Pullmantur Pacific Dream cruise

[jascom]

People who have taken cruise might be able to tell us if they have more than one sit down dining restaurant.i know they have one buffet,dont know what other choices we have.do they have place that serves nice cappucino or irish coffee.what menus they have in restaurants etc.

thank you all.

[jascom]

I am hoping people who took this cruise on feb/6th might post review or some more info.

thanks.

[Downdie]

I think there are three dining areas on the Pacific Dream, the main dining room, the buffet restaurant which includes a pizza station and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the Grill under the canvas on deck 11 which is open limited hours during the day. I'll find out Saturday. Pullmantur used to post menus for the dining room on their website but no longer do.As far as cappacinos and specialty coffees go, they are served at all the bars and cafes on the ship, but there will be extra charges for the latter.

Hope you enjoy your first cruise.

[jascom]

Thank yoy Downdie.we are looking forward to our first cruise.Hard to find info.we dont speak spanish.Anything you find out and post on forum will help.

thanks again.

[Plato123]

Here is a link to the Pacific Dream on Pullmantur's site:

 

http://www.pullmanturcruises.com/EN/PacificDreamShip/sp1211199805177.html

 

Regarding meals, we had no choice as to sitting in the Condesa Room and were assigned the late sitting but we complained on board and all 4 of us english speaking travellers shared a 7:15 sitting table for the rest of the cruise.

 

There are few smoking areas and the only one I actually remember is in the Casino. No smoking in the dining areas.

 

Sorry for late reply but we were in Florida.

[jascom]

Hi Plato123

thank you for posting.could you please let us know how everything went on cruise.

like procedures from flying to boarding ship.how was ship.cabins,bars,dining rooms service food etc.

would love to read your review of cruise before we go on feb/20

thank you.

[Plato123]

Regarding menus in the main dining room, the Condesa Room. The menus were available in Spanish, French and English. There were 800 French onboard , about 300 Spanish, 55 Italians and 4 English Canadians. The Italians got the short end of things I think.

There is a daily newsletter advising of the day ahead and other important info. and it is under your door in the morning. Ours was in English.

 

They have a cruise to Cozumel coming up but I don't feel good about booking through Gotravelsouth as I have mentioned in earlier posts. Anyone know if you can go on a Pullmantur Cruise without going through GTS?

[jascom]

Plato123 let me know if you find out if its possible to deal direct with pullmantur.could you please let all of us know how was your cruise with all details.

thank you.

[Sun lover 123]

Hi Plato 123,

I've been enjoying reading your postings regarding the GTS Pullmantaur cruise. We are booked to go on this cruise leaving Ottawa March 6th. I've found the info that you posted very helpful as this is our first cruise and I wasn't sure what to expect. Could you please let me know what the dress code is for supper in the dining room. Are the men to wear jacket and tie? The ladies dressed? How formal is it.

Thanks!

Regarding menus in the main dining room, the Condesa Room. The menus were available in Spanish, French and English. There were 800 French onboard , about 300 Spanish, 55 Italians and 4 English Canadians. The Italians got the short end of things I think.

There is a daily newsletter advising of the day ahead and other important info. and it is under your door in the morning. Ours was in English.

 

They have a cruise to Cozumel coming up but I don't feel good about booking through Gotravelsouth as I have mentioned in earlier posts. Anyone know if you can go on a Pullmantur Cruise without going through GTS?

[Tcmroxy]

Hello Sun Lover 123....We will see you on the cruise. There are 6 of us booked to go from Ottawa on March 6th. I know from our last cruise that the dress code is casual during the day and nicer in the evening. Dinner was a nice skirt and top or sundress. Men wore nice dress shorts and button down shirts. There is one formal night of the cruise where men wear suits and women wear cocktail dresses. Hope this helps. Only 18 more days to go!!

[Sun lover 123]

Hi Tcmroxy,

It's good to know that there will be other English speaking people on our cruise. My husband and I are going with another couple. I wanted to know about the dress code at dinner because of the weight restrictions that GoTravelSouth has now....15Kg each isn't very much...and I know that it is strictly enforced as we just came back from another vacation booked through them (Cancun). Packing a suit and dress shirts will take up more room (and weight) in the suitcase...so if it's not necessary we won't bother. On other cruises men have to dress in a suit for dinner but I wasn't sure about Pullmantur that's why I was asking someone who had already been.

Cheers and see you in 18 days!

 

Hello Sun Lover 123....We will see you on the cruise. There are 6 of us booked to go from Ottawa on March 6th. I know from our last cruise that the dress code is casual during the day and nicer in the evening. Dinner was a nice skirt and top or sundress. Men wore nice dress shorts and button down shirts. There is one formal night of the cruise where men wear suits and women wear cocktail dresses. Hope this helps. Only 18 more days to go!!

