Evening menu on Dream

[kruzseeka]

I would be really interested to see what the menus are like for the evening meal on Dream (Orion). I reported after our recent TA that I felt the choice and quality of the evening menu had dropped since our last trip about 9 months earlier. Whilst I would have recommended Thomson to anyone prior to that (unless they were seeking balconies, Wow factor attractions that is) I would now be reluctant to do so on the basis of those evening meals. I'm so disappointed in this state of affairs as it is giving me pause for thought re future bookings.

 

Although I'm convinced it's finance driven, I do so hope Thomson will take heed of the negative comments (not just from me - we heard many regulars say the same on board - I'm sure the customer questionnaires must have made the message loud and clear). I'm really hopeful that the changes will prove to be a 'blip' - and that things will revert to our previous very good experiences of dining on board. I can then book with confidence.

 

If anyone is travelling on Dream this season, I'd be so grateful for your feed back on this issue and, if possible any pics of the menus (just evening, in the Orion - I think people were very much happier with the self service and we thought breakfasts and lunches were good in Orion). As you can see I want to stick with Thomson, and Dream too but would like some reassurance that improvements have been made.

 

Thanks in anticipation for any help with this. :)

Edited January 3, 2014 by kruzseeka

[Julessmiles]

Kruzseeka

 

My parents have just returned from the Dream - they were onboard from 15 Dec for 2 weeks.

 

They have been on various cruise lines including P&O, Princess & the Celebration several times & the Destiny twice. This was their first time on the Dream.

 

They said that the food standards were not as good as the last time they sailed on the Celebration- August 2012 with us - and were actually very disappointed with both the service & the food in the Orion. Apparently on Christmas Day Gala Dinner, they were on 2nd sitting & it was half an hour late starting and was dried up (possibly re-heated?) by the time it got to them.

 

They said that there were no longer the same number of waiters & wine waiters in the restaurant (we noticed that on the Celebration in 2013).

 

Although they loved the cruise, loved their cabin (Outside plus), they would hesitate to return on the Dream.

 

They said it was not 'bad' but they have known better on the Celebration & the Destiny.

 

Jules

Edited January 3, 2014 by Julessmiles

[Jakanne1]

I would be really interested to see what the menus are like for the evening meal on Dream (Orion). I reported after our recent TA that I felt the choice and quality of the evening menu had dropped since our last trip about 9 months earlier. Whilst I would have recommended Thomson to anyone prior to that (unless they were seeking balconies, Wow factor attractions that is) I would now be reluctant to do so on the basis of those evening meals. I'm so disappointed in this state of affairs as it is giving me pause for thought re future bookings.

 

Although I'm convinced it's finance driven, I do so hope Thomson will take heed of the negative comments (not just from me - we heard many regulars say the same on board - I'm sure the customer questionnaires must have made the message loud and clear). I'm really hopeful that the changes will prove to be a 'blip' - and that things will revert to our previous very good experiences of dining on board. I can then book with confidence.

 

If anyone is travelling on Dream this season, I'd be so grateful for your feed back on this issue and, if possible any pics of the menus (just evening, in the Orion - I think people were very much happier with the self service and we thought breakfasts and lunches were good in Orion). As you can see I want to stick with Thomson, and Dream too but would like some reassurance that improvements have been made.

 

Thanks in anticipation for any help with this. :)

 

I certainly will give you feedback, Kruzseeka, though food itself can be rather subjective. I can compare it with Majesty and the Riu hotel group. I could also send photos of Orion dinner menus via FB and Julie (sure she will not mind) ;) when I get free wifi. Of course someone else might beat me to it.

[Julessmiles]

I certainly will give you feedback, Kruzseeka, though food itself can be rather subjective. I can compare it with Majesty and the Riu hotel group. I could also send photos of Orion dinner menus via FB and Julie (sure she will not mind) ;) when I get free wifi. Of course someone else might beat me to it.

 

Do you mean me, Jackie? I don't mind but I've never been able to upload photos onto here at all via PC or IPad!!

[campolady]

Hope the deterioration of the Orion food is only a temporary glitch - we enjoyed it so much in October and actually thought it had improved on the previous year.

[Jakanne1]

Do you mean me, Jackie? I don't mind but I've never been able to upload photos onto here at all via PC or IPad!!

 

Yes, you Julessmiles! I cannot put photos on either. Sorry, I didn't mean to put a photo on but to describe the menu from a photo which I can put on FB. Just would be quicker than waiting for my return from Caribbean for me to do so.

 

I could of course describe the menu directly on here, but I will be using an iPhone as I am not taking my ipad, and it takes ages to type with the little keys. :eek:

Edited January 3, 2014 by Jakanne1

[Julessmiles]

Yes, you Julessmiles! I cannot put photos on either. Sorry, I didn't mean to put a photo on but to describe the menu from a photo which I can put on FB. Just would be quicker than waiting for my return from Caribbean for me to do so.

 

I could of course describe the menu directly on here, but I will be using an iPhone as I am not taking my ipad, and it takes ages to type with the little keys. :eek:

 

 

Yes - I can do that Jackie ;):D

[Jim The Scot]

Hope the deterioration of the Orion food is only a temporary glitch - we enjoyed it so much in October and actually thought it had improved on the previous year.

