First-time NCL Review / Debarkation debacle / Random comments, Dream 1/6 - 1/13/07

[sardonicus]

We are experienced cruisers, but this was our first time on NCL and first time out of Houston. A pretty interesting set of circumstances on this trip allowed us to see the good and bad in action.

 

In a realm where first impressions count for a lot, this itinerary opens with several strikes against it. We had NCL transfers from the airport to the terminal but had to wait over an hour for the transfer bus to arrive. The 1-hour bus trip from Bush airport to La Port covers what has to be among the most disturbing and depressing 40-mile stretches of road in the US, as the usual assortment of airport-area strip malls and sex shops quickly gives way to an endless line of oil rigs, refineries, and container operations, culminating in a couple of miles of crawling over horribly rutted road through a canyon of containers to reach the terminal. The bus was swarmed with non-cruise-personnel "porters" trying to earn tips for taking your bags off the bus and handing them to the NCL baggage people. The warehouselike terminal facility itself is no prize, but the check-in and embarkation process was smooth enough. We were onboard by 2PM, but the brown water and heavy petrochemical air pollution kept us mostly belowdecks until we got underway -- I've never been so happy to leave a port in my life.

 

The ship itself was a pleasant surprise. We knew going in that this was a bargain cruise on an older and smaller ship, and were prepared for any manner of downgrade from our prior cruising experiences. A few things were indeed disappointing, such as the lack of a central atrium area and the narrow and rather dysfunctional promenade, but in general we found the public areas of the ship very pleasing; of special note was the spaciousness, cleanliness and upkeep on the topdecks (an area that was problematic on our prior cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship of similar size). The focus on hygiene (hand-sanitizer dispensers were seemingly everywhere) was immediately evident and gratifying.

 

We were very pleased with our deck 6 outside cabin (several levels of upgrade had been applied to our last-minute reservation), which had the most square feet, largest and best bed, and nicest sitting area of any cabin we've been in.

 

The summary of the cruise itself was that we made the best we could out of mostly awful weather.

 

With the awareness that this ship was not designed for the concept, we tended to see the figurative seams where things were retrofit for freestyle. The Dream retains its original two, similar, main dining rooms (which maintain identical traditional-cruise menus and service styles) and adds an Italian restaurant and the Le Bistro French restaurant (the only extra-cost option on the ship). My guess is that the Italian restaurant originally housed the buffet area, because the remaining buffet area (the "sports bar", on which more later) is a very poorly laid-out and awkwardly designed retrofit of a lounge or something. We wanted to avoid buffets as much as possible (for both health and atmosphere reasons) and quickly found that reservations were needed to avoid a long wait for a table at any restaurant including the mains. The food in all cases was acceptable or better, with a couple of really good meals standing out (all, interestingly enough, in the main dining rooms) and only a couple of clinker dishes all week. We didn't find the food at Le Bistro to be worth the upgrade cost, but the smaller room and more personal setting was a welcome change of pace.

 

Our feelings about the freestyle concept wound up mixed. One one hand we missed the first-name rapport with staff and really amazing service we've had on other cruises. Service was often much slower than we were used to; our first dinner in the Four Seasons main room took over 2 hours and we heard griping from several neighboring tables (somewhere in the middle of the week a lecture may have been given to kitchen staff as the pace of things picked up considerably on later meals). The dining-room service was inconsistent and often appeared rough around the edges, with a general harried and understaffed, sometimes disorganized vibe, with some visibile shirking going on and palpable friction between the servers and the maitre d's (something we've never experienced before). On the other hand, avoiding the groundhog-day experience of sitting at the same table at the same time night after night was indeed refreshing. And the service you do get, though much less personalized and consistent, also comes across less obsequious and somehow more "genuine". Some folks we ate with complained rather bitterly that the automatic-tipping policy required to make freestyle work had led to this decline in service (since the servers know they are getting paid no matter whether they ingratiate themselves or not); there was also some rumor that many of the best/most experienced staff (including kitchen, servers, and entertainment) had been siphoned off for the release of the new NCL ship(s).