[Plato123]

Dress is relaxed casual in the dining room, no jacket and tie required. I would not suggest bathing suits and T-shirts but shorts and a polo shirt would be fine. The only quasi formal event was the Captain's gala which is held in the theatre and that is an opportunity to dress up if you want but you don't need to. Best of luck on your cruise and drink lots of Spanish Cava!

[Sun lover 123]

Hi Plato123,

Thanks so much for your reply, it's very helpful. Did you attend the Captain's gala? If so, was it worth dressing up for? Not that we mind dressing up - it's just the weight limit of our luggage that we're concerned about.

Another question if it's not too much trouble - are there any excursions that you would recommend?

Thanks again!:D

 

Dress is relaxed casual in the dining room, no jacket and tie required. I would not suggest bathing suits and T-shirts but shorts and a polo shirt would be fine. The only quasi formal event was the Captain's gala which is held in the theatre and that is an opportunity to dress up if you want but you don't need to. Best of luck on your cruise and drink lots of Spanish Cava!

[Sun lover 123]

Hi Plata123,

Could you please tell me how you paid the 65 euros for the gratuities? Did you exchange Canadian dollars for euros here in Canada B4 you left? Do they accept US or CDN money?

Thanks for your help!

 

 

You don't have to tip extra and it is not expected. We did leave a little for the cabin attendant as she was extra helpful. For example we had purchased some yogurt in Martinique and kept it in our ice bucket and she carefully replaced the ice each day, as well as the towels. We did buy an 80 minute internet access card for US $20 which I used to email GTS and others but no other expenses besides the overall gratuity were on our bill at the end of the trip and no one seemed to expect a tip.

 

BTW, each evening we dropped by the bar outside the casino (the plaza bar?) and picked up a 1.5 litre bottle of water for the room. The water in the cabin is OK (desalinated) but bottled water from the States is better and no charge.

[jascom]

we are really enjoying this forum.hope there are few more people going on feb.20 from canada.

we are two from ottawa and two from Barrie,ontario.

[Sun lover 123]

Hi Jascom,

We are really enjoying this forum as well. As you are going this weekend perhaps you can post some comments when you get back from your cruise letting us know how you liked it, and if you have any suggestions for those of us who haven't been yet. We are only leaving March 6th - can't wait. Hope you have a great time!

 

we are really enjoying this forum.hope there are few more people going on feb.20 from canada.

we are two from ottawa and two from Barrie,ontario.

[Plato123]

The compulsary 65 Euro ($90 US) tip is added to your account, which you establish with a credit card when you board the ship and are given a room key card. Your room key card is all you need on board to pay for anything such as specialty drinks or stuff from their duty free shop. At the end of the cruise you will get a statement of all charges that will be on your credit card. There were no surprises, and we had two charges for gratuities (one each) and $20 US for an 80 minute internet access card which we purchased at the reception counter.

As for the Captain's Gala, it is an event held in the theatre where you get to meet the Captain and have a photo taken with him, then all the senior staff on the ship are introduced on stage and you sip on Spanish Cava and see every one from Europe all decked out in their finest clothes and jewelry. You do not have to dress up unless you want to and there is no hard dress code on the ship. If weight is an issue leave the sport coat and tie at home.

As far as changing money you can do that at the reception area but I would recommend that you bring your own US dollars and some Euros for shopping in the ports especially in markets. Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Martin all accept Euros. Avoid changing money on the ship as the line ups at the reception desk are long on mornings when you go ashore.

[RCLUSIAU]

Just woundering if there is any feedback on their 7 nt cruise on the pacific dream

[RCLUSIAU]

Just woundering how your trip was........

[Sun lover 123]

Hi Plata123,

Thanks again for all of this useful information. I'd like to ask two more questions...1. Is the duty free on the ship comparable to the prices on shore? 2. I was planning on bringing only US$ but are you suggesting I also bring Euros? I thought all of the islands in the Caribbean accepted US.

Cheers:D

 

 

The compulsary 65 Euro ($90 US) tip is added to your account, which you establish with a credit card when you board the ship and are given a room key card. Your room key card is all you need on board to pay for anything such as specialty drinks or stuff from their duty free shop. At the end of the cruise you will get a statement of all charges that will be on your credit card. There were no surprises, and we had two charges for gratuities (one each) and $20 US for an 80 minute internet access card which we purchased at the reception counter.

