Dream and BUTCH.....Review

[onewaycruisen]

Lots of pros and cons with the sailing of the Dream. First Butch.....Cant understand the guy since he talks a million miles an hour. Not one of the 16 people I cruised with liked him. Sure hes out going but it was just awful! The entertainment....what a joke. I think there was 2 pool games the entire trip and the fun crew was not around and couldn't tell you who was part of it. Ship was amazing but previous cruise were a lot better. will post more about my thoughts soon!

[AndrewD65]

Yeah he was on the Liberty with us back in January of last year.

[tinaky1114]

Lots of pros and cons with the sailing of the Dream. First Butch.....Cant understand the guy since he talks a million miles an hour. Not one of the 16 people I cruised with liked him. Sure hes out going but it was just awful! The entertainment....what a joke. I think there was 2 pool games the entire trip and the fun crew was not around and couldn't tell you who was part of it. Ship was amazing but previous cruise were a lot better. will post more about my thoughts soon!

 

 

I can't wait to compare our two reviews. I am too tired to start now. I also loved the ship. I traveled solo and met great people: fellow cruisers and staff. I didn't really go to many of the activities where Butch was present so he didn't bother me and I don't have a real opinion either way. I did hear mixed reviews - people either really liked him or really disliked him. I certainly didn't like him waking me up over the loudspeaker this morning to tell me to go home. :)

 

I will be posting my thoughts soon after I get some sleep.

[Disconnections]

Butch is my favorite cruise director so far. I've had him twice and hopefully having him again soon, especially after having Jen Baxter this past week. Never again.

[DarthGrady]

I'd like to hear more. We keep talking about doing a cruise on Dream.

 

I didn't care much for Butch when we had him on Liberty. Hate is too strong, but I did find him annoying and his comedy stale.

 

My favorite Carnival CD thus far had been Wee Jimmy. I would have to give the overall favorite honor to RCI's Graham Seymour. Apparently I just like British humor. ;)

[Nanatochase]

Liked Butch....LOVED Graham...

[CWcruisers]

Butch is my favorite cruise director so far. I've had him twice and hopefully having him again soon, especially after having Jen Baxter this past week. Never again.

 

 

Really, if you haven't had the Jen Baxter experience, you don't know bad CD's.:mad::(:mad:

[LittleMissMagic]

I liked Butch a lot. He's my favorite recent cruise director. (Alltime favorite was this lovely British lady whose name I can't recall.... she was young and blonde and was CD on RCI's Mariner of the Seas back in 2006.... quite precious)

 

I liked his dance moves. I thought the Morning Show was a little ridiculously boring, though. I was on the cruise right before you, OP, and they let this little kid call in everyday (we had three sea days so three morning shows) and get 15-20 minutes of airtime just reading the Fun Times aloud over the phone. I couldn't watch that. And Baby Butch dressed ridiculously at times. But I thought they were fun and entertaining, just like cruise directors should be. Butch talked like Sarah Palin, though. "Ya betcha!"

[tiggerman101]

I'd like to hear more. We keep talking about doing a cruise on Dream.

 

I didn't care much for Butch when we had him on Liberty. Hate is too strong, but I did find him annoying and his comedy stale.

 

My favorite Carnival CD thus far had been Wee Jimmy. I would have to give the overall favorite honor to RCI's Graham Seymour. Apparently I just like British humor. ;)

 

Totally off topic.....I see you are on the Century soon. I would be very interested in your review if you do one. I have almost booked that ship a number of times for a short cruise, but just haven't pulled the trigger.

 

Now back to our regularly schduled topic of "Butch, love em or hate em"

[DarthGrady]

Totally off topic.....I see you are on the Century soon. I would be very interested in your review if you do one. I have almost booked that ship a number of times for a short cruise, but just haven't pulled the trigger.

 

Now back to our regularly schduled topic of "Butch, love em or hate em"

 

I will definitely be doing one. I always like to do a pictorial on a new ship. Keep an eye on the Celebrity boards in a couple of weeks.

