Dream 1st Review WARNING very long

[Cymro1953]

HI,

As everyone wants more information about the ship I will do this in two parts. This one covering the ship itself and then a proper holiday one when I get my head together. Early

 

start yestyerday up at 6 a.m.

 

Palma Port.

Jut before I start I'll mention the port, it has changed since last time we were there 2 years ago.

Last time we were in a big marquee building, but this time it is a long 2 storey one and the authorities will only allow 1 coach to unload at a time. We were lucky and only waited a

 

few minutes as the one before cleared, but some people had a long wait to get off theirs and were not happy.

Once off you pick up an envelope containing your documents, ship's I.D. card etc. And a sticker for your suitcase with your cabin number on which you stick on it. Then into

 

building for I.D. picture and credit card details.

The whole process was quick and we were aboard in under 30 minutes of arriving in port. Well before 11 a.m.

 

 

Cabins. Outside Deck 6.

There will be pictures so I don't expect you to memorise all this.

Once boarding we were shown straight to our cabin, DW's case was already there and mine arrived shortly after it was that quick.

We had an outside on deck 6, lovely cabin, loads of room. Has entrance hallway with bathroom on one side. With a bath in it. Albeit a short one. So this gave a nice sized

 

rectangular shape shower with 2 showerheads, one on a flexible hose for shampooing,

a toilet and large sink. The hairdryer is in here and DW says it is powerful enough and she's got thick curly hair.

 

Then you come into the room itself, about 8feet wide and approx 13 foot long before you hit the wardrobe door. A 2 seater settee along the wall between bed and wardrobe and

 

opposite a dressing table with large mirror with lights either side.The TV is next to this, but at present don't expect much apart fron Sky News, CNN and a movie channel. But we

 

were not there to watch TV.

The 2 electric sockets are at the bottom of 1 of the dressing table lights. (The lights only work BTW if you switch the main cabin lights on. )

The wardrobe itself is huge it is about 2/3 the width of the room. Has a shelf at the top with your lifejackets, also a shelf just above the bottom of the wardrobe. Handy for putting

 

your shoes underneath. This does cause a problem for the ladies dresses as they will not quite hang fully without the hems resting on the shelf.

The safe is on the side of the lower shelf. Doors have a full lenght mirror and there is one the full height of the cabin on the wall next to the setee.

 

I had a nose in passing in O/S cabins on 5 and they looked the same as ours apart from colour of walls.

 

Inside Cabins

There were a couple of unoccupied empty cabins opposite us made up and they were conveniently, (for me), left open.

So I had a look inside, The width was about the same, but it was shorter in length. There was just enough space between the foot of the bed and toilet wall for a settee. The

 

wardrobe and toilet was the usual layout, one either side of the cabin door as you enter.

Small double wardrobe and toilet with a corner shower.

All the standard insides as far as we can tell were like this. A couple who were on an inside on deck 7 were shocked to find we had a bath.

 

Wandering through the ship you can see the public rooms are typical of a ship of her age, there is a good choice though of spaces for loud entertainment and quieter relaxing areas.

 

The seating is comfortable but looks old fashioned, I don't know where Costa spent the £5 million on the soft furnishings in the refit in 2002.

 

 

Before I go on with the next bit we found on talking to both staff and customers that not all problems encountered were Thomson's fault, there was a lot of maintenance and repair

 

stuff that should have been done in dry dock in Palermo (not to do with the collision repairs) that were not done. I won't mention names, but they were more senior than bar, room

 

attendants, but below Captain.

Everything seemed OK on handover and quick testing. They had no time for a proper test with ferrying the holidaymakers from Palma after the volcano.

 

AS the week went on we found from staff they had been stuck for ages in places due to the Volcano and so as the week went on staff were being picked up in each port.

Also because of this supplies were low in some departments and more supplies were brought on as the week went on.

 

 

Anyway to carry on, we went up to the Andromeda buffet for lunch on day1 and it was heaving up there. Of course it only sunk in after a bit that there were still passengers aboard

 

whose flights were not going till later plus all us new passengers. All Thomson's flights were early ones.

