Just back from the Dream...not too happy

[newmexicoNita]

Before booking a cruise do you always come here and checkout what is being said on the boards. I have been on 5 cruises and have never done this. I always have high expectations for my cruise vacations, and I have enjoyed each one. I am considering an Oct. 2007 cruise at this time, and looking at the Mexican Riviera cruise on the Golden Princess or the Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Valor. I have been on 4 Caribbean/Bahama cruises but have not been to Belize, or Costa Maya. I have never been on a Mexican Riviera cruise, so am leaning more in that direction at this time. What specifically are you looking for on these boards before you decide to book the cruise. BTW, for me price is a consideration, but not the main consideration, is it yours? Thanks, I am interested in anyones opinion on this.

ce2000, Shoreguy and Hotspur primarily cruise NCL (not always) so why would they, as for many of us: yes, I know even being a TA I always check out this and 2 other boards either before I book or immediately after. As for what is important to us: price and itinerary are the first two followed by freestyle of some sort and embarkation port. As important as price to us, is what we expect for our money. If we book a budget price we are prepared for getting a budget cruise. A few years ago we booked the Sea (love the ship) we knew she was about to leave (just like the Dream) knew she was showing signs of aging but just wanted to go with 2 other couples and we all were looking at the dollars and sense. We had a blast, all of us laughed at the size of our cabins (we had sailed her before) we did sail out of Houston and took that long walk from the terminal to the ship and we knew our dining choices would not be great. I do believe it is very important for everyone to have an idea before they cruise what to expect. NMnita

[shoreguy]

Before booking a cruise do you always come here and checkout what is being said on the boards. I have been on 5 cruises and have never done this. I always have high expectations for my cruise vacations, and I have enjoyed each one. I am considering an Oct. 2007 cruise at this time, and looking at the Mexican Riviera cruise on the Golden Princess or the Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Valor. I have been on 4 Caribbean/Bahama cruises but have not been to Belize, or Costa Maya. I have never been on a Mexican Riviera cruise, so am leaning more in that direction at this time. What specifically are you looking for on these boards before you decide to book the cruise. BTW, for me price is a consideration, but not the main consideration, is it yours? Thanks, I am interested in anyones opinion on this.

 

 

I have never booked a cruise without doing my homework online since about 1996. Price is always a factor. It is critical we understand why one ship is so much less expensive.

 

What am I looking for - balanced feedback on a ship. Details about the ship and crew. Looking to see if the low price is in fact a good value for me. I had not cruised on NCL since 1999 until 2003. The reason I came back was the positive feedback here and other online communities about the Dawn.

 

Last NCL cruise prior was the Dream. My fourth cruise on Wind/Dream class ships. I was concerned about the feedback on the early days of freestyle moved to a few cruises on RCI, Carnival, Princess.

 

This lack of research is clearly why many had major issues with the NCLA ships. Many expected an international crew and not the US crew with a different approach and feel.

 

To me purchasing a cruise is no different then selecting a new car. Do your homework, find others that expect the same things as me, and make my selection. If we just depend on the cruiseline marketing material we all could end up on a barge.

[OrangeAndBlue]

Great post Shoreguy.

 

Paul

[bakechef]

Before booking a cruise do you always come here and checkout what is being said on the boards. I have been on 5 cruises and have never done this. I always have high expectations for my cruise vacations, and I have enjoyed each one. I am considering an Oct. 2007 cruise at this time, and looking at the Mexican Riviera cruise on the Golden Princess or the Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Valor. I have been on 4 Caribbean/Bahama cruises but have not been to Belize, or Costa Maya. I have never been on a Mexican Riviera cruise, so am leaning more in that direction at this time. What specifically are you looking for on these boards before you decide to book the cruise. BTW, for me price is a consideration, but not the main consideration, is it yours? Thanks, I am interested in anyones opinion on this.

 

I never spend a large chunk of money without researching it first, that includes vacations, just makes sense to me. Heck I even research cell phones before I buy a new one.

 

MAC

[txcruisingfan]

Folks,

 

After reading the OP and several of your following posts I feel compelled to post my perspective. I am working on a much longer review. One of the themes of that is to be prepared and know what you are getting into. As many of you all posted if the OP had understood some of the weaknesses of the ship (which were not near as important to me), then either the OP would have chosen another cruise or been better prepared as we were.

