Aboard Dream, 7/21/05 cruise

Ahoy, all. It's Friday morning aboard Dream. We made it here safe, sound, and happy.

So far, we are having a wonderful cruise. Boarding was a breeze, and we had a lovely lunch after getting acquainted with our all-the-way-forward cabin on Deck 10. This morning I treated myself to a massage, my first ever. Last night we had a delightful dinner in Le Bistro.

Everyone on the staff and crew has been most polite, friendly, and accommodating. We are skipping Sitka, and we are apparently NOT receiving the $50/person cabin credit.

It is certainly expensive to use the internet from here, so I am signing off for now, and will check in again from an internet cafe in our first port if I have time.

Cheers!

check out prince rupert - Java cafe - for quick cheap internet access. $1.75Canadian for 30 minutes. Good coffee too.

So glad to read your message!:D We will be going on the Dream on 9/1, and there have been just TOO MANY negative messages about the ship, NCL, etc.

Please post again when you return to fill me in on what you did in the various ports. And in the meantime, have a wonderful time!!!:)

We were on the Dream, debarking on 7/21 in Seattle. We received the $50 per person shipboard credit for missing Sitka. BTW, debarkation in Seattle from the Dream was the easiest and least stressful that we have ever experienced in over 50 cruises...we vacated our cabin at 8:20 and were at the airport by 9:00.

We made our first port, Ketchikan, at about 9:30 this morning, delayed both by changed time (due to the engine problem) and there was a medical evacuation during the night. I hope that the sick passenger is all right and that he/she had trip insurance! There is no helipad on Dream, so I'm not sure how they evacuated the passenger, perhaps by Coast Guard boat?

In any case, we are enjoying our cruise very much. In our cabin, which is all the way foreward, there is some vibration and motion, but I have not found it uncomfortable in the least, although my husband has been a bit queasy at times. Easily taken care of with Bonine.

Last night I went to one of the shows in the Stardust Lounge and enjoyed it quite a bit. Last year we were on Celebrity Summit, and while I found Summit's ambience, food, and service wonderful, I found the shows to be pretty awful. The dancers and production on the Dream are better, in my never-to-be-humble opinion.

Every single ship employee has been wonderful, without exception. They have a wonderful positive attitude, always greet the passengers, and try their best to show you a good time. Our cabin steward has been particularly accommodating--I have run into him in the hallways a couple of times and asked for some small item, which he always procures immediately and tells me to please contact him if there is anything at all that he can do. A couple of times I have left a post-it note in the cabin (to ask for extra towels, for example) and he obviously read them because whatever I asked for was waiting for me in the cabin later.

The first day they had a 1/2 price pressing deal--give them your most wrinkled items in the morning and they will have them pressed and returned to your cabin by evening.

We have not had any difficulty being served promptly in any dining venue. The first day the line was very long for the lunch buffet, so we just went to a sit-down lunch and were seated immediately. Our longest wait so far was about 10 minutes. The only small quibble I have had about the food is that it is somewhat of a challenge to have food prepared differently than stated on the menu. My husband and I are trying to be careful about our food choices as we have both just lost a significant amount of weight, with more to go (don't want to put it all back on in one cruise!). We are asking for salads with dressing on the side, entrees without sauces or with sauce on the side, and so forth. Most of the dishes come from the kitchen completely prepared. The wait staff is usually able to acccommodate our choices, but often smilingly say, "I'll see if I can get it for you." Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. When I asked for no french fries with one meal, we noticed the waiter picking them off the plate before serving it. That was fine with me--if I see it on the plate I will eat it, so that was probably the most efficient solution.

OK, enough is enough--we're off to enjoy our port!

Dandylyon, I agree with you about the production shows...the Jean Ann Ryan dancers. The shows on the Dream were a cut above those we have seen recently on Princess and Royal Caribbean.

Ahoy, all. It's Friday morning aboard Dream. We made it here safe, sound, and happy.

 

So far, we are having a wonderful cruise. Boarding was a breeze, and we had a lovely lunch after getting acquainted with our all-the-way-forward cabin on Deck 10. This morning I treated myself to a massage, my first ever. Last night we had a delightful dinner in Le Bistro.

 

Everyone on the staff and crew has been most polite, friendly, and accommodating. We are skipping Sitka, and we are apparently NOT receiving the $50/person cabin credit.

 

It is certainly expensive to use the internet from here, so I am signing off for now, and will check in again from an internet cafe in our first port if I have time.

 

Cheers!

Hi There! I photographed you sailing away the other night from downtown Seattle! :

The whole gallery can be seen here.

