Carnival Dream is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is the lead ship of her namesake class, which includes Carnival Magic, Carnival Breeze, and Costa Diadema. Built by Fincantieri at its Monfalcone shipyard in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, she was floated out on October 24, 2008, and christened by Marcia Gay Harden.[1][8][9]

Carnival Dream docked in Nassau, Bahamas in 2024.
History
Panama
NameCarnival Dream
OwnerCarnival Corporation & plc
OperatorCarnival Cruise Lines
Port of registryPanama City,  Panama
OrderedJanuary 31, 2006
BuilderFincantieri
CostUS$741,100,785
Yard numberMonfalcone 6151
Laid downFebruary 4, 2008
LaunchedOctober 24, 2008
Sponsored byMarcia Gay Harden
AcquiredSeptember 12, 2009
Maiden voyageSeptember 21, 2009
In service2009–present
Identification
StatusIn service
Notes[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeDream-class cruise ship
Tonnage
Length306.02 m (1,004 ft 0 in)
Beam37.2 m (122 ft 1 in)
Decks15
Installed power
Speed22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Capacity3,646 passengers [4]
Crew1,369
Notes[1][5][6][7]

At 128,250 GT, Carnival Dream was once the largest Carnival Cruise Ship. It lost this title to the Carnival Magic, when she was introduced in 2011.

Carnival Dream, March 2023

Facilities

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The vessel under construction in 2008

Carnival Dream and her sisters were the largest ships ever built by Fincantieri until the introduction of the Vista-class ships in 2016, which were also built by Fincantieri.[10] The ship was the first in the Carnival fleet to include a water park with multiple slides. She also has an 18-hole miniature golf course and a wide outdoor promenade deck that includes an outdoor café and a whirlpool Jacuzzi in four places along the outside edge of the deck.[5]

Drydock refurbishment

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Carnival Dream went into drydock in Freeport, Bahamas in 2017 receiving new carpeting, lighting, and wall coverings and new restaurants.[11] The ship went into drydock in Marseille in 2021 and received the blue/white livery seen on some of the cruise line's other ships.[12]

Areas of operation

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Carnival Dream has been based in several US ports cruising to Caribbean destinations. The ship was based in New Orleans, Louisiana up until late 2019 when she was re-positioned to Galveston, Texas.[citation needed]

Successors

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The Carnival Dream not only introduced the Dream class of cruise ships,[13] but highly influenced Carnival's highly popular Vista class of ships.[14]

Incidents and accidents

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In July 2011, Carnival Dream had issues with one of her engines, forcing a change in her travel schedule.[15][16]

On March 14, 2013, Carnival Dream experienced a back-up generator malfunction while performing regular pre-embarkation testing. No power outages occurred but Carnival Cruise Line decided to stay docked in port at Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. The ship was scheduled to leave port around 5 p.m. ET the day before. The U.S. Coast Guard said they were notified by Carnival Cruise Lines that Carnival Dream was experiencing problems with her generator.[17] Carnival was paying to fly passengers back to Port Canaveral, via Orlando International Airport, or their home cities and canceled Carnival Dream's March 16 departure.[15] The ship set sail on her first cruise after the mechanical problems on March 23.[18]

Michael Moses Ward, also known as Birdie Africa, the only child survivor of the 1985 MOVE bombing, died in September 2013, at the age of 41. His death occurred in a hot tub aboard Carnival Dream while sailing in the Caribbean. Initial reports indicated an accidental drowning.[19] Sources say he may have had a stroke in the hot tub.

On May 3, 2018, a pipe, which was part of the ship's fire suppression system, burst and flooded deck 9. About 50 staterooms were affected by the flood.[20] On December 29, 2018, lifeboat number 28 broke loose from Carnival Dream for unknown reasons and was excessively damaged. Carnival decided to abandon the lifeboat at sea and plans to purchase a new replacement. No one was on board the lifeboat at the time and no injuries were reported.[21]

On October 24, 2019, a few hours after Carnival Dream left Galveston, a man went overboard by jumping off his stateroom balcony. Carnival stated "the ship's command promptly began search and rescue procedures, returned to the area near where the incident occurred and notified the US Coast Guard." However, after 586 square miles covered by the search in 48 hours, the US Coast Guard suspended operations.[22]

Filming location

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About 20 minutes of the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was filmed aboard Carnival Dream.[23][24]

Although unseen, it is mentioned in the 2013 film World War Z that the Carnival Dream is a part of a fleet of ships from around the world taking refuge in the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast of the United States.[citation needed]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Carnival Dream". VesselTracker. 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Carnival Dream". Fincantieri. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Carnival Dream, The PPI Group, p.25, 2009.
  4. ^ "Carnival Dream Fact Sheet". carnival-news.com. August 28, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Carnival Dream Highlights". Carnival Cruise Line. 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  6. ^ "Cruise Ships: Carnival Dream". Fincantieri. 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  7. ^ "Carnival Dream (874808)". Port State Information Exchange. United States Coast Guard.
  8. ^ Smith 2010, p. 33.
  9. ^ "Carnival Dream (9378474)". LR ships in class. Lloyd's Register. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  10. ^ ""Carnival Magic" Laid: Work Start Carnival Cruise Line's New Flagship" (Press release). Fincantieri. January 12, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  11. ^ Bretz, Sarah (February 13, 2017). "Carnival Dream Receives BBQ Joint, Guy's Burgers And More". cruiseradio.net. Cruise Radio, Inc. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "Carnival Dream Gets New Hull Design". cruiseindustrynews.com. Cruise Industry News. July 15, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  13. ^ "List of Carnival Cruise Ships Newest to Oldest". Cruise Fever. August 8, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  14. ^ "Carnival Vista really is different from other ships. Here are 6 reasons why". Miami Herald.
  15. ^ a b Greg Pallone; Jerry Hume (March 14, 2013). "Carnival passengers stuck on cruise ship to fly into Orlando". Central Florida News 13. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  16. ^ "Technical problem forces Carnival Dream to change trip". Central Florida News 13. July 16, 2011. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  17. ^ Chuck Johnston; Tina Burnside; Marlena Baldacci (March 14, 2013). "Passengers: Power outages, overflowing toilets on another Carnival cruise ship". CNN. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  18. ^ Jerry Hume (March 23, 2013). "Repaired Carnival Dream sets sail from Port Canaveral". Central Florida News 13. Archived from the original on March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  19. ^ Davies, Dave (September 25, 2013). "'Birdie Africa,' child of MOVE, dies at 41". www.newsworks.org. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  20. ^ "Pipe burst aboard Carnival Dream floods staterooms, hallway mid-cruise". NOLA.com. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  21. ^ Walker, Jim (December 31, 2018). "Carnival Dream Loses Lifeboat". Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  22. ^ "Search suspended for man who jumped off Carnival cruise ship". October 27, 2019.
  23. ^ Kosciolek, Ashley (December 21, 2011). "'Chipwrecked': 5 Questions About Alvin, the Chipmunks and Carnival Dream". CruiseCritic.com. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  24. ^ Sloan, Gene (December 16, 2011). "'Alvin and the Chipmunks' movie filmed on Carnival Dream". USA Today: Travel. Retrieved July 22, 2013.

Bibliography

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