Also it was noticeable that was a distinct lack of staff, the poor restaurant manager was practically tearing his hair out.

The hot food was cold to warm and this proceeded all week despite complaints to the managers on duty. We tried to be constructive in this to help them and not just be moaning

 

passengers.

The water bath the metal dishes was sitting in was steaming hot, but there were no overhead hot lights to keep anything hot.

But in our opinion and that of others was that the food was coooked, left to stand, then brought out cool and put in the dishes hoping the water bath would heat it up.

We were there some days as soon as they started serving and the food was cold.

There were other stupid things that were staff's fault, like putting slotted serving spoons to dish out chicken breasts in sauce. You can get the chicken but no sauce for it.

 

The layout is a U shape, with most of the food being served along one leg of the U as you enter so there is a long queue to get to the food, with seating along the windows

 

opposite the counter. The curved part of the U has steating and a small seving area as you go back up the other leg of the restaurant which is mainly occupied by seating.

There is a food service area outside serving fresh cooked omelettes at breakfast and burgers and hot dogs with chips the rest of the day.

 

The Sirens restaurant on 11 is the same as far as food temperature is concerned.

 

The Sirens becomes the A La Carte Grill restaurant in the evening.

 

It is a great pity as the quality of the food is lovely if they can sort the temp. out, the stuff that was actually hot was beautiful.

 

There was no sign of anyone with food thermometers checking food temperatures

 

Orion Restaurant

All is not lost. The food served in here is beautiful, hot and excellent service.

It is Nouvelle Quisine, but you get 5 courses so are not starving at the end.

They did have a couple of missing items at times, e.g. no pigs in blankets with the turkey that was on the menu, but they arrived a couple of minutes later.

As it is open seating you have to queue at the entrance, but unlike others we have done there was no waiting. They ask you if you want to share or a table just for your party.

We ate there all evenings except one with no problems.

We tried lunch too and also breakfast to see if we could get hot bacon and sausages.

Every meal was perfect and hot.

 

The Restaurant has been extended past the lift / stairs area into that big white space on deck 4 on the deckplan.

 

All Inclusive

The A.I list was very poor if you were not a wine drinker. There was a choice of 3 each of White, Red and Rose.

Otherwise it was Heineken lager or John Smith's bitter.

1 cocktail + Cocktail of the day.

And 1 choice each of the spirits.

 

 

On day 1 we noticed a smell in the Ocean Bar of stale wet carpet and we thought can't sit in here all week. But it was sorted by the next day as we saw them shampooing and

 

drying the carpets and it was gone.

 

Betwwen the smell and the cold food DW said later she was ready to come straight home.

 

Talking of Ocean Bar, the duo playing the classical sounds were there and not in the Argo lounge as advertised. They do not play classical music, but more smooth relaxing music.

 

Delo Bar

Is a nice quiet bar at the stern of the ship next to the Casino.

 

Atlante Theatre

 

Lovely proper theatre at front of the ship. Not just an area used for more than one use.

There are supporting pillars, but you can get plenty of seats with a clear view. Even the back row of the balcony you get a perfect view.

If you sit to the side of the stage downstairs there are lights on the balcony just below the seats that can shine in your eyes.

Also there are revolving lights above the stage programmed to go with some performances and as they swing round shine in your eyes.

We did report this to a member of the entertainment team who was positioned outside the theatre doors to ask opinions.

 

As far as shows are concerned ALL the shows were excellent. Stphen Guy has done a fantastic job with them in the time he has had.

 

Pool on Deck 11

The 2 jaccuzis and pool were together outside Siren's restaurant. I don't do pool so really can't comment. But there were loungers there and the closing roof was very handy

 

especially in Barcelona where it was the only really bad day we had. So people were protected from the weather.

It also had an outside food cooking /serving area like deck 9 for burgers hot dogs and chips plus cold cuts and salads etc.

 

 

 

Lifts.

You have as much chance of getting the lift as you do playing roulette in the Casino.

I found the trick was, don't just press the call button and let go, hold your thumb on it.

 

 

VIBRATION AND NOISE

 

I was asked to check for vibration down on deck 5 while the ship was at sea . I went right to the stern of 5 and in the corridor it was very shaky, even the ceiling lights were rattling.