 

Cabin service was fine and unobtrusive though the 2-person team seemed to have a lot of rooms to cover; no cute stuff like towel animals, which was fine with us.

 

Our biggest gripe with NCL was their tendency towards prevarication. The big caveat emptor for this trip was over the itinerary itself. The advertised itinerary of Progresso-Playa Del Carmen-Cozumel-Belize implies four ports on the seven-day cruise; in reality PDC and Cozumel are a single day, which we didn't realize until we got our tickets. The supposed itinerary is to drop off passengers with PDC-based excursions at 8:30AM and then move the ship across to Cozumel for the rest of the day (with those getting off at PDC having to catch a ferry across to the island before departure). In reality the PDC stop was canceled altogether, purportedly due to weather conditions, though they had no problem ferrying passengers to the mainland for shore excursions. So the published itinerary here seems rather fictional, and three 8-hour stops on a 7-day cruise seems rather thin. NCL must not have a subscription to the Weather Channel as they insisted on telling us how the weather was about to improve despite empirical evidence to the contrary -- a joke on the ship was that "if this is 'partly cloudy' I'd hate to see 'rainy'". We also found that the transport times were consistently underestimated and the experience times underestimated in the shore excursion descriptions, with some tour stops canceled in order to make it back to the shop on time. Several people we talked to had similar observations.

 

On to the debarkation, which was the real horror story here (and we didn't even bear the brunt of it). We awoke at 7:30 Saturday morning expecting to be pulling into port; however we were still miles away stuck in a thick fog that the local pilots refused to move in. NCL and the Dream staff gained points with us here as they extended breakfast hours, allowed continued access to cabins, set up entertainment in the theater, and put on a full top-deck barbeque to mitigate the delay. Despite the obvious impact on travel plans, people seemed to take this delay in stride, understanding it was beyond the ship's control.

 

e finally got to horrible LaPort port around 1:30PM, where the real trouble began. Even with plenty of lead time, nobody at the port seemed to have prepared for the late arrival of the ship and it took quite a while to get clearance to begin debarkation. Of course the passengers coming into the port for departure had been arriving for hours and were clogging up the terminal (police eventually were turning away arriving taxis and buses and telling people to come back after 5PM). When clearance was finally given, the first call went to "express" passengers who were carrying their own bags. Due to the clog at the terminal these debarkers backed up badly at Customs and ground transport, and it took nearly 90 minutes to clear the "express" pax and start on the baggage colors; during this time many people who had re-booked to late afternoon flights started to get antsy. We were lucky to have booked transfers with NCL and so were the in the first color group to be called; there was still quite a backup to get down the ramp and through to the baggage area. By this point the fun of the unexpected bonus cruise time had dissipated and we were surrounded by unhappy campers venting about everything from missed flights to lousy bingo payouts.

 

The real debacle occurred at the bottom of the ramp; presumably due to the off-scheduled arrival little of the baggage from the color groups had been set up, rather it was still stacked in the transport containers. No porters or NCL personnel were there to assist with baggage claim -- the passengers were simply disgorged in front of an array of luggage carts without instruction or directions. Unable to find their bags or anyone to help and faced with missing flights, people began climbing up the stacks and throwing luggage down to the ground at random, causing more disarray and anger. I happened to see our bags at the corner of a stack and grabbed them and got out of there just as the police came running in to what was already a dangerous situation and turning into a near-riot. I believe they halted all disembarkation shortly thereafter until the luggage-claim area was brought under control.

