Dream Review

[Rogillio]

Got back from the 5-day NYE cruise on the Dream and wanted to share my observations:

1. The dining rooms were beautiful! Loved the Animators Palace! Also thought the Enchanted Garden was so cool!
2. The atrium was breath-taking with chandeliers and mosaics
3. We had 2 connecting rooms on Deck 9 Cat 9B and loved the rooms! Deck 2 is awesome. It is very close to Enchanted Garden where we ate breakfast every morning and had dinner twice. It is only a one flight to Guest Services and the two theaters and one deck down to get of the ship in port.
4. The shows
a. Villains – worst Disney show ever! It has been rewritten and went from bad to worse IMO. None of the songs are songs that anyone would recognize and the characters are not fun Disney characters
b. Ventriloquist – ok for a night club but definitely not a ‘main event’ performance
c. Magician/comedian – same comment as above
d. Golden Mickey’s – missed the show but have seen it ½ a dozen times – actually regretted missing it as it is classic Disney which I like.
e. Believe – good show; don’t know why they used so many unknown songs instead of Disney songs you can hum along with
5. The food in the dining rooms was awesome and the service was incredible! The food on Deck 11 was good when they were open but they were often closed. Did not find the chicken wraps like they had on the Magic next to the ice cream self-serve. Cabanas restaurant is a disaster! It is too big and disorganized. There were no line and it was hard to get good as people would just cut in front of you. There has got to be a better way of organizing this dining room.
6. The room was nice and had several improvements over the Magic – the bed was raised up and provided ample room for suitcases, shoes, etc. The outlets were more accessible and the TV was a flat panel that could be angled to the bed of the couch easily. The drain in the shower sucked as you’d step on it and it would close and you never knew if it was open or closed. They added a magnifying mirror embedded in the main mirror in the shower room but it was made for 4’1” person and it was too low to be of any use to me.
7. TV – after 2 days of watching limited channels I stumbled upon the on-demand movies! This was awesome!! While we did not sit around for 5 days watching TV it sure was nice just to relax in the room and watch a favorite Disney movie!
8. Wave phone – these were very cool! I wish they’d of had these when our kids were younger. I got an early morning text message telling me our snorkeling excursion was canceled.
9. Lounges – did not spend much time there but they are very nice and varied – pretty much something for everyone.
10. Aquaduck – exceeded expectations! Fun ride!
11. Size – did not really notice a difference. We were mid-ship so most things were close
12. Stores – lots of variety and a big selection with the exception of the lack of XXXL shirts for big guys like me
13. Activities – the deck parties, fireworks and such were ok but nothing to write home about
14. Crew – as expected, the best thing about the ship was the aggressive hospitality of the crew! Time and time again people met with a smile and a cheerful “Good morning sir!” Our servers were so good and we really looked forward to dinner every night.
15. Palo/Remy – did not participate – never have and probably never will
16. Stability – she is a huge ship and very stable! The only time we noticed any sort of movement was when we were in the Atlantic heading back to port and could feel a slight movement now and then.
17. Pools – loved the adult pool where you could get to the bar w/o leaving the water! Very cool. The hot tubs were nice as they had a glass floor and wall so you can see down and out thru the water

We’ve sailed on the Magic 6 or 7 times and I just had to try the Dream. I had been worried that after sailing on the Dream I would not want to go back to the Magic. The Dream is a wonderful ship and I am so glad we sailed on her but would not think twice about sailing on the Magic or Wonder if the right itinerary came along. In other words, the Dream is definitely an improvement over the Magic but there is also something to be said about familiarity. We are very comfortable on the Magic and felt equally comfortable on the dream

~Mike

 

[epcotrulz]

Great review!

On Cabana's -- there isn't supposed to be a line, you just walk up to the station that you want to get food from. I liked this, I'm not a big buffet person, so I don't need to wait for every type of food if all I really want is some cheese & crackers, or one waffle.

I don't foresee us back on the Dream anytime soon. I prefer the Magic/Wonder. Had a great time on the Dream, just prefer the smaller ships . . .

