ncl dream?!?

[Txcruisers04]

Hi i was wondering how the NCL Dream is??I have never cruised on ncl before but my mother in law has on the ncl sky which is now the pride of aloha!!But the Dream is taking the Sea's place in Houston..and we have been thinking about cruising on the sea but the time we are wanting to plain a cruise on the sea it will not be there it will be the dream insted!So can you help me??THANKS!!

(the only thing i know about the ships is that the sea is alot smaller than the dream!)

 

(i have only cruised carnival!!)

 

Thanks again!

[RandomUsername723]

I can't tell you more about the ships that would be of any help, not having been on Norwegian Dream- but I can tell you that NCL has some fantastic entertainment and Freestyle Dining should work out great if Norwegian Dream is one of those ships with enough "free" dining choices. You should have an excellent time.

[Txcruisers04]

Ok..thanks!

[jander]

Sailed on the Dream in March. The cabins on the dream are much more spacious than the Sea. Have sailed on the Sea also, and I really don't know how to compare the two. Liked certain things on the Sea better than the Dream, but that is just my opinion, but I don't know why.

[Iowagal]

We've been on the Dream and the Sun. The Dream was our first cruise and we thought it was wonderful. Even though it's an older ship it was very well maintained. It doesn't have the glitz of the newer ships with a multi-story atrium, etc. We thought the service, the food and the entertainment were all very good. The Sun is a fantastic ship but we would take the Dream again if the itinerary were right. We had cabins with a balcony on both ships and they were both very nice with plenty of room and storage.

[Host CMLA]

My biggest and probably only real complaint about the Dream (sailed the Dream 4 times) was that it's not set up for Freestyle. It wasn't built for it. There are two main dining rooms, the Le Bistro, La Trattoria and the small buffet in the sports bar. If you go to dinner at peak times in the main dining rooms, you may have to wait. But everything else about the ship is fine. As others have said, it's not fancy but the rooms seem pretty big and the ship isn't so big that you'll be lost all the time.

[sportsterjohn]

I have been on both the Dream and the Sea in the past 18 months. The Dream beats the Sea hands down in every way (imho). If you are doing the Coz, Belize, Roatan, Cancun route, you should have a fantastic cruise!

[mswolffan]

I'm glad to hear you say that, sportsterjohn, because we're booked on the Dream for January 05 -- and needless to say, you hear all kinds of negative reports about this ship or that ship, so an relieved to know you enjoyed the Dream. The itinitary is what sold us on the Dream and since our first cruise to Cozumel got us into port at dusk and we didn't get to do anything, it will be like a new port for us. Belize and Roatan sounded different than Jamacia and Grand Caymans.

[chip brady]

We just returned about 2 months ago from sailing the Dream in ther Baltics. We were on board for 12 days. The is was our 5th cruise and it was the best ever. The crew is fabulous and we have never been served so well in the dining room.

It is old, but spotless clean. I found 2 problems, but not enough to spoil our cruise. When they stretched the ship, it left some problems. For instance, if your cabin is in the front half of the ship, you must walk through the Four Seasons resturant to get to the rest of the ship. You can go through the Show lounge, however it is often closed for rehearsals. Because of this we chose to eat in the Terraces dining room. There was

no room left for a card room or library.

The entertainment is the best on the seas!!

 

Have a great cruise. Chip Brady

[2inTul]

There is a library on the Dream. It is tucked in behind the internet cafe. It is small but well stocked.

[Druke I]

Chip is right about the poor traffic flow/deck plan on the Dream. Very annoying to have so much foot traffic in the dining room - we gave up on it and used the Terraces Dining Room, a much nicer venue.

 

Library is well hidden, but it is there.

 

The Dream also has a totally inadequate (my opinion) Lido eating area - tiny compared to most ships, and the Sports Bar only seats a couple dozen people!

 

We had been on her sister Windward, now Norwegian Wind, before the stretch, and thought it a much nicer ship than the stretched version.

 

That said, we are sorry that NCL is not going to have the Dream in Europe in 2005 - we had hoped to take her into the Baltic via the Kiel Canal. Guess we will have to upgrade to HAL's Prinsendam.

[CruiseDoug]

I'm on the DREAM January 9 with a group of 60 (and a smaller group sails without me on Jan. 2) I'm really looking forward to it. She's one of the last remaining ships that still feels like a ship instead of a hotel. The sea is actually still part of the experience!!! Anyone else sailing on the 1/9 sailing?

 

I'm happy to see that the bashing has subsided. Mostly I think there are no bad cruises, just bad cruise matches...wrong passengers on the wrong ships.

 

The DREAM'S odd floor plan after the stretch sounds like the floor plans of the really old ships I used to sail and loved so much. This deck plan issue is discussed so much, but really only affects a relatively small number of cabins on two decks. If it were me, I'd go down a deck or two and have the full run of the ship without going through the restaurant or lounge. It's a small inconvenience to me.

 

Having been on 40-plus cruises I know it's better to just roll with minor inconveniences on any vessel, new, old or middle-aged like me! Crabbing just gets in the way of fun.

[Host CMLA]

When they stretched the ship, it left some problems. For instance, if your cabin is in the front half of the ship, you must walk through the Four Seasons resturant to get to the rest of the ship.

