Is the Dream a nightmare?

[abcten]

There's nothing more frustrating then someone who comes on CC, says something negative, and then doesn't give legitimate reasons for it, doesn't everyone agree????:mad::mad:

 

No, not really. Sometimes your thoughts are hard to put into words.

[Warmer Climes]

We did the Dream last year and it was our favorite cruise yet. I love that ship.

[troyphoto]

We sailed on the Dream two winters ago.

 

The ship is nice, and I can echo most of Boat_Drinks said above. We were on Deck 5 so we didn't have the window problems they did. BUT we also had a diabetic with us, and used that ice bucket to the max -- we even had our room steward making an extra trip during the day with ice for her insulin.

 

The only two major annoying things about the ship for me, were:

 

1. The layout isn't as thought out as well as the newer ships. The aft pool deck is just plain crazy to get to and from. Stretching the ship helped make it nicer, but also changed traffic patterns within the ship.

 

2. There are no nice shady places to sit and enjoy the ocean breeze. There's an aft deck (deck 8 or 6???) but it's crowded with chaise lounges and filled up quickly. I'm not a sun worshipper, and prefer to sit quietly in the shade and watch the ocean slip away. Couldn't do that when we were on the dream. I'd find a tiny shady spot and with in an hour, it was in the sun.

 

If you do a search with my user name and "Dream" you can find my Live from the Dream thread from Jan 2007.

[Kruizin'Kath]

I am sorry to hear that your cruise was a nightmare Boat Drinks. :eek: I asssume that they are offering the free drinks with a CAS card?

JPV, I did read your review when it posted, in fact I read it aloud to my DH as I found it so enjoyable!:D

I'm glad to hear all the other wonderful comments about the Dream, too! We're booked on the Dream for 8/17, and I'm expecting to have a wonderful time!

[Smellytoes]

Yes, I did. It's my second time visiting Bermuda.

 

What does Bermuda have to do with a review of this SHIP?!?!?!

 

I wouldn't blame NCL if I had a "bad time" in Bermuda, and I certainly wouldn't blame Bermuda for NCL's problems. Try to stay focused JVP, two entirely different subjects. :cool:

 

I'm sorry you had a bad time. I was on the Majesty twice and felt the same way. Your review was very helpful. Even though I didn't like the Majesty (I loved the Dawn and the Gem) I'm going to give the Dream a try. Do you think it would be helpful (to avoid backups at dinner time) to go to the early show then go to dinner??

[Boat_Drinks]

We were on Deck 5 so we didn't have the window problems they did. BUT we also had a diabetic with us, and used that ice bucket to the max -- we even had our room steward making an extra trip during the day with ice for her insulin..

 

Hi Troyphoto,

 

Just to illustrate my point, I just checked Deck 5 (Biscayne) on ncl.com and EVERY class of stateroom claims to have a refrigerator. As you found (the hard way), this is untrue. It's not just an "inconvenience" when you are Diabetic, it's a show stopper (I wasn't going to spend my vacation icing down insulin, or relying on my cabin steward to do it for me - the thing about insulin is that you can't tell when it goes bad from being exposed to heat, it doesn't change it's appearance or anything - it just stops working, and then you die).

 

 

There are no nice shady places to sit and enjoy the ocean breeze. There's an aft deck (deck 8 or 6???) but it's crowded with chaise lounges and filled up quickly. I'm not a sun worshipper, and prefer to sit quietly in the shade and watch the ocean slip away. Couldn't do that when we were on the dream. I'd find a tiny shady spot and with in an hour, it was in the sun.

 

On most ships this would be the Promenade deck. On Dream they dedicated the Promenade deck to a "running track" and removed pretty much all of the furniture (there are a couple of hard, fiberglass benches here and there, but no traditional chaise lounges). So yeah, no shady spot to curl up with a good book, and god-forbid you have an "OceanView" cabin on the Promenade deck and want to sleep past 8am, that's when the runners can officially start pounding away outside your stateroom.

 

As I said above, there is plenty of furniture up on Decks 11 and 12, but only 7 of the tables have umbrellas - and those can be hard to get since the "chair holders" will throw an object on the table to "hold it" for them for use later.

