Dream Review 6/30 - Warning: It's Long

Dream Review - 6/30 Cruise

To view some pictures clink on the following link:

http://community.webshots.com/user/lindaofnj100 We took over 500 but I just picked a few at random. Would not want to bore you with that many pictures.

Cruise Critics provided valuable information for me when I was planning my Alaska trip. Maybe some of the following will help others. I am only sorry I did not get to meet other members of the Cruise Critics group who were on board. They did have a meeting but I missed it. Hillary, hello, we did at least get to say hello and see each other from our balconies.

The opinions expressed below are mine only. I am sure others on this same cruise will give differing reports. It all depends what your priorities were on this trip. I chose the Dream because of the ports of call and the availability of an 11 night trip. Even though we missed the port in Sitka (big disappointment) the cruise was still wonderful. Yes, there were some problems but weighing the good and bad I would still give this cruise an 8.5 out of a 10.

Following are my opinions on the various aspects of the cruise.

Pre cruise 2 days in Seattle - We stayed at the Sheraton Towers for two nights before the cruise. It was a very nice hotel in a very good location. It was only a few blocks walk to Pikes Market on the Puget Sound. Warning: Seattle is very hilly and has steep inclines and requires the use of many steps unless you use public transportation to get around. The Market is an interesting place with lots of seafood, flower and produce venders surrounded by craft and tourist shops. On a clear day, there is a beautiful view of Mt. McKinley. We went on the Duck Tour, saw the aquarium (it’s under renovations which it needs), went to the IMAX theater to see the St Helens eruption and ate in many nice restaurants. The Halibut is delicious. It is so fresh. Being a big city, Seattle does have it’s share of street people but the biggest part of the town is fine.

Embarkation - We had NCL transfers to the pier and were picked up on time. A short drive to the pier and we were in our rooms in 30 minutes. Sign-in was quick and painless. I guess it was just good timing. Debarkation went just as smoothly.

SHIP - Being an old ship, it is not designed to handle the amount of passengers it holds on a free-style cruise. However, I liked the ship and felt it had charm. It was not like the newer ships that are all glitz. The ship and our room was kept exceptionally clean though out the trip. The crew was polite, helpful and friendly. It is difficult to figure out the layout of the ship and how to get to certain sections of the different floors. NCL does provide in every room a small map of the ship that proved to be helpful. We had very smooth seas during the cruise so rocking and movement was never a problem.

ROOM - We had a balcony cabin. The closet space was a little tight for 11 days worth of clothing. The bed was comfortable and the balcony wonderful on an Alaska cruise. The bathroom was your usual small cruise bath but the shower had good water pressure and we always had plenty of hot water. The built in hairdryer was easy to handle and had plenty of hot air pressure.

FOOD - The food was better than I thought it would be. My least favorite place to eat was the Sports Bar buffet. Except for breakfast, the food was not on par with the rest of the ship restaurants and seating was very limited. We ate breakfast most days at the buffet in Four Seasons. There was a large selection of the usual breakfast foods plus an omelet and waffle station. Seating was always immediately available. The croissants and danish were delicious. The Terraces has a waiter service breakfast. If you order scrambled eggs tell them you want them well done. They had a few specialty items that were not available at the buffet. We preferred the buffet over waiter service for breakfast. We only ate lunch in the dinning room once so I can’t comment except for the one day when we ate there and the food was good. Generally, we were not on board or we ate at the pizza place, the BBQ out on deck or the Sports Bar buffet at lunch. The BBQ had good ribs and the pizza was not bad. Tasted like Stouffers French bread pizza. They have great cookies at the pizza place.

At dinner we ate in either Four Seasons or Terraces (same menu). Did not eat in the Trattoria restaurant. NCL uses a lot of sauces on their meats which I think adds flavor. The meats were tender and juicy and the desserts and ice cream always delicious.

Three nights we had dinner in LeBristo the pay restaurant ($15/$20 surf and turf). The food here was the best. Limited selection but great quality.

