Just returned from Norwegian Dream

[hotspur]

YES! Trattoria is very nice. We enjoyed several meals there on our Alaska cruise this summer. For clarification it is aft on deck 11. Four Seasons [fwd] and Terraces [aft] is on deck 9.

We usually dined 6-6:30 and never had a wait at any of the dining rooms.

We fell into the pattern of attending the early show (7:30?) and then having dinner afterwards. Never waited more than five minutes or so at any of the restaurants, although we did go to the Trattoria most of the time.

 

On the "special" menu nights (Captain's dinner, Presidents' dinner, etc.) the Trattoria served the same menu as Terraces and Four Seasons, and was less crowded. People seem to get into the habit of eating in the two "main" dining rooms, and don't notice that Trattoria serves the same menu--in what we felt was a nicer environment--as the main dining rooms on these special nights.

[MizDaisy]

What nights do they typically do the "special" menus? (Captain's and President's)

 

Weather permitting, do they do the barbeque on the pool deck every night?

 

We're planning this cruise to be very low-key...no formal wear....I'd hate to be dressed casually in one of the dining rooms when most everyone else is dressed to the 9's.

[Jfultz81]

Thanks for the great review! We are sailing her this Saturday and hope to have as wonderful a time as you did!! So glad the engines seem to be fixed, looking forward visiting Cozumel!!

[Texrails]

Will be going Dec 31. Other than in my room via room service, where is the earliest place to get coffee and how early in the morning could I get it? I'm an early riser (5:00 am) and used to that first jolt soon thereafter...

 

I usually need 4 or 5 cups to start my day, also. Room service is your only option for early morning coffee. I ordered 2 large pots to get me going. The first place to get free coffee after that is the sports bar at the back of the ship on deck 12.

[Texrails]

My family of 5 was on the Thanksgiving cruise also. I totally concur with my fellow passengers. We had a GREAT time. We can not say enough about the crew and staff. They would address any concern, answer any question, or provide any service with a cheerful attitude.

 

I could have skipped Cozumel, due to the time constraint, and spent more time in Roatan and Belize.

 

Roatan: This was our favorite stop.

We did the Palmetto Bay canopy tour in Roatan and we loved it. My youngest is 11 and he had no problem with it. I am 56 and I had no problem with it, though Sam, our guide, had to work hard to stop me from knocking over his trees.(Gravity can be a powerful force.:) ) We then went snorkling on the South side of the island where the waters were calm. I'm sorry, but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the place right now, but the beach was great, the water was clear, and the sea life was abundant in reef water that varied in depth from 6" to 30'.

We then went to the west end of the island to eat. Seems silly when there is all that food waiting on the ship, but we had such a great meal of lobster tails(3 per order) and coconut shrimp we were very glad we made the stop.

We did all this by reserving a car and driver through Victor Boden tours.

I highly recommend his service. Our driver's name was Roland and he was great. He allowed us to do everything we wanted. He even arranged for the cameo shop to remain open until we could arrive after our dinner. We were greeted by the owner and were given a shortened version of the cameo making process and the history of his relocating from Italy to Roatan. A fabulous day my family is still talking about. The 2 boys are ready to relocate themselves.

 

Belize: Cave Tubing

 

We had a great time on this excursion also, but we are veteran floaters and kayakers on the Texas Hill Country River System, so this seemed a bit tame. The uniqueness of the flora and fauna, and the cave system itself, made it an interesting float, but we would love to find a way to do a larger section of the river on our own. A bit of lunch and some shopping and it was back to the ship.

 

We definitely recommend the Norwegian Dream and freestyle dining. Our 15 year old son never went hungry and that is saying alot. He would dine with us and then hit the buffets for in between snacks. We had a brief wait to eat on only one occasion.

 

We will be sailing with Norwegian again.

 

Texrails

[Velvet Teddy Bear]

geeeeeeeee !!! What are folks going to gripe and b**** about now....with the engine fixed, her making all of her ports, the food good, nice shows, OH..... I know....that darn slot machine that they put a quarter in an didn't get the jackpot........:eek: gosh, I feel sorry for them......;)

 

till we all sail again.....jus me jim....the velvet teddy bear. :cool:

 

ps...looking to rebook the Dream for next Noverber 25....was on for her first trip out of Houston....:)

[shoreguy]

geeeeeeeee !!! What are folks going to gripe and b**** about now....with the engine fixed, her making all of her ports, the food good, nice shows, OH..... I know....that darn slot machine that they put a quarter in an didn't get the jackpot........:eek: gosh, I feel sorry for them......;)

 

till we all sail again.....jus me jim....the velvet teddy bear. :cool:

 

ps...looking to rebook the Dream for next Noverber 25....was on for her first trip out of Houston....:)

 

 

Not to worry - they now have the Star engine problems and the rocking of the Spirit. Never a shortage of targets :D

[Jfultz81]

Texrails.. did you do the cave tubing excursion through NCL? They offer two of them, do you know which one you did (if you did go through NCL)? We are considering it, but haven't been able to find much info on it!

[cruiser-dude]

What nights do they typically do the "special" menus? (Captain's and President's)

 

Weather permitting, do they do the barbeque on the pool deck every night?

 

We're planning this cruise to be very low-key...no formal wear....I'd hate to be dressed casually in one of the dining rooms when most everyone else is dressed to the 9's.

 

The menus change every day, so although some are titled as special, they are all special and different each day, even though some are titled. The "Freestyle Daily" will be delivered to your stateroom each night so you can see what menus are at each restaurant for the next day and go to your favorite.

 

BBQ is every afternoon, weather permitting. I don't think there was a BBQ at dinner.