 

We made it through customs and out to the bus area, where the next phase of the debacle began. NCL has different transfer buses assigned to each terminal of each airport; the first wave of passengers filled up each of four or five buses about three-quarters full. The bus drivers -- NCL contractors in NCL-logoed apparel -- apparently have orders not to leave without a full busload of passengers, however, and, due to the luggage fiasco, nobody else was coming off-board. So we boarded the bus and waited, and waited, with no explanations, apologies, or attempts to figure out other options. Several people who had waited to disembark before rescheduling flights were now facing the prospect of losing those seats as well. At about the 45-minute mark a mini-revolt occurred and folks started getting off the bus and demanding their bags back from the packed luggage bays so they could get taxis instead. The driver at first refused but after about half the bus confronted him relented and got on the radio to get permission to leave with only 36 of 45 seats filled. By this time people were red-faced, crying, and loudly swearing to sue NCL and vowing never again to use them. We finally pulled away from the terminal around 4:30 PM to look back at hundreds more passngers still backed up on the exit ramp trying to get off the ship. As bad as our experience was I can only imagine the frustration of those who had the later debarkation colors.

 

Our trepidations about NCL turned out to be misplaced; the ship was mostly fine but the ground support was consistently terrible. Again this seems like a fatal flaw in a business where first and last impressions count for so much.

 

Other random observations and caveats:

 

- The presence of the "sports bar" seemed like a significant draw in choosing this trip, which coincided with both the college bowl championship and the NFL playoffs. Unfortunately it's another misleading name, as it's not really a bar at all but a buffet seating area and the only real "sportiness" comes in a few bits of sports memorabilia on the walls (oh, and some of the servers wear referee-type shirts). There are several TVs in the room, but they get the same batch of channels as the rest of the ship so all the main, network-carried sporting events are nowhere to be seen (one poor guy was stationed at the door Monday night just to answer people's incredulous responses when walking in for the football game to find a billiard trick-shot program on the TVs).

 

- We went to the wine-tasting at the French restaurant. The $15/person fee covered reasonable (~1.5 oz) samples of two white and three red wines with crackers and cheese. Due to the bad weather, the tasting was unexpectedly full and started late. It was supposed to be a "guided" tasting, and the wine steward appeared knowledgeable, but her talk was unamplified in the full restaurant and drowned out by the music from the neighboring coffee bar. The wines presented were all on the lowest end of the ship's wine list (normally at a paid tasting you'd expect at least one higher-end wine of each style for comparison); this may have been an availability issue due to the larger-than-expected number of guests.

 

- One couple we met upon embarkation was very worried because they had heard after booking that the Dream was infamous for instability and rocking. Two days later we saw them again and they said they were pleasantly surprised that no such problems had occurred. Of course that night we hit choppy seas (Capt. Lars described conditions as "moderate to rough") and did a bit of weaving and bobbing. Oddly, the oscillations continued through the rest of the trip, even after seas calmed; barf-bags appeared everywhere onboard sometime Thursday. There was also a notable engine vibration and I got the feeling the stabilizers weren't working 100% later in the week. We didn't have many problems with it, but I can see how a motion-sickness prone person would have had issues.

 

That's all that comes to mind that might be helpful to others; I'd love to hear from others who were on this cruise or answer any other questions.

[kfchawk62]

Thanks for your review of this cruise. When I first started reading it, I thought I was in for a rather negative opinion, but it turned out to be fair and honest. Again, thanks!!!

 

I do however take issues with a few of your opinions. Knowing that these boards are for people to express opinions, here are mine.

 

1. Many of your issues with the itinerary could have been avoided if you would have researched it more closely. Actually, you could have used these boards to find out all the information needed for your cruise.

 

2. NCL will be pulling out of Houston after this winter season for good. You are right, it is not the most popular place to board a ship, even though the Port of Houston is in the process of constructing a modern cruise terminal a few miles away.

 

3. Your debarkation problems happened only because the ship was unable to arrive on schedule. All personnel are scheduled in conjunction with the arrival/departures of the cruise line. This seemed to be a worse-case situation. It happens to all cruise lines.

 

Again, thanks for your candid thoughts. I am looking foward to my 2nd Dream cruise in February.

[hotspur]

You guessed wrong about the "original" dining rooms. Four Seasons was added as part of the stretching of the Dream. Terraces and Trattoria (originally called Sun Terrace) were the original two dining rooms, and the latter is still the most comfortable and attractive dining room we've ever seen on a cruise ship.