This is from the stern to the rear lifts, level with cabin 5163. It is the same on Deck 6 too.

 

On Deck 6 the blank area opposite cabins 6150 to 6160 contains the dishwashing area and is very noisy and hot. It seems at all times of day. I went there in early afternoon and evn

 

late evening.

 

On Deck 9 opposite cabin 9150 there is a noisy air conditioning unit.

 

Deck 7 inside cabins, they had problems with no air conditioning in the inside cabins in the block of cabins 7086 to 7120 and they were very noisy from conduits above the

 

ceilings.

One couple we spoke to complained and were moved to an outside across the corridor to an outside and it was quiet.

 

We were in the Delo Bar on deck 8 on departure, right above the engines and she sailed out as smooth as you like with no noise.

 

 

 

Other People's Comments.

These were got on chatting to others about her.

 

Some people still had brown water in taps in their bathrooms on turning on the taps, but it did clear after running the water.

 

Lots of people we spoke to had been told by their TA's that she was a brand new ship on booking and not just new to Thomson's

OR That she was new to Thomson's but had been fully refurbished and so neither group were not happy bunnies.

 

Of course, everyone complained about the cold food in the buffet restaurants.

 

One couple it was their 1st cruise and enjoyed every minute of it.

For lots it was their 1st time and on the whole they were having a good time.

 

Another couple had a blocked toilet for a few days. Why they didn't shout and demand to be moved straight away I didn't know. There were plenty of empty cabins.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Hi Berwyn

 

Welcome home, hope you enjoyed your holiday in spite of everything and your son is feeling better.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Hi Berwyn

 

Welcome home, hope you enjoyed your holiday in spite of everything and your son is feeling better.

 

Jan

 

Hi Jan,

Yes, Yes and Yes. :D

 

Definitely would go again once they've sorted the kinks out.

 

Berwyn

[Mack11]

Interesting!. I still like the sound of the ship itself, but i'm heading to Thomsons tomorrow to discuss the drinks package they sold us.

[Ceabea]

very informative Berwyn thank you. Glad you enjoyed it despite the issues.

 

We are not going on Dream until April 11 so I do hope they will have sorted out all the issues by then - and of course she will have had her refit too!

[ekco]

Hi Jan,

Yes, Yes and Yes. :D

 

Definitely would go again once they've sorted the kinks out.

 

Berwyn

 

 

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Sorry about forgetting the smileys before :D:D:D. Got a terrible cold and sore throat:eek: from that freezing cold Bank Holiday Monday so not with it today.:)

 

Jan

[infoqueen]

hi berwyn great to have you back hope on the whole you both enjoyed yourselves. We dont go till august 31st so theres time for things to improve, but its thanks to the passengers that give thomson feedback that help to improve the standards and i thank you and your dw for that. where are you going to next? We are thinking of doing the colourful coasts on island escape next feb so i will be pestering you soon for your advice on that. have a good rest before you have to go back to work.

[kruzseeka]

Thanks Berwyn. I knew we could rely on you for a balanced and informative review. ;) Hopefully the glitches are just that and can be resolved by Thomson - and that you were still able to enjoy your trip despite them.

 

Thanks for taking time out to give us all a feel for the Dream - I still fancy trying her and you say you'd go again so that's good enough!

 

Just a pity Thomson have scored such an own goal regarding the AI - selling it without informing passengers of the changes. I'm afraid that's going to rebound on them big time! And can't fail to affect the atmosphere on board as people realise what's happened. (We're prepared having read the Forum - but there will be a large number arriving on board in ignorance - and they're going to be very unhappy when the penny drops!) Complaints, complaints, complaints!

[Huddersfieldtourist]

Great review Berwyn - thanks - the ship food is a low star on the "other site " I guess.

 

HI,

 

Last time we were in a big marquee building, but this time it is a long 2 storey one and the authorities will only allow 1 coach to unload at a time.

 

The ship is using a different pier to the Island Escape last year and before- on Saturday I will check to see if the Destiny is at the same as pier as last year and likewise the Escape tomorrow ( thurs ) - they both used the same one - it may be something to do with the size of the Dream or that on Tuesday some other ship has that pier each week during part of the day.

