Dream crowds

[LeslieG]

I'm becoming increasingly concerned about reports of large crowds on the Dream sailings. I was wondering if those who have sailed larger ships on other cruise lines also have encountered crowding problems, or is this something related to the design of the Dream?

 

[mom2brooke76]

I was on a full sailing of the Dream and didn't notice a difference in crowds from a full sailing of the Wonder. The only bad areas were the cruise terminal and midship elevators. We watched fireworks from Currents where there was NO crowd.

 

[Presentation]

I was on a full sailing of the Dream and didn't notice a difference in crowds from a full sailing of the Wonder. The only bad areas were the cruise terminal and midship elevators. We watched fireworks from Currents where there was NO crowd.

I am surprised at your answer.

Can we please explore your reply a bit further?

One person, who I see on this board that seems to be just hard defending / denying the crowd issue travels without kids and simply beats to her own drum. She just does not attend the main attractions or activities.

How about you? Do you have kids? Did you go to the sail away party?
Were you on the stage/dance area ? Pirate party, same question.

Did you go to the main events?

Did you use the main pool or did you go off to the adult only pool area, which I admit was dead although this did me no good since I will not leave my 7 year alone in a pool deeper then she can stand in.

Did you ride the aqua duck? How long was your line for this?

Did you take kids to the bathroom during the evening dining? We had lines in the bathroom every time. Small kids just can't take a 1 1/2 hour plus dining with out going to the bathroom once, at least not most kids and for sure not ours.



I’m thinking the people who feel the crowds were not significantly worse on the Dream then the Magic/Wonder either do not have small children or simply go off on their own and do not attend the main events, pools, etc.

 

[mom2brooke76]

I traveled on a sold out sailing of the Dream with my dd, 6, and her godfather. We attended all events, etc. Other than the terminal and the midship elevators, I honestly didn't notice a huge difference in the sold out sailings on the Wonder that I have been on. We did go to the sail-a-way party and for the first pirate party we watched from the deck above, right above the state and had a fabulous view. We watched the fireworks from Currents after the bartender that we befriended told us that this was the area that the fireworks were shot off from and had the best view (and fewest people) on the ship. We couldn't have been more pleased and actually had a place to sit without people blocking our view

The only pool that we ever went to was the family and kid's pool and Nemo's Reef area and never encountered issues. The adult pool was dead every time we walked by, and we passed through often since our room was on deck 10 forward. The Aquaduck was about a 30 minute wait, but we were totally prepared for the wait due to the newness of it. The same was true of Castaway Cay. We had no problems finding seats on the family beach and the same was true of Serenity Bay. In fact, SB was surprisingly fairly dead, much to our surprise.

All in all, I think it comes down to a persons expectations going into the cruise. No matter how packed the cruise is, it will never, IMO, be as bad as a semi-busy day at WDW (and I've been over 40 times). I'll take a crowded ship any day!

 

[mesaboy2]

I think perception and attitude have much to do with how "full" the Dream is.

 

[Presentation]

Thank you for your update.

It sounds like you were so prepared for the worst that when it was bad it was not as bad as you thought.

Like if you expected no food then were given a saltine the saltine would taste pretty good.

 

[scootch]

I am going on the dream next week, but my I am guessing any cruise ship that holds 4,000 passengers is going to have crowded pools on sea day. There is only so much space on the top deck and even though there are tons of other things to do, I would gather at some point of the day you would wander to the pool area. So I am expecting that area to be very busy and will plan to do other things at that time or if we do do the pools, realize that this is a common interest. Also with boarding, any ship that empties 4000 people by 9am and cleans/preps for another 4000 to enter by 4pm is going to be a very busy and congested. Those are my thoughts. I will post back around the 21st and give you a first hand account.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I am surprised at your answer.

Are you joking? You seem to be offended by a reply of "not crowded". Your line of questioning... I can practically hear it in a courtroom.

 

[SingleSailorMinnie]

I was also on a full sailing of the Dream earlier in March and did not have an issue with crowds either. In fact we commented several times how empty it seemed at times, especially Castaway Cay. There were a couple of times I encountered lines at restrooms around event times, dinner, theater, etc., but that was infrequent. Yes the sailaway party was crowded, but it always has been on the other ships too, with some jockeying for position; but nothing terrible. Just a big party crowd; there was still room to walk etc. Pirate night there was plenty of room as well. The family pools were crowded on sea days but again no more so than our trips on the other ships. And the Aquaduck seemed to have a fairly consistent 20-30 minute wait. We encountered no waiting to board, and a slight crush disembarking as we had late breakfast and lingered as long as possible. But it only took about 15 minutes to get off. But our perception of how crowded it actually was wasn't skewed by our expectations that it would be awful. It just really wasn't bad at all. I just don't want people to get scared away from a wonderful experience by the expectation of terrible crowds and waits at every turn. It just wasn't our experience. Hopefully it isn't that way for others. We can't wait to do a 7 day on the Fantasy!

 

[VKtravel]

I am trying to be realistic about the crowds. If you put 4000 in a small area, you are bound to get a little crowded every now and then or have a little wait in line. If I can wait in WDW and other amusement park lines, I think I can handle it. I'm still super excited to go!