Room service menu limited. We only used for coffee and danish in the morning. Service was very prompt especially if you use the order form the night before and hang it on your door. If you have a balcony or above room you qualify for a hot breakfast menu from room service.

I gained 8 lbs. That proves the food can’t be too bad.

As a side item, I was told that the ship was stocked with $250,000 worth of food when it leaves port.

At times there was a wait for meals. If you eat early or late there was usually no wait. The longest we waited was l5 minutes. The lines always were intimidating but the wait not so long. The lines moved quickly.

Entertainment - Only saw one night time show and it was ok, nothing great. The crew puts on a good show the last day at sea right after the debarkation meeting. The show schedule (7:30 and 9:30) didn’t coincide with our schedule (we usually ate late). Spent a lot of time in the Casino. A good variety of different machines. Never saw a jackpot paid but I did hit a couple of $400 amounts on the quarter slots. Also, saw some $1,000/2,000 amounts paid. Generally, the slots are not real loose. As for the table games, watch the dealers, they do make mistakes. I was luck enough to win fairly often to keep my casino fund going. Overall, as you may expect, I came home a loser.

During the day, they had game times, craft times, etc but I was not interested. The space and times were limited for the number of people on board. It would have been nice if they had a movie theater. Once in a while a movie was shown in the show theater. Old movies were always available on the room TV. CNN was available on the TV.

Since we did not stop at Sitka, we had two full days at sea. Not enough entertainment on board to keep you occupied. One day at sea is ok, you can rest up. But two..too much!

Cell Phones - I have Cingular service and it worked in all ports except Prince Rupert. It also worked on the first day at sea. The cell phone came in handy when we were advised of our agenda changes. I had independently booked some tours and due to the delayed arrival times for some of the ports I would have missed two tours. Fortunately, I able to call and have the tour times rescheduled.

Weather - It was usually between 60 and 70 degrees. No need for a heavy coat. A light waterproof jacket with a hood is a good choice. The hood comes in handy when it rains. We had a full day of rain in Ketchikan, ½ day in Juneau and also in Prince Rupert. Many wore shorts most of the time. When it rained I felt it was not that big a deal. You still enjoyed the port.

Attire - Very casual except no jeans at dinner. A man caused a little bit of a scene at LeBristo when he was refused admission. He had on a cowboy hat, fringed suede jacket and jeans. He wore that outfit everyday. Don’t think he was quite all there. Some people dressed formally for formal nights but the majority were dressed in appropriate casual wear.

Land Tours - Just cruising on a ship you don’t get to appreciate the true beauty of Alaska. I feel tours are a must in every port, or at least most of them. It does get expensive but it is money well spent. Following are the tours we choose:

Ketchikan - Misty Fjords seaplane trip with Island Wings. Beautiful and relaxing. Flew all over Misty Fjords and landed on a lake. Got off the plane and walked around on an island.

Juneau - Went whale watching with Captain Larry on his new jet boat. What a boat. We saw quite a few whales, sea lions and eagles. Also, went on a helicopter/dog sled tour with Coastal. This was my favorite trip. Exciting and fun. Lots of fun to ride on sled with the dogs.

Skagway - Went on the White Pass Railway. This was my least favorite trip. It was four hours on a hard seat. The train went very slow and you double back the same route. There is some very nice scenery and commentary but it does seem like a long, endless trip. I understand that on the other railway in Skagway you can do a one-way trip by train and return by bus. On the return trip you do get to see wildlife. This trip I think would be a better choice.

Seward - Went on a 6 ½ hour boat tour of Kenai National Park. This tour was absolutely wonderful. Saw more whales on this tour than on the whale watching tour. Saw lots of sea lions, otters and many species of birds. Scenery is beautiful. Lots of rock formations with caves where the different birds build nests. This tour went quickly for a 6 ½ hour tour. We also had a good salmon dinner on board. This tour is reasonably priced.