If your room is forward of the dining room on deck 9, you can either walk through the dining room or go up to 10 and back down to 9 after the dining room if you'd rather not walk through. The dining room only affects deck 9 so if your room is on any of the other decks, you don't have this issue. The bigger problem for me was rooms forward of the Stardust on Deck 10. If your room is forward of the Stardust, you may have to go down to deck 9 using the stairs at the casino and then go back up to deck 10 after you've gone under the whole show lounge. The lounge is closed randomly for practices, etc. At least with walking through the Four Seasons you have that option. When they close the Stardust, you have no choice but to find another route.

[SHINEMAN]

Cecelia is correct. The stretch did foul up the dining. But in my opinion not just because of the physical dislocation, but more so from the fact that the added passengers allowed by the stretch, strains the dining facilities, hence, the common experience of waiting on line to gain entrance.

[ColoradoJuli]

I am headed on the Dream on January 9th. We have a group of 10 and all of us are staying in category EE.

[luv2cruise123]

If you can sail last minute, there are some fantastic prices on the DREAM just out for the October 10 sailing and slightly higher rates (but still great!) for the Oct. 17 sailing. The really great part is for 3rd and 4th persons there is NO CRUISE FARE being charged - port and taxes only at about$195 pp! Sure wish I could go!

[Jim B]

We were on the Dream 02/22/04 out of NOLA. (When they had the big accident on the Mississippi River).

Decided to book the low priced, but outside cabin.

Very pleased with that.

Entertainment very good.

Food just ok.

Ship was somewhat difficult to get around going from front to back.

Our biggest complaint was the lines and lack of the resturants not being open during the afternoon.

Example: We went on a tour around 9 am. Was about 4.5 hour tour. Back to the ship and we were starving. Nothing open except the place by the pool and that had a line over a block long and it was very limited. True we could have ordered room service, but then we would have had to wait for it to arrive. This happened more than once. Lots of people unhappy about this.

We usually went to dinner around 7:30 / 8:00 and never had to wait. People did say that if you tried to go around 6 /6:30 there were long lines.

[ZLAretired98]

You're right, those are some great prices. That also answers the question where the Dream will be after it completes it's Atlantic crossing on 10/7 and before it started it's Western Caribbean trips on 10/24.... They've added two more Caribbean cruises for 10/10 and 10/17 out of New Orleans!

 

We're booked on the 10/24 cruise (which until today was the Dream's first fall cruise date from NO to the Caribbean) and could never figure out why there was a two-week hole in their cruise schedule. We thought perhaps it was going to be some downtime to repair the engine problem they had earlier this year.

 

For those who can travel on short notice, luv2cruise8137 is absolutely correct... they have some fantastic prices for those last minute cruise dates.

[CatherineNOLA]

I thought that the Dream would be in dry dock after it returned from Europe.

 

I would love to go, and can go, but can't find anyone to sail with me.

[luv2cruise123]

If you live in NO, you just have to take advantage of that great deal! You wouldn't be TOO bad off even booking that iniside for yourself at $800!

[ColoradoJuli]

I guess I did really good for my vacation on 1/9 I paid $647pp for a cat EE. That is cheaper than these 'awesome' deals that they are offering. I think I am a good shopper.:) (yeah me)

[krosmon]

I took the NCL Wind to Alaska in June, 2003, and the Dream from Boston to Quebec in October, 2003 - identical ships. They aren't fancy but they are sturdy and reliable, and their staffs were great.

 

I found that if you find a waiter you really like, you can ask for him every time you go to the dining room and if they can, they will seat you in his section. I personally love the freestyle dining - you meet the most interesting people.

 

They are the only ships that I know of that still have a single cabin - KK - I have used that room on both ships, and am using it again next September on the Dream from Seattle to Anchorage and back, and on the Wind from San Francisco to Vancouver on a repositioning cruise in April, 2006 - nice to have a room - even though it is really small - that I don't have to pay a single supplement for. I usually travel alone, or if I go with someone else, they have their own rooms. And I am on a fixed income so price is an object.

 

The showroom is set up awkwardly but the floor plan seems to be the same with most of NCL's ships - I was on the Crown and it was the same. As far as the dining room seating goes, I just don't go when they first open the doors. I have never had to wait more than just a few minutes for a table. Didn't care for the Italian cafe and there were nights when the buffet wasn't very good, but all in all, I did fine.

 

There are flashier cruise ships but I have been very happy with these two when I have been on them.

[ddjwms]

We booked one of those 10/10 bargains! This will be our second cruise on the Dream; we went about this time last year also. We have also been on the Sky, but not the Sun. Both were fine. The Dream, as some have noted, is a little inconvenient for getting around on some floors and Lido buffet is quite small. But we loved the Freestyle dining and had no trouble with lines after the first night. You can avoid them by going a little earlier than the crowd. We loved the alternate Italian restaurant upstairs. It is small, but we were always seated promptly, and the tiramisu was to die for! I had no qualms about booking the Dream again, especially at these bargain prices!

[cliffd64]

My wife and I will be taking the Dream out of New Orleans on November 7th :)

 

We are really looking forward to this cruise, as we are taking our 13 year old daughter with us for the first time. :)

 

Previously, we have sailed on the Wind, so we know what to expect as far as the ship is concerned.

 

One good tip I can give you: If you are leaving for an early morning shore excursion, order breakfast via room service as the buffet is way too crowded unless you have alot of time. Sit down breakfast also requires alot more time, but room service is quick and efficient :)

[luv2cruise123]

I would still call 3rd and 4th persons free except for port of $195 each "awesome" . That would make it about $334 per PERSON to an inside for a week's cruise or about $299 per person in a quad! Oceanviews were $500 per person with same free 3rd/4th plus port only.