Disney Dream Adult Pool area

[cruisedad]

We just got off the Dream on Sunday. While the cruise was great and the crew very good, we have to complain about the adult pool area. It seems smaller than on Wonder/Magic. Also there were 2 groups of mostly 18-21 yr olds who took over the whole area every day of the cruise. Nobody could get into the pool. If you went to the upper level, everyone was smoking.

 

[yargrnhoj]

We just got off the Dream on Sunday. While the cruise was great and the crew very good, we have to complain about the adult pool area. It seems smaller than on Wonder/Magic. Also there were 2 groups of mostly 18-21 yr olds who took over the whole area every day of the cruise. Nobody could get into the pool. If you went to the upper level, everyone was smoking.

Right there with you. I stayed on the ship in Nassau last week and the adult area was bearable then. But sea day, my wife and I gave up after about five minutes. I think they should have moved the Cove Cafe and made more deck room in the adult area. The 'wade up' bar was cute, but took up a lot of space as well.

 

[disneycruiser22]

agreed-pool was too small-but from what i saw it was a ton of older people in the pool at all times, not as much younger adults. Sea day my entire party could not even go into the pool. My husband at one point complained to a CM when one group of adults were in the pool the entire day-and then even brought pizza into the pool !! gross! although everyone should be entitled to use the pool as much or as little as they want, therefore DCL should have made the pool big enough to accommodate all guests.

 

[DVCTigger]

I sure hope that the smoking in the upper area of the adult pool wasn't everywhere! Surely Disney has sectioned off a space for smokers so that us non-smokers have a smoke free area on the upper deck!

 

[eva]

I am seriously starting to reconsider our cruise on the Fantasy next year. We really like to relax by the pool during the cruise. I was pretty frustrated last year on the Med cruise. The "at sea" days it was pretty much impossible to find a lounge chair by 10:30 in the morning. Now it looks like they have doubled the occupancy of the ship, but kept the pools about the same size. How crazy is that? I was really looking forward to a couple of good pool days at Quiet Cove.

 

[pacomom]

I agree with the previous poster. We're starting to have second thoughts about our Fantasy cruise as well. I keep hearing that the family pools are way too packed for our young kids to enjoy, but they love the clubs so DH and I were at least looking forward to some time to ourselves at the adult pool. However, the more I hear the more worried I am about it being too crowded there as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it will be a fantastic ship and not be a bad experience (it's still a Disney cruise of course, we love the Wonder and the Magic), but for the amount we're paying there are other cruise lines or all inclusive resorts we may start looking into as well.

 

[mmouse37]

We hung out in this area on our Dream cruises....always were able to find chairs.







THESE ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY 8 LOUNGE CHAIRS THAT THERE ARE BY THE POOL. We always went up one deck and there were plenty of chairs. It was no big deal to walk down to the pool when we wanted to go in. Those 8 chairs were in the sun for about an hour or so each day....around noon.....as soon as the sun moved the chairs were in the shade again.



MJ

 

[CarolynU]

I can only take my vacation at peak times, and having read so many reviews I guess the pool area has really put me off the new ships. I've booked another trip on the Magic instead. I do like to be in the shade, but 8 chairs only????? I also don't like to be anywhere around smoke, so just don't think the new ships would work for me. As for taking food into the pool. That should never be allowed.

 

[mmouse37]

While I like to read everyone's experiences, I, personally don't think I would cancel my cruised based on a message board. There are so many positive reviews of the Dream compared to the negative ones and I think you would be missing out on a wonderful experience.

We did not encounter any smoking issues onboard in the area we were in ....maybe it was the luck of the draw.

Granted...we no longer have kids that go in the kid's pool so we did not have to deal with large crowds in that area. We spend all our free time up at the adult pool and found it very relaxing.

We have experienced overcrowding on the classic ships on sea days in all pools so it is not just limited to the Dream.

Do I think the pools could have been bigger and better on the Dream...yes...but it would not keep from enjoying all the other aspects of the cruise or keep from cruising on the new ships.

We will be on the Fantasy this week next year and looking forward to it very much.

Certainly not telling anyone how to spend their vacation dollars but I would hate to see someone give up a wonderful new ship without experiencing it for themselves.

MJ

 

[bombygriz]

I felt bad for all the adults on my cruise, as we were ALWAYS having to cut through that pool area due to a layout flaw...the forward elevators end up right in the middle of the Quiet Cove if you go up to deck 11, which unfortunately meant a lot of people in the forward of the ship who wanted to hit the pools had to walk on through. When I wanted to go by myself, I would always try to either get to the midship elevators or go to Deck 12 instead. It seems like whoever made the layout of this ship didn't take into account several things!

