2/2/2012: Solo No More & Concierge on the Dream

[poison ivy]

Hello,

I've been lurking and reading your updates with much anticipation. It sounds like a great cruise.

We've booked a cat T for Sept 2013 and really need some assistance on three things -

1) closet space in the hallway and other storage beyond the master bedroom.

We're trying to determine if the 3rd adult in our cabin will have the ability to unpack without needing the drawers in the master bedroom.

There are at least two closets in the main hallway. One appears to be a walk-in and the other shallow. Beyond that, I haven't been able to determine if any drawer space exists in the living room area or around the murphy bed. The photos and video I've found are very limited on this issue. I believe the walk-in has shelving of some sort but cannot gain a decent visual from any review thus far.

2) Murphy bed vs pull-out sofa. I'm not sure which one is more comfortable and best suited. From what I've read, the murphy bed is too hard to sleep on. I haven't heard much complaint about the sleeper sofa, though and welcome any thoughts or suggestions you may have.

3) embarkation - I'm not sure what time you are planning to arrive, but we're curious about the process now that the new policy is in place. We're trying to determine when the best time to arrive is in order to be one of the first to board.

Hopefully when you are back you can update us on your experience.

Looking forward to it. thanks

 

[taswira]

Can't tell you until we have experienced this. I will have the master bedroom on this cruise. Holly will sleep on the sofa bed. The Murphy bed will not be used since there are only two of us.

I'll post after the trip as to storage space, but there have been several other trip report threads to that regard. One of them is here.

 

[taswira]

As noted in my sig, I switched my 2013 sail date from January 26 to January 5. That is still subject to change so I am not joining the new cruise meet thread. Will definitely sail in January or February next year in addition to April 28 this year. So .....

Just off the Dream yesterday. I am not going to write a separate trip report but will express my thoughts about the cruise here.

THE GOOD:

• The obvious - The Dream is beautiful and newer than the classic ships so not showing much wear yet.
• Our Requested Server: It took major effort from everyone involved, but we DID end up with our wonderful Szilard, who is always beyond excellent. He even went out of his way to serve us breakfast at Royal Palace when he was supposed to only be working as a (non-serving) Head Server that morning.
• The Concierge Lounge: Perfect place to get a snack, beverages, relax and chat or talk with the Concierge staff.
• The Concierge Sun Deck: Wonderful place! Very nice seating area, and no, other guests can not stare in at you so it is not like a fish bowl.
• Our Concierge, Rodrigo: Best possible! He was friendly, GENUINE, personable, great attention to detail and went out of his way to try to please us. Thank you, Rodrigo!
• The Concierge Gates: Perhaps going against popular opinion (and do NOT want to start that discussuion on this thread), but I LOVE the Concierge gates. Excellent decision to have them, and I hope they keep them!
• Cat. T: Very nice suite. Not as fancy as on the classic ships, but very nice. Lots of interesting features, although it takes awhile to figure out how things work (even the NUMEROUS light switches). Could use an instruction sheet - lol. And yes, I happen to think there IS adequate storage space - - for TWO people!
• MDR Food: The food in the main dining rooms was truly excellent. I'd say better than Magic & Wonder, but that would of course depend on selections.
• The Golden Mickeys: A talented cast in my most favorite show.
• The Captain: Captain Henry was wonderful as usual - even managing to dock the ship at CC despite difficult conditions.
• Our Room Hosts: Our room host Riyanto and his assistant were totally awesome. I am still trying to figure out how Riyanto, while working on Deck 12, managed to see me jogging on Deck 4 as he said he did. I am wondering about those RFID chips in the key cards, as the Concierge staff and crew seemed to always know where I was. Hmmmmm.