As for the Captain's Gala, it is an event held in the theatre where you get to meet the Captain and have a photo taken with him, then all the senior staff on the ship are introduced on stage and you sip on Spanish Cava and see every one from Europe all decked out in their finest clothes and jewelry. You do not have to dress up unless you want to and there is no hard dress code on the ship. If weight is an issue leave the sport coat and tie at home.

As far as changing money you can do that at the reception area but I would recommend that you bring your own US dollars and some Euros for shopping in the ports especially in markets. Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Martin all accept Euros. Avoid changing money on the ship as the line ups at the reception desk are long on mornings when you go ashore.

[Plato123]

The duty free on the ship seemed reasonable, but we did not do a lot of comparing. The booze store was limited in what it stocked and much of it was Spanish. There was also a clothing and jewelry shop that was duty free on board and my wife said the prices were OK but not great. It depends what you want. From what we could see, te preferred location for Duty Free shopping on the cruise was St. Maarten. Also, we bought a half bottle of Dominican Republic rum at the Santo Domingo airport for $US 3. We also bought a litre bottle of Guadeloupe white rum for about 5 Euros at the duty free in the cruise terminal in Guadaloupe. We used credit cards where ever we could so we actually did not need too much cash.

You can get away with $ US at most larger places, but if you are in a small market and want a bag of nutmeg or some vanilla beans, and it is on Martinique or Guadeloupe, then they will ask for Euros, but may take dollars too.

By the way, with the limited allowance for baggage and carry-on you won't have too much room left over to shop, regardless.

[jascom]

Hello Plato123.

thank you for all your info.we are excited to go on our first cruise.

we are also little disheartened by review on santo domingo forum as below.do you think it has merits?

posted by ottawanet.

Just returned from the Pacific Dream with GTS. Make sure you weigh your luggage or you are absolutely paying the $10/kg over your limit with Flair Air.

 

 

 

As for the cruise, this ship is very basic and not luxury in any way. If you are a first time cruiser you will most likely be fine, if you have cruised before, like us, you may have a diffcult time with their level of service, the food, entertainment, and no amount of free booze is going to make it seem good.

 

 

 

If your cabin is at the back of this ship you will hear and feel almost every sound and motion of the ships engines. If your cabin is at the front of the ship, when the ship is in port to take on fuel, you will have the overwhelming scent of fuel in your area. Although cabins are large, with large bathrooms and showers, we had extremely poor service from our cabin stewardess. We would not receive new towels and we had to have her change our "clean" sheets because they smelled. She even tried arguing that they were clean sheets. We have never experienced this with any other cruiseline before. As for your choice of cabins, GTS has 25 cabins and Pullmantur will not change your cabin. They say that it is up to you to have chosen your cabin prior to embarkation just like everyone else.

 

 

 

The food seemed fine throughout the week however on the final night my husband was violently ill as was another person we were travelling with. I fell ill the next night. We also learned that many others on board were sick with intestinal issues as well. We still do not know what caused everyone's illness.

 

 

 

As for dress code, everyone is very casual even on Gala/Formal night. In fact what GTS fails to tell anyone is that Pullmantur likes to have theme nights. We had: Gala, Tropical Carnival, Pirate Carnival(Black&Red), Informal(Black&White), Total White, Hippie Carnival.

 

 

 

There were about 50 english speaking people on the ship in total. The rest were Spanish and French and some Polish.

 

 

 

Take some Euros for Martinique and Guadeloupe if you are venturing out.

 

 

 

Don't take tours, rent cars, reserve in advance especially in Martinique & Guadeloupe.

 

 

 

Take anitbiotics with you just in case!!!!!

[Plato123]

I agree that the ship is not "luxury" but we found it very comfortable. It was apparently refitted in 2009 but I think it was only rebranded to Pullmantur as it was the Island Star before and with another company.

As far as noise and smells, we had no problems there and we were in two different cabins due to a mix up where we did not get the cabin class we paid for.

I would not have said the cabins were large but then again this was our first cruise and we had nothing to compare it to. Our cabin attendant was great and we had no problem getting changes of sheets and towels. If I did not mention this earlier, take a facecloth with you as they are not normally provided in European accomodations, but you should still be able to get some if you have a good cabin attendant as we did.

We enjoyed the food on board and did not hear anything about anyone getting sick. We did take Imodium with us and our Doctor prescribed Cipro as a precaution especially for the Dominican Republic and St. Lucia as these islands have lower health standards than we are used to here in North America. We did not need these on our cruise.

[jascom]

Thank you Plato123.your reply and information is very reassuring.

[Sun lover 123]

Yes, thanks Plato123, we feel reassured as well....

Jascom - I know that you're leaving tomorrow and wish you a great trip. I'll look forward to reading your comments when you get back. Bon Voyage!

 

Thank you Plato123.your reply and information is very reassuring.