Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Dream Review 12/30/06

Diana68

By Diana68,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

Recommended Posts

Diana68

Diana68

Posted
Posted

Just back from the Dream, and we had a wonderful time.:D We arrived the night before sailing, and stayed at the Comfort Suites La Porte. This was a very nice reasonably priced hotel. We had a room that sleeps six, with a mini kitchen, free breakfast, free parking for the length of your cruise, and $5 shuttle to the pier. We decided to park at the pier since there were four of us, and DH didn't want to wait around for a shuttle. Parking at the pier is $49. The hotel is very close to the pier, and we got there quicker than I could have imagined. We left the hotel at about 10am, and by 10:15 we had given up our luggage and parked. DH thought that we were there way to early. Luckily we didn't have to wait long. A waitress came over with a tray of juices, and I had barely had time to drink it when they started pre-boarding. They opened up the lines at 10:30. I entered the latitudes line, handed them our passports, and in no time we were through security and on board the ship. They did make us wait in the Stardust Lounge until 11:30, but we were on board, with Freestyle in hand to plan our day, and they had refreshments there too. At 11:30 we were aloud to go drop off our carry-ons in our rooms, and explore the ship. Lunch in the buffet started at 11:30, but we choose to wait until 12:30 when the dining room opened.

 

I LOVE the new menus! :D The menus were the same as were previously posted for the Dawn, with the exception of New Years Eve dinner. We had a special Holiday Menu, and the soup even had gold flakes in it,....my kids were thrilled. I missed the fondue in Le Bistro, until I tried the Chocolate Mousse, it was to die for! I can make fondue at home, but I want the recipe for that mousse! I did make reservations for the specialty restaurants when I boarded, but when I had to make a few changes later in the week because of invitations, I had no problems. This may have been because I let our wonderful concierge, Virginia, make the changes for me. We only had two OV rooms, but because I had bought into the Platinum program on the Dawn last year, we were Platinum Latitudes members this sailing, and boy were we spoiled! It seemed like all of the staff knew who we were and we were invited to dinners and cocktail parties every night. One night we even were invited into Captain Lars's quarters, where we were able to see how he lives on board, and meet his family who were visiting for the holidays. :cool: We were told that we would get goodies brought to our room twice during the trip, but we ended up getting 9 different treat plates in 7 days, and even the kids got 7 in their room. I can't wait until we are Platinum for real! Now I understand how Shoreguy knows everyone and everything, I had a small taste of it on this trip.

 

The skys were a bit overcast, and the seas a bit rough on the first sea day, but no one in our family got sick. I did see a few from our roll call that were a bit ill. A large group of us met on Sunday in the Observatory, and it was great meeting and talking to the friends that we had met on line. We hadn't contacted the ship to set up a meet and mingle, so we just decided to meet on our own. I talked for two hours before I realized that I needed to run and change for dinner, the time just flew by. When I had dinner with Jean Michel, the Hotel Director, he scolded me for our not setting it up through his staff. He said at first he was a little apprehensive, since the name says Critics, but he has really enjoyed meeting the CC members from other sailings. I promised to try to set up a meeting next time, although I thought we were saving him the extra work. He did thank me for that.

 

The first port was Progresso. We had planned to go to an all inclusive, The Reef Yucatan, but since the skys were grey, and it was New Years Day, we slept in a bit, and then went into town. We were able to find cheap gifts and alcohol, we took a $2 city tour on a double decker bus (watch your head on the power lines though), and walked along the beach. It was a pretty mellow day, the highlight of which was seeing dolphins jumping off in the distance from the beach. Friends from the roll call had reserved a car at this port, to see the ruins, but since it was New Years Day, the agency was closed, even though he had a confirmation from the agency the week before. They ended up hiring a driver for the day at the port. If we go again, I will do this, I want to see Uxmal!

 

On Tuesday our ship was supposed to go to Playa del Carmen first, then continue on to Cozumel. They do not let you off in P del C unless you have booked a shore excursion through the ship, so I had booked Xcaret. Our ship did not stop in P del C. They told us this on Monday night, and when I tried to cancel my excursion, they said that I couldn't because it was less than 24 hours before the excursion. This is my only complaint about the whole trip. We didn't know that we weren't stopping 24 hours in advance, so I think that they should have let us cancel once it was announced. We ended up having to ferry both ways to P del C, so we lost at least 1 1/2 hours that we should have had at the park. The ferry ride is very rough, and my daughter and I were feeling very ill. Our guide was a little confused, he forgot to give some people their armbands to get into the park, and we had to chase him down to send him back to get them, and he almost left people at the park at the end of the day. Luckily for us, I had visited the web page for Xcaret before we went, so we knew where we wanted to go, and we ditched him right away. Others on our tour were not so lucky. The park was awesome. We did have a great time there, and I would go back again, if we ever do a land tour. We had to be back at the bus by 4pm, and didn't get to the park until noon, so we couldn't stay to see any of the shows; next time I would want to stay all day, they are open until about 9pm.