Found A Internet Cafe In Ketchican Which Was Alot Cheaper Than On The Dream....Ketchican...ate A great meal At "Steamers"..really good king crab,fresh Oyster Shooters....just A great meal All Washed Down With Some Great Alaskan Amber Brew...Juneau And The "Red Dog Saloon"..was Also Alot Of Fun...:)

I left the Dream the day you boarded. Totally agree about the stewards ... I've lived with a guilt complex ever since for not tipping them more. I found the issue related to trying to make changes to meals on the menu ( a very American habit I would add ;) ) was more language related. I don't think the waiters totally understand what's being communicated half the time ... my only advice - speak slowly !!!! Have fun ... beware of the digital photography session, absolute shambles!

Check out Andre and Francis (?) the dance instructers. I was well below the average age but actually got a kick out of their classes and earned some serious brownie points with the missus :D

Are the port times back to the original times or are they giving us new times again?

Do you know for sure you are not getting the OBC? I asked because the last sailing did and they also had the ability to cancel without penalty. I sure hope they continue the OBC even though I'd rather have Sitka back!

re cybercafes: We are using Seaport Cyber, which has decent rates (around $5.25/hour), and has outlets in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka. You can buy time in one place and then continue using your time at your other ports! Friendly, pretty good connections, easy access from piers.

re cabin credits: Yes, I'm sure. I inquired more than once at the reception desk, the credit desk, and the concierge. Many passengers are quite upset, both about missing Sitka, not receiving any cabin credit, and, particularly, the way NCL handled the situation. Yes, it's nice that they allowed people to cancel without penalty, but after making arrangements for kids, pets, house, vacation time, and so forth, how realistic is that?

Other features of the cruise are very nice indeed; most people seem to be having a fine time with this one exception. It has had quite a ripple effect because port times are different and thus excursion times are different, causing people to have to shorten or reschedule or miss excursions.

I had a great time today. I went canoing across Mendenhall Lake to the glacier and that big waterfall there. Then I went up Mt. Roberts. It was gorgeous up there! I had a great view because I took advice from cruisecritic boards--I looked up to the top of the mountain to see if I could see the summit before deciding to go. My hubby went fishing today--I didn't have a chance to talk to him about it yet, except to know that he DID catch something.

Cheers all!

re cybercafes: We are using Seaport Cyber, which has decent rates (around $5.25/hour), and has outlets in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka. You can buy time in one place and then continue using your time at your other ports! Friendly, pretty good connections, easy access from piers.

Sorry not to have posted this sooner: the Juneau public library, on the top floor of a multi-story building right at dockside--has many PCs with internet access.

Dandylyon,

It sounds like you are having a wonderful time.

I was looking at pictures from another cruisers Alaska trip and the natural beauty is awesome! Thanks for taking time to post. Can't wait to read your complete review when you return.

I was just in 0203 on the 6/30/05 sailing. Have you figured out the 9th floor loop to get to your cabin?

I just returned from 6/30/05 sailing in Cabin 0203 and Joey & Ray were excellent!

9th floor loop? What is that? I am cruising on the Dream in November, and am staying on that deck....I would appreciate any info you have. Thanks

9th floor loop? What is that?

I'll let mary explain what she's complaining about, but cabins on deck 10 (like 0203) are forward of the Dream's main show lounge, the Stardust. If the show lounge is closed to passengers, as it is during rehearsals, you can't walk through it on deck 10 to get from the rear of the ship to your cabin up forward. You have to walk forward on deck 9 and then either take the forward elevators or stairs one deck up to your cabin. Some people make this out to be a major inconvenience while others simply say "Oh, OK" and then just do it.

The layout is exactly the same on the Wind and yet no one seems to ever complain about it. Strange.

You have to walk forward on deck 9 and then either take the forward elevators or stairs one deck up to your cabin.

How bout going from front of ship on deck 9 to rear of ship on deck 9 - is that the dining room that people say they have to go through? I appreciate your knowledge!

How bout going from front of ship on deck 9 to rear of ship on deck 9 - is that the dining room that people say they have to go through? I appreciate your knowledge!

I'm writing today from Seward.

Yes, the floor plan on Dream is a little peculiar, apparently due to changes when she was stretched. When there is a show or rehearsals and so forth, we go down to deck nine, through the restaurant, and up the next set of elevators or stairs. I often go down to deck 7 where it is easy to traverse the length of the ship. Getting to some spots on Deck 12 is an adventure as well, but I think I've finally got the layout down.

On the plus side, the entertainment has been varied and, well, entertaining. I enjoyed the comedian, the dance company, and Andre and Francine, the dancers who give dance lessons and lectures. Good shows, better than we experienced last year on Celebrity Summit. Also on the plus side, I discovered that they offer a couple of Indian (as in the subcontinent) food choices every day during the lunch buffet. I love Indian food, and it's the best food I've found on Dream so far!

