Horrible experience on Dream

[PegMcNeill@aol.com]

just returned from a one week cruise on the norwegian dream .I could not recommend this ship to anyone . Calling this ship a free style cruising experience is a gross misrepresentation of what the ship has to offer. There is only one alternative restaurant which charges a $15 cover price.the remaining restaurants including one called the trattoria offer the exact same menu. Dinners were good but the food for lunch and breakfast was terrible in both the sportsbar & grille and in the pizzeria the only two places to eat if you did not want to spend an hour or more for a sitdown meal. Our cabin steward was excellent, the rest of the staff including the shore excursion personnel and the front desk were indifferent and borderline rude. I think this is because the staff gets tips automatically so they do not care if they provide decent service or not. The motto of this ship should be "the passenger is always wrong" which is the general attitude of the crew. The shore excursions were a disaster, most of the places we were supposed to go require a tender and the crew simply cannot handle it without lengthy waits and disinformation. You cannot go on a shore excursion without first having to sit in the stardust lounge for at least an hour which is too small to hold all of the people who have signed up to go. There was a near riot in roatan when the ship insisted that people still had to go on the shore excursions that were beach related even though it was pouring rain. They finally backed down but not until we waited for over an hour and there was a lot of yelling by many of the passengers. Then in cancun, we arrived at the anchorage about 8 and it was clear that the waves were large and it might be difficult to tender in. I called the desk to ask if we were still going to be able to go ashore since it meant waking up 7 people including kids and getting them dressed and into the stardust lounge by 8:15. I was told thecaptain would know by 8:30. I got everyone up and we arrived at the lounge on time. We sat for over an hour. Then they finally told us the snorkeling excursions were cancelled because it was too rough. We were supposed to go to garrafon park and they told about 150 people to go to the tender area on deck 4 which is way too small to hold the number of people. We went downto 4 half the people standing on the stairs. They made us wait another 25 minutes and then abruptly announced that it was too rough to tender and we were sailing on. No attempt to dock elsewhere, even though progresso has a port not more than 30 minutes away. There was no explanation of why we had to wait almost two hours to find out they could not dock a tender. The entire shipboard experience was about the same, total disorganization and total indifference to passenger satisfaction. The NCL focus seems to be on getting as much money out of the passenger as possible while offering as little as possible in return. This was by far not my first cruise, I have sailed with Celebrity several times and also with Royal Caribbean. The same is true for the other family members who were with us. We all agreed that we would never book with NCL again. By the way for those of you with kids, the kids program was terrible and the crew made no effort to control the kids on board who were not in the kids program. The result was that everyhot tub was full of unsupervised children as were all of the pools. We finally had to call security when a group of teenage boys persisted in doing cannonballs over the heads of other kids and adults into the aft pool. In sum, for those of you who are booked on the Dream, I recommend that you try to cancel now and book with another cruise line. Otherwise, I can only say :"expect the worst".

[Philip217]

You picked a cheap, old, run-down cruise ship that is about to be sold off to an Asian operator, for your cruise holiday.

 

Why were you surprised that it was a poor cruise?

[greenie]

Well now, I think that reply was uncalled for. Whether or not the ship is old, "worn-out" or being sold, these people paid good money and rightfully expected to have a good time and feel taken care of. If they'd paid $50 for an $800 cruise, well then. But somehow I doubt they paid a whole lot less (if any less) than everyone else pays for a cruise.

 

 

I'm sorry you had such an awful experience! I'm not sure you should condemn an entire cruiseline for one crappy time ... but then again, I might too so who am I to say.

[Shinemann]

Tendering is often dicey. Should have noted destinations when signing-up. Really can't expect NCL to control the weather. Rough-housing by kids is another thing. The Cruise Director should have taken care of that, but probably spending all the time boostering bingo games.

[TheDivineMsM]

I wonder if Julie realizes how annoying she really is?:rolleyes:

 

Sounds like the same inept shore excursion staff is still there as when l was there.

