Opinions of the Dream???

[crazy4cruisn]

I guess I would really like to go ahead and book that Alaska cruise on the Dream but I am really concerned about the quality of the ship. I know it is older, but we were on the Royal Princess a year ago, and although it was older, the food, entertainment and service were great. I would like to hear from some recent past cruisers on the Dream about what to expect. We usually cruise newer ships, but as I said, the Royal Princess was a good experience. Thanks for the help as I would like to make a decision by tomorrow.

[hcf]

Read "All Live From Dream Posts March 20-27" by like2cruise on April 1. :)

[Druke I]

I don't think it possible to compare Royal Princess with the Norwegian Dream.

 

The Royal Princess is one of my favorite ships, having been on her 4 times over the years. We are very sorry to see her leave the Princess fleet.

 

We were on the Norwegian Dream 5-99, in the Baltic. We thought the aft restaurants very good, and thought the main dining room very poor, with a main fore/aft companionway through the middle! The Lido eating area is totally inadequate for the passenger load, as is The Sports Bar.

 

Cabins were comfortable. Dream has a very odd deck plan, a result of its stretching some years back. We had been on her sister, Windward, now Norwegian Wind, before the stretching, and liked it very much.

 

When they stretched the ships, they added many passenger cabins, and little in public accomodation, resulting in an odd deck plan and crowded public areas.

 

I think the best thing Dream and Wind have going for them is very reasonable pricing.

[crazy4cruisn]

Thanks for the response and the links. It helps to hear from past cruisers. I may wait to book till I hear about the post drydock experiences.:)

[granto]

Been on the Dream and Wind many times. I agree you cannot compare to Princess, however these still tend to be our favorite ships. They are not as large, easy to get around (people complain about the passage via the main dining room, but we prefer to travel outside and love that you can tranverse the entire ship from the outside). The ship is easy to get comfortable with (as opposed to some of the larger mega ships).

 

The only negative is that the bathroom is small and there are few balconies, which is why the AA and BA rooms tend to be pricy.

 

Though the ship struggles with restaurant selection as it was built before Freestyle, I have never seen anyone starve. If you understand freestyle and how it works, you can easily make it work for you. We like the Terraces for Dinner (more intimate) but to be honest with midnight sunsets, many times we found it an inconvience to do a long formal dinner and many times opted for the sportsbar or BBQ (depends on weather).

 

Also, in Alsaska the great selection of outdoor areas and the deck 12 Observation lounge make it a good Alaska choice (which we did on the Wind).

[love2snorkel]

I just finished my reveiw, please read.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=161779

[crazidude1400]

i have heard several stories about people saying they wished the dream was a nightmare!:D ...but seriously a nightmare and not a good dream... they said the whole cruise they were dreaming that they were on a ship that could REALLy be called a dream...

[MobileMystic]

My Dream opinion is found here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=154075