 

I don't know why NCL can't add a few dozen umbrellas, they're not only functional they'd actually make the area look better (it's kind of plain/bleak up there).

[Boat_Drinks]

I asssume that they are offering the free drinks with a CAS card?

 

No, definitely not. :mad:

 

Honestly, I didn't expect them to - most cruise ship casinos do not offer free beverages of any kind (let alone alchohol). I played through over $49,000 on the Emerald Princess and STILL had to pay for all drinks (even bottled water!).

 

I know that some NCL ships are or will be providing free drinks to Casino players, but I don't know if it extends to ALL ships, or if they intend to extend it to all ships. But definitely no on Dream (as of last week).

[Boat_Drinks]

I'm going to give the Dream a try. Do you think it would be helpful (to avoid backups at dinner time) to go to the early show then go to dinner??

 

Yes, have a "backup plan". Check the menus and lines at the other dining rooms too, you might prefer Four Seasons one night, but find the wait unacceptably long - meanwhile there might be nobody at Terraces.

 

Of course, with La Bistro you can make reservations so you should be dining when you expect to.

 

For us, waiting out the crowds at the casino worked out fine when we were at sea.

[WonderMan3]

(Sorry, long post ahead - but at least it's full of details.....) :D

 

 

Just to chime in here with my own two cents as Mr. Boat Drinks was my cabin mate. I agree with pretty much everything he stated about the cruise. My only differing opinions are with the mattress (I thought it was very comfortable and I slept like a rock), and the room service food (the omelete was pretty bland).

 

A few other things he didn't mention:

 

*The cruise was full of teens and pre-teens, running up and down the halls at all hours of the day and night, playing in the elevators, sitting on stairways and refusing to move to let people pass by, smoking in the rear sections of the ship, sneaking into the casino to try and play, drinking alcohol and walking around obviously with it (and for these last two I mean kids under 18), harassing room service by ordering numerous items all through the night (two teen girls in an elevator told us they were doing this), hogging up the hot tubs, and on and on. It made for a very unpleasant cruise experience so we generally tried to avoid the areas where the teens liked to congregate (pool during the day, Dazzles at night). And this was not just us complaining about this. We heard other guests talking about being kept up to all hours of the night by noisy teens in adjacent rooms and the captain even had to make a friendly warning to the kids to not play in the elevators. From what we heard through crew members though our trip was a bit light on the teens. The week before ours apparently had about 500 of them (I would assume that includes younger kids too, but still that is 25% of the passengers!) and the crew was driven crazy.

 

*People would leave trash EVERYWHERE; room service plates and glasses sitting outside cabins, bottles of beer left in hallways and all over the outdoor decks, empty sundae cups and glasses in the elevators, etc. Now this is of course not NCL's fault but rather that of its trashy clientele (I've never seen stuff like this on my RCCL or Princess cruises). My real issue came when you would see these items sitting there for hours and you would sometimes see crewmembers walk right past the mess.

 

*The lifeboat drill was a mess. Conveniently our muster station was just around the corner from our cabin. It quickly became claustrophobic though as dozens of people crowded in around us. A crew member came by at one point and started asking for cabin numbers. When she had finished going through the group it appeared like another crew member was saying something to our group. But because we were positioned at the far end of the muster group we couldn't hear a word she was saying. Add to that that the crew member leading the muster group next to us was calling cabin numbers through a speaker and drowned out anything our crew leader might've been saying. It did not appear that any emergency instructions were given though as I was able to hear everything the crew leader of the group next to us was saying and he did nothing but call cabin numbers and dismissed the group. Announcements were made from the bridge but we could not hear what was being said. Overall it was a huge disorganized mess and if the ship had gone down I would've only know my muster station and to have a lifejacket on, beyond that, guess we had to figure it out on our own....

 

And some of the good things...