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Thank you for your update.

It sounds like you were so prepared for the worst that when it was bad it was not as bad as you thought.

Like if you expected no food then were given a saltine the saltine would taste pretty good.

Wow - by the 'tone' of your emails I'm guessing you had a really crappy trip. So sorry for you, but don't be judgemental of other's opinions that differ from yours. The post was an onest, in that person's opinion post- yours differs but doesn't require confrontation.

 

[FlynnRider]

Thank you for your update.

It sounds like you were so prepared for the worst that when it was bad it was not as bad as you thought.

Like if you expected no food then were given a saltine the saltine would taste pretty good.

Sounds to me like this is a case of your expectations being to high, rather than hers being too low. Personally I don't even see why follow up questions were needed as "didn't notice a difference in crowds from a full sailing of the Wonder" isn't really that hard to comprehend.

 

[thechief]

Just another Dream/DCL complainer.

 

[Presentation]

Just another Dream/DCL complainer.

Thank you.

 

[TitanBrett]

I was on Mar 13 cruise

-Deck 11 is crowded
-The donald and mickey pools at times are VERY crowded, 10 am sea day you might call dangerously crowded
-Castaway Cay is NOT crowded, plenty of seats the whole day
-The shows are NOT crowded, show up right at show time and get a decent seat
-There are long lines to see some characters, REALLY long lines to see princesses, but thats no different than the lines to see princesses at toon town, and on the ship you get to see 5 princesses!
-The adult area was crowded on the sea day, there were no loungers on the pool deck but you could find some seats on the upper deck
-Cabanas was crowded for lunch on sea day
-Pirate party was crowded but still plenty of places to stand, same for sail away
-Skyline bar is an awesome quiet place to relax, Razvan, Dani and Jessica run the place and they are top notch

I think that covers most situations

 

[TitanBrett]

Thank you for your update.

It sounds like you were so prepared for the worst that when it was bad it was not as bad as you thought.

Like if you expected no food then were given a saltine the saltine would taste pretty good.

lol, I didnt see this post the first time. Yes all Dream passengers suffer from the cruise version of Stockholm Syndrome

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Just another Dream/DCL complainer.

I don't think this is the case. I think sometimes we just have strong feelings and I for one often am guilty of letting feelings spill out. It happens.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I was on a full sailing of the Dream and didn't notice a difference in crowds from a full sailing of the Wonder. The only bad areas were the cruise terminal and midship elevators. We watched fireworks from Currents where there was NO crowd.

Thanks. I've not been on the new ships, but this was actually my expectation and I posted that on another thread today. The Wonder could be very crowded at times (long lines for the Princesses, crowded pools, crowded elevators, etc.), yet we still had a great time. I don't expect the new ships to be any different.

 

[abcangie87]

I traveled on a sold out sailing of the Dream with my dd, 6, and her godfather. We attended all events, etc. Other than the terminal and the midship elevators, I honestly didn't notice a huge difference in the sold out sailings on the Wonder that I have been on. We did go to the sail-a-way party and for the first pirate party we watched from the deck above, right above the state and had a fabulous view. We watched the fireworks from Currents after the bartender that we befriended told us that this was the area that the fireworks were shot off from and had the best view (and fewest people) on the ship. We couldn't have been more pleased and actually had a place to sit without people blocking our view

The only pool that we ever went to was the family and kid's pool and Nemo's Reef area and never encountered issues. The adult pool was dead every time we walked by, and we passed through often since our room was on deck 10 forward. The Aquaduck was about a 30 minute wait, but we were totally prepared for the wait due to the newness of it. The same was true of Castaway Cay. We had no problems finding seats on the family beach and the same was true of Serenity Bay. In fact, SB was surprisingly fairly dead, much to our surprise.

All in all, I think it comes down to a persons expectations going into the cruise. No matter how packed the cruise is, it will never, IMO, be as bad as a semi-busy day at WDW (and I've been over 40 times). I'll take a crowded ship any day!

Great info, and encouraging too! We're going in with low expectations for the pools, because they've seemed crowded on our wonder/magic cruises too... Plus we figure we can swim at the hotel before and after the cruise, and at CC.

My brain is cramping on what Currents is... is it in the District? Can you have kids with you in there during fireworks time?

btw, I'm a mommy to a brooke too, and if your 76 is the year your were born, me too lol

 

[mom2brooke76]

Great info, and encouraging too! We're going in with low expectations for the pools, because they've seemed crowded on our wonder/magic cruises too... Plus we figure we can swim at the hotel before and after the cruise, and at CC.

My brain is cramping on what Currents is... is it in the District? Can you have kids with you in there during fireworks time?

btw, I'm a mommy to a brooke too, and if your 76 is the year your were born, me too lol

Actually, I borrowed that name from my sister. She was born in 76 and has a Brooke I have an Emily and was born in 73

Currents is on deck 13 above the adult pool. The best view from the ship IMO. It's kind of hidden and out of the way, so it's a nice place to go to unwind. If you face the bar, the seating area to the left is for families and the one to the right is for adults