 

First, I want to echo a few things the OP did state that I find completely fair. The breakfast buffet menus were pretty stagnant as was the poolside BBQ (I think we ended up having 4). A little more variety would have been welcome. However, to balance that my kids loved the Pizzeria french-fries and would have been disappointed not to get them when they thought they could. I guess more variety within limits would have been better. To be fair there were other pizzas during the week. Every day did have the staple pepperoni and at least one other specialty and usually two. We loved the pizza. Maybe we are just easier to please.

 

Also the OP comments about the layout of the Stardust were true in my view. Some of the sight lines were difficult. I knew this was probably going to be the case because the Stardust was retrofitted into the ship. Also, the four of us always got a seat near the front and often arrived about 10 minutes before show time. We did not go to all the shows but had no problem when we did. Actually the BIGGEST complaint I had about the shows was the passengers continually going in and out of the front doors during the show, large groups showing up late and disrupting the audience while they found their saved seats, and large groups from the front rows leaving early.

 

At the Super Bowl party there were seating issues, but that did not surprise me as a majority of the ship was trying to do the same thing in the same place at the same time. We watched the first half in the Stardust and then moved to the coffee bar for the second half. It was fine, not ideal, but better than I expected know the limited ship infrastructure.

 

As far as the "Sports Bar" goes, maybe NCL would do better to change its name. Dwelling on the names seems silly to me when a reasonable scanning of posts here before sailing or dailys once on board made it pretty clear it was not being used as a SPORTS BAR. However, all the posts complaining about the Sports Bar had me prepared for the absolute worst. We were shocked when went to breakfast and found no line. We got our lunch from the Sports Bar many times during the week with very little waiting, sat in the bar a few times, but most of the time took the food back to wherever we were (poolside, etc.)

 

About the age comment- We are a family of 4 (me40, DW37, DS11, DD8). Yes there were some older folks, but there were a LOT of 30 something and 40 something folks as well. Some were on the roll call and we made friends with them during the week. I am sorry your 17yo did not find many teens. Quite frankly, we went in early February so that there would not be a lot of teens. We were happy.

 

Similarly, the comment about Rum punch. It was FREE!! Why complain about free punch? My wife enjoyed extra cups of the FREE punch BECAUSE she could tell it did not have a lot of rum. To those of us who enjoyed the punch we were glad it did not have a lot more rum.

 

Now the casino- We don't gamble. The last cruise we went on was Disney. On that ship there was no casino. We were glad the casino was small and did not dominate the environment of the ship.

 

I am not trying to say all was great. The Dream clearly has weaknesses as a cruise ship. Some the OP did not mention. I am not even saying the OP is wrong in his analysis. I am trying to show there is a different perspective on the same issues.

 

We have cruised 4 times. We have cruised NCL (twice), Disney, and Carnival. I believe there are cruise lines that fit people demographically better than others. There also may be a size of ship that fits people better than others. Once you learn what those are, you may be better off staying with that.

[stylegal]

My DH and I were on the same cruise and we had a wonderful time! Even the officers on the ship know that the Dream was not made for Freestyling. They try to go out of their way to make it all work. My heart goes out to the F & B director and trying to please all the people on board with food choices. I did a lot of research and checking on boards before booking. We got an excellent deal on the price and knew that there were issues with the "Sports Bar" but also read to go to the La Trattoria for extra seating. That only occured one morning for breakfast. What exactly do people want for breakfast? I eat cereal or donuts every morning at home. There are several choices on board, Four Seasons, Sports Bar, Pool buffet. Lunch, there was one time we didn't care for what was in the Sports Bar buffet - so we went to the pool - hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, pizza, best fries! If I didn't like THAT, I could go to the dining room!

My husband and I aren't the older crowd, we are in our mid-forties... we got on cruise critic before the trip and hung out and made great friends with the group we met on line and on the ship! There are 6 of us who are planning to meet on a cruise in 2008. We all knew that we got an amazing price, and were happy with that. One was a vegetarian and there weren't a whole lot of choices for him, but he swung with it and still enjoyed himself!! We had dinner almost every night with the 6 of us and tried to get some others on the reservations, but we made our reservations early on in the cruise.

