Dining on the Dream....................

[bugsm]

I would like to know what the resturants are like on the Dream. And what you wear. Are some dressup and some casual? What are your opinions on each one. Thanks

[Wasasalad]

NCL Dream

Be prepared for a modest cruise experience. The ship will probably be older with limited facilities and in need of a refurbishment. Cabins come in varying sizes from minuscule to large. Some ships in this range do not have balconies. Cuisine is generally mediocre and service will be lacking. These ships may, however, have interesting itineraries.

 

Norwegian Dream - Ship Description

With the addition of a 130-foot midsection, the completely refurbished Norwegian Dream is virtually brand new. A few delights for cruisers include elegantly appointed staterooms, airy promenades, the spectacular Observatory Lounge, and the Galleria shops. Freestyle Cruising gives guests tons of onboard options, including six restaurants, a lively casino, and 10 different bars and lounges.

Hit the Sports Deck when it's time to play a little basketball or table tennis. If golf is your game, brush up on your swing at the driving net, or go for a run on the jogging track. Also on the Sports Deck are the fitness center and health spa, two of the finest at sea. There are also swimming pools to splash around in and Jacuzzis to enjoy. The "Kids Krew" children's program will amuse your little ones, no matter what their age.

Passengers can choose from three main dining rooms, with the Four Seasons and Sun Terrace offering stellar views and gourmet cuisine. The Terraces Dining Room offers the same menu but is located more centrally within the cruise ship. For casual meals, a pizzeria awaits on the Sun Deck. As for entertainment, the Stardust Lounge is the ship's gem: a two-story main show lounge with stage featuring full-scale productions. The Observatory Lounge offers amazing views with floor-to-ceiling windows located way up high on the ship. Other options include a piano bar, cocktail lounge, two sports bars, a poolside bar, a raging nightclub, and, of course, an exciting casino.

 

What do you think? Whatever the food is will be fine with us. The price is right!

[Dervish]

The 2 main dining rooms on the Dream are the Four Seasons (deck 9-midship) and Terraces (deck 9 aft). We ate in both of these, for both lunch and dinner - I preferred Terraces, as we seemed to more often have a table closer to the window, but both were fine. Attire is resort casual for dinner - there were a couple of optional formal nights, and some people were very dressed up, but others were more casual.

 

LeBistro, the cover-charge specialty restaurant, is also on Deck 9, between the 2 main dining rooms. We had dinner here the first night of our cruise and really enjoyed it. There is also the Italian restaurant, up in the Sun Terraces Trattoria on Deck 11. We ate here 2 nights of our cruise. The menu is the same every night. Views from here are very nice; I didn't care for either entree I ordered, though. We didn't do the buffets for dinner at all, so I can't comment on those. With the exception of 1 breakfast (when we needed to catch an early ferry) and 1 lunch (after arriving back on ship from Bermuda), we didn't eat at the buffets - we prefer to sit down and be waited on when on vacation. We did go up to the Sports Bar for a couple of late-night snacks, and that was fine - the standard fare. Every morning but one we had breakfast at Terraces.

[nautica34]

Just to claify the Italian restaurant has the same menu every night? The others the menu changes? Also, do you know which ones are open for breakfast and lunch.

[NoPiratesPlease]

We found the Dream to be very peculiar about eating on two different cruises 5 years apart. The Terraces is a lovely DR, service is fast, but relaxed and the food was good. 4 Seasons is a disaster, slow, not very friendly service.

 

We were in Trattoria on the last cruise and it was very beautiful setting and the food was very good.

 

The Dream is almost gone. She's been sold and will be gone by the end of the year.

[didan]

We found the Dream to be very peculiar about eating on two different cruises 5 years apart. The Terraces is a lovely DR, service is fast, but relaxed and the food was good. 4 Seasons is a disaster, slow, not very friendly service.

 

Isn't it odd - we just came off the Dream and found the opposite. We liked the ambiance of the Terracees, yet found the service slow and disinterested. No one even offered us coffee. The Four Seasons, on the other hand, had excellent service.

[didan]

Just to claify the Italian restaurant has the same menu every night? The others the menu changes? Also, do you know which ones are open for breakfast and lunch.

 

We found that the Italian Restaurant had almost the same menu every night - one beef dish would change to a different beef every night. The Terraces and Four Seasons had the same menu which did change nightly. On our cruise, the Four Seasons was open for breakfast and lunch. La Tattoria was used as overflow seating for the Sports Bar buffet. The Pizzeria also had a buffet breakfast and lunch. Omelet and waffle stations by the pool. And most sea days there was a lunch buffet by the pool.

