Dream Review 1/09

[mbisson]

Since you have not been aboard the Dream as yet, I suggest you refrain from commenting on how to treat this unbelievably rude staff, until you have a better idea of you're talking about.

 

Homey sage is fine..but one size does not fit all.

 

 

You're lucky they were as obviously forgiving as they were. Otherwise your trip would've been even more miserable.

 

And I still think you might want to give that golden rule I mentioned a try. I'm guessing you're a transplant from somewhere else.

 

-Monte

 

"I was born here, I was raised here and dadgum it, I'm a gonna die here. And ain't no sidewinden, gol durn, cracker crocker gonna chase me out." Gabby Johnson-Blazing Saddles

[TheDivineMsM]

I never said l didn't live by the "golden rule"...I certainly do...but if something is horribly wrong, l do my best to correct it. I don't lay down and roll over by any means.

Don't belive my cruise couldn't have been more miserable. Luckily, I had the backing of the shore excursion manager who encourage me to write NCL.

When you are left alone on a non-air condition bus in a foreign country for over a hour with a gang of boys banging on the sides because the person assign to aid you, 'forgot'...then you can harass me..until then l suggest you follow your own advice.

[pjzkohn]

MrsM.

 

I agree with you on the staff's attitude. When walking down the hallways and the staff would put their heads down, I was one that said good morning, good afternoon or good evening. As mentioned previously, the only staff that was polite to us was the cabin stewards. I am shocked at people's review of this ship and the treatment. We are paying them $4,500 plus to be a guest on their ship and we have to bring our own sauces to spice up the food, complain to the Excusion Desk about their employees, etc. I DON'T THINK SO. The comment about Celebrity's ship being so big, is incorrect, it is the exact same size as Norwegian Dream.

[hotspur]

MrsM.

The comment about Celebrity's ship being so big, is incorrect, it is the exact same size as Norwegian Dream.

You should read more carefully before trying to correct what others post. I was comparing dining room sizes, not ship sizes.

 

The main dining room on Millenium seats over 1100. The Dream's three dining rooms, Four Seasons, Terraces, and Trattoria--seat 256, 282, and 190 respectively. 1100 is the size of a large hotel's ballroom. Add the terracing in Terraces and Trattoria, and you have an entirely different "feel" in the rooms. In one case you feel like you're going to eat with the other 1100 people attending your convention--all at precisely the same time, too. In the other you feel like you're going to a nice restaurant where patrons come and go as they desire.

 

Don't get me wrong: we enjoyed our Celebrity cruise, and the dining room food was better. But if we hadn't been assigned a table in an open area near the stern of the ship (and right next to the Captain's table with its large windows), it would have been a very different experience. Having been seated at an upstairs interior table along one of the banquettes for Celebrity's high tea, I can assure you it would not have been a pleasant place--for us, at least--to be seated for twelve consecutive dinners.

[chatisfaction]

Hotspur

 

"It amazes me that some people will go on a cruise and never leave the ship in any port. And some measure a cruise by whether they are served sorbet by the pool, or escorted to their cabin by a white-gloved attendant, or given a welcome glass of champagne, or by the quality of the baked Alaska parade. What hogwash. To us, the ship's a floating hotel that takes us places while conveniently feeding us, and allows us to unpack only once while we do it. The ship is NOT a destination, and the less uncalled-for pretentiousness and formality on-board the better."

 

You may book your vacation on a floating hotel and not care very much about the service you receive on the ship. Not everyone feels that way.

 

The ads for most cruiselines present cruising as an experience in itself and the ship as a destination. When people get upset about missing a port they are told that the cruisline doesn't guarantee transportation from one place to another. What they are paying for is spending time on the ship.I don't think it is hogwash for people to focus on the experience they have in the ship restaurant and the attitude of the crew.

 

Its nice that you have found a home on Norwegian's floating hotel and are happy there but I don't think that makes someone elses reasonable expectations hogwash.

[hotspur]

Its nice that you have found a home on Norwegian's floating hotel and are happy there but I don't think that makes someone elses reasonable expectations hogwash.

You, too, should read more carefully before commenting on the postings of others.

 

There were four specific items that I referred to as "hogwash:" being served sorbet by the pool; being escorted to my cabin by a white-gloved attendant; being given a welcome glass of champagne; and the quality of the baked Alaska parade. I said nothing about the attitude of the ship's staff, the cleanliness of the ship and individual's cabin, the quality of the food, etc. But anyone who would let their opinion of a cruise be affected by the presence or absence of any of the items I labeled "hogwash" is someone whose review I would take with a large shaker of salt. To me, none of this stuff matters one whit, and I'd just as well not pay for it.