THE BAD AND THE SO-SO:

• Concierge Check-In at the Terminal: The woman who checked us in had NO IDEA what she was doing. A couple of brief power outages caused her mind to blank out. When our Concierge gold cards printed out, she suddenly said it was a mistake and we needed gray cards (Platinum). No - I am Platinum AND Concierge. She even argued with me about it until she finally found her brain, but had the lead (me) and guest (Holly) names mixed up on paperwork. She had to go to a manager (twice) to try to resolve that. Some 20 minutes later and just before boarding, the manager insisted it was corrected. That turned out to NOT be the case. This is an issue in our case because Holly and I are unrelated and just friends. The reservation was mine and I added her not long before sailing. This was my 15th DCL cruise and her 2nd.
• At the initial meet with Concierge upon boarding, their paperwork still had Holly as the lead and nearly everything was addressed to her. It basically took them until the final night of the cruise to "fix" this. Although many would deem it insignificant, it was totally incorrect, and whatever happened to "the Disney difference" and great attention to detail?
• In spite of our server request (5 months prior) and it being noted on the Concierge paperwork, our key cards had the wrong rotation and on the first night we showed up to discover we had a different server. Upon complaining, we were then hurriedly sent to another restaurant (with Holly and her cane trying to keep up with me as dining time had begun) where we were told that they called to let us know, but we never received a message.
• We had requested and were told we would have a table to ourselves, but we were taken to where they could "find a spot" for us - a table with one man and three young children.
• About a minute later we were moved to a table of our own, but it was such a distance from the other tables our server was attending that it made a lot more work for him.
• The Forward Elevators: This is really the ONLY way for Concierge to get to their rooms. It was very disconcerting to often be trying to make our way to our Deck 12 only to have huge mobs of non-Concierge guests packing in and squashing us and going up to 12 just so they could go back down to some other deck. Excuse me? I wish that, due to the number of Concierge rooms on the new ships, they would designate at least ONE forward elevator for Concierge guests only, activated by their gold key card.
• You Can't Get There From Here: I had heard and read about this, and it is certainly true! While I can reluctantly manage, my friend who walks with a cane had a more difficult time. The Dream is beautiful, but there are several functional design flaws.
• Concierge Doorbells: They are nice, but lack of proper parenting (supervision) enables and encourages children to roam the corridors ringing doorbells then running, at all hours. I'm sure the parents would not have appreciated being on the receiving end.
• The Crowds: Port day in Nassau, you would think more than a few guests MIGHT get off the ship, no? It didn't seem like it. Walking the length of Deck 11 I could only wish for the return of the Magic & Wonder.
• The lack of good "normal" coffee in the Concierge lounge. Huh?
• Palo Dinner: Beautiful restaurant, excellent service, dreadful food! I prefer the "old" Palo menu and a different chef from the one on our cruise. My sea bass was nearly inedible. I barely touched it but did not want to complain or order anything else except to wait for the Chocolate Souffle. My server said the chef would come speak with me. I requested that he not do that, but he did anyway. He literally argued with me about his cooking, even though I said I probably just made a bad choice and to please leave it at that. He wouldn't. He kept pushing. There was also a bitter taste to the veggies (which Holly & I both had and agreed about). He said it was burnt garlic. We know and like the taste of burnt garlic. That was not what we were tasting, but he insisted it was. He just wouldn't go away until I came right out and said, "I'd really just like you to leave it at that and we'll wait for our souffles and that will solve everything." He finally left. Due only to his being argumentative, although I rated Palo service as Excellent on the comment card, for the first time ever I rated the Palo food as Poor (except the souffle). Even Holly's chicken was dry and sub-par.
• The Cold Hot Breakfast: When Szilard gave us our special breakfast service, our Eggs Benedict was fresh and hot and delicious. The next morning we went to the same restaurant for Eggs Benedict again, but with a different server. Although it looked the same, it arrived COLD, but I never send food back so ate it that way. It's all in the details, folks.
• The Bed in the Cat. T Bedroom: Initially I thought it felt wonderful, but it turned out to be MUCH too soft for my comfort. I awoke with a lower backache each morning. On our April sailing, Holly will get the bed and I'll sleep on the sofabed. We're going to see if there is any way they can put something on the bed to make it firmer for her.
• Kids (and adults) getting up and down and running around in the front row of the Walt Disney Theatre DURING the shows. Enough said.
• Disney's Believe: Although about the last half of it was very entertaining to me (great cast and talent), the first twenty minutes or so nearly put me to sleep. Just my opinion, but I think this one could use some serious tweaking.