 

[pdwimmer]

I have not been on a Disney Cruise since my eldest (12) was 4 years old. We were on the Wonder. The pool there was so hideously overcrowded all the time. But we honestly didn't mind. We stayed right there with the kids, helped out other parents with their kids (When they asked us, didn't take parenting other people's kids into our hands without a request, that's just rude!)

It's really not a big deal in my mind. Also, the adult only pool, seriously? Is it really that big of a deal that families walk through the area to get to the rest of Deck 11? No, they aren't jumping in the pool, they are walking. If you don't like kids don't go on a Disney cruise for goodness sakes.

 

[musicgirl]

We got off of the ship on 6-26. It was only jammed on our day at sea. The other days it was busy but fun. Yes, it is too small, but I wouldn't cancel a cruise over it.

There are plenty of chairs now in the area. An earlier poster said that there were only 8 loungers. There are now 16 loungers on both sides of the pool for a total of 32. Also, I saw a few people who requested to have loungers brought down from the deck above. Add that to the sitting areas and the comfy round chairs, the seating seemed ok. Yes, it would be nice if everyone had a lounge chair poolside, but let's face it anywhere you go, there will never be as many prime seats as there are people who might actually sit in them.

Check out this link to our pics not all of them are up yet, so stop by and enjoy some more later. This link will take you to the approximate page. You might have to look a page or 2 before or behind it.

http://dhsbandman.smugmug.com/Other/Disney-Dream-Cruise-2011/17806907_RvGKXb#P-12-8

You'll see that the lounger row now has a row behind it on the one side and then if you look really hard, you'll see by the bar the same thing.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I don't like to sit in the sun so I'm concerned about all of the loungers on the top open deck. The one thing I always liked about the Magic is I could sit in the shade. Hopefully I'll be able to find something shady.

Is there an area on the Dream that is equivalent to "deck 4" on the Magic with the lounge chairs? That is one of my fav spots and I don't have to take up space by the pool.

 

[pacomom]

Thank you Mmouse37 for posting those pics! I am feeling much better about the situation. Looks like plenty of chairs up above, we don't mind walking up/down the stairs to the water as long as we can relax in the sun with our cocktails while the kids enjoy the clubs. Is it difficult to get chairs up there? Certainly don't mind families/children walking through the area either of course

 

[mmouse37]

I don't like to sit in the sun so I'm concerned about all of the loungers on the top open deck. The one thing I always liked about the Magic is I could sit in the shade. Hopefully I'll be able to find something shady.

Is there an area on the Dream that is equivalent to "deck 4" on the Magic with the lounge chairs? That is one of my fav spots and I don't have to take up space by the pool.

There are many shady seating area with comfy cushions all around the edge of the adult pool area. I often would snuggle up and read in the area.

Glad to hear that there are now more loungers in the adult pool area. Trying to imagine how they fit, though. Did they remove the seating clusters there were around the pool area? Hope not.

MJ

 

[nhgoofy5923]

While I like to read everyone's experiences, I, personally don't think I would cancel my cruised based on a message board. There are so many positive reviews of the Dream compared to the negative ones and I think you would be missing out on a wonderful experience.

Well said!

 

[hollybud68]

We just got off the Dream on the 26th and yes, on sea day, the adult pool was very crowded. All loungers were taken when we dropped off our DD at the kids clubs. But, they were very happy to go up to the top deck and bring some more loungers down. It never felt overly crowded on the deck (except in the pool).
There were plenty of loungers on deck 12 if people just want to sit in the sun.

 

[KSFrogge]

We sailed 6/12 on the Dream and the adult pool area was our favorite place to hang out on the cruise. Yes, sometimes it was crowded around the misting area, but on our sea day we didn't get there until around noon, and the CM's brought new loungers off of the top deck to accommodate us when we couldn't find chairs where we wanted. One officer even made a comment as we were looking around for chairs - "all you have to do is ask! we'll get them for you"

 

[cruisedad]

I am not complaining about the cruise or the Dream. I would get right back on tomorrow if I could!!! Had fun on the ship and the crew was great. The Aquaduck was a blast. All I was saying is that it took only 2 groups of people to take over the adult pool area everyday. I would NEVER cancel a Disney cruise because of this!

 

[dahuffy]

Definately puts a stop to this type of shenanigans!