 

For the sake of completeness, I'll expand my "hogwash" list for your benefit: being given a cold towel upon reboarding the ship; being given a glass of cold water upon reboarding; having a waiter place an iced tea--or whatever is someone's beverage of choice--at the dinner table before the passenger is seated; having personalized stationery in the cabin; being referred to by name by the waiter or cabin steward; a nine-story atrium; a rock-climbing wall; a shipboard skating rink; being invited to dine at the Captain's table; the attire of other passengers; a cabin steward who bows-and-scrapes every time he sees you. And the list of such relative trivia could go on and on. Far be it for me to say that such trivia (to me) might not be of great importance to you, but my opinion of a cruise or ship would not be affected one bit by any of them.

 

What are some of the things that DO make a difference to me on a cruise: getting bottom-line value for my cruise dollar; the quality of the ports of call; being given substantive information about the ports--and not just about the ship's affiliated shops; being given flexibility in where, when, and with whom I dine; a well-stocked library; enforcement of smoking rules; a clean cabin and ship; clean windows in public spaces, especially those where passengers would go to enjoy views; reasonable quality of food and flexibility in choice of venues and dining times; appropriate dress code (I prefer not having overblown and unwarranted mandatory "formal nights"); ship's events starting on time; no PA announcements (and I do understand NCL is a prime violator here; life is an ongoing trade-off, and they're just as annoying on HAL); the general attitude of the ship's staff to passengers; responsiveness of management to passengers' expressed concerns.

 

There appears to be considerable differences of opinion on these last two items in recent reviews of the Dream--even within this very thread. Poles apart, in fact. So, as I expressed in my first posting on this thread, I do have some concern about this upcoming Dream cruise. The point I was trying to make is that I'm more inclined to accept the opinion of someone who shares calee's attitude that "I'm going for Alaska, not a boat ride" than someone who cruises to sit by the pool waiting for the sorbet parade to come along.

 

Look, I'm no NCL partisan. This is the first time I've sailed a second time on any cruise line. I select cruises for itinerary and value for dollar. Unlike many Cruise Critic members, I have no sense of having to defend "my" cruise line against any and all criticism, like so many people on the HAL and Celebrity boards here seem to do. And I have no reason to doubt what anyone reports here as their personal shipboard experience. I'm just telling you what's important to me when I cruise, and what I consider to be "hogwash." If my "hogwash" is your cup-of-tea, so be it.

[chatisfaction]

hotspur

 

 

 

I guess my biggest objection was your use of the term - hogwash. If you had said such and such is important to me and such and such is not important to me I don't think I would have felt the need to comment.

 

By labelling those things as hogwash it sounded as if you were critisizing anyone who felt those things were important,. That is what I objected to.

 

Also when you said that it amazed you that some people would go on a cruise and never leave the ship - that is not how I would choose to cruise either but on some of my cruises I have met people who cruised that way. Usually because they were too frail or too unsteady on their feet to feel comfortable leaving the safety of the ship. By cruising they were able to have a vacation and a chance to meet new people. To them the special little things they did on the ship were what made their vacation special. It may not be your cup of tea but surely if you thought about how some peoples' situations are different from yours you would be less amazed by their choices.

 

Maybe cruise ships should come with little rating logos like the shore excursions do that let people know if they should expect pampering or should only take that cruise if they want to be off the ship everyday exploring the ports of call.

 

If you are someone who goes mostly for the ports I hope you are fortunate enough to have a cruise where you make all or most of your scheduled stops. If not you may find yourself stuck on the ship more than you would like. I'm sure you would make the best of it but it will not be the vacation you are really hoping for.

[CastorFache]

 

Since you have not been aboard the Dream as yet, I suggest you refrain from commenting on how to treat this unbelievably rude staff, until you have a better idea of you're talking about.

 

Homey sage is fine..but one size does not fit all.

 

 

Alrighty then...

 

I was on board the Dream...and I must say that I did not find the staff anywhere approaching rude. In fact, I found them very pleasant, easy to speak with and quite understanding.

 

As to the complaints about Elizabeth...I was there...I don't believe any of the accusations being leveled her way. I do recall her being short...but I must say that people were coming up to her, interrupting her dealings with other people...and being rude at that.