 

We arrived on time to Belize on Wednesday. 14 of us from our roll call had booked cave tubing together with Major Tom. We had a great group, and a beautiful day. Major Tom met us at our tender boat, and as soon as our group was all together, we walked to his van. We drove through town, and out about 45 min. to the park. After getting our life vests, flashlights, and tubes, we started on our hike through the rain forest. The hike was very slippery, as it had rained that morning, and a few fell on the way to the river, and I fell on the way back from the river.:o The little kids in the group had a great time covering themselves in mud. The cave was beautiful. We only did the one main cave, so I do wish that we could have gone farther. I don't know if we couldn't go further because it was so dangerous, or if Major Tom normally only takes people so far. He is very knowledgeable about the area, and safety minded. He was the first guide to take people cave tubing there years ago, and he is the cheapest at $35pp. We stopped at Cheers for lunch and beverages on the way back to the ship. A good time was had by all.

 

I had seen all of the shows at least twice on my previous NCL sailings. I didn't go to Country Gold ( since I hate country), but I still enjoyed the others. I thought the Comic was a bit lame, but the men in my family almost peed themselves laughing, so it must be a guy thing. The late night parties were the normal, fun parties, Caribbean w/ the Carmen Miranda contest, 70's with John Travolta contest,...etc...if you've sailed NCL before, you know what's involved,...if not, don't miss them...very funny. DH was picked for the Weakest Link. He made it to the final round, but then was beaten. Another couple from the roll call were picked for the Not So Newly Wed Game, I'm not sure that they knew what to expect, but they were great. The New Years Party had free flowing champagne,...the waiter wouldn't even let me finish my glass before he was handing me another. I lost count of how many I had....We made sure to book another trip for New Years next year while we were on board. The latitudes rep., Lidia was very helpful and friendly.

 

I am not much of a gambler, ...I think I put a whole two dollars in the slot machines the entire week, but DH likes Black Jack, so you could find us in the casino on most days. He was pretty lucky,...up most of the time, ..the lowest I saw him was about $30 in the hole,...highest about $200,...and I think he finished the week up about $100. One roll call member won the Texas Hold'em Tournament for $600, so basically paid for his cruise.

 

Disembarkation was very easy for us, since we were VIP. We left our bags in the room, went to breakfast, went back to the room just before 8:30 when we were to meet Virginia there, and she walked us off the ship and to our checked bags. Very quick and painless. Virginia gave me a big hug as we left, she really made our trip special. I hope to sail with her again.

 

I will attempt to post the Freestyle Dailies on my webshots page, this is the first time I've tried this, so I hope it works...

DS was collecting them, and it seems he's missing Tuesday, and hasn't found the teen one either,...oh well I'll post what we have.

 

If you have any questions, just ask! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
snorkbob

snorkbob

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the review.

 

We went on the dream 4 years ago and loved her. Just got off the Star and have to say the there is something to be said about the NCL boats built for freestyle but there are trade offs when going to a larger boat.

 

Snorkbob

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Diana68

Diana68

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I do think that all the ships have their pluses, and minuses. On a smaller ship, you will get to know your other passengers and staff better than a bigger ship, but I really loved the Dawn last year! The Dawn is my favorite ship so far, but I have enjoyed every cruise!:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ievayn

ievayn

Posted
Posted

My wife and I were on the same cruise. Diana, it was nice to meet you and your family along with other families from our Roll Call. Thanks again for your help in Progresso. We also had a wonderful time. The only complaint we had was a price of diving tour in Belize. We pre-booked that trip in advance and received a confirmation from the NCL for the price of $101.00. When we received our tickets on board, the price was $140.00 per person plus the price for the rental .We brought it up to the tour consultant, but she told us that nothing she could about this and we have to contact the corporate office. One of the main reason we went on this cruise was to dive in Belize, so we went on the tour anyway. We have contacted the corporate office and are waiting for their response.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
megsterl

megsterl

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the great review I really appreciate your honesty. Could you tell me how long it took you to get off the ship in belize for the tender? I booked with Major Tom last year but I cant remember how long it took us to get off the ship (on RCI). Just so you know, when we went with Major Tom I think we did three caves. look forward to hearing from you. Meg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Diana68

