What is going on with the Dream?

[goofy4prez]

I think the itinerary after that one had weather issues. But also, complainers complain. Nobody goes online to say "a cruise happened and it was good".

I can't say that I completely agree with this. There are many who come on here and say they had a great time. It's just the ones who complain (and sometimes rightfully so) that seem to either be louder about it or they just get a lot more attention from us Disney fans.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We sailed on the Dream in Oct 2021 and Oct 2022.

First time terrified me that Disney had lost its touch. There were half the amount of cruisers on board, with Covid protocols in place and the service was subpar at best.

The second time we sailed on the Dream was far better.

My issues were around the lack of normal Disney “Magic” and usual outstanding customer service I had expected.

I'm so surprised by your October 2021 experience on the Dream! We sailed the last week of September 2021 and it was maybe the best cruise we've ever taken. Loved the low crowds, enjoyed fantastic service in the dining rooms, and DD got SO much personal attention from the characters and entertainment staff. (I will never forget the way that entertainment staff came through for her during a really difficult time in her life.) I do not mean to negate your experience, it's just so interesting how these things can vary from one sailing to another!

I would be completely unsurprised if new menus were throwing the crew for a loop - suddenly adding three completely different dinner menus to the schedule seems like it would definitely slow down the process. I'd imagine that there were likely new-to-the-Dream offerings in other areas (such as entertainment) that made for a clunky experience all around while the crew found their footing with longer itineraries. (This is not to say that I'd be thrilled to be on the consumer end of that experience, just that I can see how it happened.)

 

[shananigans]

I'm so surprised by your October 2021 experience on the Dream! We sailed the last week of September 2021 and it was maybe the best cruise we've ever taken. Loved the low crowds, enjoyed fantastic service in the dining rooms, and DD got SO much personal attention from the characters and entertainment staff. (I will never forget the way that entertainment staff came through for her during a really difficult time in her life.) I do not mean to negate your experience, it's just so interesting how these things can vary from one sailing to another!

I would be completely unsurprised if new menus were throwing the crew for a loop - suddenly adding three completely different dinner menus to the schedule seems like it would definitely slow down the process. I'd imagine that there were likely new-to-the-Dream offerings in other areas (such as entertainment) that made for a clunky experience all around while the crew found their footing with longer itineraries. (This is not to say that I'd be thrilled to be on the consumer end of that experience, just that I can see how it happened.)

For us it was our service staff - we had a similar experience on the Wonder and we were concierge. I think sometimes it’s just depends on who your service team is.

I’d say the crowds were amazing - I’d love to sail at 1/2 capacity all of the time! We sail on the Fantasy a week from today and it will be our second time on this ship - I’m sure we’ll have a fabulous time - we usually do.

 

[AgentMama]

To clarify, I think our family is typically pretty good at weeding through comments and figuring out if we think they apply to something that matters to us. Also, completely agree that people are more inclined to post complaints than good experiences. We're seasoned travelers and have been on the DIS a long time. I posted specifically because of the large volume of credible complaints that seemed like they are things we'll care about.

I don't consider our family bougie travelers. We love Disney, but also love budget travel. But DCL is a premium cost and we would prefer not to incur that and be dissatisfied, especially considering flight costs to Europe this summer.

 

[lanejudy]

The leftovers are taken every night. Pretty sure that makes it pretty normal.

To the PP's point -- MDR leftovers are not the typical crew menu. While I'm sure there are some leftovers each night, it is far from enough for all CMs to even get a bite.

 

[cwis]

Interesting there are complains with dinning. I never would have thought Disney shines in that in any way. If that's the worst the Dream can offer, then everything will be excellent when we embark in two weeks!

 

[Cheburashka]

In some of the other online forums I'm in, I have seen over a dozen posts from people saying what a terrible experience they have recently had on the Dream. The majority of the experiences seem to be related to the April 22nd sailing. Every one of them talked about terrible dining experiences. But also generally seems like there were multiple points of failure from a customer service standpoint with many of the guests.

I'm really worried about the experience this summer on the European cruises now. Anyone have good experiences after the April 22nd cruise?

I sailed the Dream in January. The only service problem I had was in the main dining room, and it was bad. My guess is that the Dream's good dining servers were sent to the Wish, and due to the labor shortage, they haven't been able to get enough good replacements.

Might be better now- I haven't sailed since then.

It didn't ruin my cruise. The nasty cold front did that lol. Bad dining room service didn't help, though. Service in stateroom, pool deck, room service and Palo & Remy was as good as ever.

 

[shananigans]

Interesting there are complains with dinning. I never would have thought Disney shines in that in any way. If that's the worst the Dream can offer, then everything will be excellent when we embark in two weeks!

It’s related to the service provided by the dining team. Not at all food related as far as we were concerned.

 

[Snowwhyt]

It’s related to the service provided by the dining team. Not at all food related as far as we were concerned.

If a beverage is the issue could be server or could be bar.
If food is an issue, several factors outside of server control could cause them delays.

Last month I had a server spooning butter over my lobster after he originally offered me 3 pats of floral shaped rosemary infused butter pats. As if I should spread it on my lobster as a dinner role.
It was not Disney but my point is, it was not a meal he typically served in the country he was from. The menu described lobster with drawn butter.