THE VERDICT:

• A lot is lost in the translation between Shoreside Concierge and Shipboard Concierge. Never take anything for granted!
• I did this cruise mainly just to see the Dream and be able to say I've sailed on all DCL ships, since I have a couple coming up on the Fantasy also. So it was a "look-see" and served its purpose. However, I have absolutely no desire to ever, ever go on a 3-night cruise again! The demographics and general atmosphere are entirely different from the 7-night and longer sailings.
• While I could easily go non-Concierge on the Magic or Wonder, I have serious doubts that I could ever do so on the Dream or Fantasy. For me there is a world of difference in the ambiance of the Dream class vs. Magic class ships.
• Had it not been for our Concierge Rodrigo, our MDR server Szilard, and our awesome room host Riyanto and his assistant, this would not have been a good cruise. But they were all it took for me to say it was worth doing.

Looking forward to the Fantasy on April 28th!

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

This is Holly, taswira's friend.

I'm going to have to agree with her sentiments of never, ever, ever doing a 3 day cruise again. While there WERE good things on this cruise, it is a VERY different atmosphere than a longer cruise. People are pushier, ruder and if I dare say - the kids are far less supervised by parents. I walk with a cane and I can't tell you how many times kids practically knocked me over. I am not talking about excited and full of energy kids. I realize kids get excited and forget sometimes. This was outright brattiness that we saw and experienced many times. (here come the flames I am sure....)

I have heard people say the food in the MDR's just isn't good. I have to disagree. My food was very, very good. Palo...well...taswira was right. It was poor. The service was good by the server. The chef, in my opinion watching the exchange, was downright condescending and confrontational. I'm not sure I want to go to Palo dinner on our April cruise.... I do however, like the way they set up Palo over the classic ships. The tables and booths are situated nicely.

I was so thrilled to see an actual Disney-caliber server. Szilard was wonderful! On my first cruise we had the worst server ever. Apparently she was fired two weeks later. So I had never experienced the kind of server people rave about. I did on this cruise!

I loved the snacks that they kept putting out, and changing up, in the Concierge Lounge. True, not kid-friendly, but for us adults - lovely!

Rodrigo rules! He was a great concierge for all the reasons taswira mentioned.

Our room host was great. If you ever have Riyanto, you will be extremely well taken care of. (I do wonder how he "saw" taswira jogging on Deck 4 though....you can't see down there from up there)

BTW, I did manage just a carry-on and a tote bag.

 

[taswira]

BTW, I did manage just a carry-on and a tote bag.

Thank goodness for that, since you had more to carry off than carry on!

I do think carrying on was a wise decision for us though.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

People are pushier, ruder and if I dare say - the kids are far less supervised by parents. I walk with a cane and I can't tell you how many times kids practically knocked me over. I am not talking about excited and full of energy kids. I realize kids get excited and forget sometimes. This was outright brattiness that we saw and experienced many times. (here come the flames I am sure....)

I really don't don't think there is anything to flame or debate.

You have already distinguished that you aren't addressing the unbridled enthusiasm or excitement that some kids have but inappropriate behavior. That's a different animal.

Almost all kids sometimes get out of line on some occasion, the difference is attentive parenting tends to curb it before it becomes a nuisance for others.

I'm glad the over all experience for both of you was a good one.

 

[taswira]

SoCaOC-Mom - Thank you for understanding our views on this. The excitement and enthusiasm of children for the Disney cruising experience is wonderful, but kids running around being rambunctious and mischievous and having no supervision is NOT wonderful. It tends to be worse when there are high numbers of them traveling together, and there were several large groups on this sailing and even in Concierge itself.

It's often been said that it is worse on the 3-night sailings. Our experience on this one certainly reinforces that statement!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Sounds like you had a trip that was a mixed bag. I hope you are going to do a trip report. Did you hear any details on the Fantasy?
Lee

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

SoCaOC-Mom - Thank you for understanding our views on this. The excitement and enthusiasm of children for the Disney cruising experience is wonderful, but kids running around being rambunctious and mischievous and having no supervision is NOT wonderful. It tends to be worse when there are high numbers of them traveling together, and there were several large groups on this sailing and even in Concierge itself.