[nautica34]

Thanks so much for the information! Just a couple of more questions....just to claify the pizzeria and the sports bar have buffets? Is the food the same? Do you recall if they had a deli? Do they offer self serve ice cream/yogurt. This will be our first NCL cruise and had both the above on Carnival.

[sixbirches]

Thanks so much for the information! Just a couple of more questions....just to claify the pizzeria and the sports bar have buffets? Is the food the same? Do you recall if they had a deli? Do they offer self serve ice cream/yogurt. This will be our first NCL cruise and had both the above on Carnival.

 

We just came off the Dream on Sunday. The pizzeria is a very small buffet that had limited hours during the day. It has a small salad bar, and serves pizza and hamburgers and fries. I think it also had cookies and iced tea and maybe some other dessert. I think there was a waffle station or an omelet station outside of the pizzeria early in the morning. They also set up a pool side barbeque at lunch that was ok. They also put on some dinner events by the pool, but we missed those since we were on the island enjoying ourselves and didn't rush back for the ship food those evenings.

 

The sports bar is the real "buffet" on this ship that is open for all three meals. The waffle station and omelet station lines there can be extremely long and slow. The food was ok here -- not much to choose from and the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch. There isn't a deli here, but you can find cold cuts, bread and some little sandwiches on croissant. We never ate dinner there. If you eat there, you should just take your buffet food down one flight of stairs to the Tratorria to eat --its a much nicer setting than the sports bar, which is very crowded and loud. Plus you can always find a seat there.

 

The food at dinner in Four Seasons was inconsistent. Service was soooo slow. Plus, the dress code is not enforced there at all, not that we cared. But some people do.

 

Tratorria was just okay on our cruise. The service again was painfully slow. The food was nothing special. It is popular, and you will have to make a reservation to avoid waiting to be seated. Dinner there was a two hour experience. The water they served there tasted so bad that we just couldn't drink it. Also, my caesar salad had a couple of strands of dark hair in it. Not so appetizing.

 

LeBistro was good. We ate there twice - on our first sea day and then on our last one. However, both my husband and my daughter got food poisoning after eating there on the last night of the cruise. Both had the mussels. My son and I didn't have them and we were fine. So, it seemed suspicious. So, watch out for the mussels....

 

There is a little ice cream hut by the pool. The ice cream was fine. I'm not sure of the hours it was open, but it was not open at night.

 

 

Overall, the food was unpredictable. Maybe you will get lucky.

 

Bermuda was great -- We enjoyed our staterooms for this type of cruise. We were in 0206 and 0207 - CC Superior Ocean View. Great windows in those cabins and it was a nice size room. Plus, we had a full bottle of champagne in both rooms when we arrived. Not sure why, but we enjoyed it.

 

The ship experience overall was marginal though. I guess if we hadn't been on other ships we may have felt a bit more positive. But I doubt that anyone goes on this cruise for the ship -- you just want to go to Bermuda and you make peace with the rest of it.

[cat888]

Mussels are notorious for causing - well, a food poision like reaction.

It's the nature of the beast.

I love mussels, but they don't love me , if you get my drift.

 

Cat

[mlbrockies]

You couldn't pay me to go on the Dream again, I can't believe it's still out there. It was my very first cruise and I was unimpressed (I'm not that picky), then I went on the Pearl and saw what cruising SHOULD be... night and day difference!! Even the poor crew was embarrassed to be on the Dream... it's very sad.

[AnnieB925]

Sixbirches, thanks for your review. I've been waiting for someone who just came back on Sunday to chime in. I totally agree with your statement:

 

"The ship experience overall was marginal though. I guess if we hadn't been on other ships we may have felt a bit more positive. But I doubt that anyone goes on this cruise for the ship -- you just want to go to Bermuda and you make peace with the rest of it."

 

 

I see you've cruised on other lines, as we have. We booked the Dream, knowing full well that it wouldn't be a fabulous cruising experience, but it's the best deal for getting to Bermuda. We've done Bermuda twice in the past by air/hotel and it's very expensive. I think people who cruise for the food and the lounging around are more apt to be disappointed w/ the Dream. Those who see it as a means to an end and who have low expectations probably won't be disappointed, but it's certainly a shame that two of your family members got sick on the mussels.

 

Thank you for your comments. Very much appreciated.

[nautica34]

We just came off the Dream on Sunday. The pizzeria is a very small buffet that had limited hours during the day. It has a small salad bar, and serves pizza and hamburgers and fries. I think it also had cookies and iced tea and maybe some other dessert. I think there was a waffle station or an omelet station outside of the pizzeria early in the morning. They also set up a pool side barbeque at lunch that was ok. They also put on some dinner events by the pool, but we missed those since we were on the island enjoying ourselves and didn't rush back for the ship food those evenings.