 

To that end, when I spoke with the Shorex manager later on, I mentioned that Elizabeth was having a rough time, he told me she had offered to apologize to anyone who complained personally. He also mentioned this was done without prompting or complaint. I mentioned that I did not find she was rude, only perhaps a little curt...and he said she admitted the situation did not reflect well upon her.

 

By the way...just as homey sage does not fit all...neither does vindictiveness.

[hotspur]

hotspur

Also when you said that it amazed you that some people would go on a cruise and never leave the ship - that is not how I would choose to cruise either but on some of my cruises I have met people who cruised that way. Usually because they were too frail or too unsteady on their feet to feel comfortable leaving the safety of the ship. By cruising they were able to have a vacation and a chance to meet new people. To them the special little things they did on the ship were what made their vacation special. It may not be your cup of tea but surely if you thought about how some peoples' situations are different from yours you would be less amazed by their choices.

Point well-taken, chatisfaction.

 

We met such a couple at lunch on our HAL cruise last spring. Their experience was a valuable lesson for us. They had been very active sailors at one time, sailing the Caribbean on their own, etc. But, as has or will happen to nearly all of us at some point, they could no longer manage this kind of activity, had sold their beautiful boat, and were now dependent on cruise ships for their "sailing."

 

Their lesson to us was: Do what you can while you're able to do it, because you never know when you might not. We've cranked up our touring schedule a notch as a result, particularly the kinds of trips where physical mobility would be required.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful comment.

[ColoradoJuli]

Doug - I may have been the one that you saw with the boxes. We took 6 large boxes to the orphanage. We used one of the room stewards to wheel the boxes off the ship for us. We were the first group off of the ship once we docked.

 

As for treating the staff 'with honey'. I was extremely friendly to the staff. Always had a smile, said hello, thanked them for their work. Even though I was kind and very friendly they were still rude. Several of the waiters were extremely rude when asked if they could get something for you even when you said please and thank you. I had one waiter slam the margarine in front of me when I asked for some butter. There was another waiter that threw an empty creamer back down on the table when we asked for some more. More than one time a waiter would reach across in front of me while I was eating to grab something on the other side of the table instead of going around the table. More than once I ended up with food in my lap because of their laziness. One matre 'd decided upon herself to come over to our table and break up a very pleasant conversation with our waiter and then get into a politcal speech toward us. The conversation was completely unwarranted. We found out that she was from Transyvania in Romania and my parents said that they had been there. She asked what they were doing there and they told her that they were there helping out a church. When she found out that it was a reformed church she suddenly became very agitated and started telling them how wrong they were to go to Romania and help those people out. The 'speech' was completely uncalled for. She managed to clear the entire table rather quickly except for my poor parents who were the object of her wrath.

 

As for those that had an enjoyable trip on the Dream, I am very glad. Ours was not enjoyable and thus we do not plan to sail on NCL again. We don't care for their product and it is not to our liking. Please don't bash me just because I did not enjoy the ship. I gave my honest opinion of the ship and the staff. This is how I saw the ship through my eyes. It also just so happens to be the way that our entire group saw the ship as well as several other people that I talked to on board. I just didn't run into anyone that was enjoying the ship. I did have a wonderful time at the ports of call and would love to go to those ports of call again sometime, just on a different ship.

[chatisfaction]

hotspur

 

"Their lesson to us was: Do what you can while you're able to do it, "

 

Funny you mentioned that. I had a similar experience. When I mentioned that I would like to travel more but couldn't because of family and work responsibilities one of my elderly acquaintances cautioned me not to wait too long. She said she had. Now she has the time and enough money to travel but dosen't have the health to do many of the trips she would like.

[mbisson]

Coke just shot out my nose! BTW-I'm booking the Dream without any worries.

 

-Monte

[hotspur]

Coke just shot out my nose! BTW-I'm booking the Dream without any worries.

 

-Monte

LOL!! But I hope you meant cola.

[mbisson]

LOL!! But I hope you meant cola.

 

Honest officer, I have no idea how that got in there.

 

-Monte

[Host CMLA]

Hi guys. Please don't use this thread to bash each other. If you can't stay on topic, I'll have to move the thread. ColoradoJuli's information is valuable to anyone traveling on the Dream. It needs to stay on the board. Thanks.

