NCL Dream flips her top!

[whatawonderfulworld]

I remember hearing about this during the Cruise Rewards presentation during our cruise.

 

Have any of you out there every witnessed this during a voyage?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eo8hvcfCRA

 

Nice little video. I wonder how long ago this was shot. Around 5:53 there's a little hockey game...keep going there's more ship footage to come. This video also reminds me that it's not just the crew we see that adds to our enjoyment...it's all those folks we DON'T see who get us there safely. God bless them one and all!

 

Ciao all,

 

W A W W

[CaliforniaDreamer]

that was really cool!

[MalkyM]

W A W W

 

Thanks for the link to this Dream video. It brought back some very pleasant memories.

 

We sailed on her in August of this year and witnessed the exact same "lid flipping". It was definately a camera moment. It took something like 8 hours to transit the full length of the Kiel Canal and the stack remained in that position right until the end.

 

Statistics - If my memory serves me right, the CD on our trip said the bit that actually "flips" weighs 31 tons and cost $1.3m to install.

 

We had a good trip. It sure is a Wonderful World :)

 

PS - Also liked your link to the S.T.Y.L.E. clip. The Engine Room staff retain their sense of humour despite the heavy load that is placed on them. Trouble is, I have now seen so many links to NCL clips on YouTube that I will probably spend the rest of my life looking at them ;)

 

M

[whatawonderfulworld]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Dream flipping her lid. And I too ended up watching those other NCL You Tube videos. Had a late night cup of tea and couldn't sleep last night. So the time was put to good use.

 

Have your cruised much on NCL? We took our frist trip on the Dawn last month. We really enjoyed ourselves...so much so that we're already booked for next September.

 

Again, thanks for your kind words.

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[MalkyM]

W A W W

 

Our Dream cruise was our third time on NCL. We first cruised with Celebrity and whilst it was a first class experience, we found the dining routine very restrictive. This actually put us off cruising for a few years.

 

I think we ended up on NCL by default - everything we tried to book was either full or way too expensive - but when we read about and then experienced Freestyle we were hooked :)

 

First trip was on the Dawn (Carribean) then the Jewel to Canada and New England. We are actually booked again on the Dream for a repo cruise from Valaparaiso to LA in April 2008. Unfortunately, 2007 doesn't look like being a "cruising" year :(

 

Glad that you have also had a good experience with NCL - have you sailed with any other line?

[whatawonderfulworld]

My cruising history is extremely short. I went on a Cruise to Nowhere on Carnival Legend in October 2005. It was a two nighter out of Manhattan...this was my test cruise. I loved it. Went with my sister in law who is a very experienced cruiser. There is something about seeing the Statue of Liberty that just tugs at my heart. I love NY dearly and to see this beautiful city from the water is a priceless gift.

 

I convinced my DH to finally go on a short cruise which we did, this past October. I specifically chose his first cruise to be as simple as possible. We went on the Dawn from NY to Florida and the Bahamas. No plane, just a train ride into the city followed by a taxi to the pier. (If you have some time, I posted a review of our cruise under Member Reviews.) We loved it...the crew, the ship and yes, even the food. Geesh...if you read some of the reviews on the general NCL message board, you would think that we were all served cold porridge! I digress...

 

While we did get dressed up one night, my DH loved the fact that he didn't have to wear a jacket and tie all the other nights. Resort casual fits him like a "T." We loved the cruise on the Dawn so much that I think we are now officially cruise addicts. As a result, we're already booked for the Pearl next September.

 

This will be a dream trip for me as we will transit the Panama Canal. From Los Angeles to Miami. You know when you're a child and you dream of exotic places you want to visit? Well the Canal is one of those places...and I am so very grateful to have the opportunity to finally fulfill one of those childhood dreams.

 

Your repo cruise for 2008 sounds very interesting. What are the ports of call? When we attended the "future cruise" presentation on the Dawn, the presenter said to us "if you like Alaska, you will love South America. Some say that South America is Alaska on steroids!" (We will have one short stop in Columbia too...in Cartegena).