Sitka - Well you know the story here. Never did get to experience the Sea Otter/Wildlife Quest. I understand that Sitka is the nicest port from comments I heard from people who had previously been there.

Prince Rupert - Have absolutely no idea why they stop here except for the fact that they have to stop at a non-US port and they also unload their trash there. There is nothing to see here. They have a small tourist shopping district. Someone I spoke to went on a wildlife tour but did not see anything. Maybe there is something to do here but I never found out what it could be.

I feel very fortunate that I could go on all of these tours. They were absolutely wonderful and gave me a much better idea of the beauty of Alaska. I just wished that the port times could have been longer.

In summary, the trip did have its problems but I did not let them bother me. I focused on all the good aspects of the trip. There were so many. You can’t enjoy yourself if you get angry and develop a bad attitude when something goes wrong. Make the best of the situation. So what if you may have to wait a little for dinner or maybe you didn’t like a particular meal. In the overall scheme of things, this is minor.

The biggest problem with this cruise was missing Sitka and arriving late in 3 ports. Big problems, yes….but it did turn out to be a wonderful cruise. I would go with NCL again.

If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them.

Thanks for the review. I appreciate you giving the good with the bad. That really helps paint a picture of your whole cruise experience. ;)

Prince Rupert - Have absolutely no idea why they stop here except for the fact that they have to stop at a non-US port and they also unload their trash there.

oooops! Mt. McKinley is in Alaska. I think you were referring to Mt. Raineer.

Linda, loved your photos and trip report. It must be a pleasure traveling with you.....you roll with the punches and make the best of everything:) . Thanks for sharing your experiences !!!

Linda, Thanks so much for your trip report. We will be on the Dream and it's so nice to hear other's experinences...love the photos as well.

Question: What time did you arrive in Seward? What time was your Kenai Fjords boat trip? We are now arriving at 2pm instead of 8am and I am hoping our tour will be rescheduled. This was a reason we booked this itinerary so hoping it will all work out.:)

Thanks again.

Good review. Just FYI, though, think they low balled the amount they spend for food for that time. My son-in-law is a supervisor for the company that provides the produce and their bill alone is more than $100,000.00 per week for the 7 day cruises on NCL and more than that for the extended ones on Dream. Just goes to show where the passengers money goes.

Devine Ms M.....Thanks for the correction. I wrote this reply at 1 am and was a little tired and evidentally on the wrong mountain in Seattle. One thing I forgot to mention is the Chocolate Buffet. When it was open I happened to be in the Casino where they put out a mini-chocolate buffet. It was terrible how people acted. It was like a bunch of wild animals. I was in the beginning of the line and ahead of me was an older couple who turned my stomach. They did not yet put the serving spoons/knives out and this couple just grabed pieces of cake with their hands. They then licked their hands and went back for more. People were pushing in line. This was just a small buffet and the first few people wiped out about 25%. That turned me off on the buffet and I never did get to see the huge one in the Four Seasons. My advice is go early .. the lines are very long. Also, watch out for the hand lickers who go back for more.

Devine Ms M.....Thanks for the correction. I wrote this reply at 1 am and was a little tired and evidentally on the wrong mountain in Seattle. One thing I forgot to mention is the Chocolate Buffet. When it was open I happened to be in the Casino where they put out a mini-chocolate buffet. It was terrible how people acted. It was like a bunch of wild animals. I was in the beginning of the line and ahead of me was an older couple who turned my stomach. They did not yet put the serving spoons/knives out and this couple just grabed pieces of cake with their hands. They then licked their hands and went back for more. People were pushing in line. This was just a small buffet and the first few people wiped out about 25%. That turned me off on the buffet and I never did get to see the huge one in the Four Seasons. My advice is go early .. the lines are very long. Also, watch out for the hand lickers who go back for more.

Yes, I'll agree with the others that you wrote a great, easy to read review that covered just about everything. And, yes, Mt. Rainier is a beautiful sight to see on a clear day in Seattle.