 

I couldn't agree more with your observation about the difference between NCL's dining room service and the "obsequious," fawning service on traditional dining lines. Truly annoying, in our opinion. We've never had a problem with NCL dining room service in 55 nights. I don't need to be called by name and if I want a beverage I have no problem asking for one.

 

The Sports Bar is the name for the buffet on Dream. NCL does nothing to hide this. It is not in the slightest misleading, but very clear on the NCL web site. Do you think because one of the main dining rooms on Jewel is called Tsar's Palace that you'll be eating in St. Petersburg? ;) Or that Blue Lagoon on Jewel is somehow underwater? ;) It's done in a sports bar theme. Simple as that. And, yes, it's undersized given the staterooms added in the stretching. Wasn't a big deal to us, and we've spent 26 nights on Dream.

 

Good to see you like the stateroom. We think they're the nicest standard oceanview staterooms we've ever had. Especially the curtain that separates the sleeping from sitting area. And nice to have the sitting area by the window, instead of the beds.

[electricron]

Thanks for your review. I thought it was well balanced, and I'll agree the Dream has some flaws. But you can still have a great cruise vacation aboard her.

Reservations are used at many restaurants ashore when demand exceeds space. That's the reason why NCL uses them too. Especailly for the rather small in size Specialty restaurants on all their ships, not just solely on the Majesty, Dream, and Wind because they were stretched. But the buffets on

all three of these older, and stretched NCL cruise ships are too small to handle the extra capacity caused by stretching.

Houston is the "Oil Capital of the World" because it has so many petrochemical plants, all of which were built along the ship channel and the bay. Without them, there wouldn't be a navigitable bay or port to sail from, or a city to fly to.

[above sea level cruiser]

You lost me at "prevarication".

[samtig]

The Dream is one of the older ships and they can't compare to newer ones in some areas. The Dream's rates reflect this and it is a good bargain. We found the service to be about the same as other cruises. Food was just ok. Never had to wait more than 5 to 10 minutes to be seated. The port is not a big deal to us so we weren't bothered by it. We enjoyed our cruise and would go again.

[heelfan94]

You lost me at "prevarication".

That was excellent. :cool:

[Texas2804]

Thanks for the honest review. Hopefully we won't have the same embarkation/debarkation problems. I am looking forward to a relaxing cruise. I cruised the Sea about 2 years ago--my first cruise so I have no megaship/new ship to compare the Dream to. I do agree with the itinerary. I liked it better when they had Roatan as a port. Since I have only ever cruised out of the port of Houston I have no other expectations as to how a port should look. I thought they all ooked industrial given the nature of a port--they don't?:rolleyes: Anyway, thanks again.

[LaJollaCruiser]

[....] Some folks we ate with complained rather bitterly that the automatic-tipping policy required to make freestyle work had led to this decline in service (since the servers know they are getting paid no matter whether they ingratiate themselves or not) [....]

 

Automatic tipping is standard on most cruise lines. It was not introduced because of NCL's "Freestyle Cruising" but because so many unsophisticated cruisers didn't tip, thus making it much more difficult to attract and keep good personnel. In my view, service, in general, has improved with automatic tipping and the crew is much more genuine and happy.

[B J]

- One couple we met upon embarkation was very worried because they had heard after booking that the Dream was infamous for instability and rocking. Two days later we saw them again and they said they were pleasantly surprised that no such problems had occurred. Of course that night we hit choppy seas (Capt. Lars described conditions as "moderate to rough") and did a bit of weaving and bobbing. Oddly, the oscillations continued through the rest of the trip, even after seas calmed; barf-bags appeared everywhere onboard sometime Thursday. There was also a notable engine vibration and I got the feeling the stabilizers weren't working 100% later in the week. We didn't have many problems with it, but I can see how a motion-sickness prone person would have had issues.

 

.

 

Has anyone else experienced this excess movement on the Dream??? We are considering the transatlantic on the Dream and would not like to rock and roll all the way across the Atlantic!!!