Soozy, the cruise director, does an excellent job. It is also nice to see the captain around the ship and on shore.

On the other side, however, there are many, many passengers who are quite upset about the Sitka situation. It's not just missing the port that is upsetting people; it's the way the whole thing is being handled, and having shortened port times in our other ports, or odd port times, like 2:00 p.m.--11:00 p.m. as we have today in Seward. I have not spoken to a single passenger who thinks it is NOT a big deal.

My husband and I are still having a wonderful time. The dance lessons have been a highlight for me--I hope to attend one or two more during the remainder of our cruise.

In the meantime, I'm off to have some more fun. Signing off for now.

We are booked on the 9/1 11-day cruise, and although I am disappointed we will miss Sitka, I totally agree that the shortened/awkward port times are far worse! None of the excursions we wanted to do are available during the new port times...like the railway trip in Seward...that was one of the main reasons we had booked this particular cruise, and now we cannot do it. Of course, NCL has offered to cancel with no penalty, but we would be penalized on our airline tickets, as well as having to rearrange vacation leave, housesitters, etc. So we elected to stay with our booking and enjoy everything the best we can. Please let us know what you did in Seward, Dandylon, since it appears to be a long port time with no excursions to fill it other than kayaking (not our idea of a good time:( ).

We are booked on the 9/1 11-day cruise, and although I am disappointed we will miss Sitka, I totally agree that the shortened/awkward port times are far worse! None of the excursions we wanted to do are available during the new port times...like the railway trip in Seward...that was one of the main reasons we had booked this particular cruise, and now we cannot do it. Of course, NCL has offered to cancel with no penalty, but we would be penalized on our airline tickets, as well as having to rearrange vacation leave, housesitters, etc. So we elected to stay with our booking and enjoy everything the best we can. Please let us know what you did in Seward, Dandylon, since it appears to be a long port time with no excursions to fill it other than kayaking (not our idea of a good time:( ).

I hope you can find some excursions to do that will fit in with the new times. I would love to do an Alaska cruise some time in the future and if something similar happened to me, I would probably have the same problems as you with changing booked vacation time and airline tickets etc. if so I would probably try to grin and bear it and go ahead but it would be a disappointment.

On most Caribbean cruises it is nice to me just to get into the sun and I wouldn't mind a few days on the ship, around the pool with a good book but on an Alaska cruise the ports for me would be the real attraction and I would hate not to be able to enjoy them to the full.

I notice your cruise is the beginning of Sept. so maybe they will have the problem fixed by then and be back to the regular itinerary.

Fingers crossed for you:)

Totally agree with seashellt posting. Don't mind missing Sitka either but the best excursion (for me) was the 8 hrs. Kenai National Park tour in Seward. What to do from 2pm to midnight?Perhaps the engine will be repaired by September.??

Totally agree with seashellt posting. Don't mind missing Sitka either but the best excursion (for me) was the 8 hrs. Kenai National Park tour in Seward. What to do from 2pm to midnight?Perhaps the engine will be repaired by September.??

It is my understanding that there are no plans to fix the engine while it is sailing Alaska.

We are booked for the 8 hr. Kenai PArk tour as well. We're hoping we will get at least a 6 hr. trip but NCL will not confirm any changes in the excursions. I have been told the times will be "adjusted" and once we are on board we will find out about the excursions. Seems crazy to me..

They must know by now what they are offering since this an ongoing thing.

Kenai Fjords Tours [not sure of the exact name] is handling that excursion for NCL and the woman I spoke to did not have any official word from NCL as yet. She was "certain" we would get some kind of tour. WE shall see! I am not counting on anything and plan to go with the flow..

I would book independantly but can not find any tour companies offering anything for our times in port. Once Sept. rolls around tours are limited.

We plan to have a great time no matter what! Hope you do so as well!

Let me at least provide some information that has been missed so far. Yes, we arrived in Ketchikan an hour late (we were authorized by customs to leave our ship an hour later that our original adjusted time). However, for those that need to disembark it took 1.5 hours to get the passengers off the ship. They made an announcement that all shore excursions would be in their entirety but I saw no attempt to get the ship shore excursion folks off first.

Juneau was better disembarking but we were 2 hours late (1100 AM) and for us meant we had to cancel our shore excursion because we had a 6:00 PM tour with Captain Larry, then it took 2 follow-up visits to the shore excursion desk to get credited for the tour.

Seward has been an even bigger issue. We arrived in Seward 2 hours early (woopie) only to be told at 2:30 that our 8 1/2 tour was cancelled. and would be replaced with a 6 hour tour that was infact 5 hours.

Don't get me wrong we've enjoyed ourselves however our expectations are considerably lower than if we were on a couple of other cruise lines.