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[MalkyM]

W A W W

 

Yep, I agree. You are now an official cruise addict ;)

 

We also loved sailing out of NY (on both the Dawn and Jewel) and spending a few days in the city beforehand was just icing on the cake. Passing the Statue of Liberty was breathtaking but sailing under the Verrazzano Bridge was spectacular. Maybe I should sign up to YouTube and post my video of the Jewel doing just that. If I recall correctly, there were 2 or 3 crew members squatting down just in front of the ship's radio mast as she passed under. Was this "just in case" she scraped the bottom of the bridge :rolleyes: Who knows!

 

I also echo your opinions on the food. We have never had a "bad" meal on board any of the NCL ships and felt that on our Dream cruise, the food in the main restaurants, was the best so far. Let the others have the cold porridge :eek:

 

Our cruise in 2008 is for 18 days and after leaving Valaparaiso we have another 3 ports in Chile, 2 in Peru, Puntarenas in Costa Rica (which might be interesting as my friend who was best man (or do you call them groomsman??) at our wedding is now living in CR.). Then Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico and finally LA. We booked on board the Dream (I hadn't heard the suggestion of Alaska on steroids - but I like it!) and whilst the cruise was a good bargain the flights and additional accommodations etc from the UK are pretty hefty. Still have plenty time left before making a final decision.

 

Although no cruising next year, we are off to Florida in March (our 12th time in FL) - can you guess that we enjoy visiting the US???

[whatawonderfulworld]

Hi again MalkyM. If the friend you are visIting stood up for you in your wedding (as in HEAD USHER), we would call him the best man. The other gentlemen would be called the ushers.

 

Your cruise sounds delightful. We will be going to a few of the same ports of call. We leave out of LA, next to Cabo San Lucas, on to Puerta Vallarta, then Acapulco, a few days at sea (I love those...total relaxation!), we transit the canal, then Cartegena, Columbia, on to Puerto Limon CR, then Key West, then end up in Miami! Although we will only be in Columbia for one day, I am very excited to be going there. My DH traveled alot before he retired; but he never got to SA. It was never one of those "I have to get there" spots for me either. But now I am excited.

 

Costa Rica has been getting so much attention from travelers of late. I was just looking at the Shore Excursions on the new NCL site we have her in the US. There quite a few that look very interesting...I'm leaning towards the canal trip (do you see a pattern with this trip?). We shall see.

 

Regarding the flights and hotels, did you see what the pricing (especially the airfare) would be if you booked it through NCL? We, like you, will have to take an open jaw trip...arriving at one place and leaving from another (I think it's called open jaw). We fly into LA and home from Miami. They charged us a very fair price (~$444 each). I had figured on $500 so I'm pleased with the price. Of course, they pick the airline but that's OK. We're flying in on the same day from NY...we have some protection afforded to us if the plane is delayed in getting to LA. But I'm thinking positive...that there will be no snafu's!

 

Florida in the winter is terrific. During the summer it gets a little too humid, not to mention HOT, for me. Generally here in NY we got a few horrific days of heat and humidity during the summer. It eventually breaks...but Florida is that way for the whole summer. The Winter it's another story altogether. A great time to visit.

 

I was so happy to hear that you enjoyed your time in NY too. I love the city...I travel into work everyday and never tire of it. It is truly a microcosm of the entire world. And we're coming up on the holiday season...the lights, the decorations...it's all wonderful. I hope you have any opportunity to return...the skyline is always changing...new buildings going up all the time. Did you know that they are using the piers in Red Hook Brooklyn for cruise emabarkation now as well? Cunard has moved over there and one other line. They are remodeling the ones on the West side where NCL and the rest come into port. The Intrepid museum is undergoing a remodel...they had a big sail away celebration a week or so ago...she was scheduled to be moved to New Jersey for her refurbishment...but the ship is stuck in the mud and wouldn't budge. The military has now gotten involved and they're trying to come up with a solution to get the old girl out of the muck and over to Jersey so she can be made even more beautiful than she is today.

