Just back...5 day double dip on the Disney Dream Christmas Cruise....Pro's and Con's

[Floridagram]

We were on the 5th sailing of the Fantasy earlier this year. One server was from the Magic and he hated the Fantasy because it was bigger and farther to the dining room. His assistant was new, it was his second sailing. He had been a server on another line and was having a hard time adjusting to the asst position. He tried but it was not the service we are used to on a cruise.

I will say that I will no longer give them excellent marks on the survey if I do not get excellent service. And I hope I have the guts to tell them that if they push me for it. I will not hesitate to tip extra and well for extra service, but we really do not have high expectations, just basic needs met. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth to get that. When I hear of people getting meat cut up for kids I laugh. We had 6 kids and a one armed handicapped person that needed the aid of a child and got nothing from them.

I think it is hit or miss on all lines. I read other boards and sailed on Carnival last year. I counted and our server at dinner had 28 people he waited on. He had been doing cruises for over 20 years and we got as good service as on DCL, not great but adequate. But considering the number of people he had he did a great job.

[mom2twincesses]

Originally Posted by WendyLovesPeter

this is a depressing thread for people approaching Dream cruise. Wish I had not read

Yup, we leave Saturday and I for the first time I felt my tummy flip in a "not so pleasant" way Hopefully we'll all just be so excited just to be there that we'll enjoy no matter what! This will be my 3yos' first cruise, and DH and my 2nd, but 1st with DCL. *fingers crossed*

[Floridagram]

Originally Posted by mom2twincesses

Yup, we leave Saturday and I for the first time I felt my tummy flip in a "not so pleasant" way Hopefully we'll all just be so excited just to be there that we'll enjoy no matter what! This will be my 3yos' first cruise, and DH and my 2nd, but 1st with DCL. *fingers crossed*

You will have a great time! I have never had a bad cruise. Some elements may not be 100% pleasing but what in life is? Don't worry one minute. Just have a great time and see it though your 3 year olds eyes. that is where the true magic is!

[MaleficentRN]

Originally Posted by goeva

Can't wait to get back on the Dream.

Right?! Me either! Wish my next cruise was a double dip!

Why is no one looking at the OP's Pros and just focusing on their Cons?
What was your favorite lunch spot? We always did Cabanas.
I loved the Cove Cafe, too! I went and got a Chai Latte every morning and strolled the near empty decks. I agree, it truely is a gorgeous ship!
Is it big? Heck, yes! That's one of the reasons I love it. So much to see and do. Can never figure out how people complain they were bored.
Big shipxChristmas+Many passangers=Slow elevators. That does stink. We avoided the mid ship ones and took the staires down a lot. Had to walk off all that great food!
And am I the only one whose servers didn't mention comment cards? Or if they did and I don't remember.

[Scoobypop]

Originally Posted by mom2twincesses

Yup, we leave Saturday and I for the first time I felt my tummy flip in a "not so pleasant" way Hopefully we'll all just be so excited just to be there that we'll enjoy no matter what! This will be my 3yos' first cruise, and DH and my 2nd, but 1st with DCL. *fingers crossed*

As the last two pages of posts have assured, you will very likely love every second of your Dream cruise! Have been on 12 DCL cruises, all 4 ships. Just off the Fantasy Dec 22. Dream three times. One poster put it very well-you can SO easily avoid crowds if you time your flow to not coincide with big events going in or getting out. All the shows are great! No need to stand in line for dinner, your table is there waiting for you. No lines on the Aquaduck at night. I can't tell you how many times on all my DCL cruises I have the adult pool completely to myself. I don't know how to post pics on here, but I have many many pics of me alone in the quiet cove pool at various times to prove it.

As for the excellent ratings "pressure" or "sales pitch" as its been referred to: I guess I have NEVER felt that way on my cruises. On the first night, the server and head server will come around, and they request that if ANYthing is not up to your satisfaction or liking, please let them know so they can fix it. They genuinely want to know, so that you WILL be happy with your mdr experiences. If you don't tell them, and you're not happy, you're going to wind up leaving unhappy and go home and post on a message board about how unimpressed you are, and scare someone else about to leave on their first cruise.

A final word-as someone who works with the public in a high end resort in Las Vegas, understand that some people will never be happy, and will find something to complain about wherever they are-even when on vacation. Some people aren't happy unless they're miserable. So take the advice of those on the last couple pages-read the threads, take what you will from each post, but go on your own trip, form your own opinions and have a great time. You'll love the Dream!

[scootch]

We did B2B Dream at Easter and did not feel it was crowded at all. Loved it. We did chose the Fantasy for our next cruise as we liked the ports(St. Thomas/San Juan). We loved the Dream, don't go in thinking you won't. Can't please everyone.

[jiminyC_fan]

Originally Posted by WendyLovesPeter

this is a depressing thread for people approaching Dream cruise. Wish I had not read

Don't worry. We were on the Maiden Voyage of the Dream. So many people came back complaining and we wondered if we were even on the same cruise as they were, LOL. It's what you make of it. Don't expect perfection as there is never perfection anywhere. Don't look for problems because you might find it and be disappointed. We have never been disappointed on a Disney cruise and we are platinum.