 

Be prepared for those 'sunshine sallies' who will come on and post 'that you have a bad attitude..a cruise is what you make it'. I wonder how that line 'would play' with those who were aboard the Titanic???

 

I agree..cancel the Dream while you have the chance. The price is not worth the aggravation.

[Host CMLA]

The NCL focus seems to be on getting as much money out of the passenger as possible while offering as little as possible in return.

I understood your frustration up until you wrote this. This kind of broad generalization takes away from how much credit I give the information I've read. That's just me. Others may see it differently. And to condemn NCL as a whole because of this one cruise doesn't seem logical to me. But it's your money so do what's best for you. I've read good and bad reviews of the Dream recently. It's hard to tell who's giving the most accurate picture of this ship.

 

By the way MsM...we got back from Paris Sunday night. Please e mail me so I can give you some information. :)

[rho88]

well, i was on the NCL Sea last week, so we got the same weather. Crappy weather in Roatan and didn't stop in Cancun. BUT our crew was great! We were told by the captain that we will not stop in Cancun by 8:00am, and shore excursions were made very fun even when we had to wait in line. The cruise director and his staff were joking around. I had a great cruise even if the weather really sucked. For exemple when we had to wait in line for tender in Belize, a staff member was walking around passing those Goodmark stickers and making little funny comments, so the whole process was actually made very amusing.

 

The NCL Sea is also an old ship. So I guess your experience on the Dream cannot be applied to the whole NCL fleet.

 

It's a real shame that you had a bad cruise though.

 

My parents also didn't like the food on the NCL Spirit when they were on last November. They were on the Celebrity Summit in 2003. But another relative who did the same 2 cruises prefers the NCL... so I guess it's really just personal taste.

[shoreguy]

I wonder if Julie realizes how annoying she really is?:rolleyes:

 

.

 

Not very. I have cruised with Julie 3 times. Twice she was ACD and once as the CD on the Dawn and found her to be a wonderful talent. I think TomCT even crused with her when she ran the Kids program on the Star.

 

Those that complain when others attack them should not throw stones. :cool:

[seaventurer]

I would suggest you vent your issues with NCL upper management. FEDEX a letter to the CEO and demand a response. The circumstances which resulted in a lousy cruise are not acceptable in today's competitive marketplace - period.

 

As a newcomer myself to NCL (Spirit and Sun), I can only say how great my experience(s) have been. The Sea however is old(er) and does not fit the NCL scheme with respect to dining...and with respect to all other problems encountered (except weather), they may not necessarily reflect on the newer ships and/or slated newbuilds NCL is investing in which will in fact position NCL as a unique cruise option and global leader.

 

I do believe that NCL should classify cruises on their soon-to-be retired vessels as economy cruises and charge appropriately. I sailed on Holland America's Zuiderdam twice last year and to this day can't figure out what makes HAL (Vista Class Ships) "premium class" or, any better than Carnival's newer ships for that matter.

 

The internet can be a vast source for information and details - good and bad. Do the research and typically, answers can be had well in advance of being dissapointed.

 

Sail on...

[bwellen]

I always find it interesting when two different people go on the exact same cruise and have totally different experiences.

 

Another person has posted a review of this same cruise on this board and they gave it rave reviews. They even made a point to praise the shore excursions staff.

 

I thought the point of freestyle cruising was that you could eat when and where you wanted, and also were not required to adhere to dress codes on certain nights. I know that some of the newer ships have many more dining options than the dream, but then those ships are much larger than the Dream. It is common knowledge on this board that the menu is duplicated in all of the restaraunts. I guess I'm not sure what the poster expected to find.

 

As stated elsewhere, tendering is always a gamble. I would think the Captain would make every effort to try and tender. If it does work, everyone has to be ready to go, so you need to have the excursion groups in their stations. You would probably also be upset if they announced at 6:00 AM that the port was cancelled and then it turned out to be a beautiful day. As far as using Progresso as an alternate port, you have to remember that they just can't head over there and tie up. It is much more complicated then that.