 

Ciao for now,

W A W W

[MalkyM]

W A W W

 

Here is a link to another short video on board the Dream. From the dates shown, this would have been 2 cruises after the one we were on. A good view of the White Cliffs of Dover and, believe me, the weather was much better than that which we experienced on our sailaway from Dover :eek: We had rough seas and rocking and rolling all the way across the North Sea to Germany. Other than this first day, we had marvellous weather for the rest of the cruise. Enjoy.

 

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-900755848322530068&q=Norwegian+Dream

 

NCL seem to have come up with a good price for the travel part of your next cruise. NCL (UK) are qouting us an additional $2400 each for the air fare + 2 nights in both Santiago and LA. OK, this includes a long overnight flight via Madrid and transfers (Santiago to Valaparaiso is around 100 miles) but it will still need thinking about. Later tonight, there is a huge European Lottery draw with a rollover jackpot of over $200 million, so I will just go out, buy some tickets, win the jackpot and hey presto - confirm our booking right away ;)

 

Mind you, $200m could probably buy the Dream!

[whatawonderfulworld]

Well I'm going to follow suit, go out and buy one of our lottery tickets, say that magic word and VOILA, will then book cruises to keep me on a ship for the next six months. Wouldn't that be the best?

 

Thanks so much for the video. I was not aware that Google was hosting videos too. I know they now own YouTube, but I guess they're going to keep that separate from the general Google items.

 

One day DH and I will have to sail out of Dover...it looks absolutely beautiful.

 

In the UK, is NCL assigning you a personal cruise consultant? Here, since we booked directly through NCL and bypassed using a travel agent, we have been assigned one person to speak with regarding our cruise. I can either call him directly or communicate via email. Thus far it's working out quite nicely.

 

I'm off to search Google's video site now...have a good one.

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[MalkyM]

W A W W

 

Didn't win the big one! In fact, didn't win anything at all :( Better luck next time, eh?

 

I think there are something like 12 different European countries involved in this lottery and, as it had rolled over 11 times, :eek: a payout was guaranteed. No one won the jackpot but they split everything between the next best winners. As a result, 20 people (7 from the UK) each won $10.8m. Now that would keep us cruising for a LOT longer than 6 months!!!

 

Interesting to learn about your personal cruise consultant. We booked our next cruise whilst on board the Dream and NCL (UK) have all the details. I guess that the UK office has not yet taken the "personal consultant" step as I was transferred to someone on their "Specialist Sales Team" when I priced the "add ons". I think the direct line and e-mail is a great idea - as, after all, NCL are getting a lot of cash from us.

 

I serached out some video of the Dawn and Jewel on Google. A couple of the Dawn ones looked a professional production so didn't post it. I'm sure you will have a good look at them all. Most are just "fun" stuff.

 

We had our first snow over the weekend - how about NY??

[whatawonderfulworld]

Hi again Malky. Last week we had balmy spring-like weather...and then all of the sudden it's gotten cold as the dickens here in NY. No snow...yet!

 

Have you heard that the Dawn had to go into Norfolk Virginia - some type of mechanical problem and there is a terrible storm coming up the coast. Go over to the regular NCL board and there is much discussion. The planned itinerary was Port Canaveral, Freeport, private island, Nassau and then back to NY. Latest news is that they will be leaving Norfolk tomorrow and coming back to NY.

 

I can't wait for the newS reporters to give their "take" on this...and oh how I hope that the people they do interview, passengers who are undoubtedly disappointed, will be civil. I hate it when they show people acting rude and obnoxious from the metropolitan NY area...people start to think we're all like that...and believe me we aren't!

 

Well...time for me to go. Big holiday tomorrow, Thanksgiving. Be well and speak with you soon!

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W