I can't believe there haven't been any posts since I've been gone!
I just got home from a 3-night cruise on the Dream and wanted to share my thoughts! I will preface this by saying that I cruised with my mom and younger brother, who is special needs. You vacation differently depending in who you're with and that's fine. So DH & I would probably have done different activities than we did on this sailing. So here goes!
Overall, the ship is lovely. The light fixture in the lobby is stunning and I loved all the artwork. Nothing was "in your face" Disney. It was elegant and subdued. The little details are wonderful though, such as the glass slippers in the chandelier at Royal Palace, the Mickey heads in the wrought iron gate in the Enchanted Garden and the ship's horn! No one does theming like Disney, that's for sure.
Stateroom
Our stateroom was #8164 which was a Navigator's Verandah. We loved our room and HIGHLY recommend this cabin if you want a balcony, but at a lower price than a regular verandah room. The balcony is a bit smaller than a regular one, but you really couldn't tell. It still fit 2 chairs and a table just fine. It's just the way the ship is built that causes the verandah to be a little narrower in size. However, it's considered an "obstructed-view" so it's a lower class than a normal verandah. Definitely worth the few hundred dollars in savings!
Loved the split bathroom concept. Really great. I can see where a bathtub is a great perk for families, but I can take or leave it. My husband is also about 6'3 and I really think he'll have a hard time fitting in that shower. I felt like I was almost too tall. The magnifying mirror was a nice little detail too.
I was a little annoyed that the bed didn't split into twins. Not a big deal for some, but I like having my own bed. I can see how it also might be strange if you're sharing a cabin with friends so just someone you don't normally sleep with!
The sliding door to the verandah is genius. Please Carnival take note!! It's so much quieter and easier to use. It's a little thing to take notice of, but such a nice feature!
I didn't really unpack because it was only 3 nights, but it seemed like there was plenty of storage. Outlets/charging stations by the bed were much appreciated too.
Food
Overall, I think this was the best food I've had on a cruise. It seemed like a higher caliber of food available. For example, the lunch buffet at Cabanas on embarkation day had peel & eat shrimp, mussels, crab claws, etc. I've never seen that on another sailing. I didn't have a bad meal at any of the dining rooms. Oh, and if they have the blueberry/mango twist ice cream at the self-serve place, make yourself a cone!
So yummy! But seriously, we all agreed the food was excellent.
The only negatives I found were the disappointing salad bar and the pizza. The pizza just wasn't great and the slices were tiny. And I've seen better salad bars at a chain buffet restaurant! Oh and to be honest, I also missed Blue Iguana & Guy's Burgers!
Ship Spaces
We really enjoyed the Quiet Cove pool and the adult deck (Serenity Falls?). It was an upper deck with a fountain/pool. Which is another thing I wish Carnival would take note of - PLEASE put a pool on the Serenity decks!
The "lido" deck was overall way to crowded, hectic, and loud for us. And there were TONS of kids on this sailing. Between the 2 smaller pools, the movie screen that was always showing a movie, the water slides, kids area, the food & drink stations, etc, it just seemed really crowded all the time. It was hard to even walk through sometimes. One thing I noticed was that the stations that served the pizza, burgers/hot dogs, sandwiches, etc, were on the complete opposite side of the deck than the buffet. But there were no drink stations there. So you had to walk all the way to the other side of the deck just to get a drink. Minor inconvenience, yes, but it was a little annoying trying to navigate through a crowded deck when it would have been so easy just to throw a drink station down there!
I mentioned before that the lobby was very pretty, however, it always quiet. There were character greetings there, guest services, a bar tucked into the far side. It wasn't the center of any activity, which I kind of missed.
Dining rooms were all really cool. I do like the rotating dining room concept, however, I think I'm spoiled with My Time Dining on Carnival. We had the early seating because of my brother, which was at 5:45. That's really early for me. I definitely understand that set dining times are needed because of the rotating concept, but I enjoy the freedom of eating whenever is convenient.
Entertainment
The shows were the Golden Mickeys, Beauty & the Beast, and Believe. I admit I did not see Beauty & the Beast because I went to watch Avengers: Endgame (amazing btw!) instead. However, my mom said it was not only the best stage show she has seen on a ship, but was probably the best version of B&tB she's ever seen. Golden Mickeys & Believe were also excellent. So yes, Disney wins for best stage shows, but honestly, I wouldn't expect anything less!
We did a few other little things like a drawing class and family game show, but I did miss things like the late-night comedians and varied live music. The ship definitely died down at about 11:00PM. So if you're looking for late-night entertainment, you probably aren't going to find much.
Random Other Things 
I'll be completely honest: I enjoy having a beverage package. It didn't matter much here because of the short duration and who I was sailing with, but I can see how DH & I would really miss this on a longer voyage. The few times we did order drinks, I was disappointed with the presentation. They used cheap paper cups that look like they came from a gas station, unless you bought the souvenir cup. Very strange to me! And yes, you get paper straws, but seriously, every cup was throwaway paper! Even the cups at the drink stations. Did not seem to be Disney quality at all. I'm all for going green, but why not have reusable cups?
One of my favorite things to do on the Carnival ships is their movies under the stars. I love throwing on comfy clothes, relaxing on a lounge chair, getting popcorn, etc. So I went to watch Guardians of the Galaxy one night and was really disappointed to find that all the lounge chairs were stacked up and there were just these lousy beach chairs available. And no popcorn. I ended up leaving just because I couldn't get comfortable. So that experience was a bust.
Also, the seats in the Walt Disney Theater were like those old-time theater seats. Not very comfortable and not a lot of leg room. Carnival has that bench seating with tons of room and little tables that I now appreciate much more!
Castaway Cay was wonderful. It's an awesome port stop and I can see why people love it. Really nice beach day. I was skeptical about the lunch, but it was great! The only negative I can say is $34 to rent snorkel gear? Really?
Overall
We had a fun time. Would I do a 3-night cruise again? Nope. Wayyyyyy too short and I hate to say it's not worth it, but in my opinion, it almost is. And that's referring to any cruise line. 3-nights just doesn't cut it for me. I would possibly add a 3-night onto a WDW vacation, but even then I don't think I would do less than 4 nights.
Is DCL my first choice for cruising in the Caribbean? Probably not. The service was wonderful, the ship was beautiful, food was excellent. Did those things justify the MUCH higher price tag? In our case, I don't think so. I also don't think DH & I are their target audience, and that's fine. We enjoy beverage packages, late night entertainment, and adult comedians and we aren't going to find that on DCL. If we had children, my opinion might change. But that's why everyone needs to decide what works best for their family!
I think our British Isles cruise will be a much different experience and I'm still so very excited for it. But I think we will be getting our Disney fix at WDW in the future. We LOVE cruising and DCL isn't off the table completely, but I see us cruising Carnival and possibly giving Royal and NCL a try before coming back to it.
Sorry I rambled a bit, but I wanted to get everything down before I forgot!
So it drives me crazy that I can’t immediately get ballpark pricing. Oh and flights are the same issue. DH thinks I’m crazy for trying to do this “so early.” *sigh* I figured fellow Disboarders might understand! 