 

I guess my personal opinion has always been that the cruise ship staff should not have to control the kids on the ship. I mean the kids are supposed to have parents or guardians on the ship, so really the blame should be placed with the lack of parental supervision. I guess I just don't understand how the cruise staff is supposed to be responsible for the kids running around the ship. You also have to remember that this was a Holiday cruise, so I'm sure the number of children onboard was probably 2-3 times a normal cruise.

 

I don't know, I guess alot of these are things that I really wouldn't complain about if they had happened to me. Maybe I am just too easy going.

 

Differing opinions....

[shoreguy]

I do believe that NCL should classify cruises on their soon-to-be retired vessels as economy cruises and charge appropriately.

Sail on...

 

I believe they do. They announce the older ships are being retiered and you can't find a bigger bargin then the Dream or the Sea. Both are almost half the price of the Dawn. Not perfect but waiting in line or for excursions is something I have experienced on almost every cruise. Nothing the best ship can do about the weather.

 

Welcome to Holiday cruising - Once was enough - Every cabin stuffed, longer lines, to high a percentage of kids (including my own). Freestyle on the older ships and even to some degree on the new ships breaks down when capacity exceeds the normal double occupancy numbers.

[ColoradoJuli]

Shoreguy makes an excellent point. I too have been on a ship during the holiday season and during the off season. Things do seem to go much smoother when there are only 2 people (adults) on average per cabin, than when there are 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids) on average per cabin. Lines are longer and when there are more kids, their presence is felt expendentially.

 

One should always weigh the cruise that they are taking and take note if it will be a holiday time when the boat will be capacity. For this reason, I prefer to sail the second week in January when kids are back in school and everyone has returned to work from being gone for the holidays. I found this to be an inexpensive week and to be less chaotic.

 

I set sail on the Dream in 4 days. I am excited and know that I will have a wonderful time. I realize the boat is older and has been 'retro-fitted' to accomodate the Free Style. I won't expect perfection, but then I am not a perfectionist and do not expect that of others. I look forward to returning and giving you all my review without generalized statements of either good or bad.

[uneamie]

 

As stated elsewhere, tendering is always a gamble. I would think the Captain would make every effort to try and tender. If it does work, everyone has to be ready to go, so you need to have the excursion groups in their stations.

I am curious to know what the cruise line does if at the end of the day the sea is too rough to tender back in? :rolleyes:

As far as using Progresso as an alternate port, you have to remember that they just can't head over there and tie up. It is much more complicated then that.

I don't think people really understand that it's not like showing up at at parking lot and finding a space. :rolleyes:

I guess my personal opinion has always been that the cruise ship staff should not have to control the kids on the ship.

No they should not have to, but if the parents are being irresponsible then the crew should take responsiblity in locating the parents or telling the parents to control their kids.

You also have to remember that this was a Holiday cruise, so I'm sure the number of children onboard was probably 2-3 times a normal cruise.

If you have kids I guess that's the only opportunity you have to go. I don't have kids so I totally avoid Holidays. :rolleyes:

[Philip217]

Except in the worst of emergencies, the Captain of a cruise ship cannot "just decide" to go to a different port. It is really the same as an airplane pilot "just deciding" to land the airplane at a different airport. No can do.

If the Captain has a VERY good reason to change ports, he must:

 

Contact his superior at the Home Office to get permission. If it is the Christmas Holiday, his superior is probably on vacation and hard to find.

 

If his superior agrees to the port change, the cruise line must first contact the new port authority to see if there is room for the ship to dock there, and if the port has staff, tugboats, and officials available to handle this new client. Remember that it is the Christmas Holiday in a third world country, and most of the people who make these decisions - and do this work - are on vacation.