[pe4all]

I have nothing bad to say about Butch. (except the "ya" got a bit old after a while) He seemed very outgoing and full of energy. We always saw him out and about on the ship- he always had a group around him talking to him, taking pictures with him, etc. I didn't care too much for "Baby Butch" - he was also pleasant, but I think he needs to find his own persona, especially if he ever wants to move up from ACD to CD. I don't sail ships for the CD, so a good or bad one really doesn't make or break my cruise- in fact, the less intrusive, the better for me. You MUST catch Butch's dance classes - they are wild, both to watch and do. He can really move. (was he a dancer in his "previous" life?) And I have to agree about Jenn Baxter.:( As far as the Fun Crew - there were tons of activities/games offered all day on our cruise. I saw them all the time. Even port days had a lot of stuff going on if you decided to stay on the ship. Maybe they were "worn out" from our 9 day cruise, and NYE celebrations?:p:D

[floatingaway2525]

Butch is my favorite cruise director so far. I've had him twice and hopefully having him again soon, especially after having Jen Baxter this past week. Never again.

 

Couldn't agree more about Butch! He is right up there with my favorites!! Josh is my all time favorite so far!!

And I love your screen name Dis, exacly why I love CCL cruising!!!:D;)

[deborahjo]

Had Butch on the Dream last April. Once I got past his hair I realized he is not to my liking.

[cdiver]

I have nothing bad to say about Butch. (except the "ya" got a bit old after a while) He seemed very outgoing and full of energy. We always saw him out and about on the ship- he always had a group around him talking to him, taking pictures with him, etc. I didn't care too much for "Baby Butch" - he was also pleasant, but I think he needs to find his own persona, especially if he ever wants to move up from ACD to CD. I don't sail ships for the CD, so a good or bad one really doesn't make or break my cruise- in fact, the less intrusive, the better for me. You MUST catch Butch's dance classes - they are wild, both to watch and do. He can really move. (was he a dancer in his "previous" life?) And I have to agree about Jenn Baxter.:( As far as the Fun Crew - there were tons of activities/games offered all day on our cruise. I saw them all the time. Even port days had a lot of stuff going on if you decided to stay on the ship. Maybe they were "worn out" from our 9 day cruise, and NYE celebrations?:p:D

 

I cannot agree more with your statement

 

"I don't sail ships for the CD, so a good or bad one really doesn't make or break my cruise- in fact, the less intrusive, the better for me."

[cmecruise1962]

And I LOVED his dance class...we did Dancing Queen (and I am a horrible dancer!! Two left feet!!) :o

[dprg644]

I'd like to hear more. We keep talking about doing a cruise on Dream.

 

I didn't care much for Butch when we had him on Liberty. Hate is too strong, but I did find him annoying and his comedy stale.

 

My favorite Carnival CD thus far had been Wee Jimmy. I would have to give the overall favorite honor to RCI's Graham Seymour. Apparently I just like British humor. ;)

 

We went on the Dream and loved the cruise and ship. A few cons was the lines but was not that big of a deal for us (see our review for more info). I also agree on your assesment on cruise directors above...loved Wee Jimmy...Butch not so much.

[soozles]

I loved Butch, I had him twice on the Liberty and he'll be on our upcoming Dream cruise too. I swear, I'm not stalking him, it's just the way it worked out. I don't check who is the CD until after I book anyway because I don't care that much, so it's just kinda funny. I don't mind though, I really liked him, he was full of energy, and you can tell he loves his job. He almost reminds me of someone from Weezer.

[mississauga]

Another Butch fan here. IMHO, he is a fine young man, very personable and enjoys his job.