Please bore us with more pictures. They are great and I, for one, would love to see more! Any taken of your cabin or places on the ship? Was there much scenery on your 2 days at sea?

Thanks again!

Dream Review - 6/30 Cruise

WE took over 500 but I just picked a few at random. Would not want to bore you with that many pictures.

 

Linda, thanks for the very comprehensive review - just one question - judging from your very beautiful photographs, and the number you said you took, I would be interested to know what camera you took them with and what was the size of your telephoto lens.

Katybird Arrived in Seward at 2pm. I had independently booked this tour and called on cell phone and was able to reschedule for the 3pm, 6hr tour. If you booked thru NCL, I don't know how they handled any rebooking due to the delays. Book on your own, call toll free 1-888-4PUFFIN. It's the 6hr National Park Tour (by boat) - Dinner Cruise. This was a GREAT tour.

Brunolvr Will try to post more pics. Erased them from the camera and computer storage space last night after they were copied to a disc and send to be printed. Will have to figure out how to get them off disc (computer idiot I am). I do have a few cabin pics & few of ship. Not much scenery on 2 full days at sea since we were mainly crusing the Gulf of Alaska (between the Seward and Price Rupert ports).

Jack WC Took pics with Kodak Easy Share 7590. Camera has a 12x zoom. We had a very large capacity memory card.

What did you win at in the Casino? I read there were only nickle and quarter slots and no pennies - guess it will be nickles for me LOL

Was there a lot of people in the casinos, and how about smoke?

Did you sign up for the casino card?

Were you given a $100 credit for missing Sitka? When and how was that notice given?

Are cookies available all day?

Any not to miss foods?

I know what you mean about the chocolate buffet! We were a BIT late on the Spirit and EVERYONE that walked by us had PLATE FULLS -- I couldn't believe how person after person walked out with 2 stuffed plates! When we got up to the line, ALL of the covered fruit was gone and they had only a few items:( This was a dissapointment after spending over an hour in line!

Thanks for taking the time to write the review and answer questions!

Chloe

Great review - lots of details - always a favorite with me.

2 Fun - To answer your questions:

Overall, lost in the casino but did have quite a few $200 and over hits. No penny slots. Nickles, Dollars, $25 Dollar. The casino was never overly crowded. In fact, most of the time it was a light crowd. Smoke a little bit of a problem. Should have but did not sign up for casino card.

I believe cookies are available at all times during their working hours 11:30 - 5:30. Also available at the Sports Bar during afternoon tea 3:30 - 4:30. Other smaller cookies availabe at the coffee bar.

Food not to miss - anything that comes with chocolate on it and the spinach salad in LeBistro. Baby spinach, pine

nuts, fried onion rings with warm bread squares with goat cheese.

Thanks for the good info on the use of your cell phone. Did you do any text messaging?

Dr. Jim

Dr. Jim, Sorry, did not do text messaging. Just as a point of interest, even though my cell phone did not work in Prince Rupert I did see others talking on their phones.

Linda, This sounds like a minor question but when you arrived at the Seattle Pier, did NCL folks give you luggage tags? I can see a whole bunch of folks trying to right down all their info as quickly as they could before turning over their luggage to the porter. How did that go?

Thanks

Linda, This sounds like a minor question but when you arrived at the Seattle Pier, did NCL folks give you luggage tags? I can see a whole bunch of folks trying to right down all their info as quickly as they could before turning over their luggage to the porter. How did that go?

 

Thanks

We got preprinted luggage tags from our travel agent. But if you didn't and have to fill them out at the pier, print up some address labels with the required information on them - then you just have to peel them off and stick them on the luggage tags they give you. Bring along some extra address labels to put on the disembarkation tags you get on the last night of the cruise. It saves writing everything out!

Linda,

Enjoyed your review...we are traveling with a 15 and a 6 year old. Were there many young people on the ship?:D

COOLCRUISER55 - Just like BRUNOLVR said, you should have received luggage tags from your travel agent. They come in the same packet with your tickets and other misc information.

