The problem with the Disney Dream is..

[stephent92]

expectations!

Disney had two pretty good ships, which despite being over 10 years old were, in some respects, still industry leading. When they announced that they were going to build 2 new ships we all got very excited. Disney then started drip-feeding us information - making us even more excited. We allowed ourselves to get to the point where our expectations of these new ships outweigh what they actually are. There is no way DCL could meet the individual expectations of all of us.

I think DCL has played it's part in the perceived problems too. They kept telling us how great everything was going to be - in retrospect this was a pretty dumb thing to do. Would it not have been better to lower expectations and then "wow" guests?

One of the biggest complaints I keep hearing is the number of people. I think this is a result of people having the belief that because the ship was so much larger than the other two, this would componsate for this if you think about it, however, there were always going to be the same 'busy places' such as pools, theatre etc.

I do think DCL had got the pool deck wrong. They couldn't have much larger pools because of the water volumes, however there are things that they could have done. Like H2O zone - have a 'wet area' with a small pool but lots of fountains and water play equipment It is primarily a kids product at the end of the day!

As for staffing - I hear that it isn't as good as before. Again, if you think about it this was likely going to be the case. DCL was a company that was able to "Pick and Choose" and even "got rid of" staff as they saw fit. Suddenly, they need an extra 1, 500 staff (or closer to 2000 when you think about contracts). With all these people starting at the same time service was likely to go down a notch.

If you look at larger ships - they do have better facilities. If, however, you look at smaller ships in most companies fleets they do tend to have slightly higher levels of service.

This is my opinion.

 

[nsiordia]

I think you hit the nail on the head.

 

[Shell54]

I guess that's called marketing 101. LOL

 

[PrincessYessenia]

I do think DCL had got the pool deck wrong. They couldn't have much larger pools because of the water volumes, however there are things that they could have done. Like H2O zone - have a 'wet area' with a small pool but lots of fountains and water play equipment It is primarily a kids product at the end of the day!

What I didn't understand was why on Earth the pools are so small. Someone explained to me it has to do with physics and water volume, which I understand. But I have seen pools on other lines and some of their pools are almost three times the size of one DCL pool. And they have water play areas to boot. So it is completely possible but not in DCL's book, I guess With more capacity you would hope to see bigger pools but no, they're now relatively the same size.

 

[NancyIL]

Yes, expectations have been high for the Dream. Unfortunately, the service problems on the Dream have also extended to the Magic and the Wonder. The whole cruise line is experiencing growing pains right now.

 

[Wadekind]

The expectations I am reading about are the same ones that made DCL what it is today. Most complaints are from previous customers who recognize a slip in the quality of the everyday service they have come to expect from DCL. The other ships are also getting similar complaints. I booked the Dream in March 2010 but my expectations were set from the trip reports from the Magic and the Wonder back in 2009 early 2010.

 

[scamper45]

There are the same busy places and the same times as the other ships. I found the service to be fine on the Dream no complaints. Yes there are growing pains becasue there are alot of new people on all 3 ships but they also spread out the experienced people. I agree with the pool situation. they should have had another splah zone for the older kids like they do for the little ones. Just a place to cool off and play on the water. there is room for it. That is really the only design flaw that I noticed. But Disney also needs credit for being proactive...like castaway cay is fully designed to handle all the people. Other cruise lines would have waited until it was a problem to fix it. Lets face you cant please everyone. I am a fan of the dream and have 2 more cruises booked!

 

[PrincessYessenia]

That is really the only design flaw that I noticed. But Disney also needs credit for being proactive...like castaway cay is fully designed to handle all the people. Other cruise lines would have waited until it was a problem to fix it. Lets face you cant please everyone!

I'm glad all the changes on CC are apparently working out. That's great to know, because I know I'm excited to get to Pelican Plunge Just a couple more months

 

[FJS961]

The "problems" that we are hearing about from the initial sailings should work themselves out for the most part (hopefully).

1) some of the issues reported were of overzealous guests to be first and hoarding or stealing things. This should certainly improve.

2) there are growing pains with a large sudden increase of staff who are being broken in. It would be unfortunate though if the level of service, especially the previous tendency of crew to try to make everyones voyage "magical" in some way, stays down and becomes the new norm

3) the pool situation is what it is. DCL made larger ships and significantly increased occupancy but perhaps did not do a good job of expanding some public spaces on the ship (especially the pools).

 

[woody73]

What I didn't understand was why on Earth the pools are so small. Someone explained to me it has to do with physics and water volume, which I understand. But I have seen pools on other lines and some of their pools are almost three times the size of one DCL pool.

We sailed on the Mariner of the Seas (3,807 maximum passenger capacity), which has significantly larger pools than the Dream (4,000 maximum passengers). Mariner pools.

The Mariner first sailed in 2003, so the technology is available to build larger pools.

Woody

 

[stephent92]

I guess that the pool situation is because of the deck parties. Both pools can be covered over allowing for a large dance floor. Unfortunately this leaves little scope for pool design. I assume DCL decided deck parties were more important than pools!

This being said, there is scope for development. Fountains around the Mickey pool, perhaps extend the wooden surround out a bit to create a larger shallow play area, a couple of warm 'splash pools'. I suppose the only way this will have the hope of happening is by contacting DCL.

 

[PrincessYessenia]

I suppose the only way this will have the hope of happening is by contacting DCL.

You're right. They won't know to change things for the better if guests never report problems. Improvements come about because of feedback.

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

I guess that the pool situation is because of the deck parties. Both pools can be covered over allowing for a large dance floor. Unfortunately this leaves little scope for pool design. I assume DCL decided deck parties were more important than pools!

This being said, there is scope for development. Fountains around the Mickey pool, perhaps extend the wooden surround out a bit to create a larger shallow play area, a couple of warm 'splash pools'. I suppose the only way this will have the hope of happening is by contacting DCL.

I think you are correct. Unfortunately I have not had the chance to sail on the Dream yet, but i am disappointed with the how the pool areas have turned out. They definitely could have made them better and larger, however I believe they felt having space for elaborate deck parties was more important. In reality, you can't everything you want, even Disney has money and space constraints. It appears Disney felt deck space for parties was more important, only time will tell if they made the right decision giving up a more elaborate and larger pool area for more deck space for parties.

 

[axfather]

Although the horse is out of the barn as to some of these design issues with the Dream, I don't see why the Fantasy can't change a few things to address these concerns.