What happened on the Dream this week?

[family cruisers]

We just returned from the Dawn ,NYC to BERMUDA and so many people we talked with were saying "Did you hear about the Dreams cruise to bermuda? Crew and passengers were talking about the horrible ride out there, very rough seas etc... which we also experienced but being such a large ship we didn't get beaten up like they did.

 

WE had dishes flying, very rough seas for about our first 30 hours of sailing. 12 - 18 foot continuous rough seas.

 

Would love to hear how those did on the Dream, heard they were in lock down for a few days?

 

Again, this is only what I heard while on board and it was the gossip of the ship.

 

Hope all are well.

[bostongal]

Hi - We just returned today from this sailing. This was our 6th NCL cruise (our 20th cruise overall) and it was one of our worst. We tried to make the best of it but are glad to be home now. Our family hopes that those on board this week have a better time of it.

 

We had extremely rough seas beginning on Sunday night and continuing until late Monday night. The outside doors were chained, the elevators were not working on Monday and there was no room service on Monday as the crew was completely overwhelmed. Our cabin on deck 6 flooded twice on Sunday night with sewage and we were eventually moved to another cabin on another deck.

 

The captain did announce that they lost a significant amount of liquor due to the heavy seas and we personally saw furniture overturned and the shops in disarray. The coffee bar was unable to open because of damage & shifting from the seas.

 

As for the crew - some were fantastic, some were rude. We witnessed a few crew members yelling at passengers or making rude comments. We also witnessed some that went above and beyond to make it a pleasant experience.

 

Meg

[nautica34]

We just returned from the Dream as well. Bostongal so sorry to hear about your cabin. We were on deck 4 and fortunately no damage to our cabin. It was difficult sleeping with the waves crashing against the windows, our beds shifting, the celing creaking and some heavy metal thing in the closet that kept clanging.

 

I personally had trouble understanding the captain over the intercom. I heard many say they heard the damage was around $20k. We found the crew to be very nice and understanding. It amazed us how they were able to do their job especially those in the restaurants. Some of the crew we spoke with had a worse a experience than the passengers give their cabin location etc.

[Grandpaul]

We were on the Dream about 15 years ago and we went thru a tropical storm on the way to Bermuda. Sounds like a rerun of that trip. Sorry you went thru that. On our trip it was the beginning of a 15 day repostioning cruise and they were cleaning up the whole trip.

[irishj&m]

We also were on the Dream and agree with all the above. In the middle of Sunday night, we heard a large bang and when I opened my eyes there was light in the room. It was coming from the next cabin. It kept slamming back and forth and eventually jammed mostly closed, the next morning we saw part of the wall panel had fallen into our room. Everyone was falling and we saw many people who had broken bones, sprained ankles and an ambulance was waiting as we docked in Bermuda. Bermuda was great, the ferry/bus service is outstanding and we swam at Horseshoe Bay and Elbow Beach. The ride home was much better although the food didn't improve at all. This was our first time out of Boston and probably our last.

[bostongal]

Nautica - Thanks for your reply. Our cabin was in several inches of water and my husband's CPAP machine was sitting in a puddle next to the bed (after it rushed out of the bathroom). We went to the desk to talk to a supervisor and had to wait 2+ hours for one to be available. When we had waited 2 hours we spoke to a gentleman (I did not get his name) about speaking the supervisor because our cabin was flooded and his reply to us was "we'll send a letter to your cabin". That still makes us laugh. Luckily we did get moved and all of our things were fine.

 

I am with you on the not being able to understand the Captain during his announcements. Often I thought he was mumbling. I gave up trying after the comment about the seas calming down in 4-5 hours (9 a.m. on Monday) and then having it just get worse.

 

I thought the crew was for the most part nice and genuinely trying to do a good job in awful circumstances. We did hear one crew member yell at a passenger to stay away from the door when the rolling seas caused it to crash open. I also heard another passenger tell the crew member not to yell at the passenger (a young man around 21 who was not near the door when it slammed open).

 

As for the food - we were mixed. The buffet was awful to my husband & I except late at night when there were good french fries there. My daughter did like the pasta station at the buffet. The dining rooms we enjoyed but we found servers that were pleasant, capable and then booked their tables every night. It made a big difference for us. I enjoyed most everything we ate. I had a few things that were not to my liking but that has been the case on every cruise we've done so no complaints there. We did not eat at the Pizzeria or do any of the on deck buffets. We never ate at the Trattoria. We did one night in Le Bistro and it was a pleasant evening. Room Service was forgettable but we enjoyed having breakfast delivered every day.