[lawofraven]

We sailed the Dream one year ago and had a wonderful time. So much so that I rank the Dream as my favorite ship so far. We booked the Sun for Dec 05 because we have also sailed that ship before and believe this itinerary to be the best choice for my Mom and son (1st time cruisers). I have concerns after reading this thread. It is probably too soon to know but will the current Dream staff switch to the Sun when the repositioning take place? One of the things I love about NCL is that we always met friendly staff and enjoyed great service. Sadly though the only time I've met an incompetent staff member was on the Dream. Honestly to those that have complained about staff, if they had been more courteous would your cruise have been a better experience? Could you have overlooked your opinion of the ship's condition or port excursion problems?

DH and I also travel frequently because life is too short not to. My DH is a cancer survivor and aspires to do as much as he can to cross off items from the list of everything he wants to do in his lifetime. I think of the ship as a vacation within itself but he sees it as a means of transport to get to where he wants to be. My mother is a recent widow and I want her 1st cruise to be special. I want her to be pampered and I really hope that the staff will accomodate. My 15 yr old son on the other hand could care less. As long as there is food and a port to scuba dive he'll be a happy camper. I will be reading as many Dream reviews as possible and awaiting news as to which staff will be on this itinerary in Dec. Hopefully things get better.

Angie

[ColoradoJuli]

Angie - I was not disappointed in the ship. I was disappointed with the staff, food, and where they allowed people to smoke. The ship is fine and has some wonderful spaces where you can sit and watch the ocean go by. I know some had mentioned that you had to go through the dining room to get to certain parts of the ship and this did not bother me. The biggest diappointment was the food. It truely became a drudgery to eat. The food was so awful that I spent many meals just eating a hot dog because everything else was not good. The food was very bland and always covered with some type of sauce. The lobster was tough and overcooked. We decided that the deserts were made with the European palate in mind because they were not sweet. The coffee was extremely strong and your couldn't put enough creamer in it to make it taste good. It didn't matter how you ordered your meat, it always came out well done. The salads were basically iceberg lettuce with a smidge of something throw on top of it to call it some name. We always order the cold soups when on ships because it is always a tastee treat. Most of the cold soups were so gross that I only took one bite.

 

I did find it interesting in talking to the staff that most of them had not been on the ship very long and they did not have plans to renew their contracts. There must be something wrong going on with management to have so many that do not want to return.

 

To answer one last question of yours. The staff stay with the ship, not the port. So those that are on the Dream will stay on the dream when it transitions to Alaska.

 

There are some great dive spots on this itenerary. There is also a Royal Caribbean that sails out of Texas and has the same itenerary as well as the Carnival Valor. I would suggest looking into one of those. I have been on both of those ships and enjoyed the staff and food. One last note, there were hardly any kids on our cruise. Maybe a dozen. Most of them were preschool age. I would assume it was the time of year, but you might want to go on a ship that caters more to families so your son will have some friends.

[CastorFache]

ColoradoJuli

 

I always ordered my meat cooked rare, and that is how it always showed up...don't get me wrong, I am not doubting you, but I did get my food done the way I wanted. Yes, I would say the food was not perhaps as "American" as some people would have wanted. I personally enjoy strong coffee, less sweet desserts and I found most of the meals to be very enjoyable. For me, breakfast was the most disappointing, eggs were often runny which is not good.

 

As for the cold soups...I tried a few and I really enjoyed them. I found the gazpacho was particularly good. Overall, I found the food better on the Dream than I have at some resorts I have stayed at in the Caribbean and in the US.

[tjosh7]

Sorry that you were disappointed in your cruise...

 

I think what often happens is that we all take these boards just a little too seriously, and people don't understand how anyone can have a totally different and/or opposite experience. I probably have fallen into that trap.

 

As the expressions goes "opinions are like _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _; EVERYBODY'S got one....."

 

Happy Cruising.....

[chatisfaction]

I'm hearing something odd here. When the POA started people were complaining about dinners taking 2 or more hours to get through. They were complaining about bad food and runny eggs. Several people said that those problems were limited to the POA. The rest of the NCL ships did not have those problems. Now we are getting reports of slow service and runny eggs on other NCL ships too.

 

Is this a problem with the whole line? What is going on here? Taste in food may be different but runny eggs are runny eggs for everyone n'est pas?