 

If the port agrees to take the ship, then about a dozen Vice Presidents and Directors of the Cruise Line must be contacted; to re-schedule shore tours, garbage collection, port agents, security staff, buses, water supply, provisions deliveries, crew changes (and flights), Customs and Immigration Officials, and God-only-knows-how-many-other-details. If you are trying to do this in a third world Country on Christmas Holiday - Good Luck.

 

Finally, assuming all of the above has gone well, hundreds of people at the Cruise Line Head Office - from the telephone operator to the lunchroom attendant - must be fully briefed on the port and schedule changes so they can answer questions and re-direct a million little details to a new location at a new time.

 

Do you think anyone wants to go through all of this if they do not absolutely have to?

Can you imagine how long it would take to work out all these details - if ever?

Does anyone believe - with nearly every aspect working against them - that the cruise line can pull this off without massive complaints from guests?

Its just not worth all the trouble.

[Host CMLA]

Except in the worst of emergencies, the Captain of a cruise ship cannot "just decide" to go to a different port. It is really the same as an airplane pilot "just deciding" to land the airplane at a different airport. No can do.

If the Captain has a VERY good reason to change ports, he must:

 

Contact his superior at the Home Office to get permission. If it is the Christmas Holiday, his superior is probably on vacation and hard to find.

 

If his superior agrees to the port change, the cruise line must first contact the new port authority to see if there is room for the ship to dock there, and if the port has staff, tugboats, and officials available to handle this new client. Remember that it is the Christmas Holiday in a third world country, and most of the people who make these decisions - and do this work - are on vacation.

 

If the port agrees to take the ship, then about a dozen Vice Presidents and Directors of the Cruise Line must be contacted; to re-schedule shore tours, garbage collection, port agents, security staff, buses, water supply, provisions deliveries, crew changes (and flights), Customs and Immigration Officials, and God-only-knows-how-many-other-details. If you are trying to do this in a third world Country on Christmas Holiday - Good Luck.

 

Finally, assuming all of the above has gone well, hundreds of people at the Cruise Line Head Office - from the telephone operator to the lunchroom attendant - must be fully briefed on the port and schedule changes so they can answer questions and re-direct a million little details to a new location at a new time.

 

Do you think anyone wants to go through all of this if they do not absolutely have to?

Can you imagine how long it would take to work out all these details - if ever?

Does anyone believe - with nearly every aspect working against them - that the cruise line can pull this off without massive complaints from guests?

Its just not worth all the trouble.

Philip217 this is probably the best description I've read on these boards about what goes in to changing ports. And you've just skimmed the surface. Thanks for pointing out some of these often overlooked details.

[specialthing1]

The only time Ive been upset with cruiseing children was not on NCL but these little uncontroleds were smart enough to turn in our room number and have us contacted at 3am while they escaped to (hopefully) where ever they should have been in the 1st place. Had it been my children (5) I would have expected them to be presented by security at our door instead of showing up and asking do you know where your children are. Yes KIds will be KIds but with this one exception we have enjoyed the younger cruisers on our 15 or so cruises.

[KathieP]

There are actually 2 other reviews about this very same cruise. We had a great time with our group of 20 people - 10 adults and 10 children. I was also signed up for the Garafon Reef tour on Cancun, as were 16 other people in our family group. I knew that Cancun was a port that might be missed (which is why I encouraged everyone in our group to sign up for a ships tour so if it was cancelled, the charges would be refunded) and sure enough the morning that we were to stop there, the seas were very rough but just before port time, it calmed considerably.