 

*The captain was great at keeping us informed of weather status and any changes to the itinerary. Bertha was of course a major threat at this time and I was totally freaked out. But the captain made multiple updates each day as to the location of the storm and her potential impact to us and Bermuda which was very relieving. Thankfully the only effect it had on us was some big swells on our way out of Bermuda for an hour or two and the ship being moved from St. George to Hamilton on our last evening.

 

*Mike's (Boat Drinks) refrigerator problem was only solved because a housekeeping staff member named Charlene actually had the refrigerator moved from her cabin into our stateroom. I felt that was above and beyond for service. It's too bad she had to be inconvenienced as well as us due to NCL's misinformation. We made sure we put her name down on the comment card.

 

*Bermuda itself had fantastic weather for us and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life...Horseshoe Bay! What a magnificent beach. Much of the Dream stress was worth it just to have experienced that warm, clear water and pillow soft sand.

 

*We got to see TONS of dolphins swimming and diving around the boat during the sail home! We also saw numerous whale spouts and the back of one whale. This was one of the best parts of the whole cruise for me.

 

*And while the slots were probably the tightest I have ever seen in my life, our gambling did pay off in the end as we had about $300 taken off our bill by Casinos at Sea, we got a comped second dinner (alcohol included) at Le Bistro by Belinda the casino host, and Mike got a special invitation (just under $500 - basically taxes and slot tournament fee) to cruise the Dawn from NYC to Bermuda in 2 weeks. So they did treat us well in the casino despite robbing us blind, lol. Mike was also told that based on his play it makes us eligible for casino rates on our next cruise through Casinos at Sea. Fingers crossed that applies to villas too.

 

So we did manage to have a good time despite the hassles the Dream gave us, but it is just not a good ship and really drags down the NCL brand (which is of course why they are selling it). Here's hoping the Jade does not disappoint us next year. So far I am very excited as the villas look fantastic, the ship looks quite lovely, and I love all the many restaurant choices. Also, it's Europe which is my absolute favorite place to travel. Don't screw it up for us NCL!

[CruiseKing]

*Mike's (Boat Drinks) refrigerator problem was only solved because a housekeeping staff member named Charlene actually had the refrigerator moved from her cabin into our stateroom. I felt that was above and beyond for service. It's too bad she had to be inconvenienced as well as us due to NCL's misinformation. We made sure we put her name down on the comment card.

At what point in your cruise did Charlene locate the refrigerator for you. Just curious.

[Alzarine]

The cruise was full of teens and pre-teens, running up and down the halls at all hours of the day and night, playing in the elevators, sitting on stairways and refusing to move to let people pass by, smoking in the rear sections of the ship, sneaking into the casino to try and play, drinking alcohol and walking around obviously with it (and for these last two I mean kids under 18), harassing room service by ordering numerous items all through the night (two teen girls in an elevator told us they were doing this), hogging up the hot tubs, and on and on. It made for a very unpleasant cruise experience so we generally tried to avoid the areas where the teens liked to congregate (pool during the day, Dazzles at night). And this was not just us complaining about this. We heard other guests talking about being kept up to all hours of the night by noisy teens in adjacent rooms and the captain even had to make a friendly warning to the kids to not play in the elevators. From what we heard through crew members though our trip was a bit light on the teens. The week before ours apparently had about 500 of them (I would assume that includes younger kids too, but still that is 25% of the passengers!) and the crew was driven crazy.

 

 

 

 

Don't they have any security people monitoring out of control teenagers ? Of course, it should be the parents but if they are going to ignore their responsibility then NCL should get tough and lay down the law.

 

All these negative reports are making me a bit nervous about our 7/27 Dream sailing.... I'm hoping the cruise line reads these comments and takes action to improve the situation regarding surly crew, unappetizing food and wild teens :(

[Boat_Drinks]

At what point in your cruise did Charlene locate the refrigerator for you. Just curious.

 

During the first two hours. We checked in and boarded right around noon (we spent nearly an hour in the Lattitudes check-in line from about 11am-noon), proceeded directly to the stateroom and immediately realized there was no refrigerator. I started making calls immediately, as previously indicated it took numerous calls - when they realized I wasn't "going away" they provided the refrigerator. Charlene did indeed indicate that she was giving me her own personal refrigerator, and I was grateful for that and acknowledged her consideration both verbally and in writing in the comment card. I didn't mention this detail above because it sort of opens the question WHY crew members have refrigerators in their cabins when the guests can not get refrigerators assigned for medical requirements. Have all of the otherwise "assignable" refrigerators on Dream been given to the crew?