[TheDivineMsM]

Oh yes indeedy, the eggs were runny..we waited an hour and a half for them, so I'm sure they had enough time to cook them. The salads were just plain sad..no flavor whatsoever. On all fourteen nights of my cruise, they only offered one vegetable with the entrees..cold waxed green beans..that was it. Towards the end of the cruise, we would always say, 'and skip the beans please!' The presidents' menus which were always delicious on the Star were completely bland on the Dream...different chefs no doubt. The nightly mints were always stale.

LeBistro, which was a cozy little resturant on the Star with windows and atmosphere, was only a small space between the coffee bar and the rendevous bar blocked of on three sides by black curtains. No atmosphere whatsoever and was always subject to the foot traffic passing by on the Promanade deck. The food was almost inedible.

On a positive note, the bread was freshly baked and really delicious. We would fill up on bread so we wouldn't be hungry if the main meals were subpar..which was usually the rule, rather then the exception.

[hotspur]

This rant is getting tiresome.

[LINDA of NJ]

:mad: :( Enough is enough is enough. :)

[LINDA of NJ]

Don't mean to offend anyone ...everyone's comments are worthy...however, would someone on a subsequent sailing of the Dream please post a new review. I think I can speak for more than myself .... let's hear a new review...good or bad...it would be refreshing. Thanks. :rolleyes:

[bfoot34]

I went on this ship knowing that there had been several bad reviews. I had made up my mind to decide on my own and not to judge the ship by the reviews that I had read.

 

Unfortunately, the reviews are correct. I don't know if it is the Dream or if it is NCL, but we do not plan to every sail on NCL again. The food is awful. There were more than one night that we walked away from the table hungry. The food is very bland and some of it is down right horrible. The deserts were not worth the calories because they also were bland and boring. The coffee is the worst that I have ever had. Even the coffee bar coffee was awful.

 

The entire ship smells like a cigarette. The ship allows smoking all over the ship and consequently it stinks. We were amazed at some of the areas that they allowed smoking. Even though you can not smoke in the hallways or on elevators, they allowed you to stand beside the elevator and smoke. Smoking was allowed in the staterooms so the hallways smell of smoke. Smoking was allowed right next to the dining areas so depending on where you sat in the dining room it was smokey.

 

The staff was apparently not having a good week or they are always rude. Not only was the food awful, but the wait stuff sucked! I have never met such rude people on a ship. Meals became a drudgery and we dreaded eating.

 

Our room steward also had problems. We never say him/her although we saw his/her work and it lacked a lot. We should have known that there would be a problem when we entered our room and found articles from the previous occumpant. Things went downhill from there. Our room was never vacuumed, some days he/she did not give us fresh towels, the trash was not emptied, we did not receive the activites newsletter. Some nights there were not mints on the pillow. There were several things wrong.

 

Embarkation took over an hour and the girl that checked us in had a really bad attitude. This continued throughout the ship. The captain and cruise director were constantly making apologies for one thing or another.

 

We did have a great room. We were in a category CC room 0208. The couch and full length window were wonderful. It is the only positive thing that we found on the ship.

 

The dance group reminded me of a bad high school production. The bartenders didn't have a clue on how to make a martini. There were two people worth seeing and that was the juggler and comedian. The juggler was simply amazing. The comedian was a hoot and very clean.

 

Tendering in Roatan was a disaster. Tendering started 2 hours late. Only ship excursions were able to get off of the ship until we docked. We were suppose to dock around 1:00pm, but something went wrong and we did not dock until 3:00pm. We were the first people off of the boat and we were not released until 3:30pm. This gave us 2 1/2 hours in port.

 

All in all it was a pretty lousy cruise. We will never sail on NCL again. If you can cancel your reservations on the Dream, I highly suggest you do.

 

Sorry to be so negative, but it really was a negative experience for us. Luckily this was not the first cruise for anyone in our group. Otherwise I don't think that they would ever cruise again.

 

Just a side note, we talked to several people. They all agreed that this was the worst cruise that they had ever been on and that the food was awful.

 

Julie: I feel the same way about the Dream. I was on it last February. I had all ready booked the Pride of America prior to going on the Dream. Soooo, I thought I was stuck for good. Then it sunk at port, and,they came up with Pride of Aloha. It got terrible reviews at the beginning because it had an all American crew. We took the cruise on 12/26/04. We were really happpily surprised. It was a great trip. The crew was wonderful, the food was not great but matched other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Holland-America. I guess the newer ships of NCL are much better.