 

 

This does cause a problem for the ladies dresses as they will not quite hang fully without the hems resting on the shelf.

 

Not too good but not an issue for me personally ! :)

 

 

The seating is comfortable but looks old fashioned, I don't know where Costa spent the £5 million on the soft furnishings in the refit in 2002.

 

A little disappointing but as long as the ship was comfortable !!

 

 

Also it was noticeable that was a distinct lack of staff, the poor restaurant manager was practically tearing his hair out.

The hot food was cold to warm and this proceeded all week despite complaints to the managers on duty. We tried to be constructive in this to help them and not just be moaning passengers.

The water bath the metal dishes was sitting in was steaming hot, but there were no overhead hot lights to keep anything hot.

But in our opinion and that of others was that the food was coooked, left to stand, then brought out cool and put in the dishes hoping the water bath would heat it up.

We were there some days as soon as they started serving and the food was cold.

 

This is simply not good enough and has been commented on in the other reviews

 

There were other stupid things that were staff's fault, like putting slotted serving spoons to dish out chicken breasts in sauce. You can get the chicken but no sauce for it.

 

The layout is a U shape, with most of the food being served along one leg of the U as you enter so there is a long queue to get to the food, with seating along the windows

 

opposite the counter. The curved part of the U has steating and a small seving area as you go back up the other leg of the restaurant which is mainly occupied by seating.

 

There was no sign of anyone with food thermometers checking food temperatures

 

Needs a radical review to see how it all can be improved.

 

 

 

 

All Inclusive

The A.I list was very poor if you were not a wine drinker. There was a choice of 3 each of White, Red and Rose.

Otherwise it was Heineken lager or John Smith's bitter.

1 cocktail + Cocktail of the day.

And 1 choice each of the spirits.

 

Hot topic !!

 

 

Between the smell and the cold food DW said later she was ready to come straight home.

 

Lots of people we spoke to had been told by their TA's that she was a brand new ship on booking and not just new to Thomson's

OR That she was new to Thomson's but had been fully refurbished and so neither group were not happy bunnies.

 

Of course, everyone complained about the cold food in the buffet restaurants.

 

Plenty of areas to work on with scope for improvement - some of which could be more easily achieved than others .

Thanks again Berwyn - your efforts are much appreciated by all of us I am sure.

 

 

Gareth

[Cymro1953]

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Sorry about forgetting the smileys before :D:D:D. Got a terrible cold and sore throat:eek: from that freezing cold Bank Holiday Monday so not with it today.:)

 

Jan

 

hi berwyn great to have you back hope on the whole you both enjoyed yourselves. We dont go till august 31st so theres time for things to improve, but its thanks to the passengers that give thomson feedback that help to improve the standards and i thank you and your dw for that. where are you going to next? We are thinking of doing the colourful coasts on island escape next feb so i will be pestering you soon for your advice on that. have a good rest before you have to go back to work.

 

Thanks Berwyn. I knew we could rely on you for a balanced and informative review. ;) Hopefully the glitches are just that and can be resolved by Thomson - and that you were still able to enjoy your trip despite them.

 

Thanks for taking time out to give us all a feel for the Dream - I still fancy trying her and you say you'd go again so that's good enough!

 

Just a pity Thomson have scored such an own goal regarding the AI - selling it without informing passengers of the changes. I'm afraid that's going to rebound on them big time! And can't fail to affect the atmosphere on board as people realise what's happened. (We're prepared having read the Forum - but there will be a large number arriving on board in ignorance - and they're going to be very unhappy when the penny drops!) Complaints, complaints, complaints!

 

Thank you all for the positive replies to it.

Sorry about your throat Jan, but No better in Barcelona. Only bad day we had.

 

Infoqueen, we are looking at Red Sea magic next April. If you've been on Dream or another ship though I think you'll be disappointed with the Escape.

DW says she wouldn't go on her again after being on better ships.

 

Kruzseeka, yes a lot of people unhappy at lack of choice. We saw one previous cruiser arguing with the poor barman as he'd had other drinks available on othe Thomson's A.I. cruises.