 

The sports bar is the real "buffet" on this ship that is open for all three meals. The waffle station and omelet station lines there can be extremely long and slow. The food was ok here -- not much to choose from and the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch. There isn't a deli here, but you can find cold cuts, bread and some little sandwiches on croissant. We never ate dinner there. If you eat there, you should just take your buffet food down one flight of stairs to the Tratorria to eat --its a much nicer setting than the sports bar, which is very crowded and loud. Plus you can always find a seat there.

 

The food at dinner in Four Seasons was inconsistent. Service was soooo slow. Plus, the dress code is not enforced there at all, not that we cared. But some people do.

 

Tratorria was just okay on our cruise. The service again was painfully slow. The food was nothing special. It is popular, and you will have to make a reservation to avoid waiting to be seated. Dinner there was a two hour experience. The water they served there tasted so bad that we just couldn't drink it. Also, my caesar salad had a couple of strands of dark hair in it. Not so appetizing.

 

LeBistro was good. We ate there twice - on our first sea day and then on our last one. However, both my husband and my daughter got food poisoning after eating there on the last night of the cruise. Both had the mussels. My son and I didn't have them and we were fine. So, it seemed suspicious. So, watch out for the mussels....

 

There is a little ice cream hut by the pool. The ice cream was fine. I'm not sure of the hours it was open, but it was not open at night.

 

 

Overall, the food was unpredictable. Maybe you will get lucky.

 

Bermuda was great -- We enjoyed our staterooms for this type of cruise. We were in 0206 and 0207 - CC Superior Ocean View. Great windows in those cabins and it was a nice size room. Plus, we had a full bottle of champagne in both rooms when we arrived. Not sure why, but we enjoyed it.

 

The ship experience overall was marginal though. I guess if we hadn't been on other ships we may have felt a bit more positive. But I doubt that anyone goes on this cruise for the ship -- you just want to go to Bermuda and you make peace with the rest of it.

 

Thank you so much for the information/review. Sorry things weren't great for your trip. It'll be out first time on a NCL cruise. I think we will stick with the dining rooms unless we are in a rush. So if we wanted say an afternoon snack prior to dinner, does the pizzeria or sports bar offer this?

[sixbirches]

I wouldn't say we had a bad trip, with the exception of the food poisoning. After reading alot about the Dream here on cruise critic, I think our cruise experience was pretty much what I expected. We had a great time in Bermuda. Its a great destination and we had always wanted to cruise on a ship that stayed in port for several days.

 

To answer your question, the pizzeria is not open late afternoon to get a snack before dinner. You need to go to the sports bar "buffet".

 

One other thing ... we did participate in the Martini clinics/tastings on sea days. These are a great value for the money -- a $15 charge per person. Our bartender for both clinics, Jose, was interesting and entertaining. I would definitely recommend that to anyone.

 

Plus, just another random comment. We went on the Swizzle Sunset Cruise excursion. That was alot of fun because of the crew on their boat. We asked the guy who was in charge what his favorite beach was (since he was a native) and he recommended Clearwater Beach. We went, and everyone loved it. Plus, it is much closer to St. George than Horseshoe Bay. It has gentle surf, chairs, umbrellas, a bar, food, bathrooms and a lifeguard. And no crowds. Horseshoe is great but its a long ride, very crowded, has big waves (south shore) and it always seems to be really hot there.

 

If you have any more questions, just ask. If I can help you out, I'm happy to do that.

[Kruizin'Kath]

We're just off of the Dream on Sunday, too. We had the best service in Four Seasons...ask for Gil-Anthony for top notch service. He made sure I had my creme-broulet(sp) every night, since on creme-broulet night we ate at Trattoria where we never even got some of our courses! We should have checked the menus in the main dining rooms first! We ate at Le Bistro 2 nights. We had escargot instead of mussles....thank goodness! Our cabin was fine, but we found some ares of the ship showing wear....that's what we expected, so we weren't disappointed. We went to St. Catherine's beach, which was a $6.00 cab ride for the 4 of us. On Wed., we went to HorsehoeBaybeach. It was a 50 minute bus ride, but well worth it. We loved floating in the bigger surf! There is also a cove between the rocks where there are no waves at all...great if you have small children, or a husband who doesn't swim;)! Just don't st the bar too high, and you'll have a great time!

[AnnieB925]

Thank you Kath. I'm making note of all the tips that are posted here.