 

I don't know that I even want to have that conversation, but it did bother me that since I requested one IMMEDIATELY after boarding commenced, there were already "none available". And, of course, my stateroom is supposed to have one already anyhow (according to NCL's website, and two calls to Miami to confirm in advance that there would be one.....), and my TA had already notified Miami by FAX that I required one.

 

AR's post reminded me, I completely forgot about teens smoking, drinking and playing in the casino. We saw casino staff carding some of these kids, who would get indignant and try to dismiss them. Worst of all, sometimes the PARENTS would harass the staff for carding their kids, who they evidently WANTED to play in the casino.

 

There was one time we were riding in one of the TINY elevators with two boys, they couldn't have been more than 16. They were making "small talk" that seemed rambling when I realized they were drunk and I could smell rum coming from one of their beverages. FYI, AR and I are both TIPS certified so we are trained to recognize when someone is under the influence of alchohol.

 

All the more reason not to cruise in Summer when the rug-rats are out of school.

[WonderMan3]

 

 

 

Don't they have any security people monitoring out of control teenagers ? Of course, it should be the parents but if they are going to ignore their responsibility then NCL should get tough and lay down the law.

 

All these negative reports are making me a bit nervous about our 7/27 Dream sailing.... I'm hoping the cruise line reads these comments and takes action to improve the situation regarding surly crew, unappetizing food and wild teens :(

 

As I had mentioned, the captain himself came on towards the start of the cruise and warned kids not to play in the elevators, which indicates it was a problem on prior cruises.

 

I witnessed a casino staff member being hassled by an underage kid who was sitting watching his older brother play. She had asked him if he was of age and he said yes. Then she asked to see ID but he didn't have any on him. She then asked for his room number. He didn't give it and walked out. He showed up again about 15 minutes later. She again came up to him and asked for ID or said he would have to leave. Without even looking at her he just shoved his ID in her face. But the ID showed he was 17 and therefore too young to be there. She said he would need to leave but he ignored her and kept sitting there. Apparently an older relative (not the brother) was sitting around the corner and began hassling the casino employee as I heard say exasperatedly, "I'm just doing my job sir. He is not old enough to be in the casino. I have asked him mutliple times to show proof of his age. He is not old enough and he can't be in here." She then walked off to get a supervisor but the adult apparently motioned to the kid who stalked off all pissed off.

 

That was a clear example of the parents or older relatives not even giving a damn that their child was breaking the law and also creating a tense situation for an NCL employee. So is it any wonder that teens are running wild on these ships? Even when these irresponsible parents have the brats in their sights they turn the other cheek to their bad behavior.

[amd1234]

Boat Drinks.. Sorry about your experience and I can't believe I was on the same cruise. I did notice the cabins on deck 7 not a good deck to have a cabin. We had no problems what so ever with the food service, staff etc. We were on the 9th deck with a refigerator. I will agree the pool deck had no coverage and it was sooooooo hot.. It did get crowded and it was difficult trying to secure a table to eat. Hint we took our food to the Observation Room and ate it was cool had we had a cocktail and no one kicked us out. I guess we were so excited about our family vacation and being together that we just went with the flow:D We would take another NCL in a heartbeat... Good Luck with the next cruise..

[Alzarine]

I wish all the cruise lines would get much tougher on parents who let their kids and teens run wild. It sounds harsh but if a few families with misbehaving teens were put off at the first port for bad behavior than other people might sit up and take notice.

 

I honestly think if security were beefed up, it might put a cramp in a lot of the shenanigans by teens. On a Celebrity cruise, they had some very muscle bound Filipino men serving as security and I think not many teens would try to give them any trouble. :eek:

 

I have traveled NCL before but have not noticed much in regard to the presence of any sort of policing of venues where teens may be out of control.

[Boat_Drinks]

I forgot one other thing, the Spa on Dream (easily forgetable, it pretty much doesn't exist). A great way to start a cruise is with a massage in the Spa. They are usually overpriced, but what the heck - it's a great time to spoil yourself, right?

 

We went to the Spa (Deck 11 IIRC) to set up appointments, but upon looking around it became clear that the "Spa" was a couple of closets off of the corridor outside of the exercise room! Deciding that we really didn't want to stand around in the corridor in towels waiting for a massage, we opted to skip the massages on this cruise. :(

 

PS: If anyone actually DID use the Spa services, I'd be interested in hearing your comments.

[greywillow]

We had no problems what so ever with the food service, staff etc.

I suspect few did.

 

Boat Drinks and his/her roommate seem to revel in hyperbole--something that serves no useful purpose on this board. I'm guessing most of this was driven by the absence of a refrigerator. From that point on, everything was wah, wah, wah.

[WonderMan3]

And you seem to revel in negativity based on all the posts I've seen from you on this board criticizing and attacking other posters for having opinions that differ from yours. Don't see what useful purpose that serves around here.

 

Next...

[CruiseKing]

Would one of the most recent cruisers check a copy of your Freestyle Daily and tell me the name of the Captain on the Dream.

Thank You,

[macdays1]

I'm curious about the Captain myself. I would also like to know who the CD and ACD is on the Dream. Thanks!

[Boat_Drinks]

I suspect few did. I'm guessing most of this was driven by the absence of a refrigerator.

 

You'd be wrong. I was actually ON the Dream, and I actually met and spoke with other passengers - nearly ALL of whom conveyed very similar stories and had the same general opinions expressed above.

 

You, on the other hand, were not. Since the problem concerning the missing refrigerator was resolved within 2 hours of boarding, it should have been smooth sailing after that. It wasn't.

 

You can suspect whatever you like, but YOU weren't there. For that matter, have you EVER been on the Dream? I include my past cruises in my sig line, so you know a little about me - I know nothing about you.

[Boat_Drinks]

Would one of the most recent cruisers check a copy of your Freestyle Daily and tell me the name of the Captain on the Dream.

 

From memory (and I'm sure I am not spelling it correctly), but his name was Aag (and I don't know if that's his first name or last name, but if you recognize it and it is unique perhaps that helps).

[Britt23]

I have two close friends who just returned from cruising on the Dream. One traveled the week of the 4th of July and the other traveled the week after.

 

First friend had exact same experience as Boat Dream. I honestly didn't believe it could be that bad because it sounded so terrible, but she showed me pictures of the food and it looked disgusting. She has cruised many times before and was so disappointed because it was the first cruise for her boyfriend and he hated it! She is very easy going and just wanted to relax and have fun. The teenagers for her were also annoying. (Drinking too much!)

 

Second friend enjoyed the cruise, had good food and nothing bad to say. Not sure why there was such a difference in one week. Though this friend said they went to dinner early (5:30) and said meals and service were great. Maybe that is the secret!

 

Both of the ladies loved leaving out of Boston and said Bermuda was just beautiful. I am posting their opinions because they are not members of cruise critic and I think it's important to get as much info as possible on the Dream.

 

Happy Cruising!

[navybankerteacher]

I'm sorry you had a bad cruise! Based on the details you provided, I can understand your "nightmare" opinion.

 

I can understand and excuse almost everything except the difficulty you had in obtaining a refrigerator for your insulin! How can they not realize that it was a potentially life-threatening medical issue?

 

I applaud you for being willing to give NCL another try!

 

BTW, i agree with you about the limited options for sailing from Boston. I'd love to do a transatlantic crossing from Boston.

 

Try Holland America's Maasdam - she has one or two Atlantic crossings from Boston every year.

[Cubechick]

From memory (and I'm sure I am not spelling it correctly), but his name was Aag (and I don't know if that's his first name or last name, but if you recognize it and it is unique perhaps that helps).

 

Aage Hoodevik. He was awesome! Great sense of humor and he quoted poetry!