 

[shananigans]

If a beverage is the issue could be server or could be bar.
If food is an issue, several factors outside of server control could cause them delays.

Last month I had a server spooning butter over my lobster after he originally offered me 3 pats of floral shaped rosemary infused butter pats. As if I should spread it on my lobster as a dinner role.
It was not Disney but my point is, it was not a meal he typically served in the country he was from. The menu described lobster with drawn butter.

Yeah, ours was that the servers weren’t around much, constantly telling us that they needed all excellent ratings, didn’t know our drink orders after a few nights (which has been typical on Disney cruises), at some points we would just get up and leave and they didn’t even know we were gone and would mention it the time we saw them. Just super poor service compared to what we’ve grown accustomed to. No interaction with our kids. Or minimal. Just super odd compared to other Disney cruises we’ve done.

 

[Cheburashka]

Yeah, ours was that the servers weren’t around much, constantly telling us that they needed all excellent ratings, didn’t know our drink orders after a few nights (which has been typical on Disney cruises), at some points we would just get up and leave and they didn’t even know we were gone and would mention it the time we saw them. Just super poor service compared to what we’ve grown accustomed to. No interaction with our kids. Or minimal. Just super odd compared to other Disney cruises we’ve done.

The MDR service I had in January was similarly bad. It was the servers, not the bar or the kitchen.

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

Got off the Dream yesterday and had an amazing time, previously had one bad and one just ok if I’m comparing to experience on other Disney ships (that one was likely due to full capacity sailing) experience with servers on the Dream but this time have nothing but positive things to say, spoke to quite a few other servers in Cabanas and they were all great, helpful & as fab as i’ve experienced on other ships

 

[DCLMP]

It'd be a lot cooler around here if more people did.

There’s lots of positive reviews on here and on cruise critic.

 

[DCLMP]

I can't say that I completely agree with this. There are many who come on here and say they had a great time. It's just the ones who complain (and sometimes rightfully so) that seem to either be louder about it or they just get a lot more attention from us Disney fans.

There are posters on here who get offended if you say anything negative about Disney. The positive reviews greatly out weigh the negative.

When I research hotels you’ll find many hotels with 95% positive reviews. I don’t believe people just go to the internet to complain. Most of the time I find the reviews to be spot on. I just stayed at three different hotels and the reviews I read before booking turned out to be completely accurate.

 

[goofy4prez]

There are posters on here who get offended if you say anything negative about Disney. The positive reviews greatly out weigh the negative.

When I research hotels you’ll find many hotels with 95% positive reviews. I don’t believe people just go to the internet to complain. Most of the time I find the reviews to be spot on. I just stayed at three different hotels and the reviews I read before booking turned out to be completely accurate.

Now this I agree with. I remember when I got flamed once for saying that while I love DCL, I was not really impressed with the food overall in the MDR or the service in them. I shared an honest opinion based on my experience. And while most of my review was very positive, you would have thought I said something derogatory about someone's spouse or kids. They were also shocked when I also mentioned that I book concierge just so that I can dine in Palo or Remy each night of my cruise and said I was selfish and inconsiderate for booking these restaurants each night.

 

[erider]

We are on the Dream now. Food quality and service have been very good. Drinks have not, haven’t gotten a refill in the two nights so far. Tonight I’m going to complain about it if it’s still the same.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We are home and we were on the EBTA on the Dream. We experienced nothing but excellent service and enjoyed many wonderful conversations with crew members. We came home with terrible colds, and I am writing this at 4 AM because it’s going to take awhile for my system to get used to NY time zone. We changed our clocks one hour ahead 5 or 6 times.

I had read some reports of bad things on the Dream, and I was concerned, but happily, it was all for naught.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

We are home and we were on the EBTA on the Dream. We experienced nothing but excellent service and enjoyed many wonderful conversations with crew members. We came home with terrible colds, and I am writing this at 4 AM because it’s going to take awhile for my system to get used to NY time zone. We changed our clocks one hour ahead 5 or 6 times.

I had read some reports of bad things on the Dream, and I was concerned, but happily, it was all for naught.

I had several friends sailing the ta and while there were more complaints about fellow cruisers than about staff, the things I heard coming back were mostly about disappointing anniversary offerings (not just the merch but I was told the actual song was never played, fireworks shows was just half the show but with no intro characterparty just cruise staff asking cruisers questions etc)

 

[Aimeedyan]

We were on the TA and everything was wonderful! Great serving team, food was good, etc. I was worried, too, when I saw reports but didn't find any of it to be true for us. A lower number on board helped with that, I am sure.

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

I had several friends sailing the ta and while there were more complaints about fellow cruisers than about staff, the things I heard coming back were mostly about disappointing anniversary offerings (not just the merch but I was told the actual song was never played, fireworks shows was just half the show but with no intro characterparty just cruise staff asking cruisers questions etc)

the song was played at least 3 times, fireworks were abruptly ended due to some selfish teenagers deciding to go in to the area that’s roped off at the time for safety reasons/being where the fireworks are set off from I think there was nearly 100 fireworks that then couldn’t be done which was such a shame but in no way the fault of Disney