 

The captain explained afterwards that what happened was that the anchors were not holding and the customs boat could not even board which was necessary before the tenders would get in position. The customs boat broke a chain trying to hook on to our ship because of our boat moving because of the anchors not holding it and the winds. The captain also said that although many people had suggested that we go to Cozumel (so what if we had already been there??) when it looked like we wouldn't make Cancun, he said it would take two hours to motor down there and then we would have to leave early in the afternoon to start back towards New Orleans. It was a bad situation waiting in the hold for a tender and I was concerned that people would start fainting. As my sister in law commented, it was as if they were doing tendering for the first time. Waiting to go ashore at rainy Roatan was about the same and I was suprised that we were able to tender there. But watching the crew members I could tell that they were really trying to make everything happen so we could go ashore. After all, when we go ashore all the workers can do their job (or also get off) much easier. I actually felt sorry for all of them also when Cancun was cancelled.

 

My suggestion on the comment card was to drop Cancun or to have a back up port. It is frustrating to have the last port (the one where you think you'll do everything you didn't do at the first three) cancelled and then hear that you're going back to the cold North. I did not think this was an easy decision to make and I was frustrated, not because we missed Cancun but because we missed one last port. I would have been happy going to a beach anywhere with a bag lunch.

 

As to the food complaint, I agree that the Sportsbar and Pizzaria did get old quickly but after the 3 port days, we just used it for breakfast. I usually just have a simple breakfast anyway and thought the museli was good. We had dinner (yes, our whole group of 20) every night at 5:30 in either the Four Seasons or The Terrace. I thought the food was very compareable to what we had had on the Millennium. I agree that you couldn't get out of either resturant in under an hour, but that's what cruising is about - what's the hurry?

 

Teens doing cannonballs: Unacceptable, but could happen at any pool without a lifeguard. I found most of the staff pleasant and willing to accomodate. One morning I went to the pizzaria and noticed a women smoking right in the enclosed area. I asked a nearby supervisor if that was allowed. She said no and when I pointed the smoker out to her, she immediately went over to the lady and told her that smoking was not allowed, the lady left and I sat down at a nearby table. We booked Garafon reef and my husbands scuba diving trip on board. The staff member was very pleasant and listened patiently to my husbands many questions.

 

As to Julie, I thought she was fine - cruise directors have to be pretty perky, don't they? No mention of the crowds not being enthusiastic enough as mentioned in an older review. Her assistant was more annoying and the constant bingo announcements were probably my number one complaint. However, I didn't even mention them because they were not a big deal.

 

All in all, I won't dispute a single complaint of the OP. However, Every one of our 20 people enjoyed this cruise and the positives outweighted the negatives. If you've already booked, relax and don't sweat the small stuff.

[Joanne G.]

I am curious to know what the cruise line does if at the end of the day the sea is too rough to tender back in? :rolleyes: /QUOTE]

 

That happened at Royal Caribbean's private island a year or two ago. People had to spend the night on the island. :eek: It may look like paradise during the day, but those private islands are not set up for overnight guests. The crew brought over blankets and other supplies (while it was determined unsafe for passengers, the crew used the tenders for that purpose) and most passengers made the best of a very bad situation. I think everyone got a massive credit or refund, whether or not they were stranded on the island overnight.

 

I'm sure the crew seriously wants to avoid a situation like this, thus they make the decision early in the day about tender ports. Maybe the day turns out OK and people unnecessarily miss a port, but the wrong decision could have serious consequences.

[CastorFache]

And yes it did rain in Roatan. Aside from that, the cruise was fantastic.

 

Sure there were bumps in the road. I agree the whole Stardust thing was a bit of a mess, and I pointed this out to the SHOREX manager when I talked with him. I also placed it on my comment card.

 

I am not a sunshine sally as Ms. M would put it, and I can say without hesitation that that staff and crew on that cruise were well aware that there were unhappy customers. I spoke with at least 6 crew members who were just as disappointed that we missed Cancun after the horrible weather in Roatan.

 

As for no explanations...I believe the Captain announced several times throughout the day why we could not dock in Cancun. He also apologized profusely for that problem and the poor weather in Roatan. What more could they do about it? As we all learned recently, we cannot control weather.

 

I will say that I found the cruise to be very well done, and in spite of a few weather problems, it was great. The food was great in the restaurants...I only did the buffet once...and I will agree it is not set up well, nor is the quality great, but I did not choose the Dream for its buffet.