 

Strangely enough campolady we thought the food in the Orion was not as good as the previous year but thought the food in the 24hr buffet had improved

[foxyG]

We are joining the Dream this Sunday for a couple of weeks. This is our first cruise with Thomsons so we've no previous experience to make a comparison to with regard to the main dining room menus. We have travelled quite a lot so have some idea of the food standards to expect. Will try and post photos from my Nexus 7 but not sure how successful that will be.

 

Got a list of free WiFi spots on the islands so won't be burning up a bill on onboard data charges. Just keeping our fingers crossed that our flight gets away from Gatwick before the next storm hits! Got a feeling that the strong jetstream might mean head wind and a longer flight timetime.

[kruzseeka]

Strangely enough campolady we thought the food in the Orion was not as good as the previous year but thought the food in the 24hr buffet had improved

 

This was our perception too Jim. I'm not saying that we didn't eat well - the food wasn't bad - but not as varied or as good quality as we had previously enjoyed. We like to dress up and make an occasion of the evening meal hence our choice of the Orion so would dearly like to see things back to the standard they were early in the year. We came out of the dining room most evenings saying that was an OK meal rather than 'what a lovely meal'.

 

Experiences can vary; budget, changes in galley personnel and who's doing the ordering I guess can all affect the dining experience so it could change again - we shall see. Time will tell.

 

Thanks all for the promise of feedback in due course. :) It is subjective but I'm sure the general impressions will give us a feel of whether there has been an upward turn. I hope!!

Edited January 3, 2014 by kruzseeka

[Tatto]

This was our perception too Jim. I'm not saying that we didn't eat well - the food wasn't bad - but not as varied or as good quality as we had previously enjoyed. We like to dress up and make an occasion of the evening meal hence our choice of the Orion so would dearly like to see things back to the standard they were early in the year. We came out of the dining room most evenings saying that was an OK meal rather than 'what a lovely meal'.

 

Experiences can vary; budget, changes in galley personnel and who's doing the ordering I guess can all affect the dining experience so it could change again - we shall see. Time will tell.

 

Thanks all for the promise of feedback in due course. :) It is subjective but I'm sure the general impressions will give us a feel of whether there has been an upward turn. I hope!!

 

We were on the Dream last Summer and the Head Chef King Soloman came around every night to ask if everything was all right.:)

[kruzseeka]

We were on the Dream last Summer and the Head Chef King Soloman came around every night to ask if everything was all right.:)

 

Yes I remember him - he was great. He wasn't on board when we were there - hopefully he will be back.

 

Thanks so much everyone for the offers of help - don't go to any trouble though - it will be fine when you get back :). There's no urgency - we've nothing in the pipeline yet. I'm just hoping over time we will see an improvement.

[paulaud]

Hi Kuzseeka

 

I know its some way off but we travel on The Dream w/c 9th Feb and will certainly give feedback. Perhaps a few weeks will make all the difference.

[GM0NJl]

I hope the standard of the food on the trans Atlantic was just a glitch.

On April I fly out of Newcastle for the start of the West bound trans Atlantic,

21days so the food will, and the variety of the menu will be well tested.

[Little Nell]

Strangely enough campolady we thought the food in the Orion was not as good as the previous year but thought the food in the 24hr buffet had improved

 

It is no longer a 24 hour buffet....closes at 1 :eek:

[Jim The Scot]

This was our perception too Jim. I'm not saying that we didn't eat well - the food wasn't bad - but not as varied or as good quality as we had previously enjoyed. We like to dress up and make an occasion of the evening meal hence our choice of the Orion so would dearly like to see things back to the standard they were early in the year. We came out of the dining room most evenings saying that was an OK meal rather than 'what a lovely meal'.

 

Similarily Kruz,we ate well and food was good,just not as good as previous cruises.Best meal we had in the Orion is when we paid the supplement and had a steak(chips and veg),it was fantastic

 

It is no longer a 24 hour buffet....closes at 1 :eek:

 

Whit :eek: Never knew that Nell.Bang goes my curry etc on my way back to my cabin at 3-00am. Is that across the fleet or just the Dream?Have the renamed it the "No Grub After 1-00 am Buffet"

Edited January 4, 2014 by Jim The Scot

[Little Nell]

Similarily Kruz,we ate well and food was good,just not as good as previous cruises.Best meal we had in the Orion is when we paid the supplement and had a steak(chips and veg),it was fantastic

 

 

 

Whit :eek: Never knew that Nell.Bang goes my curry etc on my way back to my cabin at 3-00am. Is that across the fleet or just the Dream?Have the renamed it the "No Grub After 1-00 am Buffet"

 

:D, Jim. I believe it is across the fleet.

