Dream - mini review (9/15 sailing)

[kathi]

Just off the Dream yesterday (3 nights, just my husband and me, concierge family stateroom 12018).

I posted a short trip report in the trip report forum, but wanted to touch on the highlights and offer to answer any questions.

LOVED
The ship - beautiful, shiny new and clean. Service was wonderful and everything I have come to love and expect from Disney. We got the lay of the ship fairly quickly. There are few odd twists and turns and dead ends that don't exist on the Magic and Wonder but there were always plenty of crew members around to assist.

Concierge Our concierge hosts were friendly, helpful and super nice. (Melanie, Julia and Thomas). The concierge lounge was great and we spent much more time in there than we expected. The food offerings were tasty and fresh and the 2 cocktail hours each day were a lot of fun. We met some really nice people in the lounge and felt it enhanced our travel experience. Our stateroom was beautiful and tastefully decorated. Everything was in great working order and was kept perfect by our stateroom host Jose. I wish there was an outlet in the bathroom. There are iPod docks in the alarm clocks and the clocks are illuminated (you can turn if off if too bright). The hair dryers are great and are located in the seating/desk area.

Food We did not eat in the main dining room at all and instead did Palo/Remy/Palo (we are big foodies). The service and food in both restaurants were top notch. A big shout out to our servers Coskun and George in Palo and Mathilde and Alex in Remy. Also Debbie in Meredian bar. We snacked a lot in the concierge lounge and had a few meals in Cabanas. While I'm not a huge fan of buffet food, it was all very good, plentiful with a nice selection.

DID NOT LOVE
The foot traffic through the adult pool. Families have no choice but to tromp right through the middle of the adult pool deck. It was terrible planning on the part of Disney and I'm not sure it can be fixed.

The dirty spa - the Rainforest Room and the changing room were not well maintained and there were often wet/used towels, robes and slippers all over the place. No excuse for that.

The obnoxious begging for excellent ratings. It is unprofessional, irritating and uncomfortable for guests and Disney needs to put an end to it. We didn't even eat in the main dining rooms, but when I dropped off tip evelopes on the last night, I was harassed for an excellent rating for service I never experienced.

The poor behavior of some of the guests. Self-centered, immature and ignorant adults marring the experiene for many others. Nothing Disney can really do about it - but it was bad. I have read others saying the same thing and blaming it on the short duration cruise. Not sure if that's true - but we were definitely witness to adults behaving badly and not caring about it.

Check out my trip report for more details and I'd be happy to answer questions if I am able.

Kathi

 

[kcashner]

Kathi--Have you done 3 night cruises before?

I've done 2, both in 2009. One was part of a B2B, the other on the $99 per person promotion. I would have to say that they were tied for the worst behaved guests I've ever experienced. I can't say whether it was because of the short cruise, dumb luck, or whatever...just my observation.

 

[Teri1]

We ate at all three dining rooms and Palo and not once was a survey rating mentioned, not even on the last day at breakfast when we gave our servers the envelopes. We had Miki and Coko they were awesome.

 

[wdwprincess03]

Kathi--Have you done 3 night cruises before?

I've done 2, both in 2009. One was part of a B2B, the other on the $99 per person promotion. I would have to say that they were tied for the worst behaved guests I've ever experienced. I can't say whether it was because of the short cruise, dumb luck, or whatever...just my observation.

I second that, we were on a B2B 4/3 and the guests were bad! They let their kids jump on couches, and run all around and into people. Not sure what it was due to, but on both cruises guests were rude, and even mean to the CMs.

I also agree on the exit to the Quiet Cove. Although there was usually a cast member there to move the children, it was still not always "quiet"

 

[kathi]

We did a B2B on the Wonder last August and the 3-day was the second leg. I don't recall being this horrified by the other guests. Maybe it is just dumb luck.

Teri - I'm so glad to hear your experience with your main dining room servers was great. I'm sure it's not all of them begging for good ratings. I had read about it on the board and was really shocked when it happened to us (since we didn't actually dine with the servers). I would think that good service would just lead to positive reviews - but maybe not everyone takes the time to fill out the cards.

 

[KSandbergFL]

We were on the 9/15 sailing too. I agree with most of your sentiments. It was our first cruise on the Dream and I am happy to say we loved the ship... we had a great cruise. Almost everything is BETTER than the Wonder... the Cabanas buffet area is a home-run... the adult lounges are gorgeous and swanky... the kids clubs area is huge, and there is tons more stuff for the kids to do... we thought everything was better than the Wonder, except for the kids pool area -- pools are much too small.

The foot traffic thru the adult area was excessive, but it did not bother me as much as the loud music or the loud drunken guests in the pool. I didn't spend a lot of time in the adult pool area, but the families/kids who walked thru there seemed to try to be polite and not disturb anyone... they did not bother me at all. The noise from the music and the adult guests, however, was quite annoying and chased me from the adult area a couple times.

We spent a lot of time in the Rainforest Room on Friday, and I wouldn't say it was "dirty" or "not well maintained"... yes, I did see some robe strings and slippers strewn about, but I would blame that more on ill-mannered guests who refuse to pick up after themselves. As a matter of fact, I thought the Rainforest Room on the Dream is way better than on the Wonder... the area with the hot-tubs and loungers has a stunning view...and the steam room was actually HOT, unlike the steam rooms on the Wonder. We loved the Rainforest Room.

Our head server was terrible, probably the worst we've ever had. Dinner was late every night, he was impatient and inattentive, and every night he practically walked us thru the comment card process and showed us where to check "Excellent". They got a "Just OK" from us, because the assistant server was pretty good. The food at the 3 main restaurants seemed about "the same" as the Wonder, we didn't love it, but it was pretty good....

 

[grandy w]

I agree about the totally obnoxious amount we were asked how everything was and to give a good rating.

 

[lmhall2000]

I think the pandering for points has to stop!! I'll write a note to Disney...anyone else up for it? I just posted something on their Disney Cruise line question page...maybe I'll hear back...

Glad you had a great trip! Did not realize the news about family traffic..that seems a big oversight....