 

We wore jeans or shorts every single time, including "optional" formal night, except at Le Bistro. No one ever looked at us or commented about our casual attire. My guess was that there were probably a ton of folks thinking, "Hmmm, I could be sitting here in my jeans and comfortable shirt/blouse... just like those folks." If you are not one to let your comfort be influenced by what the other guy is wearing, you can leave your nice duds at home, literally, except for Le Bistro night(s).

[cruiselama]

Will be going Dec 31. Other than in my room via room service, where is the earliest place to get coffee and how early in the morning could I get it? I'm an early riser (5:00 am) and used to that first jolt soon thereafter...

 

I'm an early riser too.

A couple of places open at 6am (Sports Bar and Trattoria I think)

Why not room service?

They don't exactly bang on your door.

 

Pluses-

The staff! (even the 3 clinkers we ran into only rated "interesting")

The food was variable, but I enjoyed that.

Cozumel - We just eat and looked around and shopped. Had a nice time.

Roatan- Dolphins! We must have been right next to cruiser-dude.

Beach- ChooChoo (5) simply screamed with ecstasy for two solid

hours, eventually just rolling back and forth in the surf going

wheee!

Belize- Belize Zoo is a really good small zoo! The lunch and river cruise were good too.

3 stops were enough for me.

Good coffee.

I liked the way the ship was laid out. Confusing, therefore not boring :)

I can't imagine non-freestyle cruising: We waited 15 min or so a couple of times just because we wanted a particular restaurant, but there was always at least one sit downer with no waiting.

 

Minuses-

They destroyed our hard sided suitcase.

The water in the pools was too COLD. (except the first day!?)

The BBQ in Roatan ran out of food before we got any (we don't eat beef)

Surely NCL knows it might rain in Houston, but they seemed totally unprepared for that. We and our bags were soaked through when we left.

 

Other-

The kids staff were very nice, but ChooChoo wouldn't stay with them.

 

Two Dream Must Knows:

1, Deck 8 aft is a nice quiet place to read and watch the wake.

2, The room service chocolate mousse is excellent, real mousse.

 

PS Hi Vette!

[hotspur]

The menus change every day, so although some are titled as special, they are all special and different each day, even though some are titled.

Yes, but it's only on the nights of the Captain's Dinner, Presidents' Dinner, and the third (Farewell?) special dinner that the Trattoria serves the same menu as the two main dining rooms. On other nights Trattoria serves an Italian menu, which is the same every night except for a pasta of the day and a fish of the day. (Very good Italian food, though.)

 

My point is that you can get the lobster, or Beef Wellington, or rack of lamb, or sea bass that is served at one of the "special" dinners in the Trattoria as well as Terraces or Four Seasons, and, at least in our opinion, the glassed-in Trattoria is a more attractive dining room and usually less crowded.

[Lisa&Neb]

Texrails.. did you do the cave tubing excursion through NCL? They offer two of them, do you know which one you did (if you did go through NCL)? We are considering it, but haven't been able to find much info on it!

 

We were on the dream last March adn book the cave tubing on our own. just go to google and type belize cave tubing or belize shore excursions. it is almost $30 per person cheaper. Only problem, you don't get off the boat first and they will not hold the boat if you have problems.

 

But we had a great time.

 

http://belizecruiseexcursions.com/CaveTubingBelize.htm

 

great site!!

[Texrails]

Texrails.. did you do the cave tubing excursion through NCL? They offer two of them, do you know which one you did (if you did go through NCL)? We are considering it, but haven't been able to find much info on it!

 

I booked it through Action Belize. They had a representative waiting at the dock holding an Action Belize sign. She led us outside the docking area to a waiting driver and he took us to the river. I paid her before we ever got in the van. $69.00/person. They pay the entry to the park out of that. $2.00/person. We were lazy that morning so we did not leave the boat until 9:00. It is about a 30 mile trip to the river. The river was crowded but nothing like we have had to deal with in the past in rivers here in Texas. Though the water is cool, if I could do it again, I would take advantage of the early ferry to shore which you can board without a ticket between 7:00 and 7:45. There was no other expenses except the stop for lunch, which you do not have to do. I offered to pay for our driver's lunch, but his was comped, surprize, surprize.

[vette]

Hi Everyone,

 

Cruiser Dude - Hannah is a charming little girl. You are very lucky!

 

Cruiselama - ChooChoo is also a sweet girl. She seemed to enjoy herself all week. It was great meeting you and your dw.

 

Texrails - Sounds like you had a great day in Roatan. What was the name of the restaurant you ate at. Sounds like a place I might like to try next time we are there.

 

Vette

[THINICE]

We booked cave tubing through Reggie and had a great time.

$50 per person ($45pp for groups of 4 or more). $15 deposit.

Lunch after tubing was $5. Very good.

 

Don't be scared about missing tender, will have plenty of time to shop.

 

http://www.regtour.com/

[cruiser-dude]

Cruiser Dude - Hannah is a charming little girl. You are very lucky!

 

Vette

 

Thank you!

[zaandam_2]

Thanks for the good review. I read so many negatives. I'm toying with taking the april transatlantic and this helps.

[cruiser-dude]

Thanks for the good review. I read so many negatives. I'm toying with taking the april transatlantic and this helps.

 

I hope you have just as great of a time as we did! We booked a 9 forward cabin with floor to ceiling windows and sitting area (no balcony). We enjoyed it!

[vette]

We had a balcony cabin and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are only a few on the Dream so if you can book one, I thought it was well worth it. I am missing that ship so much; I keep dreaming about those afternoon BBQ's and my afternoon beer in the hot tub! Sigh!

 

Vette