It's often been said that it is worse on the 3-night sailings. Our experience on this one certainly reinforces that statement!

You are welcome, but really no need to thank me. I am not one of those parents who think children can do no wrong, especially my own. With my kids because of their ages 2 and 4, they are closely supervised so I can address things early on; I have to say I am a bit shocked at the age some kids are given the liberty to explore the ship without supervision. I'm not suggesting they all run amuck, but I have seen 6-7 year old kids with no parent in sight.

Nor am I one of those parents who object when their kids are told NO by someone other than myself or my DH. A stranger has never had to do it, but if they had good reason to, it wouldn't bother me in the least.

Thankfully on my cruise, with a few exceptions I had a different experience regarding the children I accoutered. (but I was on a 4 night one).

I am shaking my head that you had kids ringing the bell to your state room.

 

[taswira]

I am terrible at judging ages, but I'm guessing the head culprit of the doorbell-ringing kids was perhaps 8 or so. He was right next door but later was joined by his friends. Never saw anyone supervising them! He looked a bit scared when I opened the door quick enough once to see him as he went back into his room.

I've done a few 4-nights on the Wonder and never had problems with kids. My only other 3-night was my very first cruise in January 2002. No problem there either. I do think the larger ship with more guests, plus groups of kids and a very short cruise, makes a difference.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I am terrible at judging ages, but I'm guessing the head culprit of the doorbell-ringing kids was perhaps 8 or so. He was right next door but later was joined by his friends. Never saw anyone supervising them! He looked a bit scared when I opened the door quick enough once to see him as he went back into his room.

I've done a few 4-nights on the Wonder and never had problems with kids. My only other 3-night was my very first cruise in January 2002. No problem there either. I do think the larger ship with more guests, plus groups of kids and a very short cruise, makes a difference.

I hope you put some fear into him (sometimes all it takes is just "the look") , or at least enough to stop him from doing it again.

The only 2 kids I ran into in my hall, couldn't have been any more lovely or good natured. They actually offered to help me since my hands were full so I could open the door.

 

[taswira]

Sounds like you had a trip that was a mixed bag. I hope you are going to do a trip report. Did you hear any details on the Fantasy?
Lee

It was a mixed bag. I think the biggest "stress factor" was how Shoreside Concierge did not properly do their job and relay correct info to Shipboard Concierge. Took a few days to resolve and get over, and by then it was time to get off the ship!

I don't think I will do any trip report other than what I posted here as to the Good, the Bad & the So-So, and the Verdict. All things considered, I think I should leave it at that.

Aside from dinners and two shows (skipped Villains), we didn't really do any non-Concierge things. We did spend considerable time enjoying the Cat. T and the verandah. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

 

[taswira]

I hope you put some fear into him (sometimes all it takes is just "the look") , or at least enough to stop him from doing it again.

Oh, I definitely did that without saying a word! Holly can tell you - I am VERY good with "the look."

 

[taswira]

Lee - Nothing new on the Fantasy except that I DID get to the bottom of the "Master of the Fantasy" issue that's been rumors run wild. Capt. Henry confirmed that Capt. Marco will only be the alternate/fill-in captain of the Fantasy for when Capt. Tom is on vacation/breaks. I was VERY happy to have that confirmed and I've posted it several places on the Web since.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Lee - Nothing new on the Fantasy except that I DID get to the bottom of the "Master of the Fantasy" issue that's been rumors run wild. Capt. Henry confirmed that Capt. Marco will only be the alternate/fill-in captain of the Fantasy for when Capt. Tom is on vacation/breaks. I was VERY happy to have that confirmed and I've posted it several places on the Web since.

Glad to hear that

 

[gomagic]

[*]Concierge Doorbells: They are nice, but lack of proper parenting (supervision) enables and encourages children to roam the corridors ringing doorbells then running, at all hours. I'm sure the parents would not have appreciated being on the receiving end.