 

It was only the cold food that spoilt the buffets for us. Also the new staff will need a little time before being up to full speed.

 

Berwyn

[Ceabea]

Lots of people we spoke to had been told by their TA's that she was a brand new ship on booking and not just new to Thomson's

OR That she was new to Thomson's but had been fully refurbished and so neither group were not happy bunnies.

 

 

I meant to comment on this - at the time of booking our cruise in Feb (we were changing from a booking we had on Island escape that I had decided I really didnt want to do) we were told the same thing - 'The Dream is a brand new ship' so I corrected her and explained it was currently the Costa Europa and was quite a few years old - to which she replied 'it will have had a full refit' - again I said I doubt it when there's only about a month for the changeover and said I thought it was getting its 'refit' later in the year after the summer season was finished, before going to the Caribbean. She also told me it was the same size as Destiny - and again I had to correct her and say no - its a quite a bit bigger in tonnage - but it carries only a few more passengers in total as the cabins are bigger and the public areas are bigger and theres more of them than on Destiny.....

 

Needless to say my TA was not too happy with me correcting her pitch - but I was there booking a cruise I knew I wanted and knew all about and really she shouldnt have been telling me things I knew were wrong - all what I knew I been told by the Future Cruises rep on board Destiny last October - and had seen it confirmed here on the forum by many others - why can Thomsons not get this info out to the TA's to stop them misinforming people and it leading to disappointments like this?

 

oh and it was perfect timing - we booked the day the ship hit the pier in Sharm LOL

[Cymro1953]

why can Thomsons not get this info out to the TA's to stop them misinforming people and it leading to disappointments like this?

 

oh and it was perfect timing - we booked the day the ship hit the pier in Sharm LOL

 

This is one of the points I am going to raise with Thomson's when I email them.

 

 

Berwyn

[carrieon]

We were on the Dreams 1st cruise on 22nd April. It was a shambles from start to finish. Problems getting on and off the ship,queues,sewage smells, plastic plates and beakers,lukewarm food, leaking ceilings. wet smelly carpets,restaurants closed,tatty bathroom,noticable staff shortage.

 

AI what a joke, total waste of money!

 

This was our first (and last!) cruise. We were promised 5 star luxury on Thomsons brand new flag ship and something really special as it was the maiden voyage and would be really memorable. Oh yes we'll remember it but for all the wrong reasons!

[eightofninekev]

hey Berwyn

 

did you notice the art work on the tables in the Andromeda restaurant?

[Cymro1953]

hey Berwyn

 

did you notice the art work on the tables in the Andromeda restaurant?

 

Yes, nice and in Sirens too.

 

Berwyn

[midlandcruiser]

Hi Berwyn, hope you and your wife enjoyed the cruise overall.

 

You did say your wife was ready to come straight home, had she changed her mind by the end of the week, or was she disappointed by the end of it all.

[Cymro1953]

Hi Berwyn, hope you and your wife enjoyed the cruise overall.

 

You did say your wife was ready to come straight home, had she changed her mind by the end of the week, or was she disappointed by the end of it all.

 

Hi,

By the end of the day and we'd had a hot meal in the Orion Restaurant,she'd settled down.

As far as the cruise goes we'd enjoyed it, it was just the scrum with the food with 2 lots of passengers still on board and also cool /cold food in the buffet restaurants.

 

Berwyn

[Huddersfieldtourist]

Hi,

By the end of the day and we'd had a hot meal in the Orion Restaurant,she'd settled down.

As far as the cruise goes we'd enjoyed it, it was just the scrum with the food with 2 lots of passengers still on board and also cool /cold food in the buffet restaurants.