 

It's not only important that the passengers enjoy the CD but just as important that his staff respect and think highly of him. On our 2009 Liberty cruise, his social hostesses loved him as their "boss", 6 weeks later while on the Dream, I just happened to mention being recently on the Liberty and 2 of the social hostesses again enthused about working with and for him. This past Nov/Dec. cruise on the Dream, 2 other social host and hostess told me that they could not wait until he returned to the Dream ( this cruise was Butch's first week back after a 6 week vacation ). I agree that Baby Butch needs to develop his own persona but the fact that he enjoys being called Baby Butch saids it all. The fact that his staff enjoy working with and for him is a very important aspect of a great CD.:D:D:D

[dodger501]

He was great, we liked him a lot. The ya, yoobetcha is Minnesota Scandinavian schtick, where he is from. Disclaimer: So am I.

I don't know where Sarah Palin got it from . . .

[onewaycruisen]

Chris Jefferson has been my favorite so far. Butch just got to me and I couldnt understand his fast talking. Every word was one syllable! I thought they could have had a better fun team. The Valor that I went on 3 years ago was amazing. Think the guy was Matt (Skinny British black guy) who was just up beat and a lot of fun. Maybe I set my expectation to high but the Dream Fun team was non existent. I like the pool games and to have fun joining in getting people to laugh. I dont sail for the CD but I think after this cruise it could play a part in a future cruise, not huge but it does have an affect. The schedule day to day really made my gf and I decide between 2-3 fun activities when I thought they could have split up the trivias and other things a little more since there were times that were left blank. Just my opinion but everything was great. Played a lot of trivia!!

 

Now my thoughts on the ship. AWESOME! Loved the layout and decorations. The comedy club was a huge hit and was there every R-rated show. Food was amazing and never had anything old or bad. The BBQ was awesome along with the burritos. Dinners were excellent!

 

Shows: Out of the 3 dance shows 1 was great. The Dancing in the streets was very well done. Loved the additions of break dancers and the strength guys hanging sideways on the polls. The effects were awesome! The other 2 shows......Terrible! Country show wasnt even country music, although the fiddler was AMAZING!! The magic show was awesome just because the guy was a riot. Not great magic but still a must see. Juggler was pretty sweet with how he brought the audience into the show.

 

Water slides: A+++++ Best a sea!

 

Crowed: I thought for the amount of people on the ship it wasnt crowed at all. Lines moved just like the smaller ships and the food was great. There was always some where to sit. Breakfast lines were a mess! Took forever in the buffets to move along. People just took forever deciding between melon or pancakes.....JUST PICK!! That would be the only complaint about lines...oh and the towel and sports equipment lines to "rent" would get really long at times.

 

Crew: Room stewards were awesome! We had our shower drain clogged twice for some reason and they came to fix it within 10 mins. Waiters on Lido and Encore Theater....When you wanted a drink you couldnt find one but when you didnt want one you couldnt get them away! For the most part they were friendly but had better on other cruises with the entertainment they brought while they served you. Jokes or dance moves. Now in the dinning room the staff was not the best. Our waiter would take forever if you asked for something extra..ranch dressing, Chocolate milk, you know that stuff. The water and bread girl we had, give her a promotion. She was like a ninja that would show up right away when you took the last sip of your iced tea....BOOOM filled back up just like that. With the sodas and bar service, there was 1 yes ONE guy to serve the entire upper floor of the dinning room. Wanted wine for dinner, better bring your own or your having it as a dessert drink. Thought they were understaffed for dinner. And with the 9 million waiters on the lido you would think they would put at least 3 more of them in the dinning room. We had the late dinner so no one was at the pool anyways.

 

Room: Seemed smaller than normal but was a cabin and no complaints. My parents had a balcony on the spa deck. It was room 12-216 right near the door to lido. They enjoyed there trip and arent ones to complain about noise and people but they did say they would never book that room again. To close to the lido and entrance to the slides. They said to book it as close to the front of the ship as possible if on the spa deck. My grandma was on deck 7 balcony, said it was loud at times.

 

 

More later

[leedm]

We were on the Dream Dec 2010, and liked Butch. As a CD his job is high energy and trying to get everyone involved. Sometimes he is a little" over the top", but that's a CD job. We have been on 16 Carnival cruises and I have seen some CD duds. Butch is one of the betterCDs,,,, IMO. :)

 

leedm