 

Coffee onboard - just awful. We had trouble getting cream but I had been forewarned about that by reading the posts here. I bought a few cups from the coffee bar and made my own in my room after I tried it in the dining room. I am glad that I packed my own.

 

Irishj&m - We've cruised out of Boston 6 times now. You cannot judge cruising out of Boston on this one experience. We did 5 sailings on the NCL Majesty, a smaller ship and one of our cruises we were just ahead of a hurricane with 25 ft. seas - that cruise was bumpy. Our other 4 (1 in August and 3 in October) were smooth like glass. It's just the chance we take when we cruise in the fall.

 

I am sorry to hear about the wall panel in your cabin. That would have scared me half to death!

 

I did notice a few people with crutches but didn't know if that was from the ship or not. I am sorry that people got hurt but it doesn't surprise me at all given the movement onboard.

 

I just watched the Dream sail out for this week's cruise. I hope they have smoother sailing and blue skies.

 

Bermuda was absolutely beautiful.

 

Meg

[ohioNCLcruiser]

The WORST sea conditions I have ever felt were on the Wind, the Dreams old sister ship. I think with lengthening the ship it doesn't handle rough seas very well.

[zamboni_girl]

We just returned from the Dawn ,NYC to BERMUDA and so many people we talked with were saying "Did you hear about the Dreams cruise to bermuda? Crew and passengers were talking about the horrible ride out there, very rough seas etc... which we also experienced but being such a large ship we didn't get beaten up like they did.

 

WE had dishes flying, very rough seas for about our first 30 hours of sailing. 12 - 18 foot continuous rough seas.

 

Would love to hear how those did on the Dream, heard they were in lock down for a few days?

 

I was on the Dream. What a ride!

 

I think it might of been a perfect storm kind of deal for the combination of where and when the Dream was leaving, with a rather large tropical depression to the east of Bermuda. I dont know when the Dawn left, but I believe they were not scheduled to be in Bermuda until Wed, giving them some leway in travel plans, plus leaving a little further south certainly puts the dawn in less of the storm. I am not sure having a bigger ship would of helped, as the cruise ships now sit so high on the water. Having a ship with a deeper hull would of helped but they just dont make them like that anymore.

 

The swells on the Dream were up to 32 feet in height. Twice the bow went under, and the propeller came out of the water. Which is apparently bad. If that kept happening rumoer has it, they would of had to stop the ship and just let us bob in the water. I dont think anyone anticpated the swells of that height. The crew expected a rough ride (about 20ft swells) but not quite what we experienced.

 

After hearing what had happened, i guess it makes sense the decks were all closed. Certainly dont want a passenger fall off in a wave, but I would of liked better pictures of the ride!

 

The dinning staff were friggen CHAMPS that night. It took two hours for dinner, but because of the lack of dishes they had to wash stuff as it came in, and half the kitchen equipment was down so that is why dinner took so long. The people I sat with at dinner had a good time of it. The poor waiter kept appologizing, nothing much he could do about it but I appreciated him at least letting us know why service was taking so long.

 

The shops were all smashed up, booze bottles everywhere, broken glass, it was not until about 4PM on the sea day that stuff started to open. One of my poor room stewards was feeling awful and the cart even fell on her once. TVs were falling everywhere, I heard one fell on some guy's leg. Just about every staff person I talked to would say something to " This is the worst I have ever seen it in X number of years working for NCL". x = number of years that employee worked for NCL.

 

The CC meet and greet was short and with no goodies, mostly for safety reasons. They didnt want tables of hot coffee spilling everywhere. As I heard that a couple of tables did flip while people were sitting at them, and there were numerous chair tippings.

 

Me I was loving it! I mean I wouldnt willingly sign up for a trip like that again, but there wasnt much the staff could do about it and I felt self with such an experienced seaman leading the way. Captain Hoddevick spent 36 hours on the bridge, the entirety of the storm. In the end it makes a heck of a story/ adventure!

[family cruisers]

You sound like a great sport.. I was really concerned hearing while on board the Dawn what you folks were going through on the Dream.