 

I think Julie's biggest problem is that her first language is not English. That being said, I think she has a problem that many others have...she rushes her words and sometimes they come out a little jumbled or their inflection is wrong. Karl was an interesting fellow. His announcements were very corny...but I think they did work.

 

Attitude is everything...I agree with KathieP...if you have already booked, just sit back and enjoy. One caveat though...if you are booked believing this cruise ship is like the behemoths with buffets out the ying-yang, you may want to re-evaluate. This is not a buffet-driven ship. It is however a lovely ship with a fine crew and staff that will meet your needs if you are just wanting to relax and enjoy the sun and seas.

[cyelee]

I booked the Dream just a few days ago Alaska in May 11 nights, I booked it for the price, like the board mentioned you cannot beat their prices especially when you are on a budget like I am. Well after starting at the top of this thread and reading the bad reviews about the Dream I was honestly thinking about cancelling until I read your review. I have sailed on Royal, Princess and Holland America, wanted to try freestyle. I want to thank you for changing my mind about cancelling, I find cruising the best way to relieve stress and enjoy yourself. When I return I will write a review and I know it will be a great one!

[Rick R]

philip217 where did you get that info? I was on the Vision of the Sea going to Hawaii and the Captain called the ports, Kona and Hilo, and he made the change. That was RCCL and NCL may have other rules.

[tjosh7]

I previously posted a positive review of this ship and, in that review I stated that you would encounter all types of opinions, good and bad.

 

Funny, as we were in the Stardust waiting for them to make a decision regarding tendering in Cancun, my cruisemates were joking as to how many negative experiences would be written about this particular cruise on these boards.

 

I will say this: Yes, I knowingly booked a holiday cruise expecting a boat full of kids, and I was not disappointed. I have now booked the week after Thanksgiving......

 

Thanks to all of you fellow cruisers for your input...

[PegMcNeill@aol.com]

thanks for your good suggestion, I will take it. I did not realize this ship was slated to be sold off, guess i missed that on the cruise board. Nonetheless, I think that we did not get what we expected either in terms of service or amenities on this cruise. I also know that it is possible to go to another port when you cannot get into the scheduled port since I have done it on another cruise. I specifically asked the shore excursion desk about cancun since I was aware from this board that there had been problems getting into that port and he assured me that it "rarely if ever" happened. While it is not the ship's fault if they cannot tender, knowing that they cannot get in to cancun a third to half of the time, why do they leave it on the itinerary? And why could they not have at least established that we could not tender before making us wait over an hour in the lounge and then sending us down to the tendering area. All I can say is that having sailed on some excellent ships such as the Celebrity Line, this trip was definitely substandard and it was not that cheap.

[Smooth Sailing]

The NCL Sun will replace the Dream out of New Orleans next fall and Cancun will be dropped from the itinerary and replaced with Playa del Carmen - both very positive moves by NCL.

[CastorFache]

If you looked off the back of the ship after we left Cancun, you would have noticed that three other cruise ships were also hauling anchor and following us away from the port (One was Carnival, one was Princess I could not see the 'brand' of the third).

 

I mentioned this to a crew member, and he said that they were likely in the same boat (no pun intended) as us. One of the ships stayed behind us all the way to New Orleans.

 

The reason they leave Cancun on the itinerary...people love it. I don't get it myself, but people want to go to Cancun. Sure it sucks when you can't get there, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

 

I agree, perhaps they should consider an alternative port to add in case Cancun cannot be made, but in such a case, how much time would you actually get in a new port? I was lead to believe that the tendering issue was one that could not be foretold and that could only be determined at the time of anchoring. Just bad luck.

 

As I said earlier, I believe they do need to address the whole Stardust meeting area, and I talked about this with the ShorEx manager. Let's hope for the sake of others cruising in the future, that they do take notice that people found this troublesome.