LLOYDSOF TEX - There were a fair number of younger and older childern on board. It seems as though some of them traveled with their grandparents (or had older parents). The older kids could be seen in the hot tubs very often and seemed to group together up on deck and in the game room. I would think that your 6 year old would particularly enjoy the childrens program that they have on board. We stopped in once during the cruise and it looked like the children were really enjoying theirselves. The program applies to children of all ages, probably a good way for your 16 year old to meet some friends.

I was on the 6/30/05 sailing as well and found wait times for dinner to be close to an hour. Cheap sirloin steak was the highlight on the menu each evening. I had breakfast delivered to the room so I didn't have to walk the ship looking for somewhere to sit.

Alaska is such a wonderland it is hard to concentrate on just the ship. I spent a week touring Oregon and Washington to help make up for the lost ports and rain we encountered in Alaska.

I have been to Alaska before, and honestly the weather helps set the mood. The Dream is a bargain cruise, and that is exactly what we got! My advice would be to take a 7 day from Seattle to Glacier Bay and return aboard another cruise line.

Katybird Arrived in Seward at 2pm. I had independently booked this tour and called on cell phone and was able to reschedule for the 3pm, 6hr tour. If you booked thru NCL, I don't know how they handled any rebooking due to the delays. Book on your own, call toll free 1-888-4PUFFIN. It's the 6hr National Park Tour (by boat) - Dinner Cruise. This was a GREAT tour.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but that operator is not offering any tours in Sept. I have called Kenai FJords tours as they are the operators for our NCL tour. They assured me something would be scheduled to fit the ship schedule. I have not been able to find any independant tours to fit our time frame ..many do not go into Sept. or have limited tours in Sept. NCL Excursion desk can only tell me "times will be adjusted"....so we will stick with the ship and hope for the best.

Are the coffee and treats free at the coffee bar?

getting ready: The "designer" coffee served at the coffee bar is not free. Not sure if you can just get "regular" coffee at the bar. The cookies are free.

katybird: Sorry you didn't have better luck in rescheduling this tour. However, I do believe that the ship's tour will be rescheduled if possible. On our tour there were some people that had scheduled through NCL and they were switched to the 3pm tour that we were on. Don't know how NCL works out the rescheduling of any of their tours buy feel certain that if they can they will reschedule...there is money involved on both the tour operators part and on NCL's part. They will not want to lose money unless it's absolutely necessary. Susprised to hear that tour operators do not operate into Sept...maybe it's the weather that's a factor???

Maryallison: Sorry your experience was not as good as I found mine to be. Never did try the steak so I can't comment. An hour wait for dinner...never experienced anything like that. As far as breakfast is concerned, we ate at the Four Season's Buffet and there was always seating immediately available...and we ate breakfast at various times. I was also disappointed in missing Sitka and the late arrivals in ports but it all worked out fine. If it didn't , I'm sure my opinion of NCL would have taken a severe nosedive. I still had a great time ...sorry yours was not as good. Maybe another cruise line might have been a better choice but NCL was the only 11 night cruise leaving from Seattle. I would think that going one way on a cruise and back with another cruise line would have been very expensive. You are very right.."Alaska is such a wonderland that it's hard to just concentrate on just the ship."

Hi,

Has anyone taken this cruise before? Did cell phones work along the way or is the ship too far from land to pick up signals?

Thanks,

Kathy

They did not yet put the serving spoons/knives out and this couple just grabed pieces of cake with their hands. They then licked their hands and went back for more. People were pushing in line. ....., watch out for the hand lickers who go back for more.

Ew! EW! Just goes to show that sometimes people have a negative experience b/c of the ship, or the crew, but often it's the other passengers who turn a nice thing bad. EW.

By the way, your original post wasn't overly long - very bite-sized and easy to digest. (I should know, I'm the queen of long-winded!). :) Thanks for sharing it.