[ruadisneyfan2]

Originally Posted by jiminyC_fan

Don't worry. We were on the Maiden Voyage of the Dream. So many people came back complaining and we wondered if we were even on the same cruise as they were, LOL. It's what you make of it. Don't expect perfection as there is never perfection anywhere. Don't look for problems because you might find it and be disappointed. We have never been disappointed on a Disney cruise and we are platinum.

So true. Look at all the gripes about WDW. You could write a book about the long lines, large tour groups, declining food quality, ADRs, crowded buses, pushy stroller drivers, pushy scooter drivers, resort prices, ticket prices, etc. Still we know it's not perfect but we love it anyway.

I wouldn't let one tiny negative comment scare me off a vacation.

[kimb96]

I agree that people need to be honest about service. The problem is not going to be corrected if Disney doesn't know about it. We had straight up bad service our first two nights on the dream. Dh did mention it to our head server and the rest of the cruise was much better. Our servers were polite and efficient the rest of the cruise which is what I expect. We did not give excellent ratings to our servers other than the head server as we did feel he went above and beyond to correct the problem of bad service and make sure we were having a good time.

As for crowds, it was crowded on the pool deck. We did not use the pools our whole cruise. We did ride the aqua duck a few times coming back from castaway cay when there was no line but otherwise avoided the pools. We did a double dip cruise so we felt we had plenty of swimming time. I might have been more disappointed if we had been on a different itinerary. The pools are a disappointment for sure. Way too small for the size of the ship and the amount of people on it. there is no swimming in the pools because they are so crowded. At best, you can stand in them and try to cool off.

Overall I was very happy with our cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to do another.

[Dawg91]

We did the Dream in December and my only complaint as I've posted on other threads is with the crowd and noise in the MDRs. Our dinner service and service elsewhere was very "magical".
We made a point of making eye contact and asking personal questions of crew members (where from, etc.) all over the ship and thoroughly enjoyed. Our servers Carlos and Paolo were great and couldn't have been better although try were extremely busy. Carlos did a magic trick each night as the dining room was emptying and we all loved it. We would have hung around and chatted with them each night if we weren't conscious of them having more work to do.

Is there any cruise ship where the pool is large enough?

The danger of the boards is in building up your expectations of a good or bad trip and convincing you that you must pack everything but the kitchen sink. I love them, but I do try to take everything with a grain of salt.

[disprincess4ever]

Before going on the Fantasy last June, i took to these boards to read about what i should be expecting on my first cruise. I read lots of opinions, many complained about the food or the size of the ship. This made me feel discouraged and not that excited about my vacation. However, my trip was wonderful, and my only complaints were very minor and had nothing to do with disney. I'm addicted to disney cruises now. So, don't take opinions to heart, maybe even try to avoid them until after the cruise.

[cwdefouw]

We have done the Dream twice, first time was about 2 weeks after maiden voyage, very crowded, lots of little issues. Second time was in off-season, early December 2012. Second time was very different experience, like night and day. The ship was not crowded, Dining rooms and everything else ran much more smoothly, (we had an experienced serving team). Off season was much more enjoyable, so the best recommendation I can give is, if you are concerned about large crowds, which are really the root cause of many of the problems mentioned on this thread, then go in the off-season, and you will likely have no cause for concern. The off-season is cheaper anyway. We are on the DVC member cruise next week and expect it to be more crowded, but we know this going in, so can set our expectations accordingly.

[NCConch]

I'm glad I found this thread. We are a year out from our first cruise as a family and I was almost getting worried about all of the glowing reports. My expectations were becoming a little too big and I am sure it would have set me up for disappointment. When I was younger I worked in the food industry waiting tables for a very demanding and opinionated clientele. If you did not do your job you did not last long. It's vital that you grade the staff appropriately. Knowing that I am spending this much money on a cruise I hope the cruise line keeps only the best staff.

Can someone explain the double dip concept?

[woody73]

Originally Posted by NCConch

Can someone explain the double dip concept?

Two stops at Castaway Cay.

Woody

[ItAllStrtdWAMouse]

Originally Posted by Dawg91

The danger of the boards is in building up your expectations of a good or bad trip and convincing you that you must pack everything but the kitchen sink. I love them, but I do try to take everything with a grain of salt.

We also did the Dream in early December. The crowds were a little lighter and everything was magical. But as the quoted poster said above the danger is in high expectations. My wife loved our server. I expected more (in personality not service). She gave him a much larger extra tip than I would initially thought. When I had a chance to think about it. We never had to ask for anything, the food was the right temp. My child's allergy was handled without a hitch. All the servers were polite, just not overly talkative. This can always be solved by the level of interaction you give back.

Our room server was great also. It wasn't until the second day that we started really talking. If I hadn't made a point to ask how his day was, versus the standard good morning... I may not have had such a great experience with him.

We had many other great experiences. Cast members at the excursion desk and at Pink. If you travel off-season, you will have a much more relaxed crew who will have the time to give you that extra magic.