Oh yes, the joys of the doorbells. We had the pleasure of doorbell ringing kids on the Cruisin Nuts cruise. Cabin next to us disabled their doorbell because of it.

This is Holly, taswira's friend.

I'm going to have to agree with her sentiments of never, ever, ever doing a 3 day cruise again. While there WERE good things on this cruise, it is a VERY different atmosphere than a longer cruise. People are pushier, ruder and if I dare say - the kids are far less supervised by parents. I walk with a cane and I can't tell you how many times kids practically knocked me over. I am not talking about excited and full of energy kids. I realize kids get excited and forget sometimes. This was outright brattiness that we saw and experienced many times. (here come the flames I am sure....)

No flames from me because we noticed the difference on our B2B

It's often been said that it is worse on the 3-night sailings. Our experience on this one certainly reinforces that statement!

I agree completely. We talked with concierge on our B2B and told them we noticed the difference and long story short, the one we talked to thanked us for saying something because they often wondered if it was just them that noticed this.

 

[taswira]

We talked with concierge on our B2B and told them we noticed the difference and long story short, the one we talked to thanked us for saying soemething because they often wondered if it was just them that noticed this.

Our concierge, Rodrigo, said he was noticing the changing demographics and was not happy about it. I'd say he was as displeased as we were. I sort of got the impression though that he was implying the demographics are gradually changing for ALL Disney ships - that many of the first-time cruisers are not the type who used to choose Disney - but that it's worse on the shorter sailings.

This is NOT to imply that all first-timers are in that category, but that a vastly increasing number are not the pleasant, polite, considerate guests that DCL used to attract. And being in Concierge does not mean they will be any better mannered. It also does not exclude repeat cruisers, but the first-timers seemed to be the wildest this time, for sure.

 

[gomagic]

Our concierge, Rodrigo, said he was noticing the changing demographics and was not happy about it. I'd say he was as displeased as we were. I sort of got the impression though that he was implying the demographics are gradually changing for ALL Disney ships - that many of the first-time cruisers are not the type who used to choose Disney - but that it's worse on the shorter sailings.

This is NOT to imply that all first-timers are in that category, but that a vastly increasing number are not the pleasant, polite, considerate guests that DCL used to attract. And being in Concierge does not mean they will be any better mannered. It also does not exclude repeat cruisers, but the first-timers seemed to be the wildest this time, for sure.

I agree completely. The concierge team had, in my honest opinion, a rough time on our 3 night. There were a couple of cabins so demanding and rude it was ridicuolus. I think if someone has a problem that needs to be brought to the attention of concierge, it should be done in private or, as was the case on our cruise, if in the CL and in the presence of other guests, do so in a respectful way. To belittle and blame the concierge team in public for something that is beyond their control was so wrong. We sat there for a minute looking at each other like " is this really happening" and left. We felt so sorry for the concierge team having to deal with that and told them so when we saw them later.

 

[taswira]

Agreed. I also feel that way about the dining rooms and Palo. When for the first time ever my entree was truly AWFUL at Palo, I ate a tiny bit and no more but did not complain because I knew I'd be having the chocolate souffle and besides, it isn't like I hadn't been eating enough on the ship already - lol.

I did inform our server about why I did not like my entree but made it POLITELY clear that I did not want to "send it back and order something else" or anything, and that I did not need or care to speak with the chef. Yet he appeared with his hands on his hips, very confrontational, and literally argued with me about the food even though I at first tried to say maybe I just made a bad selection, in the hope that he would just leave. But NO - as Holly witnessed (and probably EVERYONE in Palo witnessed), that chef tried to ARGUE with me! That is the ONLY reason I rated the food as POOR on the comment card. Otherwise I'd have sloughed it off as my own bad choice and given him the benefit of the doubt. We found out later that apparently he is NOT the "preferred" chef.

 

[taswira]

Also, FYI for those who have not sailed on the Dream in a suite: THERE IS A SCALE IN THE MASTER BATHROOM!

How's that for a "You'll find wonderful food all around the ship and the Concierge Lounge always has goodies so enjoy your cruise! Oh, and here is a classy glass scale for your convenience. Don't forget to weigh yourself after every meal!"