 

Much appreciated:)

[nautica34]

I wouldn't say we had a bad trip, with the exception of the food poisoning. After reading alot about the Dream here on cruise critic, I think our cruise experience was pretty much what I expected. We had a great time in Bermuda. Its a great destination and we had always wanted to cruise on a ship that stayed in port for several days.

 

To answer your question, the pizzeria is not open late afternoon to get a snack before dinner. You need to go to the sports bar "buffet".

 

One other thing ... we did participate in the Martini clinics/tastings on sea days. These are a great value for the money -- a $15 charge per person. Our bartender for both clinics, Jose, was interesting and entertaining. I would definitely recommend that to anyone.

 

Plus, just another random comment. We went on the Swizzle Sunset Cruise excursion. That was alot of fun because of the crew on their boat. We asked the guy who was in charge what his favorite beach was (since he was a native) and he recommended Clearwater Beach. We went, and everyone loved it. Plus, it is much closer to St. George than Horseshoe Bay. It has gentle surf, chairs, umbrellas, a bar, food, bathrooms and a lifeguard. And no crowds. Horseshoe is great but its a long ride, very crowded, has big waves (south shore) and it always seems to be really hot there.

 

If you have any more questions, just ask. If I can help you out, I'm happy to do that.

 

Thank you so much for the additional information. Just a couple more questions if you don't mind? We were wondering how much time to allow for dinner in the main dining room to see the evening shows. Is it better to see the show first, then go to dinner or dinner then show. How was the chocolate buffet? Do you know which beaches have pink sand?

[Jackie52]

Hi, we were on the Dream for 32 days in April and I agree with most comments given above. We found that the Sports buffet was rather confusing. Sometimes the same food was served in two places, one near the front of the line and one in a very poorly constructed alcove. You also had to enter here for desserts and tea, and coffee. When we had a bit of Norwalk virus it was even harder to maneuver around the servers who were on the outside of the buffet with the passengers. The sports bar was ok for a late night coffee and cookie but seemed jam packed and inadequate for meals.

We found that the breakfast buffet in the main dining room was the fastest for a nice breakfast. The Terraces gave you a menu breakfast but it sometimes took 2 hours to complete your meal.

We enjoyed the Italian restaurant and had many meals there. We also had the barbeque on deck and enjoyed eating it inside in the Terraces as it was very cold outside. We had pizza once, but the wind blew 1/2 of my meal away!

Take note that a steak can be had in all dining rooms for your evening meal. Also baked potatoes can be had.

we ate at the Pinnacle once and due to time constraints we needed to have a fast meal. We asked the waitress to bring the food as soon as it was cooked and not wait - our food was piping hot and we had time to spare before our cruise progressive Trivia championship game- we came in 2nd

 

We found that the following hints helped us have a good experience .

1) check out all menus daily - they are posted outside the room

2) eat early- before 5:45 or late 8:30

3) When you are asked -"Would you mind sharing and if you don't mind sharing- say yes, but for a table for 4 (if there are just the 2 of you) ( large tables take much longer to complete a meal) also it is hard to talk across larger tables and you can get to know the other people much better at a small table

4) if nothing appeals to you on the menus for the evening, try the room service menu- they also can bring you a dessert and coffee after the show if you missed it during supper!

5) you can reserve your dinner time earlier by going to the person outside of the Pinnacle dining room- they take reservations for all dining rooms

6) be sure to get to the shows at least 30 minutes before it starts as seats for the first performance fill up fast! The second performance was not as crowded but then we were travelling with the " retired bunch" who go to bed earlier ( 20 minutes early)

 

I do hope you enjoy your trip.

You won't starve! Unfortunately I put on a few extra pounds!

[sixbirches]

Thank you so much for the additional information. Just a couple more questions if you don't mind? We were wondering how much time to allow for dinner in the main dining room to see the evening shows. Is it better to see the show first, then go to dinner or dinner then show. How was the chocolate buffet? Do you know which beaches have pink sand?

 

I would allow two hours for dinner -- you might finish faster, but it took about two hours to eat most of the time.

 

I would check the time of the shows and just plan from there, depending on what other things you are doing and how hungry, tired, etc... you are.

 

I think the pink sand is prevalent on alot of south shore beaches. Horseshoe Bay is definitely pink. But I thought the sand at Clearwater Bay also had a pink tint.

 

The chocolate buffet is interesting, but it is extremely crowded. Just be aware that you will be in an enormous line when it begins.

 

Have fun.

[nautica34]

Thank you both so much for all the information and tips. Very much appreciated!