 

[mjbradeis]

Good review, I also agree about the big guy shirts!

 

[DreamBound23]

I agree about Cabanas. It was horribly organized. There was always a line and they would tell you that you didn't have to wait in line, however if you "cut" to get something specific, you got looks from others in line.

And you are right about the clothes. I saw so many things (I am a woman) that I would have liked. I did find one t-shirt that claimed to be an XXL and it was NOWHERE close!

 

[SnowWhite2]

Just got off the same cruise.

I agree with most everything you said. The "live" entertainers were lacking in my opinion. The lady was good but the guy was pretty bad.

I found it very confusing on deck 11 aft trying to get on/off the aft elevators. Walking thru Cabanas to get to the elevator or stairs was weird.

Although I did not eat at the fast food windows much, I found it very congested as they were all in a row. At times it was difficult to determine if or where the line for the window began. The wraps were at the window at the far end near the adult pool area. One plus for Magic - the food windows are spread out and it spreads out the crowds.

I did not like Animators Palate. The room was set up with Mickey chairs but the room had an underwater theme. It should have been named Nemos Village. I thought it was very intrusive when Crush came to the table to talk. Several times the tables were already in coversation and didn't know that Crush was talking to them. It just didn't click with me - and I was front and center with Crush.

Palo was beautiful and very good as always. Our server for dinner - Josie - was exceptional and the food excellent as always. It is nice that the back of the ship is Palo/Remy and not a deck surrounding it like the Magic/Wonder. The last thing you want to see at a nice brunch is a gang of people walking around in bathing suits.


The 5 day format was not to my liking. I guess if we were on the Magic it would be different but I spent too much time figuring out the ship and not enough time relaxing. I could have used 2 more days.


Overall it was a good experience.

 

[jlemieu1]

12. Stores – lots of variety and a big selection with the exception of the lack of XXXL shirts for big guys like me

x3 --agree

 

[tradbird]

Loved to hear about the advantages of Deck 2.

 

[NAB]

I so agree about the xxl sizes.

We were on the ship right after yours. Only been on the Magic and I think we like the familarity of that ship too. The halls seemed so long to get to your room on the 6th deck foward. We always get deck 1 on the Magic so very different for us.

Another think I did not like is the bathroom doors opening out into the cabin instead of in. Almost wiped someone out opening those does a few times.

Loved the luggage under the bed.

The light switch thing was a pain too. We did bring an extra card the the room steward kept taking it after he cleaned.

 

[SeaHawkeye]

We were on the cruise right after this one and I share some similar thoughts.

I'll post my own trip journal when I get enough posts under my belt to be able to post pictures!

Couple of observations:

- my stateroom (5156, category 4E) was devoid of electrical outlets. I was glad to have packed a power strip for the desk - one of the 110 volt outlets was already in use with the Wave phones. The power strip helped to extend the # of outlets on the desk...the only other outlet was the 220 volt for the hairdryer

- Merchandise in the on-board shops was great quality and well done. I felt the prices were reasonable, too...for example, Nike Dry-Fit golf shirts with a subtle DCL logo on the breast for $49. After walking the streets of Nassau, I was even more impressed with the on-board merchandise. Nassau was full of junk, junk, junk.

- On-demand TV options were great! My 5-year old boy came down with either a mild case of the G.I. virus that impacted many on the ship or a mild case of sea sickness on Friday. Either way, he was out of sorts on Friday and we spent a lot of time in the stateroom. On demand was a great feature for both adults and kids: plenty of Disney movies, Disney Channel shows and adult selections available all the time. On demand selections worked like DVRs: shows could be paused and returned to at a later point very easily.

- Staff was magnificent. The service on the Dream was the best I've experienced at sea (after 2 previous cruises with Princess). And, the service came with genuine interest from the CMs. They wanted to interact with guests and have guests interact with them. It felt very much like a family atmosphere on board.

I'll get my post-count up and post my own trip journal in short order.

 

[Crazybusy1]

Hi
Going on our first Disney cruise in July--awesome tip about the power strip! Thanks