[B J]

- One couple we met upon embarkation was very worried because they had heard after booking that the Dream was infamous for instability and rocking. Two days later we saw them again and they said they were pleasantly surprised that no such problems had occurred. Of course that night we hit choppy seas (Capt. Lars described conditions as "moderate to rough") and did a bit of weaving and bobbing. Oddly, the oscillations continued through the rest of the trip, even after seas calmed; barf-bags appeared everywhere onboard sometime Thursday. There was also a notable engine vibration and I got the feeling the stabilizers weren't working 100% later in the week. We didn't have many problems with it, but I can see how a motion-sickness prone person would have had issues.

 

.

 

Has anyone else experienced this excess movement on the Dream??? We are considering the transatlantic on the Dream and would not like to rock and roll all the way across the Atlantic!!!

[B J]

- One couple we met upon embarkation was very worried because they had heard after booking that the Dream was infamous for instability and rocking. Two days later we saw them again and they said they were pleasantly surprised that no such problems had occurred. Of course that night we hit choppy seas (Capt. Lars described conditions as "moderate to rough") and did a bit of weaving and bobbing. Oddly, the oscillations continued through the rest of the trip, even after seas calmed; barf-bags appeared everywhere onboard sometime Thursday. There was also a notable engine vibration and I got the feeling the stabilizers weren't working 100% later in the week. We didn't have many problems with it, but I can see how a motion-sickness prone person would have had issues.

 

.

 

Has anyone else experienced this excess movement on the Dream??? We are considering the transatlantic on the Dream and would not like to rock and roll all the way across the Atlantic!!!

[Don Haynes]

Triple post, very very long white screen.

[Don Haynes]

Triple post.

[Don Haynes]

Another person wrote a wonderful review of the same journey. She took her meds in the rough seas and didn't have a problem. Every ship rocks and rolls in rough seas, stabilzers help, but never ever smooth out a voyage.

 

Take your meds.....

[Snowrose]

Another person wrote a wonderful review of the same journey. She took her meds in the rough seas and didn't have a problem. Every ship rocks and rolls in rough seas, stabilzers help, but never ever smooth out a voyage.

 

Every ship is different but I was on the HAL Maasdam when the stabilizers were turned off in 15 ft seas and the difference was like night and day. That was the only time I was anywhere near seasick on a cruise, but as soon as the stabilizers were turned on again it was like sailing in calm waters. And mind you, the seas were so rough that they couldn't tender so we had to go to another port instead.

 

Teri

[Don Haynes]

Stabilizers only help to keep the ship from rolling. Stabilizers do nothing to keep the ship from rocking. Frankly the stabilizers slow a ship down when the ship is rocking, the reason why most captains turn them off.

 

If a ship is sailing northwards for example and the waves are coming from the north or south, stabilizers are useless. If a ship is sailing northwards and the waves are coming from the east or west, stabilizers are useful.

 

The best place to be aboard a ship is low and admidships. Think of a tetter todder, the center moves none, but the ends move significantly.

 

Every ship rocks, those with stabilizers don't roll as much. Whenever anyone complains about how rough their ride was, no one ever tells us in which direction the waves are coming. Never, ever. They don't understand simple mathematics nor physics.

 

Stabilizers are wings that extend from a ship to help reduce rolling significantly. They are not automobile shocks or struts.

[Giventofly]

You lost me at "prevarication".

 

Ha! Man there were a lot of big words in that one! I consider myself to have a larger than average vocabulary (paired with the spelling skills of a 5th grader) and I was lost on that word! :D

 

How really refreshing this review is. It's amazing how simple tone of text and balanced reporting can make a pretty negative review quite readable, and look...no flame war!

 

I recommend this post to be stickied, and used as an example for all those first time posters considering posting a long useless rant and then going back to lurking.

 

Well done, sardonicus.

[LaJollaCruiser]

Has anyone else experienced this excess movement on the Dream??? We are considering the transatlantic on the Dream and would not like to rock and roll all the way across the Atlantic!!!