 

Berwyn

 

 

Berwyn

 

Was the queue in the Andromeda very small for the rest of the cruise ? How long would you typically stand in it ? Tables easy to get ? Were there mugs at the outside drinks tea/coffee station please ? Thanks

 

Looking forward to part 2 when you get the chance - appreciate you have more to do than just type answers !! :)

 

Gareth

[Cymro1953]

Berwyn

 

Was the queue in the Andromeda very small for the rest of the cruise ? How long would you typically stand in it ? Tables easy to get ? Were there mugs at the outside drinks tea/coffee station please ? Thanks

 

Looking forward to part 2 when you get the chance - appreciate you have more to do than just type answers !! :)

 

Gareth

 

Yes Gareth, I've got a ruddy great 7 page Police Witness report to fill in from the car accident before we went. Really looking forward to doing that.:p

Not in queue long, and there was a gap in the middle so if you wanted cold you could do the 1st half or pop in halfway and get the cooked stuff.

 

Proper cups and saucers inside, but outside plastic mugs, but were not melamine. Also outside the coffee and hot water were in huge thermos boxes that needed refilling. Both on deck 9 and 11.

You'll get pics soon have uploaded some already to photobucket.

Plenty of tables as long as didn't mind sharing when busy. But they are big tables many would up to 8 ppl.

 

Berwyn

[davecttr]

Thanks for the review Berwyn, it settles my mind somewhat for my cruise in July when hopefully the problems will have been sorted.

 

The Andromeda restaurant looks to be the main problem because I suspect it is just not big enough in the first place. Luckily for me I am a very early riser which helps with the crowds and actually like salads so food temperature is not so important.

 

How did the lifeboat drill go? Did the crew know what they were doing?

 

Did the tendering go OK?

 

How about laundry services, was there a offer of a bag of laundry at a discount price or will I be forced to do my own shirts.

 

Did you visit the casino? I know it won't be there long as Thomsons want to turn it into even more cabins (bean counters again)

[Huddersfieldtourist]

 

 

Did you visit the casino? I know it won't be there long as Thomsons want to turn it into even more cabins (bean counters again)

 

 

Well that's an interesting theory or bit of news I have not heard before !!:)

[Cymro1953]

Thanks for the review Berwyn, it settles my mind somewhat for my cruise in July when hopefully the problems will have been sorted.

 

The Andromeda restaurant looks to be the main problem because I suspect it is just not big enough in the first place. Luckily for me I am a very early riser which helps with the crowds and actually like salads so food temperature is not so important.

 

How did the lifeboat drill go? Did the crew know what they were doing?

 

Did the tendering go OK?

 

How about laundry services, was there a offer of a bag of laundry at a discount price or will I be forced to do my own shirts.

 

Did you visit the casino? I know it won't be there long as Thomsons want to turn it into even more cabins (bean counters again)

 

Hi Dave,

Lifeboat drill went OK, we did it late afternoon before on day1.

 

Didn't use laundry, we weren't on long enough, but there was no laundry bag in cabin or sheet of paper with pricelist.

 

Tendering, I forgot that. All the excursions went off 1st, in order.

Then non excursion passengers.

They were using both ship's boats and local ones from Villefranche.

IT was funny, we got on lifeboat and the engine broke down. :eek:

Good job it wasn't an emergency.

We just got out, walked through the ship and on one the other side.

Coming back we just waited a few minutes for boat to fill up.

 

Casino.

Didn't use it, but as we like the Delo Bar next door, had a look regularly.

It was very quiet, most people playing roulette. Apart from Poker Tournament night card tables seemed quiet. I think slot machines got more use.

 

Berwyn

[davecttr]

Well that's an interesting theory or bit of news I have not heard before !!:)

 

Now exactly where did I read that?

 

Apparently the cruise MD reckoned it was too large for a Thomsons ship and the space could be more profitably used for perhaps more cabins.

 

That large room on deck 8 between the argo lounge and the card room was a chapel. I suspect Thomsons have no need for such a thing and the kids zone could be moved there. There is also a video area for teenagers next to the disco. Both these spaces could be used for a relocated casino.

[davecttr]

Another quick question, did you spot where the medical centre was? I seem to gravitate there eventually :(

[Jim The Scot]

Hi Berwyn

 

Welcome home,sounds like you had a goodish time

 

Were also in an outside cabin on level 6 and you mentioned having a bath in the cabin as well as a shower,i thought it was only the outside puses that had both?

 

7 weeks before we go so hopefully some of the problems you encountered are rectified by then

 

Ps,where in my cabin did you hide the bottle of scotch for my arrival?:D