NCL Dream Transatlantic April 22 May 11

[Alan_Jay]

Just a few comments and a request to others on this cruise to input thier thoughts.

 

From the moment we boarded, we could tell there was something very special about this ship. Everyone of the staff was genuinely pleased to have us on board. There is a comradary among the entire staff, led by the very friendly Captain Lars (Bengsttrom sp) that permeated every aspiect of the voyage. This friendliness was shown time and again every time we met any one working the vessel, from the Cruise Director, to her staff, to the waiters, and even the people maintaining the ship. Each encounter was a warm greeting, a hello, and often by our name. Waiters, even with the Free Style were quick to recognize us and provided the same type opf service we've come to expect form the traditional seatings, in that they knew what we wanted and anticipated our needs. It is obivious that NCL has their management motivating the team properly.

 

The ship is aging, but is just the right size for us. We've tried the megas, and still like the under 2000 passenger ships. There were some "problems" with enough room for the shows, but that was caused by the passengers establishing their seats for the first show, and staying for the second! The unusual age (average age was an astonishingly high of 68.1) of the passengers probably contributed to this "crowding". These folks found a seat, sat and stayed. I often saw staff members carefully checking for life signs, just in case!

 

Entertainment was mostly tops (the lame dance team was a notable exception). The comedians were super, clean and funny! Even the hypnotist provided a super show with uproarious laughs. The comedian juggler was one of the highlights. He was a moderately good juggler, but a supreme comedian with full stage presence and audience control at all times.

 

The menu choices were not as good as previous NCL cruises, but every request was cheerfully accomodtaed. No one has ever gone hungry on a cruise. Since this ship was not designed for the free style cruise, there are only two speciality restaurants, the Bistro and the Tratorria. Both were above average, but the absence of veal in the Italian restaurant was a dissapointment. We suspect that the fuel costs need to be offset wherever possible.

 

The attention that the concierge and butlers (we splurged on a suite, and it was worth it) provided provided the "icing" on an excellent vacation.

:)

[Cruising Ken]

Hi Alan, sorry you missed the Veal in Trattoria, it was on the menu at some point but they did change the menu after the first week.

 

Here's a link to the thread I posted some days ago where one or two people have expressed their opinions.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=346196

[fdk71265]

I am little leary about booking on the Dream because of her age and lack of restaurants. I know it is an older ship. How was the buffet and other 24 hr places? WOW! Avg. age of passenger's almost 70? This may make our decision alot easier. We are in late 30's (ok very late 30's) and this might not be for us. Most of the people we shared tables with were also alot older we found them to be more respectful and very pleasant then people our own age. My wife keeps in contact with a woman and her friend we met on the Spirit and they are in their 80's. Beautiful friendly people. My mom is 72 and there is no one I love more then her. But we need to be with people around our age.

[NJGRANNY]

I think the age range on the transatlantic cruise was probably related to the length of the cruise. Many times, younger working people can't take that long of a vacation.

 

On the Baltic cruise, which began right after the transatlantic, there was a more varied age group - even some young children.

[NJGRANNY]

The Sports Bar, which is the buffet and 10 pm to 5 am snack place is too small for the amount of passengers. The food was fine (chicken fingers at night were really good - it just gets too loud and crowded. A few times, they allowed people to take their food down to the Trattoria to eat it. We never ate in either specialty restaurant. There is also a place for pizza and hot dogs and hamburgers that we never visited. The big restaurants were fine. The food at breakfast was cold one or two mornings in the Four Seasons (a buffet).

[MidtheNight]

I am little leary about booking on the Dream because of her age and lack of restaurants. I know it is an older ship. How was the buffet and other 24 hr places? WOW! Avg. age of passenger's almost 70? This may make our decision alot easier. We are in late 30's (ok very late 30's) and this might not be for us. Most of the people we shared tables with were also alot older we found them to be more respectful and very pleasant then people our own age. My wife keeps in contact with a woman and her friend we met on the Spirit and they are in their 80's. Beautiful friendly people. My mom is 72 and there is no one I love more then her. But we need to be with people around our age.

 

Transtlantic always has a much higher average age than the typical cruise but not because of the time off required but due to the time of year. Most people with kids only travel during summer and school breaks hence they are not as readily to travel during the typical transatlantic times as they occur right before and right after the major school summer break. We've done European cruises in the summer and they are full of families so if it's Europe you want with a younger crowd go in the summer. We've also done Caribbean cruises "off season" and you'd be surprise that the crowd can and does sometimes run to the older end of the spectrum there as well....timing is everything. :)