 

For the first time we had some snacks in the cabin for late night munchies ;)

[skioncruises]

 

Whit :eek: Never knew that Nell.Bang goes my curry etc on my way back to my cabin at 3-00am. Is that across the fleet or just the Dream?Have the renamed it the "No Grub After 1-00 am Buffet"

 

Hi Jim

 

This what Fraser Ellacott said in his Q & A session in November:

 

"Due to lack of demand, we made the decision to remove 24-hour dining from the ships. The buffets on all ships now close at 1am and reopen at 6am. We were cooking to order in the wee hours but the restaurants were mostly empty through the night so it seemed prudent to make this call.

 

We removed it from the brochure in April - although Thomson Majesty was accidentally missed, this will be rectified before the next edition."

 

:)

[Dark Defender]

I noted a big drop in food quality between our August 2011 Dream cruise and our June 2012 Dream cruise.

 

King Soloman was apparently the same Exec Chef on both cruises (didn't see or hear him in 2011, couldn't miss him in 2012!).

 

I attributed the problem to cheaper ingredients and serving a lot more people with less staff.

 

I'm convinced in 2011 they set ship capacity to circa 70% of full capacity to have plenty of spare cabins if the plumbing went wrong again. When the ship was legit full even with good ingredients the quality would drop. But provide less staff for more people and surely worse ingredients and it has to get worse.

 

Examples being soup tasting the same no matter what flavour it was supposed to be, a struggle to get meat, lukewarm food. None of this was a problem less than a year earlier.

 

All the above is based on Orion btw - the best meals were probably lunch or late night in Sirens/Lido. But we simply didn't want to self serve after getting dressed for the evening - I'm far too clumsy for them games!

[Little Nell]

In the latter stages of the TA we ate more and more in the buffet in the evenings. This was due to the poor quality of the food in Orion and the very slow service when sharing a table. We have seldom eaten in the buffet on previous cruises.

 

In the buffet it was well nigh impossible to be served by a waiter as there often appeared to be no-one about. We had to go in search of a waiter or go to the bar ourselves. This was also the case quite often during the day. The cuts in staff are biting hard on the Dream.

 

We loved the ship and would like to return on her but there needs to be an improvement in food quality and service or they will lose customers. Lots of loyal customers were very unhappy with the food and service and I would love to know the percentages of customers who are rating these aspects below good or very good.

[Jim The Scot]

:D, Jim. I believe it is across the fleet.

 

For the first time we had some snacks in the cabin for late night munchies ;)

 

Thats what i`ll be doing Nell or it will be a visit to the No Grub After 1-00 am buffet before it closees then back to the frivolities

 

Hi Jim

 

This what Fraser Ellacott said in his Q & A session in November:

 

"Due to lack of demand, we made the decision to remove 24-hour dining from the ships. The buffets on all ships now close at 1am and reopen at 6am. We were cooking to order in the wee hours but the restaurants were mostly empty through the night so it seemed prudent to make this call.

 

We removed it from the brochure in April - although Thomson Majesty was accidentally missed, this will be rectified before the next edition."

 

:)

 

Thanks skioncruises...I can understand the reasons behind it but would have thought 2-00 am would be better closing time.Thats when AI finishes and theres very little if anything apart from us socialites out on the back deck going on around the ship :(

[Little Nell]

Thats what i`ll be doing Nell or it will be a visit to the No Grub After 1-00 am buffet before it closees then back to the frivolities

 

 

 

Thanks skioncruises...I can understand the reasons behind it but would have thought 2-00 am would be better closing time.Thats when AI finishes and theres very little if anything apart from us socialites out on the back deck going on around the ship :(

 

I found I wasn't hungry until after it was closed.

 

I agree, Jim, that bringing it in line with the AI at 2 am would be a better idea.

[happy v]

This is slightly worrying, especially as I am thinking about our holidays at the moment.

 

In a different thread I mentioned this happening when we were on Spirit a couple of years ago and then this year it had returned to normal, or even improved. Hopefully it will be blip and put right soon. The only problem is do they read the reviews straight away or are they returned to head office?

 

I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this thread.

[Julessmiles]

On the Celebration in the summer, they stopped cooking in the Lido at 1am & started clearing away but there were still people sat eating until 1.30-2ish - eating everything that was there I guess.

[kruzseeka]

This is slightly worrying, especially as I am thinking about our holidays at the moment.

 

In a different thread I mentioned this happening when we were on Spirit a couple of years ago and then this year it had returned to normal, or even improved. Hopefully it will be blip and put right soon. The only problem is do they read the reviews straight away or are they returned to head office?

 

I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this thread.

 

Well I hope they read them happy v as it's important for them as well as us. As much as we want things to improve I trust they won't want customers who are unhappy with the standard of food either as that could have serious consequences for them with people diverting to other cruise lines.

 

Let's hope your experience of a blip on Spirit which was remedied will be prove to be the case with the Dream too. :)

 

And yes, that's why I think these forums are so valuable - we are able to flag up issues to each other and exchange up-to-date info which helps us with our decision making. I love the Dream but am not blind to any deficiencies as I see them and affect me or my enjoyment of my holiday. I think if we do a review we have to try to be as objective as possible and where we register a change especially for the worse, we owe it to our fellow CCers to report it. Then each person can weigh it up in the context of what's important to them, other reviews and feedback in the months to come.

 

I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread too happy v! ;)

Edited January 4, 2014 by kruzseeka