We knew going in that any vacation is what you make of it, we laughed about the rough seas, were glad to hit land at Cozumel even if it was raining, but then cleared into a beautiful day. Belize made us all take a hard look at ourselves - here we were on a beautiful vacation, eating more food than any human should consume... think about it.

Well that's a long post, instead of complaining about a vacation and a few minor details to say "Not too happy". Think how blessed you and all of us were to be on an amazing vacation trip!

 

Sheri

[ab6973]

Hey what cruise were you on? Just kidding, I know the waves and the weather were terrible. I wore a patch just from the knowledge I had from CC and no biggie. Progresso was sad, but we did get credited! Sports bar, to us that was a a big suprise. RCI Majesty of the Sea's sports bar didn't even have a tv. We never had an issue getting a table and as far as repeat food I am still craving that french toast I ate every morning. Lunch we switched up the BBQ, Pizzeria and 4 Seasons, for 4 days of lunch no repeats.

 

We met great people on this ship and that started prior on our rollcall. We plan to travel again with two couples who we hit it off with from day 1, Hey Sheri! Maybe next time you should join a roll call and learn some tips from your fellow cruise critics.

[fergy919]

We will be on the Dream 3/10 and cannot wait. Having read CC we have prearranged bar set-up, will carry our wine aboard (large bottles of course) prepared to pay the corkage fee, and have arranged shore excursions. We fully expect to have a great time with high but realistic expectations. I too loved Conquest and Rhapsody but am equally excited about sailing the Dream. For us, driving to the pier in 20 minutes can't be beat. Well,... maybe its 30 minutes to Galveston. Anyway, I have appreciated the positive and critical reviews and believe all of the postings I have read were beneficial.

[BeachBumMama]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the Dream soon but am well prepared for what to expect. As the other posters have stated, your ship comarisons are not in the same range and some pre-planning would have given you a better idea on what you were in store for. And as others have said, perhaps the Dawn or the newer Jewel or another larger ship would be more to your liking. Have fun wherever you travel and thanks again for your review.

[ce2000]

Thanks for your thoughts, I will come back to cruise critic before booking my next cruise. Usually I just check out the information from the various on-line travel agencies.

[goawaywinter]

We were on the 2/3 sailing, and had a great time. It was our first time on NCL, and we found that we really like the freestyle dining concept. It seemed to work into our evening schedule wonderfully. We'd attend the early show, and then go to dinner after the show. The longest wait we had was about 5 minutes (usually none). If there was anybody waiting, we always asked to share a table, and met some great dining companions. The only times we ate alone were the times that there was nobody else waiting when we entered the dining rooms. Dining times seemed to be proportionate to the number of people at the table. When the two of us dined alone, we were always out in under an hour. With 6 at the table, it was closer to 2 hours. It didn't matter to us, because we enjoyed the company that we had.

 

We only ate at the Sports Bar buffet twice, on embarkation day and one other lunch. I have to agree with the general concensus that it's not all that great. We enjoy the dining rooms much more. As for the pizzeria, I didn't try any pizza, but really liked the well done french fries, the bratwurst, and the burgers.

 

The biggest positive on this cruise was the attitudes and service of the crew--they were great--probably the best of the 10 cruises we have sailed. We loved the singing duo of Patti and Jose in the Observatory Lounge, they always played to a packed room. Jane L. Powell's show on Monday night was great. We enjoyed the dance lessons too.

 

The layout of the Dream is certainly an exercise in "you can't get there (easily) from here." It took us a few days to figure it out. On the other hand, I thought the ship was well maintained (little visible wear and tear, no wierd smells) and that the ship really didn't seem crowded to me despite the full ship. While I'm not sure I'd want to sail this ship as a teenager, kids were very well behaved on this cruise.

 

This Dream cruise has pretty much sold me on freestyle dining and NCL. Price and itinerary are still the main factors in the cruise I choose, but I'm highly considering booking the Star next winter for a Mexican Riviera cruise.

 

Have a great cruise!!!

[Don Haynes]

Fergy 919, the Dream will sail out of Le Porte, at the Barbour Cut Terminal, not Galveston. You probably live closer than you think. Enjoy your cruise.