Diana68

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Great review, Diana. What was your cabin category, and were you happy with it? :)
We had payed for a cat. G guarantee, and were upgraded to cat. D. We had rooms 7016 and 7017, so my kids were able to stay in the cabin next to us. This is the first time that I had left them alone, and it was wonderful! We are doing this on our cruise next month too, but we will be in inside cabins then. As you can tell, I'm really not picky about cabin size, but I was happy with the cabins that we had on the Dream.
Not being that familiar with the Dream, I was wondering what city you were in pre-cruise.
The Dream leaves out of La Porte,TX, which is just outside of Houston.
We also had a wonderful time. The only complaint we had was a price of diving tour in Belize.
It was wonderful meeting you on board! It would be nice to sail together again. I'm sorry to hear of your problems in Belize! I hope that NCL is able to make it right. I thought about complaining to corporate about Playa del Carmen, but we ended up having a great day in the park, and the rest of the trip was so wonderful, that I won't bother.
Could you tell me how long it took you to get off the ship in belize for the tender? I booked with Major Tom last year but I cant remember how long it took us to get off the ship (on RCI). Just so you know, when we went with Major Tom I think we did three caves.

It would be unfair for me to advise on this, since we had priority tender tickets. We just went to breakfast, and then when they called for tenders, we went down and boarded. I don't know how long the others had to wait for tickets, but they all seemed to get off quickly. The seas were rough on the day we were in Belize, and our tender boat was an experience! There were only about 40 people on a boat that could have easily fit 150, but the tender was banging against the ship so badly that they tried to untie us and let us go early. The guy that was untieing the tender was almost thrown off of the boat quite a few times, so he finally just cut the rope! I'm glad to hear that you were able to do three caves. I thought that it was a safety issue for us, as the water was very high, and we had small children in our group(and those of us who could barely stay upright:o ).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Diana68

Diana68

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I wanted to add that NCL has relaxed the dress code. If you look at the Freestyle Daily, you will see that they no longer have the optional formal night. That being said, I love to dress up. On our sailing many felt like I did, and many were very casual. New Years Eve would have been the first formal night, and more than half dressed formally. There were lots of tuxes and gowns. I had a hard time deciding which formals to take, so I took a few long dresses, a few long skirts, sparkly tops,...and I dressed up every night. I was glad that I did. DH on the other hand, took his tux, but no other jacket or tie. He wore dress pants and shirts on the other nights, but wished that he had brought at least a tie when we received all of the invites. He even tried to steal a tie from our son to go to the Captain's cocktail party. On Lobster night, which traditionally would have been the second formal night, again many dressed up. I commented how it almost looked like prom night, as a lot of young girls were in a rainbow of gowns, with the guys in suits/tuxes. My kids were in tux and gown also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
goawaywinter

goawaywinter

Posted
Posted
Does anyone know when the other pier will be rebuilt in Cozumel?

 

I got this from the Archived 12/11-12/18/06 News at the Cozumelinsider website:

 

"With regard to Puerta Maya Pier, González said it would be ready for 2008, since the construction in general would be beginning between May or June 2007. “ For the time being, the construction works are focused on the removal of all the fragments of the pier that currently sit on the sea floor inside the bottom of the sea, and with this cleaning we are seeing a very important advance in this project”, he said."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
electricron

electricron

Posted
Posted
Is the Dream tendering in Cozumel and Belize? and docking in Progresso? Does anyone know when the other pier will be rebuilt in Cozumel?

 

The Dream on my cruise in December docked at Progresso and Cozumel.

We used tender boats at Belize, every ship does. If Cozumel has too many ships for the number of piers in service, some ships will have to use tenders.

 

On many recent cruises the Dream has skipped Playa del Carmen, and sail directly for Cozumel. Those booking excursions via NCL will have a ferry waiting at the pier at Cozume to take them to Playa. NCL opens up two gangways, and the first to use one are those who will bew using that ferry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Diana68

Diana68

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Is the Dream tendering in Cozumel and Belize? and docking in Progresso?

 

Does anyone know when the other pier will be rebuilt in Cozumel?

On our trip we tendered into both Cozumel and Belize.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Diana68

Diana68

Posted
  • Author
Posted

My son found his Teen Dailies, so I have added them to the other Dailies on my webshots page.

I did submit a slightly modified version of this review to the Reviews section of this web site, and it has been accepted. I have a link to it in my signature, if anyone is interested it viewing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...