We recently cruised on the Carnival Dream and had a great time but it wasn't entirely smooth sailing.

First of all I booked a Guaranteed Stateroom for the cruise. I have always picked my own cabin and location with the exception of last year when Princess was doing a promotional less than 30 days to sailing and they picked my cabin. Since we were prior Princess guests they took that into consideration and upgraded us 6 categories. I was given the impression when I booked with Carnival that since this was my 5th Carnival cruise that I would be likely upgraded. Unfortunately that was not the case and I got exactly what I paid for, a cabin on the lowest deck and in the back of the ship. We did not even receive our cabin assignment until less than 48 hours to sailing. Luckily someone from Carnival called and offered us an upgrade at a fee. $50 for an inside stateroom upgrade the entire week. $100 if you wanted an ocean view stateroom and $300 for a balcony stateroom. We chose to upgrade to an inside cabin because it was the best location available. We were on the 8th deck mid ship which was centrally located.

Boarding the ship ran smoothly but I do recommend you leave your bags curbside and allow them to be delivered to your stateroom. Rooms were not available until 1:30 PM and this was strictly enforced so hauling bags around until your room was ready would be a nuisance. Read more