 

Dream is an ocean-going ship. She moves with the waves. American Airlines provides a much smoother ride if your goal is to get across the Atlantic with little motion. I was aboard Dream a month ago in the Gulf and she performed beautifully during the storm we encountered. Yes, she rocks and rolls. That's what makes her a lot of fun for someone on a sea voyage.

[Vyhanek]

Your experience sounds terrible!

 

I've been on the Dream twice (several years ago) but would definately agree about the terrible instability and rocking of the ship. Both cruises were horribly rocky. I can't even begin to imagine how much vomit is in that carpet after all these years and the same rough ride! That's why the Dream has the unofficial name "Dream?? - a really bad dream more like a nightmare"

 

Honestly though, a lot of your complaints are not unique to NCL and would have happened with any other cruise line. The automatic tipping is common on most lines. The cruise was delayed getting back because of the fog and you would have arrived late regardless of which cruise line I'm sure. The disgusting port and dirty water can't be blamed on NCL.

If you would have researched your cruise by looking on-line anywhere you would have better understood the itinerary.

 

I have noticed on lots of NCL ships that the service in the dining rooms is really slow now. Dining didn't used to be so slow. A two hour dinner with lots of waiting in between courses is pretty common - and annoying if you want to see the early show!

 

If you cruise again (on any line) I think you will like the newer ships better. The ones with lots of dining options, more things to do and a more upscale feel. I would hate cruising too if all I knew was the Dream.

[hotspur]

Your experience sounds terrible!

 

I've been on the Dream twice (several years ago) but would definately agree about the terrible instability and rocking of the ship. Both cruises were horribly rocky. I can't even begin to imagine how much vomit is in that carpet after all these years and the same rough ride! That's why the Dream has the unofficial name "Dream?? - a really bad dream more like a nightmare"

This nightmare stuff is nonsense, in my opinion. We've also sailed Dream twice, including one north Atlantic crossing. The ship sails just fine. The exaggerations some people try to feed us on this board is just remarkable.

[fin]

Great initial post. My first NCL cruise was out of Houston as well.

[elisamarie]

This nightmare stuff is nonsense, in my opinion. We've also sailed Dream twice, including one north Atlantic crossing. The ship sails just fine. The exaggerations some people try to feed us on this board is just remarkable.

If you are not prone to motion sickness, you don't know.

 

We were on the Celebrity Zenith to Bermuda a few years ago and had really rough seas. Out of our group of 6, 5 of us were sick and really felt the movement. My husband, who does not have motion sickness, didn't even feel the movement, just noticed it when walking. He couldn't figure out why everyone was sick.

 

It depends on your perception of the movement. I get sick on a water bed. I take Bonine, Ginger, wear a Bio-Band and always have tranderm-scope patches (scopolomine) with me in case of a rocking and rolling ship (and I don't mean the band.) However, it doesn't stop me from sailing, I'd rather cruise than any other vacation.

 

elisa

[LaJollaCruiser]

If you are not prone to motion sickness, you don't know.

 

We were on the Celebrity Zenith to Bermuda a few years ago and had really rough seas. Out of our group of 6, 5 of us were sick and really felt the movement. My husband, who does not have motion sickness, didn't even feel the movement, just noticed it when walking. He couldn't figure out why everyone was sick.

 

It depends on your perception of the movement. I get sick on a water bed. I take Bonine, Ginger, wear a Bio-Band and always have tranderm-scope patches (scopolomine) with me in case of a rocking and rolling ship (and I don't mean the band.) However, it doesn't stop me from sailing, I'd rather cruise than any other vacation.

 

elisa

 

The point is: if you suffer from motion sickness then why would you take a cruise on a moving ship??

[elisamarie]

The point is: if you suffer from motion sickness then why would you take a cruise on a moving ship??

The point is, should I not travel at all? I get motion sick in a moving car, moving train, moving airplane, etc. Because of this, I should just stay home and never enjoy a trip when I can do so easily with medication? Is that what you think?

 

elisa