We hit 20ft swells on the Crown last year and that being a small ship didn't do well, but nothing like what you experienced.

 

While on the Dawn we hit continuous swells of 12-18 feet, some seemed alot bigger than what they said.

 

Just glad no one was hurt but sorry to hear of how many were hurt on the Dream.

 

I was on the Dream. What a ride!

 

I think it might of been a perfect storm kind of deal for the combination of where and when the Dream was leaving, with a rather large tropical depression to the east of Bermuda. I dont know when the Dawn left, but I believe they were not scheduled to be in Bermuda until Wed, giving them some leway in travel plans, plus leaving a little further south certainly puts the dawn in less of the storm. I am not sure having a bigger ship would of helped, as the cruise ships now sit so high on the water. Having a ship with a deeper hull would of helped but they just dont make them like that anymore.

 

The swells on the Dream were up to 32 feet in height. Twice the bow went under, and the propeller came out of the water. Which is apparently bad. If that kept happening rumoer has it, they would of had to stop the ship and just let us bob in the water. I dont think anyone anticpated the swells of that height. The crew expected a rough ride (about 20ft swells) but not quite what we experienced.

 

After hearing what had happened, i guess it makes sense the decks were all closed. Certainly dont want a passenger fall off in a wave, but I would of liked better pictures of the ride!

 

The dinning staff were friggen CHAMPS that night. It took two hours for dinner, but because of the lack of dishes they had to wash stuff as it came in, and half the kitchen equipment was down so that is why dinner took so long. The people I sat with at dinner had a good time of it. The poor waiter kept appologizing, nothing much he could do about it but I appreciated him at least letting us know why service was taking so long.

 

The shops were all smashed up, booze bottles everywhere, broken glass, it was not until about 4PM on the sea day that stuff started to open. One of my poor room stewards was feeling awful and the cart even fell on her once. TVs were falling everywhere, I heard one fell on some guy's leg. Just about every staff person I talked to would say something to " This is the worst I have ever seen it in X number of years working for NCL". x = number of years that employee worked for NCL.

 

The CC meet and greet was short and with no goodies, mostly for safety reasons. They didnt want tables of hot coffee spilling everywhere. As I heard that a couple of tables did flip while people were sitting at them, and there were numerous chair tippings.

 

Me I was loving it! I mean I wouldnt willingly sign up for a trip like that again, but there wasnt much the staff could do about it and I felt self with such an experienced seaman leading the way. Captain Hoddevick spent 36 hours on the bridge, the entirety of the storm. In the end it makes a heck of a story/ adventure!

[PyrHeaven]

I would've been flipping out!! I was on the Sky the 20-24 and it was like floating on glass compared to what you guys all experienced! I can't even imagine! Any first time cruisers (like myself) probably would have said that would be their first and LAST cruise. haha Certainly not NCL or the crew's fault. Sorry to hear it didn't go so well the first few days. Thankfully while on the Sky we didn't get rough seas like that, although we could not tender to GSC due to the high winds, and I think they said about 8-10 foot swells..NOTHING compared to what you guys went through. Glad to hear the ship and all crew and passengers are back safe.

[zamboni_girl]

You sound like a great sport.. I was really concerned hearing while on board the Dawn what you folks were going through on the Dream.

We hit 20ft swells on the Crown last year and that being a small ship didn't do well, but nothing like what you experienced.

 

While on the Dawn we hit continuous swells of 12-18 feet, some seemed alot bigger than what they said.

 

Just glad no one was hurt but sorry to hear of how many were hurt on the Dream.

 

I know some people had a rough time with it. One couple I met ( I was a solo cruiser so I met alot of people) the poor guy was at the point of dry heaving during the storm. I would have to imagine that once your stomach gets all topsy turvy it must be hard to stop it. so I am thankful that wasnt me.

 

I did see some people leaving with their luggage on the day we left port. And I really feel for the first time cruisers because that was certainly an exception rather than the norm and it makes for a rather rough first time experience.

 

I think the funniest part was this afternoon telling my dad the whole story. He was visabled bummed he wasnt on the ship for it. (We went as a family on the Dream in sept to Canada).

