entertaining, and much better than we expected. A small cast of 8 people, but amazing special effects, lasers, fog, and pyro accompanied all the great singing, music and dancing.
Cabin Review
Ocean Suite
Because we had 4 in our cabin, we splurged on an Ocean Suite so that we had more cabin space for comfort. We were mid-ship on the 7th deck, and our balcony was right above a jacuzzi outside. However we never experienced noise or shouting. Our cabin was very quiet. In the bathroom. there are 2 sinks with a suite instead of one, and the decor is so much nicer too. The faucet water is treated ocean water, so it does not taste very good. So we always used bottled water when we brushed our teeth. There is also a full bathtub with water-jets. LOTS of closet and storage spaces in the suite. The suite balcony is larger than a standard balcony cabin. We had a king-sized bed (2 beds pushed together) and a couch that folds out into a double bed for the kids. Our bed was firm, but rather comfortable. However, there are not enough AC outlets, and none near the bed surprisingly, so bring extension cords with you, which we did. Our cabin steward was very friendly, and always knew our names. She gave us great service! Each day she would leave us some cookies in our cabin, and would leave a towel animal on the bed..the kids enjoyed that. Our cabin was always very clean. If you have 3-4 people in your cabin, I do recommend a suite if you can splurge a bit!