 

There was seriously one time I was in the halls walking at a 45 degree angle. One of the secruity officers was walking by in the other direction, pretty much impossible to not walk into the good looking man. :D

 

As for the great sport comment! Thanks. You know how the saying goes "life is what happens when you are busy making plans". Being open to new experiences helps makes us better people! Even the less than ideal ones. :D

[biker@sea]

I will never forget the odd feeling of this cruise. We had following seas that picked up the aft first in a roll toward the bow with gail force winds. Very strange to see 30ft waves run from rear to front as though we were backing up.:eek:

[elron]

WOW! Crazy stuff!

[SNicksed]

I can only imagine the horror of being on that ship BUT it was no way NCL"S fault with the weather and as far as the Smashed "passenger" , NCL had nothing to do with that either. Your service was slow ... be grateful you had service after what that ship, it's crew and passengers went through. People got hurt badly, you didn't - be grateful for that.

 

We were on the Dawn and the food was not the best either BUT in specialty restaurants it was awesome.

 

Even though our experience wasn't what we were used to for the past two years we're still going to try another NCL ship. Nothing is perfect all the time and If I gave up now who knows what I'd be missing.

 

We didn't let the little things ruin our trip. I know you sound pretty upset and rightfully so BUT .... No one can predict the future of anything, we can only hope for the best and then make the best of what we have.

If it were only the seas, then fine. But it was the entire experience. This was our 8th cruise since 2004. (2nd with NCL) We've had rough seas before. This ENTIRE cruise was Horrible.

 

We brought first timers with us and I could explain the bad seas to them, but one thing after another I could not. What I mentioned in my first post was not limited to only when the seas were rough.

 

I've NEVER been on a bad cruise until this one!! :(

[SNicksed]

Did I mention that our first timer friends found a half bottle of booze next to their couch on the first day? Or that our pillows smelled like they were from 1992? Doesn't say much for NCL in general.

 

For the record, we sailed the Majesty out of Boston in 2005 and loved it.

 

The Dream was BAD... period!

 

I swear I won't post again on the subject.

[drbabe]

We were in the very front, top deck. Very rough ride, but we still enjoyed the cruise. The food was uneven - often good, sometimes not. Service was also uneven, but mostly good. I was surprised that they didn't put the ship in lock down mode and confine everyone to their cabins - it was flat out dangerous for staff and guests in the dining rooms. Dream really needs to go into dry dock for repairs. Terrible sewage odor from deck 7 down at midship. I cannot believe that the stabilizers were functioning - there was so much side to side rolling. But despite all this, we had a great time.

[time2cruise1]

Dream really needs to go into dry dock for repairs. Terrible sewage odor from deck 7 down at midship. I cannot believe that the stabilizers were functioning - there was so much side to side rolling. But despite all this, we had a great time.

 

They are doing one better and putting the ship in mothballs. Last NCL cruise for the Dream is this week.

[Addictedtwo]

Was this the ship you were on?

[Addictedtwo]

[ohioNCLcruiser]

addicted great youtube link, have you seen the video from the inside during that? Everyone was pretty much sitting on the floor with everything rolling around them.

[Addictedtwo]

No I didn't know there was one on the inside. Have you got the link I'd like to see it.

 

I'm sitting here killing myself in laughter reading all these posts, while I know it's not funny at the time but it brings me back to a ferry ride I took in Greece with the same sort of seas.

The crew started handing out barf bags before we even left the dock, the I knew we were going to be in for a rough ride. Thes seas were so bad they couldn't pull into the nextport.

 

Sorry all but I just had to post that link!

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Here ya go sir.

 

[Addictedtwo]

Super thanks!

[Ivey01]

Hi All,

 

We also sailed the Dream this week. I have to say while it was not the best cruise we have ever been on, we did make the best of it. We met some wonderful staff, folks who truely went above & beyond to try and make our cruise memorable. We also brought a first time cruiser with us and while I'm not sure he will ever cruise again it has nothing to do with NCL.

 

No one has any control over the weather and it is very easy to say after the fact that perhaps things should have been done differently but all in all we think the crew did an outstanding job given the circumstances.

 

Also Bermuda was beautiful as always and we had the most terrific sea day on Saturday - we expected it to be cold as we were heading back to Boston but instead it was sunny and maybe 70 degrees.

 

I've attached a picture of the seas on Monday morning......it's amazing the power of mother nature. This was taken from Deck 7 looking out the window.

 

[B4andAFT]

Great picture Ivey01. Those seas were really something, weren't they? :eek: